Sept, IS, 1883.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



127 



In the night, my dog, chained to the. tent pole at ray feet, 

 nearly nulled the "tent down in his efforts to get away and at 

 something I thought at the time it was to get touip water. 

 p I turned kirn loose, and he disappeared in the darkness. 

 Tn the morning, however, the track of a bear, and a big 

 one. too, was found close to our camp, a little distance up 

 the canon. He had CDRie down to interview nuf camp, and 

 his presence put an end to our fishing up stream, as we all 



jsatncloded that that was r u I at t ihad leak The dog 



kept going up, nosing and sniffing, lo he called back again 

 ami again. 



As we were here for business, we finally concluded il was 

 Hme- to settle il 30 wc left for that purpose; on its comple- 

 tion, we drove back to Little Goose, getting there aud in 

 camp jusl in time. to escapes terrible rainstorm. The next 

 May tOOk US home, well satisfied with our little "busiuess- 

 plea8ur»" trip, bringing with us a taste of (tout for those 

 who could not go with us, 0, D. 



Foa-r BloKficsuy, K'u... Aug. 87. 



REST1GOUCHE SALMON. 



r J" , ITK past season ha- been the best one for salmon on the 

 i Kestigouche for many years. Ton, of them have been 

 taken with the fly in addition to the great catches of the nets 

 below. The S1ZC Of the fish has also been remarkable, the 

 Bvei ' brine: twenty-two pounds or over. We have no 

 doubt but Mils Lstbe result of the heavy stocking of the 

 rivi-r b\ lie- lisle ries. officers. Tn the Dominion there is a 

 Considerable feeling against these officers, and their work 

 has been assailed as of no value. From what we cam learn, this 

 i i-. largely on account of the unpopularity of one of 



I no r , and if this is true, then the objection;, .should be 



aimed at bine and inn at tie- whole system of tishculturc. 

 <>,i person ha ei t gone to the ahstiraily of claiming that 

 the planting oi salmon fry decreased the supply of fish! 



In lid-, conned ion we print the following letter, written 

 by Mr. John Mow.it, ex-flshcry officer of the Restigouche 

 district, to the editor of the Miramiohi AdMllBt: 



ilv Ukak Sie -I am mueli obliged for your editorial re- 

 marks on my former letter, bul cannot refrain from again 

 referring tn'llie subject, iu order lo try to remove some of 

 your prejudices against piscicullure, aud, if 1 cannot do so. 

 to give yon -oine reasons why 1 'nave it so strong on the 

 brain. ' Von say it lias been the protection afforded, nol the 

 hatchery, which leas preserved the salmon fishery on the 

 I . ,". 1 thank yon for thai admission, but mo>t re- 



ol : parties, both here and elsewhere— and who pre- 

 tend to know all about the habits, nature and process of the 

 production of I he salmon family, from Ihc time the ova 

 female until they ret urn S3 Or 30-pouuders — 

 hold.') different view, and declare the decrease of the Usher 

 te-i i si telj to he attributed to 'those hatcheries, "and I re- 

 gret to find you among the number, .day I give yon some 

 of the reasons why nine-tenths of the ova laid naturally are 

 not fecundated: .Salmon must lay their ova in shoal rapid 

 Walter, and their ridd is opened longitudinally. If not rapid 

 they could not open if, as (he quickwater is The level', throw- 

 ing', or rather working the gravel downward as the fish 

 move it. They could not in k" n '-m-- ■., i < o form an eddy. 

 Instinct leaches iheni I hat it would till up faster than I hey 

 COUld Open H, As the «ggs are pf denser gravity than the 

 •water, they ace caught in the interstices of the gravel, 

 When ejected the orifice in the outer shell or skin is open to 

 receive a portion of the germinating fluid of the male, and I 

 have found, from experiments, that an egg submerged for 

 two or three- minutes, has absorbed so much wafer that the 

 orifice has closed, and il has losl its susceptibility to impreg- 

 nation. Consequently the larger portion— in many instances 

 the whole — of the miit is swept, by the rapid current out, o1 

 the ridd without touching the egg. Again, a large malt 

 will often be among a dozen or more lish on a bar, and be is 

 similar to a large bull in a herd if a smaller oue attempts to 

 come near, chasing the smaller males away from females 

 oitener than he does the trout. Very often a fresh supply of 

 fish will move up or down to a bar or bed where other fish 

 have ih posited, They have instinct to know that; the ridds 

 isier opened Where the gravel was moved the day pre- 

 vious, lint nor instinct enough to know that I hey are de- 

 .,, whatever fructified ova. may ho in the beds, for if 

 Hi-, egg li i shaken or moved ever SO little, for thirty days, il 

 one, addled, a dead egg. Such are some of Ike reasons 



whv ton per cent, of naturally laid ova < 



and from careful experiments I have made 



ridds le it dry by the receding water. I beli 

 too high. 



