CHAIN PICKEREL SEPTEMBER, 1942 TEN CENTS OFFICIAL STATE VOL Xl-No. 9 PUBLICATION ' ANGLER/ SEPTEMBER, 1942

PUBLISHED MONTHLY ARTHUR H. JAMES by the lOvernor

PENNSYLVANIA BOARD OF FISH COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA COMMISSIONERS BOARD OF FISH COMMISSIONERS

Publication Office : J. Horace McFarland Co., Crescent and Mulberry Streets, Harrisburg, Pa. Executive and Editorial Offices: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Board of Fish Com­ missioners, Harrisburg, Pa. CHARLES A FRENCH 10 cents a copy — 50 cents a year Commissioner of Fisheries

MEMBERS OF BOARD ALEX P. SWEIGART. Editor CHARLES A. FRENCH, Chairman CHARLES K. FOX, Acting Editor Ellwood City South Office Bldg., Harrisburg, Pa. JOIIN L. NEIGER Scranton JOSEPH M. CRITCHFIELD NOTE Confluence Subscriptions to the PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER CLIFFORD J. WELSH should be addressed to the Editor. Submit fee cither Erie by check or money order payable to the Common­ wealth of Pennsylvania. Stamps not acceptable. J. FRED MeKEAN Individuals sending cash do so at their own risk. New Kensington MILTON L. PEEK Radnor CHARLES A. MENSCH PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER welcomes contribu­ Bellcfon te tions anil photos of catches from its readers. Proper credit will be given to contributors. EDGAR W. NICHOLSON Philadelphia H. R. STACKHOUSE Secretary to Board All contributions returned if accompanied by first class postage. Entered as Second Class matter at the Post Office C. R. BULLER of Harrisburg, Pa., under act of March 3, 1873. Chief Fish Culturist, Bellefonte

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Permission to reprint will be granted provided proper credit notice is given. VOL. XI. No. 9 ^ANGLER/ SEPTEMBER, 1942

OLD FRIEND By SPARSE GRAY HACKLE

NTO me came the Rodmaker, weeping. He had I'm not that good. Rut I think a good man could get just spoiled a fifty dollar rod. As he explained it, 90 or 100 feet with him. And not only that, but he U no two pieces of bamboo are exactly alike and makes each cast a sweet, clean job, throwing a high much of the fine art of rodmaking consists of adjusting back-line and, on the forward cast, lifting the whole the tapers to suit each particular piece of wood. This extended line for extra distance with the final upward time he hadn't. flip of the tip. He picks up bass bugs and spinners so "It was the hardest stick I ever found," he wailed. positively that they never dive and then jump out "The middle joint turned out so powerful that the tips into my face. couldn't keep up with it. I had to cut five inches off As to handling fish, he doesn't play them—he fights the top ends to balance the action, and of course that them. He goes after them with both hands, yet he destroyed the fly-casting delicacy." rolls with their punches so that he never gets hurt. I thought fast. This was not a cut-down rod in the Once, he made short work of a seven pound bluefish, usual sense; the action was balanced. Strong wood, a and if he had a detachable butt I wouldn't hesitate to powerful middle joint, heavy ends on the tips; a little put him up against a 25-pound salmon. short, to be sure—a 9-foot, three piece rod of five Old Friend is scrappy. Once, when a young pup ounces with metal reel seat, cut down to 8 feet, 7 inches. persisted in paddling across my line after several Rut it just might be that rare rod, a really good bass warnings, Old Friend threw a narrow loop which hit bug fly rod. the young pup in the neck and almost knocked him "I will buy your short-horned beauty if you will make out of the canoe. Rut he is a born ladies' man; they an extra, full length tip from another stick, matching fall for him at the first cast. In fact, my wife has been the action the best you can," I said, flashing three five- known to shed tears of fury, and jump up and down, dollar bills. At this generosity, the Rodmaker fainted. when denied his companionship. He's a great friend of Rut when he revived, he accepted the deal. Ready cash kids, too; when rigged with his full length tip, he catches is a rodmaker's weakness. bluegills and perch for them by the hatful. When the rod came, I put a C level line on it and He has taught more people to cast than I can re­ took it out in the tail of the Wagon Tracks Pool to try. member. He has a way of taking a beginner's downward I gave a little switch to get out some line for a cast, back cast and lifting it up safely over the stones, and and the line ran out through the guides as if someone he not only carries their dribbling forward casts out were pulling it. It was a marvelous roll-caster. I straight, but puts a stylish "grasshopper" hump on the started casting. There seemed to be no limit to the end to show them how it should be done. He's easy and length of its reach. And every time it picked up the confident, always on time but never hurrying them; cork bug with decision and turned it over on the for­ and that heavy line he uses just pulls itself out of their ward cast to drop accurately where I aimed. Finally, hands and makes them shoot line in spite of themselves. I let the line run downstream and just stood there, Old Friend has caught bluefish on 6-thread cutty- shaking hands with myself. It was the rod of my dreams. hunk, and panfish in shoals; he has roll-cast night- Since then it has become my Old Friend, and we crawlers across the creek without snapping them off; have gone through the wars together. He is a fast, he has cast all kinds of bugs except the heaviest, aggressive welterweight—a hard hitter, a crafty ring streamers and spinners all day long without tiring my general, a stark infighter and a battler who can take arm. With his long tip he's a pretty good wet fly rod it as well as hand it out. He can roll out 75 feet of C and he can cast a dry fly if necessary. level line, with a leader and spinner besides, on a switch Like me, Old Friend shows scars from the battering cast and with a succession of such casts I have fished that life has given him, and sometimes I think that his along the shore of a lake for half an hour at a time back, like mine, isn't quite what it used to be. Rut without taking my line out of the water. there's a lot of life in him yet, and I expect that he and I Just how far he can cast a bass bug I don't know— will go down the hill toward the shadows together. PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER SEPTEMBER 1«42 PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER SEPTEMBER AND PICKEREL 'A Stream and Pond, This Streamlined Battler Is a Worthy Target for Both Fly and Casting Rod

By DICK FORTNEY

{TOR a whole month, in a long, deep pool in of the state the bass have begun moving into combination I had tied for myself. He asked me i. Wyalusing Creek, a fine and vicious pickerel deeper water and are more difficult to catch with to toss the lure into the water nearby so he could ued his time in keeping a date with me last artificial lures. Rut the good old pickerel still see it in action. r'limer. He made a monkey out of me the first is on the job, as vicious and mean and as full I did—and from behind a rotten old stump • pte we clashed, but the second encounter ended of fight as ever. streaked a pickerel that took the spinner so Ij8 swaggering career and converted me to the You can go pickerel fishing no matter whether savagely it was imbedded in his gills and bent °<; sport of late summer pickerel fishing. it is raining or the sun is shining, whether the entirely out of shape. The fish was 20 inches 0f y what you will about his place in the roster weather is clear or cloudy, or hot or cold, and long. Same fish, the pickerel is a worthy antagonist, regardless of the stage of the water. Ever since, I've not passed up water like that. Sood fighter, and a trickster. He should be on Rut although he is ready to give the angler ^"favorite" list of every Pennsylvania angler. battle at every opportunity, the pickerel has Good Pickerel Lures 1 he pickerel feeds when he is hungry, and he some bad habits—just bad enough, one might Pickerel are caught with both live and artificial ,.*Ys no attention to fly hatches, weather condi- say, to make him interesting game. lures. *>s, and water temperatures. He has an irritating habit of following the lure Frogs picked up along the shore line (but not , And when he is not hungry he slashes with without striking, it seems almost purposely al­ the green ones which are edible when they be­ j^'ous abandon at anything within reach of his lowing himself to be seen by the angler in the come adults) are excellent. A frog about the j ^P-toothed jaws that might turn out to be an process. Many so-called experts have offered size of a human thumb is about right. In most '•ruder on his feeding grounds. remedies for such a situation, but none can cases it is necessary to weight the bait to get it 0 out to get back to the pickerel in Wyalusing agree on a single sure-fire maneuver. down into the water, although occasionally a Vftsek, I'll offer my own system if it will help—cuss pickerel may take a frog that is kicking and L V e firs* met the morning of July 18, when I was the pickerel and keep right on fishing. Just swimming on the surface. »^'ng out a new casting lure, the Sunspot Spoon. ignore his insulting ways, and maybe he'll get Live minnows of medium size also are effec­ s*ood on a high embankment, with the sun al- sore enough at you, in return, to strike the lure. tive baits. °st directly overhead, and cast the lure across Another point to remember. The pickerel is The fly rod fisherman has a good artificial lure leep pool. The retrieve was about half com- vicious and has a swell set of teeth, but also it is in the spinner and fly and in the Size 4 or 5 spoon ^ted, with the spoon in clear view all the way, a fact that his mouth is tender. with feathered gang hook. Red and white color .i^n the pickerel appeared out of nowhere, hit He'll take hold of a plug or spoon, and if you combinations, incidentally, are especially at­ , e lure with a smashing strike, and then while do not strike immediately he'll quickly let go tractive. t* the other fellows said) I stood there like a the lure. Easy to do, you say? Yes, except For the casting rod, the spoon type of lure is ^ °h with my mouth hanging open in surprise, that you must remember that in setting the hook probably the favorite, and weed guards and Proceeded to get rid of the stinging hook with you'll tear the lure out of his mouth if you are too pork strips are necessary to bring out the full •ew maneuvers of his racy body. heavy handed. effectiveness of this type. HhA a" C0U^ see that the fish was a good one, If you go bait fishing for pickerel, similar pre­ Small, bass size underwater plugs also are k. **y common consent he was ticketed as my cautions are necessary. The pickerel likes to excellent. Many anglers lean to the red and eat if I could outsmart him. mouth live bait, and the hook must not be set white color combinations in these. Perch, shiner, ' returned to the pool later in the day, but the too soon. And when it is set the angler must and frog finish also are good. I have a friend who Won brought no results. Then a jointed min- keep in mind the tender construction of the has had the best luck with plugs of various K * type of lure was used, and the pickerel ap- pickerel's mouth. shades of yellow. „;*red for Round 2. Rut he was only fooling We could eliminate a lot of detail and avoid Rut no matter what the artificial lure, whether v.18 time, for he just lashed a fight blow at the trying to burden our minds too much, incident­ for fly rod or casting rod, remember this fact: the v 8. neatly avoiding the hooks, and then ally, if we set down one conclusion: pickerel lure must have plenty of action! Wished back into the depths of the pool. are where you find them. And you're likely to The pickerel does not like dead lures. Glitter ILA hit more than a month later I returned to find them anywhere. and flash of color; wriggling action, as provided ^e Pool, and the vision of that large pickerel A friend of mine has caught them on bass- by the jointed plugs, and darting and swimming ^ still in my mind, bugs. I've taken as many as three or four out motions are sure fire. Pickerel lures must be jj* thunder storm was gathering. The sky of a comparatively small, rocky pool. Some­ moved through the water swiftly, too. Ruilt as J?8 dark, and a fresh wind raised little waves times they are in the.weeds, and sometimes right he is, the pickerel can catch up to and seize a (J °ver the surface of the water. Half a dozen out in the exposed middle of a pool. Or they may lure no matter how fast the retrieve may be. J^ts were made, with a Johnson Silver Minnow, be feeding in shallow flats. I've only skimmed the surface, probably, in 'Jjhout a strike. Old log ponds and beaver dams are likely to suggestions for pickerel fishing, but I'm con­ .the first big drops of rain began to fall, and I provide shelter and feeding grounds for them, vinced that if you try pickerel fishing in Penn­ j. c'ded on one final cast before seeking shelter and dammed-up sections of bass streams are sylvania waters you'll not react to the pickerel 0|u the storm. especially fertile fishing grounds. the way a guide named Ren did when I was on t, t was then that the pickerel and I fought Or you may have an experience like I had a my first fishing trip in Canada. 'Hnd 3 couple of summers ago not far from Williams- It was the first morning in camp, and while ^ he spoon was within ten feet of shore when, port. breakfast was being prepared I simply could 3™ju out of nowhere, he came lashing into ac- It was at the end of a fruitless day of angling, not sit still. I- got into a boat, rowed off the te **• This time he was solidly hooked, and he when every fish in the stream seemed to be on a rocky point of a small island in the lake, and gained hooked although for a couple of min- hunger strike. It was early in September, and cast a spoon. f. e5 he arched my bamboo casting rod with the the water had cooled off nicely, yet the fly and Quickly I got a hard strike, and I reeled into 5> of his battle. spinner I was using had failed miserably. the boat a pickerel 20 or 22 inches in length, fat (j**e was exactly 22 inches long and weighed I came eventually to a truck farm owned by and beautifully marked. q ° and one-half pounds. His teeth were a an old friend, and noticed some other anglers I rowed back to camp, picked up my prize, and Sjjjter inch long, and the chain markings on his along the shores of a gut on the farm, so I proudly approached Ren with the comment: es Were large and deep in color. walked over for a bit of conversation. This gut "Isn't it a beauty?" contained catfish and sunfish, and I found sev­ "A darned hammer handle," snapped Ren as September the Month eral men perched on the banks still-fishing. he advised me to toss the pickerel back into the > ePtember is the month for pickerel fishing. One old chap was interested in the fly used lake, eat my breakfast, and then go out for some °ut fishing has ended long ago; in many parts with my spinner—a red and white deer hair real fishing—for small-mouth bass. p PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER SEPTE MBE

