Aran, 6, 1883. | 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



191 



not caused by his potations, and we finally concluded that 

 he must have captured the "boss trout," and his success had 

 touched his head slightly. As we pit nearer to him, he 

 pirated, '■Come and take me Off, or Til jump overboard," 

 and we pulled up to the rock and found him surrounded by 

 a swarm of black flies that defied all his efforts to drive 

 Ihem off; his bauds, neck and face were streaming with 

 blood, and he was completely demoralized — used up. 



We took nim, all bloody as he was, into our boat, bathed 

 his wounds arid poured on oil and rubbed it in afterward, 

 and played the Good Samaritan to him; and he finally re- 

 covered, but never after asked to lie left alone on a rock. 

 (By way of a parenthesis, let me put inhere: If you ever 

 jret caught by the black flies without your tar-oil bottle, just 

 dip your hands into water and keep all exposed parts of the 

 skin constantly wel, and they cannot touch you. But the 

 standard remedy is a mixture of three parts of' sweet oil and 

 one part of oil of tar; the addition of a small quantity of 

 oil of pennyroyal is, I think, an improvement, Use this 

 freely on all exposed parts of the person, externally, of 

 Course, and they will let you severely alone. 



By the way, our party had a good laugh at an exquisite 

 from Philadelphia who stopped at our Camp on his way 

 •through. His style was very nobby — "got up regardless," 

 as the boys say— an elegant tight-fitting suit of clothes, such 

 as "sporting men" wear for a promenade on Avenue V. ; 

 stylish Derby hat, with very small brim;shoes with hob nails 

 as big as your finger, and a liberal allowance of luggage, "you 

 know." While making his call the black flies began to 

 come around for breakfast, and soon became troublesome. 

 "What do you call those things? I never saw any before ; 

 they are very annoying," said he. "Oh, those, are only black 

 flies; they don't bother us," we said. Finally, they made it 

 so hot for him that he asked if notliing could be done to keep 

 them away. We told him of the 1ar oil. and offered some. 

 "Oh, I can't use that beastly stuff," said lie. But finally he 

 had to come to it, but it was amusing to seethe process; he 

 would place his finger over the mouth of the bottle and shake 

 it up, then apply that homeopathic dose to his face. Of 

 course that did not keep the tormentors off, and he soon 

 had to do as t.he others did. and before a week had gone by 

 he could slush it on as well as we could. 



T have before alluded to the beauties of Raquette River— 

 that was in the sunshine, when all was bright and fair. We 

 saw its beauties in a thunder-storm before we reached our 

 destination. After our success on "The Riffles," we went 

 on down the river slowly, stopping at "the Oxbow" to add 

 to our stock of fish, and lingered until the sun was getting 

 pretty w r cll down in the west. Suddenly there came a roar 

 from the forest ..which seemed like the voice of a giant in 

 distress. This was accompanied with violent gusts of wind; 

 the sky darkened, and the trees began to bend their heads 

 and tremble as in fear. Then there came on a moment's 

 pause, when the stillness of death seemed to hover round us 

 and all nature suspended its breathing; only for a moment, 

 however, and then the big drops began to' come down, and 

 the lightnings flashed, and the thunder rattled and fairly 

 shook the hills, and the full force of the storm w T as upon us. 

 The rain pouted down in torrents, the surface of the river 

 appeared to be fairly boiling, and the heavy gusts of wind 

 seemed to almost lift our boats out of the water. 



We could hardly see our way through the driving rain, but 

 kepi pushing on as best we could iu the- face of the storm. 

 Finally we reached an opening in the river bank, so small, 

 that it looked like a brook or a springhole. Into this we 

 headed, and with one short turn to the left, we were on Big 

 Tupper Lake. A few strokes of the oars, and our boats 

 landed at Martin Moody's, and in a few minutes we were 

 gathered around a roaring fire, warming our chilled limbs, 

 and drying our soaked clothing. Under just such circum- 

 stances, we found that a house and a fire were very good 

 things 1o have recourse to, even if they were away in the 

 woods. 



