LITTLE CASTS

The Fingerling Fisher.—It is sad to see a man with his creel full of trout each not over the size of a lady's penknife. This character has a photograph made of himself with the fingerlings held in front of him so as to make them appear of legal size; this he sends to friends in the city with glowing accounts of his catch of "a hundred speckled beauties in one day."

Tent Waterproofing.—Sugar of lead and alum.

Woodcraft.—A good, simple way to find a road or dwelling, if you are lost in the woods, is to follow down a stream.

Destroying the Streams.—Discourage the indiscriminate cutting down of trees. The destruction of forest land means the drying up of trout waters and the waste of drinking water.

The Bungler.—Bragging of ungentle catches, untruths about the size of a specimen, and non-ichthyological nonsense about the mystery of a species—unnatural history such as cheap fiction writers indulge in—by bungling would-be fishermen annoy the practical man and puzzle the earnest tyro. The record of honest sport is entertaining and instructive.

Discrimination.—Do not worry if the fish are small so long as they are of legal size; reduce your tackle. A vest-pocket watch keeps just as good time as a town-hall clock.

Sportsmanship.—Chivalry to his companion and humane treatment to the game he pursues are the Angler's axioms.

Giving Fishes to Neighbors.—Don't give your neighbors part of your catch. They won't appreciate it. They'll throw them away in most cases. If they cook and eat them they suffer the belief that they are doing you a favor. Most recipients of fishes think the specimens too small, or that they have too many bones, or that they are too thin, too tough, too hard to scale, etc. They'd rather have a bought-and-paid-for cold-storage cod of ten pounds than a freshly caught brook trout presented by an Angler friend.

Not All of Fishing to Fish.—"The fisherman whose catching of many fish causes him to forget his surroundings, blinds his eyes to the beauties of Nature, and deadens his ears to the music of the wild, is no Angler."—O. W. Smith.