FISH AND FISHING. 



375 



other side of the log. In about 3 seconds 

 the fish was back in his old position. 



Three days later the adult fish had disap- 

 peared, but close to the old spot was a 

 black patch of wriggling young catfish. 

 R. C. W. Lett, Ottawa, Cam 



LEAVE SOME FOR OTHERS. 



In Oregon and Washington the law 

 limits an angler to 125 fish for a day's 

 catch. That is certainly liberal. I see 

 that you roast men who catch 40, 50 or 

 60 fish in a day and call them fish hogs. 

 Would you hold a man in Oregon to the 

 same limit that you think is right in the 

 Eastern States? If I go 20 or 30 miles 

 to fish, do you want me to stop at 

 40 or 50, when there are a dozen 

 men on the same stream who will catch 

 the legal limit if they can ? If a man takes 

 a little vacation in the mountains and 

 finds fishing good, he will naturally want 

 to salt or possibly dry and smoke a few 

 fish, to take home. Would you blame 

 him if he caught his legal allowance in 

 that case ? If a man is a fish hog on either 

 of these propositions, then every fisherman 

 in Oregon and Washington is a hog. And 

 our hunters are the same. They will shoot 

 the limit if they can. 



Myron Otis, Portland, Ore. 



ANSWER. 



No man has a right to waste fish in 

 Oregon or in any other State. The fact that 

 trout are so plentiful in your State that 

 a man can catch 100 in a day does not 

 justify him in doing it even if the law does 

 permit it. I claim that no man has a 

 right to fish for his neighbors; that he 

 should simply take a reasonable number 

 for himself and his family for a day or 2 

 and let others do the same. If the present 

 slaughter of fish is allowed to go on the 

 time will come when trout will be just as 

 scarce in Oregon streams as they are in 

 New England streams to-day. — Editor. 



PROBABLY PARASITES. 



In the South central portion of New 

 York State is a meadow brook which has 

 for a number of years been one of the most 

 satisfactory and enjoyable fishing grounds 

 in that portion of the country. It is fed 

 by a number of large springs which have 

 particularly low temperature and it flows 

 scarcely more than a mile before emp- 

 tying into a pond which is the termina- 

 tion of the trout fishing. Up to last season , 

 the fishing and the fish themselves were in 

 ideal condition; but last year, owing, 

 perhaps, to an unusually protracted and 

 high flow of water, the stream .which is not 

 large, became seriously clogged with 

 watercress for the greater part of its 



best fishing length. For perhaps to 

 this or some other reason, with which I 

 am unacquainted, many of the trout have 

 become affected with some sort of a disease 

 which is marked by a kind of prickly 

 black scale, or parasite, covering their 

 bodies more or less extensively. Kindly 

 advise us whether this is due to the growth 

 of the watercress or to some other cause; 

 and in any case whether there is any 

 remedy for the disease. If so, what is it? 

 Remington Squire, New York City. 



These are probably parasites known as 

 psorosperms of some sort. Positive identi- 

 fication is, of course, impossible without 

 specimens. If Mr. Squire will kindly send 

 one or more specimens of the fish to the 

 U. S. Fish Commission, Washington, D. C, 

 the parasite can be identified for him and 

 the cause can then be better understood. 

 Ordinarily parasites of these kinds at- 

 tack fish which are enervated or weakened 

 in any way through unfavorable environ- 

 ment, such as may be produced by in- 

 sufficient water supply, too high a tempera- 

 ture, impure water, too much crowding, 

 insufficient food, etc. The presence of 

 too rank a growth of watercress might 

 lead to similar results, but it is not 

 probable. — Editor. 



WHICH ONE IS THE LIAR? 



I should like to place 2 big, fat hogs 

 in your private pen. One I call Pat. H. 

 Connell and the other Ed. L. Case. 

 October 24th, between 5 and 6.30 

 o'clock, they caught 347 pounds of pike 

 and bass. I can not give them a proper 

 roast, so kindly help me. 



Game and fish are abundant here. 

 Quails are protected until Sept. 1, 1903. 

 We have no spring shooting in Wisconsin; 

 a good State with good sportsmen. There 

 ought not to be any law against killing 

 game hogs, same as any other porkers. 

 L. C. D. Prairie du Chien, Wis. 



On receipt of this letter I wrote Connell 

 and Case, asking them if the statement 

 was accurate. They replied as follows: 



Yes; but there were 3 of us and we 

 caught 437 pounds in one day. 



P. H. Connell, Prairie du Chien, Wis. 



Your informant is wrong. Pat Connell 

 and I, 2 thorough sportsmen, in one after- 

 noon caught 447 pounds of fish instead 

 of 347 pounds. We could have caught 

 more but it grew so dark we eould not 

 see the lines. 



Ed. L. Case Prairie du Chien, Wis. 



It appears that these 2 men are not 

 only shameless butchers but one of them 

 is also a liar. Connell says there were 3 

 in the herd; Case says 2. Which is the 

 liar? I say Case. What is your guess P-^. 

 Editor. 



