512 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[jANTjAire 36, 1882. 



Loen ibmi* &or| 

 Sync." This String 

 til about foar iocht 

 line, nn p he beu.g I 

 iu the afternoon but 

 it should be fresh. 



NIGH E BOBBING FOR BULLHEA.DS. 



THE article of F. S. J. C , in the Fointsr akd Bjpbuam of 

 January 1 12, on "-Night Fishing" carded ma back a 



full half-century, when night was about the only time the 

 boys could Hive for spirt of any kind. Work, a >nstan wit! 

 hard, was far more llie rule among farmer's sons then than 

 now. Alaa ! how few of the participants in the.se nocturnal 

 BpOltl are yet on the hither side of the dark river. 



In a certain town in the county of Duchess, there is, or 

 was, a shallow pond of dark water— containing perhaps 

 twenty acres— nearly covered with lily.pads, fringed all 

 around with alders, hogs ami muck, the latter of an unknown 

 depth, a'l tinny of us found in unsure Biful ittl . ■ 

 1 lie boat from "a bee, or a bog from the boat. 



What name the pond now bears, or whether it is called a 



pond or swamp, 1 am not certain, as a partial attempt to 



drain it whs made ma'iy years ago, but I think not. very suc- 



i But in the times of which I am writing it was 



\-ii us "Ryder's Pond," and was often resorted to 



fOtn a long distance but. only at nigh!., and mostly 



iathcat timer nnnths. Tnc s .lo and only fish I have any 

 • of ever having been taken from it =! dark waters 

 were bullheads; hut Ihtiy were very numerous, bud were, 

 often taken in large quantifies. 



The o.vr.c'r of tnc pond had an only lr>at, flat-bottomed, 

 clumsy and leaky, lint when not wanted by lhe '• Ryder 

 boys," it whs fieily loaned to parties from abroad Hence, 

 it was an dlrject to be 6 irly at the pood to get the first use of 

 the hoar. Those coming biter, u-uall v slept in their wag ins 

 or in .Mr. Bedci's liny barn till the first, party were satisfied 

 with their ep rt, say from ten '"clock till midnight, when the 

 boat w.'S Furrl mlcieci to lhe next, party in order. 



If the first party were from a longdistance and theic was 

 a ■ moon, the\ would betake themselves to the "hay-mow" 

 and wail for daylight . fen nor, a! vays to sleep. 



Og bullheads on that particular pond, hooks were 

 never used. 



" What, never?'' 



Wed, hardly nyer! 



"What, then?" does the reader ask "Why, bobs." 

 " And what is a bob r* some fb, -caster may wonder. It is 

 ' :ss — of angle worms strung on a. 

 not a power in i he days of " Ling 

 urns was doubled and redoubled 

 iglh, and fastened to a short hand 

 1 in using it. The bob was made 

 i uighfi it was i" he used, bo that 

 i after lowering it into the wa'er 

 through the lily pads, a bite was usually felt, but 'here must 

 be no" jerk : a gemle pull till near the t ip of the water was 

 :'l n - roi,: be lone, end if Lhe hi ing continued, a quick 

 motion would raise the fish above and over the boat before he 

 thought of Jewing his hold on the bob. And when he let go, 

 his fa 1 was into tee boat instead of the ptnd. 



In oile r poi.ds where eels were numerous they were often 

 taken in the sine manner. 



When the hobs gave, out the nak d fingers were sometimes 

 used instead, with equally good success, as to catching ihu 

 bullhead.', bul il - - ■- e-.suui for the bohber the next. 

 ,U ■—'■a- -,'. a .-',. time Lh • bitten ant scratch! d ftogcrs would 

 be ii Suned and pa nfiil. 



Tnc great advantage of the bob over the hook is, that with 

 the former there is no handling of the fish, hence, no wounds 

 from their horns — a thing of no small account when fishing 

 in the dark— as all can testify who over attempted to diB- 

 lodge a book from the internal arrangements of a bullhead 

 by the sense of feeling only. 



lam aware lh .t bobbing is not exactly the scientific way 

 of taking tieh, but I doubt if the most expert fly fisher gets 

 merit or one-tenth the rollicking fun we had in 

 those far-away day?. 



Ndw, a few words to the scientific and I will lay aside my 

 .- -for lliepresi ut. 



Thinv year.- and more ago bullheads, were very numerous, 

 and taken in large quantili sal, various points o> the Hud- 

 son Elver: catflsh Were iiekn.-j'.vi-. To-day c.ttish nil and 

 all along the river, bul pot a bullhead has been taken in 

 yeai s, to my knowledge. 



