168 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



I Sept, 23. 1S32, 



"five and a quarter ounces or ieas; tods to be made with lev 

 ules and reed bands, and of either two or throe joints, and 

 rauduofanj material, provided that it is 11 complete rod; two 



Hies only lo he. used on leaders six or nine fool," 



We loarn that the Commissioners of Public Parks have 

 granted the u$e of (lie lake al llOlh stittol, VTc will exam- 

 im Hi.- water named and report upon its character and 



fttllESS at the next meeting of the committee. No ad 

 mission fee will lie charged to visitors, as there is no inten- 

 tion to moke money out of He uontest, and the entrance fee 



for contestants "Will he placed as low as possible. In our 



ne\i issue we espeol to name the place where the tourna- 

 ment will he held, and lo gtvo the rules 'Which will govern 

 the different classes, 



DRUM. CROAKER AND SHARK. 



1DO not fail to er, jr., festive lisli stories, nor do I miss 

 the gambols of St. Clair's poetic pen, or the witchery of 



■ i ii l.i ffO around the world ill a 



SUiall Canoe ftlbc.il my pen has been silent for some months. 



But on Saturday I spent a day in deep-sea li-.hing, which 

 would imvc gladdened dear old lztmk Walton's heart. The 

 day was complete, It was a very "bridal of the earth aud 

 sk\ ," aud followed naturally the east wind of a "halcyon 

 ami vociferous' congressional convention, 



Bpicer Learning, Esq.. one of Philadelphia's most genial 

 and entlemanly lawyers, who can build his own boat as 



■: ho can Construct a brief in the Common Picas. 



invited us to toy the croaker and the drum. Tin r< 1 1 "■ 



lion of a fifiv-tr.r. pound red drum caught off Cape May 

 (my hour's struggle with thai gamy fish— is not the chronicle 

 of it all written in last ybar's Ptm'ftBT *wu Stream?) still 

 lingers pleasantly in my mind, Ami when Bpicer said, 

 ' U Irum i - i - ■ 1 replied, "1 came to Hie side 

 of the sounding sea on purpose." Bpicer added to the party 

 Morris Grease, whohad given twenty of the best years of 

 bis life to tie life-saving service on He Jersey coast, and, 



when not going to sea in :-.bip-,, Morris had played a stout 

 and suecessl'nl rod and liuc on the hlaek and reef drum, the 

 'ie! ea-bass, the mackerel, as well as on the sweet tem- 

 pered and unolTeuding shark. With Morris Crease came 

 Sydney Towuseud. as~av.Tee.-iM, mid devoted an angler as 

 ■ .-i I in i he iurf. 

 The mackerel business which necessitates rfeingat 4 A. M' 

 and sailing all day and not catching a scale for a week at a 

 time, had raft i 'M. I me, and 1 agreed With Cap, 



Fig Poster (who conveyed the Flotsam-Bacon) that then 



may b. i.ivards (01 ,1m ' ,-ailv bird." hul it is nowhere writ- 

 ten that any unusual luek shall fall nn theeatly rising lislicr 

 man. 



- ' i OUT and lie. more plOH iiv >i. -v, i i!, 



ihoioiighfaic low aid Shell's Point in I he linle oil m. ,1 



Mistake, made aud cmpl. led trom keel lo truck by Syd 

 ncy and Spicer, railed I tie .Mistake be.-nu-:. ale- WR tin 

 Uvo and her si. m madi rwei •.,. in 13 y half-past eig hi «. 

 were passim;, ni. tie- bar, always a dangCTOUh place, 'wiieie 

 lie eliiunel is only twelve leel \vi.h-, marked byabUOJ C0U- 



siria i.-.i ,., , cedar tog n ith a ac) sg lard 



fluttering in the blee/e Now ler Shelley i - -, 



Byron dal and a I the u hio WIPES of Hie Alistake caught the 



sem l.i'eeee. 1 cried olll 'aid, |..\'.'.];>u to Xenoplioll s 

 soldier-, who, running away from lie- I'eisiaii-', hankered 



for the sea and finding it, e I- ,. Be -leu, _■ , 



thOU ieriii'" ' 