FISHING IN LAKE LEBOEUF By W. E. BRIGGS

ERHAPS few people have seriously con­ creek. Finally he broke water so I set the hook or fish; if you want to visit I will put you ash0 , P sidered the effect of obstructions on streams, and started to play the fish, but succeeded in and I will go fishing!" Believe you me soffle, j especially the larger streams in Erie and Craw­ getting back only about fifteen feet of line. The the old fishermen took their musky fishi ° ford Counties in northwestern Pennsylvania. musky had conveniently taken a turn around a seriously. . These obstructions interfere with the free move­ submerged limb. I stood with a snagged line for It has been my good fortune to have kn°* ment of the muskellunge. about 10 minutes thinking that he might un­ intimately many enthusiastic musky fisherWe The readers who have finished the first para­ tangle himself. Giving this up, I decided to un­ Some gone to their reward and some still g01 ,y graph, some who know the writer, will turn on dress and wade out where the musky was fouled strong. But for fear of slighting someone I * the heat alleging that his chief interest in fishing hoping that I might get him with my gaff hook. refrain from mentioning any more names; b° is the Old Fresh Water Tiger. To this accusation About ten feet from shore I dropped in over ever, you may be sure that in my book of me\[ I plead no defense. my head but hung onto the line and swam out to ories they will all be classified as nature's noi> Forgetting this for the moment, I would like the submerged tree where I succeeded in getting to describe some of the major musky waters in astride a submerged limb about 4 feet above the As a result of a previous article, "Fishing tot the above mentioned part of the State. First, and fouled fish. After slashing at the fish for about Muskellunge," my good friend, George Ga11 j I think the best, is French Creek. The source of 10 minutes with my gaff, it broke loose and I was Meadville, Pennsylvania, reminded me that I J1 . this stream is near Sherman, New York and literally left out on a limb clothed in nothing but neglected to mention his favorite way of fisn* , flows through Erie and Crawford Counties to a large swarm of hungry mosquitoes. What a I will now try to square myself with George- Tin- the Allegheny River at Franklin, Pennsylvania, subject I would have made for a picture in THE kind of fishing he refers to is called "plouting' Venango County. The approximate length of ANGLEHI This is done with a long cane pole with a reel a this stream in Pennsylvania, I would say, is This part of LeBoeuf Creek is now practically line. The line is let out to a length slightly 1° ,. about 50 miles. This stream is all natural musky barren of fish life due to a series of beaver dams than the pole, and a live sucker or chub is .a '• waters. Perhaps the best part of the stream is which have stopped the free movement of the tached for bait. This method of fishing recfuir ' from Meadville all the way upstream near the fish. There is one dam now that is not more than two in the boat; one to handle the boat white * New York State Line. one-half mile upstream from the lake. This is a other stands in the bow of the boat with the P° 0 French Creek has many tributaries to lakes and good argument, I believe, not to permit our With an easy swinging motion with the p '^. , ponds that are excellent musky waters. Un­ furry engineers to build any dams in the outlet drops the bait near the weed beds or shore " fortunately these lakes and ponds are cut off of Lake LeBoeuf. without using any line from the reel. Then by dams which prevent natural migration. This I would like to mention some of the musky retrieves in the same way bringing the bait B» 1 is true of Conneaut Lake, Drakes Pond, and fishermen that I have known intimately. I large arc around the end of the boat. Wit' Edinboro Lake. Lake Pleasant is a small spring refer to them not only as fishermen in the truest little practice the fisherman can soon place fed lake and the outlet is too small for these sense of the word but as men of substance and bait with deadly accuracy just where he wants 1 fish to negotiate. This leaves only Lake Le- character, respected and admired by all who Many prefer this way of fishing for the mUS1ke ' Roeuf. The outlet flows about 4 miles from the knew them. The late Charles E. Fish, was an lunge when there are two in the boat. lake to French Creek, and this is obstructed outstanding example. Charlie, as he was called At the risk of being accused of writing preventing the free movement of the musky by all his many friends, was a progressive and article for the express purpose of building up from the creek to the lake. successful farmer and a great lover of outdoor reputation as a muskellunge fisherman 1 , To "clinch my idea that the muskellunge will life. His one weakness, if you care to call it that, going to relate one experience that furnished •>' go upstream as far as the water appears safe and was his desire to fish. He would fish for trout and one of the greatest thrills, and at the same tin1' suitable for his existence, let us consider Le- even suckers in the early season, But when the one of the bitterest disappointments in all of j1 Roeuf Creek, the inlet to Lake LeBoeuf. This is musky season opened it was muskies from then on fishing. It happened one night on Lake ** quite a sizeable stream. Years ago, before my to the end. To him such items as fly rods, Boeuf. I had cast my bait well ahead of the b° - time, there was a dam in this stream about one- tapered lines, tapered leaders, the royal coach­ and had retrieved about 10 feet of line whe° half mile up from the lake at the Judson and Hip­ man, etc. were irrelevant, immaterial, mere felt a slight tug. This was so light it might haV pie Flour Mill, and another dam about 2 miles kindergarten stuff; so he confined his efforts been the bait hitting a weed. I held my \,, farther upstream at Lattimer's Saw Mill. Many solely to the serious business of musky fishing. still for a short time and finally it moved past years ago the dam at the flour mill was breached, It was back in the horse and buggy days that boahoatt. from the bohow to the sternstern , taking ououtt ah and shortly afterward a few muskellunge began I knew Charlie. About any nice evening in the 150 feet of line; then it stopped. In a few miinut

l*1 SOME big-mouth bass are located in your where carp abound in tremendous quantity? length guarding its nest. What appeared to be "shing territory and if it is your practice to Carp spend most of their time in the deepest several thousand little fellows less than half an ?° after them with plugs or kindred bait casting water, whereas bass are pretty well scattered inch in length covered a small area on the bottom J; s> let's compare notes and see if our expe- about. Furthermore, when the bass are on the making it look black. It was above a deep hole ences and ideas coincide as to how to fool some nests the carp are spawning, and at such a time not far from some riflles. In the clear water I ^h now and then. the latter are looking for something other than could plainly see a few carp slowly working their Pennsylvania has two separate and distinct food. way toward the head of the pool. When these J(Pes of big-mouth fishing which require totally One late May day on the Conodoguinet Creek carp, one of which weighed over 10 pounds ap- T^erent tactics. They are separate sports and I was watching a male bass about 16 inches in (Conlinaed on Page 17) QouJd be treated as such. The one type is fish- 6 for bass in water which is normally muddy ""a the other is fishing for bass in water which is •^Ually on the clear side of average. About half "iy big-mouth fishing has been in the one en- Tonment and about half in the other. The ,.ear water fishing is the more varied but I be- eve the muddy ponds often contain more bass per acre. . 1 he muddy pond fishing is the more standard- ed of the two for there is but one line of attack r °ne method of fishing. I have in mind several Ponds which day in and day out are so muddy at many a bass fisherman would take one look 1 them, turn up his nose, say, "Bah! dwarf cat- ? '" and leave in disgust. But these -ponds ave yielded some amazing bass catches and they ave an Deen made in the same manner. The Method of procedure is very logical but before e go into that let's examine the environment. The muddy ponds, as a rule, are shallow with ^Uddy bottoms. The carp in them stir up this ud, when they move about and feed, to such an J^ent that it is impossible to see your hand nen it is submerged 8 to 10 inches, ^arp are vegetarians and they stir around a J?eat deal among the roots and stems. In fact tQer y eat so much vegetable matter and create S,.o much mud in some ponds that only certain *,°ds of vegetation can withstand the onslaught "T1*! keep abreast of the carp supply. Certain ater plants apparently cannot thrive in muddy ater. This is probably because the rays of the Un cannot penetrate to the necessary depth and, r* a result, germination cannot take place. Thus *°uld probably be useless to introduce certain liatic plants in this environment. The common Patterdock with its large pads, heavy fibrous .lerns, and chubby roots is ideal. It not only f rftis a continuous food supply for the carp and iPfage fish, but it provides shelter for all kinds of ..e in the pond. In my opinion, the great solu- i,0n for bare bass ponds which have been rUined" by carp is the extensive planting of Patterdock roots in the shallows. One dis- tivantage of spatterdock is that it is not l*Pposed to be as good for wild ducks as wild 'ce, wild potatoes, and wild celery, but the latter /Jay not even be able to grow in this shallow, uddy, carp-infested type of pond. But here we J7ay be getting away from the subject, although 'wild life deserves attention. , arp are very prolific fish. The young along '"> other food fish furnish a tremendous food Pply for the bass. As a result, we find a fine *e of growth of bass. It is hard to find many ., ^g carp in any bass water. The answer is . at the spawn is feeding something which in fi u ^eeds the bass, and bass and certain other i ™ are devouring young carp. The carp are e'Ping to make a better food supply in the pond. ye frequently hear fishermen state that they b, 'eve the carp destroy the spawn and nests of it ; This may sometimes occur but I believe ls exceptional. Have you ever noticed that e of Pennsylvania's best bass fishing is 6 PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER SEPTEMBER

HIS fisherman shall never forget his first present, she's gotten over it, long since; re­ only by hearsay and from the printed . Tmeeting with old gelatine-eye, the pike, turned to normalcy so to speak . . . somehow The small creeks in our native county, Ada"1' neither the time, the place nor the setting. By or other it does seem strange how those eternal did not produce wall-eyes, perhaps pick*r ' my side that long ago afternoon pirouetted a and everlasting and unto the world-doth-end but if the latter I've never run into them. * starry eyed little lady, only recently elevated to moonbeams and star-dust will evaporate, but thermore, we sought six or eight pounders, the then ethereal dream world dignity of a then water always seeks its own level, and brass less, the same kind which came into the ne* "missus" . . . and at this stage still belabored will be brass and men are only men. Anyway paper office from time to time for photograph111 wilh a disarming if disillusioning confidence in only a month or so ago we rounded out two full and later publication. her brand new hubby's ability to powder any­ decades of bitterly contested angling rivalry Now the very uncertainty of this fishing gfj thing which might come along, and that was . . . intermingled therein and entwined with a is what makes it so interesting. Seemingly lt that! As a matter of fact and to clarify the like span of more or less placid domestic felicity always the one least worthy of reasonable e . . . and that isn't, doing so badly nohow, not pectation who hits the jack pot. Furthering ; nowadays! besides watching over the very dumb, "? All the world recognizes a bride at sight . . . surely must hover very closely about newly*e that is all the world except another bride! No but then perhaps newlyweds fulfill all the doubt the half dozen stream worn veterans fish­ quirements for classification as "very dumb • ' ing thereabouts that sunny day secretly smiled sometimes to hear people talk one would tb^.,) to themselves . . . she was nice to look on and anyway. Imagine driving thirty miles, *D awfully determined. All tried to be helpful and merely stopping at a nice place to park, * freely pointed out the best water ... so they the river looked pretty and the shoreline ea8' II said . . . but they didn't do any fishing in it! and walking right up to a school of giant ** In a strange country and upon different topog­ eyes! Enthusiastic for action, it is Burpi*1™ raphy for the first time, the Juniata River how quickly we got it; likewise, how futi'eJ looked like the Atlantic Ocean to eyes accustomed As previously hinted, the bass fisberB1. only to small countryside creeks. thereabouts were kindly and free of advice- , And this plugging thing almost entirely new boat load, just putting out from shore, BfflT fl . . . just as new as the shiny coupe parked on long enough to say: "No, we never caught 00 the roadside. But strange to say as judged by salmon here, but you find 'em along the p * e modern standards our new outfits were not al­ Might try them rocks up there!" Dubiously, together inappropriate. Separately since in­ assembled, and your correspondent-to-be wa , fancy we had indulged some considerable live into the river—as far as hip boots perm' \L- a bait or rudimentary fly fishing, and plugging Before me and off the rocky eddy, the * promised a new horizon . . . big bass . . . looked ten feet deep. (In truth it's nine at ° Susquehanna Salmon. The author may well mal stage.) Mrs. King meandered around s" g er 8 remember his rod, a 6 ft. 4 in. bamboo, as he leafy brush and waded into the stream P ^ K» 1 still employs the same tool upon occasion, al­ hundred feet above, selecting an easy, ska ways on wall-eyes. The new Mrs. King carried gradual slope toward the depths. And ^^i^- nt a 53^ ft. steel job, selected by herself and per­ the third cast my heart stood still. Rig 8 haps it might be well to explain why. The little hind the pork rind, deep down, came a long j lady, full of caution for one so young, not yet 21, shape. Nosing the white strip, the fish did and mighty anxious to cook up a mess of per­ attempt to mouth it, turning slowly into . sonally captured fresh fish for her new hubby seemingly bottomless blue right beyond the 8 , did not intend to battle big stuff with flimsy bam­ tip. The next cast brought the big boy > "j .|)g boo . . . she wanted steel, no less. She in­ only this time he plainly snapped at the wi## .js tended to give them the works and made no strip of white as it lifted upward to elude bones about it. Both of us boasted hard braid jaws. The following cast duplicated the P j silk lines, 9 lb. test, black in color, no leader ceding two excepting that in desperation whatsoever, ditto swivels, the lures mostly metal stopped reeling with about a rod length of » in composition, pork rind wobblers and the like. dangling and the big pike grabbed the lure <•» gently dropped bottomward. Bitterly we batt' j Quite definitely we were looking for Susque­ I giving not an inch of line as he turned tail Miss King shows what Pappy caught. A 26 inch, hanna Salmon. Neither of us had ever seen a (.Continued on Page 20) 5 pound plus Juniata wall-eye. real live wall-eye, knew Stizostedion vitreum 1942 PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER 7 SEPTEMBER BASS FISHING By BOB HANSON

