12 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



|Feb. 1, 18S3. 



"That reminds me." 



WE were sitting around a roaring lire in the "Dawn of 

 Day" cabin. "We were the day shifts on the ''Orphan 

 Girl" and" the ■•Maggie." The Ptorin was roaring outside, 

 but loud as it howled its noise was drowned by our peals of 

 laughter, for there in the center of the circle, seated on an 

 inverted eraeker box, was 'Yank," boss liar of the Rocky 

 Mountains. "For two mortal hours the tears had been 

 streaming down our faces, making strange looking white 

 streaks, for we had followed his trail from "The first 

 time 1 crossed the plains, boy-. iu'4!l."and "ftcllyou, fellers, 

 it makes a man think of his wife's people when the arrers is 

 comin' at yer pinr/, ping, pin;/, straight as a clothes line fifty 

 yards long and not an inch between "em," until we Landed 

 him "in the San Luis Valley wi'houl chuck or water, Winded 

 with sandstones, surrounded by Indians." Then somebody 

 said "antelopes." 



"Wal. now just listen to me boys and if any of yer can 

 discount a strange coincidence that happened to me'in that 

 thar same San Luis Valley I'll throw up my hands and take 

 water. Yer see we had been out of meat for over a week, 

 having eaten the last of a dead mule we found that was so 

 tough the coyotes couldn't touch him, and we was gettin' 

 kind o' peckish, when one evening, just as we was makiu' 

 camp, what should I see but a doe antelope. Down I drops 

 and. boys. I tell yer I did some tall stalkiu' right thar that 

 would have turned a 'Pache yaller with envy, but just as I 

 got within shootiu' distance somethin' skeeVd the doe aud 

 off sin- went on the dead jump. But meat I had to have, so 

 up 1 jumps and let drive, but, what with bein' weak with 

 hunger and firin' in a hurry, instead of hittin' her behind 

 the shoulder I just creased her across the belly, when, as I'm 

 a livin' sinner, without breaking her stride she just dropped 

 two fawns, who lit on their feet a runniu' and all three dis- 

 appeared together. Goodnight." A. B. B. 



You may send the writer who believes in hunting without 

 a gun .out here in the spring when ducks come. 1 claim him 

 for a • 'pardner. " 



I was hunting last fall up near Malta Bend, as fine a duck 

 country as there is anywhere, 1 think, and I believe I hunted 

 part of the time without a gun. It happened this way. It 

 was just in front of a storm; and the ducks were flying thick 

 and rapidly. 1 unloaded my traps from the wagon and 

 plunged into the long grass that lines the shores of a lake 

 that never fails to bring duck and geese in spring and fall. 

 The point 1 was making for was about a mile from where I 

 started in, and by toe time I got there I had killed eight. 

 Just before 1 got 'in position to "slay 'cm," a very fine look- 

 ing setter dog came to me and and anchored himself as though 

 he meant to see the fun. 



Here come the ducks by the hundredsover the point of 

 timber: they pitch dowm and skim along, giving a fair shot 

 with both barrels; and down came three ducks fat and sleek. 

 The dog retrieved them in a workman-like manner. Hur- 

 riedly putting new shells in the gun, 1 did not notice that one 

 of them was wet ; and when I emptied the gun the next time 

 that "settled it," I could no more get, that shell out than I 

 Could fly. The ducks come thick and fast, and almost: sat 

 on inv'head: and the look of disgust that that dog would 

 give me. when 1 would fail to shoot as each flock came sail- 

 ing over us, was too comical to describe. I was as completely 

 without a gnu as the writer of your article could wish. This 

 condition of things could not last long: and finally the dog 

 struck out, I suppose for home; and I struck out for the 

 wagon. 



If may be that there is something in hunting without a 

 gun. but it certainly is not satisfaction. J. I). A. 



JlAnsH-iLL, Missouri. 



$tn md 



fiver fishing. 



