Sept. 21 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



149 



man who curries the gun, as well as he of the rod. will find 

 plenty of game. 



On our return to Eiistis we found our lost comrade, who, 

 fiaviag reached that place too late to join us, concluded to 



,ey alOJK 



II 



had 

 , run! 

 I the 



remain rather than mala ih 



been having good success in the Wat 



wished us to stop over and help him capture som 



big trout he had aeon, bul business prevented, and 



obliged to leave him to accomplish his object alont 



not an expert with the flv, and the fish had literally 



him out." The -village afforded nothing hatter to replenis] 



Ins Mock than a large cod hook, and, fastening this t 



heavy silk line, he sallied forth to t lie foot of the da 



capture his prize. Nor was lie disappointed, for In 



lie 



clean 



usty five-pounder. 

 gprcss, I can vouch 

 one equally large, 

 meat forgotten bs 



■ime ,U EuBtlB, full 



t beginner, and, in 

 t region well 80ti8- 

 ss of its duration, 



i that, whether he 

 it with good sport 

 11 the wilderness 1 

 id fishing with less 

 his headquarters at 



S. Shaw. 



landed in "derricks"! erous fashion, 

 Ae lie came to me the following day b v 

 for his weigh! Tin- next oa?t he hooke 

 but. having in tiie excitement of the in 

 net. did not land inn,. He spent soma 

 of enthusiasm at hi.-, excellent success as 

 fact, we all returned from the Dead Rh 

 tied with our trip in all but Hie short ti 

 but mean to make up for l hat next time 

 By this account your readers can si 

 bears rod or gun, it lie enjoys roughing 

 thrown in, he will find all he 1, - 

 tar. i !. - -I'll i.I. while he who likes gC 

 tramping will be well Stilted to make 

 Eusl.is. 

 Boston. Kent. 1-1 lBSS. 



FISHING AT INDIAN RIVER, TvlICH. 



IN this far-off Northern clime, where I he tourist, pleasure 

 seeker, hunter and fisher join in pleasant converse to 

 drive away the tedium of the hour, and seek that beneficent 

 recreation' that follows a change of occupation, there is 

 much enjoyment to be had and solace to be sought in the 

 ii'b.ei-i occupations that invitingly woo us to their sweet 

 embraces, In company with D jolly party of live, two weeks 



ago yesterday, we. embarked on my sloop vncht t'eeile bound 

 for the Deseheneux, and the southern shores of the northern 

 peninsula of Michigan in pursuit of the gain; bass th) BUi 

 cttleut woodcock, and perchance a deer "or two, if fortune 

 favored. We stretched across the straits, ke.-ping Poiut 

 Bruin on pur port bow and entered the harbor ot the Des- 

 cheueux, and a mure beautiful sight never before met our 

 greedy vi-a.ai a .-. . pa,, (j the lovely i-lelslhai. like innumer- 

 able emend '--. are sel in b pale him fringe of crystal water. 

 Win come to anchot atthi loghutof the "Poor Lo;" eat 



a In-ai'iy dinner and prepan OUT fishing tfl kle fa? an allcr- 

 noon's sport in these justly famed channels. Summoning 

 our Indian snide (Aut'oine we shall call him for short), and 

 placing within his ready palm a silver dollar, we are soon 

 put in possession of the secrets to success, which, he savs, 

 "Indian don't tell white man, 'cause they're vcrv greedy 

 and catch all the fish, while Indian, he catch only Vital he 

 eats.'' Apropos of thi". 1 could scarce repress a smile at 

 this lion -thrust at the acquisitiveness of the uuivcrsal 

 Yankee nation in all the sports of forest and stream, and 

 wondei if the time will ever come when American sports- 

 men, following the custom of the ru'dc, savage, will be con- 

 tent I o shoot and catch only what he eats, aud leave the 

 "big bags" and "long string.--" to the "pot-hunter" aud 

 market-fisher. Accompanying us in his canoe, our native- 

 guide brought us to anchor where we enjoyed (he Very nf 

 jjtes ullm of excellent t) shing, and in less 'than two hours 

 (unmiudiul of ihe Indian adage) we had captured thirteen 

 ba-, beauties; at Mging not less than live and a half 

 pounds each. Sue:, sport as this 1 have never before had. 

