312 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[NoVEMBEB 17, 1881- 



Sol persuaded "Opay" to seek a suauy spot just, outside 

 lie surf. I put the hook in the. inullet'a mouth lenderly, as 

 though I loved hun, and wafcchtllg the moss bunkers on our 

 ee, 1 Ottsl over my line, Quicker than I can think it, or 

 Wine it. BomeUfiug Upearlhly had started off with our stuff 

 and all, il seemed, before I could get my breath, and I ju>l 

 1 et ihe line sein. " Whizz'" she went over ihe sides of Hie 

 skiff and across my bleeding fingers, while " CapayV 

 nephew, B>a Bill, (who up to' this time had been mostly 

 ,fiegan to jump around, exclaiming, " ' Capay.'ashiik, 

 by golly.?' 



I give my sea monster full play, for broken books and 

 swallowed horn-spoons bad taught me how to drum for 

 drum, there wa-u lull ' ! the wild joy I felt. No four- 

 pound bass in the Delaware above Trenton ; no five-pound 

 Adirondack trout iu Lake Sarauac, no jumping twenty-pound 

 salmon at Ha Ha Bay, above the Marguerite, ever made ray 

 gizzard leap lor joy #s did the ichale, as 1 thought it was, 

 tugging at my Hue out in the deep sea in front of Sewell's 

 Point. Active warfare soon began again. 1 steadily hauled 

 in until 1 could see something shiny in the water. But what- 

 ever it was, it was averse to the siijht of man ; for like 

 greased lightning, running down the 8witchback It. R., the 

 ired drum made a bold rush for the bottom of the deep, wish- 

 jng'to cry, '-Give me liberty or give me death."' I thought ; 

 old i'ellnw, if it is play you want, play you shall have; and 

 as good Izaak Walton s&ilh, I toyed wiih him as if I loved the 

 fish, feeling as good as that handsome "Plunger," Thee 

 Wallon, wnen he cleaned out the "Bloods" of the English 

 turf and returned to the " St. James'' with a plethoric bank 

 account. 



By this time the Preacher wa9 aroused. I had waked him 

 up, irreverently saying, ''Old Boy, arise and witness a fl fa, 

 an execution on a drum." 



The red drum began to be weary. I got his red sides — his 

 eyes almost human— close to the boat. "Gosh, 'said Bill, 

 "it is a drum, and a whopper 1" One more run like Bill 

 Keep's Wilt at a hurdle race. But I was lired of nonsense and 

 said, " £'!., we'll haul Has big thing in, or bust." " Go it," 

 said the Preacher, and Big Bill leaned over our little shaky 

 craft and with one wild dive, as he saw the red s'tdea of 

 the drum glowing and p.mting, he grabbed a fifty pound 

 fish, and with a skillful whirl, lifted him and laid him in the 

 bottom of the boat. 



The Preacher's eyes looked as big as a Monday morning's 

 bill at a Cape May Hotel. 



" Now, Bra S ," I said, " if you will pronounce a bene- 

 diction, we Will seek the shore.;'' for our patient spouses 

 were Waiting for Ufi, RUd the crab soup was getting cold and 

 the beefsteak;, a In chaUaubiiand, had been long overdone. 

 Wesailed. " Cspay" look one long look at the bigred drum 

 half tilling up the little boat and said: " Waal now, Bill, I 

 don't like to run no resks, no way, but to catch that ai' drum 

 I would'enl mind '8k< etili' through that surf three times a 

 day, and no mistake." 



When the big drum got safely laid out on the green grass 

 of the parsonage. Eider Sates came in with a big hoe and 

 hoed off the scales, a eight I had never seen before. 



Dinah Morris, the cook, wanted the head for soup, and 

 the neighborhood fed on drum sieaks for a week, for il is as 

 tender as a young chicken. Kr'uier has now rigged me two 

 lines, with limerick hooks, attacked to copper wire a foot 

 long. So, Spicy, look out! and if the drum value their 

 peajce of mind, they will absent themselves from Oape May 

 next summer, J. M. S. 



FISHING IN THE SUSQUEHANNA. 



Bat,timodb, Md., Nov. 9. 



COLONEL T and your correspondent made a trip to 

 the Susquehanna Ittver, near the mouth of Deer Creek, to 

 fi-h for black '>ass about the midule of last mouth. We left 

 Baltimore at 2 f.m., and «ent to H.-,vre de Grace on the P. 