We next have t n if- fall ice often running after freezing on 

 the bottom by heavy prcs-ure of back water idling the ice iu 

 mountains for miles, and it is worse in the spring when it is 

 not uncommon to see large does, where They lay dry during 

 the winter, lift with a foot deep of the frozen era \' ; 1 adhcr- 

 iij.r to the I 111 ii comes a live. SiX or seven foot perpen- 



dicular ri 



in 100,000 fry yearly, even planting the eggs in I he gravel 

 before thefry came out. My friend, Mr. Bustecd. caught 

 the voung smolt when troutiug As yet, no adult, salmon 

 has entered il 1 have planted millions" of fry in the Ppsal- 

 quitch aud Metapedia rivers, branches nf the Restigouche. 

 Si range lo say. the salmon in them are not, in quantity more 

 than usual, while the main Restigouche River is fairly alive 

 with salmon. 'The fish buyers also notice iu the season's 

 catch, very few Metapedia or rpsahpiitch fish, Now, sir, 

 all my parent fish were main river salmon, consequently, the 

 ■ fry although planted iii different rivers, have all re- 

 turned to the parenl stream, 'There is no other solution 

 possible. 



Another point — T believe that this year's lish were either 

 naturally or artificially hutched in i 878 or 1877, aud this is 

 their first arrival since they went to the sea as smolts. Who 

 knows their life in the ocean and when they return? None 

 of the breeding fish on the great Columbia and Eraser rivers 

 ever get back to sea. Every year the large fish return. 

 Should they return yearly would there not be a great number 

 of fjsh of all sizes? True, We have some grilse, but few in 

 proportion to what there should be were all to come back, 

 and' no man ever yet saw a female grilse in our rivers here. 

 Why is this so? I do believe, though, that a salmon, after 

 depositing once, returns annually (if spared) to perform the 

 same process. The reason why I believe this is that 1 have 

 aken ova for three seasons in ' succession from my marked 

 tish, and caught them on the same bar or place iu the river 

 each time. 



As to the continuous decrease of the salmon fisheries shown 

 by census returns, and statistics, 1 say they are unreliable. 

 I myself have known a fisherman sign an affidavit to one-half 

 : ■ '", ,',',; a fisherman will not give it. They once were 

 taxed $1 00 per bhl, and have not forgotten it, Just take, 

 the increase of netting stations for the. last twenty years or 

 less, in the Baic Chalcur it is probably 500 percent, or 

 more. 



How many freezers were in existence twenty years ago, 

 and how many now in the salmon trade? True, fish are worth 

 more, but the' capital invested in the trade and fishery is 500 

 tol. Notwithstanding the great scarcity of fish, frozen sal- 

 mon, last March, was so much of a drup. in the markets that 

 they were sold for 12 cents per pound. What was the angling- 

 catch twenty years ago? Nothing. It was supposed the 

 tish would not rise to the fly. aud fact was that there was 

 none or very few. What is il lo day ? The angling fish will 



tally by the 1,000 fish with a 23-pound average. Now. Mr. 

 Editor, to close this long letter, T have given you facts pure 

 and simple. If I am prejudiced in favor of artificial assist- 

 ance to keep up the stock iu our rivers, it is from pure con- 

 viction of its necessity from actual observation and experi- 

 ence. As I before said, 1 have no axe to grind, and will 

 never bleed another fish in Canada. I have refrained fi 

 touching on the benefits of pisciculture as shown in America, 

 Great Britain, France. Germany. Russia and even the heathen 

 Chinese. Rather let us examine their systems aud modes of 

 conducting it, improve ours where wrong; and not, like fools, 

 condemn The whole on account of errors in management 

 or because expected results did not realize our expectations. 

 John Mowat. 



