FISH AND FISHING. 



12$ 



they crowded one another out on the 

 banks. 



"I remember distinctly," he continued, 

 "that in the fall of '32 this shallow creek 

 froze solid to the bottom. The French- 

 men that were here in those days cut the 

 ice, which was full of fish, and corded it 

 up on the bank like wood. When spring 

 opened it came rather hot suddenly and 

 stayed that way. The boys came over to 

 the creek to take care of their fish as soon 

 as they could after spring set in. They 

 found the ice had melted and the fish had 

 swam away." 



F. J. L., Toledo, O. 



FISH NOTES. 

 I have heard of many strange catches 

 by anglers, some of them being snakes, 

 bulls, bullfrogs, turtles, etc. The most pe- 

 culiar catch I ever heard of occurred on 

 a pond not far from this city, and was 

 brought to town to be mounted by E. W. 

 Ensign, taxidermist. A foreigner, whose 

 name I am unable to find out, while on a 

 fishing trip was losing his live minnows, 

 and he was unable to catch the animal that 

 was robbing him. He kept on feeding it 

 and losing his bait, but finally decided to 

 put a small hook on his line and bait it. 

 He threw in the pond and as soon as the 

 bait was out of sight he had the same thing 

 biting. That time he was successful, and 

 he pulled up. What he thought was a fish 

 turned out to be a pied-billed grebe, Pcdi- 

 lymbus podiceps, and it started to fly away, 

 but he finally landed it. He had it 

 mounted, and in dissecting it the taxi- 

 dermist took the hook from its windpipe. 

 This is true, as I saw it. 



Fred. Saxe, Pittston, Pa. 



Last June our board of health had to 

 carry away our dead fish in 2-horse wagon 

 loads from our borough of Ridgway. A 

 paper mill at Johnsonburg, 8 miles above 

 here, pours its waste into the Clarion river 

 tributaries. The tanneries also dump their 

 refuse into our streams. The State author- 

 ities know of these outrages, yet allow 

 them to pass. I have refused to act as 

 warden any more. We have a fish com- 

 missioner who is simply a toad stool. He 

 draws a good salary, and that is all he cares 

 for. Cans of fish are sent here consigned 

 to individuals, and are simply dumped for 

 want of attention. Recently one of our 

 local papers stated that 10,000 young trout 

 arrived at P. & E. depot, consigned prop- 

 erly, but remained uncalled for. How are 

 we to remedy these evils? 



We have an abundance of game and it is 

 increasing rapidly now, as our second 

 growth timber is doing well. Gray rab- 

 bits are plentiful. 



Frederick Schroening, Ridgway, Pa. 



In reply to Dr. S., 61 Cincinnati, O., in 

 December Recreation, I wish to say 

 I know of 2 larger bass. One was caught 

 a year ago last fall by Mr, Goerber, about 

 175 miles from Sheboygan, and the other 

 by A. C. Thompson, of Madison, on Men- 

 dota. lake, off Governor's island. Mr. Goer- 

 ber's weighed 8 pounds 7 ounces, and Mr. 

 Thompson's weighed 8 pounds 10 ounces. 

 I have a picture of Mr. Thompson's bass, 

 life size, and a facsimile of the affidavit. 



I am glad you are giving it to the game 

 hogs. I love the birds and am making 

 ornithology a study. The police here are 

 right after the boys with slingshots, and 

 this last, year I have seen more birds than 

 ever before, as they are coming back to us. 

 Ray McDuffie, Sheboygan, Wis. 



Late last spring I went fishing with my 

 4-ounce rod and some seine line. The rod 

 I made myself, of hickory, with gas pipe 

 for joints. It was a peach; strong as a 

 beam, and limber as a whip. After I had 

 been on the stream awhile I got a bite 

 from something that pulled like a steam 

 engine. The pole bent and twisted and 

 cracked, and it took me half an hour to 

 land my catch. It was the strangest thing 

 I ever saw — a trout with 2 tails. That's 

 the reason it pulled as hard as a twin- 

 screw steamship, I suppose. 



V. F., Stamford, Ct. 



In December Recreation Arch Daven- 

 port, of Ft. Scott, Kan., says he was bitten 

 by a bass. I have never before heard of 

 any one being injured in that way by a 

 fish, but would suggest that he try a ban- 

 dage made of blue ribbons for his wound. 

 Bloom Duncan, Paris, Tex. 



The Codger — Why, Tommy! You 

 wouldn't hit your little brother, would 

 you? 



The Kid — Well, yer don't tink fer a min- 

 nit I'd hit me big one, do yer? — Kansas 

 City Independent. 



The ice and coal men have a plot 

 With which to make their sales twofold: 



In summer ice bills make us hot, 

 While coal bills make our blood run cold. 

 — Philadelphia Record. 



"Sure, yer hair is falling out frightfully. 

 You'll be bald soon if it kapes on." 



"Faith, I'll be balder still if it don't kape 

 on." — Melbourne Weekly Times. 



Sillicus — None but the brave deserve the 

 fair. Cynicus — That's right; they'll need 

 all their bravery before they get through. 



Recreation is like Dewey — it beats them all. 



Geo. W. Fargo, Jr., Kaukauna, Wis. 