I HAVE often heard the statement that if you face trying to free himself of that innorent look­ afternoon with those battling hungry bass of , *ant to catch some really large bass, the time ing fly. I then sounded again for the depths. A late September. j. catch them is in September. Once when I was few wild dashes here and there and the strain of As I walked along the shore line towards my ,r a " >g the Shannaclough River in July for bass the rod began to tell on this old warrior; finally car, my thoughts returned to the nativo bass *ar Limeton, Virginia, I had caught three he began to weaken and in a short time he was fisherman whom I had met on the Shannaclough ^"y nice small-mouth bass when I happened to in my landing net—as fine a bass and as thrilling River in Virginia, and who had said to me, "Mr. g*t Up wjln one 0f ihe native bass fishermen. a strike as any fisherman could wish. Northerner, if you all want to catch some mighty ,e asked me if 1 had any luck, and when I dis­ I fished the water around this log for 15 or 20 big bass, you all want to fish in the latter part of ced the three big bass I had caught, he said, minutes without getting any more rises so I September." I must admit that native Vir­ . r- Northerner if you all want to catch some moved down the shore line for perhaps 50 yards ginia bass fisherman knew his baas. Sho enough, 'snty big bass, you all want to come down here towards some bullrushes. I cast my fly to ex­ I do not like to write anything about fly fishing I ' Csh in this old Shannaclough River, the plore the pools between the reeds, and I cast as there has been so much already written that *r part of September and you sure will catch again and again into each inviting looking recess it is confusing to anyone who wishes to take up i "Je big he bass." I regret to say that I never without results. Then, just between the weed bed fly fishing. I do not profess to be an expert and c, ~ the opportunity to fish in the ole Shanna- and the shore, there was a tremendous splash, I am just one of those ordinary fishermen you ., ll8h River late in September to discover if the • the ripples were widening out for some distance meet along the streams in a day's fishing. How­ . VkSB given to me by the native fisherman was on the surface of the water. Retrieving my line ever, I will admit that the most of the fishermen h. about the big he bass of the Shannaclough in a hurry and getting all set for action, I whipped I have met who are just starting to fly fish use ' * * d retrieve my the tempting morsel. I sharply twitched the rod liv i rn'sed and hooked a nice bass and had a tip to set the hook when the bass was out of the t^ 5r tussle before I brought him to net; I tried ^ °r three more casts in this place but without water. After that bass hit the water again, did X Access. be go places in his mad rushes! I tried to check J^oli owing the shore line for some distance I his antics after he came out of the water. It was amusing the way he tail-danced trying to free >th» T UDOn an °ld, partly submerged log and himself of the lure but all to no avail as the O|J Setup looked promising for a hide out of an leader and lure were strong enough to meet his cha t.ac't'e busting bass. I had visions of the savage antics. I kept him away from the reeds 0|,. ^og bass that had catapulted themselves so he would not foul my leader. This bass put up ' an *neu" 'airs on summer evenings of the past. a really great battle for his freedom. However, Hollaed up on that old log as though it held the strain of my fly rod was too much for him so *iuVUe 'ess tnan a six-Pound bass. When 1 got he began to weaken. The battle was concluded e»ri casting distance, I dropped my fly on the by the way of my landing net; it was a beauti­ C^ the log that was sticking out of the water, ful bass and he was chuck full of dynamite. He ^ g Save it a slight twitch which caused the fly had fought a gallant fight but the odds were p uUer down as if it had fallen off naturally, 0f against him as he was hooked securely. Placing ^d H, oreatnless instant the fly lay motionless this bass carefully in my creel, I made two or lWi n tne water churned as a bass took it and three more casts but did not get so much as a o^ i?d back under the log. I put all the tension swirl. Since the sun was getting low on the %t )*** the rod would stand, and finally got him horizon and a chilly wind began to ripple the tjjjj11 the open water; with a whoosh he came surface of the water, I decided to call it a pleasant Opening night of the season catch of Z. R. Leslie of ^ °ut of the water and danced on the sur- Somerset, made in Lake Gordon. 8 PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER SEPTEMBER Joe Rife's Big Carp or All Fishermen Are Liars By CLARENCE GLESSNER

ACCORDING to everyone except Druggist boiling spot. This was followed by much splash­ Once out of the water, the carp's true size ** *"*• Doc Kerlin, Joe Rife was the laziest man in ing, and the line cut back and forth through the revealed. A rippling sigh of admiration we" town. Several of the self-appointed local moral­ water like a blade. For ten seconds there was over the crowd like a summer breeze. ists who, for some peculiar reason, felt the weight perfect quiet. Then a huge fish tail, as broad as a "That baby sure is the granddaddy o( 'e of Joe's lost soul upon their sad consciences, door, came out of the water and slapped the sur­ all!" cried Fatty. ,< called him "the most shiftless and good-for- face, making a sound like the crack of a small rifle. "I'll bet he was here long before the Indiafls' nothing man on earth." And because Joe, under "Good Lord!" yelled Fatty. "Come help me, added Pacer Moltz. , the benevolent protection of Doc Kerlin him­ some one!" His hands on his hips, Joe gazed smilingly self, slept off his frequent attacks of innebriation There was a moment of hesitation among the the catch and estimated the number of drinks " on Mrs. Doc's front porch, she had dubbed sleepy creek loafers. Then suddenly, as if could buy after selling this one to Mrs. Eiche him "Littletown's own Rip Van Winkle." awakened by the village fire alarm, they scurried berger. Nevertheless, Joe was a kind of legendary and stumbled to Fatty's aid. By this time he "How you gonna carry him, Joe?" asked Fat*-' character in the village. In spite of the home was little more than a temporary, light anchor "Guess we'll have to haul him on a wW town reformers' relentless campaign to humanize to the fish and was in danger of being dragged any barrow," said Joe. him, he continued to thrive on his own perverted moment into the foamy water below the dam. Some one returned in a few minutes from tD system of drinking and cursing. When the The carp was exerting a steady pull on the line village with Doc Kerlin's wheelbarrow. Joe f aromas of spring smothered the village and the like the strain of a team of mules. Fatty gritted moved the side boards and the fish was carp began to bite, Joe headed for the old mill his stubby, black teeth and leaned backward lifted/* dam where he spent his annual, all-summer vaca­ dangerously. His round body was tilted at an the vehicle. But when Joe tried to wheel it, * ., tion fishing and drinking. angle, setting the full weight of his three hundred head of the fish dragged on one side and the ** Joe was the dean of local fishermen. Doc and twelve pounds against the quick, twisting on the other. Kerlin used to say that if the creek went dry, plunges of the adversary. When Pacer Books and "We'll have to cut 'im in half," decided J°e, , Joe could catch fish in an oats field. And Doc Horny Mutch reached Fatty's side, they were just The carp was severed through the middle v' was probably right. While everyone was cussing in time to save the round man from ':eing teetered a knife and a meat cleaver brought to the ere the fish for not biting, Joe pulled all varieties into the water by one of the fish's flashy capers. from Mrs. Eichelberger's kitchen. Doc Ker'1' ' regularly out of the old mill race. The super­ Just then some one yelled, "Here comes Joe! trailing his wheelbarrow, had now arrived on t Don't let him get away!" stitious townsmen claimed that Joe had mystic scene. fl powers and cast spells on the fish which made Joe, wabbling as he walked, emerging from the "Say, Joe, how in the world were you able them bite on his line only. However, the best fringe of locust trees along the creek bank. He land such a big fish without him tearing y° anglers in town simply admitted that the truth called out calmly, as if this were an every-day line?" asked Doc. _ e of the matter was that Joe was just a better experience, "Take it easy, fellows. Don't tear Then, answering quickly without taking t1"1, fisherman than any one else. He was the only the hook out of his mouth." to think about giving away the secret of . one in town who knew how to make doughball Joe's presence immediately quieted the ex­ famous doughball bait, Joe answered, '>v*, bait for carp that would stick on the hook in citement. He collected enough line from the Doc, I mix my dough with whiskey. That ma^ | water. The secret of manufacturing this famous fighting fish so that he was able to wrap several the fish so drunk that they are easy to IBB*| bait he would tell no one. feet of the twine around a wet, protruding joist Now, gentle reader, if your skepticisin . Joe was an unorthodox angler. When every­ of the dam. Then he cut the line from his rod. aroused by this "fish story," your reaction j one was trotting to the creek with new steel rods, This was at twelve-thirty P.M. Joe's expe­ perfectly normal. Of all those who heard «* | artificial bait and boxes full of shiny, new tackle, rience in landing big carp told him that he had Joe tell this tale as he sat with his feet dang1'* Joe, no sign of fishing equipment about him, several hours of struggle and waiting ahead. He over the edge of the dam, there is only one PerS lumbered on the path to the dam. His fishing settled down calmly to his task. who ever believed it. Old Joe himself. rod, a long, bamboo pole from Doc Kerlin's drug Allowing the coating of creek slime and moss store cellar, he kept hidden in a drain pipe near on the heavy timber around which his line was the mill. wrapped to act as a lubricant to keep from cutting Joe's specialty was catching carp. A ball of his his hands or wearing the line thin, Joe played dough was always good for three or four large and worked the fish in the long job of tiring him. leather-backs. When he caught a big one, he When the fish became active and ran and swirled, would take it to Mrs. Eichelberger, the only one Joe let him have a few feet of encouraging free­ in town who ate carp, and sell it, regardless of dom. There were moments during the next two weight or size, for a quarter. His next stop was hours when the line became so slack that it ap­ then the hotel bar. peared as if Joe had lost the greatest of all his One day, after Joe had sold a piece of his catches. However, after these periods of quiet famous doughball to an admiring city fisherman, there came a quick rift in the water and the carp he went up to the hotel to get a drink of whiskey. went on the rampage, twisting, and diving fran­ It was the day he caught the big carp which the tically. At no time did he lift more than part of people in our town still talk about. He left his his back or tail from the water. Finally he rod beneath a large rock, with his dough baited showed signs of tiring, and became contented hooks lying in the deep hole where it was said with angrily slapping the top of the water with Joe bred and educated his carp. his broad tail. Suddenly, Joe's bamboo pole began to jerk. By this time the fish's chances of escape had All the idlers who were loafing at the dam that diminished, but the crowd of spectators on the day were afraid to lift the line for fear Joe would creek bank had increased. With his line wrapped be angry when he returned. Rut the twitching of safely around his hand, Joe walked to a gravel the rod tip became so insistent that Fatty bar along the bank where the water was shallow. Shoop, one of Joe's partners in the cups, de­ Here, while Fatty held the line, he removed his cided to risk his buddie's anger and lifted it. shoes and rolled up his trouser legs to his knees. To this day Fatty says that if he had it to do From his coat pocket he took a length of clothes over, the fish could have had line, rod and Joe line rope and1 waded into the stream with the himself. Had anyone but the corpulent Fatty air of a conquering general holding forth a tried to haul in the fish, this story would be no peace treaty. Slowly, he began to haul in the more than an obituary notice. As soon as Fatty giant fish. Only once, when the carp cut a last, picked up Joe's pole it bent like an Indian bow tired caper, did he stop pulling. Then in the and the thick twine line stretched as taut as an shallow water Joe reached down and hitched a angel harp. Then, thirty feet from the dam halter of rope behind the gills of the huge, blunt there occurred on the surface of the water a huge head. The battle was over. l942 PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER 9 BOOK ON SALMON jH°w the fish population of the Columbia ^?.r has been affected by man's activities in ^ttlW g the Columbia Basin is told in a new grated bulletin of the Fish and Wildlife (i rv^°e, titled The History and Development of ^Fisheries of the Columbia River. Fi'shinr g was an extensive industry among the *ns even before the white man began to Htl* in that territory, according to the publica- tioi (, ° s authors, Joseph A. Craig and Robert L. „ ker. Working with surprisingly efficient Wtl' t'le I"0''3118 to°k sufficient fish to utilize in Sjj_a dried and fresh condition. A landing net is not necessary in bass fishing. In roily water sometime try a yellow or a k 'tfa the coming of the early settlers, a small adee ji n salted salmon was begun. The establish- A bass hooks easily and deeply, as a rule, and it black lure of the streamer type. These colors are n is simple to reel the fish within reach and then more easily seen by fish than are white and other 9to!i * ^66, of the first salmon cannery oper- grasp it firmly by the lower jaw, with the thumb colors, experts say. Icn °n tne Columbia marked the beginning of Si ay's modern, large-scale salmon fishing and in the mouth. In this position a bass rarely will put up a struggle. A bucktail fly, fished with a No. 2 spinner, is %ni ng industry, the most important species in le a good lure for both large-and small-mouth bass. and quantity being the chinook or king If you are in the habit of horsing in a fish as White and black, red and black, and yellow and •Son. Blue-black, silver, and chum salmon soon as you have it hooked, you are missing half s black are good color combinations for bass buck- h *» ° taken in significant quantities, and steel- the sport of fishing. Keep a taut line, so that the tails. 2* trout are caught along with the salmon. fish is under control, but allow it to fight the rod •>„ «e new publication may be purchased for until it is ready for landing. After all, the real Hooking a frog through the lips when using en s p i? t a copy from the Superintendent of sport of angling is to have a battling fish held it for bait is not the best method. The hook can Ubll 'c Documents, Washington, D. C. only by light tackle. be inserted through the tough muscles of one of the hind legs, thus leaving the frog more free to Common naphtha flakes, sprinkled among ^ c'entists believe that the tarpon, most com- swim. A frog hooked through the leg muscles feathered lures, are a good moth preventive. considered as a salt-water species, may be also will live longer than a lip-hooked bait. jj ergoing a strange evolution. After examina- To make a tip-up for ice fishing, cut a piece of The most likely spots to fish for wall-eyed pike ijj. .°f the air bladders of several giants of this lath 18 inehes long, and about four inches from Cl in rivers are below falls and rapids and in eddies n es offish caught in the waters of the Panama one end bore a hole. A round stick about two (J0al Zone, a Service specialist found they con- at the sides of the main current. e feet long is run through the hole. To the long tjr~ d a comparatively large amount of lung end of the lath attach a signal flag, and tie the A combination of red and white rates No. 1 j le. Th;g shows that the fish are not entirely line to the short end. Lay the round stick across with most anglers in bass fishing, whether the L ^dent upon their gills for oxygen, which may the hole in the ice. When a fish bites, the stick lures be flies, plugs, or spoons. f. he reason why they can change from salt to will fly up into the air. water and vice versa. In the autumn look for pickerel in shallow e possession of an air bladder, functioning A bamboo fly rod deserves a thorough in­ water. During the middle of the summer they tL»«niC»-v as a lung, has enabled the tarpon to cross spection before it is stored away for the winter. prefer the deeper holes in lakes and streams, be­ K... isthmus of Panama through the Canal (40 Points to be checked—and repaired if necessary cause the water is colder there. ^il 68 —are the wrappings, ferrules, tip-tops, and, JUI °r so of which is fresh water) from the above all, the varnish finish. October, and even early November if the ^ ^tic to the Pacific Ocean. To date, the tar- weather permits, are prime months for bass fish­ ls Hji , the only marine fish that is known defi- A line that tests from 9 to 14 pounds is plenty ing. The waters have become cold by this time to K tk- have passed from one ocean to the other heavy enough for bass and pike fishing with of the year, and the bass are on their final feeding 'his route. the limber rods and light lures that are the fa­ splurge before they go into a state of semi- vorites of many anglers today. hibernation for the winter months. L„ Columbia River basin supports the world's (pst salmon sport fishery. In Washington ttj Southern British Columbia there are a great C y fishing resorts that each have 50 or more ^Jf available for rent. In 1939 there were 101 Uses '*>» tT° in Puget Sound, and sportsmen rent- H8 n boats cauSht 83,500 king salmon and K* °° c°h° salmon, totaling about 3,000,000

