A.HQUST 38, 1883,3 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



straight to bank and landed him high and dry before he 

 could make a jump. He Was mine ! and with 'more joy T 

 bmv him to the driver Minn if 1 hud shot a big deer, making 

 move noise, as the Professor said, than a room full of school- 

 girls. 

 In five minutes that ffstl was in the frying-pan and soon 



cookc 



three I 



i nut-brown 



'tilers who L 



left 



afflc 



He was 

 d grc 



more than enough for 



d not weigh hi 

 Never did 1 en 



1 fished no more, 



, bi 



all be 



1 fish more than I did thi 



: 1 could not have kept, the fish from 

 Spoiling hod J caught them. In tWO hours Hie horses were 

 geared, and WO Were on our way to Vernon, in Jackson 

 Parish. Since getting liack to our home. 1 have very pleas 

 ant recollections of the Castor Bayou. I 

 to any one traveling in Catahoula, to 1 

 fishing tackle, and when he crosses Ci 

 drop his hook in this Stream. 



Both pleasure and fish will repay the time spent on it 

 hanks. ' G-. D. ALEXANDER. 



Stomps, La , Aug. .-.. 1883. 



Ba 



recommend 

 take a long 

 )U, stop and I 



TROUT AND MOCCASIN. 



~\\T MILE trout fishing, during the summer of 1880, I spent 

 TT several weeks at a summer resort in the mountains 

 not many miles from Harrisonburg, Va. 1 had gone np one of 

 the streams for a mile nr mole with rather poor success, and 

 remembering a very nice pool, that the year before had five oi 

 six tine trout m it, averaging ten to twelve inches. 1 ap- 

 proached it very carefully and made repeated casts without 

 a rise, the water being too low and clear. I walked up to 

 •the outlet and stood in the water, looking for some signs of 

 the tine trout of the year before, when suddenly there was a 

 splash and splutter right at my feet. On looking down noi.li- 

 was to bo seen but a streak of muddy water, leading under 

 & large rock at the side Of the pool." Looking carefully to 

 see what had caused so much noise, 1 was surprised and very 

 indignant to see a line trout dart, from under the rock with 

 a Vile moccasin snake firmly attached to him just back of 

 the dorsal flu. The snake had struck its fangs deep into the 

 fish, us his mouth was wide open and flat on the hack of the 

 trout. T drew my pistol and fired several shots at the snake 

 as they raced up and down the pool. The last shot struck 

 so close to him that lie let go, and darted under the root. 

 The trout was so exhausted by the poison and the struggle 

 that he just managed to swim on his side to another rock. 

 As I was about to move up stream I saw the mate of the 

 snake in the shallow water near me. with her head just 

 above the stones and water Taking deliberate aim at her, I 

 had the satisfaction of putting a hall through her head. Her 

 tail was as blunt as my little finger. 



Continuing up stream for an hour or so without success, 

 as there was no wafer to speak of, 1 returned to the pool, 

 and as I crossed the stream, and was in the act, of stepping 

 up the bank to get into the mountain road, something bright 

 made me look down in lime to avoid treading upon a snake, 

 and there was the trout with the snake by him preparing 

 him for a meal. Unfortunately I fired at him. and he glided 

 into the water, if 1 had only wailed till he had half swal- 

 lowed the trout, and then killed him, and put them in alco- 

 hol, would hare had a very interesting show. Now. how- 

 could that snake have swallowed the trout, as the snake's 

 head was not larger than the end of the first finger of a man, 

 and his body barely three feet long? The trout, bv actual 

 measurement, was fully eleven inches, and must have been 

 six inches in circumference. The fate of the rest of these 

 trout must, nave been the same. 



There is but one objection to your paper, and that is it 

 causes the fever to develop badlv at most inconvenient times. 



H, M, W. 

 iE. ltd., August, 1888, 



SALMO tCORECONUSi OTSEGO. CLINTON. 



Shakk Ffflmsra off Nantucket.— Leaving the main 



wharf at A. 31. on the little steamer Island Belle, we soon 

 found ourselves plowing that beautiful harbor in which 

 whale sltips, long ago decayed, have cast their anchors. 