On Big Tupper we saw a thing done that at the time made 

 us laugh, and lias often raised a smile since. At Bog River 

 Falls, at the bead of the lake, we found a lone fisherman 

 busy casting the fly. Close beside him a smudge was burn- 

 ing, giving out a. great deal of smoke. A cast — a rise — a 

 strike — and he began to reel in. All seemed to go smoothly 

 until lie got his fish close to the rock, then, instead of hold- 

 ing on to his rod, he grasped the line and pitched his rod 

 upon the rock. Well, he saved his trout, but he spoiled his 

 rod, for in pitching it down, it landed right in his smudge 

 and stuck there. We, being some distance out on the lake, 

 saw the wdiole movement" and the danger to his rod, and 

 called out to him, but he quietly attended to his fish and then 

 turned around for his rod, to find it almost burned through 

 and his line destroyed. 



Most of us lay down rules for ourselves. My rule in all 

 cases (barring accidents), is to keep my rod in my hand until 

 I have the fish either in the landing net, or in my hand. 

 Then it may be hud down if desirable, but not in a smudge. 

 J. R., Ju. 



Surra Carolina Notes. — Graniteville, March So. — Bass 

 fishing is in order here now. The old fisherman of forty 

 years is getting his tackle ready for the "trout" (large 

 mouth black bass) and by main .strength and a good deal of 

 luck will get some of the small ones, say of four, five and 

 six pounds. The nature of the bottoms of the ponds here 

 does not admit of fiy -fishing; the numerous snags, roots and 

 sunken tree tops oilers a safe refuge to a fish once struck. 

 In fact the fish has so much the best of it, I have thought 

 it useless to provide myself with a liass outfit. Some large 

 bass hare been taken 'at the Langley pond from time io 

 time; the largest 1 have seen was sixteen pounds and a frac- 

 tion We had an idea once of freezing in a block of ice one 

 of these large specimens and presenting it to Prof. Baird, 

 but found the cost considerably more than anticipated, My 

 friends Mr. W. E. Wright ami his^ wife have recently re- 

 turned from Florida, en route for Xew York, are stopping 

 with us a few days. Mr. W. gives glowing accounts of the 

 bass-fishing in Prairie Lake, three miles south of Gaines- 

 ville, Fla. " In one morning's fishing, using live bait, he took 

 nearly fifty pounds, of fish from live to eight pounds weight, 

 His anticipations of a fish feast in the shape of boiled or 

 broiled bass were not realized; the noble fellows were con- 

 signed to the frying pau in small chunks, thus reducing 

 them to the ordinary level of a pan fish in taste anil almost in 

 kinks. Mr. Wright relates a remarkable story of tame fish 

 that can lie seen any day at Greeeove Spring. A person 

 may go near the edge of the water, and by stamping a few 

 Htties on the boards of the dock, they will swarm in hun- 

 dreds, the variety being cattish, and some of enormous size 

 and ugliness. Visitors took pleasure in feeding them and 

 see them crowd and fight for t.he food thrown" to them. — 

 Dick Swtybller. 



TROUT OPEN ING*ATf FULTON MARKET. 



f~\?l the morning of the 1st of April the new Fulton Mar- 

 \J ket was opened to the public for the first time. Only 

 the Beekman street side, where the fish' dealers Congregate, 

 was occupied, and even here the place was not entirely 

 finished. The elegant, fittings of Blackford were a surprise, 

 and the large mirrors, aquaria, the glass refrigerator and the 

 fancy woods carved and paneled were greatly admired. It 

 is said that $10,000 would not cover the "cost of his new fish 

 palace. 



It was the opening day of the trout season which brought 

 the visitors, and Mr. Blackford devoted his slabs entirely" to 

 this fish, leaving his other business outside at, his tem- 

 porary quarters. The display was large, and beautiful 

 festoons of flowers hung above the' piscine gems and reflected 

 back their beauty. A net, and creel filled with flowers hung 

 in its center, and a "red snapper," the Lv1j«,hih blacftfnrM, 

 done in carnations, was on his office table, a gift from a lady. 



Brook trout in rows, divided by green mosses, were to be 

 seen, brought from the following places: 



A. Rackow, Foster's Meadows, L. I.; J. Annin, Jr., Cale- 

 donia. N. Y, ; E. B. Sutton, Babylon. L. I.; S. S. Club; 

 J. H. Hoxie, Clear Water. R. I.; \l Burgess & Son, Ben- 

 nington. Vt.; 0. A, Starkey & Son, Troy. N. Y. ; W. L. 

