68 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



fArcrsT 26, 1880. 



ititelligPTit observations could be made at the comnience- 

 ment of the shad season, upon which could be based with 

 practicable accuracy a scale of close time for different 

 points on any given riv»r. My own opinion is that no 

 shad should ba taken with sei'nes until they make their 

 appearrt.nof, upon their spawning grounds ; then let the 

 work contmence at the same time upon the whiile length 

 of theBtreara. Under the prevailing laws, the fisheries 

 at or near the mouth of the rivers have severiil days ud- 

 Tfnitagc over the upper fisheries, which is certainly un- 

 just. 



K legislators and other officials would, in their official 

 capacity, exercise the saiue degree of judgment that they 

 do in the management of their private business, our laws 

 ■would be more just and otiicial duties more intelligentlj' 

 performed. Milton P. Pierce, 



AquiiiJale Ponds. WenonaJi, N. J. 



I desire to congratulate the Forest and Stream upon 

 the accession of iMr, Fred Mather as ediior of the Fish 

 Department of the jojnial, M. P. P. 



FPaOATE MACKEREL AGAIN HEARD FROM, 



Newport, E. I„ Aug. 12th. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 

 \ The past week has brought many new observations re- 

 girding the abundance of the frigate mackerel (Amvis 

 r icei) recently referred to in Forest akd Strkam as 

 huTingfor the" first time appeared on our coast. These 

 fish seem to have come in immense schools into the waters 

 between Mtmtauk Point and Georges Bank, and from 

 Mr. Clarke's statements it appears tliat they have been ob- 

 serred in small numbers by fishermen in previous years. 

 Several vessels h.ave come into Newport recenily, report- 

 ing^ their prff-eiice in inimensi' numbers in the vicinity 

 of "Block Islaii.). U will inten'Pt the "ichthyophagists" to 

 know that sevi ral pevs.am in Ninv |)ort have tested the fish, 

 and pronounce it: inferior to the bonito. Part of the tlesh, 

 that on the pcislerior part of the body, is white, but be- 

 hind thf»gill.-i it is black and rank, while the meat near 

 the hac.kbnne is so.id to be of disagreeable, sour flavor. 



It is hard to predict what its influence will be upon 

 other fishes already occupying our waters. Its moutli is 

 s nail and its teeth feeble, so that it is hardly likely to be- 

 come a ravager, like the bonito and the bluefish. There 

 is little probability, on the other hand, that its advent 

 will he of any special importance fronr an economical 

 point of view, for its nil does not seem to be very abund- 

 ant, and it would hardly pay at present to capture it 

 solely for the purpose of u.«ing its flesh in the manufac- 

 ture of fertibzers, 



Mr, A, Howard Clarke, in charge of the fish commis- 

 sion station at Gloucester, has communicated to Prof. 

 Bdird some interesting facts regarding its abundance. 

 From these statements it would also appear that the spe- 

 cies has been observed occasionally in past years. He 

 writes under date of Aug, 10th: "I lia-.e rf-ecived Uiis 

 morning, from the schooner Fitz J. Babson, just arrived 

 from Block Island, a fish answering to your de.^onptiuu 

 of the Auxis. having a corselet of scales around the pec- 

 toral fin as in the timny. The captain of tlie vessel. 

 Joshua Riggs, reports that about a week ago he liad a 

 hundred barrels ni the seine at one time, and saw over 

 twenty schools nf ihoin. hie saw tliem as far ii.ist as Sow- 

 and-Plg Light Hliip. They are very easy to catch, flip 

 like ui^nhar'.en, do not rusli, and are not frightened at 

 the seine. Tliey go in immense numbers, he tliinks, as 

 many as one tliousand barrels to a bcliool. The day after 

 the appearance of these fish the mackerel disiipiieared, 

 but he does not know whether the mackerel \m re driven 

 away by them or not, Thev feed on mackerel feuia. Mr. 

