Angling Echoes August 2018 The Trout
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Angling Echoes August 2018 The Trout; I know of almost no angler who does not love trout. Some love other species more, but almost everyone can agree that trout are a remarkable fish that deserve universal acclaim. This issue — the second themed issue this year — is dedicated solely to the trout, of all kinds, from the first page to the last.
The feature story this month is an article from an overlooked source — railroad literature. Many railroads invested a lot of money in creating pamphlets promoting the fishing in their particular region, in this case the Wisconsin Central Railway that served Central and Northern Wisconsin. This happens to be my home fishing waters, so it was a great treat to read F.E. Scotford’s article (1904) extolling the virtues of the trout of this region.
There are several other lengthy trout articles of note. Benjamin Kent’s charming “An Angler’s Notes on the Beaverkill” (1902) is a love letter to a version of this river that no longer exists. Samuel G. Camp’s “The Little Salmon of the Springs” (1910) is likewise an ode to the greatest of all trout — the Brook Trout. Charles Z. Southard’s work “Old Traditions are Fallacies” (1928) exploded a lot of long-held and cherished traditions about trout.
In addition, there are some excellent shorter articles as well. A pair of them deal with Chester Arthur, the 21st American president who was a dedicated disciple of Walton and a fair hand at fly casting, as it turns out. He even dreamed of trout, it turns out.
One of the most harrowing stories you’ll read about the dangers of trout fishing is J. Maybe Baltimore’s “An Angler’s Adventure” (1905) about a very, very close shave with death by an intrepid (and very lucky) angler.
Internationally, we get a dispatch from Manchester about a favorite son of Tennessee and a large Mancusian trout, as well as the origins of trout fishing and trout propagation in South Africa.
Newspapers serve as wonderful historical records of trout angling, and this issues reprints them from large papers (the Los Angeles Times) to small (the Selinsgrove Times-Tribune). My favorite is the great Robert Page Lincoln’s 1933 article on copper wire line trolling for Lake Trout from the Minneapolis Tribune. This form of trolling for lakers soon after became commonplace.
The most unique piece in this issue is the short blurb about an aquarium trout that swallowed its tank mate whole, to the point the smaller fish’s tale was still sticking out its mouth a day later. As someone who spent many hours watching a tank filled with game fish, I have also noticed this behavior as well.
Finally, as always we end with “Letters from Mary Kelly,” and include a short piece from her about fishing the Firehole Rover in Wyoming. As always, we would love to hear any feedback you have on Angling Echoes. Please email us at anglingechoes@gmail.com with your kind (or not so kind) comments!
