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RECREATION. 



SOME MISTAKES OF PROTECTION. 



For 30 years I have worked to protect 

 game, and now I am almost discouraged. 

 My efforts date back to the time of the 

 first fish and game commission. It was 

 composed of eminent and zealous men, 

 but the result of their work shows clearly 

 that many sad mistakes were made 

 through lack of practical experience. Our 

 laws are full of loopholes through which 

 fish and game may be destroyed, and in 

 New York, at least, the end seems near. 



Year after year millions of trout are 

 sent out in early spring and dumped into 

 streams, only to be swept away by freshets. 

 Fish are planted in waters that contain 

 antagonistic species. Rainbow and Cali- 

 fornia trout fry are planted in streams con- 

 taining brook trout. In one instance a 6 

 inch native trout was caught an hour after 

 such a planting with 27 of the fry in his 

 maw. German brown trout are now being 

 mixed in with brook trout, with the result 

 that few of either survive. Waters in which 

 native trout were fairly plentiful have, 

 after being stocked from State hatcheries, 

 shown a marked and continuous decrease 

 in the yield of fish. 



Even brook trout from different waters 

 will not fraternize when placed together. 

 During the past season 2 expert anglers 

 fished a certain trout water 6 hours a day 

 for 6 days, and caught only one fish. Ten 

 years ago that water was stocked with 

 mixed native and brown trout fry, and 

 carefully protected afterward. Before 

 stocking, native trout were there in abun- 

 dance. A gradual decrease followed. Care- 

 ful study showed antagonism of the breeds, 

 and they were actually seen devouring one 

 another. The larger fish surviving showed 

 the scars of fierce combats. 



Another cause of discouragement is the 

 constant settlement of game law prosecu- 

 tions out of court. Few actions are car- 

 ried to their legitimate conclusion. In 

 most cases threats of prosecution scare the 

 law breaker into settling for perhaps one- 

 quarter of the legal penalty. This savors 

 strongly of blackmail and degrades the 

 law in public opinion. 



Many circumstances might be mentioned 

 to show how little benefit is derived from 

 a large expenditure of public money. The 

 appropriation is ample, but through loose 

 knowledge and lax laws it is wasted. 



In 2 things only is there hope for our 

 game: Rigid protection of private pre- 

 serves, and prohibition of the sale of 

 game. G. Q., Utica, N. Y. 



greatly improved over last year, which is iio 

 doubt due to the abolition of nets, under the 

 vigorous work of the State game and fish depart- 

 ment. 



There have been several splendid catches at the 

 Flats this year, and true sportsmen find it possi- 

 ble to secure a day's enjoyment in quest of bass, 

 perch, pike, pickerel and other game fishes. The 

 genuine sportsmen fishes for the excitement and 

 pleasure of the thing, and not to gratify his 

 vanity or greed He is satisfied with a catch of 

 a dozen or so of bass and feels amply recom- 

 pensed with them. 



But the "fish hog," who masquerades as a 

 sportsman, is satisfied with nothing but his own 

 physical exhaustion and a catch large enough to 

 load his boat to the gunwales. We have heard 

 of several enormous catches by alleged sportsmen 

 — catches aggregating as high as 50 and 60 bass. 

 No fisherman, who fishes for sport can possibly 

 make use of so many fish at one time. True, he 

 can give them to his friends, but in the majority 

 of cases there are more than he can conveniently 

 distribute among these. He must either throw 

 the dead fish back into the water or sell them. 



The man who catches fish to sell is not a sports- 

 man. He is on a par with the fishermen who 

 make a business of fishing — the market fishermen. 

 He doesn't challenge the admiration of sports- 

 men, but is regarded by them as a parvenu. He 

 is the man who poses before the camera to per- 

 petuate his hoggish characteristics. The man who 

 goes out and lands a string of fish of modest 

 proportions, who knows when to quit, and is 

 satisfied to return and exhibit his trophies and 

 give what he does not desire to his neighbors, is 

 the true sportsman. Those who haul in by the 

 score and load down their boats with fish that 

 can not be used except as a commercial asset have 

 a distorted sense of pride and a greed that is 

 disgusting to all disciples of Isaak Walton. — 

 Daily Journal, Detroit, Mich. 



One by one the great newspapers are 

 coming into the ranks of the pork roasters, 

 and we may soon see the finish of the fish 

 hog and the game hog who stands up be- 

 side his string and has himself photo- 

 graphed. When all the daily newspapers 

 in the land shall refuse to print these dis- 

 gusting pictures, then Recreation can 

 cease to offend its readers by reprinting 

 them. When the dailies quit exploiting 

 these chaps Recreation will quit branding 

 them and fish and game will be plentiful 

 everywhere. So mote it soon be. — Editor. 



GAME HOGS AS FISHERMEN. 

 The wisdom of enacting and enforcing laws for 

 the protection of fish is proved by the increasing 

 abundance of them in the marshes at St. Clair 

 Flats and in the bays and streams tributary to 

 the lake. Those who have visited the fishing 

 grounds this season testify that the fishing has 



DOMESTICATING GOLD FISH. 



C. H. Miller asks in June Recreation 

 if gold fish can be propagated in house 

 aquariums. I have quite a few gold fish, 

 both imported and American bred, but 

 haven't had them long enough to spawn, 

 as they were too young last spring. 



I have been quite successful with Para- 

 dise, or nest building, fish, which I con- 

 sider the most interesting of all aquaria 

 fish. I have now in my 20 gallon aquarium 

 several hundred little Paradise fish, only 

 a few days old, and they are healthy and 

 lively. They were spawned and hatched 

 in the same aquarium which they now ocr 

 cupy. I also have another nest which will 

 hatch in a day or so. It is interesting to 

 watch these fish build their nest, and to 

 see the care the male takes of the little 

 ones for a few days after they hatch. The 



