FISH AND FISHING. 



131 



horns. I owned that 40 bass was a fine half 

 day's catch, but, also said that J. H. Agor 

 and son caught 51 along the West shore of 

 Lake Osakis, during the summer of 1894, 

 in one hour and 37 minutes. Their aver- 

 age weight was sVa pounds. Time 3:40 to 

 5:17 p.m. 



Instead of complimenting me for telling 

 a true fish story my friends began to howl 

 and cry, 



"Where is Eli Perkins?" 



" Let's see the fish," etc. It happened 

 we had the fish photographed, and luckily 

 I had the picture with me which I at once 

 produced, proving my statement abso- 

 lutely correct. 



Lake Osakis is one of the prettiest of the 

 Minnesota lakes. Bass fishing is always 

 good. Wall-eyed pike are caught by the 

 thousands during the month of June. The 

 woods along the lake are alive with gray 

 and black squirrels. 



C. H. Morrill. 



A SLAUGHTER OF MUSKALONGE. 



The Jamestown, N. Y., Evening Journal, 

 of February 8th, gave an account of the 

 opening of the fish spearing season on 

 Lake Chautauqua, which is enough to 

 make any friend of game and fish preserva- 

 tion shudder. The article states that over 

 800 fish houses appeared on the ice, on the 

 morning of the opening day, and 40 of 

 these were within a radius, of 25 acres of 

 the icy surface, in Sherman's bay. It is 

 said these houses were inhabited by over 

 1,000 men. Each man was armed with a 

 spear and a decoy minnow and the slaugh- 

 ter of muskalonge began at once. This 

 noble fish is almost the only kind taken 

 with the spear in Chautauqua lake, and it is 

 estimated that 3,000 muskalonge were 

 taken in that one day. The largest fish 

 taken weighed 38 pounds and the size 

 ranged from this down to 2 or 3 pounds. It 

 would seem that with this army of spear- 

 men in a raid against the fish, few of the 

 latter have escaped. The school of decoy 

 minnows, being temptingly manipulated 

 under the ice, would attract the attention of 

 practically every fish in this great lake. Of 

 course, a few did escape the first day, but 

 the open season extended over 10 fishing 

 days, and legitimate anglers, will be fortu- 

 nate if they can find a single muskalonge 

 in that lake this summer. 



NOTES. 



I was much interested in the letter from 

 Will Howard, in May Recreation, in re- 

 lation to catching white perch in the pond 

 at Mattapoisett. 



I was born and brought up in that town 

 and have caught many perch in the " Eel 

 pond," as it is called. It has outlet to salt 

 water, and we have always believed the 

 white perch came up from salt water in the 



spring. I have known of their being caught 

 in pound nets in salt water. 



We are badly in need of a law prohibit- 

 ing the sale of game in this State. 



There are a number of men in Brockton 

 who make a business of shooting for the 

 market. Some of them kill several hundred 

 grouse, quail and woodcock in a season, 

 and unless we have different game laws it 

 is only a question of time when game will 

 be as scarce as hen's teeth. 



A. D. Hammond, M.D., 

 Brockton, Mass. 



In December Recreation, H. M. Church 

 makes a statement about white perch, 

 which, in this part of the country, will not 

 stand good. I have fished in salt water 

 streams and inlets in this State the last 15 

 years, and have always found the best re- 

 sults in perch fishing in. brackish or salt 

 water. 



At Barnegat Pier, less than 10 miles from 

 the inlet, perch fishing is at its height dur- 

 ing the months of September and October. 

 With a light tackle and t either shrimp or 

 white worms for bait, I had many hours 

 of sport. The fish were from 8 to 12 inches 

 in length. 



R. W. Hopf, Hoboken, N. J. 



Will rock bass destroy young trout if 

 put in the same lake? 



C. W. Tenney, Barton, Vt. 



The rock bass is a carnivorous fish and 

 feeds to a considerable extent on the young 

 of other fishes. If placed in the same stream 

 or lake with young trout it will doubtless 

 destroy all the young trout it can. Owing 

 to the somewhat different habits of the 2 

 species, however, it is not likely that the 

 rock bass would prove entirely fatal to the 

 trout. 



The policy of the U. S. Fish Commission 

 is never to plant any member of the bass 

 family in waters in which it is desired to 

 raise trout or salmon. B. W. E. 



I saw a request, in Recreation, for in- 

 formation as to whether eel traps are in- 

 jurious to fish. I have fished with eel 

 traps for years and have never yet caught 

 a game fish in one. Eels are the only fish 

 that will go in a trap. The only time you 

 can catch eels is in the fall of the year, 

 when they go down stream. 



H. C. S., South Williamsport, Pa. 



" Yes," said the fish to his shuddering 

 family, " I got away; but just think how 

 that man will lie about me." — Indianapolis 

 Journal. 



Why not send in your $ for membership 

 in the L. A. S.? 