STURGEON OF NEW BRUNSWICK. 



w 



■ thai 



to life, 



iniug the 

 estimate 



ANY of the readers of Forest and Stream are famil- 

 iar with the term ?' Albany beet." as used to denote 

 the flesh of the sturgeon. I do not know that the sturgeon 

 can very properly be classed among game fishes. Mr. Ar- 

 cher, the inventor of an instrument of torture, known as 

 "Archer's History of Canada," used extensively in New 

 Brunswick schools, tell* us that Samuel de Champhuh, when 

 exploring Canada, "rejoiced in enormous I rout and huge 

 sturgeons of a marvellous goodness which, were caught by 

 his men." 1 have often wondered bow they caught those 

 Sturgeons. They would not be very likely to lie supplied 

 with sturgeon nets, aud T never heard Of the fish taking the 

 hook. But the sturgeon has a habit of making you aware 

 of its presence, about slack water, by jumping three or four 

 feet out of its native element, and falling back with a start- 

 ling s,.i, : sh. Why it does this I never heard any one attempt 

 lo explain; but the habit has probably enabled' Champhdn's 

 men lo "fake il on the fly," and any fish taken I hat way is a 

 game fish. This being so, I do not' blame Mr. Archer for 

 mentioning it iu company with the trout. It the salmon is 

 the king of game fishes, and the trout the prince, the stur- 

 geon being clad in a full suit of armor, would probably be 

 the knight— the K. C. B.. as if were. 



David Maedonald, ofWickham, was the first New Brims 

 wicker wdio attempted to utilize this lish. Me caughl them 

 in set net,-, for the sake of the oil ; and the flesh he kiln 

 dried and fed to an immense flock of hens which he kept, 

 He built "pounds," of logs, hi which tie confined the fish he 

 cauThl until be wished to use. them. In the winter of 1S80 



place departed, taking with it the very unpleasant odor that 

 bad erstwhile pervaded the village, and also a very consid- 

 erable amount of cash. Some of the New Brunswick.-!. s 

 losl heavily during the season of '82. The season of 'SM.is 

 reported almost a"total failure. The heaviest sturgeon of 

 which I have anv personal knowledge was caught during 

 the season of 'SO and dressed 108 pounds, A. paragraph has 

 gone the rounds of the newspapers to the ell'eel that one i 

 caught this season near Fredericton which weighed olio 

 pounds, but I would rather see that fish than hear of it. T 

 do not believe thai the decrease in Ihc sturgeon shipped is so 

 great as Would seem by reports. The trouble is there are too 

 many iu the business/and individual catches are very low. 

 T pas-cd through Long Reach in the night boat on the even- 

 insr of July 20. Each sturgeon boat carries a fixed white 

 Hub*. 1 wish Ihad counted the lights as I passed, but I 

 can only compare the view from the foot of the Reach to 

 that which confronts the nocturnal lounger on Lynn beach 

 when he, look* seaward toward Nahant: only the row of 

 sturgeon lights was at least fifteen miles long. 



A sturgeon is a large fish, and it cannot attain its full size 

 in a vear— its growth must necessarily be slow. Therefore 

 if the business is followed with so much assiduity it will 

 sou 1 1 go to the wall'. Yet some of the New Yorkers tell ns 

 that the Delaware has been thus mercilessly skinned for ten 

 years without any great decrease in the catch. 



A word as to 'the edible qualities of this fish, and T have 

 done. T have lasted sturgeon prepared in a variety of ways. 

 1 had frequently heard that it could not be distinguished 

 from good render beef. When viewed from a distance it 

 does resemble beef, 'ml here I he analogy ends. The man 

 who having once tasted it could not tell it from beef, or any- 

 thing else in fact, must either have a metal-lined month or 

 (Tie nerve of taste must be entirely absent. It has a strong 

 oily taste that I cannot "go;" could this be removed it, would 

 bo good tender meat. L. I. Flower. 



A RECOLLECTION OF THE CHAUDIERE. 



,4 T the Higbgate marshes the other day we, caught a 

 j\_ maskinonge which broke water several times. 



lie the game qualities of the two kinds of bass taken there 

 we consider the large-mouth bass a stubborn fighter but not 

 so active as his small-mouth brother. 



