372 



RECREATION. 



and neater. Much of their soggy beefiness 

 has been v trained down to the thoroughbred 

 racehorse type, the heaviness of the bones 

 has decreased, the jaws have lost much of 

 their prominence, particularly the under 

 one, and the bony frame of each fin has 

 grown smaller, while the muscles and sin- 

 ews have been increased in each fin. The 

 notch in the tail has become almost ex- 

 tinct, the head has become more pointed, 

 the forehead's slope has grown more 

 slanting, and a red spot has appeared in 

 each eye, on the edge of the pupil. The 

 iris of the eye is also more brilliant. I 

 have never observed the foregoing char- 

 acteristics in ZV.-J bass outside of the Dela- 

 ware. 



I claim that the red spot in the eyes of 

 the Delaware bass renders him just as dis- 

 tinct a type of his species as though his 

 eyes were blue or green. His color, too, 

 has perceptibly changed to brighter hues, 

 finer markings, etc. 



I once dressed a 4-pound black bass 

 fresh from the Delaware for a physician 

 stopping at my house. He ordered the 

 eyes removed, for he wanted his cook to 

 bake the bass for him and his city cronies 

 when he got home. I threw the eyes in a 

 large stove from which the red hot ashes 

 had just been raked. I thought they would 

 immediately burn up, but, to my surprise, 

 one of them exploded with a little puff, 

 while the other shriveled to about the size 

 of a buckshot. On taking it out and wiping 

 it I found it had become very hard, had 

 the weight of a pebble of its size, and was 

 a beautiful pearl. Just how this change 

 was brought about I am unable to say. I 

 do not claim, however, that this is a dis- 

 tinctive feature of our Delaware bass. 

 M. L. Michael, North Watergap, Pa. 



GOOD ADVICE TO CLUB MEMBERS. 

 Here is a copy of a circular issued by the 

 Fish and Game Committee of the Tolland 

 Fish & Game Association, whose preserve 

 is near the Colbrook river, in Connecticut.. 

 I earnestly commend the subject matter of 

 this circular to all members of fishing and 

 hunting clubs. 



About the 10th of May the water in tne 

 Tolland streams will be sufficiently warm 

 and low to insure good fishing. The large 

 brook was heavily stocked last year and 

 promises the largest fish and the best sport 

 the members have ever had at the club. 

 The small lake offers excellent fly fishing 

 for rainbow trout, as a 1^2 pound fish was 

 caught there this year. He was put back, 

 so is still there waiting for a fly. The 

 committee urgently reauests the members 

 to put back as many fish caught as pos- 

 sible, only reserving a few of the choicest 

 for eating and to take home. 



As far as sport is concerned a iish has 

 served its highest purpose when caught, and 

 if returned to the water can serve that 

 purpose again and again, to an increasing 

 extent, as he grows larger. Besides, we 

 share the sport of catching with others 

 and have not decreased our own pleasure 

 to the slightest extent. This ought to be 

 particularly so with rainbow trout as it is 

 the largest fish that furnish the finest sport, 

 and if all the rainbow trout are put back 

 the entire membership will have plenty of 

 good fly fishing throughout the season. 

 Last season a lar^e number of brook trout 

 were thoughtlessly wasted. Many times 

 half the fish caught were not eaten, though 

 cooked; and in a number of instances the 

 fish were left in the creels and spoiled. 

 Good as the fishing will be, this season, it 

 would be far better had the wasted fish 

 been put back. The committee earnestly 

 requests the members to give this matter 

 serious thought and to give their heartiest' 

 co-operation in keeping the club streams 

 and lakes well stocked with large fish. Only 

 in this way can the sport spirit in our club 

 be brought to the highest standard. 



A MICHIGAN RAZORBACK. 

 The following clipping was recently sent 

 me by a subscriber : 



Niles, Mich. — Considerable excitement has been 

 stirred up among the fishermen of Cass county 

 by a recent catch of large mouth black bass made 

 in LaGrange pond, 5 miles East of Dowagiac, by 

 James Heddon. Mr. Heddon captured 73 bass in 

 a few hours. One of the string weighed 6 

 pounds, while many of them weighed 3 and 4 

 pounds. The total weight of the catch was^ 114 

 pounds. 



This wholesale slaughtering of the bass has 

 started an agitation which may result in present- 

 ing a petition to the Legislature at the next ses- 

 sion asking for the passage of a law that will 

 prohibit the use of more than one hook on a 

 bait when angling for bass. — .Detroit Free Press. 



I wrote Mr. Heddon, asking if the re- 

 port was correct, and he replied: 



I did catch 73 of the black beauties with- 

 in a few hours. Thinking ^erhaps you 

 would like to use a photograph 1 am send- 

 ing you one to-day. 



Chas. Heddon, Dowagiac, Mich. 



No, I do not care to use the photograph. 

 If you had followed the usual method of 

 fish hogs and had stood beside the string, 

 I should then have been glad to print the 

 picture, in order that decent men might 

 recognize you when they saw you and 

 shun you. The fish are not to be blamed 

 for being photographed, and being dead 

 and hung up they are simply like any other 

 73 dead bass. It is safe to assume that 

 these fish would average 2 pounds each or 

 more ; so it appears you destroyed about 

 150 pounds of black bass, whereas no gen- 

 tleman would care to kill more than 25 

 pounds in a day at the most. I t-rust vthe 