Th *fe on'^ ^'aska tur seals ahve in captivity %i i\° very healthy ones presented to the ie Vf S°. Calif., Zoological Garden in 1935 by '°rmer Bureau of Fisheries.

L,Qe sea horse swims standing up, with his f^r? vertical, and moves steadily and quite HJJ*, v by means of a funny little fin on the jt "die of his back. This moves so swiftly that Seei »C( ns to revolve and appears exactly like a f>(jeiiv Propeller, so that the little creature has the IJQ ct °f being driven along by means of an out- kj*rs himself by twisting his funny, curly ke ''th, ylike tail about some seaweed or stone or ** object.

Sest ^stickleback fish builds a tunnel-shaped ' to' nding pieces of water weed together with ^Q&> Wn'te thread which the male produces 6,1 internal gland as a spider does its web. 10 PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER SEPTEMBE*

tiross or gold

ACTUAL S/ZE if

teat splits jung le cock °^=~-u/hdre deer —gold tip Sheep ufool creom hackle INCREASED ONE-HALF

Jungle coek-^feg^^^ ^ ^ elLfblk? chenille dk brouun hockle nickel M°&NTYL_Z6

A PAIR Or ACES*

&%&**'«.**& *9<2 PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER 11 STREAMER TACTICS FOR BASS By EDSON LEONARD

JiMALL-mouth black bass are one of our most of casting. It is as essential to the bass fly the selection of these lures: invariably the angler . coveted "fly" fish. Cunning, wise as a sage, caster as is the light Cahill to the trout en­ buys too large a streamer. The same pertains to . focious and valiant, they are the sport supreme thusiast. spinners. -r the fly angler. Their response to the artificial This is not strange, because as has been Trout size streamers and the smallest of spin­ v,in one of its manifold forms is nothing short of mentioned, the spinner and fly of proper choice ners are unsurpassed for small-mouth. In fact MOe-tingling, while the severity with which they represent to a remarkable degree the staple food if the angler uses the streamer type for trout, and _r'ke a lure is a standing challenge to the smash of the black bass: the minnow. attaches a spinner to this same fly, he need look , the steelhead or the bone crushing power of But choice of fly and spinner blades is as no further for a sure-fire bass lure. Actually, the l|)e salmon. important to continued success as is the selection minnows in the average trout or bass stream are Our own Pennsylvania is blessed with an of Trout dry flies. Spinners should be of light the same size, and it is not uncommon to find ^Undance of this remarkable fish. The Susque- weight and easy spinning. Nickel and gold or both species of fish in the same waters. ^fna, Delaware and other rivers, in addition to brass are standard in contrasting shapes, with That old discussion about whether a fish j^tless large creeks are noted to even out of preference going to the gold blade. In the waters strikes a spinner or the fly is endless. My view­ *i6 anglers who yearly frequent these waters. where the small-mouth abounds, the nickel point may not seem acceptable, but I am of the *n waters such as these, the fly caster is at an blade is often too brilliant and has the tendency opinion that the spinner merely adds length and "Vantage. Whether he be bug-tosser or to frighten the fish. Of course discolored water activity to the fly and can hardly be considered feamer-slinger he may expect to induce the requires a bright flash, at which time the nickel an auxiliary part since it is in such direct relation ^8-Jawed small-mouth into action. But a word finish is the best. Generally, however, the more with the fly itself; neither can the fly be regarded ,. admonition: be prepared to strike into a really subdued gold is superior in clear water. separately. The two are integral. This is the 8 bass at some unexpected moment. There are With reference to pattern selection, the small reason why one should use care in blending the esent in most streams at least one, and often No. 0 or 1 double gold in the plain oval shape is finish of the spinner with the general shade of I ,°> of these deep-jowled battlers who will, at excellent. This type seems to revolve not too the streamer. y'sure, smash some parts of your fishing gear. far from the shank and spins freely, almost For example, in the illustration consider the °u will find them in many streams—the kind without any inducement on the part of the size of the streamer alone. It is really small in lch winds slowly through meadow and wood, angler. comparison to the so-called bass streamers in 71*-* on top of which float peculiar little flecks of Bass are not quite so flighty as the Trout, al­ general use. However, when the overall length • (*s; the kind of stream which causes you to though they often times display a remarkable of both spinner and streamer is noted, it will be g%ine that years ago dad probably must have wisdom when it comes to evading the hook. found to be three inches. Do you not think that hed it for bullheads. Somehow there exists a Actually the small-mouth is a fish of notions. a three-inch minnow is ample food for even a Vstery in every deep pocket, every pool. All He can be a riotous hell-cat today while tomor­ hungry bass? ,,Is and the soft swish of your line shooting row he might employ the tactics of complete The streamer and spinner are applicable to any rough the guides, the stifled "spat" of the lure opposition. It is true and sentimentally well water: riffle, slick, heavy water or pool. The ,, Vou drop it into an eddy, the expectation, then founded that we prefer to characterize him as the manipulation is quite easy to perform, but varied e strike—all this puts bass angling in a re- bulldog of inland waters, unafraid, vicious and of in accordance with the water fished and the Ka^ed place all its own. murderous disposition; however, he is often given season. Evening or morning are most excellent i What with all the doo-funnies and wunkus to such subtle habits that it requires patience and times for such casting. During these hours the „ Is °ne finds available in the dealers' cabinets knowledge to lure him into striking. Hit or miss, small-mouth move from their haunts into the M" display cases, it should be easy to assume that cast and retrieve are hardly enough if such-is shallows, off the weed beds or into the head or foot ».e black bass is on the brink of extinction. the case. end of a flat to feed on the available minnows, . Uch on the contrary, so far as I am concerned, Analyzing the water to be cast over and the crawdads, frogs, etc. Especially is this true in j "^ght be said that these wonderful jiggers are, coverage along the stream as well as the boulders consideration of streams and rivers. In these a sense, a measure of conservation. True, they and pockets in the creek itself will assist im­ advantageous feeding places one is amazed to „ e beautifully made, dress up a tackle case to measurably. Likewise, using the spinner and fly discover the almost unbelievably shallow water o 'ast degree of completeness and tend to awe wisely means more strikes. into which a bass will cruise in pursuit of a full e non-fishing spectator with the ingenious The fewest possible lures are an advantage. stomach. I have stood in water hardly above my "Ppeiaranc e of their design. This is not determined through attempts for instep and watched small mouth wallow in this °wever, so far as our Pennsylvania small economy or simplification of fly choice, rather is depth, apparently not at all concerned that their a, dorsal fins were entirely clear of the water. th, atb. are concerned, a definite type of lure is it that the angler will more thoroughly acquaint "lost productive and far superior in every himself with the habitude of his quarry; will cast Generally when these fish are feeding on min­ jZ"** of the word. I refer to the spinner and fly more with purpose. Faith in advertisements may nows, there are ample indications of this activity „. "^'nation, more specifically the spinner and do well in some instances, but when it comes to —not necessarily from the swirls and lunges of successful fishing, the angler need have confidence the bass—but from the nervous flittering of sev­ i^i'th this lure, proper terminal tackle, a little in himself and his ability to think in terms of the eral of the smaller fish leaping clear of the water. pledge of the ways of the bronzeback and the fish pursued. One can cast into this commotion and usually w tv to "cast where he's lookin' " an angler can Therefore, if the beliefs we have held in esteem receive one of those jolting, sub-surface smashes ^ oiuch doubt their acclaimed value. Parmacheene Belle, Professor and White Miller remain out of range of these predatory fellows fly ^tioularly in Pennsylvania is the spinner and comprised the usual selection. These old flies were as much as possible and seek the sanctuaries of fro "^d by many. It is the customary change and still are good ones, but their former popu­ rocks and foliage. Likewise the spinner and fly W re£ular trouting; and while the regulation larity has decreased in favor of the streamer fly. combination should be dropped easily and with­ MtK *ac't'e '8 often "scd f°r bass in connection Today the bucktail, hackle streamer or long out undue disturbance into every likely pocket, '•fJ; this type lure, no appreciable change in slim wet fly have become the ace-in-the-hole of eddy and flat. The retrieve can be regulated to ' is noticed by the angler during the hours the fly angler. Only one common error exists in (Continued on Page 22) 12 PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER SEPTEMBE*

FISHING CLUB HOLDS TRADITIONAL TOURNAMENT By WILLIAM J. ELLIS, Sr.

George Koeek of Newark, N'.g Jersey is a frequent competitor > Pennsylvania tournaments. T» completion of the cast in the o,s tance plug event.

Whatta bird's nest! Walt Davis of Taunton, Mass. applies the "bat' ber's" method to untangle backlash.

