48 THE EEPOET UPON No. 14 



Ou March lYth, he found a great many muskrat houses cut open and traps 

 set in them. He seized eleven traps, and although he called on a number of 

 the trappers they all denied ownership to the traps and he was unable to prove 

 anything. 



Last winter being an open one, trapping commenced early. Muskrats were 

 very scarce, this, he thinks, was caused by some unprincipled trappers catching 

 them during the w'lter. He thinks this should be prohibited and the close 

 season continued until March. 



On May 15th he began to get the "Mermaid" in order for the season. He 

 had the engine thoroughly over-hauled, and the boat generally painted and 

 varnished; by June 1st she was ready to commence patrol service, and throughout 

 the summer he and his assistant kept up a constant patrol of the Rideau Canal 

 waters from Newboro to Kingston. 



The fishing was good, and the visitors were pleased with their sport. During 

 July, the hotels and boarding houses were filled to over-flowing, and all agreed 

 that the fishing was never better. Not many tourists brought in the limit that 

 they are allowed to catch, i.e., 8 daily, they preferred to return the fish to the 

 water after they were caught, as they were anxious for the sport, and did not 

 want to spoil it for another year. This keen interest in the welfare of the 

 fisheries is probably the reason for the large improvement of the fishing in this 

 district. After eight year's experience as a Game and Fishery overseer he notices 

 the difference in the appearance and size of the bass spread out on the hotel 

 lawns in Jones Falls and Chaffeys Lock; where 7 lb. bass were sometimes to be 

 seen, and 6j4 lb. hass were quite a frequent occurrence. A salmon caught by 

 J. G. Morton, of Peekskill, N.Y., weighing 22 1^ lbs. was on view in the store 

 at Jones Falls. The next largest which was caught weighed 17 y^ lbs., and the 

 next 91/2 lbs., and so on. Eight years ago fish of this size were unknown in his 

 district, so it is encouraging to notice the improvement, and the waters show no 

 signs of becoming depleted. 



During August, one man acting as a guide without a license was brought 

 before a Justice of the Peace and fined $5 and costs. 



A great quantity of salmon were caught all along the Rideau Canal, mainly 

 trolling. They have never been known to bite the hook as they have done this, 

 season. It was diSicult at times to get guides, they found they could make more 

 money by catching salmon and selling them, and it is his opinion that unless 

 some restrictions are put on salmon they will soon be a thing of the past. He 

 thinks four salmon to each rod would be a fair restriction; he knows of one 

 man who caught 30 salmon one morning, during the beginning of October, in 

 Devil Lake, and at the end of two days fishing he had 70 salmon, weighing from 

 21/2 lbs. to 10 lbs. each. During this part of the season there were abcat 20 

 boats on Devil Lake, and if they had the same luck it would not be a very good 

 thing for salmon. He knows other instances of a similar nature occurring on 

 Dog, Loughboro and Rideau Lakes. 



The duck season opened on October 15th, with very few ducks abo^ *■ Part- 

 ridges are also very scarce. Black squirrels were very plentiful, and did con- 

 siderable harm to the farmers' crops during September and October. He thinks 

 it would be an improvement if the 15 days open season were placed a month 

 earlier. 



On October 25th, it was reported that the laws regarding the close season 

 for salmon were being violated in a barefaced manner, so he went to Battersea 



