384 



FOREST AND STREAM^ 



FISH IN SEASON °~FOR 



DECEMBER. 



Pike or Pickerel, Bmx luciw. 

 Yellow Perch, Perca tlavescens. 

 Wliile Perch, Monmea 



Black Bass, Micropenis salmo 



M. pallidus. 

 Sea Baas, Scicenops oceUdttiS. 



Naw Hampshibe— Dover. Dec. 4— Pishing on our coast is 

 quite good at present, and the fishermen are getting good 

 fares. Twelve hundred pounds of striped bass were taken 

 from our river one day last week by two young men of this 

 place. A very good day's work. W. A. G. 



Movements of the Fishing Fleet. — The weather lias 

 been unfavorable for the Shore fishermen the past week, and 

 very little has been done. The number of arrivals in other 

 departments has been unusually small, and this week has 

 been a dull one for the fishing interest. The whole number 

 of fishing nrrivals reported at this port sinec our last Issue has 

 been 17—7 from the Banks, 8G,0001bs. halibut; 7 from 

 Georges, with 84,0001bs. codfish ; and 3 from the Bay St. 

 Lawrence with light fares of mackerel,. — Gape Ann Advertiser, 

 Dec. 6. 



Connecticut — Farmington, Dec. 5.— We expect some fine 

 fishing through the ice with tips this winter, for pickerel are 

 now running up the stream. During the winter '76-7 over 

 five hundred pounds of pickerel were taken in our small river, 

 the Farmington. None last winter— no ice. Tcnxis. 



1£estuoky — Hickman, Deo. 4. — Having taken up so much 

 of your - valuable space already 1 fear I will be trespassing, 

 but the fishing is so very good it can't be overlooked. Keel- 

 foot Lake furnishes goggle-eyed perch, silver perch, black 

 bass, striped bass, and, in fact, the whole species of bass in- 

 digenous to fresh water : croppies, Buffalo, red horse, sunfisb, 

 etc., etc., for the world, it seems — at least one would think 

 so to see the quantity brought here for shipment. Nearly 

 every day there are no less than a thousand pounds leave here 

 for the different markets, the most of thorn being trapped, I 

 am sorry to say. The Mississippi furnishes about the same 

 species as the lake, with the addition of salmon, which I am 

 informed are getting very plentiful. The fishing iu the lake 

 continues good (for hand Hues) until the first of this month 

 from the first of April. The following aro the prices here : 

 Wholesale, for rough fish or drum, Buffalo, red horse, etc., 

 five cents per pound ; trout, bass and perch, eight and ten 

 cents per pound. Val. 



Florida— St. Augustine, Dec. 4.— Francis Benet, while 

 out fishing last Saturday, caught a monster jew fish, weighing 

 over 300 pounds. These fish'are seldom caught in our waters, 

 and this is the largest of which we have any record, Mr. Ed. 

 Disboug lately captured a monster saw fish, having a saw over 

 4 feet long. He also recently killed a whipperee having a 

 tail over 4 feet long, at the end of which were five stings, 

 being an unusually large number. P. 



Salmon Fishing in New BKraswicrc:.— We find in the 

 Welshman, Carmarthen, Wales, a very interesting report of a 

 gentleman angler who has recently returned from a two 

 months' excursion to America. A large portion of two 

 columns is occupied with a description of the Matapedia, 

 Restigouche and Nepissiguit Rivers. One of the best places 

 for fishing in the last named river is what is known as " The 

 Ledges ;" and as the mode of fishing there is rather peculiar a 

 description thereof forms a pleasant episode in the narrative. 