SWANKY touring car of modern design But how ridiculous, there was no water, and even looked over her shoulder till she reac" A rolled lazily along the macadam road that certainly no fish, yet these men were fishing and Strawberry Mansion. led through the rocky gorge of Belmont Vale in seemed to like it. Unable to withstand the sus­ All this happened in the "turbulent twenti08' Fairmount Park. The driver, a matronly lady, pense any longer she called to one of the group when tournament casting was only practiced ' but just as modern as her car, was enjoying her who was standing within earshot, "What on a minority group and the public at large k°j Sunday afternoon drive, a popular pastime in the earth are those men fishing for out there on the very little about it. Practical fishermen regar \ year Twenty B. R. (before rationing). Turning plateau?" casters as a group of fanatics who used " ,j a«sharp curve, she suddenly found herself on the Seeing an opportunity for a little fun, the reels and cobweb lines that contributed not™ broad plateau, which, as usual, was occupied by questionee replied, "Oh! They're not really to actual fishing. numerous groups of young Americans participat­ fishing. They're just a group of inmates from What a change in the picture today! Ne8' ' ing in some form of athletics ranging from base­ Blockley who used to be fishermen. We bring every fishing club has its contingent of tour* ball to marbles. 'em out here, give them fishing tackle, and it ment enthusiasts who spend their spare even'' . One group, a little apart from the rest, at­ keeps 'em happy." at the casting field either shooting at the tarrt, tracted her attention. Probably because she Just then a prominent downtown attorney, or trying to lay one out just a bit farther. ^ a couldn't quite decide what they were doing . . . with a luxurious suite of offices that would grace ing is running a close race with actual fishing ^ strange looking clubs they were swinging around the White House, stepped up to the mark and popularity and there are few practical fisher'", in the air, or were they? No, they couldn't be— balanced himself for a distance cast. who have not participated in some tournain f(1 m but they certainly did look like fishing rods. Genuine sympathy showed in the lady's eyes It's both fascinating and instructive. The °%( on Curiosity conquered and the swanky car pulled as she addressed her adviser: "What a shame. angler knows that proper instructions ,.()( over to the side of the road while the lone occupant One would never think he was crazy." casting court result in far more pleasure * pondered over the puzzling antics of that little At that moment the announcer looked around, fishing. {j,( group. They were certainly enjoying themselves saw the chap standing over by the car, and called, The casting court has rightfully been called ^ more than any other assembly she had ever "Hey John! It's your turn to cast." laboratory of the tackle manufacturer. The d J noticed in her many drives through the park. The lady stepped on the accelerator and never or the so-called freak reels and cobweb lines l H2 PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER

™*t. The reels and the same lines are still with *• but they are no longer freaks. The angler has ? a three-thread or even a number twenty-four ^tton thread. Light tackle is here to stay, and i 's definitely the result of research work done if the tournament caster in an effort to improve skill. With every branch and style of angling so eatly indebted to the casting tournament it is /•lettable that the year 1942 has brought so 5iy difficulties that threaten to endanger its existence. War! ! ! Gasoline Rationing! ! ! Food Con- ^vation! ! ! Conscription of Man Power!! ! J Ven day week for defense workers! ! ! Shut- Y *n on Tackle Manufacturing! 1! Etc., etc., etc. ,,ever since the days of Sir Izaak Walton have efe been so many agents working against sport jr* recreation. Few people have time for it. If . ey have the time, they can't obtain the equip- ,6l)t. And when the time and equipment are liable, the problem of transportation looms p 8s an insurmountable barrier. J. *hese were the problems that confronted the Actors of the Dover Fishing Club at a special fating recently called by the president. At M it seemed advisable to suspend all tourna- *1ts for the duration. Then a young man in the ;"'ir< Clayton Atwood of Ab-A-Da-Ba Casting Club in action. He is a former holder of the Vanderbilt Cup, °rrn of the United States Navy, where he emblematic of the New England States surf casting Championship. 1 just been called from his favorite sport, stood % a si nd emphatically stated that the tournament , °uld go on, even if the contestants had to walk Here was the spirit that carries on in spite of But Billy Jackson and Jackie McCarthy, two lhe casting field. all obstacles, expressed by a real sportsman who Hulmeville boys, have sold their story. Like was reasonably certain that he would not be able many other boys from the town, they both spend to enjoy the tournament himself. Transportation most of their summer hours fishing or swimming • and Industry are the backbone of our country, but in the creek. All day last Wednesday they had recreation is the stimulant that keeps that back­ been angling for a neat specimen. During July bone from degenerating into a wishbone. There's the main objective in this area is to hook bass, certainly no useless waste of material at a casting recognized as the best fighting and best tasting tournament and the obstacles mentioned above member of the finny tribe. The two boys, how­ are but inconveniences that would never have ever, met with only normal fortune and had to be stopped the pioneers of casting. Are we getting content with a mess of fine sunnies and a couple soft? If sportsmen want to participate they'll of eels. find a way. So, the decision was—hold the During the cool of the evening the two decided tournament. to take a boat ride along the creek. Suddenly they heard a "flop" in the boat. At first a bit BIG BASS JUMPS INTO BOAT AT frightened, they soon regained enough composure HULMEVILLE to hop on the bass and hold it in the boat. They then put forth a dash to port, all the while Boys Take Large Prize Ashore beckoning and calling for assistance from those in Year's Best Fish Catch along shore. Hulmeville doesn't have anything resembling a A pinochle game known as "Cabana" along Chamber of Commerce, but if it relied strictly the bank was broken up as the participants upon transient summer vacationists, trade would assisted the lads in lifting the fish from the boat. be shooting skyward after last week. For the After landing the bass the men weighed it and Chamber would be shouting loud hurrahs and found it to hit the scales at 5 pounds, 8 ounces. advertisements would lure fishermen from all And such specimens are considered more than a parts of the nation. mere catch in the slow-moving waters of the Down in the Neshaminy Creek, in the village Neshaminy. that nestles serenely between two valleys, the Down through the years the boys will en­ bass don't wait for lines to be cast into the stream. counter great difficulty trying to tell the story. They simply commit outright suicide by leaping Adult fishermen, who were casting fancy lures into the boat. All you have to do is "hold 'em along the bank, gave up in disgust as the boys down" and pull your oars homeward. came to shore with their prize and the story. The That's an old story about the fish jumping sharp fins cut small gashes in their hands, but into the boat. Travel agents in vacation resorts they still made port. j4 • - «ijw M»c ^usch, Expert Dover Club Caster, gave up his use it quite often. But until now it has been just "Jackie" says it is one of the best fish they °n the team to give a young caster a chance. another commercial adage. ever ate.—LANGHORNE, Delaware Valley Adviser. 14 PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER SEPTEMBER

VERY SELDOM GIVE HIM TIME Teacher: "Mose, don't you ever take a bath?" His first day on the job, the colored hallboy LETTER TO THE EDITOR FROM W. P Mose: "Yassum. Once in de Summah, an' dashed excitedly up to the register desk. WALTON, HYATTSVILLE, MD. not so often in de Wintah." "De man in room seben has done hung himself!" Concerning Lamprey Eels The largest Cod ever captured off the New Clerk: "Hanged himself? Did you cut him As a piscatorial victim of gas rationing, dooms'1 England coast weighed 211^ pounds and was down?" to local, extremely local angling, I gaze wit*1 over six feet long. Codfish will eat anything, Hall Boy: "No, sahl He ain't dead yet!" longing eyes on some of the scenes depicted >" judging from things found in the stomachs of the very interesting July number of THE PEN?*' captured fish, such as scissors, oil cans, rings, Doctor: "What is this jumble of numbers SYLVANIA ANGLEB. I was considerably interested rocks, potato parings, corn-cobs, rubber and stamped on your back?" to note on page 19 of this issue the photo of a" e leather. Their "natural" diet consists of lobsters, Patient: "That's the license number of my car, adult lamprey attached to a carp. This led W shrimp, mollusks, small fishes and various forms to wonder how many of your readers know tha' Doctor. My wife ran into me the other day while 1 of sea vegetation. I.was opening the garage doors for her." young lampreys make the finest of baits for hot! wall-eyed pike and small-mouth bass in soffl6 A Cod weighing 21 pounds will produce Pennsylvania Streams. From personal e3t" Schoolmaster: "This makes the fifth time I 2,700,000 eggs in one spawning period—these are perience in the upper Delaware River I kno* have punished you this week. What have you to so small that it takes 337,000 of them to fill a that local anglers in Wayne and Pike Counts say?" quart pail. have used them for bait these many years. Youth: "I'm glad it's Friday, sir." This is the sea lamprey, Petromyzon Marina1, Scotchman (at riding academy): "I wish to and it is not related to the true eels as it has D° rent a horse." Along with needles and pins, cigarettes and bony skeleton whatsoever and is regarded W Groom: "How long?" chewing gum, sardines are sold one at a time in ichthyologists as a very low form of fishli*" The Scotchman: "The longest you've got, China. This is because few persons can afford to creature entirely distinct from the true or bon) laddie. There be five of us going." buy a whole can of the sea food. fishes. This lamprey lives normally in the ocea»' but when ready to spawn it ascends rivers, pene' trating far up small tributaries, which behavi0' is just the reverse of that exhibited by the tn|f eels. Before spawning it excavates a shallow p1 fipwt® M L«i LI Bmw in the pebbly stream bed which it fills to over­ flowing with chunks or pebbles. Those pebble6 are transported in the sactorial mouth of the lamprey even though the largest of them may v- the size of a man's fist. This nest then consist* of about a bushel of pebbles in rough, 3 side11 pyramidal shape with base downstream. Th eggs are deposited in the voids between the stones. I observed in April of this year, while trou fishing in a nearby stream, a pair of large la"1' preys engaged in this operation. According l George Brown Goode, the lampreys whe" batched, burrow immediately into the mud ° {Continued from Page 4) the musky. A fish to attain its size must take a sand and it takes them from 4 to 5 years to be' getting dark I was in my boat house preparing great toll. This is the trait of most species of come mature enough to migrate seaward. Thes for a repeat engagement with the musky. Just fish. I doubt if the musky according to its size young lampreys are tough, rubbery, tenacious ° above my boat house in the inlet was Frank Hol- takes a heavier toll than smaller species. Let life, and completely blind, their eyes bew brook, a very deaf blacksmith, with a companion us score a point in favor of the musky. It is hidden beneath the skin. The nature of the"' getting ready to go bullhead fishing. Holbrook conceded that the carp is the most prolific fish. food at this stage has, I believe, not been def' always talked in a very loud voice as deaf people From the time it spawns, through the fry nitely ascertained but is thought to consist ° are prone to do. Holbrook's companion re­ fingerling stage, and up to six inches, it fur­ larval insects, crustations, and worms. On t", marked, "Bill Briggs caught three muskies last nishes a source of food to many other fish. upper Delaware, they are dug from mud aD night." To this Frank replied in a voice which Then the musky steps into the picture, and any­ sand banks in the river with an ordinary garde could have been heard for two blocks, "Briggs thing up to 12 or 14 inches is grist for his mill. fork. At this time they are from 6 to 9 incbe8 doesn't know anything about fishing. He was He is helping to maintain a balance which is of long and are a favorite bait for game fish. just lucky." I stayed in my boat house until vital importance in all waters. This bait is fished by hooking it through t" Frank and his companion had passed out into "Hats off to you Grand Old Warrior, Mr. lips and either trolling or casting it into de*P the lake, not wanting to embarrass him by letting Muskellunge. You have many friends that are eddies. When the fish takes the bait it is m him know that I had overheard his observation. ready to go off the deep end in your support. lowed to run and time is given for it to gorge t» Whenever I am inclined to feel cocky and swelled Here is hoping that you may survive to bust bait before the strike is made. It would aid W up over my many exciting experiences with the tackle and furnish thrills to the angling fraternity the control of this predatory creature if it ^et old muskellunge I remember the words of the for generations to come." more generally used as bait by anglers. deaf blacksmith, and feel indebted to him for so Perhaps too, some of you readers would &*_ thoroughly and completely putting me in my Although exact figures are lacking, it is esti­ to try the adult lampreys as food for they at* place. It is remarkable how the recollection of mated that about 30 fish, 6 inches long, will not only edible but very good indeed. 1" these words have a tendency to reduce an en­ result from every hundred eggs taken into trout ancient Greeks and Romans regarded them s3, larged ego. hatcheries. The great majority of the 70 fish delicacy, and in the 1870's thousands of poun(1 For many years the sportsmen of New York that fall by the poolside are sacrificed to various of lampreys were caught by farmers living al"0* have realized the importance and value of the diseases about which fishery biologists confess the Connecticut River and salted down in stro"* muskellunge in Chautauqua and Cattaraugus they really know little. brine to be used as winter food. I have eatf Counties as a wonderful source of sport. Its As man has his "great white plague" so the lamprey and consider it excellent food. *3g popularity over the years has resulted in drastic salmon and trout have their "great red plague" flesh is grayish white, firm and not so oily as t* depletion of this noble game fish in spite of the —forunculosis—of all scourges the one most true eel. The lamprey seems not to have q°' , artificial propagation that is carried on at Bemus dreaded by hatchery men. Supposedly introduced the remarkable ability to travel as the true «f* Point on Chautauqua Lake. Fortunately the into the western hemisphere on brown trout from for it is stopped effectively by comparative" s0III legislators and sportsmen succeeded in passing Germany some 50 years ago, this disease, which low dams. The true eel, however, seems h. an entirely new law designed to conserve and is analogous to human blood poisoning, has how able to get around almost any such °". e build up this important resource. spread throughout the trout regions of the United struction, perhaps by traveling on land on * Some consider the muskellunge a vicious killer, States and Canada. Today it unquestionably nights. therefore a menace to fish life in inland waters. threatens the entire system of artificial propaga­ I hope these notes may be of interest to reaoe There is no good reason to deny this score against tion of salmon and trout. of THE ANGLER. 1942 PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER 15