To insure prompt attention, eom muni ml ions should be ad- 

 dressed fo the Forest and Stream Fublishinu Co.. and not to 

 individuals, in whose absence from the office matters of im- 

 portance ore liable to delay. 



Ve Nvmphes of Mnlla. which with careful heed 



1'ij.: silver scaly trouts do tend full well. 



And greedy pikes which use therein to feed; 



(Those trouts and pikes all others do all excell;) 



And ye, likewise, which kesp the rusty lake, 



Where none doo fishes take; 



Bynrl up the locks the which hang scattered light, 



mm! in liis waters, which your mirror make 



hVhoU your faces as the christall bright." 



— Spitlmiomion, U595). 

 McCLOUD RIVER TROUT. 



11V LIVI-NGSTON STONE. 



THE question has been raised, "Is there more than one 

 variety of black-spotted trout in the McCloud River, 

 California?" It is settled beyond question that the McCloud 

 River contains Salmo iridm, the coarse, scald trout of l,h« 

 McCloud River proper, that grows to a weight of eight oi 

 ten pounds, the trout with the obtuse nose aud large eye. 

 wilh the bright, red gilt covers ana the broad red band along 

 its body. We know that this fish is in the McCloud River, 

 for there arc hundreds, thousaucls indeed, in the ponds of 

 the U. S. Pish Commission on the McCloud, which have 

 been caught in the river and placed in these ponds, from 

 time to time, but the question remains, is there another kind 

 of black-spotted trout in the ponds or in the McCloud River 

 finer scaled and differently shaped? 



Wilh special reference' to this question, I took a. day to 

 examine the trout in the tj, S. ponds on the McCloud River. 

 These fish, two or three tons in all, were caught in the river 

 and tributaries, and all, or nearly all, are above two pounds 

 in weight, and probably all arc over two years old. 



After a thorough examination of the fish, both alive and 

 dead, I am compelled to give it as my opinion, which I 

 admit is nevertheless not" based on a scientific study of 

 them, that there is only one variety of black spotted trout in 

 Lhc I'. 8. pmds on the McCloud River, or if there are two 

 or more varieties they shad.: into each other by impercept- 

 ible degrees. 



It is the opinion of Mr. Myron Green and Mr. Lorcn 

 Green, who have had more experience with these fish than 

 any other white men, thai there is only one variety of 

 trout in the U. S. trout ponds and in the' McCloud River, 

 or if there are more that they breed together Indefinitely, 



so that all specific characteristics of distinct varieties, if 

 there were any, have become lost. 



One thing is certain, which is, that if there are two or 

 more species of trout in the ponds, the eggs distributed 

 from these ponds are the fruit of an intermixture of both 

 or all the varieties, for all the males and females in the 

 ponds are used indiscriminately in the egg-taking season 

 and all seem to be equally efficient in producing fertilized 

 ova. 



The only distinction which the writer could discover be- 

 tween the so-called tine-scaled and the coarse-scaled varieties 

 was simply this, viz., that the larger fish in the river were 

 coarse-scaled, and the smaller fish in the brooks which flow 

 into the river were tine-scaled. This holds true universally, 

 If is the general opinion on the river (which opinion the 

 writer shares) that the trout in the river are the same variety 

 as the trout iu the brooks, lint that the younger and smaller 

 trout affect the brooks and the larger and older trout prefer 

 the river. According to the generally received nomencla- 

 ture in the pastern States, 1 suppose the brook trout would 

 be called the fine-scaled or mountain trout (or Saimo 

 eiar/.iih, aud the coarse-scaled or river fish would 

 be called the McCloud River trout (or Stdmo ,'./.;: 



I confess the subject is very much of a puzzle to me still, 

 particularly because persons who havehatehed the California 

 trout eggs and have raised the fish from them, are very posi- 

 tive that what are called the "California mountain trout" 

 and what are called the "California McCloud River trout," 

 are two distinct varieties, while according to my theory 

 they ought to be both the same variety, Mr. Koosevel't. 

 speaks very decidedly about it, and Bays that "the dis- 

 tinctions between the' McCloud River and the mountain 

 trout are quite apparent to the eye," that "there is some 

 difference in their habits." that the mountain trout does not 

 grow to more than half the size of the McCloud River trout, 

 and that when cooked there is a marked superiority in favor 

 of the mountain variety. These, I believe, arc also Seth 

 Green's opinions. 



