several of our readers have been experimenting with the 
■ecipe ever since, with no success at all! Quite lately one 
;entlemen sent us several samples of these lines, which 
ere rotten, and we referred him to Mr. Brackett; one el¬ 
ect ol ! which communication lias been to draw out the fol 
owing letter which we trust will bo received as ex cathedra- 
ind relieve puzzled gentlemen of any dilemma they may 
lave reached. The information, given will certainly be 
mlued. The samples of lines can be examined at this of- 
ice by any one curious to see them :— 
Studio, it Tremont-street, Boston, Mass, 
Sditok Fobest add Stream:— 
You make me responsible for llio statement that linseed oil is the best 
Ubstance for preparing linen lines. It is bad cnongh to be held account 
ble for what J do say, but to be obliged to father wbat some one else 
ays is more than I bargained/or, instead of recommending linseed oil 
the pu rpose, I beg leave to say that a linen line so treated is good for one 
son, and one only; nor have l ever found any snbstauce that serves 
purpose desired. For silk lines I know of nothing better than boiled 
bseed oil. It works to a charm, as the accompanying specimens will 
to you. Nog. 1 and 2 have been used eight years, and Nos. 3 and 
four years. If yon know of any process that will glvo better results, 
hnve no doubt your readers would be glad to know it, as would also 
onrs truly, Walter M. Brackett. 
The subjoined corroborative letter from an eminent au- 
toi'ily will serve to further put the question at rest, so far 
using linseed oil for linen lines is concerned. While we 
:gret having misled our readers, it is consoling that an 
Tor has been the means of eliciting so much valuable 
formation. Anything farther relating to water-proofing 
rocesBes will be received with thanks:-- 
. Provide nc.it, It. I., April 8th, 1876, 
oitob Forest and Stream:— 
find in join! paper, under •‘Answers to Correspondents,” that ‘‘linseed 
for watur-prooliug Jinen fish lines,,is recommended by Walter a!. 
-ackclt,” Now, lam not personally acquainted with the authority 
imod, blit hope to he ere tong; lint as my experience has been different 
bis, 1 presume tm offence will bo given if I manlion.tlie fi.ct that 
years ago T water proofed a linen bass hue, which would sustain a 
tight of twenty-ronr pounds without parting before the oil was applied, 
d within one mouth afterwards it was not as strong as common twine 
iclosed ttud « sample. About that time an angling friend tried I be 
no experiment, with the same result. Boon after making Ihe cxpeii- 
'QtVcfctrctl to, I procured “The American Angler,” by Tbad. Norris— 
anok that is indispensable to Urn angler who wishes to make bis own 
uckle”—and found on page fi?3 (new edition) that linen lines "s/umld 
be soaked in linseed oil.'’ Two yeara ago I tried robbihg linen lines 
111 pitriilliue, which seemed to preserve lln: line, and make it him better 
rongh the guides. If I was to experiment further, I shonld try wilii 
ing the line with flue paraffine, dissolved in pure benzine. This prep 
‘bun I have used as a water-proofing for leather fly-books, and And it 
rfeetty satisfactory. If any one Iriee Ibis I hope be will record iho 
uilts, and send the same to Forest And Stream, Esprit Fort. 
Tub “Quiet” Club of Towanda, Pa., is composed of 
veral leading gentlemen of Pennsylvania, who are fond 
tlie angle, and who we sincerely trust will experienee all 
e benefits anticipated from its organization. Last Mon- 
y, it enjoyed a game supper and pleasant time generally 
tile overhauling rods, lines, and flies, preparatory to 
ening the trailing season. A E. Chamberlin sent re¬ 
ds for his absence accompanied by a large basket of 
Ecklcd trout, which proved a most opportune gift and 
*e much enjoyed. “Success to your fishing,” gentle- 
-The first wcakfish. of tile Season was taken near Mori 
BS) L. I., last Friday. 