Aswe h. el ,-,i ahead lo tnet roakei {round, two miles away, 



I bethought myself to g.i/e OB tie- Voluminous hiucli basket 

 aud I will "sum up" bysaying there wen- of nk it'll n I ■■ '■'..- '', 

 thirteen kinds d bquon mtl solids— mostly -olids— for 

 Bpicer would permit, the use only of the juice of the purple 

 grapewhich had seen the Runny-sky of Italy, and the bottle,-, 

 were marked '-for medicinal pi rposes,'' and surely a liquid 

 like that could not displease the most fastidious temperance 

 advocate, not even my dear friend R. Dewalt, Esq*, of tem- 

 perance fame. The great painter who vainly sought to por- 

 tray the anguish of that historical father who condemned 

 Ilia son lo "death- drew his artist brush over the •■stern 

 parienf's face." So I draw my pen over the sad havoc of 

 that lunch! To my dying day 1 will never tell you whether 

 it, was the pear, the apricot, the plum, the watermelon, the 

 cantelope, the peach, the quince preserve, the sardine, the 

 Spanish bun, the toothsome sandwich or hard-boiled egg 

 which let slip the dog of war on my digestion, and kept me 

 in bed half of Sunday, able to feed' only on pepsin, quinine 

 and boiled milk! And, dear Spicer, "an' thou lovest me," 

 unless thou meane-sr, best and most genial disciple of sweet 



Izaak. to be guilty of the "deepdt i . isti :' my taking off," 



Ol Spicer, lunch me no more. 



But to return to our objective 'sardine," to wit. the 

 croaker and the drum. A council of w-ar was held at 

 SeveH's Point, and Cresst t arried the day by declaring that 

 we would try the croaker first , and l be i ed drum. 



Now the croaker is a queer tish. not game lo bile or lo 

 haul in, but still, as we think in \\ tsl Jersey, a good table 

 fish, also a l't,,h of unknown origin, unless, is the savant of 

 our pain d.-eided. a weaklish loved a Cape May goodev 

 not wisely but too well, and the result was a, croaker." 

 Certainly appearance;- Indicate as much, for Ihe croaker 

 "croaks like a weaklish. bites like him, less his game pro- 

 pensity aud his spots. Which seem lo be born of his simili- 

 tude to Ihe mountain (rout; and Ibe croaker hears also 

 many resemblances to tU< toothsome Cape May "goodo_\ " 

 or "Lafayette, ' as you call them in New York. 



At it A. M. the anchor of the Mistake caught on. and the 

 croaker race began between Spicer Learning and J. M. S.. 

 as to who should catch the most croakers inside of an hour; 

 two bottles of RoLilerer. .1, M. 8, scored his first 

 ore 'l-erat hilii A M.. and then ihe fun grew fast and furi- 

 ous. Spicer caught Ids first hah 0:12 sharp time. Grease 

 varied the monotony of increasing croakers Ivy hauling up a 

 weaklish which had been swallowed by a twenty-five pound 

 nian-eaiiue shark: but at sight ol" ( tresse the "shirk" dropped 

 fish and hook, and in less lime than I cau write it, had fas- 

 tened himself io my bottom hook. 1 played him with rea- 

 sonable skill for ten minutes, till t fell, "ihe nakedness and 

 tin-, vacancy*' of the briny dapp and the shark bad levanted 

 with both hooks and Ihe low., end ot my line. Sydney 

 kept piling up crpaken in the bottom of the boat, and 

 Crcsse called "time." Spicer had flagged fifty and J. M. S. 

 fifty- II v winning Ihe "champagne, which is 

 to be e - - ,,, e fi/iiu-o the noxl time we sail the 

 ocean blue. ,T M. S. was correspondingly happy, for 

 ighhook" fisherman. We counted one' hun- 

 dred and tilt. ' ' ',,,■, ,,,!(] two sharks, and pulled up 



iiie in,'" i" , picof i ■'ii.- the anchor, 



Wrivni soon oh the drum ground, a mile off Bewell'a 



Point, and hooked two or three drum, bid wore not sum-ss- 



i .1 i" :,',ri'"' i 



The mullet, the n-t\ drum's favorite fish, has not vet 



reached the Cape May waters, and the menhaden Steam 



fishermen oatigkl eightyied drum in one day, and by de- 

 populating the waters of the food fish, seem gradually driv- 

 ing away the mackerel ami the other big game tish. "Let us 

 hope Warner Miller, United states Senator, win compel 

 these sic: urn slaughter houses to keep off the coast during 

 the months of July and August, and give the angler a 

 chance. 



