Renaissance

HI s SUMMER has been a distressing one for those concerned about wildlife populations, in Tparticular trout populations, in the drought- plagued East. The Battenkill, here in Vermont, has been virtually unfishable. Anyone who cares about that fishery resource has stayed away from the river, not wanting to further stress the fish gasping for oxy- gen in the dangerously low water. We find ourselves praying that these months of drought and heat will have less impact than we suspect and fear. The Museum, though, is undergoing an inspiring renaissance. We have a new dvnamic director whose energetic and visionary presence has been felt imme- diately; he has brought a new spirit to the Museum, one that we hope you will become part of as we head toward the twenty-first century. In this Fall issue of The American Fly Fisher, we present a detailed history of the Adirondack League Club, written by former Museum director and author Paul Schullery. We think you'll find his comprehen- sive article-about a group of people who, over the years, has acted as steward to a huge section of the Adirondacks - most interesting." We have also excerpted some thought-provoking, historic quotes from a new book by another former director, John Merwin, called Well-Cast Lines. These nuggets have withstood the test of time. (It may ap- pear that we are heavy in the area of former directors in this issue, but it so happens that these fellows are among the best writers in our field.) Personally, I am delighted to report that we are adding another member to the team that produces The American Fly Fisher. Kathleen Achor has been hired as the new managing editor of this quarterly journal, an addition which will allow me more time to write mv second book. You can read a little more about her in Museum News. I hope you will w~elcome her warmly and, as always, let us hear from you. These are exciting times for the American Muse- um of Fly Fishing. Won't you be a part of them? MARGOTPAGE EDITOR THEAMERICAN MUSEUM OF FLYFISHING Preserving a Rich Heritage for Future Generations 4 TRUSTEES Journal of The American Museum of Fly Fishing -- E. M. Bakwin Woods King 111 FALL 1995 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 4 Michael Bakwin Martin D. Kline Foster Bam Me1 Kreiger William M. Barrett Malcolm MacKenzie "A Sportsman's Paradise": Fishing at the Bruce H. Begin Robert E. Mathews I1 Paul Bofinger James L. Melcher Adirondack League Club...... 2 Donn H. Byme, Sr. IVallace J. Murray 111 Paul Schullery Roy D. Chayin, Jr. Wayne Nordberg Michael D. Copeland 0. Miles Pollard Excerpted from The Adirondack League Club, 1890-1990 Peter Corbin Susan A. Popkin Thomas N. Davidson Pamela B. Richards Charles R. Eichel Tom Rosenbauer Well-Cast Lines ...... 14 Charles Ferree Arthur Stern John Merwin G. Dick Finlay John Swan Audun Fredrikson James Taylor Excerpted from Well-Cast Lines: The Fisherman's Quotation Book Arthur T. Frey Richard G. Tisch Reed Freyermuth David H. Walsh Notes & Comment: Larry Gilsdorf Richard J. Warren Curtis Hill Dickson L. Whitney Origin of the Reel ...... 18 James Hunter James C. Woods Frederick Buller Dr. Arthur Kaemmer Earl S. Worsham Poem: "Heaven" ...... 22 TRUSTEES EMERITUS Rupert Brooke W. Michael Fitzgerald Leon Martuch Robert N. Johnson Keith C. Russell Gallery: David B. Ledlie Paul Schullery Stephen Sloan The Livingston Collection ...... 23

OFFICERS Museum News...... 26 Chairman of the Board Wallace J. Murray 111 President Richard G. Tisch Contributors...... 28 Vice Presidents William M. Barrett Arthur Stern Treasurer Wayne Nordberg o N THE c ov E R : In this Fall 1995 issue of The American Fly Fisher, au- Secretary Charles R. Eichel thor Paul Schullery presents a history of the Adirondack League Club, the largest club in the Adirondack Park. The cover photograph shows members STAFF of the Bisby Club, which was eventually absorbed into the ALC, on the Executive Director Craig Gilborn steps of the lodge. General Richard U. Sherman, the club's first president Executzve Assistant Virginia Hulett and later commissioner of the New York State Fish Commission, is seated Registrar Jon C. Mathewson at the center rear. ALC Archives. Membership Lillian Chace Research/Publicity Joe A. Pisarro

Editor Margot Page The Amenran Fly hiher is published four times a year by the Museum at PO. Box 42, Manchester, Vern~ont05254. Managing Editor Kathleen Achor Publication dates are winter, sprlng, summer, and Tall. Membership dues lnclude the cost of a onr-year Design 6 Production Randall R. Perkins subscription ($20) and are tax deductible as prov~dedfor by law Melnbershlp rates are llsted In the hack of each Copy Editor Sarah May Clarkson issue All letters, manuscnpts, photographs, and materials lntended fur yubllcatlon m the journal should be sent to the Museum. The Museum and journal are not responslhle for unsollcltcd manuscnpts, drawmgs, photographic Offsetprintlng The Lane Press, Inc., mated, or memorabilia. The Museum cannot accept responsibility for statements and lnterpretatlons that are Burlington, Vermont wholly the author's. Unsolicited manusc~iptscannot he returned unless poztage is provided. Contributions to TIIF American Fly Fisher are to be considered graturtous and the property of the Museum unless otherwise requested by the contributor. Artlcles appearmg m thla journal are abstracted and indexed In Historical Abstracts and Amenca: Htrtory and Ltfe.... Copyright 0 199j, the Amerlcan Museum of Fly Fish~ng,Manchester, Vermont 05254. Orginal material appearing may not be reprinted without prior permission. Second Class Permit post~igcpaid at Manchester Vermont 05254 and add~t~onaloffices (USPS 057410) The Amencan Fly Ftsher (ISSN 0884-3562) P o s i M A s T E R Send address changes to The Afnertran Fly Fisher, PO. Box 42, Manchester, Vermont 05254. "A Sportsman's Paradise": Fishing at the Adirondack League Club

by Paul Schullery

AN EXCELLENT BOOK appeared in 1990 to celebrate and of each other's sporting grounds, the one hundredth anniversary of the Adirondack through the pages of these journals, and through the first sporting books that League Club (ALC) in Old Forge, New York. Several appeared at the same time. In 1856, the years in the making by Edward Comstock, Jr., its edi- Spirit claimed a circulation of 40,000, a tor, a Club member, and formerly a curator at the figure that, even if exaggerated, suggest- Adirondack Museum, The Adirondack League Club, ed sportsmen were now out in the open as an identifiable and self-concerned 1890-1990 is comprised of five comprehensive chapters group. which contain fresh material gleaned from files that predat- ed the Club's oficial founding in 1890 by more than a decade. Comstock's authors examined the Club's development over the years, natural resources, social history, boating heritage, and contributions to camp architecture. Perhaps even more revealing of the degree to which sportsmen felt a com- However, the book remains known to only a handful of people because it mon bond was the remarkable prolifer- went to ALC members and few others. ation of sporting organizations. Some of Which is why The American Fly Fisher readers should appreciate the these first clubs are now nearly forgot- publication of the following article by Paul Schullery, the first from the book ten, others live on. Philadelphia had fishing clubs even before the American to reach a wider audience. The Adirondack League Club is important be- Revolution. The Cincinnati Angling cause its size-50,000 acres, formerly twice that, making it the largest club Club was organized in 1830, the Carroll's in the Adirondack Park- has forced it, from the start to the present day, to Island Club, a hunting group near Balti- more, appeared in 1832. The famous confront issues of managing club resources. That Schullery dealt with fish New York Sportsman's Club was estab- and game in his ALC piece should come as no surprise to anyone familiar lished in 1844, and seven prominent with his writings on fly fishing or with his tenure from 1977 to 1982 as direc- gentlemen created the Piseco Lake Trout tor of this Museum and as editor of this journal. Club in the Adirondacks in 1841. A few others appeared here and there in the years before the Civil War, but it was in the decade following the war that the movement reallv took off. In the earlv HE AMERICAN SPORTSMAN il War that Americans developed a lively i87os, the same years that saw the estab- came into his own in the late and dynamic sporting society. lishment of the second and much more Tnineteenth century as a recogniz- That society revealed itself in many successful generation of sporting peri- able and respected element of society, as ways. Starting in the late I~~OS,it SUP- odicals, hundreds of organizations ap- a self-aware supporter of certain stan- ported a sporting press, the most signif- peared and their power was suddenly dards of conduct, as a significant market icant early examples of which were The extraordinary. for a wide array of industries and ser- American Turf Register and Sporting Where the earliest clubs had existed vices, and as a political force. Though Magazine and The Spirit of the Times. primarily for social reasons, these new outdoor sports- hunting, fishing, horse Thus began the unruly and always stim- clubs included among their members racing, and others - had been tolerated ulating interchange of opinion, ideas, energetic fish culturists and game man- or even admired in North America since and instruction that characterizes any agers, and they campaigned vigorously the seventeenth century, it was not until healthy subculture. Sportsmen became for more scientifically based game laws the decades immediately before the Civ- progressively more aware of each other, and management of habitat. They

2 THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER Courtesy Robert D. Wilkinson

At the original Proctor Camp, 1894, an era when "none but true sportsmen cared to visit the woods, for it was only the lover of nature who could find there suficient reward to compensate him for the deprivations and hardships incident to a wilderness trip."

preached good sportsmanship and of New York; George Dawson, editor of times, none but true sportsmen cared to moderation of harvest in an era already the Albany Evening Journal and author visit the woods, for it was only the lover suffering badly from the excessive kills of America's first book devoted solely to of nature who could find there sufficient and abusive land-management practices fly fishing; and General Richard U. reward to compensate him for the depri- Sherman, the Club's first president, and vations and hardships incident to a of previous generations. The great club wilderness trip. movement of the 1870s marked the its most important chronicler. coming-of-age of American sportsmen. The Waltonians established their For quite a few years, the fishing and Nowhere was that new maturity more main camp on the Third Lake of the hunting were all the sportsmen needed than in the Adirondacks. Fulton Chain, a location hilariously il- dreamed of. Thorpe claimed trout were The early club most influential in the lustrated by Thomas B. Thorpe in his so common in the Moose River that development of the Adirondack League 1859 Harper's article, "A Visit to 'John "their fins, if not their elbows, are in the Club was the North Woods Walton Brown's Tract."' Thorpe loved the rough way of each other," and that, contrary to Club, originally known as the Brown's accommodations, but his drawings fish encountered closer to civilization, Tract Association, established in 1857 by show a flimsily built lean-to captioned the Moose River was "still full of inex- some upstate New York sportsmen. "The Hotel," a warped plank under a perienced fish." John Brown's Tract was a region of some slanting, sapling-supported bark roof The "Plan of the Expedition for 1858," 210,000 acres named for a previous captioned "The Dining-Saloon," and part of a pamphlet produced by the owner, eighteenth-century Rhode Island other amusing portraits of camp life. An Club, contained detailed instructions on businessman and politician John Brown. article in Forest and Stream, 22 May what equipment each member would The tract lay mostly in Herkimer Coun- 1897, reminisced about the early-day need, including ample information ty, but also in Lewis and Hamilton conditions. about fishing tackle of the day. counties, and included among its attrac- tions the Fulton Chain of lakes, Raque- Those were the days of long wagon rides One fishing rod, such as are made for over rough and rocky roads, long carries general use, being medium as to weight tte Lake. and the Moose River.l Among" the notable names on the first member- with heavily laden pack baskets and and elasticity with reel and trout line. A camping accessories, primitive logging ship list (published lo February 1858) trolling rod, with reel, and line of 150 feet rafts and open bark camps. In those or more, will also be found convenient. were those of John King, then governor Courtesy Edward Cornstock, Jr. else in the animal creation is but beef in the shambles, our doors are forever closed. Roughing it was part of the Club's philosophy and a matter of great pride. This was part fashion-one could not rough it, of course, unless one lived a fairly smooth life elsewhere -but it was also a matter of manly virtue to be able to handle oneself in such hearty rugged surroundings. Alas, like so many other wild places, it changed. The North Woods Walton Club had no exclusive claim to any of the Brown's Tract, and soon they had more company than they wanted. Set- tlement increased and new hotels ap- peared, and these sportsmen thought of moving on. A few of them found a new home on waters that would eventually become part of the Adirondack League Club.