—Tlie following is a table of approximate weights ol 
i in good condition, predicated upon ibeirlength, which 
>ublished by Eaton & Deller, of Crooked Lane, London, 
gland. Although the English fish vary in some degree 
m ours in comparative weights and measurements, slill 
i table given will serve as a nearly correct guide tc 
;lers in American waters. Those who have no spring 
lances in their kit may have a two-feet rule, which is 
idy to carry, and with this they can ascertain how many 
the fingerlings they catch go to the pound. No donht 
gentlemen will find the table serviceable in the coming 
son and thank us for it;— 
TABLE OF APPUOXIUATI; WEICUITS OF FISH ACCORDING 
TO THEII4 LENGTHS. 
length. 
Weight. 
3 ) 
8 * 
13 ) 
aw Yon k— New llumburgh, April Oth .—Fishing at this 
,t has not commenced as yet., owing to the frequent 
y rains having swollen ilxe streams. In ifbous ten 
I, if the weather isf pleasant, the anglers at Dutchess 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
county will he prepared for what little sport there is to be 
ban in the way of trout fishing. Our sportsmen have been 
seized with the restocking fever, and our now depleted 
streams will afford sufficient sport to make quite an event 
of the opening of the season. Half a dozen herring were 
caught in a fyke by one of our fishermen this week, which 
is a very unusual event for so early in the season. 
Blde Jail 
Connecticut— Iligganum, April Water rising in 
river. To-day the first shad net was set, for the season, in 
it was caught a striped bass threo feet, three inches long, 
weighing twenty-scvqn pounds—a perfect beauty. Quite 
a number of bass are taken here every season, but few as 
large as this. The net is about four rods long, and is set 
in the eddies along shore. Expect shad soon. Alewives 
are plenty. 
Massachusetts— Km Bedford , April Oth ,—Fish are be¬ 
coming abundant here. Cod, halibut, smelts, herrings, 
Ac., are caught either at, the Vineyard or on our shores, 
quite plentifully. All the trout brooks here are overflowed 
aud fishing in them is impossible, except near their mouths. 
Concha. 
Movements of the Fishing Fleet.— There have been 
36 arrivals of the fleet the past week, 36 from Georges and 
.10 from Ihe Banks. The receipts have been 1,040,000 lbs. 
of codfish and 845,000 lbs, halibut. Prices for halibut 
have ruled at 3J and 1 £ cents per pound. Fresh cod and 
haddock have been iu light receipt and selling for $3.50 
per hundred weight.—Ope Ann Advertiser, April 1th. 
Newfoundland Beal Fisheries. —The latest reports 
from Newfoundland relative to the prospects of seal fishery 
tire not. encouraging. Many of the vessels were still in 
sight off shore on account of ice aud adverse winds. Sev¬ 
eral sealing vessels have been crushed and sunk by the ice. 
Great destitution prevails in many parts of Green Bay, 
Fishing Charts, Whereby the Migration ofFish may 
he Determined, and the Business Rendered More 
Successful.— The United Stales Fiskerv Commission, 
under the direction of Prof. Spencer F. Baird, lias done 
much williiu a few yeara to settle disputed questions con¬ 
cerning the marine fauna of the American coasts, the 
habits and movements of our migratory fish, and the dan¬ 
gers to be apprehended from over, unseasonable and im¬ 
proper fishing. The Signal Service Corps has accomplished 
a beneficent work in establishing its posts along the coast 
to warn mariners of approaching storms, and in its dissem¬ 
ination of weather probabilities. If the combined ser¬ 
vice of the two boards could be utilized to furnish fishing 
probabilities, so that our fishing marine could make ap¬ 
proximate calculations as to the prospect of success of 
different branches' of the fisheries, it would be a boon 
indeed. The great disadvantage of our leading interest is 
its uncertainty in various phases. 
