104 



FOREST AND) STREAM. 



rode through the quiet, moonlit woods to Cheney's Station, it 

 was with a feeling of regret and a firm resolve 'to repeat the 

 trip, if possible, another year. 



I found the most killing fly for August a brown hackle; hut 

 anything not too gaudy will do very well. To illustrate : Jack 

 used a tuft of hah from the back of a "yaller dog," orna- 

 mented with a slip of spruce hen feather to take off the curse, 

 and it proved very taking. Grasshoppers abound along the 

 banks and are about equal to a fly as a successful lure. I 

 would advise a light, single-handed rod a trifle stiffer than the 

 ordinary trout rod. Stranger, don't imagine you will find any 

 worms up there ; there are none smaller than a massasanger, 

 and these are awful scarce, but very taking when you find 

 them. 



In all the accounts that have ever come under my notice 

 relative to grayling angling, the advice is to proceed exactly 

 the same as in trout fishing ; but experience has taught me 

 that in several essential points the method differs. Every 

 fisherman knows that early morning and late in the afternoon 

 is the time for trout. Not so with the grayling. In August 

 9 A. m. is early enough and 10 better. Then the small fish 

 begin to rise, the larger ones coming later as the day wears on, 

 until between twelve and one the largest are biting, and the 

 sport is at its height. Again, when a trout takes the fly or 

 bait, owing to the hardness of his mouth, it is necessary to 

 strike him hard with a turn of the wrist to fasten the hook. 

 On the contrary, when the grayling, whose mouth is small, 

 tender and sensitive, strikes the fly, he is fairly hooked. Then 

 keep a gentle strain on, never letting up or allowing any slack 

 until the landiug net is under him. It is better to fish down 

 stream, whether in a boat or wading, as in the rapid current of 

 the Au Sable it allows of a better cast. The grayling is not so 

 wary as the trout — the little disturbance one makes in wading 

 or poling amounts to nothing. A good trout fisherman, unac- 

 quainted with the habits of the grayling and attempting to fish 

 in the Au Sable, would err in his selection of the favorable 

 spots for a cast. I found by experience that the deep shady 

 pjols and whirling eddies were not the haunts of the grayling, 

 but in the rapids and long sunny reaches of semi-rapM water, 

 there he may lie ready to take the tempting lure. 



The most effectual way when one wishes to lull a large num- 

 ber of fish is to wade, but it is hard work and wet work ; aud, 

 as you have no earthly use for more than you can eat, and 

 have no way to keep them alive as you do when fishing from 

 a boat, the latter way is far preferable. 



Eastern sportsmen desiring to take this trip will find Au- 

 gust the best month for grayling. Take Great Western Rail- 

 way to Detroit, Michigan Central to Bay City, thence north 

 eighty-six miles by Mackinaw Division Michigan Central 

 Railway to Cheney's, where you will find Mr. Cheney always 

 ready with teams to take you to the river, and at the cabin 

 door Mr. John Jenkins will stand with open arms and a fried 

 grayling. Both these gentlemen are very moderate in their 

 charges, and a fortnight may here be enjoyed that will beat all 

 past experiences in fishing. Deer are very plenty along the 

 Au Sable, and in season much sport may be had in their pur- 

 suit. Jack has a good dog and knows all the runways, and 

 many a tale did he unfold to our admiring ears of how he shot 

 this or that buck. There are a few mosquities and punkies 

 along the river, but not enough to inconvenience one. Write 

 to (r. M. Cheney, Pere Cheney, Crawford Co., Mich., or John 

 Jenkins, Esq., same address, for all information, and when 

 you go, you are sure of game and fish in abundance and a 

 jolly good time. H. W. D. L. 



< ♦»♦ 



THE DUCK PASSES OF SHAKOPEE. 



OF the many "passes," the largest one in point of game, 

 known as the "Big Ely," is situated about three miles 

 below the city of Shakopee, on the north side of the Minne- 

 sota River, and is easy of access by either land or water. It 

 is a narrow neck of meadow bottom, dry at all times in the 

 ducking season, and situated between two very long rice lakes. 

 The grass on this meadow is cut in due season and stacked on 

 the highest ridges or near a creek— Murphy's creek coming 

 out of the easterly end of the westward lake. These hay- 

 stacks generally serve the duck hunter as blinds or shelter. 