The questions are: What his become of the bullhead's ? 

 and where have the catflsh come from? It is quite possible 

 lhe Erie Camdmiy have been the artery that brought the 

 latn r from 'he Weslcrn lakt s and str> ams. 

 n i,;e !»■ Gome "f the former? 



Will some one be good enough to leply ? J. H. D. 



PwigJtiw&iite, a. r., 



CO0KIN& OAK P. 



I SEND vim the tbl OWJiig receipt which has been given 

 t l rae by the foremost mi mbcr of the German Fisheul- 

 ture Assoeiaiion, who has - etched With interest lhe intro- 

 duction of Germany's pet fisii into American Winers, My 

 own opinion nf the cirp is that it needs " 3Ugar and spice 

 and everything nice" to make it as palatable, as sonic of 

 even lur-eomnj iter i ative varieties ; but then my appeli'e 

 may ha i palBlulic pr. judice-; and it certainly is a fish that 

 fcetnr, tQ Ii 1 B gap thai no otlar variety has yet adequately 

 filled. 1 [eiive lhe language of the receipt, just as it came, 

 wit: its slightly foreign tmn ol pi rase that gives it a quaint, 

 nc s somewhat ukin to the dhacti >n$ found in the old 

 gcglifch n, ,; ii erj hi mfe a By it we shou'd judge- lh ,t ihe carp 

 is not a tempjsrance rish,"and the combinution of g nger- 

 br ad and linck seems novel. The receipt reads i " Carps in. 

 Poloneas Manner.— -Wa^h t,l,e c irps, gut them carefully, and 

 cut them to pieces. After having dene this, you overspread 

 the bottom of a Stew-pan with little slices of s ime onions, 

 with paiseley roots, laurel leaves, cloves and s!ice3 of a 

 lemon. Then you put the fish upon this, add a piece of ein- 

 eei-bre;d, some butter and salt, and pour ha'f a bottle of 

 Hock ami half a bo 1 lie Bordeaux wine over the whole that 

 the fish is perfectly covered byit. The fish, having siuH- 

 boiled, you lake it- out of. the pan, sift the fish-soup, 

 and apprize it lo your taste. For a fish of three pounds 

 ihi- teceipt will do; for abigeer carp inn must take more 



W j ae ." PolBEUl' B. BoosaV-ELT. 



Chub FisniNO— |-bi'aUl|n.ia — C add Some ut your 

 fib oris give Mime, points eoncernii g chub limine'- lain 

 told that, in the absence of IrOnl it is fail spurt— P< A B. 



[Theehuh, bem-Otill E'en times to a good size, and is a 

 tisb rnglee ed I'y ai glers in Aiuerieii. M;my M our brooks 

 COtll-Bill VI em. ' he--' are ' Eti ii i- illed " d C --"J 



Nbwakk, N. J., Jan. 33, 18« —Tie' Essex Fishing Chub 

 have elected the following officers for the ensuing y eat 

 Francis Winner, i'resident'. Job Lork, Vice-President ; John 

 H. IB. try: I Eh frane,;Fin. Secre 



tary ; David Thompson, Treasurer. 



A WORD TO ANGLERS. 



KILL TOUR FiSTT WFBS P&tJ&fiT. 



I II AVE lately re d in several papers accounts of vacation 

 nips in pursuit of pi asure and of g-vme, both fin and 

 feather, aud it has pained mo to know that any would-be 

 sportsman could land a fish and then write of his watching 

 'he same in its dying leaps and gasps with such delight as 

 some seem to have possessed. 



Every true angler will kill his fish at once— even before 

 fcal ' .. i- book from its gills, when practicable. This may be 

 done easdy in one of three ways, varying according to the 

 s ! ze of the fish captured. 1st, by bending the head of the 

 fish over the thumb nail of the left hand, thus breaking the 

 vertebra:; 3d, by severing the vertebia; (in the same place) 

 by a knife; or, 3d, by striking the head of the fish with a 

 bludgeon. 



Fi ?r years I have practiced one of these methods, as the 

 kind and size of lhe fish might require, and when the cap- 

 tive, was consigned to the creel there was no annoying flop- 

 ping to remind me of the death throes going on therein, had 

 I not given the fish a gentle quietus before continuing my 

 sport. To kill the fish when caught, is not, only merciful, but 

 il also assures a better state of the flesh when upon the table, 

 and onre practiced will always be continued. 