 Gilbert, Plymouth. Mass.; W. H. Robinson, East Patchogue, 

 L. I. ; J. Ray nor. Frceport, L. I. ; J. N. Bennett, Stamford. 

 N. Y.; ET. C. Miller, Brookhaven, L. I.: C. McNali, Riviere 

 du Loup, Ont. ; E. H. Dickcrman, New Hampton, ST. H : 

 B. B. Redding. Carson, Nev. ; G. F. Parlow, New Bedford. 

 Mass. ; Bisby Club, N. Y. 



From the New York State hatchery Mr. Seth Green sent 

 the following: Brook trout, rainbow trout, hybrid between 

 brook and lake trout, land-locked salmon, lake trout, and 

 the two species of black bass, the latter alive in an aquarium, 

 among which was a small mouth of three pounds weight. 



Mr. W. B. Redding, of the California Fish Commission, 

 sent rainbow trout. Sdlma irielea \ dolly varden trout, Seitre- 

 Unus mnlwa, and Humboldt River trout, Bafono chirkii. One 

 of the rainbow trout, sent by Mr. Livingston Stone, weighed 

 ten pounds ; il was from near the United States Hatchery on 

 the MeCloud River. 



The South Side Sportsman's Club of Long Island sent 200 

 lbs. of live trout, and 1,000 lbs. of dead ones, and a live 

 rainbow trout of five pounds. 



Mr. J. Reynal, of White Plains, N. Y., sent a live carp of 

 twenty-two months old, which weighed four pounds, and 

 Mr. G. Ricardo, of Ilackensack, N. J., showed a fine tank 

 of live, smelts. Gen. R. IT. Sherman, N. Y. Fish Commis- 

 sioner, sent fine land-locked salmon from Bisby Lake. 



Among the distinguished visitors we noted' Gen. Stewart 

 L. Woodford, Col. McDonald, the Virginia Fish Commis- 

 sioner ; G. L. Fenton, Superintendent of the Connecticut 

 Fish Commission ; the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, Josh Bil- 

 lings, Rube Wood, the champion fly-caster ; ex-Governor 

 Myron H. Clark. Commissioner of Public Works Thompson, 

 Gon. Newton, Judges Moore and McCue of Brooklyn ; 

 Henry Havemeyer, ex-Alderman Jordan L. Mott, Allen 

 Campbell, Comptroller of the city, Rev. Emoiy J. Haines, 

 Jukge Dinkel, John N. Babco'ck, of Syracuse ; John E. 

 Develin, Geo. Shephard Page. Charles Halloek and wife, 

 Thomas Clapham, the yacht builder, and many others. 



Fishculture was represented by a few brook trout fry from 

 the State Works at Caledonia, and Mr. James Annin, Jr.. of 

 that place, also showed eggs and fry. Mr. Fred. Mather 

 made an exhibit of eggs and fry of Penobscot salmon from 

 the hatchery in his charge at Roslyn, L. I., which were sent 

 by Mr. C. 'G. Atkins, of Bucksport, Me., by order of Prof. 

 Baird. 



A feature of the exhibition was a working model of the 

 McDonald fishway which remained for the inspection of the 

 ushculturists at the meeting on Monday and Tuesday fol- 

 lowing. Taking it as a wdiole, it was the most beautiful 

 trout display ever made. Middlcton and Carman also made 

 a fine display of trout and live goldfish in globes, and the 

 new market was gay with decorations in honor of the "an- 

 gler's pride," 



OUR TROUT SEASON. 



r T^HE season at the heads of both branches of the Delaware, 

 JL wdiich are but eight miles apart, opens with the ther- 

 mometer at 22 deg., a Western gale blowing great guns, 

 a snowstorm raging, and every lake and pond in our vicinity 

 for twenty square miles covered with ice. Trout might lie 

 got, but not by your humble servant, for he doesn't fish 

 through the ice orw r alk along snowbanks to find them in the 

 rapids. Thanks to the enterprise of John N. Bennett, John 

 Griffin and the kind attention of Seth Green, all of our 

 streams are now well stocked, and we have a splendid show- 

 ing of California mountain trout at this place, in our ponds 

 and streams. 



