SITS TO AMERICA

The untravelled English angler has, pardonably enough, vague notions as
to the sport to be had with the rod of a mere visitor in the United
States. He fancies generally that he has only to come, see, and
conquer; and this is partly because he confuses Canada with the country
south of the great chain of lakes. No doubt there is an abundant
variety of angling in the States; but here, as at home, you must go far
afield. Do not forget that even the best American streams are as
easily fished out as our own. Pending the completion of the Exhibition
at Chicago, I had been gathering, from reliable sources, some facts
that may be of use to those readers who are always craving knowledge in
the columns of the fishing papers; and I endeavoured to discover what
the casual visitor, finding himself at the best-known cities, may
expect without travelling too far from his base of operations. The
result of my inquiries, however, is at best only an outline sketch, and
it may be that time has brought changes.

Let us suppose that you are in New York. At the termination of the
voyage, when you were not engaged in admiring the pretty residences on
the wooded slopes of Staten Island, you would look occasionally to the
right upon Long Island, one of the lungs of New York, though the city
has in itself so clear an atmosphere that people are able to build
marble houses with impunity. Still, in the heat of summer the
citizens--and small blame to them--make it a rule of flying nearer the
ocean, and Long Island is one of their handiest and most appreciated
resorts. There are upon it many trout preserves; "ponds" they are
called, but we should give them the higher title of lakes with a clear
conscience. They are generally maintained by clubs of wealthy members,
and each has its comfortable house.

The earliest trout fishing to be found in this country is here. April
1 is the opening day, and the season opened well, though a snap of
rough weather during the last fortnight interfered with sport. There
are numbers of lady anglers, members of the Long Island colony, and two
of them to my knowledge made capital baskets during the Easter week. A
New Yorker gets through his business in the city before luncheon, and
then, in a couple of hours, he is at the Long Island clubhouse getting
into his fishing suit. Fly-fishing only is practised, and the fish are
principally fontinalis. Unless otherwise stated, this species is
alwa