 though I have fished iu mpsl of the inland lakes of Northern 

 Michigan. Wisconsin; ami Minnesota. Such garuv beauties 

 withal, that it took from ten to twenty minutes to* laud each 

 fish, and tested the highest skill of the piscatorial art to land 

 without injury to line or rod. This was the very perfection 



<e :- a, an ! if -e; ol iny brother sportsmen envy the good 



fortune that awaited the dipping of our lines in theSe Su& 

 pessfu) waters, they have only to go and do likewise, and I 

 assure them they will receive ample remuneration for their 

 time and trouble, in a visit to these justly famed fisheries of 

 the deseheneux We coasted back and' fished for two days 

 in "the passages," lived on fish, the most superb man ever 

 ate. Respectfully, Senex. 



Indian Hivee, Michigan. 



THE PLUNKETTS GO A FISHING. 



ME, F. M. Gilbert, the "funny man" of the Evansville, 

 (Ind.) Aryan thus records the tale, of the great fishing 

 excursion of the Plunkett family : 



Of course the fishing lever always strikes some people 

 jit.-t at this season of the year, and this week it struck the 

 Plunkett family. Their next door neighbors went out the 

 other day and caught a few sickly little suuiish, and Pluu- 

 kett ami his wife saw them as they were coming home and 

 of course the fever at once struck them hard and they decided 

 to go nest day. That night Plunkett and his wife got their' 

 1 ■ ready and laid pjans for the morrow. The "old man 

 told wonderful tales of the huge fish he had caught when he 

 was a boy, and the old lady said she "allowed she had 

 yanked out a right smart chance of 'em" herself, in "the old 

 crick up in Pike county.'' The worthy pair worked till late, 

 he on his tackle, and she on the cold lunch she was goingto 

 take. She said that nothing was better than to tak- a skillet 

 along, catch v.- to- fish arid Fry-thcm while thej were right 

 fresh and then nave a nn-,- cold lunch to oa( with them. 



'! he rigging that Plunkett got up for his own especial use 

 would have taken a prize to catch whales with, tie had a 

 line strong enough to hold a hull, a -inker that would lake 

 it to the bottom of the, bottomless pit, and a hook that would 

 hold up a dressed hog. His pole was a big hickcry hoop- 

 pole, and when his good wife sug-isted thai Ihe rig seemed 

 to be a little heavy, he laughed at her and said, "People kiu 

 take all therreels'an.l fancy tixius !he\ nanier. but gimme 

 sumthin' Ikin rely on. I don't play 'round with no fish; 

 when 1 git one Qh. that I list yank him out, aud ther hain t 

 no busted lines tier fishes gitten away Whan 1 jist brace back 

 and pull out that thai pole." The old man got very enthu- 

 siastic over the matter, and got. in the center of the i i 



and m ale a series of .strange motions which In- told her was 

 the wav lo "laud via- fish." but when he had jerked the 

 clock off the mantel-niece and nearly snalehed the old lady 

 bald-headed by catching tliebighook'in her chignon, his. ardor 

 subsided and he decided to go to bed in order u, get up early. 



Before daylight yesterday they were up and off. The old 

 man took the lead wilh a basket on his arm, Ihe big pole on 

 his shoulder and all lus pockets filled With old ■ 



ailed with -ur,,. \. 1 1 ,■;-,. a- the old lad'i ' ' :; ' i«ot,h 



basket, the skillet and two or three smaller poles which, 

 when they were not punching the old man in the back or 

 knocking otf the big hats of the children in the rear, were 

 continually falling off her shoulder. There is an end to 

 everything, and so there was to the march lo the lishing 

 grounds, hut the sun was high and hot, and the children 

 were all tired and cross by the lime they reached the old 

 fall m tree top that laid iu the water that 'was supposed to 

 he alive with fish. Alter much trouble they all got their 

 lines baited and iu the ■water, and then followed a breathless 

 silence Not one of the children dared speak above a 

 whisper, and PlUfl&etl (hatched the youngest and took it 

 up the bank and spanked it soundly for making a noise aud 

 "skeerin' the fish away" before he 'remembered that It had 

 the Whooping COUgh and couldn't help it. Two hours 

 passed away and "nary a bite." and the Plunketls were 

 getting very hot and tired and hungry, when an incident 



occurred. 



