FISH AND FISHING. 



37i 



low stage, the tin mills about Pittsburgh 

 flushed the acids from their pickling tanks 

 into the river, and killed every fish for 100 

 miles below them. There were millions of 

 dead fish floating on the water. One could 

 walk the shore line from Pittsburgh to 

 Wheeling, and step on dead fis.h the entire 

 way. The stench was simply awful. Our 

 warden wrote to the chief warden about it, 

 but got no reply. He then wrote to the 

 commissioners, and they referred him back 

 to the chief. 



Hamlin Barnes, Wellsville, O. 



On the afternoon of May 28th I went to 

 Greens Farms, Ct, 2 hours' ride from New 

 York on the New Haven railroad. I ar- 

 rived there too late to fish that day. 



My cottage is within 100 feet of the Sound 

 and between 2 points which are covered at 

 high tide. 



Huge bowlders hung with seaweed form 

 one of these points, and off it is an ideal 

 place for striped bass and blackfish. 



The other point is nothing more than a 

 sand flat, covered with eel grass and sea- 

 weed. It is a great place for clams and large 

 quantities are dug there. 



I have always found the fishing better on 

 the flood than on the ebb tide; but having 

 only one day to fish I decided to try my 

 luck on both. 



Early Monday morning, armed with a 10 

 foot 11 ounce split bamboo rod, a 12 thread 

 cuttyhunk line and a Vom Hofe multiplying 

 reel, I tried the fish. 



I soon landed a one pound blackfish. It 

 had a white nose and belly, while its sides 

 were of a steel color. The farmers call them 

 " tide runners," or " white noses." They are 

 not so common as the rock blackfish, but 

 are more gamy. The latter are of a yellow- 

 ish color and smaller in size. 



I had fair luck and in a short time caught 

 11 good fish. 



In the afternoon I caught 8 more. Among 

 them were 2 flatfish weighing one and i l / 2 

 pounds respectively. They are not gamy, 

 but are better eating than blackfish. 



J. L. Phipps, N. Y. City. 



A FISH HOG PICTURE. 



The Chicago Times-Herald of a recent 

 date published one of the most revolting 

 fish hog pictures I have seen in many a day. 

 It shows a string of 27 fish, and a man 

 standing behind them, in the usual pose 

 of the fish hog. Under the picture is 

 printed a statement to the effect that the 

 man shown in the picture is Julius B. 

 Fox, of Chicago, who on a recent Sunday 

 had caught at Delavan Lake, Wis., 28 pike, 

 weighing 2 to 4 pounds each, and that the 

 aggregate string weighed 100 pounds. It is 

 further stated the, cut for the Times-Herald 

 was made from 3 photograph. 



If the daily papers would only learn to de- 

 nounce all such cases of hoggishness, in- 



stead of parading them as wonderful rec- 

 ords, and as worthy of emulation, they 

 would aid materially in educating the public 

 to a proper respect for decency. 



The picture referred to was clipped from 

 the Times-Herald by a subscriber in 

 Springfield, 111., who writes : " I send you 

 to-day a picture of a great fish hog. Please 

 help us kill him off ; or, at least, make him 

 ashamed of himself." 



It is hoped Mr. Fox will now feel he is 

 publicly disgraced by having his picture 

 and his " record " published in the Times- 

 Herald, and that hereafter when he feels in- 

 clined to gratify his natural proclivities he 

 will at least be modest enough to conceal 

 the fact from the public. 



NOTES. 



The Wapsie and Buffalo rivers, North of 

 here, afford fair fishing, though spears, 

 seines and dynamite have played havoc with 

 the fish in the last few years. Still I manage 

 once a week to bring in a good catch, usually 

 12 to 18 fish, weighing one to 4^2 pounds 

 each. In the rivers mentioned are black 

 bass, wall-eyed pike, a few crappies and Ger- 

 man carp, and occasionally a catfish. If Mr. 

 E. A. Adams will try our bait for carp he 

 will probably capture a few. We use kernels 

 of canned corn, strung on a No. 22 or 23 

 Cincinnati bass hook. Not a sportsmanlike 

 bait, but it's good for carp and is the only 

 bait I know of that they will take at almost 

 any time of day. Has any bass fisherman 

 ever tried a 3 or 3^ inch " bull-head?" They 

 live all day on the hook and are always 

 lively. I caught with one a bass weighing 

 4^4 pounds. 



J. E. King, M.D., Anamosa, Iowa. 



I notice in August Recreation an inquiry 

 about bait for carp. We catch dozens of 

 those fish in our little river with hook and 

 line and a piece of boiled potato for bait. 

 Angle worms and fresh water clams are also 

 used. It is not uncommon to take carp 

 weighing 15 pounds. They are considered 

 a nuisance by us. There is certainly a de- 

 crease in the number of other fishes since 

 carp were planted in the river. 



Old Cap, Columbus, Wis. 



" Bird Neighbors " is one of the best 

 books on Ornithology published since the 

 days of Audubon. $2 gets a copy of that 

 book and a yearly subscription to Recrea- 

 tion. How can anybody afford to be with- 

 out that book, when it can be had at ^ 

 the publisher's price? 



What else can you give a man for a 

 Holiday present that will give him so 

 much pleasure, at so small a cost, as a 

 yearly subscription to Recreation? 