 Daniel HilLz, of the same vessel, says that he enughl one 

 of just the same kind in Feb., 1879, on a haddock traw], 

 on the eastern part of the middle bank in forty f:ithi)ns 

 of water. He took it to Boston, where it was called a 

 youn? bonito. 



'• Mr. John Henderson, of the schooner Sarah C. Wharf, 

 says that two vessels caught such fish recently eastward 

 of" here. The achoomi- \\inei-irtin Eagle, of Province- 

 town, took a number < f Ijarie-is of them into Newport, 

 and sold theiu for a doll,,,- a, Imirel. Another Cape Cod 

 vessel— he does not know her name— took about fifty bar- 

 ri»ls of them and threw .them away. All the mackerel 

 seiners from Block Island report seeing quantities of this 

 nen' fish within ihepa.'it fortnight. The captain of the 

 schooner .Sarah C- Wharf says he first saw ibem a fort- 

 night ago some fifteen :-nile8 off Block Island, The cap- 

 tain and several of the crew of the Ella M. Johnson, of 

 Newburyport. just arrived from Bhick Island, state they 

 s.«iw abu'ndance of the .A«.Tfe. but did not kiKjw wiiat it 

 was until reports came from you at Newport. They 

 opened one and found in its stomacli the ordmary red 

 mackerel food. Tliis crew differ wiih the crew of the 

 schooner Fitz J. Babson with rngard to the ease of cap- 

 turing thetn— think them rather diflicult to take ; say 

 they fiip like porgies. and do not rusli like mackerel : 

 t'ley saw ten large schools of them on Saturday last when 

 same fifteen miles south of Block Ihland." 



I hope that any reader of F"HK^t a>Ti Strram who 

 has seen this fish will men fiiin it. Smue may. perhaps, 

 have an opportunity of studyin- lis huMis. The length 

 of tbosR I have seen ranges fir,ii] twelve.to si.xteen inchesi, 

 and llieir weight from tliree-qnarters of a pound to a 

 i.H.iidand a half or more. Those sent to New York 

 market were part of the lot taken by the schooner Ameri- 

 can Eagle and brought into Newport, wlieuoe tliry were 

 shipped by Mr. Thompson, a fish dealer ot this place. It 

 •wculd rt- quirt) f roni eighty to one hundred ol tliem to Idl 

 a barrel, so the estimate of Captain Riggs thai there are a 

 thousand barrels in oneof the schools, shows how exeeed- 

 iiigly abixndantthey must be. The name '■ 1 ng:iie mack- 

 erel," used in Bernrmda, woidd seem to be tlie Ijest name 

 for use in this counliT, since the fish resembles the 

 mackerel more than they do the bonito or tunny, 



G, BliOWN GOODE. 



X Ca-rp in Tennessee.— iVus/w(7Zc, Ten-n., Aug. 6lh.— 

 Messrs Newman and Gardener returned from a month's 

 fishing in the upper Stone River. They report having 

 had excellent npurt, taking a great many bafs and black 

 perch. On a trot line they captured a monster catfish ; 

 he weighed forty-six pounds. It is specially noticeable 

 that in all the streams in this State greater quantities, 

 more varieties and finer fisli liave been taken this year 

 than for many past. Col. Akers, our fish eormiiissiouer, 

 received liiat ye.ir from Prof, Baird a quantity of German 



carp. Jlr. Fr,ink Green obtained forty of these little 

 strangers, to place in a pond on his farm near the city. 

 He reports them having grown to five or six inches in 

 length, and says that be has noticed au enormous number 

 of small minnows in the pond lately, Can they be the 

 product <if the carp so recently phaced there? At what 

 age do they liegiu to spawn? Mr. Green s.7ysthat there 

 were a few mud-cat in the pond when the c.-irp were put 

 in it. Although they have not interfered with the carp. 