Spicer had a lance ten feet in length with which we 

 speared the reluctant sharks when wc hooked them, and 

 after a lively tight we bagged one man-eater weighing fifty 

 pounds. Bui all things have an end, and at four o'clock, 

 after drinking "the wine divine," the sea air, for cie-bt hours, 

 strengthened, exhilarated, rested in body and in mind, we, 

 all unwillingly, turne . the prow of the Mistake homeward. 



Sydney, Crcsse and ,T. M. S., meditating a "slaughter of 

 the innocents," the drum, ibis week, say regrefluSy "hail 

 and farewell" to Spicer Learning, our captain, who unites 

 in his own person the graces and courtesies of lawyer, 

 fisherman, artist and gentleman. Mav he be triumphant 

 ever, whether his contests are with Venus (the Goddess of 

 Love born of the sea foam) or on the tented field of Coke 

 upon Lyltlelon, Spier, we hold thee in grateful remem- 

 brance, and we owe thee one perfect ,l:,v "" 'he beautiful sea. 



SAMt Mat, »,J tl Sect in. J. M. S. 



THE MENHADEN QUESTION. 



THE influence of the capture of immense quan':te>. of 

 menhaden for oil, on our food fishes, is now attracting 

 the attention of Congress. We have referred to lliis matter 

 . .a ,-everal occasions and in our issue of September It we 

 gave a synopsis of what the committee appointed by Congress 

 is doing. The daily papers have also taken up I hi quesUoi 

 and the following letter was sent to the Xcw York lh mUk 

 New York, Sept. in, lpSS. 

 To t/ir alitor of t/w Herald: 



In this days issue of the Hvi'qld appears an editorial 

 headed "Fighting the Pish Commission," which does great 

 injustice to the menhaden industry, on whose behalf I re- 

 quest the insertion of this Communication in answer to the 

 strictures and charges of your editorial made against the 

 largest fishing inter. ' "i ie country when capital involved, 

 vessels owned, men employed and value of its productions 

 are considered in their bearing upon manufacturing business, 

 agricultural results and food producing factors throughout 

 the United Slates. There is at present a strong effort made 

 by curtain classes of people to have legislation adverse lo the 

 menhaden interest, based upon wrong impressions, ianor- 

 antl\ entertained, thai menhaden Asking is destroying food 



tish or the food of marketable fisll, and the object 'of this re- 

 joinder is to explain away the fallacy of such Una ules, as 

 follows: 



In the first place Bali are niigratorj In their nature hence 



legislation uill not keep theui in any given locality. 



"Second— Fish which arc used ns 'table Ebod such as sal 

 mou, cod, herring, porgies, shad, eels, sveakOsh, black fish 

 and flounders, do not require menhaden for bait or for food, 

 while the principal catch of commercial mackerel arc caught 

 in waters where the menhaden have no; bl en seen in years - 

 viz., off the eoa-t of Maine and Gull of St. Lawrence 



Third— AS to Ihe charge that we catch "food" tish for ler 



tiliziug purposes, ihe absnrdiiv .if such a charge willbe 

 easily seen wdien it is known that table or food rish is worth 

 .. Sin per barrel in packing houses or markets. 

 while any kind of fish for fertilizing purposes is only worth 

 from sixty-five to seventy-five cents per barrel 



Fourth — The menhaden fishermen do not. as you assert in 

 the editorial in question, "catch up millions of small ft vthat 

 should remain undisturbed," for the simple reason that our 

 nets are not less than two inches and one-quarter meshes, and 

 that any tish of less than twenty-one cubic inches wdll pass 

 through. Nor can these same seines retain or hold a catch 

 ol gem. 8 B h, for the twine is too fine. On the contrary, we 

 destroy the most destructive enemy of food fish— the shark. 

 It is a matter of record that, this season the fishing menhaden 

 fleet have killed off the coast, of JfeW Jersey these past four 

 mouths over 6,000 sharks, varying from 20 pounds to 300 

 pounds each. 



Fifth — No evidence or assertion when thoroughly sifted 

 can or will prove that the catching up of menhaden fish has 

 anything to do w T it,h keeping or driving off food fish fr 

 the coast. On the contrary, the greatest catches of men- 

 haden are made along the coast when there is a dearth of 

 bluefish, honitas. Spanish mackerel or sharks, and when 

 these are plentiful along the shores the menhaden, follow- 

 ing the first law of natures — elf-preservation — give their 

 enemies a wide berth. It is these very predatory fish, who 

 destroy aud feed upon all the small fry, your editorial 

 accuses the menhaden fishermen of catching. 