 The writer says : 



The fish rest alongside and almost touching the rock ; care- 

 fully concealing yourself, you cast your fly very delicately 

 on to the smooth water above the ledge, and let it float gently 

 down round the point into the eddy. You must strike some- 

 what sharply the moment you see the rise, or you wili cer- 

 tainly miss your fish. The Nepissiquit fish are very quick, 

 and rarely take the fly when below the surface, and, after 

 trying a variety of methods, I found that the most effective 

 plan was to fish with a free line, and strike quite sharply ; 

 fine casting is also neeessar}', as the fish rise almost invariably 

 in the smooth, glassy, but rapid water at the head, and rarely 

 in the tail or broken water of the pools, nor does the fly re- 

 quire to be worked up and down as is usual iu Europe, but 

 should be allowed to float quietly and smoothly down the 

 stream and kept on or close to the surface ; and, from what 

 I was told, this mode of fishing succeeds best in all the 

 Canadian rivers. 



Following this is a bit of the standard technical description 

 of handling the fish, "giving them the butt," etc., which 

 though somewhat hackneyed, shows the angler to be an ex- 

 pert at the business ; a complimentary reference to his French 

 Canadian canoemen ; some accounts of roughing it in camp ; 

 mosquitoes, expedients, incidents, and the like, -with instruc- 

 tions as to places and methods of fishing, selection of flies, 

 etc., from which we reprint the following extracts : 



The ririncipal casts at, the Great Falls are the Falls Pool, 

 the Cam,. Pool, and Rocky, besides others of lesser note. The 

 first is a difficult place to tish ; one has to cast up stream, and 

 let the fly float down with the current, keeping the line in as 

 vertical a position as possible, so as to avoid slack and be 

 enabled to strike, quickly. It is a very troublesome place to 

 kill a fish in, as there is a wild torrent pouring out at the foot 

 of the pool down which the fish generally rush ; and unless 

 you are very quick in following iu a canoe, as the rocks are 

 sheer to the water's edge, rendering progression along the 

 bank impossible, the weight of the water on the line, together 

 with the struggles of the fish, will in all probability cause a 

 breakage. The Camp Pool is a glassy piece of water, and the 

 fish generally rise from the sides of a tongue of rock that juts 

 out into the head of the pool. Rocky is a long stretch of 

 most beautiful angling water, running between rooks with a 

 gentle current. Every yard should be carefully fished, as 

 there are resting places for fish all over the pool. ''Switch- 

 ing" is a very useful mode of casting, especially from the 

 south bank, as if you attempt to throw overhand you are 

 almost certain to break the points of your hook against the 

 rockB. 



The best time for fishing was in the morning, from about 

 seven to ten or eleven, and the fish do not, as a rule, rise well 

 until the sun is fully up. The evening fishing is very uncer- 

 tain, as before sunset the salmon apparently leave the upper 

 pools and retire into the deep water of the basin for the night. 

 One peculiaiity of the fish is that they seem to like sunshine ; 

 and as long as you fish finely with email flies, and keep your- 



self concealed, a bright day is by no means unfavorable, 

 especially if a light breeze ruffles the surface. * * * I had 

 one remarkably good morning's fishing on the 6th of July in 

 Rocky; between 7 a. m and 11 A. m. 1 ro3e, hooked, and 

 killed six fish, the largest being 26 pounds, the smallest 11 

 pounds. All were taken on one fly ; wings mallard, hackle 

 and body black, tail golden pheasant topping, and a twist of 

 silver tinsel in the body. After killing my sixth fish I went 

 home, but my companion took three more out of the same 

 pool before one o'clock. All nine were taken in a space not 

 exceeding 200 yards in length. The ordinary Scotch flies kill 

 well in all Canadian rivers. '-Jock Scott," Silver Doctor, Dusty 

 Mill er and the Butcher, especially the latter, are all good. 

 The local flies are plain ones, tied with dark turkey or mal- 

 lard wings, with a bit of blue in the shoulders, bodies and 

 hackles varied according to the size and color of the water and 

 whim ot the fish. Gray, black, and claret with silver tinsel 

 all kill in turn ; attention loo must be paid to the size of the 

 fly, which should rather incline to be on the small side, and 

 be gradually diminished to a small sea-trout size for low and 

 clear wateT. I killed many fish on a Welsh fly, plain turkey 

 wings, with a body of blue and claret, pig's wool, silver tinsel 

 and gold topping for tail. Casting lines should be as fine as 

 is consistent with strength ; but the latter element should not 

 be risked for the former. 



