12 



FOEEST AND STREAM. 



[Fjjbettabt 3, 1681. 



Lake Jacques Oabtier.— A trustworthy correspondeut 

 writes: "In the last number oi' Tq&EB? and Stream you 

 have a letter on "Trout-Fishing in Canadian Wilds," written 

 Irom Quebtc by a person under the name or rutin tie plume 

 of F. KQbEIge, detailing a trip to Lake Jacques Oartier. Now, 

 my dear Forest and Stream, 1 bate to see you sold. Lake 

 Jacques Gartier is a totally played-out lake. It has been 

 fished so long with nets and handJines by professional mar- 

 ketmen, that twenty trout, averaging a quarter of a pound, 

 would be a big day's fishing there. These men go there in 

 the winter and camp and never go out or slop fishing until 

 the ieo breaks up in spring— at least they did this until two 

 winters ago ; but now it does not, pay, so they have stopped. 

 " Robergc " says they caught 1,500 trout from noon of Mon- 

 day until Wednesday night, jnst two and half days and just, 

 600 trout to two rods a day. This is pretty fair trout-fishing, 

 I Should judge. I have traveled the. length and breadth of 

 Lower Canada and fished in as many different lakes as any 

 man in the country, but this is a little, ahead of any trout- 

 fishing it has been my luck to find. Talcing away lost time 

 in rowing the boat, meal times, etc , it is a most extraordi- 

 nary catch for any lake. What a supernatural thing it is, 

 their, for Jacques Cartier. Again, the. country about this lake 

 is an impassable morass in summer, that cannot be crossed 

 until the frost of winter has hardened it enough to permit of 

 doing so. Yet this man took a boat within two miles of the 

 lakes, and this on a buckboard, a vehicle that will only carry 

 two ordinary men in safety and are only intended for one 

 during wet or muddy times. He is not astray more than 

 several miles in the .size of the lake ; but then I suppose a 

 mile or two makes no difference to Mm. Again, what would 

 trout be like caught in a warm month like September or Au- 

 gust, kept two days without ice, then put into a box and 

 jumped about for two days longer over a rough road ? Nice 

 fish tltey would be. 



Is JItcmoriam.— Mr. Thomas Tod Sloddart, a well- 

 known veteran English angler and author, died recently.. 

 The following lines, entitled "The Angler's Dirge," :uv 

 f rom his own pen : 



Borrow, sorrow, speed away 



T.i hit :■ iu.IlI''- 1 ijiiu t iiluuj'". 



V 1 1 h ili;.' L.i'i ynjaini. t.uT.ipbl tsr;:.y. 



Enter thou the holy ground ; 



Tiifc b<. :,"■.'<-->.. ivli '■.-;..' h<\1l r v.:... fmued 



With wild stream and wandering bourn, 

 Wooer of the western wind, 

 Watcher of the April morn ! 



" A Water Glass".— In your 

 serve a letter signed " M" with 

 known an instrument used for 

 water something similar to that ' 

 Its construction is simple, a 1 

 say 3 ft. fi in. by 12 in. by 10 in., 

 in one end the other open, the 

 make them water light and twe 

 When used the end of the box c( 

 short distance under wafer, and 

 the operalor finds Unit the eflccl 

 "ripple "or roughness of the VI 

 the bottom visible at a considers 



Striped Bass in tue HjjBBOi 

 bass, or rockfish, are reported E 

 Item ecu Peekskill and Kingstoi 

 five lo thirty pounds in weight 

 keepsie they sell for ten cents 

 twice that sum. 



issue of Dec. 30, 1880, 1 ob- 

 the above heading. I have 

 finding lost anchors in deep 



mentioned by Mr. Benjamin. 



ong wooden 'box or "s'htile" 

 with a pane of glass inserted 

 seams of the box caulked to 



I handle- fixed on the sides. 



mlaining rt> ■■■ :e- '■■ :- ■'!- 



on [poking down through it 

 is to completely nullify the 



•aler at the surface rendering 



ihle depth. A. T. Kutti.e. 



v.— Large numbers of black 

 night m the Hudson Elver. 

 Poinl many are taken from 



, , uider the tee. At Pough- 



pound and in New York for 



THE CENTRAL FISHCULTUBAL SOCIETY. 