About the latter part of September and through October the 

 feathered game occupy these rice lakes in large numbers, pass- 

 ing over this strip of land from one to the other, in almost 

 continual flight. On Saturday evenings when the railroad 

 shops and foundries are closed, this pass is well occupied by 

 machinists and laborers, who keep up a continuous fusillade 

 until dark, that would almost lead a stranger to believe that the 

 Chippeway and Sioux Indians were fighting another battle on 

 this, their historic ground. Their last engagement on this 

 ground was some fifteen years ago, when a large number of 

 either tribe was wiped out. Quite a number of citizens wit- 

 nessed this frightful butchery, even contributing powder and 

 ball to the Sioux and taking care of their wounded. To de- 

 scribe the flight of ducks on a cloudy evening during the latter 

 part of October, when they gather together in great numbers 

 preparing to leave for a warmer climate, would be something 

 beyond the power of my pen ; it is simply immense. Thou- 

 sands of buds are on the wing, flying mostly in an easterly di- 

 rection ; and later, as the day-light begins to fade into the 

 gray of the evening, one would think from the terrific flights 

 that the birds were aiming at the hunters heads, for often we 

 have to "duck" our heads to escape being knocked over. 

 Standing near the west end of the eastern lake, the ducks be. 

 gin to drop in their flight, frequently flying so low that the 

 dogs bound into the air to catch the birds. Every one who 

 has spent an evening at this ptss has expressed astonishment 

 at the number of ducks on the wing, which in appearance re. 

 semble rather the flight of wild pigeons. I have shot on this 

 pass for five years, and have bagged as many as thirty-seven 

 black headed ducks in an hour. Very often we get a good 

 flight of mallards mixed with spoon bills, and it is the sports- 

 man's delight to bring to the ground these fat and plump buds ; 

 sometimes they fall so hard that they rebound many feet in 

 the air. ' 



Sportsmen from St. Paul, who frequent these passes, often 

 fill a light buggy box full of ducks in a couple of hours' shoot- 

 ing. But the most successful days are when the Indians are 

 pB. the lakes with their canoes, gathering rice or shooting, fo 



then the birds keep up a continual flight, and, in their confu- 

 sion, huddle so closely together that it seems almost murder to 

 shoot them. 



Occasionally a good flight of geese and bra nt is seen also a 

 species of duck which is here called the " canvas back," as it 

 resembles that famous Chesapeake cluck in all but the bill, 

 which is narrow and of a grayish color. 



Stemmer's Pass is next best to the Big Fly, and is situated 

 about five miles below the city, on the same side of the river 

 with it and in close proximity to the Bloomington Crossing— a 

 flag station on the St. P. and S. C. R. R. — and is in high favor 

 with the St. Paul sportsmen, as it is easy of access from the 

 city by a good road over the level prairie. This pass is named 

 after the owner of the premises, a very kind old Duitscher gen- 

 tleman, who delights to entertain visitors, and throws his 

 shooting grounds open to all comers. 



The next in prominence are the famous Bloomington Lake 

 passes, eight miles distant and reaching as far down as Hamil- 

 ton Station j and, last, but not least, is the Little Fly, within a 

 mile and a half from our city, on the north side of the river. 

 Many of our citizens frequent this place on account of its close 

 proximity to town, and a great many birds are bagged on fav- 

 orable evenings, and he that has a staunch retriever obtains 

 the greatest number of birds, as they usually fall into places 

 inaccessible to man. The prospect for shooting this season is 

 excellent, as we have had an almost continual drought, drying 

 up all the smaller lakes and ponds — except those mentioned 

 which are fed from innumerable springs situated at the foot of 

 the Eden Prairie ridge. Ducks of all descriptions have been 

 hatched here in large numbers, and the shooting season will 

 open in a few days. The season for prairie chickens is in full 

 blast, and carloads go by here on both the railroads coming 

 from the Glencoe prairies by way of the Hastings & Dacotah 

 R. R. , and the big western prairies near St. James and Made- 

 lia on the St. P. & S. C. R. R. A couple of St. Paul sport- 

 ing gentlemen were shooting on this latter road as far as Iowa 

 lately, and attempted to ship their birds— some 275 in num- 

 ber—across the State line into our State, contrary to the stat- 

 utes made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of 

 the State of Iowa, which prohibits said shipment except at the 

 rate of five dollars for each and every bird so shipped. They 

 compromised the matter for a round thousand dollars. 



Sliakopee, Minn., Aug. 28, 1877. Rustic us. 