By the mid-187os, as the fishing pres- sure on John Brown's Tract increased and the quality of the sport declined, a few members of the North Woods Wal- ton Club were hearing of some wonder- ful unspoiled water to the southwest. By 1875, one of the future members of the Bisby Club, probably Sherman himself, had fished the water and pronounced it "the Canaan towards which my foot- steps have trended the last forty years in the wilderness." In 1878, Sherman and a few col- leagues were able to purchase 320 acres Bisby Park as shown on E.R. Wallace's map of the Adirondacks, 1881. andv lease additional country around the lakes, which they revered as their "promised land," for their exclusive sporting use. The fishing opportunities One or more hand lines for trolling. A Providence, to guard the great hunting are obvious in their description: hauser-laid line of hemp is preferable. It park of the Republic from the incursions should be of '116 inch diameter, and not of cockney poachers, and murderers of Our tract covers a territory over nine less than 150 feet long. Tackle for fly fish- deer in summer. Long may they wave. thousand acres, extending from the south ing may be taken by those who are adepts border of the Moose River tract, to and [sic]at that branch of sport; but they are There were more serious moments, crossing the south branch of the Moose not at all requisite to success. too, as these sportsmen felt the need for River on the north, including most of the some control and moderation in hunt- "oxbow," where it has a width of two The North Woods Walton Club has ing: miles. This width is maintained till left us a modest written record that in- Woodhull lake is reached, when an L- dicates they epitomized the cultured, Our Deer Friends in the Mountains: Long shaped extension continues some six well-educated sporting club of the day. may they roam over breezy cliffs, and miles to the west border of the tract. Nine There are passages in their 1858 pam- among the fragrant forests of our great lakes and ponds, viz: The four Bisbys, phlet that read as well as most of the free wilderness. Cursed be he who mur- Chamber [sic] lake, Sand lake, Coombs more widely published sporting writing ders them for money, or in mere wanton [sic]and the two Sylvan ponds, and parts sport. of Woodhull and Canachagala lakes, are of the day. General Sherman, in a din- embraced in the tract. By the law of New ner toast, described New York City as, Or, speaking more generally of the type York, providing for the protection of pri- "A good place to go for fish hooks. Aside of member they wished to avoid: vate parks, all the fish and game in this from this, it has no attractions to the tract are our own personal property and true son of Walton." The club took a But to the pampered son of luxury who the taking away from it by an unautho- philosophical view of the black fly, at prizes nothing except as it ministers to his rized person, of any bird, four-footed ani- least in that early yearbook: animal enjoyment; to the conceited cock- mal, or fish, is 1arceny.I ney who recognizes not God save in city Blackflies, Mosquitoes and Punkies: A cos- fanes; who knows his fellow-man only as Theirs was a pioneering step in mopolitan police, detailed by Divine the tailor has made him, and to whom all Adirondack history, part of a greater

4 THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER H.M. Beach, ALC Archives movement by which sportsmen kept re- were numerous, haphazard, and very sources for themselves exclusively, exciting at the time. By the time Mather rather than watch them squandered in wrote his report (submitted to Ver- the name of some vague and outdated planck Colvin, superintendent of the principle of common public ownership. Adirondack Survey), it was clearly be- And what a treasure they had pro- coming difficult to get all the details tected, and how aggressively they de- straight." Much of Mather's information fined protection. Most of all, it meant on fish introductions was based on a improving and developing the resource survey he sent to various interested par- for their purposes, and that meant ties, some of whom were obviously bas- bringing in more fish. "Pisciculture," ing their responses only on incomplete the husbandry of fishery resources, was personal recollections.3 then flowering in this country, promot- In 1879, Sherman was named a com- ed by such leading angling and scientific missioner of the New York State Fish writers as Seth Green, Robert Barnwell Commission, a position he held until Roosevelt, Thaddeus Norris, and 1890. His leadership in fishery manage- Spencer Fullerton Baird. Seth Green ment and the promotion of intelligent had brought whitefish from the Caledo- resource use was not confined to Bisbv nia hatchery in western New York to waters, but was recognized throughout Little Moose Lake in 1872, and in 1877 the state until his death in 1895. brook trout, also from Caledonia, were The native sport fish of the Bisby stocked in First Bisby. From the annual chain was a diminutive strain of the lake reports of the Bisby Club and from oth- trout, a distinctive little fish that usually er early sources, especially Fred Math- grew to around a foot in length. Sher- er's Memoranda Relating to Adirondack man, a keen naturalist, published a de- Fishes (1886), it is possible to piece to- scription of this supposedly new species gether a rough chronology of the many in the 13 October 1888 American Angler, fish plantings made before 1890; they saying that most of the fish were smaller than 3 pounds, and that the largest known was 6. Obviously a skilled ob- ALC Archives server, he pointed out apparent differ- ences in the fish from each of the four lakes, attributing the differences to envi- ronmental factors. Little Moose lakers, circa 1914. But the Bisby trout soon had more and more company. Rainbow trout were introduced to First Bisby in 1879 (keep in mind that the early reports some- (now known as brown trout) from Scot- times differ by a year on the exact dates land into Second Sylvan. This was quite of some introductions; the real point early in the history of brown trout here is the speed and diversity of the in- stockings in North America, and sug- troduced fish), and in 1885 received gests how quickly they were moved to Rangeley Lake brook trout and blueback new waters. Bv 1884. Woodhull hosted trout. both from Maine. Second Bisbv at least lake tiout, iainbow trout, and received lake trout taken from Lake landlocked salmon. Huron spawn in 1880, and by the mid- Woodhull Lake, which has never 1890s had, either by introduction or by been entirely included within the Pre- fish migrating from connected waters, serve, was probably a painful reminder rainbow trout, landlocked salmon, of the Club's vulnerability to the outside brown trout, frostfish, and numerous world. It had been dammed first in 1849 later plants of brook trout. Fourth Bisby and enlarged in 1860 as part of the water was said to have smallmouth bass by impoundment system for the Black Riv- 1880, though those fish did not appear er Canal. Similar dams were built on in numbers in the other three lakes of North Lake (1856) and South Lake the chain until around 1900. (1861) just to the south of the Club. Chambers Lake, originally fishless, Worse, in 1872 the outlet of Third Bisby received brook trout in 1880 or 1881, and was redirected into Sand Lake for rainbow trout introduced there in 1884 further impoundment, and in 1881 may have been important in the spread Canachagala Lake's outlet was redirect- of that fish into the Bisby lakes. First ed from the Moose River into North Sylvan reportedly was stocked with Lake. These changes in flow were cer- brook trout in 1877; one of the most in- tainly not the only ones in the area, but teresting of these early plantings was an they exemplify the extent to which the A Honnedaga laker, 1916. 1885 introduction of "Loch Levens" natural setting was modified. All of this tampering with watersheds and we can be sure that club members day's leading sportsmen and conserva- generated persistent bitterness among were equipped with the latest innova- tionists, wrote a page-one editorial on Bisby members. The 1882 Annual Re- tions in split-bamboo rods, lightweight the "system of buying and leasing terri- port contained a withering statement, reels, and an ever-growing assortment tory for shooting and fishing" that was under the heading "Aggressions," that of flies from the likes of Chubb, "progressing with great strides" in many referred to such work as "vandalism" Leonard, Orvis, and other leading man- parts of the country. His foremost ex- and reported on a remarkable project ufacturers. They very quickly learned to ample was the ALC, whose articles of that failed in the fall of 1881. handle local fishing situations. incorporation had just been filed, and it When possible, they seem to have is clear that Grinnell, among the most The crowning act of engineering folly was preferred fly fishing in the shallows. thoughtful and public-spirited of out- committed last fall when a party was They clearly were acquainted with some doorsmen, had mixed feelings and was a found drilling away the natural rock dam local fly hatches, though they apparently little bewildered by the speed with that separates Chamber [sic] Lake from did not have to imitate them too closely. which large tracts of lands were being the Second Bisby. Fortunately the Adirondack trout fly patterns were typi- bought up. He predicted a dim future adamantine hardness of the material de- for the private sportsman, but he did fied the powers of common blasting pow- cal of many of the era. They were heavi- der, and before very serious damage was ly tied and tended to be gaudy. Samuel J. not object to the new direction strenu- done, orders came to withdraw the party. Bryant, a Club member, listed his fa- ously vorites in Mary Orvis Marbury's Fa- The report, which railed against the vorite Flies and Their Histories (1892), This withdrawal of the Jock's Lake coun- impoundment of tiny bodies of water including the Brown Hackle, Reuben try from the public means a serious instead of a few large ones, concluded diminution of available hunting and fish- Wood, Red Ibis, Babcock, Brown Stone, ing grounds in the Adirondacks. It is in that "the stock of water which might and Montreal. The Babcock, a fly simi- line with the coming of a new order, un- have been contributed to canal supply lar to the Montreal, was named for a der which the angler or hunter who does in case the plan had been carried out, Club member, as was another local fa- not belong to a club will eventually be would have been about equal to the re- vorite, the Proctor, named for a promi- shut out.4 inforcement which the old woman pro- nent Utica, New York, member and an- posed to contribute, of slops, to the vol- gler. This was an era of great prolifera- Bisby Club members, on the other ume of the ocean." tion of fly patterns, when changing the hand, were nowhere near so tolerant as A hatchery was finally built, near the tail or wing of a fly was reason enough Grinnell. At the conclusion of the Thir- clubhouse at First Bisby in the fall of to give it a new name. teenth Annual Report (1891), Club Pres- 1883. Only the second hatchery in the The fly fishers were aware of a short ident Sherman spoke out in consider- Adirondacks, the building was twenty fishing season for lake trout that has able agitation against the ALC's pre- by thirty feet and its eight troughs had a been rediscovered in more recent days emption of rights to so much previously capacity of 500,000 fry. That first fall, by Little Moose Lake anglers. They open land. eggs from the Caledonia and Cold called it shoal fishing, and Sherman de- Spring (Fourth Lake, Fulton Chain) What had been a great, free hunting and scribed it in several reports and publica- fishing ground for so many years is about hatcheries were used, but the following tions. to become, practically, a private preserve. fall ioo,ooo eggs were stripped from . . . How far this Club, and the public at Bisby brook trout. large, are to be excluded from their for- It is easy even today to imagine the mer privileges on the Moose River, is not intense excitement these fishermen ex- By 1890, the Bisby Club was alarmed yet known; but it is to be presumed that perienced when they first saw evidence to hear news of a huge new neighbor. the companies of land speculators and of a planting take hold. In the 1884-1885 The coalition of sportsmen that was to lumber despoilers who now own the great Annual Report of the New York State become the Adirondack League Club tracts north and east of us, will appropri- Commissioners of Fisheries, Sherman was gaining momentum and was caus- ate to their own benefit all that ownership discussed the prospects with an enthusi- ing concern among sportsmen not only gives. asm that neared elation: in the Adirondacks, but in the broader He concluded that the great forest sporting community. It would excite the wonder of the behold- was doomed and so was the sport. But The thousands of acres controlled by in the next Bisby Club report (1892), er, knowing the circumstances, to see, as the Bisby Club might have seemed im- he may at spawning time, tons of these Sherman seemed to have adjusted to the fish on the spawning beds. mense to local nonmembers, but it was idea of being virtually surrounded by hardly of sufficient size, and did not the ALC. When, in 1882, Sherman presented have sufficient control, to protect its the great American fish culturist Seth sporting resources. It was the protection Pleasant relations have been maintained Green (an honorary member of the Bis- of such resources that provided much of between our organization and our neigh- by Club) with a landlocked salmon the impetus for the creation of the ALC. bors, the Adirondack League Club, and from Woodhull, the result of an 1879 Even with increased state involvement we are indebted to them for courteous planting, Green was so pleased to learn in fish and game management, the fabu- privilege to cross their grounds on the lous sporting opportunities of the way to our old fishing and hunting resorts the fish had survived that "he kissed it beyond, and to all the extent we could lovingly." Adirondacks were collapsing under in- reasonably ask for hunting and fishing But fishery improvements are noth- creasing development. The ALC was privileges on their territory ing without fishing, and the club mem- founded in part as a response to that sit- bers were adept at many techniques. uation. Sherman did not mention hard feel- The 1870s and 1880s were decades of sig- For example, on 26 June 1890, Forest ings among Bisby Club members to- nificant advancement in fishing tackle, and Stream Editor Grinnell, one of the ward the ALC, but there were some. Sporting motifs predominated on the 07 -iginal Adirondack League Club stock certificates, 1890.