 Could it be that the minnow.s referred to, were of that 

 species. It would be a matter of interest to have an an- 

 swer from the Fobest akd Stream to these questions, 



J. D, H. 

 There have been many reports of tlie spawning of carp 

 which were distributed last year, and it is possible that 

 yours may have done so. It is also possible that the 

 young fish referred to are carp. It does not seem pos- 

 sible that they could be confounded with "mud eels.'' 

 Send specimens to Prof. S. F, Baird, Washington, D. C, 

 and then you will get positive information. 



Growth of Black Bass ix California.— The fol- 

 lowing letter seems to indicate that the black bass grow 

 rapidly in their new home in the West : — 

 X San Francisco, Aug. 4th. 



Mr. Sdh Oreen :— 



Your letter making inquiry concerning the black bass 

 which we received from you in the spring of 18,8, is be- 

 fore me. 



They were placed in a small lake, containing about 100 

 acres, back of Oakland, and last week we went there for 

 the first time with our rods to see if we could catch any 

 of them, as we were uncertain as to what had become of 

 them, and were anxious to learn the result of our expe- 

 riment. To our surprise and delight no sooner had the 

 cast been made. than one was hooked, and whenever we 

 tlirew in anyvvhere around the lake we met with a simi- 

 lar response. About twenty were caught in ashort time, 

 measuring from eight to ten inches in length, no doubt 

 of last year's spawning. Upon examination we saw a 

 great many small ones, from three to four inches in 

 len,gth, m schools of seveial hundred. These schools of 

 small l)lack bass were to be seen all around the lake, and 

 we are satislied that llie water of the hike is adapted to 

 them. Tlie lake will be well stocked in a year or two, and 

 we will then have rare sport ; until then no fishing will 

 be aUowed. W, W. Tratloe. 



Lalif 1. 

 Lanfi-i 



lea mid ^iveti fffishinq. 



FISH IN SJEASON IN AUGUST. 



PKESH WATER. 



' . :■ I r'iV. I Ma.skalonge, E^ 



I PilteorPioljen 



I'lnycush. I Yeilow Perch, j 



-jiiiiou, ^iainio Grayling, Dij/^n 



Black Bass, MieropUna mimoldes; M. paUUlm. 



SAI/r WATER. 



Sea Bass, Centmpri.ftUatmriu}'. \ Blueasli. PrmaOmus mltatrix. 



WcakUoii, Lw 



.uiU:u , a.-, uebulosus. 



—We regret to say that through*an error of our printer 

 the electrotype of Messrs. Abbey & Imbrie was substi- 

 tuted in Messrs. Conroy, Bissett and Malleson's adver- 

 tisement, last week, for their own, thereby giving a 

 wrong impression of the reel advertised. If those in- 

 terested will refer to the advertisement this week they 

 will find a correct representation of this famous black 

 bass reel, which is an improvement on the Frankfort 

 reel, and manufactured only by Messrs. Conroy, Bissett 

 & Malleson, and not by Messrs, Abbey and Imbrie, as 

 might be inferred by last week's advertisement. 



K 



Salmo WilmotiAgain.— r/iT/?!f7Fa?/,s. A'. B., Aug. 10th 

 — Editor Forest and. Stream : — I must certainly take ex- 

 ception to .some remarks over the signature of " Wni. 

 Couper." which appeareil in For.EST and .Strk.\,-m of .ith 

 iiLst,, and aUu to tli<> editeaial comments at foot. The 

 Ontario salmon, exhil.ited last fall at Ottawu, are with- 

 out doubt a disiiiiei variety, and not the true Salmo salai; 

 the ova and fiy being of a ligliter and nn.iH delicate 

 color than those of the muir. as every one who has been 

 engaged in the artificial reproducthm of fish of the.se 

 classes is aware. The distinctive title conlerred on the 

 Ontario salmon, and which is with such singular bad 

 taste objected to by your con-espondent, originated ^\ith 

 the Acchmati7.ati> n Society of France, at the tune of 

 their presentation to Mr. Wilmot of a gold medal in rec- 

 ognition of Ins seviees in the interests of fish breeding. 