SPLIT BAMBOO RODS. 



To Our Customers and the Public : In reply to the damaging 

 reports which have been circulated respecting the quality of 

 our spht bamboo rods, by " dealers" who are unable to compete 

 with us at our reduced prices, we have issued a circular which 

 we shall be pleased to mail to any address, proving the falsity 

 of then- assertions. 



CONEOT, BlSSETT & MaIXESON, 



— [Adv. Manufacturers, 65 Fulton Street, N. Y. 



Stt §nU«W- 



Letter from Seth Geeen.— Rochester, Aug. 29.— I wish 

 to caution people against drawing off old mill ponds during 

 warm weather, or at any other time, unless they draw them 

 off very slowly. If the gates are hoisted and the water comes 

 down with a rush, it will kill all the fish for a half mile down 

 the stream. It stirs up all the old decayed stuff in the stream, 

 and is death to everything in the water below for a long dis- 

 tance. Last week the State Ponds at Caledonia came neat- 

 losing all their breeding fish. The head of the stream is about 

 oue mile above the ponds. Half of the water comes out of 

 the ground at the head of the stream and a dam was put across 

 the creek, sixty years ago, about forty rods from the spring, 

 making a pond of several acres. It is full of moss aud all 

 sorts of animalcules. Last week, the owner of the pond open- 

 ed the gates and let the water down with a rush. It killed all 

 the trout in the stream for a half mile below, and if it had not 

 been for many large springs coming in on both sides of the 

 creek, all the trout m the stream and ponds would have been 

 killed; and it would take rnany years to restock the ponds as 

 they are now. We have a large stock of brook trout that we 

 use for breeders for stocking the waters of this State. Wc 

 have the following kinds that we have raised from the egg: 

 A great many salmon trout, some of them weighing nine 

 pounds ; we have a large number of California salmon, from 

 one to three years old — the largest weighing one pound ; Ken- 

 nebec salmon from one to five years old, the largest weighing 

 two and one-half pounds-, California brook trout, two years 

 old, the largest weighing one-half pound. We have grayling 

 two years old, of our own raising, that are one foot long. Wc 

 have a hybrid, a cross between the California salmon and 

 brook trout, which is one and a half years old, and five inches 

 long. We have also a cross between a salmon trout and a 

 whitefish. We have eighteen ponds well filled with the above 

 different kinds of fish, besides many boxes and troughs filled 

 with the young. Setu Green. 

 .».—. - ■ 



What's in an Oyster.— Apropos of the advent of the oys- 

 ter, the Cape Ann Advertiser has been looking at our gustatory 

 friend through a microscope : 



Open an oyster, retain the liquor in the lower or deep shell, 

 and if viewed through a microscope, it will be found to con- 

 tain multitudes of small oysters, covered with shells and 

 swimming nimbly about— one hundred and twenty of which 

 extend but an inch. Besides these oysters, the liquor contains 

 a variety of animalcules and p3 r rami'ds of three distinct spe- 

 cies of parasites. Sometimes their light represents a bluish 

 star about the centre of the shell, which will be beautifully 

 luminous in a dark room. 



California. Shad.— The waters of California were stocked 

 with shad by Seth Green in 1871. The Jaw prohibiting their 

 capture expires the 3d of next December, and there is every 

 indication tbat there will be a very large return for the outlay 

 incurred on their introduction. Many shad have been acci- 

 dentally taken in salmon traps and nets, the number thus 

 captured being estimated as more than a thousand. The Cali- 

 fornia Fish Commissioners have requested of Prof. Baird 

 another consignment of 100,000 to be sent at the expense of 

 the State. y 



% Manchester, N. H., Sept. 1, 1877. 



Editor Foeest and Stream : 



Illness has prevented me for a month from writing you a 

 short sketch of the progress of tishculturein New Hampshire, 

 and I fear my notes may be some of them stale, but, they may 

 be of interest to some of your readers. On the 16th of July, 

 my colleague Powers and I, accompanied by Mr. E. B. Hodgej 

 of Plymouth, N. H., visited the hatching pond of Mr. Tom- 

 kinson, at Livermore's Falls, on the Pemigewasset, about four 

 milcs above Plymouth, to ascertain if it would be a suitable 

 site for a State Hatching House for salmon, the Legislature at 

 its late session having made an appropriation of $1,000 for 

 building such a house, and the Mass. Commissioners having 

 agreed to join us in the matter and bear half the expenses, for 

 the purpose of restocking the Merrimac and Connecticut rivers 

 with this noble fish. Wc had also another object in view 

 vie., to' ascertain the presence of the young salmon placed in the 

 river in the summer of '76, from the Penobscot ova obtained in 

 the autumn of '75. This was soon decided, as it took Mr. 