 W. Ss B It. It. Here we bin d a team and driver to take us 

 to Itapidan, where we were to slay all night. After con- 

 siderable maiieeuvreing to pack three people, sundry va'ises, 

 bait buckets, r ds, etc., etc., into a carriage meant to carry 

 two, we started. The driver asked us which road we would 

 take — the country road, or the tow-path — at same time expati- 

 ating so hUhly on the beautiful scenery of the latter that we 

 concluded to go that way. We very soon repented that we 

 took that path, and think th--t we are fortunate to be here 

 now to relate our adventures. The canal runs alongside of 

 the r'ver and the tow-path is about, six feet wide, wilh the 

 canal five feet deep on one side, and a rocky, steep bank ten 

 to fifteen feet on the other. We found that the horse had a very 

 disagreeable way i if traveling on one side of the road, and 

 we were in constant dread of being pitched either into t he 

 "water or on the rocks. We had not gone very far before we 

 met a young ran carrying two large ehromos. We could 

 not see the subj'CiB but our horse did, and evidently did not 

 like them, tor he commenced to back, and rear, and in a 

 moment had one hind wheel of the carriage in the canal. 

 We calmly awaited the ducking we expected to get, as we 

 could not move we were s i closely wedged into the little 

 carriage. Our good fortune saved us; the old horse stopped 

 right There, and the driver getting out larruped the old ft How 

 until he pulled us out on the tow path. Bo'h the Colonel 

 and myself vowed if we arrived at our destination alive, we 

 would not try a tow-path again. 



We soon arrived at Itapidan and put up at. the tavern 

 there. The accommodations were of the very plainest kind 

 hut the man who keeps the place did the best he knew how 

 for our c<nntort. We had written up several days hef-re for 

 bait and boat, anil started bright and early to walk up the 

 river about a mile where we expected to find everything in 

 readiness for us. But alas! we were do mied to disappoint- 

 ment. Nothing was ready; no bait and no man to go out in 

 the boat with us, and the boat could not be lent unless the 

 man was there to go in it. Spencer, the lock keeper, was 

 recommendi d to us as a man to be relied on to have at any time 

 all thiDgs ready if given a few days notice. We were 

 thoroughly disgusted and could see nothing left for us to 

 do buf to take the water and try them with the fly. We 

 went to the bank to see how the river looked for wading, 

 when we Saw a colored individual fishing from a boat. lie 

 had a maple sapling for a rod strong enough to lift a whale, 

 but in a moment when he hooked a fish he threw the rod be- 

 hind Mm acid yanked the fish in with the line. We hailed 

 him and he came to us and we soon concluded a bargain for 

 him to take us for the day. 



We had about fifty cra-v fish, which we thought would 

 last us for a good while, ami we soon had our lines baited 

 and overboard. For about two hours we hud splendid spurt, 

 taking sixteen bas*, the largest weighing three and Ihree- 

 quarter pounds and the Smallest one pound and one ounce. 

 Our Nit then gave oui ■ «<\<\ we sent Thorny, Pub.... 



aforesaid colored individual, ashore for more bait. He was 

 gone Uo hours and returned with nine craw fi^h, and with 

 these nine we caught six more bass, making twenty-two for 

 our first day. We made arrangements with Dulanoy for the 

 next day to have one hundred craw fish and one hundred 

 minnows at one cent apiece. T. D. was on hand early and 

 we started full of expectation f. r a splendid hauL We 

 fished in the same places that we did the day before, and in- 

 numerable others, but when the day wa3 done could only 

 count five bass. We tried every fly we had in our books 

 without success ; they would not lake them. 



The Susquehanna at this point— mouth of Deer Creek— is 

 very rocky, making navigation with a boat difficult. It 

 would be impossible to wade for there are innumerable holes 

 which are six or ten feet deep. In a year or two there will 

 be very fine fishing at and around this point. Parties would 

 de much better to go to Port Deposit than to Itapidan, which 

 is just across the river. It can be reached by P. W. & B. 

 It. It., or Columbia and Port Deposit branch of P. It. R. The 

 hotel accommodations are very much better than atRapidan. 