I am much pleased to see that the merits of Commissioner 

 Hodge, of Plymouth. N. H., are becoming known. He is 

 an old friend' and camp comrade of bygone years of the 

 writer, aud lie was ever an earnest advocate of ttshandgame 

 protection and a genial and true-hearted friend. Mr. Willie 

 Tuck, one of the' most popular travelers that goes out of 

 Boston, can testify to the fact that when he was stricken 

 down with a contagious disease in a Canada hotel, the 

 ger who alone appealed at his bedside and tended him 

 days and nights through those dark hours of misery, and 

 and finally brought him safely back to life'.s side of the river 

 again, was none other than F. B. Hodge, who riskedhis own 

 life lo .save that of a stranger brother's. 



Hodge, had. however, one bad fault, he would occasionally 

 catch trout with a bait. 



Among our many fishing tours 1. think never but once 

 could we be accused of being "trout hogs." that, was one 

 day in June, in the year '69 or '70, that in the rapids in the 

 Ch'andiere River at the mouth of Lake Megantic, we killed 

 with fitly 180 speckled trout, none smaller than Impounds, 

 ami from that, weight up to 2i pounds, a few would perhaps 

 reach the Ti-potmd notch. Our reason for making sn b a 

 great catch was the fact that two spoilsmen. Messrs. i art 

 and Katban, of Rock island, Quebec, who had camped at. 

 and fished the lake and rive,- every season for years, claimed 

 that they could kill a greater number of trout there in a day 

 thau anv other two rods thai ever whipped those waters. So 

 E. B. 11. and the writer accepted the challenge, aind undertook 

 to show them bow the thing could be done. And we did. 

 When we began to the morning Messrs. Stewart and Kat.han 

 had si 

 stood 

 vidua 

 was I 

 ha tid, 

 era lea 

 before I 



causing the gravel and silt to roll on a gentleman iu New York wrote to Mr. King, of this Pro- 



file iioti , can hear it quite distinctly before you 



reach the river.' Such, sir, is a picture, anil ' not an over- 

 drawn oue, of the first stage of the ova in our Canadian 

 rivers. 



From your - i: - , , ,, i , -pondenec you must, be aware 

 of the outcry in coll ind mil England if a week's hard frost 



i, fearing the damage to the salmon ridds. 1 sec that 



Hnwielov.'ii Hatchery they do not praeiice the old 



mode of retaining the fry until they reach the buioH 



ii Ing ii better lo distribute til the absorption of Ihc sac just 

 as il is done b a 



Il would be hardly possible to feed the try through our 

 long hard winter, bul quite possible to retain tuera in ponds 

 until November, linis saving many from their natural ene- 

 mies. So convinced am 1 of the necessity of artificial assist- 

 now that the salmon are so much valued for sport and 

 commerce, and the drain is yearly increasing far more than 

 the natural supply will furnish, that il will yet be nee 

 to place a hatchery on every one of out good salmon streams, 

 and have tin- young of the fish which belong to the stream 

 placed in it bv millions,. I do not expect you will deny that 

 - I-, river has its own distinctive species of salmon. If it 

 ■v --,'., in, ho, the salmon on Hearing the coast would Lai 



i , , in ■, came to. and there is just as much difi'-reace 

 between the fish of different rivers, as there is in the different 

 varieties or breeds ot sheep or cattle. The fish belonging to 

 the tributaries of tin- .Restigouche will not ascend the main 

 river, and tln-v are quite .different in size, shape and color. 

 I did i .l.i i»t in the Nepisiuuil River, fry ifwo years, taken 



i, , in- salmon, is it nol possible on their 



, mild rish the\ passed il and came up the 



lh-,1ignncneV Tne Nopisiquil -'onion arc Only ten 1 



fish. ! ■■ in m. I liiver 1 did the same, Aiiothe, . ! 



;,i, Head here! planted for three seasons, I put 



voice, for information concerning the prospects For cslab- 

 fishing a sturgeon fishery, and he was at, once referred to 

 Mr. Maedonald. A business was started under the super- 

 vision of Messrs. Maedonald aud Balmann, Macdonald's 

 Point being the chief shipping and [lacking station. ,V, r. 