Sixth — As to Ihe proposition to (hamper) regulate men- 

 haden fishing on the ground of protection to the. menhaden. 

 this is absurd, from the fact that the menhaden is found 

 with spawn during the fishing season from spring to early 

 winter, and when lh.- waters become cold they disappear and 

 are not seen again until spring. 



It, will be observed from the foregoing; the broad assertion 

 is made that the menhaden fishermen interfere in no way 

 with market, or food fish, and further, t'vat, taking the num- 

 ber of people engaged in supplying this kind of provender. 

 th.-re are as many fish caught a*s ever, but the consumption 

 of same has vast l'y increased, as it should. Butifmei i m 

 fishermen, with steamers and with proper nets, should em- 

 bark in catching food fish, one day's good fishing would suf- 

 fice to glut the markets of Ihe United States for a week with 

 food fish. 



A few words more in conclusion. The menhaden interest 

 lias at this present season $5,000,000 invested therein, 

 ninety steamers, over 300 sailing vessels, giving employment 

 to some a, oou people, and exceeds in value the cod and mack- 

 erel fishing combined, lis products in oil and guano reaches 

 millions in value every season; its fertilizer is equal, ton for 

 ton (dry), to the far-famed Peruvian guano, which it is 

 largely ' superseding in these United Slates. Would not 

 the civilized and "commercial world stand amazed at the 

 Peruvian government if they should beguilty of such a gigan- 

 tic stupidity as to destroy their nitrate or guauo deposits? 

 The legislation to prohibit menhaden fishing wculd be just 

 as stupid, forcing the planter and the farmer to j 

 mostly from abroad the ammonia.' al ingredients which gives 

 the early development mthe growth of cotton, grain, grass 

 and vegetables 



Agriculture is Ihe strength of the nation, laud is growing 

 poorer from over tillage, natural and manufactured fertili- 

 zers are increasing in demand yearly to help meet the in- 

 creasu.ir demands from mother earth, and yet il is calmly 



advocated to legislate out of existence an industry which 

 produces largely the two most important ingredients 'of vege- 

 table life— ammonia and phosphate of lime— and from 

 ignorant prejudice and in Ihe supposed interest of would-be 

 spoilsmen or summer * i -ilors along the coast (principally of 

 N - ■ b y) put an end to, a business having such a direct 



Kespecfully. I.oiis C. iVHoMi-.iteuE, 

 Secretary United States Menhaden Oil and Guano Associa- 

 tion. 

 In an editorial comment upon this the Hetitld says: "The 

 writer truthfully says the business involves millions of cap- 

 ital and employs thousands of men. The extent of a busi- 

 ness, however, is no indication of its propriety. Neither is 

 there any fore.;. j n the argument that because" some tish arc 

 migratory it is useless for legislation to try to retain them in 

 certain localities. Fish return at regular intervals to the 

 places where they have fed, and if they can find food they 

 remain there for a certain lime; if the 'food is lacking the'v 

 depart in haste. All fish remain longest where food is most, 

 plentiful. Tt is quite true, as the writer suggesi s, thai if 

 food fishes are caught in the menhaden nets it would be fool- 

 ish to make them into oil and fish guano wdien theiy would 

 be far more valuable for market purposes, but it, is also true, 

 although the letter is silent on the subject, that in the taking 

 in of a large catch such food fishes as are among the men- 

 haden are so badly bruised before they can be separated 

 from the general mass that they are utterly unfit for market. 

 We coulcf instance a single case of a boatload of fish, taken 

 by a crew in search of menhaden, that contained thirty or 

 forty tons of weakfish ; about one-tenth reached markeCthfi 

 other nice-tenths — more than a day's supply for New York 

 — were so unsightly that they went' to the oil mills With the 

 general catch. 



"It is stated that the greatest catCliof menhaden usually 

 occurs when the food fishes are ,-.■,,..-. - along the CORBt. 

 Exactly so. The menhaden come ip boreti b Bsh 



that eat them; tlien is just the lime Ihtij should be lc! alone, 

 lo lure the fishes to wliere they cam lie taken. 



"It is undeniable that thesh'ore fisheries have been -a a, ;i , 

 declining since the menhaden began to he taken in large 

 quantities, and that fish lieu oncewtri cheaper than any 

 kind of meat are now often more costly than spring chick- 

 ens. The great population along 'I ■ .-,..-., i annot afford 

 to foster the menhaden fisheries at any -ueh cost. If men- 

 haden runs! be taken let the boats gu further out to sea; 

 they can do it and still do a profitable business, Or let their 

 ii shi n g season be restricted." 