 The great difficulty is in getting bait. Boats are plenty, and 

 if some enterprising fisherman would Keep a supply of bait 

 on hand he would do a good business. E. A. B. 



NOTES PROM KENTUCKY. 



Owbnsboko, Ky., Nov. 7, 1881. 

 Editor Forest and Stream: 



Sunday, according t3 the almanac, gets around to this 

 section of Kentucky just about as often as any other portion 

 of the State, still a stranger, judging from the continual 

 crack of the sportsman's rifle, wouldn't hesitate to affirm 

 that it had the appearance of being anyihing else than Sun- 

 day. The river and surrounding water courses abound with 

 wild fowl and fish, and it is not an unusual skht to see two 

 or three men at almost any hour on Sunday with an interro- 

 gation point in their eye and a gun or rod in their hand head- 

 ing for the river. 



For the especial information of those who do not know 

 that there is such a place in existence as Owensboro (and, of 

 course, don't care) we will briefly state that it iR a thriving, 

 hustling, rapidly growing little city of 10,000 inhabitants, 

 situated on the south bank of the Ohio, in Daviess county, 

 and has connection with the outside world by both river and 

 rail. Her people are energetic and progressive. 



Capt. Shinkle, of the elegant steamer Golden Crown, was 

 the guest last week of the Daviess County Hunting and Fish- 

 ing Club, who are now on Green River enjoying a three 

 weeks' hunt. The party who are now at the camp grounds 

 on Green River are Geo. A. Williams, Boy Hathaway, Frank 

 Conway, Sam Waldron, Alex. Thompson, John Marks, Joe 

 Fugna, Lieut. Omway, Henry Th anpson, Dick Taylor, 

 Capt. John Woolfolk, Charles Wa'kles. Ztck Taylor, Phil. 

 Watkins, Whit Clarke, Bernard Kelley and Judge Alsop. 

 The parly have a dressing tent, three good cooks, two sleep- 

 ing tents and a stable tent. Up to Thursday they had killed 

 one deer, six turkeys one hundred and uinety-eir;ht squirrels, 

 eight ducks, one 'possum, six quail and had, iu the language 

 of Capt. Shinkle, "caught more fish than would load a good- 

 sized steamhoit." At last accounts the boys were well and 

 hearty. Roy Hathaway, Frank Conway, Jack and Dick Tay- 

 lor are the musical men of the party, and nightly the silvery 

 tinkle of the guitar and a^ft strains of the violin b'end har- 

 moniously with their merry voices, and sweep adown the 

 winding stream until they die away in famt echoes. Capt. 

 S. has enjoyed a royal time with the club, and extended them 

 an invitation to accompany him to Arkansas next spring on 

 a grand hunting and fishing excursion. 



Sid Harbour," Beth Palmer and "Sonny" Gumberls caught 

 twenty-five large bass at the "Cut-off" last week. They re- 

 port the fishing at the "Cm-off" to be A No. 1^. 



Estie Smilhers killed two wild geese at one shot Tuesday 

 wi h a rifle at the distance of 103 yards. 



Beth Palmer killed a wild turkey gobbler last week that 

 weighed thirty-two pounds. Tennbbsbb, 



TENNESSEE FISH NOTES. 



IN conversation to-dav with Mr. Frank Furman, that gen- 

 tleman told me that on his last expedition to Caney 

 Fork, in company with Charles E. HiUman, they had some 

 rare sport, though the elements were against ihem. Besides 

 forty fine black bass they captured a twelve-pound jack. 

 Mr. Furman is one of the most scientific among our anglers, 

 and has the most complete tackle ; to these two esentials, 

 when in the field or on the bank of a stream, he is a hard 

 worker, fighting every inch of the way, and as a consequence, 

 he never fails to brins home game. 



Capt. Wm. Stocked, Chief of the Nashville Fire De- 

 partment, is another most distinguished angler, his duties 

 keeping him closely confined to the City. His only source 

 of recreation is the Cumberland River, from which he mana- 

 ges to catch black bass and jack when every one else fails. 