In order to get at the bottom of things it is- necessary to 

 take the gentle reader lo the bottom of the hole the fluiikells 

 were fishing iu. True, a few wandering fish would drop in 

 there once in a while, but it was the abode proper of an old 

 time mud-turtle, or as some call them a Snapping turtle. He 

 was a grim old hero of a hundred fights wilh li.-h hooks. He 



was too large to be pulled out by ' ; reus:- Bmall boy, 



and of late in- was gettingtoo smart to even lake chances on 



younger davs, but for some years he had known exactly 

 how to take hold of a worm and pull it off a hook, without 

 ever letting the point get where it could do any damage. 

 This spring he was fatter than usual. The boys bad fished 

 that hole thoroughly, for eveiy time u boy went home and 

 told of the "big bites" he gol" in that bole, a dozen would 

 come nexl daj to try their luck. It may be that the big 

 feed the old fellow had the day before had made him sleep 

 late, but anyhow he had just waked up, and rubbed his 

 eyes and rinsed out his mouth at the time we writeof. When 

 he saw au array ol hooks all about his house he smiled lo 

 himself ,-md remarked that, as it was a nice warm day, he 

 believed he'd just take his breakfast and pick his teeth' ami 

 then go out calling. 



So he devoted himself to the hooks. First he would take 

 a nice fat worm off the old lady's hook, and then he would 

 patronize one- of ihe little boys; but after he happened to 

 come across the big hook of the old man, which from its 

 size had to be covered wilh the very largest and most corpu- 

 lent worms, he applied himself to that with great assiduity— 

 and this: was about the time that the old man. commenced 

 getting excited, and pulling at the big i;sh that he supposed 

 kept taking Ids bait, and swearing, ami spitting on his hands, 

 and putting on fresh bait, and telling the children to stand 

 back aud give him a chance. Whether the old turtleg.it 

 careless or whether the- worms he gol off old Phmkeit's hook 

 were so fat and tempting that he was eagei to get them, we 

 know not; but anyhow he made a miscalculation and 

 stepped clear over il.'and the next moment lie felt the hook 

 sink deep into one of his horny legs, and a second after he 

 was flying sprawling through "(he air, wilh his lugs vainly 

 wiggling lor a foothold, and his awful jaws ready lo snap 

 at the first thing Ihey touched. 



And that "first thing" happened to lie the old lade's foot. 

 Wheu the horrible mud turtle came through the air 'she was 

 frightened, but when it flow Off Pbuikel IV hookand grabbed 

 her by the toe she yelled, "Ouch! Murder-r-/--r, and flopped 

 backwards over the log into the water, at the very time, that 

 Plunkett, the sudden weight removed from his hook, lost 

 balance, aud went oyer the other side, closelv followed by 

 the little boy who had been wrongfully spanked for having 

 the whooping cough, and who had been allowed, in consid- 

 eration, to fish from his mother's lap. Of course no ouc was 

 drowned, but owing to the mud and dirty water that covered 



Hie party, they didnl il ire home till dark, and as the 



woe-beg'one procession filed into the Second Ward that night 

 amspolos, sewu bait, mu 9sh, softs everything but the 

 Children and the old woman's frying-pan. the soft summer 

 air was laden wilh a kind of a'sewcr smell, the musical 

 •'sqush," "sqush" of the muddy water in the shoes of the 

 whole party aud fourteen different assorte.:. brands of pro- 

 fanity from old Plunkett. 



tgfislj culture. 