Our own view of the case i- that this Httle fish, which 

 forms such an important portion rif the food of our valuable 

 species, is not allowed to breed to il sufficient extent. As 

 soon as, the first menhaden appears in the hays of Long 

 Island the seines are hauled, and the fish, poor in flesh, are 

 thrown on the laud for manure. When they ::; ..n i 

 en atei numbers tie oil men begin at them, and tire fish, full 

 ot spawn, ave boiled dm P lor oil We believe that if Ihe 

 e-ii '- a protected Until after it had spawned Ihere would 

 be ' oough "i then to feed the fishes and to satisfy the oil 

 lactones also i. in ,.• gcith -ne-n .it if. Menhaden Oil and 



Guano Association will kill the Bsh that i" ■ i. oil} 



where do they expect the n, , , , ■., n . , , 



BLUE-BACKED TROUT. 



/ \L'"R readers will find the ahove-nnined i rout in our list 

 " " ot "Fish in Season in October," aud the following ac 

 count of this litrlc-knowu fish will be . jund of interest'. It 

 is lakcu from Suekiev s ;.i ., , ■: ::- Salmo," 



in the -• . ond report of the U. s. Commissioner of Fish and 

 Fisheries. 



SALJIO OQCASs.S, Ol.KAKil. 



Blue-back lake trout; the Oquassa trout. 



Bya.—8cUmo oguassa, Grd. Proe. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 

 vol. iv., p. 362. (Read before the society Oct. 30, 1852). 



Special characters.— [Condensed from Dr. Girard's de- 

 scription and the examination of eight specimens]. Length, 

 from eight to ten inches. Body subfusiform, slender, grace- 

 ful. Head proportionally small, conical. Mouth smaller 

 thau in 8. fontinalis, from which it, also differs in the struc- 

 ture of the opercular apparatus. Fins placed in the sane 

 relative positions as the latter, but larger, excepting the adi- 

 pose, which is considerably smaller. Margin of the caudal 

 somewhat forked and undulated. Scales much like those 

 of the brook trout, but larger. Lateral line similar in both 

 species. 



Colors. — A bluish tint extends all along the back from 

 the head to the tail, so that when seen from above the fish 

 appears to be entirely blue. Sides and abdomen silvery- 

 white in the female, and of a deep reddish-orange in the 

 male, spotted in both sexes with the same hue as the abdo- 

 men. Dorsal and caudal fins brow r nisli blue, bordered with 

 pale orange in the male; the pectorals:, ventntls, and anal of 

 a fiery orange, blackish-blue at their bases, and margined 

 with white. 



Habitat.— Moosemeguntic. Ke.nebago River, and Lake 

 Oquassa, Maine. 



According to Dr. Girard this is a lake species of great 

 delicacy and beauty. It is found on Lake MoosemegiiJiTic, 

 making its appearance from the depths about October 18, 

 and coming near the shore, ascends the Kenebago River in 

 shoals. Half a mile from its mouth the Kenebago receives 

 the outlet of Lake Oquassa. The trout then leaves the 

 Kenebago and enters Oquassa Lake, where its voyage comes 

 to a close. After the middle of November it returns to 

 Moosemeguntic, and. is not again seen till the following .year. 

 It is known to the residents of that region as the "blue- 

 back." 



Dr. Girard adds the following remark: "The flesh of the 

 fish is highly flavored and more delicate than the bro„k 

 troutsin Europe and America. U resembles that ol' S. 

 Vitrtbla, of the Swiss lakes, both in the peculiarity of its 

 habits and ils delicacy. Salmo umbla is a lake trout, an in- 

 habitant of the deep", making ils appearance near shores 

 January and February to spawn, and never ascendinfj the 

 brooks or rivers, tributaries of ihe hikes." 



Diagnosis.— From >' ijlocr-ri [land-locked salmon], by 

 lacking black spots; by its smaller scales. From S. j'onii- 

 iialis. or the common brook trout, it can be distinguished by T 

 the uniform color of the back; its unspotted fini 

 eluded); slightly larger scales; ,-mall, conical head; slender 

 body; small size of tlte light spots along the flanks 

 the colors, as given. 



Auuique field whistle is manufacture. I bv Mr. V. ft. Faruham, or 

 White Mills, Pa. It is made on the same plan :;s « trombone, and the 

 tone can be changed from soft to Irani in an instant. S-e ,, ,, .- 

 mont in another column. — Adv. 