When the Bisby Club was absorbed into trout, and deer were all abundant. A ing boats on several of the nearby lakes. the ALC, only about half of the smaller writer who identified himself only as H. He even tried stocking additional trout club's members joined. H. T. (no doubt H. H. Thompson, later in Honnedaga at least once. He kept a secretary of the Bisby Club) reminisced pack of deer hounds and employed a about the same outing in an article enti- team of guides for his customers. Barber An article in The Peterson Magazine tled, "Camping on Jock's Lake in 1863," and some of his guides stayed on when in October 1896 referred to the ALC as in The American Angler, 5 July 1884. Jock's Lake became part of the ALC and "the highest type of the clubs of this John Waldo Douglas, whose family has his lodge became ALC headquarters at class in the world," a "magnificent been closely associated with the ALC the newly renamed Honnedaga Lake. realm," and claimed that of the many since its first decade, wrote a series of Little Moose Lake, called Moose Lake such clubs then appearing, "the great, letters describing life on Jock's Lake be- until the i88os, was named for the estate owned by the Adirondack League tween 1869 and 1882. His account of Adirondack's largest native mammal,

Club" was "the greatest and most fa- travel conditions ugives some notion of once common near the lake but extir- mous of all." what a fisherman might have to endure pated from the entire Adirondack re- Greatness and fame were measured for sport in 1869. gion by the early 1860s. . . . Little Moose in many ways, of course, including com- Lake was responsible for the earliest August 24th, P.M. We went five miles up written record of a large lake trout taken fortable lodgings, distinguished mem- the west branch of Canada Creek and from what would become ALC waters. bership, and a variety of aesthetic val- camped. August 25, owing to a terrible ues. But greatness was also a function of rain storm only advanced one mile be- The account of the fish, along with sporting opportunity and at the ALC yond and camped at the junction of some description of the game in that sporting opportunity was wonderful. Canada Creek and Jock's Lake outlet. Au- area, appeared in Joel Headley's The Honnedaga Lake, earlier known as gust 26th, advanced through a pathless Adirondack; or, Life in the Woods (1849): Transparent Lake and then as Jock's and tangled wilderness up the outlet in a Lake, is, at 2,187 feet, the highest large zigzag course, now by the stream and now . . . The bottom of the lake looks like a lake in the state. Accounts of Honneda- on steep mountain sides, six miles to vast bed of fine white salt. As you sit in your boat, you can see it glittering be- ga predate even the creation of the Bisby Jock's Lake, which its lower edge we reached at 7:3o P.M., and the cabin here, neath at an immense depth, while ever Club in 1878. Jeptha Simms, in R. Trap- where I write about 9:oo P.M. . . . Some and anon a huge trout flits like a shadow pers of New York (1850)) described Jock's nine hours I had my heavy pack on, off over it. A certain judge and his lady are Lake as "a great resort for trout fishing," only once. accustomed in summer to come from the and said that Jonathan "Jock" Wright western settlements, and camp out for fished it regularly, apparently taking his In the i88os, of course, it got easier to two or three weeks at a time on its shores, large catches back to settlements to sell. reach the good fishing. In 1887, Amaziah and fish. The lady, accomplished and ele- Syracuse Judge A. Judd Northrup, in Dutton ("Dut") Barber, a Utica man of gant, enjoys the recreation amazingly, and Camps and Tramps in the Adirondacks considerable means, opened his Forest once caught herself a trout weighing nine- Lodge on the eastern end of the lake, teen pounds. There are no islands upon it, (1880), told of a sporting trip to Jock's but a long green promontory almost cuts Lake in 1863 in which the black flies, eventually building camps and provid- it in two, from which you get an enticing stockings that did not take. Other out- guides were surveyed on the subject and view of the whole lake. standing fisheries were created, though, voted eighteen to five that the South My friend B-n, with a hunter, had and it is too easy to see these fishery Branch of the Moose River be made a great sport here one day. He did not fish managers" out of their context. There fly-fishing-only stream, a regulation still over an hour, and yet in that short time, was so much to be learned, and so in effect today. This rule was adopted in took a hundred and twenty pounds of March 1904 and applied to the river trout, and left them biting as sharp and much with which to experiment; who fast as when he began. Going back could resist when the potential rewards above Limekiln Falls. By 1910, similar through the lake towards Brown's tract, seemed so great? regulations were applied to Chambers two moose with their broadspreading With the guidance of some of the Lake, and by 1912, to First and Second horns and huge black forms, were seen day's leading professional hatchery men, Sylvan ponds in certain seasons.5 standing on the shore. . . . Deer were the ALC embarked on a program of Other regulations, not directly in- stumbled on almost every half mile. B-n managing its waters. Do the brook trout volving fishing tackle and techniques, said he counted six, two of which the rifle seem small in Rock Pond? Introduce also had substantial effects on the ALC of the hunter fetched down. frostfish to improve forage. Is the fish- fishing experience. For example, the re- ing in the larger lakes too slow after the striction of use of ALC waters by motor- lake trout and brook trout leave the ized craft was perhaps the foremost of Of course there were more than thir- shoals in spring? Introduce landlocked such regulations. The 1914 Annual Re- ty lakes at the ALC, each with its cham- salmon for better summer sport. What's port specified that "no boat propelled pions, and each with its own special new at the U.S. Fish Commission? by steam, hot air, naphtha, gasoline or fishing situations. Access was still quite They'll send us 1,000 Swiss lake trout, so electricity shall be put on any of the wa- limited, so the sort of effort still re- let's try them in Green Lake. It was an ters of the Preserve without permission quired today to reach Jones, Deer, and era of great optimism and excitement first being obtained from the Trustees or Otter lakes in the southern end of the and there was so much to look forward Executive Committee." Obviously the ALC was then required to reach Green, to each year. Would the Maine trout put restriction was not absolute on all Combs, and Rock Pond in the north. in Moose River in 1894 take, and might I waters - transportation of supplies and But reached they would be, and soon be the first to catch one? Would the fat guests sometimes necessitated motor the ALC initiated aggressive efforts to brook trout in Panther Lake finally yield power-but limiting the use of such improve and enrich the fishing. The some summer fishing rather than van- equipment was essential to the quality 1892 Annual Report revealed that "dur- ishing into the deep water like they did of North Country life that the ALC ing the last year a fine hatchery has been last year? wished to maintain. Not only did the re- built on Honnedaga Lake, at a cost of Such optimism was often reinforced, strictions help preserve the grand tradi- $3,500.'' It was, unfortunately not mon- with surprising results. Little Moose's tion of man-powered boats so well ey well spent, as the following year's re- capacity for producing huge fish be- started in the Bisby days, they made port explained that the Club's ambitious came something of a local legend. The fishing (to say nothing of living on the stocking program was thwarted by the 1899 Annual Report indicated there was lakes) a quieter, more vigorous, and far hatchery's location. The report then a factual basis for the rumors: slower activity. noted that another hatchery had been As well, keeping a close watch on authorized at the outlet of Honnedaga, For many years Little Moose fishermen road construction and on the develop- and that hatchery was in place and op- have occasionally reported the carrying ment of access to backcountry waters away of their tackle by irresistible forces erating successfully two years later. also maintained the mood of earlier in the water. By computations based on days. More recently in the ALC story, Fishery management was enhanced the known strength of the tackle, the by Bisby ClubIALC consolidation in shock to the holder of the rod, and his the arrival of aircraft and four-wheel- 1893 because the Bisby Club's hatchery observed mental condition shortly after- drive vehicles would change the sport- was recognized by the ALC as "one of ward, the weight of the fish that did it was ing experience significantly, perhaps in the best equipped and most successful often determined with some variations ways that only the earlier generations hatcheries in the Adirondacks." It was from accuracy. The fishermen who have could appreciate. further facilitated by the completion, in reported these facts, and their scientific 1895, of the Combs Brook Hatchery deductions, found that unquestioning be- (near the site of today's Hatchery lief was a plant of slow growth, only In the late i94os, fishing conditions at slightly hastened by Commerford's [John the ALC were a reflection of conditions Camp). The Fish and Game Committee Commerford was the Preserve manager at proudly announced that the ALC's the time] report of seeing a school of lake throughout the Adirondacks. Because of hatchery system would soon "make the trout on the spawning beds near the out- the private stewardship of the ALC, League Club waters the best trout fish- let that looked like pigs of iron, only big- some of the fishing was probably better ing waters in the world." ger. A short time ago, two of these trout than most Adirondack fishing, but it Modern fishery scientists and man- were captured; one weighed 24 pounds was poor by the standards of earlier agers might look back on these days of and the other weighed 27 pounds. generations. The list of lakes more or intensive fish stocking with disappoint- less lost to good fishing included both The ALC also experimented with re- Sylvan ponds (populated mostly by ment, if not dismay. The late 1800s were stricting some waters to fly fishing only. an era of great faith in man's ability to suckers), Fourth Bisby (suckers and By the turn of the century, many sports- stunted bass), Canachagala (suckers and manipulate and improve natural set- men knew that flies were often the best tings, and in the process of such "im- bullheads), East (suckers, dace, and a lure to use if small fish were to be re- few trout), Honnedaga (a few brook provement," native life forms were dis- leased unharmed; bait-caught fish swal- placed, and good fishing waters were in- trout and lake trout), and Panther (a low the hook more deeply and many die few brook and rainbow trout, many advertently ruined, and a lot of energy from hook injuries. In 1903, the ALC and money were wasted on ill-planned suckers and sunfish). Even Little Moose

8 THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER Dwight A. Webster

Tagging and releasing brook trout on Panther Lake, 30 October 1954. Dwight Webster is second from left. Tagging and fin clippzngpermitted researchers to keep detailed ac- counts of the progress offish in each newly stocked water.