PRESERVE THOSE TROPHIES Simple, Inexpensive Home Taxidermy By CHARLES K. FOX fHE following information is the result of One pint of D-Flo will preserve at least half a . numerous inquiries which have been received dozen heads depending upon their size. It is a J* regard to the preserving and mounting of fish good idea to secure this fluid in two bottles. ^sds. There is an easy, cheap procedure yet Use one bottle for the needles and the other for he results are good, once the simple little tricks the brush. If one bottle is used for both the r* known. In the strict sense of the word these needles and the brush some slime and dirt from ^*ds are not mounted, rather in this process the fish will get into the fluid from the brush and th.e y are mummified. clog the needles. ^ About eight years ago an advertisement by the About three days after the head has been IrFlo Chemical Co. of 1225 Izard St.. Omaha. treated in this manner it will begin to dry and the *H«hrask a of a preservative fluid made specially eyes will sink. Carefully inject a needle in each .. Preserve fish heads was brought to our atten- eye so that the point is within the eyeball and so t,00- The fluid is called D-Flo. that it does not pierce the opposite side of the After receiving one pint of this liquid, experi­ eye ball. This injection should be made at the Baird Hershey, State Taxidermist, examines mum­ ments were conducted, discoveries were made, edge of the eye so that the needles point toward mified heads which were placed on exhibit at the "d some fairly decent jobs resulted. Since that the ground. Fill the syringe about half full of Capitol. ;"ne D-FIo has been secured by the quart and D-Flo, attach it to the needle in the eye of the nie 300 heads have been preserved and mounted fish, and inflate the eye. It will immediately pop and place the head in a position so that the nose ,™ shields and plaques. Beside my own collec- out to its original convex shape and position. is pointing skyward. ®n many adorn the dens of friends and fishing If everything goes well it will stay in that position Construct a small make-shift frame over the • "Jpanions. In fact a display of some of these permanently and eventually it will look per­ fish. Tie a string from the frame to the tip of ^ds from exceptionally fine bass, trout, wall- fectly normal and more natural than glass eyes. the lower jaw so that the head will be held in Jff*i and pickerel taken in Pennsylvania, along It is best to detach the syringe from the needles place. The easiest way is to make a small slit Tv" practical fishing lures and flies, was on and leave the needles lodged in the eyeballs. through the end of the jaw, thread the string *oibit at the State Museum at Harrisburg for In this way the chemical will not leak out so through this hole, just as fish are often placed on i er one month last summer. This is mentioned easily, and it may be necessary to squirt more stringers. The jaw can be closed completely by . ^ause it demonstrates that the resultant effect liquid into the eyes a day or two later. tying the mouth closed, or it can be propped 8 !*»t bad at all. If this operation is completed before the eye open as wide as is desired. J. • he first operation is to cut off the head of the has dried sufficiently, the eye will again sink and Suspend two more strings from the frame so .° Properly. This is done according to the type it will be impossible to again completely inflate they come right down to the fins. To the end , •nount desired. If it is desirable to flatten the it and make it remain in the proper position. It of these strings attach paper clips. Fasten these §»» covers out on the board or shield and have is better to inject the eye when it appears to be jLe ttiouth of the fish open then the head is cut too late rather than too early in the game. The (Continued on Page 16) J* about % of an inch back of the point where eyes of muskie, pike, walleyes, and bass can be e gills are attached to the neck and it is cut made to look perfectly natural. Trout eyes for y"*8onally from that point on the back toward some reason are a tougher proposition, possibly ^ end of the lower jaw. This will make the because the eye tissue is not as sturdy as that of Sjl stand out from the board with the mouth the forementioned. •oting downward, After the head has dried thoroughly, varnish flni Si^8 are removed from the head. The it. It does not require more than three or four and eyes are not touched. Paint the head weeks for most of the moisture to have disap­ 'e'and out with D-Flo. peared. If the varnish is applied before the head *nen inject the head thoroughly with D-Flo is ready mildew will set in under the coat of var­ 3bys nieans of hypodermics. Shoot some in the nish making ugly light-colored marks. Im­ *eks from the front and some in the fleshy mediately upon the application of the varnish, {• beside the backbone from the back. the natural colors of the fish again appear in­ "ermit it to dry for about 3 days. During this cluding the iris of the eyes. , fiod blowflies will deposit their eggs on the If you care to mount the fish so that the front J**'*! and their larva, maggots, will get into the fins are attached it must be cut off well back of i *<* if it is not protected by cheese cloth or a the head. In the case of bass it is possible to in­ n *• Maggots will not ruin a head, however, clude several spines of dorsal fin. That will in­ |S5f do leave a peculiar, leathery odor which, clude approximately the front quarter of the fish. W^ugh not foul, is certainly not desirable. Do not remove anything but the organs. The (^ en the heads were infested with maggots I D-Flo will take care of the gills. Here again ^ °cked off as many as possible then placed the paint the head throughly inside and out with the tal 0ver an ant n'" ant* permitted the ants to preservative. Now place a large cork or round jf,e care of the rest. This, however, was not piece of wood in the gullet from the rear so that tir f^aot°ry- It is better to prevent maggots en- the neck is distended. This remains in that •y by keeping the blowflies away. position until the head is dry. Inject thoroughly Heads mummified the D-Flo way by the writer. 16 PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER SEPTEMBER

ftfeMMk . m I,

Young America must play, too. A lot of boys and girls like to take a crack at fishing at times and they make up the great army of Pennsylvania's unlicensed fishermen. To afford them greater sport and considerable convenience the city of Allentown opened a pond for those 16 years of age and under. The City Fathers and the Lehigh County Sportsmen brought about the opening of the Union Terrace Pool. The Fish Commission netted a truck load of carp from Pymatuning and redistributed them in the Allentown Paradise. to the fins and adjust the strings so that the fins eye skin or tissue has changed so that the SOME SHOT! are held in the desired position. Cover the head eyes will not blow out or expand without ruptur­ Si: "Yes, sir, Zeke, as sure as I sit here n°*J with mosquito netting to protect it from the ing. One head which was mounted had been I shot that old double-barrel in that flock oI blowflies. When the eyes have sunken and frozen for over a year yet it turned out fairly well. ducks, and I brung down five of them." started to dry, blow them up again with injec­ Inexpensive shields and plaques were secured Zeke (unconcernedly): "Didn't I ever tell y°° tions. You can now forget about the head for from a lumber company. Black walnut and about me hunting frogs the other night; fired a about a month. shellacked plyboard make nice jobs. If a pattern one, then 500 croaked?" There will be shrinkage of skin in the neck of a shield is sketched on paper, a board can be where the head was cut from the body. Some of cut to any size of like proportions. To enable a fish to glide easily along in tb this can be straightened perfectly by tapping a When the first several attempts at this home­ water, its body is covered with a slimy mucou* series of thin, flat wooden wedges between the spun taxidermy proved reasonably satisfactory which is being constantly poured out in 1&& skin and the mummified flesh. Wedges made e the practice was continued. All the good tro­ quantities by special glands situated in tb from pieces of a cigar box are ideal. They will phies taken since that time have been treated in epidermis. This mucous makes the body of Hj! remain lodged in the head permanently. this manner. Many friends have brought heads fish slippery and also minimizes friction wiw After the head has been shined up with var­ around to have them "fixed," and what is more, the surrounding water. nish it is ready to be placed on the board. Fre­ the same fellows have returned with other heads quently it is necessary to trim the back of the which proves the result is acceptable. head with a sharp knife so that it will fit snuggly With the proper equipment and a little PROOF 8 against the board. patience anyone can mount the head of one of Counsel (to the police witness): "But if a ffl Drill a hole in the board directly behind the his big ones that did not get away. Probably is on his hands and knees in the middle of W spot where the backbone will touch the board. improvements and new kinks could be worked road, that does not prove he is drunk." Fasten the head to the board with a long screw out by the individual which would be improve­ Policeman: "No sir, it does not. But this o»e which goes through the hole in the board, and ments over my crude method. was trying to roll up the yellow traffic line.' the screw is fastened right through the center of There is a certain satisfaction and pleasure in the backbone of the fish. the possession of such trophies and they are a "What d'ya say, Jim, we get our wives V If a fish head has been frozen it can be treated wonderful memory refresher of highlights of gether, tonight and have a big time?" in the same manner upon thawing, however, the those enjoyable bygone days. "Okay by me, Joe, where'll we leave 'em?' 1942 PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER 17

&mmy Paules, park police, demonstrates the proper technique in baiting Billy Grube, youngest fisherman, age 3Vi, admires the two carp caught by a hook to Albert Schutt at the Union Terrace Pool. Kenneth Bolt at the grand opening.

JUGGING FOR BIG-MOUTHS with the tops of their tails and the dorsal fins to eight inches of water, the bass can see a little. sticking out of water. They cannot see where They immediately look for hiding places. If you (Continued from Page 5) they are going, and they cannot see your hand move your hand toward them they see it ap­ within about 15 feet of the bass, old right in front of their very noses. It is a simple proaching and get away. It would be very diffi­ f 0flZe-back took notice. Slowly he moved away matter to catch them with your hands. If the cult to grab them. If the spring is clear when J|0 the nest about 10 feet then he shot into the spring is only moderately muddy, so that it is the fish are released they immediately dart to . P- Water swirled and mud flew as every carp just possible to see an object submerged in four the nearest cover- and remain there motionless. i ,rt>ed tail and darted into the sanctuary of the It would be utterly impossible to catch them by h,£ water. The bailiwick of Mr. Bass was no hand. Pl9ce for them. If you would sneak up to the spring in its nor­ ^t's get back to our chief interest, how to get mal slate, when it is clear, then startle the bass, _ hooks into some fish. The vision of a bass is they would shoot for cover and immediately be­ th ^ limited in muddy water. This means gin to change color. They brighten in color and Q , the lure must come very close to the fish in assume a mottled appearance similar to that at A er that the quarry is conscious of its presence, spawning time. If a bass is scared "light" by j "re may travel over a bass without even be- the very sight of a man, what chance would a n, Noticed by the fish. It is of great importance fisherman have of catching one which knew of <»t we usjj at tne right level or depth, and the his presence or even suspected it? This emotional J, fer level in a muddy pond is just above the reaction and change of appearance was dem­ torn where the bass are situated, onstrated to Fred Everett, the great nature oj ls a decided advantage to cover as much artist, and it interested him very much. Vv- Und as possible with each cast. In clear From our little experiments we have con­ er Sh it is usually much better to cast into hot cluded that the vision of bass will penetrate TO n. ts (an d much of the time these targets may be water to just about the same extent as human Ca!",earr. at hand. In the muddy pond much of the vision when looking down through water. If Jj lng is blind work, for the hot spots are hidden. this assumption is correct then the necessity of you can reacn out 125 feet or more in the dirty getting the lure very close to the bass of muddy ssL .j* it pays dividends in the form of more water assumes great importance. After all muddy water is simply water in which particles sti.rfVera' °^ US nave Deen m a fine position to of dirt are suspended and it stands to reason no i S the effects of mud on the vision of bass, eye can penetrate this after the dirt reaches a tifti there are two good springs and from certain density. l,a to time we bring back alive some native Frequently men have been seen plugging If and hold them in one of the open springs. these dirty ponds who did not get their lures Qe Who says big trout won't take small flies? Robert L spring is made very muddy before the Ellinberger of Punxsutawney caught this fine down deep enough and, as a result, they got nary are released they aimlessly cruise around brownie on a No. 20 wet fly. (Continued on next Page) 18 PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER SEPTEMBER

Early season catches on Lake Gordon made by Ray Bennett and John Rolmberger of Philadelphia and Charles Carr, Maayunk. PLUGGING FOR BIG-MOUTHS trieving it about the mud at this particular hot fishing there my plug became entangled in a sU"" spot. It was slow fishing but we made the little merged log. I jiggled it in vain to try to dP (Continuedfrom Page 17) lure "crawl" on the bottom—literally right lodge it. I walked along the bank to get a differ' a strike. At the same time, the fishing was good through the mud. The ultimate result, after a ent angle then jiggled it some more. All at on& for those who were fishing at the proper level. few casts, was a 2 lb. big-mouth. This is not a the lure was loose and there was a weight on ll So we are convinced that the trick in dirty pond recommended method of fishing because of which felt as though a limb had broken from M$ fishing is to get the lure very close to the bass, obvious disadvantages, but it was merely an main snag. Suddenly a large bass jumped °u which means a deep retrieve. experiment. of the water and threw the plug. Undoubted" Bass which are not moving around or chasing There is a very hard fished piece of muddy the fish had taken a position by the log. When I food stay very close to the bottom in a shallow water almost within the city limits of Harris- tried to dislodge the plug it moved and appeare" 11 pond during the heat of summer. Practically all burg called Wildwood Lake. One day while to be something alive to the fish. The bass i such ponds are fed by springs and some have small spring holes. The surface temperature on a hot summer day may be 85° Fahrenheit but the temperature of the water on the bottom will probably be 20° less. The mud actually feels cool to the hands and feet. Sometimes we mar­ vel at the ability of brss to thrive in hot "soupy" water but I wonder if they spend much of their time in this element, and there is usually escape. There is a very fishy spot around a small patch of rushes which protrude above the surface of a certain mud pond. As fast as any bass are caught from here others seem to take their places and collect at this bit of cover. Assum­ ing that there were some bass around this patch, a friend and I one day decided to experiment with them. We recalled the theory of au excellent live bait fisherman. He believes that a crab is a very effective baitj when the hooked crab digs itself into the mud just as a normal crab would do. Bass understand that tell-tale hole or bulge and will dig into the mud after the crab. He also be­ lieves that the most effective method of fishing a helgramite in a stream is to drop the helgramite over a submerged rock and permit it to cling to the side or crawl around the rock. In other words, he tries to imitate the natural with the natural. With his idea in mind we decided to drag a single book lure through the mud instead of re­ Spatterdock thrives in ponds that are perpetually muddy. 1942 PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER 19