The "boss" fisherman, however, is our indefatigable com- 

 missioner Col. Akers. It is a pleasure to watch him as he 

 easts his fly or minnow into a rap d, or lands it artistically 

 along side'of a log, shelving rook, or in a deep pool ; even 

 though they be many yards away, follow the fancies of some 

 three or four pound bass until he has enticed it to seize the 

 bait, and then nianoaivre it to his feet, when either "Bill 

 Tate " or " Burnham Johnson," his two faithful colored com- 

 panions in all his expeditions, land if as dexterously with the 

 net as did the Col. with his eight ounce rod and No. 1 

 Meek, overcome and capture it. 



Mr. Driver, a memticr of our legislature and an ardent 

 friend to fish protection, told me a day or two since that at 

 the extra session of that body he intends to off r on amend- 

 ment to our fish laws with a view of stopping fly-fishing at 

 night. He says that at this soason of the year an expert at 

 this class of fishing can catch more in one night than three 

 men could kill during daylight with "gigs. " These flies arc 

 made of two or three bright colors and ingeniously fastened 

 to a hook, the shank of which has been' passed through a 

 cork to make it float upon Iho surface. At these the fish 

 bite voraciously and are caught by the hundreds. 



I do not see that tbere is any good ground for the gentle- 

 man's objection to this mode of angling, as fly-fishing is 

 tolerated everywhere, and certainly it is more artistic and 

 sportsmanlike than with the hideous gig, seine or trap. I fear 

 that our protective laws are not being respected as they 

 should be, but as the commissioners have no fund from 

 which to enforce it, nor even to prosecute infringers, noth- 

 ing fan be done except through local organizations and in- 

 dividuals who have courage to bring charges before the 

 proper authoritier, 



A tew days ago 1 visited th?- carp pout! of Capt, F. W. 



Gr een, near this city. From ten pairs originally placed in it 

 there have been reproduced thousands of them. Tbo-e now 

 two years old would weigh from live to six pounds; the 

 year olds about two pounds. Unfortunately for the successful 

 propagation of the fish, the pond is very small and they are 

 already too much crowded. If, however, the suggestions of 

 Dr. Hessel were carried out, both as to building and the 

 number of ponds necessary, carp would be cultivated here to 

 an indefinite extent. 



The Cumberland Angling Club, have a splendid pond about 

 four miles from town, which they have stocked with base 

 and white perch ; they have er ced a Swiss Ghalet on the 

 bank of the pond for a club house. The members of the 

 club are gentlemen of means, and they propose beautiflng 

 their grounds and increasing the dimensions of their pond 

 later on. If these gentlemen would add a privale hatchery, 

 it would pay them, by keeping up their own supply of fish 

 and selling to others desiring to stock por ch with game fish. 



The F. A. C. Angling Club are at present enjoung their 

 annual fall sport on the beautiful Buffalo River. They have 

 a complete camp outfit, and always remain away two or 

 three weeks at a tune. Our market is less well supplied with 

 fish and oysters than I remember to have known it for s >me 

 years, owing to the continued warm weather. The usual 

 shipments from Reelfoot lake will begin to soon as the cold 

 spell comes. J. D. H. 



Nashville, Nov. 3. 



TROUT IN SIBERIA. 



THE expedition now on its way to establish a meteorolog- 

 ical station of the U. S. Signal Service at Pomt Barrow, 

 Alaska, was detained for several days at Plover Bay, a deep 

 harbor on the Siberian coast, near the entrance to Behring 

 Straits. While there we were feas' ed to repletion with quan- 

 tities of superb trout, which the Esquimaux brought off and 

 soid us for a small price paid in tobacco, needles and such 

 things. These fish were the Salmhnus ualma, the common 

 red-spotted trout of the Pacific cast of North America, a 

 fish closely resembling in appearance and h.bi s the common 

 brook trout of the East. They varied in we ght from three- 

 quarters of a pound to three or four pounns, and were re- 

 markably fat and fine flavored. The natives caught them 

 in nets, in a fresh water lake four or Ave miles long, sepa- 

 rated from the sea only by a narrow sand beach, and distant 

 from our anchorage about tnree miles. Bid weather and 

 various duties prevented our visiting this lake, but we tried 

 a red ibis fly without success in several similar small lakes 

 or ponds near our anch rage. Trout have been netted in 

 the-e ponds, but it is believed that these fish were washed in 

 from the bay during unusually high tides, which sometimes 

 flow into the ponds. The abundance of thW fish in the lake 

 where the natives caught them may be judged from 'he state- 

 ment of one of the nanves, who, on the suggestion that some 

 of our pa*ty 8h"iild try fishing in the lake, said: "Ljun 

 man, small not, plenty; American man, big net, plenty." 