 It has never yet been .letemiined if the.se fish migrate to 

 the sea, many relleelin^ liersons being of opinion that 

 they frequent salt spiings wiiliin Lake Ontario. This 

 point, however, it is lioped will be shortly cleared up, as 

 it is expected that facilities for close observation of the 

 habits of these fish will be afforded by the government. 



B. 



Our remarks, which were appended to the letter of 

 our coriesjiondent, Mr. Couper, to which our other cor- 

 resi>ondent, B., objects, were simply these : " There is no 

 fish known to naturalists by this name, neither has there 

 been any description of a new salmon from that region 

 published lately. The salmon found on Lake Ontario 

 and its tributaries are Satmo salai:" These we repeat, 

 with the addition that our correspondent evidently thinks 

 the color of eggs and fiy suflBoient to found a species 

 upon ! No names are accepted by zoologists without a 

 description, and no such description has been made by 

 any one competent to do it ; or, if so, it has not been 

 published in America, The land-locked salmon of Maine, 

 the so-called S. gloverii, or S. sebago, is now declared by 



our best authorities to he S. salar, as no structtiral dif- 

 ferences can be obserN-ed. It is now in order for our cor- 

 respondent to give us the name of the ichthyologist of 

 the Societc d' Acclimatation wlio christened this salmon, 

 together with his reasons for creating a new species 

 differing from the salar. 



It then rests with the zoologists of America to accept 

 or decline it, according as tlie reasons may seem valid or 

 otherwise. At present it is safe to say that S. milniotx is 

 unknown to them, and, until we receive the name from 

 one of the pwominent ichthyologists of America, we 

 must decline to allow it to be a valid cognomen. We 

 now hope that our correspondent, B., will see that we 

 are upon solid ground, and that we mn ready to accept 

 the dictates of science, when we know that it is science 

 which dictates. 



J • 



''' The Ichthyophaoists.— The New York Times remary.s 

 upon the recent dinner of this society that it may bo 

 useful in introducing to our tables some valuable fishes 

 which foolish prejudice has liitherto neglected. The 

 skates, for mstaDce. which live principally "upon crusta- 

 ceans and molhisks, the very food whicli gives to the 

 sheepshe.id and pnmpnno their delicate flavor, and m.akc 

 the whitelisb of the j^reat lakes so delicious. Most Euro- 

 pean nations have limg ago recognized the excellence of 

 the fkate. 



This writer, however, is mistaken in supposing that the 

 razoi--shell clam was first eaten in the United States at 

 that dmner. This species of clam has long been used by 

 the people of the east eoa^t of Florida, who value it 

 higldy, anditis there lalceu with a long hook of wire, 

 just as the writer in the '}iiiu'.< desoibes the capture on 

 the co.ast of France. 1 have nften eaten (his clam at the 

 Halifax River Inlet. Slewed ^^iIil tomatoes it makes a 

 most rich and savory dish. Tlie razor-shell is called 

 "Langoroni" by the Jliriovrans of St. Augu.stine. It has 

 the tenderness and delicacy of the ovster. with a flavor 

 all its own. It comes in season in May, when the .oyster 

 is going out. There arc other shellfish eaten on'tliat 

 coast, particularly a very small clam, afiont an inchlong, 

 with a parti-coiored shell, found abundantly on the 

 beaches. A quart of these are stewed, shells and all, 

 then the shells being strainetl off, there remains a rich 

 and savory soup. 



The present writer has tasted many species of "fish, 

 from shark to sculpin, and the only one that he has 

 found to be wholly uneatable is the dogfish of the West- 

 ern and Southern"w.atei-8(ATOia calva), sometimes called 

 "lawyer." Nothing but starvation could induce a man 

 to eatheartily of this soft, cottony, vile-fiavored fish. 