Fish are capricious, and ihough they seem to follow cer¬ 
tain general laws in their movements, it is next to impossi¬ 
ble to predict with any degree of certainty ihe probability 
of success in any single department of the fisheries. 
Such a plan is under consideration iu Scotland, where a 
movement has been inaugurated looking to the acquiring of 
such information as shall prove of service to the herring 
fishermen on ihe Scotch coast. The Commissioners of 
tlie Fishery Board of that country, conceiving the idea 
that tlie temperature of the sea and other meteorological in¬ 
fluences had something to do with the fluctuations of the 
herring-fishery, instituted a series of experiments by which 
it was shown that during the periods when heavy catches 
of these fisli were taken tlie tburmometer was usually high 
and steady, the winds litsht or moderate, and electrical phe¬ 
nomena wanting ; and that on the other hand when the 
oatch was small it was found that the barometer was low, 
strong winds and unsettled weather prevailed, and thunder 
and lightning was frequent. The Commissioners of Irish 
Lights are engaged iu similar investigations, and the Ger¬ 
man government has appointed a Commission in connec¬ 
tion with a Meteorological Committee, to inquire into the 
physical condition of the Baltic Sea. 
bcience will yet give us a fishery chart of the courses fol¬ 
lowed by fish in their migrations from place to place, and 
of the chances of the successful pursuit of any particular 
fishery at a particular place and lime .—Gape Ann Adver¬ 
tiser. 
TROUT AND SALMON ANGLING. 
" Oakland, Cal., March 25th, 1876. 
Editor Forest and Stream 
To the chagrin of our anglers, the young salmon or grilse, which for 
these two last winters have afforded such good and convenient sport at 
tlie ab'ovo point In halt fishing, have at present, at any rate, almost en¬ 
tirely disappeared from our hay, aud, I presume, are gone up the Sacra¬ 
mento und San Joaquin Rivers to their spawning grounds. They mi¬ 
grated from tlie ocean to our bay, bound for the above streams, earlier 
by a month or six weeks this season than they did last year u great 
many woro caught this last winter, but not near so many as in 1874-5. 
Thu flsb taken lately have been mneh larger,'of course, than those of 
the previous years, having had another year’s growth; bat they have cer¬ 
tainly fallen off in quantity. Some have been taken within these few 
days weighing from twelve to seventeen pounds; but they are scarce. 
They seem to bite now at any time of the tide, whereas the greater num¬ 
ber were previously nearly always captured abont an hour before and an 
hour after high water; not more than five to ten are taken daily. But 
the most exciting of all fishing seasons Is now on the 1st of April, just 
upon us. Trout fishing, owing to the great rains we have bud Ibis fall, 
winter, and spring, filling our rivers and creeks, we expect much good 
sport this year. Until within the past few yeara anglfng, as a legitimate 
recreation, has been neglected on our slope. The spirit of gain has 
ruled the minds of our business ruen, as elsewhere generally, and tune 
spent in out-door amusements has been hitherto looked npon a good deal 
as money loo much wasted. But matters are changing much lately in 
this respect. Daring the past two or three years there seems to hove linen 
awakened a quiet influence here (which, upon my writing somewhat on 
field sports, in some of our papers, I have myself, perhaps, done some¬ 
thing to encourage) exerting itself among the minds of onr business 
people, bidding them, for their own benefit, to play more and work less, 
mid many a hard-worked clerk has now cause to bless the effect of this 
Influence, when ho has been allowed to take two or three weeks’ vaca¬ 
tion every year, and so recuperate his vital energies. 
Within a radius of flftyialles of our city there are at least twonty lo¬ 
calities where sport may he had. There are the Water Company Lakes, 
or Lake Merced, of the Acclimaliztng Society, (now soon probably to be 
amalgamated with a new and large sportsman's club, of which more 
anon,), in either of which, for a small fee, permission may be obtained 
to fish, and floe Ashing is to be found, as it was last year. Then there 
arc a great number of creeks and streams inland, north, sonth, and east, 
where are frequently taken from thirty to fifty trout iu a day's fishing.’ 