["OONTINUBD.T 



MR. BARTLETT: I can add something to the evidence 

 of the wonderful growth of carp in America as shown 

 in the paper read by Mr. Mather, a noticeable feature ot which 

 is that all the accounts seem to agree in their figures of size, 

 "radually increasing as the reports come from the warmer 

 waters o'f l be South. In June last I received a lot of carp 

 from Prof. Baird which were from 8£ tt> 34 inches in length. 

 Some of them escaped from their confinement in a period of 

 high water, and a few were recovered in September, one of 

 which measured 124 inches and it is probable that some arc- 

 larger. 



The following paper was their read : 



PROTECTION OF FISHES IN LAKE MICHIGAN. 



BY WW. H. DAI.L'iu. 



Since 187G the whitefish industry of Lake Michigan has 

 been on the wane. Indeed, the catches have been so light 

 Of late that many pound nets have been left to their fate and 

 the owners have sought more profitable employment. Not 

 nianv years ago the angler who cast his fly off the lake shore 

 from some craft or pier was often rewarded by a fine trout. 

 Of late no such welcome bite greets the efforts of the idler in 

 the lower part of the lake, nor in fact do we now see the 

 fisherman wending his way homewiththe old-time long stung 

 of perch. These remarks apply to Southern Lake Michigan. 

 What troubles the waters of the lake, and why have our -game 

 fishes become so scarce in their accustomed haunts ? These 

 are grave problems for consideration ; so grave that it de- 

 volves on this association to take such action at this meeting 

 as will influence legislation toward abetter protection of com- 

 mon interests. . , 



Why protection is needed. Nearly every article of com- 

 mercial value is afforded some protection, either by nature or 

 the laws of man. The laws regulating the destruction of 

 game birds and mammals are very rigid. Those relating to 

 the fishes of rivers and inland lakes are likewise strict. 

 Strange as it may seem, when one considers the staunch 

 laws of New York relating to Ontario's waters, Lake Michi- 

 gan, entirely an American lake, is left alone, and its inhabi- 

 tants given "over as prey during all seasons. 



Disappearance of Whitefish. The remarkable fact ot the 

 disappearance of whitefish of late has been noted above. In 

 the latter part of July, the luter-Ocam intrusted to me the 

 solution of this intricate question. In an article published 

 on the 29th of that mouth I gave the results ot my invest iga- 

 tions, which I incorporate in part here. These fish seek the 

 d^p portions of the lake in cold and hot weather, where 

 they find an equal temperature, sufficiently warm tor winter 

 and cold for summer, They leave their winter quarters 



about the 20th of May, and scatter along the coasts to their 

 accustomed feeding grounds. In latter October and Novem- 

 ber they leave the reeding for the spawning grounds, it is 

 during these fall migrations that some stringent law should 

 prevail for their protection. Bv means of that terrible ma- 

 chine of destruction, the gill-net) literally vast numbers of 

 whitefish are secured by fishermen who follow them in their 

 migration. If there is'any law which ought to deal with ri- 

 gidity, it is that one which will effect the right use of the 

 gill-uet. ft is a fact of my own observation, substantiated 

 by Milner and others, that during October and -November, 

 when spawn is ripe in the whitefish, these obnoxious nets and 

 the boats of fishermen fairly reek in the milt and spawn of 

 captured victims. Is it any wonder that these fish are grow- 

 ing scarce ; that not only consumer, but fisherman should cry 

 to legislative balls for protection ? 



By careful study of tables of the industry, I have deter- 

 mined that the decrease of whitefish in Lake Michigan 

 is 35 per cent, per year for the last twenty years. I shall 

 not discuss the minor causes of destruction in this paper, but. 

 shall deal with the one great source of evil. Prof. Milner 

 has ably examined these minor causes, but left totally un- 

 touched, the fact that in violation of an unwritten law, tens 

 of thousands of female whitefish were being taken when ripe 

 with spawn. This is the great consideration with which wo 

 need only to deal, to have the lake once more prolific with an 

 abundance of choice fishes. I shall therefore offer a recom- 

 mendation to this association relative to this point at the 

 conclusion of Ibis paper. 