 Even tlie hog's reject it. It is only fit for the manure 

 heap, except that from its belly can be cut a silvery strip 

 which is very tough and suitable for pickerel bait. 



When the 'writer in the Times classes the maskalona-e 

 with the cattish and sucker, be induces the belief that ho 

 hiis never tasted Esox nohi/for— certainlv, next to the 

 whitefish, the most excellent of the fi-s'ies of the North- 

 west, It is, however, rare, and the Great Northern pick- 

 erel is often sold for it. Of the three best fishes in tlrj 

 United States, two are peculiar to America — the white- 

 fisli of the great lakes (Corcguniis albiis), the pompano'of 

 the Florida coasts and the gulf ir>achynotus carolinvs), 

 and the sea-salmon of the Northeastern coast (Salmo 

 salar). Of these the salmon Ls the richest and thewhitc- 

 fish the most delicate : for the same reason it bears trans- 

 portation the best. The pompano combines the excel- 

 lence of the two former, and may perhaps be considered 

 the best fish on this continent. 



But to enjoy any of these in full perfectiop. they must 

 be eaten on the shores of their native waters — even tlje 

 salmon, which best bears transportation, gives one, When 

 cooked and eaten in camp, just from the streanj, a new- 

 idea of what a salmon may and should be. S. C, C. 



Black Bass in Iowa.— Kaiic/iesfer, Inwa, Aug. Hh. 

 —The bass season opened June lat, and a great portion 

 of the time since the wafers have been muddy, and the 

 fishing has not been euod or repul.ar ; but on some oc- 

 c.a.sions the catches Imve lieeii large. Four gentlemen 

 with two boats on tlie Learesl millH.lara, at the Iieadwaters 

 of the Maquoketa River, in this c i it sixty 



black bass in three hours in the ;i i a few 



hours in the morning. This string ; .c three 



iKiunds— one weighed .six. and n,an> .« Lue,,. iuice, four 

 und live. These lia.^s will not he taken with a fly, and 1 

 would like to see some of the fancy bass fishers catch one 

 with an eight ounce rod. They could not catch a two- 

 liouuderwth such a rod. The instant they take the 

 minnow they dart for the roots of an old stump, the only 

 place the large ones are found, and in an instant they 

 have wrapped your line three times around a root ten 

 feet under water. The most expert fishers do not 

 let the cork go down more than a few inches until a 

 quirk jerk with a still' pole stops him. 



Thesixoreightmill-ponds of the Maquoketa in Delaine 

 Ci.unty iii-e absolutely full of yearling and two-year-old 

 h.iss. The enforcement of the closed season has cau.sed 

 this great success in breeding them. Shaw's fishway 

 will soon be placed in the dams, and this will greatly aid 

 us. We have two varieties of black bass— one the pure 

 black bass. Yon will know him from his babyhood to 

 old age. He is liliielr. line scaled and almost always has 

 ahoiit i;ne-li'iith of llie end of his t.iil light color and 

 transparent. We can see the fry hy the millions now, 

 Ihree inches long, and they will jum'p for a minnow. The 

 other varietv is greenish in color, with beautiful black 

 or brown spots almost like a trout, only the spots are 



larger. Two persons lishina *■ '' =ame boat will 



catch them alternately, one -Teen. There 



is no certainty of how they i Hants of our 



waters. As vet there has be ,;; it as large as 



the tilaek ba.-'s. Some say they uere placed in the Wap- 

 sey Knn irom Olsego Lake, and came from the Missis- 

 sippi Kiver here. 



■We have some of the finest trout streams in the world, 

 to which I have before called attention. We have mil- 

 lions of young fry. 



Never were there so many quail in Iowa— the roads and 

 fields are full of them. The prairie-chicken season opens 

 on the 16lh, They have not been so fine and plenty for 

 years ; but it is impossible to prevent some persons from 