The flesh of a fish well conditioned for the table, however 

 it, may be cooked, should be firm and free from any indica- 

 tion of sliminesS. If a fish be left to die a lingering deaih 

 the flesh will be flibby, more or less tainted in fl ivor and, to 

 the epicurean an.hr, unfit for the palate or the stomach. 

 Then e fore, my honest aneler, kill your fish at once and thank 

 Heaven th 't you cjii enjoy such a dainty, toothsome dish as 

 your ald'l and mercy rewards you with I 



As apropos to ihe subject I am minded to copy some lines 

 styled "Ad Le-cioreui," by the author and to he found pre- 

 facing the con'en's of "The Art of Fishing on the Principle 

 of Avoiding Cruel'y," by the Rev. Oliver Raymond, LL B. : 

 " Gentle reader, If Mils name 

 I'lis > our elia-nicler, n ■ olame 

 Will you east, on Hits enUeavor— 

 Fishing sports irom pain to sever. 





llsh. e'en death denied. 



G isplns by t 



ut water- side, 



abaUdnlmB 



i your rod and line. 



' .'..ji-y ' SO ( 



in poet slntcs, 



' i.ike thefle 



»■ on earthly things 



Falls irom Heaven, tn embrace 



Mm la-low w 



th her sweet sraee.' 



I will taenia 



treat her well 





gnswJtli me tn dwell 



An.-l lor love 



will I escort her 



In her seal c-i 



beneath the water. 



■ 



■ we win glide, 





Dions, sale tn-f-ide, 





si I1K-U-H-7.V beds. 



lee, a weeds 



■nnvine their threads. 



But. came with us ami make a third; 

 Fair Meiey ill's', the;' you and I 

 With ground bait, minnow, net and dy." 

 The anth'T of the above work on fishing advocates the 

 killing of bails before using, as well as the killing of fish 

 immediately on being landed. In somecoiOemplated papers 

 on angling i may take occasion to quote from other works 

 not always accessible to the casual reader, aud doubly inter- 

 esting now that the snow covers the earth, aud from our be- 

 loved pastime we rest in reality, though, by the blessed aid 

 of the miod and bonks, we can take ati ideal fishing day in 

 spite of the bitter blasts and " eager'' air. O. W. R. 



THE FISHERMEN'S AID TO SOIENCE. 



CIJla.ECTtKO Sl'EOlMBNS USVSH DIFFICULTIES. 



WASHiKe/roN, January 18, 1882. 



NO CLASS of men in the Untied Slates have shown 

 more inieliigi-iil apprtciamm of the work lining done 

 by the (T. B Fi-h torn mission, uud. r die direction of Pro- 

 fessor Spencer F. Build, lhau the fi-he men of Olouee.-ter, 

 Mass. This has been amply d. m rostrated by the large col- 

 led ions whieh they have made for scientific purposes, dur- 

 ing he past three; years, presenting them as a free gift to 

 Prof, Bain!, who furnished lhe means for the proper preser- 

 vation of the ,-ame. Thousands of specimens of fish and in- 

 vi srlerbrales nn'-'e thus been added to the Srnithse-nian collcc- 

 LOrig which are many new to science, betides others 

 ue -a to- the fauna of North America. These have been pulled up 

 on Ashing lines an I caught, in seinesarid gill-nelson lhe fishing 

 ,,,,;,,,:,-, ,11 (tie East coast of America, all Ihe way from the 

 capes of Vitgiiiia to Greenland, and so expert, have many of 

 the fishermen bee ime in collecting "e-urios," as they term 

 ;, ii il they leadiiy notice auy forms which they havenot 

 previously seen, anil are thus enabled to procure such as are 

 most valuable lo naturalists. 



[t i £ happened) however) that among the codec ions made 

 , the fishermen, and the still more extensive oni s of the 

 Bah commission, t o gravid slime eels (Mmne fflulinosa) 

 have been taken. Prof. Baird is, therefore, anxious to ob- 

 tain some specimens of thisspecies with eggs fully developed. 

 Accordingly a letter was addressed to one of the Oloncester 

 captains, by a member of the commission, asking if he would 

 make some -collection*) of slime eels, should he find auy with 

 . gjsja a itie condition. The following reply, which has 

 been recently received, stows the interest still felt in this 

 work, and graphically depicts the difficulties often encountered 

 by ihe fishermen in making collections. 



The name of the writer has been suppressed for obvious 

 reasons : 



"GuiceBBTER, January 10, 1882. 