portant than continuity of at- tention to that water. A variety of directions were pursued at once. Land- locked salmon were a favorite among members, so research was directed (especially on Little Moose Lake starting in 1~50),, , to determine how well this romantic sportfish could be vroduced in ALC waters. Native fish were often given preference because of their known past successes in these waters, and yet there was open-mindedness enough to Lake, which had escaped some of the ed, and results became more predictable try cutthroat trout (notoriously unsuc- more harmful introductions of inappro- and reliable. cessful in transplants from their western priate fish, had poorer fishing than at Biological and chemical surveys were waters) in Canachagala. Kokanee any other time in its history. initiated that covered, from 1950 to 1953, salmon were tried in Third Bisby, splake Raymond P. Dorland, chairman of all significant Preserve waters and (brook troutllake trout hybrids) in Rock the Fish and Game Committee, invited would be invaluable in later years when Pond and Green Lake, and brown trout Dr. Dwight" A. Webster of Cornell Uni- new changes occurred in those waters. in Fourth Bisby and East Lake. Exten- versity to serve as yet another consultant At the same time, reclamation got sive exveriments were undertaken with on fishery matters at the ALC in 1950. under way first in Panther Lake (1951), nongame fish (alewives and smelt in Eventually, Webster and the Club estab- then later in both Sylvans (1952) and Little Moose, smelt in First Bisby, and lished a cooperative agreement with East (1954). Existing fish populations dwarf suckers in Panther) that might Cornell University to study and help were voisoned. barrier dams were built provide a greater food base for sport manage the ALC's fisheries. The re- to prevent recolonization by undesirable species. search program that evolved out of the species, and preferred fish were stocked, Several problems had to be overcome collaboration became the single most thus giving many waters a fresh start if fishing quality was to be restored. important brook trout research project rather than trying to build on some pre- Nonsport species dominated many wa- in American history, benefiting not only existing and out-of-kilter combination ters (prohibition of bait fishing was in the ALC, but fishery managers and fish- of fishes that might or might not re- part response to this problem, as non- ermen everywhere. spond favorably to years of manipula- native species are often inadvertently From the beginning, a scientific sys tion. Tagging and fin clipping permitted "stocked" by careless bait fishermen). A tem was everything. The program was a researchers to keep detailed accounts of variety of lumbering practices had dam- combination of research and manage- the progress of fish in each newly aged watersheds and warmed important ment. Rather than following the tradi- stocked water. and to evaluate the suc- tributary streams. The building of roads tion of just trying something, seeing if it cess of the program. had created siltation problems in some worked, and then trying something else Looking back over the reports pro- locations. ALC fisheries specialists applied the ex- duced in the first decade of the Cornell Some waters seemed naturally acidic; perimental method to everything. This cooperative agreement, that mood of a even in the 1950s limestone was added meant that all aspects of the aquatic set- fresh start is common. This was what to Lower Sylvan (1957) and Mountain ting were analyzed, stocking was based wildlife scientists call experimental Pond (1958) in an attempt to neutralize on the best scientific information avail- management being practiced at its best. them, or, as the 1958 report put it, "to able, and the results of each stocking, Nothing was done without forethought modulate drastic fluctuations in lime whether successful or not, became part and nothing was done without the criti- content in the Lower [Sylvan] Pond that of the information base for future work. cal monitoring that would allow for lat- is inevitable from the flushing effects of As understanding of the ecological com- er revision or correction. Managing a heavy rainfall." plexities of the water and the fish grew, given water properly, as far as fishes Beaver had dammed streams and management became more sophisticat- stocked or removed, was no more im- caused damage to fishing both by clear- ing vegetation along streams and by tain many of the wild fish's more desir- was introducing so much sulfuric acid warming the water in their stillwaters. able characteristics. Eggs from wild fish into the air that exposed metals corrod- Webster's 1979 report described the in Horn Lake (on Township 5, a leased ed. Smith was echoed by a few other sci- progress made since 1950. part of the Preserve until 1964) and entists over the next century, but it Honnedaga Lake, and from Long Pond wasn't until the 194os, when acid rain From the outset, a rigorous annual beaver at Brandon Park in the northern was identified in Sweden, that the world control program has been maintained on Adirondacks, were used to infuse hatch- began to take much notice, and it wasn't Club waters. The result is clearly evident ery strains with fresh genes, imparting until the late 1960s that another Swedish in an air tour of the Adirondack League to the offspring a type of hybrid vigor. scientist, Svante Oden, got the attention Club, noting the contrast of dead timber In a series of papers published from the of the scientific community with his and brush lands on peripheral lands, and early 1960s to the 198os, Webster and ideas on the acidification of Swedish directly measurable by the cold water lakes. In 1971 and 1972, a number of re- temperatures of the tributaries them- Flick described the advantages of these selves. interbreedings: fish that lived longer, searchers in the eastern United States grew larger, and provided much better undertook serious investigations of acid Perhaps the most exciting progress in sport.7 rain.8 the first twenty years, though, was in the Reaching farther afield, the two sci- Though even in the 1950s some evi- trout themselves. Not only was more at- entists also tested the viability of two dence appeared that certain Adirondack tention paid to the stocking of native Canadian strains, obtained in the waters were experiencing an increase in species, but also a great deal of attention Province of Quebec. Both the Assinica acidity, it wasn't until the late 1960s that was paid to finding fish and waters that and Temiscamie trout grew bigger and sufficient evidence accumulated on ALC were compatible. Early fish stocking in lived longer than domestic New York waters to indicate a definite trend.9 this country was often rather like strains, but were quite different from By 1971, Adirondack researchers, led putting fish in a "You-Catch-Them" fish one another in age bf maturity and col- by Dr. Carl L. Schofield of Cornell, a tank at the county fair. Fish were oring. Eventually the studies suggested student of Webster's, were expressing stocked with little regard for their possi- that the Temiscamie was the preferable alarm over declining pH levels in many ble long-term prospects for survival; the of the two, and by the late 1970s a hybrid waters. The twenty years of data gath- foremost concern was making fish avail- of Temiscamie and domestic fish was ered during the Webster-led research able for immediate capture. Gradually, the standard trout for stocking ALC wa- project suddenly had an unexpected val- however, fishery managers recognized ters. Because of its success at the ALC, it ue, as a baseline against which to mea- that the character of any water dictated was later adopted by New York State for sure changing water chemistry. A brief which fish would do best in it, and so its stocking program as well. report by Schofield in the 1971 ALC more attention was paid to accommo- The developments in trout manage- Fishery Management Report indicated dating that character. ment of this period are reminiscent of substantial evidence of acidification of Under Webster, lakes that could sup- the early days of Bisby and the ALC in many lakes between the early 1950s and port fish in self-sustaining populations the sense of excitement and discovery the late 1960s. Most Adirondack waters (that is, spawning populations that, un- that accompanied each new experiment. are poorly buffered, and are rarely able der proper regulation, can maintain the Improved understanding of aquatic to withstand the jolts of acid precipita- sport fishery) were managed for wild ecology enabled managers to make few- tion released periodically, especially trout. Other lakes, having no capacity er mistakes in experimental manage- during spring snowmelt. The sudden re- for natural reproduction, were managed ment. Better attention to follow-up re- lease of a winter's stored-up acid was by annual stockings. search also helped, as did the continua- flushed through some watersheds with The simplest part of the waters and tion of the reporting system by which lethal effects on fish and other aquatic wildlife resource to fine-tune was the anglers provided careful records of their life. Within a few years it was clear that trout. In the late 195os, Webster, his stu- catch. the southwestern Adirondacks were dent William A. Flick, and others began Not everything worked, of course - a most severely affected by acid rains. research into the behavior and life his- dam might go out here, or a fish stock- ALC waters were close to the center of tories of "domestic" trout that were ing might not take there-but overall the area of heaviest impact. reared in hatcheries, and discovered the the success was obvious and encourag- Though this discussion is concerned extent to which a century of inbreeding ing. By the early 1960s, new records primarily with fish and ALC waters, acid had created a fish that was not well were beine" set for total fish take and rain is not. It may seem bad enough that adapted to life in the wild. Fish fed in some remarkable individual specimens more than zoo lakes in the Adirondacks tanks for generations developed skills were turning up in the catch reports. are considered dead (some microscopic useful for tank feeding, such as staying Heavy reliance on fall stocking of finger- or vegetative life may survive; fish do near the surface and not fleeing from ling brook trout replaced stocking of not), but that is only the beginning. above-water movements. As Flick wrote catchable trout and native fish became Acid rain is killing thousands of trees, later, "such a behavior pattern carried the staple sportfish. Much was being especially conifers above 3,000 feet, and over in the wild and would likely make learned, much was being improved, and it is having as yet untold effects on other domestic strains as popular with preda- ALC waters were producing better all vegetation. It is routinely working its tors as they are with fish culturi~ts."~ the time. way into water systems, where it leaches Comparative studies with wild fish toxic metals from soils and pipes, metals revealed just the opposite behavior in that are then ingested by humans. The them, as well as greater strength and stakes are higher here than just the qual- higher survivability. The challenge was In 1852, a British scientist named ity of fishing. to come up with fish that could be Robert Angus Smith announced that At the ALC, management response to reared in hatcheries and that would re- heavy industry in the city of Manchester this crisis consisted of several parts. Re-

10 THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER Dwight A. Webster

Loading "Bus" Bird'sfloatplane at Little Moose Lake with troutfingerlings for aerial stocking, May 1959.

search was redirected away from im- enjoy the tradition of fishing well- East, Little Moose, and Panther lakes proving lake productivity toward better known river pools such as the Slide- makes them less susceptible to acidifica- understanding the phenomenon of banks, Lunch Rock, Pork Barrel, and tion. Roughly one-third of ALC waters acidification. By the mid-l97os, Deer, Limekiln Falls. Though logging, beaver fall into this naturally protected category. Fourth Bisby, and Goose lakes, and activity, and overfishing were probably Treatment of a given lake or pond de- Mountain and Pinchnose ponds were factors in the decline of the stream be- ended on its size and location. as well known to be dramatically reduced in fore 1960, since that time the worst as on the severity of its problem. Air- productivity. problem has been the acid runoff that craft were used to lime backcountrv Honnedaga, always known for its un- occurs every spring. lakes that could not be reached easily; usual clarity (partly the result of its low The acidity has affected both the fish lime was s~readbv snowmobile on the populations of plankton) and chemical and the insects upon which the fish ice of other lakes. In 1971, a raft-borne character, had already proved excep- feed, leaving the South Branch biologi- hydraulic pump was first used on Lower tionally vulnerable to even slight in- cally impoverished without the help of Sylvan Pond to mix lime with bottom creases in acidification. In 1968, all 2,000 man. There is some overwinter survival sediments, an unusual but successful brook trout stocked in the lake appar- of native brook trout, especially where technique that helped maintain that im- ently died. As the report for that year the fish can seek spring refuge in less portant brook trout fishery. concluded, "it appears that toxic condi- acidic tributaries, but virtually none of As in the past, though, it came down tions exist inimical to survival of intro- the stocked fish-the mainstay of the to what could be done with the trout duced fish." modern sport fishery-survive into a themselves. In the 1970s.,, , work was be- Conditions were nearly as bad in the second fishing season. Thus, 1,000 gun to test the acid resistance of various South Branch of the Moose River. In brook trout and 1,000 rainbow trout are domestic. wild, and hvbrid strains of 1974, the Fishery Management Report typically stocked each year following the trout, with the resultait discovery that noted that high acidity in the runoff was runoff period, so that the South Branch there were indeed considerable differ- killing stocked fish, even though efforts continues to provide ALC members ences in tolerance. In the fall of 1974, the were made to time introductions to with engaging sport in a beautiful set- Little Moose Hatchery was reactivated avoid peak runoff flows. The South ting. as an experimental station for that Branch may be the most popular single On the other hand, the presence of work. Research into acid-resistant fishery on the ALC, and many anglers some limestone in the watersheds of strains of trout is still under way, using

FALL 1995 11 Temiscamie/domestic hybrids and pure Temiscamie trout. The fish are stressed by acidified water (a highly acid brook has been rechanneled to flow to the hatchery), and the survivors are then used to produce a new generation of trout that are similarly stressed. By this process, only the most acid-tolerant of each generation are allowed to con- tribute offspring to the next generation. The latest techniques of genetic manip- ulation are being applied to these fish, to improve and accelerate breeding ca- pabilities in ways not even imagined only a few years ago. As in so many cas- es of ALC research, the implication of this breeding program reaches far be- yond ALC waters. The revitalization of the Little Moose Hatchery was of great significance for reasons other than acidity research. The hatchery has become the center for re- search and management activities (the Bisby Channel facility is the other ALC fish culture operation, used only in the summer) as the headquarters for the Cornell University research program.

The hatcherv's efficiencv was vastlvi im- proved in 1975 when the old water in- take was extended farther into Little Moose Lake. The new intake, in forty feet of water, provides the hatchery with a reliable supply of sixty-degree water, ideal for brook trout growth. The scientific and management re- sponses to acidification have yielded promising results, and have made a big difference in the quality of today's fish- ing not only at the ALC, but throughout the Adirondacks, as the New York State Dam at Canachagala Lake, constructed by New York State in 1881 to Department of Environmental Conser- impound water for the Black River Canal, shown in 1989. vation followed the Club's lead in using Temiscamie/domestic hybrids in many public waters affected by acidification and related chemical problems. Despite the acid rain emergency, an Research Program, which the fund But as Webster and his colleagues impressive amount of "routine" work would help support. have repeatedly observed, treating the was still accomplished in the 1970s and water and the fish is a "Band-Aid" ap- early 1980s. Though practically all re- Broadly speaking, an improved under- proach to a problem that requires major search was in some way tied to acidifica- standing of the habitat requirements of surgery. Until the source of the acid is tion issues, much work was undertaken Adirondack fishes and, by integrating in- in the established course of experimen- formation on survival, growth, life histo- cleaned up, managers of waters such as ry, and management options, the devel- those on the ALC will continue to strug- tal management. Experiments in stock- U opment of new management strategies for gle just to make do in the face of a gi- ing "sexless" sterile trout that might recreational fisheries in the region. gantic environmental problem. If and have faster growth rates, in improving when acid rain is stopped, it may be that the color of trout, and other challenging The Fund was launched by an initial some lakes, their modest buffering ca- programs were developed and carried gift of $ioo,ooo from the Prescott Foun- pacities exhausted by years of acid out in the spirit that characterized the dation (Howard and Dessie Prescott drainage to their watersheds, will re- work of the entire Webster period. were Club members). By 1990, the Fund quire treatment for an indefinite In 1982, Webster established an en- had grown to more than $3oo,ooo. amount of time (so-called natural rain dowment for research, the Adirondack Dwight Webster died unexpectedly in is moderately acid anyway). For that Fishery Research Fund, at Cornell. The November 1986, ending an extraordi- and other reasons, the research into acid brochure announcing the Fund, pub- narily productive career. . . .lo "Doc" resistance now under way will have ben- lished by Cornell's Department of Nat- Webster's longtime Cornell colleague efits far into the future of Adirondack ural Resources, summarized the objec- and former student Dr. William D. fishery management. tives of Cornell's Adirondack Fishery Youngs immediately replaced him as