gj* picked it off the log, mouthed it as I started As far as hooking and holding is concerned one "e retrieve, then when it felt hard and un- good sharp single hook with a good barb cannot j^tural the startled fish jumped and expelled it. be surpassed. 5*e had no trouble unloading it because the My experience has been that the fishing in °°ks had not been set over the barbs. the muddy ponds is more dependable than that The choice of lures is important. I have three in the clear waters. There is one such place that g*8 for muddy pond bass fishing which are con­ I have frequented several dozen times and never jured indispensable; they are sinking lures. once have I come away from there strikeless or * were denied the use of them this environ­ without having caught at least one. This is ment would loose much of its appeal. mentioned because it is absolutely the only place . ^he one. which is probably the king pin, was and the only kind of fish which has treated me so ^•Sned in Texas by a practical fellow for royally. Any and all other waters with large- jjjllhcrn, large-mouth bass, and it is called mouth bass and other game fish have produced jack's Minno-Bug. It is a compact, weighted "horse collars." Sooner or later, of course, the Icktaj] and spinner which is available in a wide shiny record in this pond will be rudely blotted. *fiety of color combinations. There is one time of year when the muddy Hair in water moves; it has a "breathing" pond undergoes a transformation. That is in the ^"••on. It may be imagination but it seems to e fall after some heavy frosts. The carp slow up ? that bucktail lures and flies for trout and and become inactive before the big-mouth bass ft8s are more effective if a little oil, such as reel sign off for the season. As a result, the water ,;• 's rubbed on the hair. This gives it addi- U clears. The frost kills the weeds and the stems de­ °nal life and luster. cay and become mushy. If a hook tangles in the Yellow and black or the combination of the weeds they readily tear and can be jerked free of *° show up best in muddy water. It is advis- the hook during the retrieve. The finest fishing ,,!j'e to keep the spinner very shiny. This of the year takes place during this period which ."•iono-Bug" is equipped with a single hook, may be over one week in duration. At this time J*°* point up, and it is undoubtedly one of the it is not necessary to scrape the bottom with jJ'Ost weedless lures on the market. Big-mouth ones lures. 88 i J are partial to the bucktail and spinner coni­ Even the most unattractive muddy ponds zation particularly when it is a compact rig. have their merits. If there is such a mud hole ure is nice to handle and it is easy to con- within reach, respect it, for beneath that shiny °' its depth. When something more effective brown surface there may be somathing which is I ' more pleasant to use is designed I hope to get as good as gold. >H? n it. ., ure number 2 is a wobbling spoon called PLAN OREGON STREAM SURVEY J* "Sun Spot Spoon." The bottom or convex /*e is metal with large holes in it, but the top or Plans for a 4-year survey of waters in the State .ncave side is made of a semi-transparent of Oregon and the use of the Clackamas River as an experimental and demonstration area for Dr. L. P. Fleming of Ardmore with his fiist bass of J^lic. The construction is such that it gives the the season. •j, ect of a metal spoon with colored windows. fishery-management practices have just been 16 completed by the Fish and Wildlife Service in J two combinations I like best are chrome of best-known fishery management practices and 1 e ow an cooperation with other Federal agencies and the H . y " d gold colored metal with red State Game Commission. procedures. An area has been located and sur­ The spoon is about 1 % inches in length and % veyed on the upper river where control can be of Under the program formulated as part of the an exercised and complete catch records obtained. national conservation activities of the Service, ctureincr hj ti njg width too ligh. Ats itto comecast s highfrom, widethe manu, and- Thus, the experts will be able to check the effec­ a survey will be made in 1941 of the Rogue River ..''dsome but it is a rather simple matter to tiveness of planting methods, size and species of and as many of its tributary lakes and streams innate this trouble. Cut out a piece of (lat trout planted, and legal restrictive measures as possible, while in 1942 the lakes and streams in j^hit so that it is about half an inch square and placed into effect. j* °f an inch thick. Cut a small V-shaped groove northeastern Oregon, specifically in the Wallows c *o the middle and trim and bend the lead to and Whitman National Forests, will be surveyed. I the spoon. Unscrew the hook and insert the Surveys during 1943 will be confined to coastal A Kansas City man visited his creditor the /*d right under it then replace the hook. Be lakes and streams, and in 1944 waters in the other day and asked, "Are you worried about u/J'ul not to exert too much pressure when south-central part of the State will be surveyed whether I can meet my note next month?" ."htening the screw or the head may twist off. by the cooperating agencies. "Yes, I am," confessed the creditor. J* this way the individual can weight the spoon The Clackamas River Study calls for intensive "Good," said the client. "That's what I'm 8>»it himself. long-term research to determine the effectiveness paying you six per cent for." ^.f1 is important to fish this spoon slowly. It j,1" Wobble, not revolve at a low rate of speed. A !* * moving, deep running lure is the ticket for i "ddy water bass. On some occasions big-mouth 7*8 have taken this lure so deeply that il hooked u a ° od one of the ribs on the inside of the gill and ty^er penetrated the flesh or drew any blood. I hen f'sh are hooked this way then carefully re- |?8ed for future reference they are not injured, "is was proved by taking several such fish home «. the spring where their physical condition ijfd be observed. ^ J he third muddy water big-mouth lure is the J,' Established midget spinner or pumpkin seed was popularized in Southern Central | UiSy]vanja I'jjjg ;g a sman underwater lure 0 h a propeller fore and aft, which revolve in l?PQ8ite directions. This lure can undoubtedly jj "eard as well as seen by the bass. It probably *s effective as either of the other two in this ^'••onment but it has one disadvantage. The tk ^0lul 'n vegetation and other obstacles so fi.?t it is limited in the places where it can be ^hed. »in ** a rea' pieasure to nsn i° the weeds with a ™* hook lure as compared to a tri-hook affair. Warden Ross Bailey giving fly casting instructions at the Wilderness Boy Scout Camp near Ludlow. 20 PENNSY LV A NI A A NG LE R SEPTEMBER

the sky-line and by fumbling with oars and anch" chains while in a rowboat. Unalarmed our big friend will take either Ifr minnows, a plug or fly and spinner combination with equal abandon, and while not a spectacul8 gymnast like the bass still he gives a migb'j interesting account of himself once hooke" Rarely does the fish break water or cut cape"* but rather he employs his great strength a" stamina in a quarterless tug-of-war battle in w| depths. As the barb sinks in, almost invariab" the wall-eye dives and makes a wide swing the right or left. The uninitiated will claim Vm feel the big fellow shaking his head, bull fashi0"' but in reality such is not the correct interpret tion of the sharp tugs.- Actually the fish turns j1^ head away from the fisherman and drives w',. all his strength in the opposite direction, Wl accounting for those throbbing jerks. Once t| comes to the top and rolls, the battle is abo'i over ... he is not a sulker, he gives his a when he gives. Earlier in this article I hinted how wall-e) may still be found in abundance at the saB" pocket where first we discovered them twe"'- This 5-lb. Juniata wall-eye took a midge-oreno cast by Lloyd King. years ago . . . and that is a point to remem"', It is true the pike-perch follows the schools OLD GELATINE-EYE author now lives, the Juniata and Susquehanna minnows and may sometimes depart a worke watershed, many veteran fishermen seem to out feeding ground to seek more fertile pastur* (Continued from Page 6) speak of the pike-perch as an almost legendary But for the most part the big boy may be ftw| bored frantically outward . . . and only as to fish and such is far from being the true state of at the same general location year after year a' be expected the hook tore away from the soft affairs. In reality big wall-eyes are a lot more season after season, spring, summer and autui0 mouth. common than some of us frustrated anglers care Travelling in schools, usually graduated accOf Stunned, I looked toward the shoreline and to admit. Furthermore, Stizostedion vitreum is ing to size, the fish love to loiter in quiet V°°i u peering through the bushes I saw my wife— not at all hard to catch, however, one must adjacent to deep eddies, there to wait in anil> " anxiety, utter amazement, stark unbelief, were needs have a little insight into his nature, moods, for choice daytime tidbits swept along on iV written on her features. Quaveringly she com­ habits, habitat, food and feeding proclivities, current. In fact, I have worked this trait to '"j manded: "Hubby King, come right up here! and isn't the same pretty generally true of all advantage. Whenever possible, I like to sta* Right now! I'm afraid of these things!" Cau­ game fish? parallel with a ledge at the head of a °e [ tiously we stole upstream and she reluctantly Geographically distributed in Canada and the pocket and then toss a plug into the shall0 resumed casting. Time after time, cast after United States as far south as Georgia and Ala­ water several feet above the drop-off. Then j"" cast, three, four, five or six in a group, big alli­ bama, and west to the Mississippi, old gelatine- at the moment the current sweeps the plug d°\ gator snouted mammoths followed her pork rind eye is known by a host of regional and vernacu­ over the drop-off into the deeper water, I bft

as ts and then tries strategy as a last resort. learn to judiciously employ pliers and available , While still fishing with live bait at the present hooks to cut down on the loss of plugs, he should 9v and age is an out-moded manner of taking not expect to read the recipe on the pages of a wrie fish, it is likely, however, more wall-eyes are magazine ... no pre-determined set of rules aught on natural food than any other single cover all waters, currents, bottoms. Whenever ^•npeting method . . . this solelv because a possible, scrutinize the doctored lures employed .^ger percentage of anglers are resigned to worry- by topflight local anglers . . . there are some ."8 along with the bothersome shiner or live chub things such fishermen learn the hard, hard way 'testinal form of appeal. The procedure is and quite rightly leave the other fellow to pick Plte simple. About all an angler needs is a cheap up in the same fashion. Personally this fisherman jj of some sort, even a hickory sapling winter —the veriest of dubs—has progressed far enough ."t and dried or mayhap a long cane pole, twenty- to want none of the so-called weedless lures. Sure . e to forty feet of strong test line, a float, a some are weedless . . . and Ashless too for the **er and a few snelled hooks . . . not for- most part. . . though not snagless. But were the jfctting the shiners of course. Oh! yes, on second manufacturer to offer plugs to the general public /j°uglit a good book to read or a soft pillow on and with double hooks properly fitted to bump , "ich to nap while tolling off those dreary, along on the bottom, without snagging, doubtful °resome, tedious hours between strikes is al- if he should sell many . . . the average license °st a positive necessity. And while thusly en- holder would likely fear he was being gypped °aged, the live bait man should never forget for of the third point and refuse to buy. Some guys • distant that the really big ones, almost one are fine casters and catch few fish; other fellows undred per cent, come on artificials. A mighty do not cast so well, but take the big ones . . . . "vincing barometer is the annual big fish con- I think the latter know how to doctor their lures, pst of Field and Stream. Perusal of the records lose few and fish the bottom with a minimum of °w in 1940 nine of the leading ten were captured unnatural disturbance. Bluntly and to climb j iian fashioned frauds . . . the largest 16 lbs. all the way out on the limb, I doubt the third point on the orthodox treble is worth a good 8 °3s., the smallest 12 lbs., 8 ozs. In 1941, the •tte contest, the ten topmost liked artificials, consarn in routine wall-eye fishing. 0( , i ranged downward in weight from 15 lbs. I understand river wall-eyes may be taken • °*s., to 13 lbs., 8 ozs. Right pert wall-eyes! quite easily with surface plugs and bass bugs ^"d not one credited to a Pennsylvanian. Per- about sunset and during early evening . . . and . Ps too many Keystoners are sticking to old in the shallows. Still having one to take in that *ioned live bait after all. fashion, I guess the least the writer says about *ar more sporting than live bait are the light 26-in. wall-eye caught in Juniata by W. F. Brown the matter the better. One thing certain, how­ 'gnt bait casting outfits and fly and spinner of Harrisburg. ever, and that is artificials will take bigger and •Jibinations. Owing to the comparative better wall-eyes any day, and promise a lot more eyed friend. Almost always he finally makes up t,°desty in expectation, the power in the run of satisfaction, thrill and action than live bait. j..e lot Pennsylvania game fishes is mostly his mind to gobble that blamed thing and then Properly employed when a wall-eye does not hit "sory anyway, and there is more action with he's in plenty trouble. a plug, he is either not around or off his feed . . . 'Uncials. Besides the lightweight tackle in- As an afterthought, some wading fishermen at the same time he'll refuse a shiner also. Try pres the fish more of that illusory power or may scoff at the idea of permitting plugs to it and sec. Where? Well, let's not get too per­ .fength. I have seldom fished the wall-eye bump along on the bottom, or at least to scrape sonal . . . remember the angler is a great big „'h the fly rod, but for those desiring to do so the high spots. True if the ordinary treble hook he-man ... go forth and hunt fish of thine own. « e regular bass rig is the ticket . . . And get plug, as coming from the factory, were employed, As a hint, however, most any good sized body of at lure down! Personally I prefer a 6 ft. bait it would almost take a millionaire to replace lost water in the state might be a lot better .hunting l ?.Ung job, whippy action, a 9 to 12 lb. test line, lures, leaders and lines. But accidental loss may than you would think at first glance. I '8ht reel and varied lengths of synthetic gut be cut to the minimum by the smart angler. Plugs direct from the factory are merely stock *Uer. Emphatically I do not agree with the models, diamonds in the rough for alteration and When a man is wrapped up in himself, he ^ rt wire leader as so enthusiastically employed revision by fishermen. Artificial users should makes a pretty small parcel. i ? 'nany of the old timers. Deep riding, bottom learn to doctor their lures to meet actual stream ssing plugs, color unimportant, in the smaller requirements—a pair of good pliers with firm jaws Before you ask advice, explore your own head. I *?s, always get first call, but I have taken nice and a keen cutting edge is almost a necessity in any There may be something in it. |j. '"eyes on the ledge drop-offs with a certain bait casting kit. Likewise a few sets of extra J le sub-surface darter that at no time dips e hooks, both treble and double barbs. Thus They say hard work never killed anyone, but Per than two feet. Luminous spinners, bait equipped, if the fishermen cannot personally it has scared a lot of people half to death. e(F S'Z(!* ant' Pcrk rmd "8s a'so Prove mighty "jctive at times. j Although there are exceptions as already noted, . "ie most part old gelatine-eye may be classed j, a slow biter—he likes to mouth or nibble at ^ °ait. Live bait anglers humor this quip in o^Perament by permitting the fish to play with th ,nilnnow f°r quite awhile before turning on iirirtiisc Quarry is almost in the bag. Give him a «HI dP' e seconds to return to his original position *hen cast again. Frequently the jolts will an A_h " d maybe even the third or fourth time. ^ old axiom declares familiarity breeds con- They think the "Angler" is great. These ladies attended the outing of the Lower Merion Pt and such must be the case with our cat- Rod and Gun Club. 22 PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER SEPTEMBER