Jottings Fiiojt Gek-MAStown. — A new Philadelphia 

 fishing club has been organized at Atlantic City, styled the 

 V i s1 Sale (bib. For the low price of $-1,000' they bought 

 the building owned and used for a number of year.- by 

 Jonas Higbee as a boarding-house, located about two hun- 

 dred yards from the bridge where Camden & Atlantic Hail- 

 road crosses the- thoroughfare. The purchase included Ihe 

 furniture of the building, which contains nineteen rooms, 

 with an acre and a half of ground attached. The club has 

 a, membership of forty, with a well-known and muoh-rc- 



spcelcd Philadelpliiaii as president "S." desires to know 



where good autumn bass-fishing and mountain air can be eu- 

 joyed together. One of the best places that we are aware 

 of is in the village of Bushkill, near the Delaware, about 

 twelve, miles above Stroudsburg, wehere a stage awaits the 

 arrival of trains and conveys passengers directly to the 

 place. If good success should not be met with at Bushkill, 

 there are comfortable farmhouses a mile or two away, in 

 more isolated places along the river, where good rooms and 

 meals can be obtained, and belter fishing than in more fre- 

 quented places A sudden jar on the surface of Ihe water 



will stun and not unfrequeutiy kill fish. We have seen pike 

 so stunned by the concussiou of a pistol-ball, which struck 

 near them, that the v were captured with the hands. The 

 driving of piles for "the erection of piers and bridges has a. 

 similar effect. This was noticed the other day in Maryland, 

 where Ihe jar of the heavy hammer caused eatlish and 



young Shad to float on the surf ace An experiment, was 



tried in France tO see if fish could exist in a great depth of 

 water. Different species were placed in vessels of water 

 made mi sustain a pressure of "four hundred atmospheres," 

 under which they preserved their health. This pressure 

 corresponds to that at a depth of IS. 000 feel in the ocean, or 

 about two and a half miles, and it is therefore concluded 



that fish can penetrate lo a great depth without injury 



It is said that experiments show that if whisky is poured 

 into the throats of fish immediately after being caught, they 

 can be resuscitated by replacing 'them iu water, even after 

 Ihey have been conveyed a long distance. A certain class 

 of anglers, unfortunately, too often make somewhat similar 

 experiments on themselves, aud have none of lite fiery liquid 

 left, to experiment on their victims. — Germantvwl TeUi/ntph. 



This SciEMTiti'it; ANctr.KK. — This work, which we noticed 

 a short time ago, Bail be obtained at Breniano's, New York; 

 price #3 rai This is i" ftuswftl to Mtvoral Inquirers, 



THE AMERICAN F1SHCULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 



pnocF.ionixcs ELEVENTH annual meeting. 



MATERIA LH FOR A HISTORY OF THE SWORDFISH. 



BY a. UROWN GClODE. 



fCDNTCtrED.] 



THE CAPTURE OF SJWORDErSH BY HOOK AND LINE. 



ONE or two instances are on record of the capture of 

 swordflsh upon an ordmury hand-line, and it is probable 

 that this is much more com uioii than has betm usmtllv sup- 

 posed. Cant. George H. Martin, of Gloucester, informed me 

 that lie had seen seven caught in this manner in one day in 

 the. South Channel. They were caught in water fifteen to 

 twenty five fathoms deep, on the old-fashioned I icorge's cod- 

 hook, with a six-inch shank. Mackerel were used tor bait; 

 these were split down the fail so that the shank of the hook 

 could be entirely hidden in the gash. 



f have been told that they are also taken in this wav about 

 Block Island, and a simihtr method of fishing is d-sei-ibed by 

 italian writers. 



Wit-lru the past three years it has not been unusual 

 for swordlish to become entangled in the long lines of tha 

 halibut, fishermen on the northern banks. The manner in 

 which this occurs has already been discussed above. 



I have collected several instances. In 1877, in the month of 

 August. Capt. Darnel O'Brien, of the schooner Ossipee, of 

 Gloucester, fishing in 200 tathoms of water, between Le Have 

 and Wes era Bank, caught, in one vovage. live swordflsh. 



At about the, same time, Capt. ft. h. Morrison, of the 

 schooner Laura Nelson, fishing in :1V, fathoms, on Sable Island 

 Bank, e.-oiidit v-ree sw,.idtish. Another vessel iu August, 



" ' ' onis, caught 

 >er. August 

 Marion, fish- 

 i fathoms of 

 ifish; again, on October 1, fishing 

 . in 178 fathoms, caught one sword- 

 several others swimming at the sur- 

 nother oh Banipiereaii. in the loeal- 

 igust,1878. CaptainGreenleaf, of the 

 r. o'-e. el Gloucester, lishing in 1411 

 iii one trip. I cannot learn that this 

 ever known before 1878, but it has 

 that it excites no remark for a hali- 

 reral swordflsh among its halibut. 

 B swordflsh is of course purely acci- 

 sation than otherwise to the fisher- 

 i he lisW take the hait wdiun the line 

 re swimming near the surface, and 

 -ried down bij its great weight. 