The writer then enumerates the principal salmon rivers, and 

 the means of reaching them, all of which information has of 

 course been repeatedly given in our own columns, but it is as 

 well to repeat it again : 



The principal rivers on the south side of the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence are the York, Cascapedias (two) Metapediac, Resti- 

 gouche, Miramachi, Nepisiguit, aud on the northern side the 

 Marguerite, Godbout, Moisie, Romaine, .Natysquan and Min- 

 gan. Those on the south Hide are most accessible, as, landing 

 from the Allen line steamships at Rimouski, you are at 

 once on the Inter-Colonial Railway, which runs down the 

 coast line of New Brunswick and along tho buy of Chaleur. 

 The northern rivers are not so easily reached, and arrange- 

 ments would have to be made for hiring a schooner either 

 from Gaspe or Rimouski to convey a party to their flshing- 

 ground ; the rate of freight depends, of course, upon, the state 

 of trade, but from $28 to $30 is about the price for the trip 

 to and fro. Tho inhospitable island of Anlicosti also furnishes 

 a good field for the more adventurous sportsman, and I was 

 told by a gentleman who had been there that he bad killed as 

 many as thirty salmon on the Jupiter River during twenty- 

 four hours. Bears, too, abound. The island, however, is not 

 only very inaccessible, but there is no harbor also ; so provision 

 would have to be made for a long stay, to guard against the 

 possibility of starvation, which fate nearly overtook a party 

 of guardsmen, who had made an expedition there some few 

 years ago. 



Regarding the weight of fish the writer says : 



The average weight of fish differs materially in different 

 rivers. In the larger ones, such as Cascapedias, Metapediac, 

 or Romaine, they will average quite 24 lbs. to 26 lbs ; but on 

 the smaller' streams, such as the Marguerite, Jupiter, and 

 Nepisiguit, 14 lbs. will be about the usual size. Again, in 

 the larger rivers, grilse are rare, but in the smaller ones, 

 especially in tho Nepisiguit, they abound, but seldom exceed 

 4 lbs. 1 was unable to get hold of any satisfactory theory to 

 account for these peculiarities, and offer no opinion, but simply 

 state the facts. 



Then he gives the following hints a3 to equipment : 



For all the rivers two canoemen for each rod and a cook for 

 the party are necessary. The wages are $1 per man a day, 

 and 25 cents for use of canoe. Good men are attainable at 

 most of the stations, and by many Indians are preferred. Of 

 course tents are necessary; V-shaped ones, about 12xy feet, 

 with the tops laced to and cot hanging over the centre pole, 

 are best. The question of supplies is entirely a matter of 

 taste. If there is a wagon track along the banks the angler 

 may indulge in fancy luxuries; but, if everything has to be 

 taken in canoes, he will find it much better to cut down his 

 kit to the smallest possible dimensions, as 50 pounds is a good 

 load for a bark canoe when carrying passengers. However, 

 pork, molasses, tea and flour are essentials, and I may add 

 that the quantity of pork and molasses a canoeman will get 

 through is simply amazing. Preserved soups and vegetables 

 are very portable and handy, and a few pots, pans with long 

 handles, and enameled iron cups and plates should be taken ; 

 nor on any accouut should axes and an augur be forgotten ; 

 with these simple tools a backwoodsman will furnish your 

 camp with chairs, tables and what-nots of all sorts and sizes. 

 A pair of colored blankets and a horse-rug should also be 

 taken. No spirits should be given to the men except on the 

 rarest occasions, and firmness must be shown in keeping them 

 up to their work, as the unaccustomed good fare soon makes 

 them fat and lazy. Camping out is, however, so thoroughly 

 understood throughout Canada that a stranger will have no 

 difficulty in getting practical hints from the Government 

 overseers or any of the respectable timber merchants, who 

 send large gangs of men up into the woods every autumn. 