 " FuittNr C : 



" I wide in answer to your letter of Ihe. 37th, and the 

 slime, eel question. 8 aortly af'er I received joilr letter! 

 we it out on a h uldook ii-qi, and when the dories were ready 



i el ra vis I gave ord.-rs to save all the slippery cusses 



they caught * But when the men were all on board again 1 

 found only une eel among ail the dories, and, intending to 

 keep l.im Until I got, some more, I laid it on the house for 

 the lime hi : ■ 



" Hi at night there came ou a heavy gale from ihe north- 

 east. It came without warning, commencing at 8 r. m. and 

 lasting until about daybglu, We were in a light place, when 

 it began, and had to scrabble for dear life. 1 set out to run 

 for I'l'ovinc iov.fi, but it eime-ou so thick with snow that I 

 goon-gave that Up; r,-efed our sols, and -to ■ 1 oil' shore; 

 being at thai time close on to Peeked Hill Bar.t 



" VVe came down from whole sail to two reefs; then to 

 two-re<fed fortaiil and jib, then to two-reefed for? land 

 1 bob' jit:, and, at last, to two-reefed foresail. If it wasn't 



howling about that time then my name is not C . I 



would not have cared if I had had sea-room enough, but I 

 was jammed against the backside of Cape Cod. 



" When I looked for that Blitny cuss after the breeze was 

 over he was not there. But never mind, I will get some 

 foryouyet. Yours, elc , W. C." 



It is to be hoped that the efforts of the gallant captain may 

 meet with success, and that thereby the researches of scien- 

 tists may be aided, and the time and habits of reproduction 

 of the ''slippery cuss" be better understood than they are 

 at present, J. W. 0. 



■ on account or the thick glutlnlous slime ihat covers the body of 



the ■m,>/ne llicy are an ebiee.i, ii. irt, lento l.y illKeustiaff to the .fisher- 

 men. 



t A dangerous sand bar, whieh evreials out a distance of half a 



mile or more from the east sale— generally ealtee the •'■ liaclc »ide " 



— ot Cape Cod. There Is no worse nlaee on lhe coast of the 'United 



■ , ,- , vessel to be caught in during a heavy northeast gale, as 



Is evidenced by the numerous wrecks that occur in the locality. 



STBBNGTn of Gut and Hair.— I was a witness the other 

 day as lo the truth of an assertion that silkworm gut of up- 

 wa-ds of thirty years old could be produced Ihat would raise 

 a weight of 131b. avoirdupois ; and a singlo strand of hair, 

 of a cinnamon color, that wpuld lift a weight of 21b., and, 

 it would appear, was equal to lift a far gieater test; but, out 

 of admiration for so admirable a bit. of stuff, I cried "halt I" 

 The latt er was from a stallion of three years old. Both gut 

 and hair had been preserved in an old parchment pocket case, 

 aud its owner, Mr. William Day, is of opinion that the 

 keeping of gut or hair free from the atmosphere, and not in 

 ton dry a place, is the whole secret of their lasting strength. 

 The gilt in question was uot stained, aud he attributes much 

 of the weakness of the: gut of the present day to the processes 

 used to alter itB color. I ought to say that in the formula 

 of the preparation given by me for the preservation of gimp, 

 I inadvertently omitted half a pint of boiled oil to be added 

 to the quarter of a pint of gold size, and a tablespoonful of 

 carriage varnish. Iu the making up of the traces aud flights, 

 the loops and triangle hooks ought lo be left until the last, 

 and whipped the last thing, or the preparation used for the 

 previous purpose would dissolve 1he wax and loosen the 

 hold. By all means avoid biehlorate of platinum, which is 

 a most seductive but evanescent lure, ultimately destructive. 

 The complaint of the weakness of the gut of the present day 

 I take to be due to the process used to stain it. For, by 

 steeping it in boiling ink and water, the combined fibres of 

 Ihe silkworm which compose the gut are separated, by 

 melting Ihe substance or gum whieh causes their more per- 

 fect adhesion.— Gkevii,i.e F.—Tn London FieVl. 



are. 



HEPOBT OF THE (JONNKCTICl'T COMMISSION. 



44 "PHE Sixteenth Aunnal Keport of the Piah Coramifisiouca-s 

 * and First Report of the Shellfish OomtnisBinnora of the 

 State of Oouneclieut to the General Assembly, January Session, 

 1882," in before us. The two reportB oocupy'l32 pages and t»o 

 maps. 