12 THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER leader of the Adirondack research pro- For all the great fishing that surely Though a few public waters were considered for, ject and as the ALC's fishery consultant. existed in the Club's early days, it is clear or briefly managed as, fly fishing only, it would be many years before such regulations received wide- Among the important objectives of the that today's sport is in many cases just spread public support beyond the confines of research work now under way is the de- as good, and in some cases may be bet- carefully managed private waters. Recent research velopment of an "expert system" for the ter. Judging from harvest records and an on many waters in North America has shown that analysis and management of waters in increasing level of interest among mem- many spinning and casting lures, especially those and outside the ALC. The expert system, bers, the same is probably true of hunt- with only one hook or group of hooks, are just as safe as flies for catch-and-release fishing, so there still in its early planning stages, is a logi- ing. is less biological justification than once was be- cal but ambitious outgrowth of past re- In all, the ALC is a living- museum of lieved for restricting waters to fly fishing. A sum- search and management. Among other sport. Through conscientious manage- mary of some studies of hooking mortality is fish-related projects is work with four of ment, the Preserve provides a wide as- Robert E. Gressell, "Hooking Mortality in Trout," New York State's eleven recently classi- sortment of opportunities, ranging Informational Paper No. 29, Yellowstone National Park, National Park Service, 27 April 1976. fied Heritage strains of brook trout. One from the most primitive walk-in condi- 6. William A. Flick, "New Trout for Old Wa- such strain, the Honnedaga brook trout, tions to the convenience of roadside (or ters," unpaginated offprint from the JuneiJuly 1971 now exists in only a few streams around planeside) fishing. Research has enabled issue of New York State Conservationist. that lake. Another Heritage strain, from managers to tailor both waters and fish 7. Dwight A. Webster, "Improvement of Sur- Horn Lake (once on a leased part of the to suit the needs of sport while at the vival in Hatchery Strains of Trout," presented at same time remaining sensitive to the Fish Culture Seminar, National Fish Hatchery, ALC), is also being given special atten- Cortland, New York, 19 November 1963; William tion, and will soon be placed in Panther ecological integrity of the setting. A. Flick and Dwight A. Webster, "Production of Lake. Not all such work involves trout. Though preference has often been given Wild, Domestic, and Interstrain Hybrids of Brook Little Moose Lake is one of only five to protection or reestablishment of na- Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) in Natural Ponds," Adirondack lakes containing the round tive fish, nonnative species have been Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada, given prominent places in many ALC vol. 33, no. 7,1976, pp. 1525-39; Dwight A. Webster whitefish, or frostfish, an endangered and William A. Flick, "Strain differences in brook species in New York, so the Little Moose waters where their chances for survival trout (Salvelinusfontinalis) and lake trout (S. na- Hatchery is raising fry to help ensure and for providing good fishing seem maycush) as related to management of Adirondack the welfare of this fish. best. Mountain waters, New York," presented at Stock The ALC today is a vital and still Concept International Symposium, Alliston, On- ALC SPORTTODAY growing organization, strengthened by tario, September 30-October 9, 1980; Dwight A. Webster and William A. Flick, "Performance of in- Forty years of consistent and inspired its long and often difficult history. A digenous, exotic, and hybrid strains of brook trout professional attention has given the ALC century -with all its adventurous times, (Salvelinus fontinalis) in waters of the Adirondack a range of sporting opportunities that in its mistakes, its hard-won knowledge, its Mountains, New York, Canadian Journal of Fish- many ways rival the turn-of-the-century scientific triumphs, and all its human eries and Aquatic Sciences, vol. 38, no. 12, 1981, pp. 1701-07. Adirondacks. In the folklore of every warmth and satisfaction -is a powerful 8. The literature on acid rain is immense and generation of trout fishermen, there is a legacy. The ALC has become more than many sources discuss the development of acid rain persistent belief that in the "good old protector of good sport; it has become research. A brief overview is Robert Boyle and R. days" the fishing was always fabulous. preserver of a singularly rich sporting Alexander Boyle, Acid Rain (New York: Nick Sometimes it was, but just as often it heritage of which every member and Lyons BookslSchocken Books, 1983) pp. 31-37. was not. In many places it is now im- guest should be aware, and should enjoy 9. Representative examples of recent studies on acid rain in the Adirondacks are: Martin H. Pfeif- possible to know just what the fishing as part of the special experience in the fer and Patrick J. Festa, Acidity Status of Lakes in was like; the records do not exist to tell woods and on the waters of the Pre- the Adirondack Region of New York in Relation to us. But after years of evaluating histori- serve. Fish Resources (Albany: New York State Depart- cal records, Dwight Webster came up - ment of Environmental Conservation, 1980); with the following conclusions about Adirondack Council, Beside the Stilled Waters ENDNOTES (Elizabethtown, N.Y.: Adirondack Council, n.d.); what primitive fishing conditions were Walter A. Kretser, James R. Colquhoun, and Mar- like in the Adirondacks. As you read The original chapter from which this piece is tin H. Pfeiffer, "Acid Rain and the Adirondack this, compare it with today's sport. excerpted is based on exhaustive research and ex- Sportfishery," reprinted from Adirondack Life, tensive citation. For the complete text and foot- MarchiApril 1983; Mary Jaye Bruce, "What Are We note section, please refer to Comstock's book. 1. The "large" brook trout present were Doing About Acid Rain?" Cornell Countryman, I. Alfred L. Donaldson, A History of the Adir- generally three to four pounds, rarely ex- April 1984, pp. 16-17; Howard Fish, "What Goes ondacks 2 vols. (New York: Century Co., i921), Up . . ." Adirondack Life, JanuarylFebruary 1988, ceeding this, with most of the fish run- vol. I, pp. 89-132. ning considerably smaller, even in the pp. 34-41 and 63-66. 2. Bisby Report, 1881, p. 8; Joseph Morris, A lo. "In Remembrance," in "Research for the good waters. Larger trout reported were Brief History of the Early Adirondacks and the Be- mostly from larger lakes inhabited by the Adirondacks" newsletter from Department of ginnings of Bisby (n.p., 1978); Katherine P. Dixon, Natural Resources, New York State College of multiple species complex noted . . . Activities of Bisby's Centennial Summer . . . (n.p., Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, 2. Lake trout in the large lakes com- 1978). Fall, 1986, p. I. 3. Joseph F. Grady, The Adirondacks, Fulton monly reached a size in excess of ten 11. Dwight A. Webster, "Proposal for Expanded pounds; although there is no clear idea of Chain-Big Moose Region, The Story of a Wilderness AdirondackiCatskill Fishery Research Program," the abundance of fish in this class, there is (Little Falls, N.Y.: n.p., 1933), pp. 168-69; Fred Ithaca, N.Y.: Department of Natural Resources, little doubt that even bigger fish (on up to Mather, Memoranda Relating to Adirondack Fishes Cornell University, 16 February 1971. twenty and thirty pounds) were often (Albany: Weed, Parsons 81 Co., 1886). 4. George B. Grinnell, "The Preserve System," present. In some lakes where adequate Forest ei- Stream, 26 June 1890; "Trouble in the records exist, the average size of the fish at Adirondacks," The New York Sun, 23 October 1892, the turn of the century was two to three Adapted from The Adirondack League is by its own admission "gossip" about the ALC, Club, 189o-i99o, edited and compiled by pounds, but this may have followed ex- but it does portray some common moods and at- ploitation of the larger individuals and titudes of the time. Edward Comstock, Jr. (Old Forge, New other changes.ll 5. The ALC and a few other private waters pio- York: The Adirondack League Club, neered this sort of regulation in the United States. 1990).

FALL 1995 13 Well- Cast Lines

THEs E WISE (and sometimes irreverent) quota- tions are from John Merwin's new book, Well-Cast EN first appeared as fishes. Lines: The Fisherman's Quotation Book (New When they were able to help themselves, York: Fireside, 19951, published this fall. John, a they took to the land. former executive director of the Museum, has Anaximander (circa 580 B.c.) turned up both old chestnuts and new favorites in this compilation of famous nuggets about fishing. We have gone through his delightful book and ex- cerpted the ones that particularly spoke to us; we think you'll enjoy these succinctperspectives on our sport and find a couple of new and bright truisms. EDITOR

but no man having caught a large fish goes Y favorite time on the water home through an alley. will continue to be dusk. Not day, not night, but the peaceful edge of Anonymous beauty in between. WD. Wetherell (1984)

F I D D L E R on a fish through waves advanced, He twang'd the catgut, and the dolphins danced. Arion (circa 600 B.c.)

" HEN do you mean that I have got to T N D when he struck his first cod. and go on catching these damned two-and-a-half felt the fish take the hook, a kind of big slow pounders at this corner for ever and ever?" smile went over his features, and he said, The keeper nodded. "Gentlemen, this is solid comfort." "Hell!" said Mr. Castwell. "Yes," said his keeper. Stephen Vincent Benet (1932) G.E.M. Skues (1932)

14 THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER to make littli fishes talk, they would talk like whales.

F I s H I N G , if I a fisher may protest, James Boswell (1791) Of Pleasures is the sweetest, of sports the best, Of exercises the most excellent, Of recreations the most innocent, But now the sport is marred, and wott ye why? Fishes decrease, and fishers multiply. Thomas Bastard (1598) THE reason that all other kinds of fishermen look up to the dry-fly purist is not that he catches more fish than they; on the contrary, it is because he catches fewer. His is the sport in its purest, most impractical, least material form.

William Humphrey (1978) u c KE R s are trash fish, an insult to divinity. They have chubby humanoid lips and appear to be begging for cigars. Bill Barich (1981)

BUT what is the test of a river? "The power to way of describing trout as if they were drown a man,)' replies the river precious and intelligent metal. darkly. Silver is not a good adjective to describe R. D. Blackmore (1895) what I felt when he told me about trout fishing. I'd like to get it right. Maybe trout steel. Steel made from trout. The clear snow-filled river acting as foundry and heat. Richard Brautigan (1967) R I s I N G fish. Sunset and scenery are at once forgotten. We must get that beggar! George Aston (1926)

FALL 1995 15 for the long-promised invasion. has a fish in his life that haunts him. So are the fishes. Negley Farson (1942) Winston Churchill (1940)

Paul Bunyan's Natural History of Fish WH EN you visit strange waters go alone. . . . Play the game out with the stream! Go to it completely GID D Y F I s H . They were small and very elastic, handicapped by all your ignorance. Then like India rubber. They were caught through holes all you learn will be your very own. in the ice during the winter. The method pursued was to hit one on the head with a paddle. This R. Sinclair Carr (1936) fish would bounce up and down. Taking the cue from him the other fish would bounce also. Presently all would bounce themselves out of the water onto the ice. There they were easily gath- ered up. B- E learned to cast with a fly rod, UPLAND TROUT.These very adroit fish built feeling that, cast by cast, he might their nests in trees and were very difficult to take. work his way into the terrain of his They flew well but never entered the water. They father's affection and esteem, but were fine pan fish. Tenderfeet were sent out into his father had never found time to the woods to catch them. admire him. W H I R L I GI G F I s H . Related to Giddy Fish. They John Cheever (1978) always swam in circles. They were taken in the winter months through holes in the ice like their relatives. The loggers smeared the edges of the holes with ham or bacon rind. Smelling this, the fish would swim around the rims of the holes, faster and faster, until they whirled themselves out on the ice. Thousands were thus taken. C. E. Brown (193j)

golfing acquaintance as he THE RE is nothing which in a turned loose a large trout moment makes a tired, despondent, he had just netted. "Why xm "4- perhaps hopeless man suddenly "go to all that trouble to catch a fish," become alert and keen as the hooking the exasperated golfer demanded, "if you of a big fish. don't want to eat it?" "Do you eat golf balls?" my friend Gilfrid Hartley (circa 1920) inquired. Corey Ford (1958) H E RE were lots of people who committed crimes during the year who would not have done so if they had been fishing, and I assure you that the increase in crime is due to a o M E people dwelling near the sea affirm thats of all Ging creaturesthe fish is lack of those qualities of mind and charac- ter which impregnate the soul of every the quickest of hearing. fisherman except those who get no bites. Aristotle (circa 340 B.c.) Herbert Hoover (1930)

as the urchin eats a cream bun- from lust. T. H. White (1936)

A o LO o K into the depths of the sea is I s H I N G is a means of meditating for to behold the imagination of the Unknown. me. Twirling the hook around and Victor Hugo (1880) F sending it out into the world, my thoughts go out into the world with the hook. I place my sadness on the hook and let the weights pull it down into the deep parts of the lake. Sabrina Sojourner (1991) TH E nice people don't come to the Adirondacks tdfish; they come to talk about the fishing twenty years ago. Henry Van Dyke (1890)

F a little madness be a necessary requisite to obtain the ultimate in the pleasure of angling- then, 0 Lord, give me insanity!