a dubbing rubbed on the working silk, wind to body, but do not make it too large. An eighth ° an inch diameter is ample. Cream hackle is the" worked in, in the conventional way, with most" the fibres extending beneath the shank of t", hook. The filler of white deer tail is best cements in at the head, and should be somewhat spai^6' It is used primarily as a bracer for the teal spu". which extend the length of the hair. These te* splits must of necessity be very mobile and 4" use of too much hair will tend to destroy tW> action. Incidentally, this teal material is °" tained from the long side feather and some larg«' breast feathers of this bird. The texture shou' be comparable to the stiffness of the tail °> large wet fly. Jungle cock eyes of not too law" size finish the fly. . The most useful hook size is the 4X l0ljj shank No. 8. Naturally the ring eye type sh°l... be chosen since a turn up or turn down eye W? tend to cock the fly at a very undesirable au? and will really test your temper. .• As an alternate fly the McGinty is a bit °, feathered perfection for mid-day casting. I "f. never used this pattern dressed with jungle ey and squirrel tail wing until Jim Prey, note' Pacific Coast fly stylist sent me several safflP» steelhead and salmon wet flies in common lis9,0|i there. A.mong this group was the McGinty. ^ of these flies were beautifully constructed, but 1 , some inexplicable reason I was much concerue with the appearance of the McGinty. / However, never having managed to learn the value of this excellent fly until two years late' this colored finery was nothing more than anotb good looking "bug" in the wet fly book. It fl' , during an off moment of despair that I *j fastened it to the gold spinner and shot it far °, i into a slow glide, with the result that this in'*1 cast connected with a scrapping small-mouth The Loyalsock is coming back. Five brown trout, 11 to 16 inches, caught by Bill Koehler, son of worthwhile proportions. ,| refuge keeper, George Koehler. You will find no less than a half dozen at * times in the fly book wherever I fish for bass, STREAMER TACTICS FOR BASS season after season of flipping the fly over this all sincerity, it is a fly of unassailable merits. type water to rest for a mere second or two on the There is more to bass fishing than meets * (Continued from Page li) surface is very apt to make one too "trigger first glance. The smell of the river, the mystery suit both the depth and speed of the current, but minded." One of the first rules in successful bass darkness of the deeps, the constant song °* i it is wise to allow the lure to sink to the depths angling is to take enough time to cover the water surging riffle, the strong tug of water aroU of these good looking places. Many fine bass you are fishing and from the positions most your legs—these are the qualities we retain ratD ^ are taken off the bottom of stream and river with advantageous to your efforts. If your cast has than the number of fish caught. It is duf) ' such methods, and it appears that the larger fish gone astray enroute and missed the target, con­ these moments of angling when we realize to are more susceptible to the slow moving, deep sider it important enough to handle it cautiously, fishing keeps the mind well and healthy; ^.( running spinner. . nevertheless. The disturbance made by lifting giving the other fellow a chance is part of l . In the deeper water such as is found in the a sunken spinner and fly from a likely looking game. Isn't it indeed unfortunate that to1of * main channels, a cast beginning slightly upstream place is far worse than carefully fishing a poor have never explored the wonders of the sport? will cause the spinner to sink quite rapidly until cast which happened to fall in apparently unin­ it begins to swing in a large arc opposite the viting water. angler; then with a fast swimming motion, it will One of the best tricks I have ever learned is SEPTEMBER BASS FISHING gradually come nearer the surface. This is often this: when the bass are reluctant to take a swipe (Continued from Page 7) j referred to as a drift cast, and is one of the most at the lure, cast it almost directly upstream and lures is a very large order and my advice is to % productive forms of spinner fishing. Somehow let it drift with no more action than that which advice from some local fly .fisherman in y°' . r one can become so aware of this method that on a tight line will give it, then when it has reached neighborhood to help you in this matter. F , ( every cast, when the spinner begins to swing out­ a dead stop downstream, twitch it once or twice past experience he knows what lures are best ward and its speed increases, a strike seems very slightly. If no strike is forthcoming, repeat the water you wish to fish. J imminent. By all means the action of the lure the same process at a slightly different angle. Why not try casting or fly fishing? I [ itself is desired here; additional movement does I prefer streamers because I have caught more assured if you do, you will get more sport out no good whatsoever at this particular time. If and larger fish with them, and I believe that is your fishing and, at the same time, you wi" ^ there is abundant surface activity, yes, use the sU sound enough reason to have faith in most any helping to conserve the natural food P?e, erratic retrieve if you wish. However, we are artificial. which is so vital in our streams. That is, considering the problem in the terms of no 1 The little streamer illustrated is the most coming a big problem to your Fish Commiss .( apparent top water feeding. Regardless, too effective of countless patterns and styles. In all Why not give your Fish Commission a Bj ^ many anglers overdo the importance of certain types of water it has taken bass, wall-eyes, cooperation and help them to make better v*" methods of retrieving (this does not apply to pickerel and trout, not to mention blue gills, ing in our lakes and streams for you and eve . plugs) and will fret themselves over this com­ rock bass and the usual sundry panfishes. The one else by using artificial lures and flies, an"' paratively inconsequential subject, but at the largest wall-eye I ever landed (five and one- the same time, get more sport out of your tr same time overlook the truly important things quarter pounds) was lured with the wiles of this astream? notably of which is whether they are casting into ]Y small streamer. Likewise, the heaviest and great­ (EDITOR'S NOTE: Bob Hanson is one of Pe , likely places. f est number of small-mouth listed in my log have sylvania's most ardent and experienced fly rod ° . r How fast do you fish a pool or flat? Is it not found its sparse whisks very tempting. fishermen. He, along with Ken Reid, a f° . h possible that years of trout fly casting have In making this streamer, the work is begun at member of The Board of the Fish Commit*1 ,,, influenced you somewhat? Our mountain streams the top of the bend. Two or three turns of gold popularized the now famous Hair Frog, a, " often support only the very shortest of runs, and tinsel are fastened in, then using sheep wool as great surface bass bug.) *942 PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER 23

FINIS TO FISHING shall not cease my searching for a game to p «eep me fit: e,rchance there is an ideal sport—but FISHING j !sn't it. , 'tially, I tried my luck beyond a briny reef god ran afoul of mal-de-mer with its attendant Ifcief. ley lashed me to a swivel chair along the , afterdeck— heavy set of harness snubbed around my •j, blistered neck. ,eY tell me I went overboard beside that h ^hing smack: ?' I- was so unhealthui y that a tuna threw me back. te

* found success at fishing, so forget my P'aintive cry; * 6 hook 'em from the goldfish bowl—the family Cat and I. Herman D. Hocker.

Big Pickerel '"eil McLaughlin, an enthusiastic 15-year-old fv US fisherman of Schuylkill Haven, caught a e Pickerel measuring exactly two feet in length. The improvement on Quades Run in Lancaster County has made better trouting. PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER SEPTEMBER

HERE \ THERE N ANGLERDOM

Peck's Pond Produces A huge muskie weighing 47 lbs. and measuring Reports Warden Tony Lech Two Allentown Anglers who are good friends 59 inches in length was found dead in Conneaut Lake. It was discovered by Victor Barsdate and The fishing in Schuylkill County was fair' and who vacation in Pike County, entered ex­ the month of July. ceptionally fine pickerel in an Allentown big fish Emerson Elmen of Meadville while fishing in the lake. It was impossible to determine what caused Levi Clements, Pine Grove, R. D., caug contest. The fish of Earl Berger measured 25 22 in. pickerel and 2 bass, one 16 inch and inches in length and weighed in at 4 lbs. 11 ozs. the downfall of this marvelous fish for it bore no marks from injury. The fish was frozen and 20 incher. Oliver F. Mengel's pickerel was even larger Chas. Harron, Port Carbon caught a 22^ '" measuring 27 3/4 and tipping the beam at 5 lbs. placed on exhibition. pickerel weighing 3)4 lbs. i 8 ozs. Jake Kxebs, Port Carbon caught a 21 in. pickeI* LARGE FISH and a 20 inch large-mouth bass. ,,, This One Almost Got Away Neal McGauglin, Schuylkill Haven caught a' Small-mouth Bass inch pickerel weighing 4)-£ lbs. Bruce Henninger of Pinegrove hooked, played, 1 and lost a big brown trout, the fish breaking the Mr. Colbert of Johnstown, Pa. at Homets Ferry Frank Stump, Pine Grove, caught 2—16 "" leader. Not realizing that its freedom had been July 5, 21)4 in., 3 lbs. 9 ozs. 1—15 in., 2—13 in. large-mouth bass. James Schaffer, Pine Grove, caught a 20)^ in' gained the trout quietly rested in the water. Mr. Colbert of Johnstown, Pa. at Homets Ferry 5)4 lb. large-mouth bass. Henninger managed to grasp the broken end of July 8, 21 in., 2 lbs. 8 ozs. the leader which protruded from the mouth of Giser Kramer, Orwigsburg, took a 20 inch Wail-Eyed Pike the trout. With^care he managed to net his mouth bass. . 0 19 inch brownie. Randall Cochran of Lawton at Wyalusing July 1, Warden Tony Lech landed a 20 in. large-m " 27 in., 6 lbs. 7 ozs. bass weighing 4 lbs. 10 ozs., on a plug. The fish were caught at Sweet Arrow Lake- Portion of Wallenpaupaek Closed Large-mouth Bass As a war emergency the Pennsylvania Power Ralph Beck of Montrose in Lake Montrose, in and Light Co., with the approval of the Lake July 5, 173^ -» 5 lbs. 1 oz. Warden L. E. Close of Emporium Rep0r Committee and the Fish Commission, has closed Donald Dean of Montrose in Lake Montrose, a small portion of Lake Wallenpaupaek at July 7, 17 in., 4 lbs. 4 ozs. During the early part of last week (July 1" ! Wilsonville extending 750 feet from the breast of fishing was impossible due to Hoods, but Fri" j, the dam. No boating, fishing.'Wimming'or any I checked 15 fishermen on the headwaters of* other form of recreation will be permitted in this Driftwood Branch and never saw nicer troU* ve restricted area for the duration. more than half of the catches running betv 12 and 18 inches. ^ The flood made hundreds of deep hiding p'ae i, Billy Nesmith, seventh grade New Florence for trout but the loss in fishbait is beyond c j Student, caught a 1)4 lb. 15)4 incu hrook trout culation. Aquatic vegetation also suffered 8 in Powder Mill Run on a night crawler late in it will take several years for some of our stres' the trout season. That is a fine brookie for to come back. Pennsylvania waters. How many trout fishermen have caught one over 15 inches? Warden Max Noll of Montrose Checked the following the first day of * Giant Trout season: A 29 inch rainbow trout weighing 12 lbs. was On Elk Lake . 14 men took 26 Bass caught during the opening of the season in Spring On Bigsby Pond 5 men took 14 Bass Creek by Edward Osmer of Bellefonte. This is On Kinney Pond 13 men took 39 Pickerel probably the largest rainbow trout ever taken On Montrose from Pennsylvania waters. Lake .... 6 men took 5 Pickerel Warren County produced a brown trout On Halls Pond 3 men took 15 Pickerel measuring 28 3/4 inches in length and weighing On the Wyalu­ 7 lbs. 5 ozs. The fish was taken early in July by sing Creek . 12 men took 9 Bass Wenzel Anthony of Venturetown. According to 27 Rock Bass all available historical information this is the 1 Wail-Eye F» longest trout ever taken in the County. On the Susq. near Wyalu­ sing .... 6 men took 5 Bass fl.M Lebanon ..County carp and sucker fishermen 6 Wall-Eye P* have been active along the Swatara Creek and On the Fourth of July Spring Creek at Hershey, according to a report On the Wyalu­ received from Warden Frank Sanda. A catch of sing Creek 8 suckers, ranging in length from 14 to 18 inches and the Susq. was scored by Roger Auman, Hershey. Fritz near Wyalu­ Careutte of Hershey took seven suckers ranging sing .... 38 men took 28 Bass .u in length from 12 to 15 inches, and J. W. Troxell 21 Wall-Eye P1* of Palmyra has taken a number of suckers rang­ 9 Fall Fish ing in length from 14 to 17 inches as well as a Charles Brown of Wilkes-Barre with his 4'/4 lb. 1 Carp five pound carp. brownie. 16 Rock Bass • IF YOU WOULD CATCH MORE FISH

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