Tho Fish Commissioners, by act of the last General Assembly, 

 were constituted a Board of Commissioners on Shelf Fisheries, io 

 that while the work of the two eommiSBions is distinct the same 

 individuals compose them. The Fish Commissioners report that 

 the demand for the fry of brook trout was greater than the sup- 

 ply, ami that thov had hoped toobtain 400,000 of them for disbribu 

 tieei, but that only 350,000 were obtained. Of these 70,000 wore 

 itally lost. This loss fell upon tho contractor, who had 

 agreed to furnish them at a given sum per thousand ; 277,000 were 

 distributed, however. 



The whole number of land-locked salmon etrga received from 

 Grand Eake Stream, Me., for the year, was 4%.500. Of these 

 35(1.000 were seut to the hatchery of Mr. II. J. Fenton, at Poquon- 

 ock, and 140,500 to Mr. George JellilTe, at Westport. 



There was no appropriation for Salmo salar, but Prof. Baird 

 kindly presented the State with 250,000 salmon fry, which he Bug- 

 geated should all be planted iu one place, 1 u acuorcluuee with 

 his suggestion they were alt placed iu tho Fai'inington River, a 

 branch of the Connecticut, in the town of Colebrook. A letter 

 from .Mr. Chan. G. Atkins ia published, written Dee. 2, 1881, in 

 which ho describes the pens for keeping the salmon until the 

 spawning time, aud gives the estimated number of eggs which 

 each of the States which contribute to the support of the two es- 

 tablishments in Maine may receive. 



Shad hatching operations were entrusted to Messrs. Chalker 

 and Bin km, who were similarly employed last year. They turned 

 eut 2.123,000 fry into the Forminglon fb.v r, and at the same time 

 Prof. Baird, at 'the request of U. S, Senator Joseph R. Hawley, 

 sent 1,000,000 more from tha Delaware River, which were plaotd 

 u tho Connecticut Attempts to hatch shad in sea water were 

 again nusuocoBHful. We will quote the operations at length in a 

 future article. 



Statistics show that 81,700 mora shad were reported caught iu 

 [883 than in 18 0. The oouud uets took more aud the gill netB 

 and seints less, but all of the latter did not report their catch. 

 The interest in the German carp is increasing. Ad important list 

 of fit-h commissiouere, which leaves uut Arkansas. Indiana, Ne- 

 braska, Texas aud Wyoming closeB the lishenltural portion. 



The commissioners of ahelltishevies cover a period of seven 

 months, during which time, only, they have existed. Much pre- 

 liminary work was necessary iu surveying and mapping the 

 grounds within the jurisdiction of the State. Mr. James P. 

 Bog&rt, gvarlnato of the Sheffield Scientific School, was appointed 

 engineer of the hoard at the beginning of the work, and Mr. 

 Charles A. lialdwm, clerk. The latter was succeeded, after one 

 month, by Mr. Frederick Hotsford. The board have regular ses- 

 sions on Monday of each week, and occasionally on other days, at. 

 thou.- rooms in" the city of New Haven. It was a difficult aud 

 delicate mattei to divide the oyster areas under State jurisdiction 

 from those under the jurisdiction of towns, and of removing the 

 mei idiau lines from points where town division fines touch high- 

 water murk, to the bouudarv lines between' New York and Con- 

 necticut. There was some" latitude allowed in the rule pre- 

 ■icriljed tor running the shore hue, aud, while it was desirable to 

 reserve lor State jurisdietiou all territory which could be claimed 

 under the act, it was found that a liberal interpretation of the 

 brought the commissiouere aud the selectmen to a ready 

 agreement. ... 



Since the 1st of Mav about 20,000 acres of oyster beds have been 

 designated by the commissioners, one-half of which will bs paid 

 for bv tiuio the report is printed, the sum of $8,373.19 having 

 already been collected and paid into the State treasury, 



Much difference of opinion prevails among oyafcrrmen as to how 

 the gri'iinds shall be taxed, some advocating none ut present, er 

 at least a merely nominal one, beeanSe I ne State is now exporting 

 Instead of importing, and it would thir.-l'.re he impolilio to tax 

 the iudustrv ; otbei-tj advise a tai in form ol a .i-tute to be pmd 

 |,y ah who cultivate beds, while a line- ■■ln r -1 .-..cite a tax on the 

 annual product of the beds. Much vahwhle information concern- 

 ing the oyster trade is embodied in Ihe it-port aud route remarks 

 upon the structure of the bivalve, , „ ,, 



A hue colored " General Map of the Oyster Grounds of ths 

 State of Connecticut," and a sketch of the triangulation of the 

 coast-roints. tu.etther with a report of the engineer, fen 

 application for grants, etc., and laws relating to the aahene*, 

 close this exceedingly valuable report. 



