374 



RECREATION. 



up rivers to spawn? Is it in any sense of 

 the word a fresh water fish ? 



N. H. Fowler, Columbus, O. 



ANSWER. 



The shad is not a fresh water fish, but 

 an andromous fish ; that is, a fish which 

 lives and feeds habitually in salt water and 

 comes into fresh water only at spawning 

 time and for spawning purposes. 



Three species of shad are known in 

 American waters : 



The common shad, Alosa sapidissima 

 (Wilson), which occurs along our Atlantic 

 coast from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to 

 Florida, entering all suitable rivers at 

 spawning time and returning again to the 

 sea when done spawning; 



The Alabama shad, Alosa alabamde (Jor- 

 dan & Evermann), known only from the 

 Gulf of Mexico, streams tributary to which 

 it enters at spawning time ; 



The Ohio shad, Alosa ohiensis (Ever- 

 mann), thus far known only from the 

 Ohio river, in which stream the fish was 

 recently discovered. Though this species 

 has not as yet been seen in the Gulf of 

 Mexico, there is every reason to believe 

 that it belongs in salt water and comes up 

 the Mississippi to the Ohio at spawning 

 time. It is of some commercial importance 

 at Louisville, Ky., where it is caught in 

 haul seines, light leaded so as to fish the 

 surface. 



The only shad of great commercial im- 

 portance is the common shad of the Atlantic 

 coast. The principal shad fisheries are in 

 the lower portions of the Potomac, Susque- 

 hanna, Delaware, Hudson, Connecticut and 

 St. Johns rivers and in the rivers of the 

 South Atlantic States. The fishing season 

 begins earliest in the South and has reached 

 its height in the Northern rivers in late 

 April, May and June. The catch is enor- 

 mous and amounts to about $2,000,000 an- 

 nually. 



This species has been introduced on the 

 Pacific coast, where it did not previously 

 occur, by the United States Fish Com- 

 mission. The waters were found con- 

 genial, the shad thrived, and now the catch 

 of shad on the West coast amounts to half 

 a million dollars annually, an amount ex- 

 ceeding the entire expense of conducting 

 the United States Fish Commission. This 

 is one of the best proofs of the value of the 

 artificial propagation of food and game 

 fishes.— B. W. E. 



excitement he cares to have ; and the dex- 

 terity in casting, watchfulness and skill re- 

 quired in landing a fish in the snaggy, rocky 

 holes in which they are found, together 

 with the rough tramping and wading, af- 

 ford much pleasure to the angler who cares 

 more for overcoming obstacles and ob- 

 taining results under difficulties than for 

 killing a big string of fish. I have fished 

 in these waters several years, and have here- 

 tofore been using a rod manufactured by 

 an old angler of the locality who has 

 caught black bass out of the Genesee river 

 ever since he was able to hold a rod. He 

 with many others in the region, be- 

 lieves that the proper rod for bass should 

 be 14 to 16 feet long, and heavy enough to 

 lift the biggest fish out of the water before 

 it has a chance to run. This summer 

 I shattered all precedents by taking with 

 me a Bristol steel rod, No. 8, and a Yaw- 

 man & Erbe automatic reel. I was told 

 that an old settler, as the large bass are 

 called there, w r ouid simply jerk my tin pole 

 inside out, and that the automatic reel 

 would never have any effect on one of them 

 until he was safely hidden behind his fa- 

 vorite log or stone. While I did not have 

 an opportunity to test the rod on as large 

 fish as there are in those waters, both the 

 rod and the reel justified their reputa- 

 tion. They also have the added advantage 

 of far less weight and far greater conven- 

 ience. Bass in all the streams of South- 

 ern New York are unusually fat this year. 

 There is an enormous number of fry and 

 minnows in all the streams. 



L. B. Elliott, Rochester, N. Y. 



GOOD BASS FISHING. 

 Last September I took a little fishing 

 jaunt along the head waters of the Genesee 

 fiver. This is not usually considered an at- 

 tractive fishing ground, but there is many a 

 small mouth black bass in these waters that 

 will give the most ardent angler a]J the 



AT MOOSEHEAD LAKE. 

 The early part of last September I spent 

 at Moosehead, Me., on the line of the Ca- 

 nadian Pacific Railway. The fishing there 

 is remarkable. The station is at the outlet 

 of the Kennebec river from Moosehead 

 lake, and brook trout can be caught from 

 the dam, as well as all along the rapids. 

 The regular thing last fall was for anglers 

 to catch half a dozen trout before break- 

 fast and have them cooked for that meal. 

 Men who have been going to Moosehead 

 every season for 30 years were there again, 

 fishing as enthusiastically as boys. One old 

 gentleman who apparently had rheumatism 

 to such an extent that he had to be assisted 

 in walking, was each morning conducted 

 out on to the dam, where he often sat 

 nearly all day, happy as a king, and catch- 

 ing all the trout he could use. The live 

 rapids roaring between dense evergreen 

 woods, the broad lake stretching back to 

 the Spencer mountains without sign of 

 habitation, give the place absolute wildness, 

 so dear to the heart. One angler was re- 

 ported to have caught 100 brook trout in a 