Catalogue, of Fishes of Lake Michigan.— There are at least 

 ninety-eight species Of fish inhabiting Lake Michigan, all of 

 which should come under the law of protection Milner gave 

 a list of about sixty species, iu the report of the United 

 States Fish Commission for 1872-73. The nomenclature of 

 nearly all of this has been totally revised since. I have made 

 use In this list of my own material and all publica- 

 tions from which anything eould be gleaned. I 

 found the proof sheets of the forthcoming Bulle- 

 tin of the State Laboratory containing Professor Forbes' 

 paper relative to the dietary habits of fishes very ac- 

 curate and useful. Prof. Jordan's "Manual of Vertebrates," 

 Which T followed largely for nomenclature, I found entirely 

 void of the first iota of information relative to breeding 

 habits. This otherwise exceedingly valuable and indispensa- 

 ble work seems sadly deficient in this particular. One line 

 to a species would at. least state the time of spawning. The 

 following is the list? 



1. Black-sided darter; blenny darter, Ahoniiws mwuki- 

 (nx. A curious and elegant fish. 



3. Fan-tailed darter. Etheoxttmia Jlabdlarix. An abun- 

 dant species. 



3. Striped darter E. f. UneoUta. A supposed varietal 

 form of the preceding. 



5. Common yellow perch, Perm amerkona.. Spawns in 

 winter, 



6. Pike perch ; wall-eyed pike ; salmon ■ dory ; glass-eye; 

 yellow pike, etc., MkoxUlheium tHrenm. An edible but vora- 

 cious fisb, which most fishermen ignorantly discard from 

 their nets. Spawns in winter. 



7. Gray pike perch ; Sanger. S. canadense. A highly de- 

 structive, edible species, which breeds in winter. 



8. While bass, linccux c/tryxopx. Common to Lake Michi- 

 gan., Spawns in the fall. 



" 0. Black bass; Oswego bass; large-mouthed black bass, 

 Microptcrvx paUidux, An elegant, voracious, carnivorous 

 species which spawns in summer. 



10. Small-mouthed black bass ; moss bass; M. xulmoi.de*. 

 A fine, edible fish. Breeds iu summer. 



11. Rock bass, Amblop.'/tex loprdi-ix, a ubiquitary species, 

 breeding in summer. 



12. Blue spotted sun-fish ; roach, Apoiiibtis eytm&his. An 

 edible but bony fish of more general distribution than that 

 accorded it by Jordan. Breeds in summer. 



13. Black "sun-fish, Ohasnobrytbiix gulonvx A large fish, 

 breeding in summer. 



14. Blue spotted simfish. AjxmuffiA cyandlm. An abun- 

 dant species in Western waters. 



15. Blue orange sun fish; sun perch. Xendtti meffalatia 

 brilliant species! largely found in the more northern waters. 



99. Common sunfish"; pumpkin seed: bream, Knpomoiix 

 ,/,/;;-. i >ne of the most: widely distributed species. The 

 best, possible bait for the large pickerel. By means of it the 

 writer has been able to secure the. most gigantic specimens 

 of the pickerel and pike tribes by simply dragging a live sun- 

 fish through the water on a hook. 



16. Grass bass: calico bass, Pomogy* nigrmiWeukitoiS, a 



I'pc 



; grinder: drum, Hnphid.o. 

 nice of this fish from deep 

 disappearance of the wliite- 



mlkni. A deep-water 



walers is always a signal for 1 

 fish during extreme bol "cat I 



18. Kumlcins eottis. Unit 

 animal. 



It). Franklin's eottus, V. frankUul. An inhabitant of the 

 south and east shores of Lake Superior, which may doubtless 

 be found in extreme, northern Lake Michigan. Milner calls 

 it a Lake Michigan fish. 



20. Hoy's bull-bead, ft. l/oyi. A deep-water fish named 

 after Dr. Hoy. of Raeiu . 



21. Lake Superior Miller's thumb, Potamv&tbU* oondiuu- 

 ffiffiS. A l! 



(Rept. U. S. F. t 



Rii 



ink L. Hi 



T-watcr 



, To 

 of Eh 



ulpi 



vdwrUi). 



s named 

 litation. 



of deep- 



eal edibl 



:el pout; lake cusk, Lota. 

 value is confined to its 



24. Stimpson's sculp 

 water proclivities nana 



25. Ling; Burbot; 1 

 fcto«£rfs. "A fish who; 

 liver. 