YEs , this sport fits me - physically, mentally, John Alden Knight (1936) psychologically. Why do I love trout? For the same reasons men do. Joan Salvato Wulff (1991)

Reprinted by permission from Well-Cast Lines: The Fisherman's Quotation Book (New York: Fireside, 1995).

FALL 1995 17 NOTES & COMMENT

Figure 2. ANGLERON A WINTRYLAKE, painted by Ma Yuan circa 1195, contains the earliest known illustration* of afishing reel. It was taken from 0. Siren's Histo- ry of Early Chinese Painting (1933) and Chinese Painting: Leading Masters and Principles (1956).

Origin of the Reel

INTRIGUED by the image of an early A river landscape entitled Fishermen, reel that appeared on a fourth-century painted by Wu Chen (1280-i354), shows A.D. plate at the Getty Museum (see The two anglers fishing with what by now American Fly Fisher, Fall 1994), author appears to be standard Chinese tackle Frederick Buller, a Museum member (Figure 3). It is particularly interesting from Buckinghamshire, England, was because one of the anglers seems to be prompted to send us an excerpt of his holding the line in order to feel a bite Figure I. These two illustrationsfiom book (coauthored by Hugh Falkus) -perhaps the earliest example of "touch the facsimile edition of T'ien Chu Ling Falkus & Buller's Freshwater Fishing, ledgering." It also has a curious feature Ch'ien were photographed for the which further explores images of early fly in that the lines fail to reach the end of authors by courtesy of the University fishing in Asian art. the rods, although this of course could Library, Cambridge. EDITOR be ascribed to artistic license. Further evidence of an early reel HE FIRST MENTION of a fishing comes in the form of an Armenian reel in English angling literature parchment gospel of the thirteenth cen- *On 18 December 1886 the Fishing Gazette pub- lished an extract from the Japan Mail referencing Toccurs in Thomas Barker's The tury, which is discussed in G. Sarton's an exhibition of antiquities which opened in Art of Angling (1651), but the reel had Introduction to the History of Science Tokyo on I November 1885: been invented long before that. Its ori- (1947) and Lynn White's Medieval Tech- There is one room, the contents of which alone gin seems likely to have been in the Far nology and Social Change (1962). Dr. will amply repay a visit. Its walls are entirely East: a Chinese painting of 1195 depicts a Joseph Needham in Science and Civilisa- covered with pictures by the old Chinese masters. type of fishing "wheele" in use five hun- tion in China, vol. 2 (1965), sketches the Two of them, gems from an antiquarian stand- dred years before The Art of Angling. historical links between China and Ar- point, hang inside a case which stands at the en- The 1195 illustration was soon fol- menia, showing that techniques could trance. They are painters of the Sung period- have been transferred from one to the Baian and Riushomen-and, apart from the lowed by others. The book T'ien Chu merits as works of art, one of them established Ling Ch'ien (1208 and 1224), a facsimile other. the fact that reels were used by Chinese Anglers of which has recently been published by In the book Sun Tshai Thu Hui (1609) in the eleventh century. (Our emphasis.) Cheng Chen-To, has two wood-block il- there is a very clear illustration of a rod If there is substance in this report, then the Chi- lustrations showing anglers using reels and reel being used for turtle fishing- a nese invention of the fishing reel is older than is (Figure 1) similar to the one painted by method still common in China today presently conceded. Ma Yuan a few years earlier (Figure 2). (Figure 4).

18 THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER Figure 3. F I s H E R M E N. A river landscape painted by Wu Chen (1280-1354). Detail ofpainting in the Freer Gallery of Art Library, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

In circa 1850, according to Charles tle change. When I toured China in sion [Figure 5]), I had assumed that line Chenevix Trench in A History of Angling March 1986 to discover more about ear- recovery was achieved by rotating the (1974), a certain Dabry de Thiersaut no- ly reels, I was astonished to meet a Bei- reel with the appropriate index finger ticed the reel being used in China. The jing angler who was not only fishing poked between two spokes. picture once more illustrates turtle fish- during the bitter northern winter, but One morning all uncertainties as to ing with a characteristic Chinese-style using an ancient handleless spoke reel how the reel functioned vanished after "spoke" reel (Figure 5). similar in every respect to the one de- my companion Francis Plum spotted a Chenevix Trench commented on the picted in use more than eight hundred group of local Chinese, some of whom similarity of this reel to an earlier Chi- years before. There follows a short ac- were fishing with reels which appeared nese reel but made no comment on the count of my quest. to be identical (except for the materials obvious differences, viz: used) to those shown in the early paint- (a) The 1850s reel possessed a wind- ings. ing handle whereas the older reels did As soon as we had recovered from the not. excitement of this discovery we settled (b) The spindle of the newer reel did In March 1986, I went to Beijing in down to watch and photograph the an- not pass through a hole in the rod han- the hope of studying the original paint- glers fishing a match. dle as it must have done in the old mod- ings which depict the Chinese using Whereas 20-foot roach-poles were els and certainly does in the reels cur- fishing reels nearly five centuries before used almost exclusively for float-fishing rently used in China. Instead, we can see the earliest illustration of the reel (1662) (a method not requiring a reel) the reels from the illustration that the reel was ei- appeared in European angling litera- were used by anglers who were ledger- ther slung below the rod for a right- ture. ing, enabling them to make long and ac- hander-or perched above the rod (like Locating these paintings, some of curate casts; accuracy being a necessity a multiplier) for a left-hander (Figure which had been reproduced in various in the case of one angler who was using 5). We prefer the first option because books on Chinese art and technology, five rods and casting out his baits in an five out of the six Chinese anglers so far occasionally proved elusive because impressive fanlike pattern. depicted are right-handers against the many of them were now possessed by Sure enough, as I had guessed, the in- one left-hander. foreign museums and art galleries. dex finger was used to wind in the line (c) Notice the rod is fitted with two Throughout" the centuries the classi- and playing fish presented no hazard. rings which are placed ideally for a left- cal Chinese drumless or spoke reel ap- Hooked fish were dealt with in the tra- handed fisherman using the reel on top ueared to accommodate line around six ditional way-that is to say, the rod was of the rod! to twelve "cats cradles:' each of which moved upwards and backwards when- (d) The rod button fitted to the rod is sat on the end of a spoke making up ever the fish gave ground (or water) and like the one depicted on the title page what looks like a miniature nine-spoke then it was lowered quickly to facilitate (Figure 6) of The Experienc'd Angler rimless cartwheel. line recovery by means of equally quick (1662). Since the reel was not provided with finger-winding of the reel. Throughout the centuries, Chinese a handle or handles (although a handle After chatting to the Chinese fisher- fishing tackle has shown remarkably lit- is depicted in a nineteenth-century ver- men through our interpreter, we discov-

FALL 1995 l9 IN T H I s P o E M , the poet reveals that anglers have used silk for a thousand years and since the technology of silk spinning in China is at least twice as old, we can only guess at the antiquity of the Chinese fishing reel.

A Poem of Silk and a Fisherman Foam resembling a thousand drifts of snow. Soundless, the peach and pear trees form their battalions of spring. With one jug of wine And a fishing line, On this earth how many are as happy as I? I dip the oar- in the spring winds the boat drifts like a leaf: A delicate hook on the end of a silk tassel, An island covered withflowers, A jugful of wine. Among the ten thousand waves I wander infreedom!

Liyu (936-978): Fisherman's Song Translated from the Chinese by Hsiung Ting (1947) Figure 4. This early seventeenth-century 1 illustration shows a Chinese angler using a rod and reel for turtlefishing. For hun- dreds, perhaps even a thousand years, the Chinese havefished with seemingly iden- ered the whereabouts of Beijing's best in the normal the porcelain ring at tical rods and reels, Photograph of the tackle shop where we were soon able to the end of the stem is 'lightly angled in- is courtesy of Dr. Joseph r\Teedhnm, handle and purchase three versions of wards so as to reduce line drag. , the classic spoke reel. Technically, the reel possesses two surprising features which may or may not have been present in the reels de- Note also, that many use to fish for a picted in the old paintings. First, the Since many accounts relating to the Salmon, with a ring of wyre on the top of reel- otherwise free-running and check- their Rod, through which the line may reel in English angling literature are in- run to as great a length as is needful when less-could, with a simple turn of a accurate and confusing, we append a he is hook'd. And to that end, some use a knurled nut, be locked so as to provide simple chronology. wheele about the middle of their rod, or the facility of an anti-reverse. Second, to First mention of the reel: Thomas nearer their hand, which are to be ob- prevent overruns, hand-braking is Barker, The Art of Angling (1651); served better by seeing one of them than achieved by applying thumb pressure to strangely, it was used by a namesake of by a large demonstration of words. a special drum-shaped wooden exten- Barker's: sion of the spool. Second mention of the reel in rela- Casting with the spoke reel is easy One of my name was the best Trouler for tion to salmon fishing was by Thomas for all those able to cast with a single- a Pike in this Realm. . . . The manner of Barker in a further edition of The Art of action revolving drum or multiplying his Trouling was, with a Hazel Rod of Anglzng-now retitled Barker's Delight reel. twelve foot long, with a ring of Wyre in (1657). This edition also introduced a the top of his rod, for his Line to run line drawing of the reel with the A special long-stemmed butt-ring through; within two foot of the bottom of has to be used in conjunction with the "spring" fitting, which enabled the posi- the Rod, there was a hole made for to put tion of the reel to be varied: classic Chinese spoke fishing reel. It is in a wind, to turn with a barrel, to gather whipped on to the rod 15 inches above up his Line and loose at his pleasure. . . . [Ylou must have your winder within the reel axle. two foot of the bottom to goe on your rod The ring center of %-inch bore is Repeat mention of the reel: Thomas made in this manner, with a spring, that made of porcelain and is mounted on Barker, in another edition of The Art of you may put it on as low as you please. the end of a 2%-inch stem thus ensuring Angling (1653). that line, as it is recovered, is guided First mention of the reel in relation In The Arte of Angling (1577), attrib- straight on to the reel. to salmon fishing: Izaak Walton, The uted to William Samuel, there is an in- Since the rest of the rings hug the rod Compleat Angler, second edition (1655). teresting remark. Piscator says:

20 THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER The American Museum of Fly Fishing Box 42, Manchester,Vermont 05254 Tel: 802-362-3300. Fax: 802-362-3308 JOIN! Membership Dues (per annum*) Associate* $25 Sustaining" $50 Benefactor $100 Patron* $250 Sponsor* $500 Corporate* $1,000 Life $1,500 Figure 5. Dabry de Thiersaut's picture of a reel, circa 18-50. Membership dues include the cost of a subscription ($20) to The American Fly Fisher. Please send your application to the membership secretary and include your mailing address. The Museum is a member My Master that taught me to angle could of the American Association of Museums, not abide to catch a Ruffe; for if he toke the American Association of State and one, either he would remove or wind up Local History, the New England Associa- and home for that time. (Our emphasis.) tion of Museums, the Vermont Museum and Gallery Alliance, and the International Now, what was meant by that? Did Association of Sports Museums and Halls Piscator's master wind up his line round of Fame. We are a nationally accredited, his rod; or on a line-winder? Or was it a Figure 6. The title page ofRobert Ven- nonprofit, educational institution chartered reference to an early reel? If so, it is cer- ables's The Experienc'd Angler (1662) under the laws of the state of Vermont. tainly the first in English literature, pre- has caused much confusion. The left- ceding Barker's by seventy-four years. hand rod has a knob on the butt resem- SUPPORT! That two of these proposals are not bling the recent screw-in button. The As an independent, nonprofit institution, unreasonable can be seen from develop- right-hand rod, however, has what seems the American Museum of Fly Fishing ments in other countries, namely a Chi- to be a gun-butt. In fact, it is not part of relies on the generosity of public-spirited nese painting by Tu Shu Chi Ch'ing de- the rod at all, but a bait-horn standing in individuals for substantial support. We picts an angler fishing with a pole with front of the rod. Another bait-horn can be ask that you give our museum serious spare line hooked round the rod, and in seen on the shelf; top left. consideration when planning for gifts and France (according to Charles Chenevix bequests. Trench) Liger's book Amusements de Campagne (1712) illustrates a hand-held VISIT! bobbin round which spare line is through, doubtless to be taken up on a Summer hours (May 1 through October wound. Indeed, we are told that even line- frame. 31) are lo to 4. Winter hours (November 1 today some Japanese still favor the sys- The use of a top ring in conjunction through April 30) are weekdays lo to 4. tem of winding spare line round a cleat with a line-frame or "winder," before We are closed on major holidays. attached to the butt section of their the use of a reel, is not on record. Is Pis- rods. cator's remark the first hint? BACK ISSUES! Although not impossible, the pro- The first illustration of an identifiable Available at $4 per copy: posals seem unlikely. One of the inter- reel is on the title page of Colonel Volume 6, Numbers 1,2,3,4 mediate authors -Mascall, Dennys, Robert Venables's The Experienc'd An- Volume 7, Number 3 Markham, Lauson- would surely have gler (Figure 7).This, like most of those Volume 8, Number 3 mentioned the reel had it been in use. other early reels, had a "pin and hole" Volume 9, Numbers 1,2,3 According to the Oxford English Dic- fitting and was fastened with a wing Volume lo, Number 2 tionary the first use of "wind up" (circa nut. Volume 11, Numbers 1, z,3,4 1205) referred to the hoisting of sails. It The methods used in fastening" the Volume 12, Number 3 was subsequently used in the figurative reel to the rod give the all-important Volume 13, Number 3 sense: "To sum up, or conclude." In all clues to the age of reels. First. the vin Volume 15, Number 2 probability Piscator meant simply that fastening thrGgh the rod butt (cka Volume 16, Numbers 1,2,3 his master would "pack up and go 1650-1700). Next, the spring-clip and Volume 17, Numbers i,2,3 home." the spring-clip with leather padding Volume 18, Numbers 1, z, 4 All the same, it is worth remember- (1657-1880). Finally, the modern type of Volume 19, Numbers 1, z,3,4 ing that before a reel could have been reel seating with sliding bands on the Volume zo, Numbers 1,2,3,4 used there must have been a hole or a rod butt. These dates are very rough, for Volume 21, Numbers 1,2,3 ring at the rod top for the line to pass it is impossible to establish an exact

FALL 1995 21 Heaven

Fish (fly replete, in depth of June, Figure 7. A detail from the title page of Colonel Robert Venables's The Experi- Dawdling away their wat'ry noon) enc'd Angler (Figure 6) also contained Ponder deep wisdom, dark or clear, thefirst identifiable illustration of afish- ing reel, or "winch." The reel is enlarged Each secretfishy hope orfear. and the crudeness of the drawing calls for Fish say they have their Stream and Pond; some textual support to convince the more skeptical reader that it really is in- But is there anything Beyond? tended to represent a fishing reel. This is This life cannot be All, they swear, provided on pages 44-45 of The Experi- enc'd Angler: "The next way of Angling For how unpleasant, ifit were! is with a Trowle for the Pike, which is very delightful, you may buy your trowle One may not doubt that, somehow, Good ready made, therefore I shall not trouble Shall come of Water and of Mud; my self to describe it, only let it have a winch to wind it up withall. For this kind And, sure, the reverent eye must see offish your tackle must be strong, your A Purpose in Liquidity. Rod must not be very slender at the top, where you must place a small slender We darkly know, by Faith we cry, ring for your line to run through." Thefuture is not Wholly Dry. Mud unto mud!-Death eddies near- Not here the appointed End, not here! chronoloev", and it seems clear that the various methods overlap considerably. But somewhere, beyond Space and Time The modern type of seating was illus- Is wetter water, slimier slime! trated by Daniel in 1807, but it seems that earlier versions were sometimes And there (they trust) there swimmeth One bound or nailed on. Who swam ere rivers were begun, The idea of two sliding bands on the rod butt may seem a fairly simple engi- Immense, offishy form and mind, neering device, but it has to be remem- Squamous, omnipotent, and kind; bered that in order to clasp the reel firmly the rings need to be on a slightly And under that Almighty Fin, resilient surface. such as cork. and cork The littlest fish may enter in. handles were not in use until much lat- er. Cholmondeley-Pennell, in Fishing Oh! never fly conceals a hook, (1885), wrote: Fish say, in the Eternal Brook, Some reels are-or used to be-fitted But more than mundane weeds are there, with a circular clasp underneath. . . .With butts such as are now the fashion, howev- And mud, celestially fair; er, sloping rapidly away from the handle, these fastenings have naturally become Fat caterpillars drift around, obsolete. And Paradisal grubs are found; So it can reasonably be assumed that Unfading moths, immortal flies, the spring-clip, or "circular clasp" as Cholmondeley-Pennell called it, was in And the worm that never dies. use until about 1880. And in that Heaven of all their wish, FREDERICKBULLER There shall be no more land, say fish. Excerpted by permission from Falkus & Buller's Freshwater Fishing by Hugh Falkus and Frederick Buller (London: Stanley Paul, revised edition, 1988).

22 THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER OME ITEMS in the Museum's collection stand out ters were longtime friends of Museum patrons Jean and more than others. Hemingway's Hardy fly rod, for in- Michael Kashgarian. With the assistance of the Kashgari- Sstance, is asked about more often than, say, a stan- ans, the Livingston collection found a permanent home at dard old Horrocks-Ibbotson shaft. One such item is 91- the American Museum of Fly Fishing in 1991. 28.50, the Livingston fly wallet (pictured above), which As Long Island residents, the Livingstons, not surpris- has awed Museum visitors for four years now. The vintage ingly, bought most of their tackle at Abbey & Imbrie. The flies and hand-drawn sketches are absolutely beautiful. collection includes local tacklemakers such as Empire City The wallet, however, is part of a larger collection of (an A & I trademark), Vom Hofe, Leonard, and Kiffe. The tackle donated by Helen H. and Elizabeth A. Livingston, collection is truly complete, including tackle boxes, flies, through Museum friends Jean and Michael Kashgarian. leaders, fly wallets, rods, reels, nets, creels, scales, a leader The collection belonged to Robert LaRhett Livingston cutter, and artwork such as cut-out tracings of impressive (1844-1907) and his son Robert Forsyth Livingston catches. One of these is even drawn on birch bark! (1886-1950). The importance of this collection lies in the fact that Robert Forsyth Livingston, a resident of Long Island the two generations of Livingstons were lifelong amateur for almost all his life, held a deep fascination for the water anglers who showed taste and discretion in their selec- that would sharply influence his life. He worked in the tions. There are no Hardys in this collection, but neither marine insurance industry, built his own sailboats (as well are there any Horrocks-Ibbotsons. The Livingston collec- as beautiful cabinets and weather vanes), and fished his tion is testament to the average-quality tackle owned by entire life. fishermen from the 1880s to 1950, and so, as a whole, is Livingston's collection of angling apparatus passed to valuable to students of the history of fly fishing. his daughters, Helen and Elizabeth, of Northfield, Con- necticut (they later lived in an old stagecoach inn that they restored in Brookfield, Vermont). The Livingston sis-

Photograph by Cook Neilson FALL 1995 23 Museum

Vest Patch. Museum logo, hunter Gift Shop green with silverlgray...... $5 UpIDowner Hat. Durham Ranger Pin. Museum logo, hunter green fly. Specify bright blue or tan with silver...... $5 supplex ...... $18 Baseball-style Hat. Durham Ranger fly. Corduroy available in burgundy or teal. Supplex available in bright blue, teal, or tan ...... $14

T-shirts. Museum logo, specify hunter green with white or heather A Treasury of Reels: gray with hunter green ...... $12 The Fishing Reel Collection of The American Museum of Fly Fishing by Jim Brown, photographs by Bob O'Shaughnessy. Deluxe edition is handbound and boxed, with a signed and numbered print by John Swan. $450 each. Available in paperback for $29.95. 25th Anniversary Poster. by Terry Heffernan (20" x 30") $19.95 Ceramic Mug ...... $6 Please add $5 for postage and handling for this item.

"A Painter's Angle" "Two Artists" C.D. Clarke Luther K. Hall & David M. Carroll (26" x 20") (26" x 20")

Please make checks payable to AMFF and send to PO. Box 42, Manchester, VT 05254. Telephone orders: 802-362-3300. Mastercard, VISA, and American Express accepted. $3 postage and handling for first item, $1 for each additional item. "Lost Pool" LIMITEDEDITION PRINTS "Battenkill Afternoon" by John Swan (15 %" x 26%") by Peter Corbin (30" x 22") edition of 400 Printed on acid-free paper, ample borders. 25th Anniversary Edition of zoo $95 each Each signed and numbered. Postage and $175 each handling included.

"The World of Salmon" "Wind Clouds" by Ogden Pleissner, (26" x 22") "Anglers All: Humanity in Midstream" "Berwanger's Pasture" "Casting" by Winslow Homer by Thomas Aquinas Daly (9%"x 14") (18" x 24") EXHIBITIONPOSTERS $25 each Printed on high-quality glossy stock with ample borders. Each poster is $15.

"Time On the Water" by John Swan (26" x 20") "An Artist's Creel" "Water, Sky, & Time" by Peter Corbin (26" x 23") by Adriano Manocchia (25" x 22")

Please make checks payable to AMFF and send to PO. Box 42, Manchester, VT 05254. Telephone orders: 802-362-3300. Mastercard, VISA, and American Express accepted. $3 postage and handling for first item, $1 for each additional item. Tinlothy Achor-Hoch

by Jon Mathewson REGISTRAR AMFF on TV Watch for the Outdoor Life Channel's "Fly Fishing the East with Mark New Director Bradley," premiering sometime after the Craig Gilborn started full speed as first of October. Every week, Bradley the new executive director on August 7 visits the American Museum of Fly and is already driving the Museum in Fishing and talks to Registrar and Act- new and exciting directions. His top ing Curator Jon Mathewson about vari- uriorities relate to helping- the -general ous varts of the Museum's collections. public better appreciate the history and Kathleen Achor craft of fly fishing because at present the New Faces exhibits do not do justice to the artifacts The publications department of the and visual material in the Museum's American Museum of Fly Fishing is from a long line of Adirondack boat collections. Other areas needing atten- pleased to announce that Kathleen builders and guides and has so far im- tion include education programming, Achor has been hired as the new man- pressed everyone with her quick and ef- especially outreach efforts, and the Mu- aging editor of The American Fly Fisher. ficient conservation work on the Cush- seum Shop. Stay tuned. She has assumed the daily responsibili- ner collection. ties of ushering this journal through its ClarkeIAbraham Opening editorial and production stages. Her ex- Tune Us In on the Internet Our exhibit of C.D. Clarke's oils and tensive editorial background includes The Museum has a place in cyber- watercolors and Darryl Abraham's work as an editor at World Wildlife space! To find us on the World Wide three-dimensional sculpture opened to Fund in Washington, D.C., and with the Web, use our URL address: an enthusiastic crowd on August 25. American College of Obstetricians and htt/://~~~.gorp.com/cl-angle/ The Clarke exhibit, "A Painter's Angle," Gynecologists. She lives with her hus- canecoun/museum.htm includes twenty-five outdoor sporting band Tim Achor-Hoch, an art director landscapes. Abraham, whose specialty with the Orvis Company, in West has been the recreation of rural Ameri- Pawlet, Vermont. Margot Page will stay Wanted: Films of Fly Fishers can life in miniature, exhibits nine fly- on as editor. The Museum would like readers to fishing scenes. The artwork will be on Jan McCormick started in July as the help it find and perhaps acquire movies display until 30 November 1995. Museum's newest intern. Jan comes showing fly fishers at work. The film need not have been professionally pro- Margot Page duced, although a segment of President ~isenhowerat"a favGite stream in Col- orado -perhaps for one of those news- reels that used to be shown before the feature film -is exactly what the Muse- um should have in its librarv. Home movies, the earlier the better, can amuse and instruct. And where is the silent film in which Buster Keaton, playing a fly fisherman, casts and the fly catches, unbeknownst to him, on the seat of his pants? Finding resistance, he gives a yank and does a somersault into the wa- ter. Paul Schullery, in American Fly Fish- ing: A History, likens fly fishers to dancers: George LaBranche's "delicate precision," he finds, was "sort of the Fred Astaire of the dry fly, and [Lee] Wulff, with his athletic power, was the Gene Kellv." Movies of LaBranche, Executive Director Craig Gilborn, Darryl Abraham, C.D. Clarke, and Trustee Tom Wulff, and others would lend support to Rosenbauer at the recent Museum opening of Abraham's and Clarke's works. this claim. Astaire and Kelly live in their

