480 



RECREATION. 



A DEVIL OF AN ANGLER. 

 The following clipping was taken from 

 the Scranton Republican. It is evident 

 Mr. Florey is devoid of any sense of true 

 sportsmanship : 



C. M. Florey, who summered at Lake Winola, is said 

 to have caught in one day 72 pickerel, 44 black bass, 18 sea 

 trout, 3 halibut, go bullheads and 822 sunfish. Four lines 

 were used, but Mr. Florey handled them alone. 



I am well acquainted with the fishing 

 grounds of Pennsylvania, but it has been 

 some time since I have had such a surprise 

 as this. Lake Winola contains neither hal- 

 ibut nor sea trout. Pickerel fishing, in 

 Lake Winola, as in most other lakes or 

 ponds, requires the skill of a good skipper, 

 or the laborious work of hours of trolling. 

 If Mr. Florey caught 72 pickerel, it cer- 

 tainly was done either by skipping or by 

 trolling. In such case, how were the 44 

 black bass caught at the same time he was 

 pulling out the 72 pickerel? Bullheads are 

 not running against a hook in July, espe- 

 cially in Lake Winola. As to 822 sunfish, 

 it would require a month's work, instead 

 of 4 hours' work, to take them. Instead 

 of 4 lines Mr. Florey must have had 40 and 

 4. I am inclined to believe the Republican 

 reporter wrote this article more to play 

 horse with Mr. Florey than to place him in 

 the proud list of sportsmen. I have known 

 Mr. Florey a number of years, and can 

 hardly believe he would slaughter our 

 finny tribe as he is discredited in the report 

 with doing. The reporters of the Repub- 

 lican love to guy their friends, and if this 

 item was written for that purpose it should 

 be effectual. 



G. P., Scranton, Pa. 



FURTHER EVIDENCE REQUIRED. 



Lake Bomoseen, Vt., is a beautiful sheet 

 of water about 9 miles long and averaging 

 2 vvide. It lies between the foothills of the 

 Green mountains to the East and in view 

 of the lower Adirondacks to the West and 

 North. It is easily reached by way of the 

 D. and H. to Castleton, which is 5 miles 

 from the lake. I have never seen more 

 natural waters for bass, both small mouth 

 and Oswego. They grow to an unusual 

 size. It is a common occurrence to catch 

 the former weighing 5 to 6 pounds and the 

 large mouth, or Oswego, 8 to 10 pounds. 

 In fact, I have seen some caught there 

 which weighed 12 pounds. Those are the 

 largest I have ever heard of. Pickerel also 

 grow there to an enormous size, running 

 from one pound to 30. The larger ones, 

 however, are caught as a rule through the 

 ice. 



As in the case of all good fishing 

 grounds, especially those that are as yet not 

 well known, this lake suffers from ille- 

 gal fishing. Nearly every night one can 

 see lanterns dodging about over the 



waters, indicating plainly that netting is 

 going on. I have been told by law abid- 

 ing natives that it is a common thing for a 

 wagonload of the big fish that are caught 

 that way to roll by to the local markets. 

 F. M. Spiegle, New York City. 



Those are great bass you tell of. Were 

 they weighed or estimated ? You will have 

 to put up some strong affidavits to induce 

 anglers to 'believe such fish are common 

 anywhere in New England. — Editor. 





POSSIBLY NOT FISH HOGS. 



Enclosed find clipping from local paper 

 that tells its own story. And the fish war- 

 den at that ! The whole catch were not 

 bass, I have since learned, but I think these 

 men are still included in the swine class. 



The clipping enclosed was as follows: 



Frank Taylor and Fish Warden Spence returned from a 

 gratifying fishing trip last night. They had 2 market 

 baskets full of big and handsome black bass caught in the 

 pond at North Andover. They had more sport than the 

 chief marshal of the parade and felt bigger than the Fourth 

 of July. Two of the bass weighed 9 pounds and another 

 5% pounds. 



Warden Spence recently prosecuted a boy 

 for spearing eels in the Merrimack fishway. 

 The law and the statutes were such that 

 Judge Hadley could only impose the stated 

 fine of $50. The boy's parents were poor, 

 and the payment of the fine was a severe 

 hardship. Mr. Spence therefore kindly re- 

 turned his recompense, which was half of 

 the fine. But Sunday fishing, the use of 

 spears, nets, and dynamite are as frequent 

 as ever. Ponds supposed to be closed from 

 December i to June i are frequently fished 

 a month before opening date. Keep up 

 your crusade against this pest, and you will 

 be surprised as to results and number of 

 friends and staunch adherents to the cause 

 you so ably champion. I have been a sub- 

 scriber to Recreation from the first num- 

 ber. 



C. S. Hale, Lowell, Mass. 



It depends on the size of the baskets 

 and what else was in them besides bass. — 

 Editor. 





WHERE THEY GO. 

 There is much controversy here as to 

 where our fish go. The only fish we have, 

 suckers, red sides, mullet, and red horse, 

 run out of small lakes and up from the 

 Great Lakes to spawn in our small 

 streams. They run up at the only time of 

 year in which there is ever much water 

 in these streams. After spawning, the fish 

 return to the lakes. The spawn hatches 

 and remains in the creeks and ditches. 

 Then comes dry weather, the small streams 

 dry up, and every year millions of young 

 fish porish. I have seen thousands of 

 sucker and red horse fingerlings in a 

 pool in the dry bed of a creek 2 miles from 

 the river. 