You know I write fiction as a trade, but I think of retir- 

 ing soon. I want to resign in favor of "Chasseur" and 

 "Byrne." They can beat me to death. My imagination is 

 "nowhere" when they come in on "whaling yarns" and 

 "bear stories." Go it, hoysl Bevtmon.8 an motiten. 



The sage advice of J. R., Jr. , iu regard to overhauling 

 fishing-tackle is so gravely given that I have been trying to 

 learn something from it, 



He says. "Open your fly book and feel over the feathers. 

 Hullo! what's this? The moths have been at work and 

 spoiled most of your stock." 



What kind of a fly book does he use? I kave a fly book 

 that carries ten dozen flies nicely that I bought of Conroy & 

 Son's, twenty -two years ago. It never has had any camphor 

 or suufE in it in all that time, has never been empty of flies 

 or had a moth in il. I also have a straight clip which 

 has had a fair chance for moths, yet never a one found its 

 way in. How can moths get info any wall-regulated, closed 

 fly 'book? That is the question. His suggestions as to lines 

 are excellent, 



But the catching of "kingfish" on a rod tickles me. They 

 are the games! fish on record, average on the Florida coast, 

 eighteen to thirty pounds, sometimes reach fifty, and it re- 

 quires a treble size cod line to bold erne. We troll for them 

 there as you troll for bluefish off our coast, 



I would like" to see that old "Relie-ablc." I have six 

 nice fiy rods, with all the reels and tackle to match, and I 

 have bo rod that I could trust anything over a thirty-pound 

 salmon, let alone a kingfish. 



.1. R., Jr., is a good boy, I know, but I fear he is slightly 

 aesthetic on tackle. A true angler never leaves his tackle in 

 a tangle. When he gets home all his (raps are put away 

 ready for use again, for he knows not when he m.iy get a 

 call "for new kingdoms to conquer, or for "a dip" in the dark 

 river that Sankev sings about, and he wants to have things 

 ready for a quick start. 



The fishing "here may be decent by May 1— I hope so— but. 

 the butt end of winter is on us now. 



When I can honestly dip a line and make a catch worth 

 reporting, the Forest and Stream: and my many friends 

 shall hear the stoiy. 



Our hatching-house and ponds, run with great success by 

 glorious John Bennett, were represented in Blackford's 

 opening by two dozen one-pound trout hatched only three 

 years ago in Bennett's cellar, an account of which' I gave 

 in the Forest and Stre.ui at the time. He has now a large 

 number of small fry sporting in his main hatching trough 

 and the pond adjacent. 1s t ep Bunteine.' 



Eagle's Nest. Stamford, N. Y., Apiit 1. 



What Frsrr Laws Are For.— A correspondent of the 

 Syracuse Jim-rial makes these sound arguments against the 

 poachers and the editors who take their part : "You were 

 exactly on the target in your reply of the 21th inst., to the 

 comments of the Baldwinsville tlazeiti', upon the protection 

 of lakes and streams. . The Gazette seems to think the game 

 laws were enacted for the special pleasure of a few" city 

 sportsmen. Let me say if Hie worthy editor of that, paper 

 will step out of his sanctum and get' the candid opinion of 

 tne respectable citizens of Baldwinsville. he will find whatis 

 here asserted is true, that in no section of this county is 

 there a more decided feeling thftt the game laws are wise in 

 their provisions and should be enforced, than in his own vil- 

 lage. The principal object and intent of the -Fisherman's 

 Club' of this city, was and is to prevent, so far as it may be 

 able, the wholesale distinction of all kinds of fish iii all 

 waters of this county, and in none more than Seneca river, 

 flowing as it does within sight of 1hc office of the Gazette, 

 and for no persons more than a class of citizens found in all 

 cities and villages having neither time at, command nor 

 money to spare to go to distant waters, as most of the mem- 

 bers of the 'Fishmen's Club' do go annually. Neither this 

 'club' nor its individual members want or ask or expect 

 exclusive privileges ; they only ask that neither they nor the 

 public shall be robbed by a class who, as a rule, care nothing 

 for the rights or pleasure of others. If the owners of land 

 through which run suitable water for trout will " board" 

