NOTES AND QUERIES. 
[Under this Department Heading queries relative to Angling, Ichthyology and Fish Culture 
will be answered. | 
Trespass and the Trout Stream. 
Is there not a law in this state which permits fisher- 
men, with rod and reel, to fish any trout stream 
at public expense ? 
Can the owners of property, through which such 
streams flow, forbid, lawfully, by published notice or 
otherwise, persons from fishing therein? C. 
MIDDLETOWN, N. Y., June 20. 
We know of no law that opens to the public, 
indiscriminately, all the trout waters of New 
York state. If such a law should be passed, 
it would, without doubt, be declared unconsti- 
tutional, for the common law of trespass 
stands in the way of its execution. If a man’s 
house is his castle, his right of ownership and 
exclusive use of lands, which he has paid for, 
is equally inviolable, being protected by the 
trespass laws. If the stream you have in mind 
has been ‘‘logged,”’ it is, in the eye of the law, 
a navigable water and is open to the public for 
fishing, but you cannot pass over the property 
of another man to reach its banks without his 
consent. You must get into the stream as 
best you can, and wade or boat up and down, 
without landing at any point of land unless 
you have permission to do so. The penalties, 
however, for trespass are trifling, dependent 
in amount and annoyance upon the local justice 
of the peace who, in one county to our knowl- 
edge, never makes it more than six cents; but 
the annoyance runs into dollars of delay and 
discomfort. 
Great Bass and Mascalonge Fishing. 
We learned, during our recent visit West, 
that Chicago anglers who have returned from 
short trips to the fishing regions of Wisconsin 
and Michigan, report the most excellent sport. 
Two well-known Chicago gentlemen caught in 
two half days 158 black bass in Black Oak, 
Mamie and Big lakes, their headquarters, 
during their stay, being at Bent’s Resort, near 
state line, Wis. Other parties returning from 
Pelican lake, Manitowish and the Trout lake 
district, brought with them some very fine 
specimens of mascalonge and black bass. The 
experience of these fishermen seems to indicate 
that the amended laws prohibiting fishing be- 
fore June 1st are highly beneficial, as ‘‘ good 
luck stories’’ are more universal than ever be- 
fore. 

The Tarpon—A Reply to Old Fin. 
The lament of ‘‘Old Fin” has attracted my 
attention and my sympathy. Not only do I 
sorrow in the uttermost depths of my heart for 
the venerable ‘‘ Fin,” but also for those poor 
misguided mortals who ‘‘ silently and resolutely 
sit under a broiling sun in an open boat” for 
days, and even weeks, without getting ‘‘a 
draw.’’ No wonder their dispositions are 
spoiled; no wonder, when they do succeed, 
they puff up with pride, and look down upon 
common mortals with disdain. After the ex- 
ercise of so much patience and self-control 
they are surely entitled to so act. 
And, above all, it is so sportsmanlike, the 
very refinement of the angler’s art to let the 
noble silver king take the bait and gorge it, 
and then strike the hook into a vital part, so 
as to kill him as quickly as possible, and give 
him the smallest show for his life. Why not 
take a harpoon and be done with it? I fain 
would weep when I read accounts of how these 
sportsmen ‘‘pot” their tarpon, for way down 
here in Texas we have a different mode; even 
in this land, popularly supposed to be the 
home of the barbarian, such tactics are not 
resorted to. 
If ‘‘Old Fin”’ will join me at Aransas Pass 
next July, I will show him the exact opposite 
of his Florida sketch. Iwill put him in a skiff 
with an oarsman, who will row slowly up and 

* The experience of most skilled Florida tarpon ang- 
lers is that ten fish out of a dozen are lost when hooked 
‘in the mouth, which is always the case when trolling 
for them. Commodore Falls is the only tarpon ang- 
ler, in our knowledge, who practices trolling, and the 
above named percentage is according to his experi- 
ence with these fish. Again, trolling is not, in the 
opinion of gentle anglers, a sportsmanlike method of 
taking fish. The highest branch of the art is tolurea 
fish; higher, indeed, than the actual killing of it, and, 
in trolling, your boatman generally finds the fish, and, 
in the handling of his boat, helps to killit. But this 
matter, although not strictly irrelevant to the subject, 
is too broad to be discussed ina foot note. Will W. M. 
S. kindly tell us a little mure about trolling for tarpon 
at Aransas Pass, what bait, etc.—ED. 