Now if this is all true, and I do not here dispute it. how 

 docs it happen that we have but one kind of trout in the 

 ponds of the IT. S. Fish Commission on the McCloud River? 

 Our trout there have been taken indiscrimiualely from brook 

 and river, aad if there are two distinct varieties in the river 

 and its tributaries it seems impossible that both varieties 

 should not he represented among the thousands of liout in 

 the ponds, but they are not. I do not pretend to solve the 

 problem, and will only add in closing that in the ponds of 

 the Lenni Fish Propagating Company, in California; I 

 saw rnanv thousand fish, all of which were alike and all 

 different from those in the TJ. S. ponds on the McCloud, the 

 main differences consisting in the shape of the head and the 

 greater number and different localities of the black spots, 

 the heads of the Lenni trout being less symmetrical ami 

 graccfulthantho.se of the McCloud River' trout, and the 

 spots extending over the abdomen and lower fins, while in 

 the McCloud trout the spots are absent on these parts. 



TROUT HOGS. 



IN your journal of January 18, "Nessrnuk," in his arti- 

 cle "A 'New Year's Screed," in speaking of the trout 

 hog, reminds me of a couple of that species of fishermen 

 who fish for numbers and not for weight that i met on Ihe 

 Neversink two summers ago. I started in one fine June 

 morning at Mabie's clearing on the West Branch, to fish 

 down a little below Rosenerance's clearing, where a team was 

 to meet and take me over the mountain to the Big Indian; 

 there I was to meet a friend and try that, stream for a few 

 days. 



I had made but a few casts when 1 discovered prints of 

 hob-nailed shoes in the moist sand, and knew there were 

 fishermen ahead of inc. So 1 took it leisurely, not wishing 

 to follow too closely behind them. Trout" rose in large 

 numbers, hut few large trout came, and, as is usual on 

 streams in that locality, about six were returned to the 

 water where one was dropped in the creel, but I was satis- 

 fied with my r luck, for a few fair-sized fish had been taken. 

 The day was as near perfection for trout fishing as could be 

 wished' for, with no wind to interfere with casting, stream 

 in perfect condition, aud what more could one wish? lint 

 there are too many men who go for the fish, not for the 

 fishing. I enjov the fishing, that is what, I go for, and if the 

 fish arc there, so much more pleasure. 



About :'. P. M. I reached the little tumbled down log 

 bridge near Rosenerance's clearing, and as I stepped up on 

 the bank 1 heard a voice, "Halloo, what luck?" I looked 

 around, and on the grass, uudet an old buttonwood tree, 

 which stood a. little way buck from the stream, reclined two 

 very nobby-looking fellows smoking cigarettes, and a quart 

 flask with" a shoulder strap was very conspicuous in the 

 foreground. They had rested their rods against the tree 

 and one of them had fallen down, the line having caught in 

 the branches, the rod was bent in nearly a half circle, the 

 tip being supported by the line, and the sun was shining 

 full upon it. They invited me to come over and see their 

 catch, and the following conversation took place: 



Nobby Angler No. 1, reaching for the flask— "Have a 

 drink'.'"" 



Myself— "Thanks, but I don't use liquor much iu hot 

 weather." 



N. A. No. 2— "Oh, have a drink. Cool you off." 



M. — "I am obliged, but please excuse me." 



N. A. — "Have a smoke," offering a bundle of cigarettes. 



M. — "I'll smoke a pipe if you have no objection," and I 

 produced my brierwood that' had been my only companion 

 on more than one fishing trip. 