 Steaming along past shores green to the water's edge, start- 

 ling the gulls from their feed, and catching sight of an oc- 

 casional flock of ducks, we soon reached oni r destination. 

 the little settlement of Wauwinct, situated on a neck of 

 land one-eighth of a mile wide and separating the bay from 

 the ocean proper. After a little searching we found the 

 proprietor of a whale boat who agreed to give onr party a 

 chance at the exciting sport. Bowing one mile off shore 

 we dropped our anchor in five fathoms of water. Taking 

 lines larger than a common clothes line, ending i 

 and an ugly looking hook, we baited with sea-] 

 cast out. A little waiting brought a call at the oth 

 Considerable muscular energy hauled to the surface 



shark, that suemmbed with beating on the nose with li 



clubs. The efforts of three men brought him into the boat 

 and we placed his weight at 300 pounds; length eight and a 

 half feet,. Our best catch was a man eater. 'lie was more 

 gauiv than the preceding and handled with more caution 

 After using our lance freely his motions ceased and our prize 

 was hauled aboard; weigh! 275 pounds, length eight and a 

 half feet. Compared with sand sharks our man-eater was 

 much handsomer, with firmer flesh and better adapted for 

 speed. Our catch comprised one man-eater, two sand sharks, 

 and a harbor shark. Allowing our skipper the booty we 

 returned, trusting that the excitement and labor expended 

 would bring to our systems a good night's rest. — G. H. A. 



Aof. of Tkout.— Mr. F. Hqyt, of South East. N. V.. 

 writing in 18-15 to the Cmir.lrii Gmikmnx, said; "Can run- 

 one lell how long a trout will 'live? Twenty-live years the 

 past summer I came on the farm where I now am." Almost, 

 the first wwrls I did after gelling in niv spring crops, was to 

 drain a bog swamp, the outlet, of which leads into the Cro- 

 ton Kiver. I had an old Scotchman to do ditching. One 

 day he brought me a little trout fish about the size of a 

 man's little finger, in his whisky jug (by the by, we used a 

 little on the farm then, and not 'since- then). I put it into the 

 well near the house, and it is there now, grown to a goodly 

 size— say about a foot long, and large "in proportion. It 

 has been feed but very little: once in a while some one 

 throws in a grasshopper or cricket, to see him catch it. The 

 well is thirty feet deep, and water hard, and settles down 

 nearly to the bottom, and then again rises to near the top. 

 He has been taken out a few times to clean the well, but not 

 for the last five years. Friday last I got a grasshopper, the 

 last: one I expect to sic this fall, and gave 'it to him. The 

 water is now twenty-five feet deep, but, it hardly touched 

 the surface before be had it. If anyone has a fish older than 

 nunc I would like to know it." The Fokkst and BtrBBASt 

 of Aug. 15, 187S. contained a note respecting a trout in a 

 well on the farm of .fas. Sherman, in Onondaga county, this 

 State. The fish was said to be thirty years old. 



C'Ar.r in the Hocsatonic. - It may be of interest, to your 

 readers to know that carp may be caught ad libitum in the 

 Housatonie River, Connecticut", at least In that portion pass- 

 ing through the town of Kent, Litchfield county. They are 

 a "gamy" fish, and as nice on the table as the v are to catch. 

 They bite very much like a trout. The writer on his return 

 from an unsuccessful bass trip in the early morning to B 

 neighboring pond on Skiff Mouulain (although a few. days 

 previously he landed some nice ones— there" are plenty of 

 them, but, bass are a curious lot), having seven lively 

 "bloomers" left, tried, on his return, the river for a bass 

 (plenty of them there). Result, seven carp, average, half 

 pound. Fished about 300 yards uud ran out of bait. They 

 will apparently strike only live bait, Have not tried fly. but 

 expect to. Large ones have been caught below the Furnace 

 Dam — two to three pounders. The river was accidentally 

 stocked by the breaking away of a private pond or preserve. 

 Kent is a small, quiet and peculiarly pretty village, supplied 

 with reservoir water and a first-rate hotel.'— .T. M. H. 



eh and 



icr end. 



sand 



' Salmon in the Mekrimac. — Although living almost, 

 upon the banks of the Mcrrimac, I am unable to ascertain 

 definitely the laws governing the catching of salmon with 

 the rod in that stream. Your article in issue August 2 

 prompts me to inquire if rod-fishing for salmon is free, and 

 if not, what are the regulations'? I have just returned from 

 a trip to the southwest Mirimaehi. Rained about, every 

 day. and the water was high, hut I succeeded in getting 

 eighteen good fish in eight days. Took a small dry-plate 

 photographic apparatus along, and think I have some good 

 views of the stream, which, when developed, will send you. 



, : i i lipids imrai di itel > i>< bw the outlet of Fauna! lie' n'r 

 Lake.— John C. Rtsteen. [We know of no "regulations" 



Which affect rod fishing for salmon in the Merrimnc. The 

 fish commissioners of your State can tell von if there are any 

 They are E. A. Brackett, Winchester; Asa French. South 

 Braintree: F. W. Putnam. Cambridge.] 