 Feddersen established another station at Long Beach, further 

 down the St. John, Then followed a grand sturgeon 

 "boom." Every young man who cofilrj get into the busi- 

 ness went iu with a will. Macdonald's Point anil Oak 

 Point, like Tyre aud Sidou, became "places for (3 

 nets." The New York men found nets and hoais ant 

 fifty cents a head for each sturgeon caught. As tin 

 had a thirteen-inch mesh, there was little chance for them 

 to gel, left in a bargain of that kind. Every man who went, 

 into the business made money the firs! year. As high as 

 thirty-two fish were caught in oue night by a single boat, 

 the fishing all being done by drifting, and the fish nearly all 

 caught about slack wafer. When a fish was fast in sue 

 a noose was quickly slipped under his gills, and he was freed 

 from the net and hauled on board. At the close of I he- 

 season the Dominion Government stepped in to regulate, the 

 fishing. The open season was made to extend from July 1 

 to Sept. lo, and a license of Sjo per net had to he taken out 

 I oi- each and every county in which the net was fished. I 

 may be a little obtuse on' this point, but I tail to see Wie- 

 the sturgeon fishery should be taxed more than anv other. 

 At the opening of the season of '81 there was a still 

 li in the business. Many New Brunswickers in- 

 vested money in nets, and there was a general - di oi 



Long Reach, iu order to nieel the lish as far down tin river 

 as possible Bnl there were no such catches as were made 

 the previous war The advantages ol Long Leach, both US 



a fishing aadshipping station, over Macdonaltfs Point, were 

 obvious, and after the season of '81 the glory of the latter 



•d lo 



ih. and at the close. 7 P. M., their score 

 „,,.-. as I have before stated, 180, and our indi- 

 oodSOeach. Hie next morning while camp 

 ick and tilings packed up, H., with rod in 

 wn behind the bushes aud the riverside and 

 catch an odd trout so us lo be one ahead; but 

 .__ accomplished bis design he was discovered, 

 and by a vigorous and rapid use of bis legs with many 

 promises of better things iu the future he escaped a ducking 

 or something even worse. Alas! those happy days have 

 gone bv, bul it is a pleasure lo look back and recount those 

 incidents which will never fade from the memory of 



Stanbtead, 



CRUISE OF THE "BLUE GOOSE." 



SINCE willing you last, the Riverside Hunting and Fish- 

 ing Club, of this city, have returned from quite a novel 

 trip, and one fully as enjoyable. Their club, composing as 

 jolly a set of aquatic spoilsmen as ever pulled an oar, started 

 from the boat house of ihc renowned sculler, Henry Coulter, 

 the man whoso tame upon the water ifi national, and under 

 tin- official guidance of tin- following Officers : Captain, Win. 

 Mathews: Presidenl. Frederick T'heinger: Secretary. Har. 

 ( oohnoi , 'Treasurer, Win. Holler. 



Their means of conveyance consisted of a peculiar craft 

 built tor s ( ,ecd as well as comfort, and it certainly furnished 

 both to tin- salisfaciion of all the members, 'it was pro- 

 pelled by a very neat wafer wheel of proper proportions, 

 ,,-, revolution was accomplished by eight levers, arranged 

 on the eccentric principle, each lever being manipulated by 

 one person In this way a high rate of speed was obtained 

 with apparent I v wry Mule etl'on. 



In this "Blue Goose" (for such is its name) the club, who 

 are lovers of "jn-.ture unadorned,'' departed up the Ohio 

 (meaning bloody water iu the Indian language! River, meet- 

 ing I he Monong'iihela River, which they likewise ascended, 

 until they met the picturesque Yougliegheuy, upon whose 

 banks they opened their camp, Which was about half a mile. 

 from Little Boston. They devoted their time here to fishing. 

 and were amply rcwaided for their trouble. 



Like other clubs of (heir kind, they had their snake story 

 all bottled up tor their ardent admirers, aud they do '-swear 

 and affirm" thai if is a true one. It i as follows; While 

 out rambling through the woods 6110 day one of their num- 

 ber, who carried a gun with him, and happened to be bare 

 l'ooieif. hafl occasion to stand still for a moment, when to 

 ids astonishment, not to say horror, lie beheld, upon looking 

 down, a large copperhead slowly making his way around his 

 ankles and over his feel. He stood like a Statue, UC-1 daring 



, n,, ■, , lest ii lie did -> ■■ bis death-knell 



his snakeship slowly moved off, when ihc --hero of Ihc hour" 

 wheeled aioiind and laifl him low in the agonies of death 