N. A., with a contemptuous twist of his nose at. so vulgar 

 a thing as a brierwood pipe — "When did you start in, had 

 any luck?" 



Si. — "I started iu at Mabie's, took about thirty five I 

 guess." 



■ N. A., with another twist of his nose— "Didn't do much, 

 did you?" and, in an off-hand manner, "We got about tbiec 

 hundred." He then look a pull at the fldsii that almost 

 made it collapse and caused the other N. A. to reach for it 

 with a look that was appalling. 



M.j giving a couple of puffs on my pipe — "Got very 

 many large ones?" 



N, A, No. 2— "Large ones' There ain'i a cussed trout in 

 the stream over sis inches long, and they won't take a fly. 

 We have tried all kinds — blue jay, scarlet ibis, gn i- ! ■ 

 and everything — and then had to fall back on bait, which 1 

 never like to use, but without it. a fellow can't get a show 

 of trout to-day;" and he went down to the stream and pulled 

 out two creels, where, they had been soaking foi a couple of 

 hours, aud brought them' up for my inspection. I should 

 sny there were three hundred trout in the two creels, neither 



of which was more than two-thirds full, and I could not 

 find a trout more than six inches long, and those had to be 

 looked for. By this time one of the fishermen so fur forgot 

 himself as to look iu my creel, whiaii only contained thirty- 

 four trout. He nearly dropped the basket, and looked as "if 

 a tit was in order. 



"Wherein thunder did you get those trout?" Thunder 

 was not the word he used, but I substitute it for one which 

 might set the paper on fire. 



"I caught them between here and Mabie's." 

 "N. A.— "The devil yon did! nave a drink'.'" 

 I had set my rod against, a small tree when 1 stopped to 

 inverse with the fellows, and one of them now took it up 

 id began to switch it in a manner that caused ine t* regret 

 having let it out of my hands. It was one of my pet rods, 

 and I loved if. 



N. A., as he gave it a switch, the tip striking in a bush 

 behind him — "This feels like a Mitchell rod. "Did he make 

 it?" 



M., rather. sharply— "No. I made it myself. He looked 

 at rne, but refrained from calling me a liar. 



N. A. — "Did you catch your fish on these flies?" 

 M. — "Some of them, f have changed all my flies several 

 times, excepting (be beuverkill, that has done good work all 

 day." 



N. A.— "Which is the beuverkill?" 

 M. — "The second dropper." 



N. A.— "I guess I'll make a change iu my flies." 

 He. drove his hand down in a spacious pocket in bis fish 

 iug coat aud drew forth a flv book, a frific smaller than 

 a Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, which was well 

 stocked with salmon and bass dies. He had nothing that 

 looked like a beaverkill fly. and 1 gave him a couple from 

 my Hulberlon fly book. On seeing my book lie said he 

 Should think 1 would get out of flies if 1 didn't take more 

 than four dozen ona trip. I told him I had some in my valise 

 at the house where 1 was stopping. He said he thought I 

 was about right and didn't know as there was any use in 

 carting such a lot of truck around on a fishing trip* I told 

 him I thought it quite unnecessary to carry a satchel full of 

 salmon flies on the Neversink. 



The sun was getting behind the hills, and as 1 wanted to 

 reach the wagon in Fore nightfall 1 bade the N. anglers good 

 day, lighted a fresh pipe and started down the stream. 



i know a good many angKrs like the ones I found under 

 the old buttonwood, "some that are good n out fishermen, 

 who seem to think it a disgrace to be outnumbered, no 

 matter what the size of the fish may be. Neveksijjk 



rUE-HCDSOK. 



FISH POISONS. 