Only about two years since a parly of three, of whom my nephew was 
one, left the city on a Saturday afternoon for a Bhorl trip back of Mount 
149 
Tamallpas. They returned Monday morning in time for business, 
and brought back ten “salmon trout,” really a species of land-locked 
salmon, which weighed sixty-flve pounds dressed. Several others, who 
fished in t he same lagoon, (sometimes having access with the ocean), con¬ 
nected with a brook, caught a number of the same fish (as well as brook 
trout), weighing from three to eight pounds each. Another party took 
over one hundred mountain trout from a creek, and others took nearly 
three hnmlredin two days. 
The lakes in the mountains, and the streams running therefrom, also 
afford a vast amonnt of fishing to those who have time to go so far. Ta¬ 
hoe, Summit, Cascade, and other lakes are fall of salmon trout (silvery 
salmon) and common tront, weighing from one pound up to as high as 
thirty pounds, and our mountain streams are alive with the speckled 
beauffea. __ _ E. J. Hoorirn. 
SPLIT BAMBOO. 
„ „ Ithaca, N. Y., April, 187®. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— ’ * 
My “few remarks” in your issue of the lith nit., concerning one way 
of making a split bamboo rod, ana stating, by way of comparison, Borne 
objections to Ihe Krider rod, seem to hnve stirred up a swarm of “hon¬ 
est men and anglers,” who will have it that Krider can beat all creation 
in the making of a rod. They undertake lo say—not that John Krider 
can make a better rod than anybody else—but that his peculiar method 
of putting the strips together is the best way to make one. In order * 1 to 
“prove their case” they are compelled to assert that the greatest strain 
comes upon the centre of the rod, and therefore Krider crowds as much 
of “the enamel” to the centre as passible. 
One of yonr correspondents imagines he has settled the question by 
citing the philosophical truism that “a churn is no stronger than its 
weakest link." From which he deduces the conclusions “that the 
same amount of enamel inside or outside will produce equal strength.” 
That gtvos up half the argument at least. I suggest to J. B. C. a prac¬ 
tical experiment. Take a piece of sound iron gas-pipe, with a calibre 
of say three-quarters of an inch; length, say four feet. Lay it with each 
end resling two inches on a liluck. Weight down the centre till rt. bonds 
nd (.be deflection is say fonr iuches. Next heat add hammer the same 
piece of gas-pipe to a solid cylindrical rod of the same length and tem¬ 
per. Treat it as before, and see which requires the greatest weight lo 
produce the same deflection, if the gas-pipe carries tho heaviest load, 
perhaps that might convince J. B. C. and the others that a trout rod is 
not generally used in the same manner as a chain. 
I see no reaason to change my views expressed in my article, printed 
In your issue of March Util, to Lbe effect that all the enamel should ho 
upon the outside. 
Y'our correspondent W., in March BOtih, styles my four objections to 
the manner of making the Kriderrod "imaginary." Every one of them 
is so obviously a fact that I can well luave them for W.’s further consid¬ 
eration. X commend him, and all advocates of the. Krider system, to 
the perusal of an admirable article signed “Ted Grayson," in your pa¬ 
per of March 23d. Notwithstanding T. G. has a rod rhat will gooff 
fishing of itseir, when Ihe balmy west wind scatters the apple blossoms, 
yet I commend him to tho sight aud tho handling of the Hexagon id Rod. 
SECOND RATE FISH IN ADIRONDACK 
. WATERS. 
Jr -*- 
_ „ Syracuse, N. Y., March 3lst, 187G. 