 Hodge but a very short time to land half a dozen lively young 

 fellows between four and five inches long, and one or two 

 somewhat longer, who were soon returned uninjured to the 

 river and sent off rejoicing. The next clay Powers went with 

 me up the B. C. & M. R. R. thirty miles to Warren, on the 

 Bakus River branch, where he soon established the fact that, 

 as the boys say, " the river was full of them." We also looked 

 at some springs there, but decided that Livermore's Falls was 

 the better place, and on the 7th of August Messrs. Powers and 

 Hayes, accompanied by Commissioners Bracket! and French 

 of Mass., visited the spot, confirmed our decision, and secured 

 on favorable terms from Mr. Tomkiuson, aJen-years' lease of 

 the Springs with all the necessary land for the hatching house, 

 pond, etc., etc., and contracted for the immediate erection of 

 a hatching house, so as to use it this autumn fur hatching 

 400,000 California Salmon, which Prof. Baird has kindly 

 promised to the two States of Massachusetts and New Hamp- 

 shire, and 20,000 land locked salmon which wc also expect 

 from Maine through his kindness. We shall also follow Seth 

 Green's example, and hatch all the brook trout we can for 

 distribution to our sadly depicted streams, which ignorant and 

 selfish fellows calling themselves sportsmen are fast depopu- 

 lating. What do you say to Mr. Hodge's solemn statement 

 that he weighed a basket of 200 trout brought in to Plymouth 

 this summer, and found the weight just three pounds"! Had 

 there been eight less of them, or 193 trout, they would have 

 scaled just £ ounce each ! Do you wonder that our streams 

 ate cleaned out ? 



We propose to give our whole attention to the Merrimac 

 River at present, until the fiahways at Holyoke ami Turners 

 Falls are made passable. The Holyoke fish way is a failure 

 because its mouth is too far down stream where the fish can- 

 notfind it, and it has got to be cut off in the middle and bent 



back to the foot of the dam— as has been done at Lawrence 



before it will be of any use. The Lawrence fishway is all 

 right, and by enlarging the openings of the Foster fishway at 

 Amoskeag Falls, wc have made it passable so that many large 

 salmon have been seen this summer away up in the Pemjo-e- 

 wasset. A friend of mine saw five lying side by side under 

 the bridge at Plymouth, three weeks since, and they have 

 been seen jumping Livermore's Falls, where we propose to put 

 our pond. We shall build a new Brackott fishway at Amos- 

 keag before next season, so as to be as perfect as possible. 



Meanwhile we have not been idle in other directions. 

 Messrs. Hays and Powers have transplanted a number of black 

 bass from Sunapee Lake and Wakefield Poud, where they 

 havebred very rapidly, to other waters in the State: aud the 

 last week in July Mr. Powers and I took 200,000 shad from 

 Holyoke to the Upper Merrimac in two successive trips, plac- 

 ing 100,000 in the Winnepesaukee River, just above Tilton 

 aud 100,000 in the Contoocook River in Hopkinton with but a 

 very slight loss in transportation. My son. Mr. S. S. Webber 

 met us at Charlestown, N. H., where he was visiting, with a 

 fresh relay of ice, so that, in spite of the heat, we were able 

 to keep our water at about 67 deg. the whole trip. 



We succeeded in getting a commission authorized by the 

 Legislature and appointed by the Governor in July to act with 

 us in preparing a new code of game and fish laws this winter 

 to be submitted to the next Legislature, and hope to get some- 

 thing nearly right, as the commission are all good sportsmen 

 while two of them are keen lawyers, and the third is a mem- 

 ber of the Governor's conned. "So much for Buckingham" 



—I have no doubt you will say " Off witklu's head," for 1 have 

 spun out my yarn unwittingly. 



Yours very truly, Sam. Wecbek. 



Nevada.— There is great mortality among the fish in the 

 Carson River. 



California.— The Sacramento Fish Commissioners have in. 

 stitutcd prosecution against the salmon fishermen for whole* 

 sale violation of the fish laws. 