80ME time ago I wa.s present where there, were seyeral 

 gentlemen, and the conversation chanced to turn upon 

 Ashing, fish, and fishbait. I remarked that in ray boyhood 

 I had seen fish caught by something thrown in 'the water; 

 the fish ate it eagerly and then appeared to go crazy, and 

 the drug, or whatever ir was. was called erazybait, I re- 

 member this, ihc fish, after eating it lost all fear, and you 

 could go into the water and catch them with your hands, or 

 spear them. I have good cause to remember it, for I came 

 very near being drowned once at. that sport. It was after 

 my'father came to California, in l.S.">4 or 'no; he had sold a 

 ranch we had been living on a short lime and we went into 

 camp again until he could suit himself wilh another, and for 

 convenience to water, we pitched our tent near a large bayou 

 making out of the Sacramento River, and very near us was 

 a large, deep hole in which it was supposed there were good 

 fish, but too shy to be caught. After navigation "was 

 started the fish left the river for the bayous. One afternoon 

 in the early autumn, some young men" from a village near 

 by came down to the pool, and threw this erazybait into 

 the water; however, they did not confine the bait to that 

 place oulv, and in fifteen or twenty minutes you should 

 have seen the fish. The water seemed perfectly' alive with 

 them, and some of the finest, biggest, fellows; they were a 

 pleasure to look at. Of course the boys gave me leave to 

 catch all 1 could, ami 1 jumped into the water, overalls and 

 all. The others were in a canoe. You can imagine, I was 

 in great excitement and hurry, and took after a big fellow 

 and caught him several limes, but he was so thick and in 

 his element, too. ue was too much for ine. 



There were plenty of smaller, nice ones, too, but 1 wanted 

 the big fellow. Finally he made for the deep hole and I 

 after jiiiu My dear mother was standing on the buuk above 

 us looking down and enjoying our sport. All at once .-lie 

 noticed that, 1 went down, not like a swimmer, and she 

 began screaming. Of course, that drew the attention of the 

 others and if was all lliey could do lo save me from drown- 

 ing, I was so exhausted before I sank, f had heard of and 

 seen erazybait used before, lint thai, was tin- last time I as- 

 sisted at the spoit, I was too near being one of the victims. 



Just below where this bail was thrown in there "was a 

 ripple-.au old Indian stood down there and took from 

 seventy-live to one hundred of the nicest fellows with a 

 spear, f was telling this advenure to those gentlemen I 

 referred to in the beginning of this letter, at which they 

 were greatly amused and still continue to speak of it as a 

 fish story, and all of them positively say they never heard of 

 fish taken in this way. 1 do not advocate the. use of this 

 erazybait and really hope it has passed out of use. But 

 I do know it was used in my youthful days, aud as I have 

 not the slightest ambition to 'be considered a rival of the 

 amusing "Major Joseph Yi ritv," you will greatly oblige me 

 if you can give me any information in relation to the use of 

 this article as bail for fish. I cannot believe that I am Ihe 

 only living man that ever heard or saw the use of this 

 article as 'bait ; 1 do not know the proper name for it, but I 

 dunk vou will. R, G II 



San Jiuncisoo, Cat. 



[The use of fish poisons is forbidden in most Slates. Wc 

 lei ve- several times declined to mention the name of the 

 drug -referred to and have depre .-aied its mention by name 

 in the game laws, as tending to educate the people in a 

 wrong direction.] 



If Tuev Won't Bite.— Raymond, Me., Jan. 16.— I won- 

 der if any of the renders of Forest ahd Stream ever tried 

 the experiment of falling green bushes into the edge of a 

 pond for the pickerel to gather under? 1 have frequently 

 tried it, and have had some excellent sport by so doing. 

 The trees should be left far enough apart, to leave ample 

 room to fish between them. The fish will collect under 

 them. and the way il icy v. ill dart, out and snap the bait is 

 enough to give any sportsman keen enjoyment. But there 

 are days, after the water becomes warm," when the fish be- 

 come sluggish and refuse, to bite in the middle of the day. 



