'FISH AND FISHING. 



377 



Any one desiring to spend a few days 

 fishing for black bass can find no better 

 place than the Delaware river. The bass 

 caught often weigh over 5 pounds and are 

 extremely gamy. The water is usually 

 clear as crystal. The best fishing for bass 

 is found 7 or 8 miles above the Delaware 

 Water Gap. Board may be had at farm 

 houses on the river, with boats thrown in. 

 From the middle of July until the middle 

 of August fishing is excellent. It is also 

 good throughout September if the river 

 remains clear. Small catfish that _ never 

 reach an edible size are the best bait, and 

 are found abundantly in all small creeks 

 along the Delaware. 



M. L. Michael, Calno, N. J. 



caught only about 15 bass, and but one of 

 them was a 2-pounder. 



W. H. Johnson, Whitman, Mass. 



I have a pond which I wish to stock 

 with salmon and trout. It is now full of 

 pickerel. If I should put black bass into 

 it would they clean out the pickerel? And 

 would they be likely to molest the trout 

 and salmon ? 



W. W. Burlingame, Berlin, N. H. 



ANSWER. 



While the black bass would no doubt 

 destroy many of the smaller pickerel in 

 the pond, they would probably prove even 

 more destructive to trout and salmon. 

 Bass will range the entire pond, preying 

 on everything they meet ; while pickerel 

 will be more likely to confine themselves 

 to the shoaler water in the neighborhood 

 of vegetation. — Editor. 



I spent a week last season on the Dela- 

 ware river around North Water Gap and 

 found fishing poor. Two pounds is a big 

 bass there nowadays. Little attention is 

 paid to the law regarding size. Many keep 

 every bass, whether 6 inches or 16. A 

 farmer near Buttermilk falls showed me 

 "how we catch fish in Warren county." 

 He had a weir right on Buttermilk falls and 

 any fish that didn't like to tumble over 

 the falls could navigate down that sluice 

 to his death. I felt like putting in a com- 

 plaint against the man, but could not find a 

 game warden. Plenty of quails and some 

 ruffled grouse there this fall. 



E. W. Newcomb, New York. 



The Massachusetts law on black bass is 

 abominable. The open season was former- 

 ly July 1st to January 1st, which was satis- 

 factory. Under the new law it is June 1 

 to December 1. The change was made, I 

 suppose, for the benefit of those who could 

 not catch enough to satisfy them without 

 fishing on the spawning beds in June. I 

 had not been fishing for 5 or 6 years until 

 last fall. It was formerly my custom to 

 put back all fish under 2 pounds, and I 

 seldom failed to get as many big fellows as 

 I could use. Last year in 6 or 7 trips I 



I've had my try at ouananiche and land- 

 ed 4, but this is their dull time o' year, and 

 they didn't furnish the trouble I expected. 

 There's plenty here, however. The wood- 

 cock, with which Warner has had some 

 success, prove their title to the king of 

 game birds as far as I am concerned, for 

 no daintier dish ever spoiled in front of me." 

 We have also had ruffled grouse, black and 

 wood ducks, jacksnipe, plover, sandlings, 

 rabbits, pickerel, and frogs, the latter big 

 and plentiful. 



Louis Akin, 

 Grand Lake Stream, Me. 



We scooped in 2 young men for spearing 

 bass. The judge remitted their fine be- 

 cause of their youth. We arrested them be- 

 cause they persisted in spearing after being 

 warned. 



F. S. Merrill, Spokane, Wash., 

 Chief Warden, Wash. Div., L. A. S. 



Possibly the boys will take a hint now. 

 If they do not, I trust chief warden Mer- 

 rill will take them into court again and 

 that the judge may not be so charitable 

 toward them next time. — Editor. 



Dr. W. S. Leavey, while fishing last 

 June in Mill brook, which runs through 

 Boonville, caught a brook trout 5 pounds 

 in weight and 25^ inches long. The fish 

 was taken on a 7 ounce rod and landed 

 after a half hour's fight. It was the larg- 

 est trout ever taken in this vicinity. 



C. H. Cook, Boonville, N. Y. 



Striped bass are still biting and it will 

 soon be time for red drum. The latter 

 we catch by standing in the surf and cast- 

 ing. It is good sport, but not so exciting 

 as bass fishing. The drum run 5 to 50 

 pounds. 



A. S. Doane, Waterlily, N. C. 



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