Black Lake.— Grand Rapids. Mich.. Aug. 13.— Among 

 the many notes on fishing resorts furnished by your various 

 correspondents. I do not recollect ever seeing mention made 

 of Macatawa Fark or Black Lake, ft is only twenty -five 

 miles from here, and is readied by the Chicago A: 'West 

 Michigan Railroad, at. a cost of $1 for the round trip. The 

 lake is only about a half mile from Lake Michigan, in conse- 

 quence is swept by cool breezes, and is an enjoyable spot for 

 a sojourn during ihe warm weather. A good 'hotel is now 

 in running order, ami board can be secured ul very reason- 

 able prices, from $S to $10 a week. The waters' abound 

 with black bass, pike, muscalougc and perch. The fishing 

 has been rather backward on account; of the high and cold 

 Water, hut is improving rapidly. One day last, week a Mr. 

 Woodruff of this place caught during the'fnrenooil a twelve- 

 pound ptke with a casting rod, and one of Hill's two and a 

 half spoon bait, also a three and a half pound "and a four 

 pound one ounce small-mouth bass. Michigan abounds 

 with good fishing resorts, hut I do not know of a place 80 

 handy and easy of access Where good Bport may be - 

 Macatawa Park. — Biz. 



President Authcr's son Allan has made a brilliant rep- 

 utation among the Canadians as a salmon angler having 

 Succeeded in killing forty of these fish during his recent; trip 

 through the Dominion. "Permission was granted him to cast 

 his Hies in the upper Cascapedia River; where, to quote a 

 disciple of Izauk Walton, he had an unobstructed run of 

 luck, as these waters had not been overworked bv fishermen. 

 His largest turned the scale at forty-five pounds." President 

 Arthur's record as a salmon fisher has been eclipsed by his 

 son, who has an outfit second to none in Ihe country. 'The 

 Marquis of Lome and the Princess Louise took considerable 

 pains to make the young American feel at his case while he 

 was in Canada, and insisted upon his spending a portion of 

 his vacation with them at Quebec. It was a suggestion of 

 Ihe Marquis that Master Arthur should fish in the upper Cas- 

 capedia, as the former had set it apart to be used only on 

 special occasions bv his friends. — Sfc Jnhn(X, It.) Tdegmph, 

 Any. 10. 



Tennessee Notes. — Dyersburg, Aug. 13. — A rattlesnake 

 was killed near here last Saturday and 'is now ■•stuffed" and 

 on exhibition at Stevens's flour mills, in Dyersburg, 1 have 

 just, seen him, and find him to be (5 feet 7 inches long and 

 about 4 inches in diameter, with 19 rattles. Partridges are 

 very abundant in this aud adjoining counties. The real 

 fishing season will soon be on us. and then for the black bass 

 aud white perch, which I consider at the head of t lie list. I 

 want, to shake hands with "An Old Fisherman" in last issue 

 for his advice about, stocking ponds with the above instead 

 of carp. Americans have tried -'Shanghai" chickens, Eng- 

 lish sparrows, aud now arc trying the "measly" carp. As 

 to the gaminess of the big and little-mouth black bass, there 

 is no difference, but the striped bass lead them both, and 

 tlie grlndle is considerably ahead of them all. 



The Otsego Bass. -We have been fortunate in obtaining 

 the loan of a copy of DeWitt Clinton's monograph on the 

 "Otsego Bass," with a plate of the Qsh, from our friend, 

 Mr. James Eddy Mauran. and we, reproduce it. Those of 

 our readers who are interested in these matters will remem 

 her that in our issue of August, 17, 18S& vol. xix., p. -19, we 

 published the monograph in full from a copy presented by 

 Mr. Mauran, which had no plate. It was entitled: -'Ac- 

 count of the Salmo < ttsego, or the Otsego Basse. In a letter 

 to John W. Francis, M.D.. Profess,,,- of Obstetrics and the 

 Diseases of Women and Children in the University, of New 

 York. From DeWitt Clinton. LED., Governor ofthe Slate 

 of New York. Printed bv O. S. Van Winkle. L01 Green 

 wieh street. 1S28," 



Habits of Sheepsheap.— Johnsontown, Va.. Aug. 15.— 

 On June 32, 18115, 1 was sailing slowly tip Cherrystone 



Creek, Va.. in my yacht; wind light, water smooth, and 

 weather in the ninetys, and my first, visit to those "waters, 

 when a school of shecpshead numbering between twenty and 



thlrtj p rl slowly by us going down stream. They' were 



SO Hi art! i at - that we could see them very distinctly, 



so thiil there- wa> no mistake in their identity. Now as I 

 had never seen such a thing in the Kcu- Jersey waters, after 

 an experience of over twenty years, it struck 'me as singular. 

