Conservation Commission 347 



presence of fish with mouths too small to take in the bait. I 

 tried a thin line with a small hook with a small piece of the same 

 bait which was soon taken and a whitefish brought up to the net. 

 Since then I have found worms to be a better bait. Care must 

 be taken to avoid tearing the hook from the mouth. Twitch 

 gently, draw up slowly but steadily and always take in with net." 



Angling foe Whitefish 



A man formerly connected with a museum in Washington, 

 D. C, and who was in a feeble condition, went into the Adiron- 

 dacks for his health. He found a point on Saranac Lake, with 

 deep water on each side of it, bought the piece of property for 

 $38,000, and built himself a summer home there. Being an 

 ardent fisherman, and having learned that whitefish are in the 

 lake, he sought a way to catch them without netting. His method 

 was this : A few days previous to angling from his boat, he made 

 a mixture of paste — flour and water and possibly some other 

 ingredient — to hold the dough from dissolving too fast. He 

 baited the ground which he desired to fish one or two days after- 

 wards. When the time came for him to fish for the whitefish he 

 used a very small hook (possibly a No. 8 Sproat or No. 8 All- 

 cock) on a line with sinker heavy enough to take the hook to 

 within a foot or 18 inches of the bottom, and for bait a pellet of 

 dough (possibly mixed in with a piece of fine sponge to hold to 

 the hook). He jigs the bait not too fast then the fun com- 

 mences. He has taken a great many in a day. The most im- 

 portant part is to haul steadily and use a landing net to take in 

 the fish. An average of only one out of three is caught because 

 the mouth is so tender that the fish cannot be hauled out like bass, 

 pike, bullheads or carp. The weight of the fish is too great when 

 it struggles to get away for the jaws to hold him. This angler 

 generally fishes in from 60 to 75 feet of water for the whitefish. 



In a Report of the U. S. Fish Commission it is stated that a 

 Mr. Trompe has taken whitefish at Saulte Ste. Marie with May- 

 flies. Mr. Dan E. Miller notes that whitefish have been caught 

 off the breakwater at Chicago, 111., and also at Whitefish Point, 

 forty-five miles from Saulte Ste. Marie, Mich., with worms for 

 bait. 