26. Brook stickleback; Ohio stickleback, Eucalia inc.on- 

 staiis. A iiest-buifding species. 



27. Lake Superior stickleback, Kucoliu incondunx vll'.h 



li. Many-spined lake stickleback, Pygostem occidentakx 

 nelmloxux. 



29. Silver skip-jack; river silver side. L ■:•'.]. ■■.-.//,■,■■,. */-,•■<:.■.■; 

 An inhabitant of Lake Michigan, according to Miluer. 



30. Barred killfish ; spring muminichog, Fiuidnlnx dwplta- 

 nm. I am inclined to give, this fish a place as an occasional 

 inhabitant of the lake, aud perhaps other killfishes. 



31. Mud minnow, mud dace, dog-fish, Meltumm Irmi. 

 Milner mentions this species. 



33. Muskallimge; great pike, Bern uohilhr. A common 



33. Great lake pike; northern pickerel, E. Iw-Ms. A 

 short-stubbed species. 



34. Trout perch, Percvpstn guMutux. 



35. Mackinaw trout ; great lake trout, Baboo •lurm.iycuxlt. 

 The pride of the lake. Milner claims that this fish docs not 

 eat, whitefish, and demonstrates his point quite satisfactorily. 



36. Siscowet ; Lake Superior trout, Satom tigamcet. This 

 fish is tmdoubtedly found in northern Lake Michigan, 



87. Brook trout; speckled trout, Sdlmo i'onh'nalk. A 

 familiar species. 



38. Lake herring ; Michigan herring, Corcgoititx artcdi. An 

 abundant shallow-water species. 



39. black fin, Q lugripiiiuix. A deep-water species. 



40. Lake Micirgan cisco, ft Itoyi. The smallest of ciscoes 

 and the prettiest. 



41. Lake whitefish, ft ulhux. The most important fish of 

 the lake. Spawns in fall. - 



42. Menomonee whitefish, ft quad) ikileralis. A more 

 northern species than the last. 



43. Moon eye, silver bass, tooth heron, Mgodon lerg/'xitx. 

 A beautiful fish. 



44. Ohio gizzard shad ; thread shad, Dorysomo. ccpediana 

 luttii'itra. Aii "escaped " species belonging lo the Ohio and 

 Mississippi rivers. 



45. Storr's minnow. _7[uhi>p>sis stornritimtx, 

 40. Spawn eater, H. amm-itx. 



47. Long-finned minnow, //. toluatUm. 1 give this fish the 

 benefit of a doubt and include it here. 

 48 Red-tailed minnow, B. 7i<imr4>tri/.x. 



49. Cope's minnow, fl", larertosm. I take pleasure in ded- 

 icating this fish to my friend Prof. Cope. He gave it a sci- 

 entific, but not a common uanie. Such modesty should have 

 a reward, even at. a late day. 



50. Common shiner; red-finned; rough head; red fin, 

 L.uxilux c.irit.tUux. A widely dispe.sed species. 



51. Silver shiner, L. sckne. An extreme northern species. 



52. Rosy utiunow, JSfotrvpix mbfttu*. 



53. Emerald minnow, A r . dinemuJi. 



54. Red-sided minnow, Gila elmigata. 



55. Shiner ; stilbe ; bream, MuUmigtmitx chrysokuous. 



50. New world minnow, P/w.daux neaxmt. Found on both 

 sides of the lake, and consequently given place as a doubtful 



57. Northern hemitreniia, HcMitremia tuUivdon-. Included 

 on the grounds of the last species. 



58. Common chub; horned dace, Stmoti.lws arporalis. One 

 of the most widely diffused of the t'l/pHhida. 



59. Horned chub; jerker. r,r„iic7dhyx i.iguttaius. The 

 most widely diffused of fresh water fish. 



Go. Lake chub, ft proxtlitinitw. 



01. Milner'schub. ft milneri. 



02. Spotted shiner, ft tUxximilix. 



63. Long-nosed dace, Hliiiudilhux rata-ractm. 



64. Marbled dace. Ji. imnnoraiux 



65. White mullet of the lakes. My.codom.rt. mrph. 



66. Red horse, common muliet. M. matyrokpidotOf. 

 07. Lake mullet. ; eastern red iiorsc, .1/. m mtwol 



A variety of the last. 