Edjtoh Forest and Str^im:— 
“C C.,” in your issne of March 23d, correctly status that ptckcrol are 
found in Lake Sanford, and others or the more easterly Adirondack 
Lakes. They were taken there from Scbuoon Lake many years since, 
which lake had previously been stocked from Champlain, In 18U5 a lot 
of Ihese "fresh water sharks” were Jet loose iu Long Lake, lo the in¬ 
dignation of most of tho residents, and all of the sportsmen. Fur a 
few years Buttermilk Falls opposed a honndaryfor their influx into 
Racquette Lake. In 1869, through the instrumentality of some of "Mur¬ 
ray’s horde,” they were transported over the falls, and from thence have 
spread throughout that pride of the North Woods—Racquette. Since 
then black bass, through the New York State Agency are wantoning in 
the same water. Now, the last is a game fish, I acknowledge. Yet, 
still, recalling my piscatory sport there ten years gone by, scarcely say 
"Jchabod, thy glory hath departed.” Between the ravenous jaws of the 
worthless pickerel, and tlie sping-back of the black bass, the soft flnued 
trout stands a slim chance. Without natural means of antagonism or 
defense, the swift coming extinction of the speckled beanty is simply a 
question of time. With that, loss the chief charm will be gone for tho 
visitors to those waters. • e, ij_ Wilhon. 
FLY ROD FOR BLACK BASS. 
April, 1870. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
In No. 8 of Forest and Stream of current volume, T. W., of Lees¬ 
burg, Va., asks for a description of a fly rod fur black basa fishing. 
Permit me to say that such a rod should he constructed npoutbo model 
and or the same material as a siugle-handed trout fly rod. 1( must, 
however, be longer, slightly stiller, audeonsequentlyhesvier, but should 
approximate in its general featnres, as nearly as possible, the tront fly 
rod. 
Assuming a tront rod to he eleven feut long, and weighing from seven 
to nine ounces, according to the material of its construction, a black bass 
fly rod should ho from twelve to.twelve feet and three Inches in length, 
aud if formed of split bamboo, should weigh from niito to eleven 
ounces; or if made of ash and .laneewood, should weigh from ten to 
twelve onnees. Split bamboo makes the handsomest and lightest rod, 
but a combination of ash and laneewood will prove the most serviceable, 
and can be furnished for at least oue-h.alf the price of the former. The 
rod should he made in threo joints, the butt, of white ash, and the tip 
and second joint of laneewood; it should have as true a taper and as 
graceful proportions as thebest trout fly rod; should he very flexible amt 
pliant, but should not be so withy or willowy as the tightest trout rods. 
Such a rod properly handled would be found to answer till the emergen¬ 
cies of fly fishing for black baas, and would be just the thing for the lar¬ 
gest brook trout of Maine or Labe Superior. J. O. Wulies of Mihviiu - 
kee, Wis., or C. F. Orvis of Manchester, Vt,, make such rods, warrant¬ 
ed to give satisfaction, and at a moderato price. OcONoarowuo. 
—Hot alum water is a recent suggestion as au insceti- 
tude. it -will destroy red ahd Black ants, cockroaches, 
cliinchbugs, and all tlie crawling pests which infest our 
houses. Take two pounds of alum and dissolve it iu three 
or four quarts of boiling water; let it stand on the fire till 
the nlntn disappears; then aoply it with a brush, while 
nearly boiling hot, to every joint and in your closets, bed¬ 
steads, pantry shelves and the like. Brush crevices iu the 
floor of the skirling, or mop boards, if you expect they 
harbor vermin. 
, —In India, in 1869, one tigress was reported to have killed 
137 people, and stopped a public road for many weeks. In 
another ease in the eouiral provinces a single tigress caused 
the desertion of thirteen villageis, and 350 square miles of 
country were thrown out of eultvation. 
—In some parts of Iiussia the young shoots of 1 
tail” ( Tt/pha taUfolia) are used as asparagus; theyai 
tho “cat- 
„ . _ r ---_„ are said to 
be delicious. The plant grows abundantly in tho United 
Btales in swampy localities. 