 Point Barry®, Alaska, Aug. 23 1881. OhHKRVjiR. 



SPORT IN KENTUCKY. 



ON the morning of October 10, 1881, you might have seen 

 a parly of sportsmen bu-ily engaged in loading all 'he 

 needful fixtures for a camping trip in a wagon. When all 

 was in, the good-hy said, and the baby kissed, we started 

 up the lovely valley of Tygart, a stream which rises in the 

 mountains of Kentucky and flows north to the Ohio River. 

 This stream is justly ceebra'ed fur its fine fishing ;dl ovrr 

 southern Ohio and northern Kentucky, and its hanks arc an- 

 nually adorned with the tents of visiting sportsmen. 



B. was driver and W. was speaker of the house. A man 

 whose love of the beautiful would not be aroused during a 

 ride up this beautiful valley on such a lovely Ocober mom 

 must be a cynic indeed and not to be includ* d in the list of 

 sportsmen. A ride of six een miles brought us to them utb. 

 of Three Prong, where a few Lewis county friends w-re to 

 meet us, which they soon did. Aftir eatmg a lunch which 

 the good wife had put up for us, we again took the road, aid 

 a drive of seven miles to •k us to our destinat on, one and 

 one-balf mUes below Iron Hills Furnace. Carter county, Ky. 

 We were met andcordiaUy receiv. d by Mr. Fill z Walker, and 

 tbere camped on hisfarm and so m had some t;auie — whichwe 

 killed while coming along— cooking for our first supper in 

 the woods, ai d then laid our plans for the morrow. v\ e de- 

 termined to CBtch what bait we needed first, aod while sein- 

 ing for bait some fine bass were taken and served for d nuer. 

 This day was taken up in getting ready For the next, one, and 

 before daylight we were on our way to the Falls of Tygart, 

 one mile from camp. In ten minutes D. was engaged tn a 

 1 fe and dea'h struggle with an old pike, and this being D 's 

 first pike you may imagine something of his condition. He 

 was soon master of the situation, however, with the helo of 

 Inf., who got in the water and flirted the pike out on the 

 bank. Its length was four feet one inch, and its estimated 

 weight fourteen pounds. 



W.'s luck somehow had deserted him, perhaps on account 

 of the irregularities of Monday, and he had not a nible yet. 

 D. soon had another rise, (his time from a black bass, which 

 he landed without aid. Its leng h was t venty and one-half 

 inches. Let some render of your paper estimate the weight 

 of this fine fish; ours was five pounds. B. had taken his 

 tackle and gone tip stream, but soon the boom ul his gun was 

 heard to break the stillness, proclaiming death to the 

 squirrels. At ten o'clock aU were in camp. D.'s fifh 

 and B.'ssquirrelsmade a full larder — he hail killed a dnz-n or 

 so of fine ones. W.'s luck still remain d the same, and ihia 

 is about the way we put in au entire week out in the wilds of 

 Carter county. We did not take any meat with u3 and we 

 did not eat a'meal without g one, ami p enly u! it. I am sat- 

 isfied that inside of five miles from our camp tiiere were 30ft 

 wild turkeys, but as we did not know the lay of the laud 

 well enough we did not bag any of them. 



In conclusion, let me say that if any One wants a earn pi tg 

 trip let him try Carter county. We were there from the lOxh 

 to the 17th, and bad au abundance of game all the titU". The 

 people were kind, and all iried to make our vie.it enjoyable, 

 especially Mr. Walker, who i ut us under many obiiga ions 

 for services rendered for which he would receive no remu- 

 nera ion. We killed about fifty squirrels, some grouse and 

 caught about 40 lbs. of dressed fish. There were, only two 

 guns in the camp. Should any one wish to go there and 

 will send his address to Forest and Sit.kam he will receive 

 all the information. Our expenses were only *iAo each 



D. 



.— ~» 4 



GROWTH OF CARP IN NEW YORK, -Mr, .1, Ite.ynsl, of 

 White Plains, Westchester county, N. Y., recently took some ''orp 

 from bu pond which were two years ok! last August, One of 

 them weighed seven .< 