88. Golden red horse; lake mullet, M, aiuroki. 

 O'J. Small-mouthed red horse ; white nose. At. ,-.... 



70. Long-tailed sucker, M. an-mtra. 



71. Small red-mouthed horse ; white nose, M. velata. 



72 Spotted mullet; striped sucker, Mijiylnmo n • Jffi tyw. 

 One of the elegant species. 



73. Creek fish; chub sucker, Eritn yzon simtki-. 



74. Stone roller; hog sucker; mud sucker, 

 nlrp-intnx. A "singular " fish. 



75. Common sucker; white sucker, Cutodvuv'* cmroarx,.,,;, 



76. Red-sided sucker; long-nosed sucker, ft longiroxtrum, 



77. Moon-carp sucker, Car^.dex sekne. 



78. Lake-earp sucker, ft tt»mjw»u. 



79. Com mon channel cat; blue cat ; white c&ltish. Lv/dal- 



S'J. Gi'. at fork-tailed cat ; catfish of the lakes; Mississippi 

 cat; Florida cat ; great blue cat, Amiurtts nigrimnx. The 

 largest of the xiluruhv : said to attain 200 pounds' weight. 



81. Yellow cat; chubby cat, A. naiaii&, 



82. -4. n. ctipreux. 



83. A 11, at-n.,i:.ux. 



84. Long-jawed eat, -I. 'culgarix. 



85. Bullhead: horn pout ; small catfish, .1. calm. 

 HO. Mud eat. 1'fiodicJilliyx oltoirh. A river .species. 



87. Yellow stone cat, diotu-i ux Jlavux. The largest of this 

 genus. 



88. Cubby stone cat, A. «ui/.i.s. 



89. Common American eel, Anguilla acutirodis. Intro- 

 duced into Lake Michigan. 



90. Bow tin ; dogfish: mudfish, Amfa calm. 



9t. Gar pike; bOnygai", billfish, l.epidostmx onseus. 



93. Short-nosed gar-pike, L plalyxUwitix, 



93. Duck-billed "cat ; spoon-billed sturgeon: paddlefish, 

 Polyodon folium. Runs up the canal from the Mississippi. Has 

 been even taken in Lake Brie, in one instance, to my knowl- 

 edge. 



91. Red sturgeon ; lake sturgeon, .?■■> ■■■■.'..■ -V.w ,■„:,/.■.■. 

 93. Small black lamprey, Amoco.*™ nigtr. 



96. Silvery lamprey, ^L. ocgenteux. 



97. Leech" lamprey, -4. Itirioto. 



Can Protection be Afforded Inland Waters ?— 1 have care- 

 fully examined all game laws in vogue by those States bor- 

 dering Lake Michigan, and lied no mention of it whatever. 

 It has been left wholly to itself as if its fishes were of an in- 

 exhaustive abundance". The question, therefore, most prom- 

 inent is: llaveborderiug States jurisdiction over portions 1 4' 

 the lake next to them?' They 'have. Lei. me gi . ■:■ ■ legal 

 demonstration of this point. The action of the general gov- 

 ernment relative to inland waters demonsrtates that, States 

 have, and not it, jurisdiction over navigable waters within or 

 bordering them, For instance, it is found practicable to 

 en ct a lighthOHBe on some rocky ledge, six miles out in or on 

 the shore of our lake. The contractor makes application lo 

 the State claiming the point in question, for permission to 

 so build. It owns no lands nor asserts jurisdiction over none 

 not specially set apart by Congress. Having obtained permis- 

 sion to erect a lighthouse or signal service station it provides 

 all the funds necessary for the maintenance of the structure. 

 This fact, together with those well-known that the govern- 

 ment is also required to ask permission of States to remove 

 obstructions, fortify military positions, make coast surveys, 

 contract harbors, breakwaters, etc., on their territory, shows 

 conclusively that the general government recognizes the jur- 

 isdiction of States over their coast waters which it only pro- 

 fesses to protect. 



The duty, then, of States in this direction is clearly de- 

 fined. The responsiblity cannot yet be laid at the door of 

 the United States Government. 



Let me distinctly state that a general law should extend to 

 all fishes of whatever proclivities, for their protection and 

 preservation. Do we not protect every individual bird ? la 