LnsHing are sloops and small 



twelve, as well as three or four 

 17, l-Slsi. Capt. Joseph TV. C«llii 



but.-ca tcher a-uiaa-a s 

 Thts manner of taking t 

 dental, and is rather a v 

 meiL It is probable th; 

 is being set. and thev 

 they a re in voluntarily c 

 The vessels engaged . 



sch.ii 



SOfa 



■ally less tl: 

 small, consisting of two or s< 

 cook and a boy. Although r 

 fishery for several successh 



fifty tons. The crew is also 

 ictinaes three men besides the 

 ny vessels are. employed in this 

 years, there are many others 

 which fit out for a single season or for a part of a" season. 

 Others, on the south coast of New England, divide their time 

 between fishing for seaba-s aud hunting for swordflsh, all 

 warm and ouiet day- being devoted to the latter pursuit. Six 



vessels fitted for the capture ot mackerel and cod devote a part 

 of the, season to Bwordfishing. Other vessels, among them 

 occasionally a gentleman's yacht, enter the field for a cruise or 

 two in the course of a summer. To do this is a favorite recrea- 

 tion for old swordflshermeu engaged mother work. Numerous 

 mackerel schooners carry the swordflsh ''pulpit" on tiiieir bows, 

 and so do various coasters aud packets. 



ft has therefore not been thought desirable 

 make a list of the vessel- engaged in the sword 

 an exact enumeration of them. In 1ST!) estim 

 men engaged iu the business fixed the number 1 

 fersnt ports as follows: 



New York (hailing from New London) . . 



Green port (sloops) 



New London - 



smpt t . 



Ke 



■•port . 



Fall Rfc 



Cuttvhunk..- i- 3 



Westport I. 2 



New Bedford 18 



Dartmouth. 2 



South side, of Cape Cod 5 



Total 40 



In 1874, according to Mr. Thompson, New Bedford had 

 twelve vessels in this fishery. In 1st; the estimates of total 

 number of vessels made by different men varied between 

 thirty and forty. 



To show how uncertain the continuance of vessels in this 

 fishery may be I will refer to the annals of Gloucester. In 

 1ST 6, one schooner, the Meteor, was engaged; iu 1STT, the. 

 schooner Champion; in 1STS, the schooner Northern Eagle; 

 w-hile in 1ST9 and 18s0 the field is abandoned by this port. 

 FINANCIAL PROFITS TO FISHERMEN. 



I have, before me the record of a single schooner- for the 

 season of 1STS, from which it appears that- in the season of 

 four months eight trips were made, averaging about twelve 

 days in continuance. One hundred and sixty-three fish were 

 taken between June S and September 3U,; weighing, in the ag- 

 gregate, in round numbers, about 47^000 pounds, dressed. 

 These were sold at an average price of three cents per pound. 

 The gross stock of the season would amount to about §1,3,00. 

 From this must be deducted the- expanse of living, the interest 

 on capital invested., and the wages of the cook and the boy. 

 The remainder w£>uld probably not exceed eight or nine hun- 

 dred dollars, and the profits have to lie divided among the two 

 or three men composing the crew and the owner of the vessel. 

 It is not probable that many vessels stock as large a propor- 

 tionate amount as did the Northern Eagle, 'the success of 

 one fiew Bedford vessel in the season of 1STS was spoken of as 

 — $811 to each of the Brew's 



share. 

 The 



oient.lv u 

 records, 

 of June 1 

 the islan 

 these us 

 two hun 

 Vinevar- 

 Capta 

 of Main. 



id the I 



constant!) 



undertaking 



SWOHDIelSirERY. 





found con 



iecf 



ire as to 



to bo regai 



de.l 



as suffl- 



■mien. One 



.f th 



? earliest 

 Ptitrtnl. 

 mien of 

 tmber of 

 it about 

 Martha's 



i Atwood remembers seef 

 as early as 1826, although 

 a active participation 



g swordfish on the coast 

 up to the time of his re- 

 in the n'aheiies, in 1867, no 

 effort was made by the fishermen north of Cape Cod to cap- 



n-e 1 hem. 



i \ apparently -..|jrang into eminence und import- 



I ,..(.■-. Mai n.ioyea.ir'tali i la', i ia a • • - 