 their streams and enforce the game laws enacted in part for 

 their benefit, they will not only have trout in abundance, but 

 will be satisfied that these very laws, so derided by the Ga- 

 zette exactly fill the bill. In short, if you want trout, take 

 care of them as the law provides, and then neither city 

 sportsmen nor others will take them without permission of 

 the owners. That is precisely what the game laws are for — 

 to protect the rights of individuals as well as those of the 

 public, and to prevent, game and fish being-taken ad> libitum 

 by every poacher who may choose to help himself. Will the 

 Gazette please make a note of the fact that small streams 

 throughout the wdiole country are gradually but surely be- 

 coming less or disappearing entirely, that rio new stream or 

 river or lake can be created "to order, and that with a rapidly 

 increasing population, unless waters as they are now lie 

 protected from the rapacity of marketmen there will soon be 

 no fish left for anybody. The Gazette is quite correct in say- 

 ing that Prof. Bai'rd is' the friend of the fisherman, and well 

 may they deem him such, for he is devoting his time and 

 talent to restocking waters, even the ocean, that have been 

 depleted by these very fishermen, by netting in and out of 

 season, and to such an extent that these men now cry out for 

 help and the Government, listening to their appeal, has now 

 millions upon millions of .young rod and other fish that will 

 soon be placed in numerous bays that have been ' cleaned 

 oitt'-by these ' disinterested friends' of the Professor. It is 

 a well settled tact that fish in public waters belong to Ihc 

 people, and are under the control of the respective States ; 

 and that men who take such fish, contrary to law, are thieves 

 and pluvrh rerx of public property, but happily, it may be 

 added, there is a very limited class to defend them. — Fair 

 Play. ' ' * 



Tennessee Ftstt Notes.— Nashville, March 27.— Accounts 

 from many portions of the State are most favorable to an un- 

 preeedentedly rich angling season. Fish are not only more 

 abundant than for years past, but the late floods drove them 

 far up the smaller tributaries, and then they are caught above 

 dams. Mr. Will Ervin creeled seventeen fine bass last week 

 out of Sallie's Hole, a noted fishing place of Mill Creek. A 

 party of gentlemen went to South Harpeth, but reported the 

 waters too clear, but fish in vast numbers. Col . J. B. MeEwen 

 writes from Franklin to Col. Geo. F. Akers that the season will 

 soon open most auspiciously. Close to town good creels are 

 daily made by the boys, and a pot-hunter with hook and line 

 gathered in five bass weighing in the aggregate twenty-five 

 pounds one day last week and sold them in iiiarki t. Captain 

 Frank Green reports his carp as doing remarkably well; he 

 says his pond is swarming with young fry. The Cumber- 

 land Angling Club propose importing a large lot of salmon 

 trout to place in their pond near the city. It is already pretty 

 well stocked with black bass and white perch. Our lish 

 market has been rather poorly supplied lately, but few 

 foreign varieties being brought iu, and now that uosiirning is 

 allowed in this State/every one must he the catcher of his 

 own fish. — J. D. H. 



Permission for a Day's Fishing. — The editor of the 

 London Fieking Gazette tells the following story: Whilst on 

 our way the other day with an angling friend to the river we 

 intended to fish, he added pleasure to the enjoyable walk in 

 the fresh sunlight morniug air, by relating sbine of his an- 

 gling experiences. Amongst others, we remember the follow- 

 ing, which was new to us, and will be so, we think, to most 



of our readers. Parson F had got permission for a day's 



trout-fishing, and one fine afternoon made his appearance "on 

 the water. The keeper came by after a time and duly ex- 

 amined his permit, and wished' piscator a good afternoon. 

 "Good evening," said the parson, and went oa fishing until 

 dark. Next morning found him early on the water hard at 

 work, and when tin- keeper cams along and asked to see his 

 permit he produced the same he had shown him before 



thou wilt find that the evening and the morning were the 



first day!" 



A Bm Stcrgeon.— Niagara Falls, Out., March 31.— A 

 Hamilton correspondent says that Mr. .1. \V. Kerr, fishery/in- 

 spector, has just returned from Niagara, and reports a Very 

 large number of sturgeon taken out of Lake Ontario at thai 

 point. One particularly large fish was caught last week li\ 

 Mr. Robt. Taylor, a fisherman, on a night line, L 

 150 pounds. The sturgeon was 8 feet long and ^^l caught 

 with a large fish hook. Mr. Taylor weighs^^Ppounds 