26 THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER films and not their still pictures, which is why one prefers seeing LaBranche and Wulff in action and not just in stills. A museum exhibit can come to life with an aptly chosen portion of film on a loop player. So send us clues for finding movies of men and women fly fishing. Old film can be transferred or copied, so the Mu- seum need only borrow it and not ask for ownership. Recent Donations Henry M. Gridley of Slingerlands, New York, dropped by with a wood carving of a brook trout. The award- winning piece was sculpted by Fritz and Elaine Ralph. A truly wonderful work of art, it currently welcomes visitors to the Museum. D~~ phillipson of ~~ld~~,colorado, The American Museum of Fly Fishing welcomes its new executive director and presented us with some odds and ends his family at a summer reception. From left Museum President Richard Tisch, formerly belonging to his father, ill Amanda Gilborn, Alice Wolf Gilborn, and Executive Director Craig Gilborn. ~hillipsbn.1ncl;ded in the donation are various pieces of jewelry related to fly fishing, as well as salesmen's samples of sent three pamphlets he authored and mont) Chapter of Trout Unlimited. The rod tubes and five copies of Don illustrated about ten years ago; Ray hat was made to support TU's efforts to Phillipson's newly published Brief Histo- Salminen sent us four of his Finn restore the Clyde River, once famed for ry of the Phillipson Fishing Rods. (For salmon flies. its runs of landlocked salmon. See the more information on the Museum's col- Karen and Kevin Coffey of Irasburg, summer issue of Trout magazine for lection of Phillipson paraphernalia, Vermont, dropped off a nicely made hat more details. please refer to The American Fly Fisher, from the Northeast Kingdom (Ver- Richard Hoffrnann, regular contrib- Spring 1995.) utor to The American Fly Fisher, Michael Coe, who recently re- .--. .. -. -... . --: sent us the May 1995 issue of the located to Heath, ~assachusetts, Autumn Museum Schedule Guelph ~chth~olo~~Reviews (no. popped in on his way through gj, which features an article by town with one of the more exot- SEPTEMBER 22 him. The article is extremely in- ic donations of past years. On a Chicago DinnerIAuction teresting, dealing with the deple- trip to Bali last spring, Professor University Club of Chicago tion of fish populations and the Coe noticed that the local com- remedies to restore them in Eu- OCTOBER 27 rope during the twelfth century. mercial fishermen use artificial Boston DinnerIAuction flies to ply their trade: about a Charlie Mann of Winthrop, Tara's Ferncroft Conference Resort hundred flies (of various materi- Maine, gave us a fly of his own als) are attached to a line held by Danvers, Massachusetts design called the Governor An- hand behind a swiftly moving OCTOBER 28 gus King fly, one of which will be catamaran. They are apparently Annual Meeting for Members and Trustees presented to its namesake, the quite effective in nabbing mack- Tara's Ferncroft Conference Resort current governor of Maine, later erel. Ironically enough, the Danvers, Massachusetts this year. William J. Young I11 of hand-held line is stored wrapped Canandaigua, New York, sent us around a large culm of bamboo. NOVEMBER 2 a limited edition print of John Tom Daiello of Lecanto, Flor- Hartford Area DinnerIAuction Swan's wonderful painting of ida, recently donated a Young The Country Club Iceland's Laxa River. Ron and reel; Gordon Wickstrom of Farmington, Connecticut Sally Glogg of Montauk, New Boulder, Colorado, donated a NOVEMBER 17 York, presented us with an ex- 1976 letter sent to him by none Philadelphia DinnerIAuction quisite and rare Garrison salmon other than Vince Marinaro; Jim Adam's Mark Hotel rod in memory of Ned Houpt. and Kelly Watt of Issaquah, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Craig Gilborn, whose name Washington, gave the Museum you certainly should recognize twenty-five different entries in DECEMBER 7 by now, donated two books: their "Fly Fishing Video Maga- San Francisco DinnerIAuction Faust's Fly Fishing the Coastal zine" series, currently available St. Francis Yacht Club Gulf Streams and Wild Impres- for viewing in the Museum's San Francisco, California sions: The Adirondacks on Paper, Leigh and Romi Perkins Au- Please call the Museum, (802)362-3300,for details. written by Georgia Barnhill and diolVisual Room; John Betts edited by Alice Wolf Gilborn.

FALL 1995 27 March 0. McCubrey kindly deposited his back, which casts his shadow, along his thesis, Diana of the Maine Woods: An with that of his rod. on the uground. We Analysis of Cornelia "Fly Rod" Crosby's want to simplify the figure to lend cur- Involvement in Women's Outdoor Sport- rencv to it in the eves of moderns. but ing Culture, in the Museum's library. we don't want to completely give it up. Ken Callahan of Peterborough, New What little likeness there is of Dawson is Hampshire, gave us a copy of his new lost anyway, because the detail of the book, A Dictionary of Sporting Pen engraving is nearly always lost in the Names, and the Adirondack League printing. What do you think of the Club of Old Forge, New York, presented logo? The Museum staff welcomes your us with history of their organization, o~inion. The Adirondack League Club, 1890-1990, We also challenge yo3 to devise an an excerpt of which begins on page 2 of English" or Latin motto or ~hrasethat this issue. might appear with the logo in the man- Last, longtime friend Lothar Martin, ner of college and school emblems and of Berlin, Germany, popped in with a the Great Seal of the United States (E bag of rods he brought with him on his vluribus unum). The vhrase should be annual trip to Vermont. The rods, now Your Thoughts? brief and apt. Your suggestions will be part of the collection, include a Mil- George Dawson, whose figure has published next year on these pages and ward's Bartleet and seven vintage Hardy served as the logo for the American Mu- the winning motto, to be chosen by the rods, including a General from 1922 and seum of Fly Fishing since at least 1971, staff, will earn the contributor $100 a more recent Neocane Mallard. Not was the first American to publish a book worth of merchandise from the Muse- bad for a surprise visit. The bearded on fly fishing, The Pleasures of Angling um Gift Shop. Send your suggestions to Martin, sack over his shoulders, was a with Rod and Reel for Trout and Salmon. Craig Gilborn, Executive Director, The true reminder that the holidays are al- The original engraving can be seen American Museum of Fly Fishing, P.O. most upon us. more than once on these pages. It is re- Box 42, Manchester, VT 05254 by 1 All in all, a very enriching quarter. alistic, showing Dawson with the sun on March 1996.

Terri L. Hendrickson

CONTRIBUTORS

Paul Schullery, who was director of the Museum from 1977 to 1982, is senior editor in the Yellowstone Center for Resources, Yellowstone National Park. He has written for a wide variety of technical and popu- lar publications, including The New York Times, BioScience, American Tohn Merwin is the author and/or editor Forests, National Parks, Encyclopedia of more than a dozen angling-related Britannica Yearbook of Science and books. His numerous articles have av- the Future, Country hurnal, and a peared in such diverse magazines as Town batch of outdoor magazines. His & Country, Fly Fisherman, Atlantic Salmon twentieth book, Yellowstone's Ski Pi- Journal, and many others. During the late oneers: Peril and Heroism on the i97os, he was an editor at Fly Fisherman Winter Trail, was published this and during the 1980s was the founding edi- summer. tor and publisher of both Fly Tackle Dealer Three books - a "coffee-table and Fly Rod & Reel magazines. He now book about Glacier Park, a book of serves as a contributing editor to Field & readings about Yellowstone wolves, Stream magazine. Merwin is a former exec- and a flv-fishing" novella- are utive director of the American Museum of scheduled to come out next year. He Fly Fishing and has also served on its board is an affiliate professor of history at of trustees. He will soon publish Well-Cast Montana State University and an Lines: The Fisherman's Quotation Book adjunct professor of American (New York: Fireside, 1995), which is ex- Studies at the University of cerpted on page 14. Wyoming.

28 THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER Is There a Visitor in This Audience?

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H o v I s I T s the American was their life, their way of relating. Museum of Fly Fishing? Do you have time for a thesis?" A Questions like this could Virginian quoted a line in the wbe expected from the new kid in Maclean book, "' . . . [A111 good class. But it's the first impressions of things-trout as well as eternal sal- newcomers that are often the most vation-come by grace and grace insightful. comes by art and art does not come Ninety-five people answered a easy.'" questionnaire I left in the reception Regarding the various aspects of area of the Museum during July. It "interest" about fly fishing listed, re- was unscientific and incomplete (pas- ing up to replace its elders. Twenty spondents, who could check any or all sersby should be quizzed at random), home states were given, with New Eng- items, marked "History" most often, but useful in a broad-brush way. I be- land and the middle Atlantic states hav- followed by "How to Catch" and "Fa- lieve in the commandment "Know thy ing fifty-eight out of the eighty-one re- mous Fly Fishers." Other items-"Tack- visitor," which, given a membership sponses given to that question. le," "Ethic," and "Art" - came up less of- scattered across North America, is dif- Manchester, Vermont, known for its ten, roughly sixteen times each. ferent from "Know thy audience." The upscale factory outlets, was a "destina- Fly fishing motivates our visitors, distinction may elude the reader, but tion" for 73 percent of the respondents; who by and large are supportive of what I'm counting on fly fishers' reputation however, 79 percent said they came not they find in the Museum. They're will- as hair-splitters for indulgence here: vis- "principally to shop." Fly fishing moti- ing to pay an admission fee instead of itors are one category of audience and vated most to visit the Museum: 77 per- offering a donation and would pay be- the readership of TheAmerican Fly Fish- cent said they were fly fishers and fifty tween $2 to $5. However, sixty-two out er is another. out of eighty-two had fished in 1995, a of seventy-one who responded to this Visitors filled out the one-sheet ques- number of those within the last week or question said, in effect, that changing tionnaire after their visit. Respondents month. Some likely came from the the exhibits would make no difference did not necessarily answer every ques- Orvis school a half-mile distant. to them. Given their familiarity with A tion. They were mostly men (82 per- Fly fishing: is it mainly for men and River Runs Through It, the respondents' cent) and first-time visitors (82 per- rich people or for catching dinner? Re- lack of criticism comes as a surprise. This cent). The great majority were vacation- spondents said no to these stereotypes. leads us back to the beginning and the ers (83 percent) accompanied, on aver- Is it a sport for "loners"? Less certainty unscientific quest to know thy visitor. age, by one other person. They were was shown here, though the majority From the questionnaire I conclude older-the age groups thirty-seven to rejected that proposition as well. "I'd that the Museum and its exhibits attract fifty-five and fifty-six to sixty-five re- like to learn to fly fish or go" fly fishing visitors who are among the converted. turned forty-five and twelve question- got nearly every respondent's vote. The task ahead is wooing a larger audi- naires, respectively, and three were six- The film A River Runs Through It had ence, lacking information about and in- ty-six or older. The young adult groups, been seen by 73 percent and 43 percent terest in the sport, but whose curiosity eighteen to twenty-three and twenty- had read the book. A literate crowd, can be attracted to a fly. four to thirty-six, were well represented they understood the centrality of fishing with twenty and fifteen questionnaires, in the lives of the brothers and their fa- which implies a young generation mov- ther. A Michigan visitor commented, "It THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF FLY FISHING, a nationally accredited, nonprofit, educa- tional institution dedicated to preserving the rich heritage of fly fishing, was founded in Manchester, Vermont, in 1968. The Museum serves as a repository for, and conservator to, the world's largest collection of angling and angling-related objects. The Museum's col- I lections and exhibits provide the public with thorough documentation of the evolution of fly fishing as a sport, art form, craft, and in- dustry in the United States and abroad from the sixteenth century to the present. Rods, reels, and flies, as well as tackle, art, books, manuscripts, and photographs form the ma- jor components of the Museum's collections. The Museum has gained recognition as a unique educational institution. It supports a publications program through which its na- tional quarterly journal, The American Fly Fisher, and books, art prints, and catalogs are regularly offered to the public. The Muse- um's traveling exhibits program has made it possible for educational exhibits to be viewed across the United States and abroad. The Museum also provides in-house ex- hibits, related interpretive programming, and research services for members, visiting scholars, authors, and students. The Museum is an active, member-orient- ed nonprofit institution. For information please contact: The American Museum of Fly Fishing, P. 0. Box 42, Manchester, Vermont 05254,802-362-3300.