I am happy to be able to add that the fisheries of New 

 Brunswick are gradually improving. Nowhere are the good 

 effects of close time, preservation, and pisciculture more appar- 

 ent; but watching rivers whose course runs through dense 

 forests is no easy matter. The Indians, too, are innate 

 poachers, and when we were on the Nepisiquit we more than 

 once came across evidence that spearing had been going on 

 duriDg the night in the shallows below our camp. 



Iu the course of this very conscientious article, the writer 

 refers to the questions of leases and privileges which have so 

 long proved a vexed problem to the Government authorities, 

 riparian residents, native anglers, and strangers. 



Bamboo P,ows and Fishing Rods. — ; Bangor, Maine, Deo. 

 7, 1878.— Mr. Editor: 1 notice on article in your paper on 

 split bamboo archery bow manufactory. They were made in 

 my shop about a year ago last summer. There was quite a 

 demand for them, and several were made aud liked much 

 better I ban those of Lancewood. The foreign demand for 

 our split bamboo rods is increasing. My rods Were first intro- 

 duced into England six years ago hy Messrs. Andrew Clerk cfc 

 Co., of 48 Maiden Lane," your city, and the demand for them 

 has steadily increased. Last September I shipped two trout 

 rods to the Bast Indies. I am now finishing a salmon rod 31 

 feet long for a gentleman in London. H, L. Leonaed. 



A New Use ov toe Atlantic Cable.— Messrs. Abbey <& 



Imbrie received last Friday a cable despatch ordering one of 



their " best. " six-section trout fly rods, an Abbey reel, a 



waterproof fly line and a set of samples of their finest trout 



j flies. The instructions were to deliver them to Mr. Alexander 



Koch, late Secretary of the United Stales Warehouse Co. Mr. 

 Koch sailed on Saturday's steamer, talcing the tackle with 

 him. Messrs. Abbey & Imbrie have been constantly sending 

 their section bamboo rods and highest, quality reels "to Great 

 Britain and the Continent ; this is, however, the first Cable 

 order they have ever had for this class of goods. Surely the 

 world may be said to move when Europeans are so auxious to 

 get a Yankee rod that they cannot wait the ordinary course of 

 the mails. Messrs. Abbey & Imbrie ask forty dollars for their 

 best trout rods, and have no difficulty In getting their price. 

 Mr. Koch supposes the tackle is for a Christ mas present, and 

 thinks the fortunate recipient will use it in the Pyrenees. 



HOW TROU T TA KE A FLY. 



New York, Dec. 1, 1313. 

 Editor Forest and Stream : 



In your last number iTJeo. 5) you say yon never saw a trout, knock a 

 fly into his mouth v. Ith his tall— never I Well, now, I think I Have. 

 Until this statement of yours 1 had no doubt but that I hadseenthom 

 take a fly in just. that. way. Tne trout would turn over on the top of 

 the water, slap the fly with his tail, and I Uave Instantly caught Him 

 with the fly In his mouth. 1 have caught many that way ; and there 

 comes back to my mind's eyo and ear a pool, below a twelve-foot dam 

 on the Dry Brook, m Delaware County, N. Y., where late one summer 

 afternoon I laughed with gloo at the constant recurrence of this 

 acrobatic feat on the part ot the trout, and at the sound of their tails 

 as they slapped the water. 



The trout dirt not use their tall* " on a straight or withdrawing line " 

 so as to get the fly in their mouths. The trout would strike the fly 

 with his tall one way, and curve his head around from beneath, In the 

 opposite direction to the tall, almost In a circle, arid very like capita I 



orG. 



In yonr amusing remarks yoa say: "To us the accomplishment of 

 the act would appear like an acrobatic feat, and its apparent accom- 

 plishment a trick of legerdemain," That's a nice bull for you to 

 father I Slapping a fly with Its tail would be sletght-of-band in a 

 trout, would It •; for It cannot be that you mean It would be legerde- 

 main on your part if you wero to appirenUy accomplish the act, etc.? 

