4 8 



RECREATION. 



DEPENDS HIMSELF. 



My attention has been drawn to an item 

 in a late issue of Recreation which is any : 

 thing but complimentary to my friends and 

 me. 'If you will do a little simple calcula- 

 tion you will see that your remarks are 

 uncalled for. Seven hundred fish for 

 3 men in 8 days would not give them quite 

 io fish to each rod morning and evening; 

 and after 3 men and 3 guides satisfy their 

 appetites there are not a large number of 

 fish to carry home. 



I am personally acquainted with ^our in- 

 formant, B. R. W., Bear River, N. S., and 

 our party are fly fishermen, not pot hunt- 

 ers and bait fishermen like himself, nor 

 have we been known to fish through the 

 ice in the early spring. I have known this 

 party and his friends to return from Flan- 

 ders' meadow, White Sand lake, Stillwater, 

 and the Mississippi, back of Bear River with 

 a catch of much greater average than ours. 

 I trust you will give this letter the same 

 prominence you gave the item referred to. 

 R. W. Ambrose, Sydney, C. B. 



When we got the fish in we both had him. 

 Pop took him from the hook. He was a 2 

 pound bass. 



F. K. Middough, Harrisburg, Pa. 



NIBBLES. 

 I am interested to learn what fish hatch- 

 ing work is in progress or in contemplation 

 for this year at the State hatcheries. Will 

 you kindly favor me with a statement of 

 what eggs are being hatched or are to be 

 hatched and at what times these operations 

 are likely to be in progress? Are catfish 

 ever artificially propagated, and if so under 

 what conditions. 



C. J. Herrick, Granville, Ohio. 



ANSWER. 



The United States Fish Commission does 

 not hatch any species of catfish, nor does 

 any State Fish Commission, as far as I 

 am informed. No method for the arti- 

 ficial propagation of any species of catfish 

 has ever been developed. All the United 

 States Fish Commission has ever done is 

 to put adult catfish in ponds where the con- 

 ditions are favorable and let them spawn 

 naturally, then plant the young. — Editor. 



Please say to W. B. Halcomb that one 

 day when Pop Slyers and I were fishing 

 at the mouth of Junalice river Pop lost 

 several fish because, as I thought, he pulled 

 too soon. I said to him, "The next time a 

 fish takes your bait, let him go a while be- 

 fore you pull on him." 



He let the next one have about 40 feet 

 of line. Just then I had a strike that 

 meant business. I said to Pop : 



"I have him !" > 



"So have I " said Pop. 



Our lines came in crossed and tangled. 

 I said: 



"Your fish got away" 



"No, I have him ; our fish got away." 



Last August while camping on the 

 Cuyahoga river, I caught a number of rock 

 bass, but to our surprise we found, when 

 cleaning them, that they had grubs about 

 1-16 of an inch long on their back bone. 

 Can you tell me the cause of it? Will the 

 grubs leave the fish when cold weather 

 comes? 



Harry J. Hopton, Youngstown, Ohio. 



ANSWER. 



Ordinarily, rock bass should not be in- 

 fested with parasites of that kind. Prob- 

 ably the water was too warm, stagnant, or 

 impure. Anything which lowers the vi- 

 tality of fish renders them more open to 

 attacks by parasites and disease. Very 

 likely when the water becomes more suit- 

 able the fish will improve. — Editor. 



No method of angling affords more sport 

 than trolling, especially on a large body of 

 water, free from weeds and other impedi- 

 ments to the free use of the line. I have 

 spent many summers fishing in the vicinity 

 of Petoskey, Mich. With a small launch 

 and a line not less than 300 feet long, 

 trolling at a moderate speed over good 

 fishing grounds, such as are found in the 

 many Northern lakes, is pure joy. 



Burt lake, 20 miles Northeast of Petos- 

 key, is one of the best bodies of water for 

 this purpose. There trolling is employed 

 almost exclusively, and pickerel are taken 

 in great numbers, weighing 2 pounds and 

 upward. A 28-pounder was the largest 

 ever taken in that lake, to my knowledge. 

 T. P. Wagoner, Knightstown, Ind. 



On the 7th of June, 1898, at 6 p. m., I 

 left town with my wife and 2 little children 

 for a trip of 2 days at Alligator Head. 

 We went down at night because it was 

 cooler. Having only very light wind we 

 reached the Head next morning at 8. I 

 went out on the wharf in the morning and 

 caught 3 trout, 3 catfish and 1 shoemaker 

 in 20 minutes. Spent the evening resting. 



Next morning (9th), I fished from 9 

 to 11 and caught 7 trout, weighing 16 

 pounds, and 2 man-eating sharks. Tried 

 for Jew fish (deep sea bass), but got none. 

 In the afternoon we returned home with 

 a fair, stiff, breeze; making the trip in 3 

 hours and 20 minutes. 



H. M. Brown, Port Lavaca, Tex. 



Persons who are interested in the habits 

 of fishes should read the article about 

 driftwood noises, in the Natural History 

 department of this issue. 