 After I came here to reside my son saw the same occurrence, 

 several times in the sounds on' the seaside.— Old Foe- v. 



Foub anglers killed 108 salmon in five days in the North- 

 west Miramichi. 



Pennsylvania.— Hollidavsburg, Aug. 18.— Bass fishing 

 on this branch of the Juniata has been for some reason 

 neglected this summer. Probably the cooler nights Of 

 September will lure their majesties from the deep waters to 

 which the summer heat has u riven them. 1 hear they are 

 quite plenty over in the Raystown branch of the Juniata, 

 some thirty miles from here, and a carload of jolly good 

 fishermen leave the last week of this month to spend a week 

 or ten days in camp at that place. They go by Pennsyl- 

 vania Central to Huntingdon, Pa., and thence by Hunting- 

 don (fc Broad Top Railroad, to Cove Station.— X." 



A MrxEP Lot.— The editor of the Fairport, X. Y., llcrabl 

 has been fishing. _ The parly, as he tells ns. was composed 

 of "five lawyers.'one carriage maker, one machinist, and one 

 newspaper man. There were four Yankees, three. Irishmen 

 and one Jew. There were three married men, three bach- 

 elors, and two who arc very nearly getting to this latter 

 point in the world. There are three college men, two had a 

 shorter but practical schooling, ami the other three have got 

 most, of their education in practical life and in business. 

 Two were about 37, one 29, three about 37, fine nearly 40, 

 and the 'old man' about 50." 



LAKE C'iiamplain.— Fishing has been poor in Lake- ( Mian, 

 plain about old Fort Crown Point, (where I spent my time), 

 and nothing very gamy rewarded m\ skill. On Monday 

 last managed to get about 101) of all sizes up to two pounds— 

 perch, suulish, pike and shcepshead. Tie' sunfish were run- 

 ning very large, and. while not extra for epicurean purposes. 

 furnished a good dealof sport with a light fly-rod. Hunting 

 promises to be good later on, as far as foxes arc concerned, 

 but the gray squirrels seem to have been killed off by the ex- 

 ti erne frigielness of last winter.— W. II. K. 



Black Bass in Vermont.— East Berkshire, Vt.— We 

 have plenty of black bass in the northern part, of Vermont,. 

 at MasaiBquoi Bay, in Lake Champlaiu; large numbeia arc 

 being caught this summer. Also at, Franklin Pond, in the 

 town of Franklin, they have caught them within the last 

 three weeks thai weigh as high as seven pounds. A party 

 from Boston caught six that weighed thirty-five pounds, one 

 day last week. They are caught with Hie live minnow for 

 bait.— Snip Snap. 



Reuuen Wood.— The friends of "Uncle Reuben" will be 

 glad to learn that be has returned from England safe and 



sound, with all his honors, ne is as bright ami cheery as 

 ever, and shows no sign of wear from the bounteous hospi- 

 tality so frequently offered by the many new friends he 

 found among Ihe anglers of Great Britain'. 



Lakoe Bi.i'teFi.sii.— Ipswich, Mass., \\\^. IS. — One day 

 this week (.'apt. Charles Norwood took five bluefish in Ips- 

 wich Bay which averaged fourteen pounds each. One of 

 the fish weighed fifteen and three-quarter pounds, and tin- 

 five brought down the scales at seventy pounds plump. — 

 Essex. 



Wiiekk is TnE Trout Hot; Medal?— a parly of two 

 caught three hundred and seventy-five trout in one "day, anel 

 drove eleven miles and back the same day. Not one of Ihom 

 weighed over five ounces and mrj tl ere about. 



twenty to Ihe pound,— Snip Snap (East Berkshire. Vt.). 



A correspondent writes to Nature: "In March last I was being 

 pulled off from the shore to f I. M. S, Himalaya in the harbor 

 at Aden, when a fish jumped our of the water over The boat. ■ 

 and in doing so -struck the hat of another officer and knocked 

 it into the water. When the hat was recovered we found in 

 the hard felt a slit about tour niches in length. Unfortunately 

 the, tish escaped, but the impression ot those who saw it wa's 

 that it was some kind of garfish, aud that the damage done 

 was inflicted by rho beak. It. appeared to me to be about ten 

 inches long. It is obvious that, had the nsh struck my friend 

 in the face or neck, or even in the chest, it might have resulted 

 in a fatal Injury." 