 You say, " Ordinary trout, which are hungry, make straight for the 

 lure." Trne, tacy may; perhaps they always do. But ordinary 

 trout are not always hungry, and ordinary trout usually act In a dif- 

 ferent way every time. Sometimes they play baseball with the fly 



ituttielr tails, .knocking it into centre Held while they make a home 



u, nnd sometimes they catch Bon the fly, as it were, with their tails, 

 again with their mouths ; and then they'll bump their noses against 



and push It away; or they'll take It and Bpit it out at you, notwith- 

 standing all your " wrist-knack ;" or they will come up and look at 

 it and laugh at yon ; and I have known them to come np like lightning, 

 two feet out of water, turn a foil half circle, and come down Head nrat 

 and pounce on the fly as It lay on the Burfacc of the water. It did not 

 take any wrist-knack to hook them then (this was .In Wlllewemoo 

 Lake), but it did take several trials for mo lo learn to keep my hand 

 still for a second after that lightning flashed, until the trout could turn 

 and get down on the fly. At flrst I jerked the latter away too quickly, 

 but, after I had watched a little, 1 caught a good many iu Jus- .that. 

 way. Then, again, they will not bite at all. I have, In the clear pools 

 ot the Big Indian, at low water, seen twenty trout together at a time, 

 all lying motionless, heal up s ream, and I have put fly and grass- 

 hopper and cricket and worm under the nose of eauh one, and they 

 were not " bold olterB," and did not come head on to the bait. The 

 most I could elicit was a faint wag of the tall. It seemed to me a sou 

 of wag of recognition, as It were. The fact is, that the only thing that 

 you can count on in a trout is that you can't count on him at all. 1 do 

 not say that as a rulo tront strike tha ft? with tnelr t»IU,.DOtrtftgrea 

 with Mr. i'rlme so far that I have often ssei them do so, and got 

 caught in tho mouth. Now, my dear sir, don't earry your reel lu a 

 bottle, and don't fish any more for elephants nor Chinamen nor Japs. 

 Besides, the habits ot the hitler differ from those of trout. 



Yours, cordially, BK>. W. Van Siclbn. 



We calmly await tho proof of our correspondent's assertion 

 that he has seen B trout flop a My into its mouth with its tail. 

 He must possess an electric quickness of vision ; the trout a 

 gift of dexterity most amazing. With a fish-lino all in a heap 

 or coil on the surface of the water, the feat is easy enough ; 

 but fishing as good anglers fish it doesn't come natural to the 

 trout. It is only after years of practice that Suaclinuu is 

 able to accomplish it, aud most trout die before they have ac- 

 quired the art. A trout in the act of making a somersault 

 would knock the fly away from, and not into, his mouth. 

 Let us illustrate : 



HOW TO DRAW THE BOW. 



Cr.wvfobdsviixb, lad., Dec. 2, 1378. 

 Editoe Forest and Stkeam \ 



During the past summer the pastime of archery has been 

 practiced by ihe American people in a crude way, with all 

 sorts of rules, all manner of bows, and all varieties of 

 arrows. We would naturally expect to find many enthusiastic, 

 some disgusted, and some indifferent. While the bow is the 

 natural weapon of man, yet, paradoxical as it may seem, there 

 is no weapon requiring so much of art in its manipulation. 

 Without instruction one always begins wrong. I began shoot- 

 ing eighteen years ago, using all four of the lingers of the 

 right hand to draw the string, balding the arrow between the 

 forefinger and thumb. After shooting in that way for two 

 years,! found by experiment that a better way was to hold 

 the arrow between the first and second finger ; then, again, by 

 experiment, I discovered that the assistance of the thumb was 

 not necessary; and lastly, that the little finger should not be 

 used, for the reason that the string was drawn farther back by 

 t than the point where the arrow was nocked, and conse- 



