35S 



The American AnHer. 



of the finny inhabitants of the Mississippi. Here 

 follows a list of those which are most common, 

 viz.: Catfish, perch, sturgeon, eel, armed fish 

 or garre, sunfish, black trout, bass, rock, 

 chopique or mudfish, spatula fish, a species of 

 herring, a large fish called redfish, and a great 

 variety of others to which names have not been 

 given. We have also the crayfish and shrimp, 

 the latter in such abundance that there is no 

 part of either shore but quantities of them may 

 be immediately caught by sinking a net or 

 basket with a little bran or piece of flesh about 

 a foot or two under water during ten months of 

 the year, and this as high up as the Yazouz 

 river, and perhaps higher. At some future day, 

 when the banks of the river shall be populated 

 to the same degree as the rivers and canals of 

 China, the poor of this country will bless the 

 hand of the Almighty and thank his Providence 

 in having provided for them an inexhaustible 

 store of food by the indefinite supply of this 

 crustaceus animal. 



[Shrimp are now taken in great numbers, size 

 about three inches, in the section named by Mr. 

 Dunbar. They are much more delicate in 

 flavor than the salt water shrimp. — Ed.] 



" At the mouth of the river and in the adjoin- 

 ing salt lakes there are plenty of oysters, crabs, 

 sheephead, spotted trout, flatfish and many 

 others." \V. C. H. 



Aransas Pass, Texas. 



Great Salmon Fishing. 



As the angling season has now closed I send 

 you its results on our Restigouche. I met with 

 a serious accident during the second week I was 

 fishing, and have only now got out of bed, 

 killing only twelve fish during the entire season. 

 I believe this has been the banner year on the 

 Restigouche ; there never have been such scores 

 made, and there are now (August 22) thousands 

 of salmon in the river, in fact, too many for the 

 natural propagation, as there will be hundreds 

 of fish on every spawnmg bed, fighting and 

 digging it over again and again, completely 

 destroying the deposited ova. 



The salmon came up early (June i ) because the 

 water in the river was well up and held up with 

 some rains for three weeks, consequently the 

 water was just discolored enough for the fish to 

 play around and rise well. Therefore the lower 

 pools gave glorious sport, the fish being in no 

 hurry to go up into the deeper ones. 



As for scores I am really unable to give them 

 correctly. I know there was a surfeit for most 



of the anglers. The R. .S. club only allows its 

 members to kill eight fish per day, but the 

 riparian owner can do as he pleases, and some 

 of them are reported as killing over one hundred 

 fish to a rod. I have one score by Mr. Mitchell, 

 of Norwich, on a pool seven miles above the 

 Metapedia Station, I. C. R. (the pool only 

 yielded a few fish last year) as follows : From 

 29th May to 29th June, twenty days fishing ; 

 results, fifty-six salmon, 1,247)^ pounds ; 

 heaviest fish, 31 pounds; average, 22 '4 pounds. 

 The gentleman paid I700 rental for the water 

 but is well satisfied, and I believe his score to 

 be the smallest made on the river. A good 

 many thirty-six pound fish have been taken, and 

 two or three as high as forty pounds, showing 

 also a regular increase in size. 



].\o. MOWAT. 



A Device for Tarpon Fishers. 



The strain of the rod upon the tarpon fisher- 

 man, as it is usually handled, is very trying to 



the nmscles. 

 erratic leaps. 



After the 

 as a rule 



fish gets through his 

 he settles down to a 



steady tow of the boat lasting sometimes for 



