212 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[April IS, 



perch. Ye gods! what a glorious meal! Ended. Our boat 

 is quickly loaded. O'Neal takes the bow, pole in hand, at 

 the end of which, singing to three feet of line, is the 

 glittering bait concealing its barbed hook's, with which he 

 hopes to catch the unwary bass as we, glide down, the swiftly 

 flowing waters of the river. Myself seated in (lie stern, gun 

 in hand, ready to send the death-dealing shot into any 'kind 

 of; game^ that dares to come under out vision. Our sable 

 sailor seizes the oars, aud with one stroke of his brawny 

 arms sends the boat onward to the sea over the waters of the 

 dark flowing river. 



The scene, how beautiful ! The sun is just rising from his 

 home iu the east. His unclouded rays are .stealing as softly 

 through the dark foliage of the forest trees that, line each 

 bank of the river as the footsteps of Time. In the tall oaks 

 myriads of noisy crows are holding high carnival. The 

 nimble squirrel laughs gaily at us from his hiding place in 

 the merry green wood. Thousands of songsters of varied 

 plumage herald the new-born day with their' sweetest notes, 

 while high over head the graceful osprcy swims the ambient 

 air on easy wing, and screams indignantly at, us as we glide 

 oyer the bosom of the waters, whose, finny tribes he deems 

 his own. Graceful magnolias, bay trees, cabbage-palmettos, 

 with their long, waving, fan-like leaves; tall pines clustered 

 around the long-limbed live oaks, whose wide, spreading 

 bandies stoop and softly kiss the murmuring waters sweep" 

 ing by. But O'Neal has no eye for I he beauties of nature 

 just now-. His gaze is firmly fixed on the flittering bauble 

 gliding through the swift -waters. 



We round a bend of the riyer. Just as we sweep by 

 comes with a rush a four pound bass, aud plunges at the 

 tempting bait, is impaled on the cruel steel, and is soon 

 floundering in the bottom of the boat, while O'Neal's eyes 

 beam with delight over his capture. Again the alluring bait 

 is trolling through the waters; we noiselessly glide by an old 

 treetop. O'Neal unguardedly looks at an old saurian swim- 

 ing carelessly ahead of us, when there came a, strike — and 

 such a strike! It sounded like an exploding bombshell. 

 The monster misses the hooks, and the bait goes high in the, 

 air, accompanied by O'Neals heels. The boat bottom catches 

 him. Our shouts of laughter greet the veteran as he regains 

 his equilibrium. "Confound you! you couldn't, have done 

 better." he exclaimed. He tries again, and when we reach 

 St. Marks, our destination, six bass, weighing from four to 

 six pounds attest his success. Here we give them to our 

 friends, hoist sail and speed away to the haunts of the cun- 

 ning sheepshead, wary channel-bass and voracious sea trout. 



Arrived, get our bait, select a position and go to business. 

 At our first cast each get a bite, hang our fish, and after a 

 sharp_ struggle land two fine channel-bass. Then we take in 

 four fine sheepshead and three trout; when from some cause 

 the finny fellows fail to observe we are fishing for them, and 

 not a nibble awarded our exertions. We quit in disgust, and 

 seek the banks and the friendly shelter of a lone tree of the 

 marsh. Under it we rested while our sable friend prepared 

 lis a savory meal that the festive gods would not have dis- 

 dained. Then homeward bound with spoon bait your 

 writer managed the successful capture of ten fine bass. 

 Reach home in time to have a good supper out of two 

 of them. Smoked the pipe of peace, and then slept the quiet 

 sleep of the truthful, righteous fisherman. O. G. Gubley. 



THE AFRICAN POMPANO. 



YOUR New Orleans correspondent writes of pompano in 

 that city of the weight of thirty-five aud twenty-eight 

 pounds, which sizes are so unusual, even unprecedented, 1 or 

 that fish, that one may perhaps be permitted to doubt the 

 species — especially as' the specimens do not appear to have 

 been submitted to* scientific examination. 



The cavalli, or orevalle, Caranx defensor, Cuv. DeKay 

 — are allied species, so nearly resembles the pompano, TracJiy- 

 notvs ravolin 11,1, Bothrolrm-v.-i pampan-u-i, Cuv., as to be easily 

 mistaken for it by a casual observer. In the loose and con- 

 fused way of naming different fishes in different places, the 

 names pompano and cavalli are often confounded, and men 

 talk of killing pompano in the Indian River with a fly, when 

 what they have caught were cavalli. 



The cavalli has (he snout more pointed; its color is olive 

 green and silvery above; golden yellow with blue and purple 

 below. It goes 'in schools near the surface, takes any bait 

 eagerly, is very rapacious in its habits, in this resembling the 

 bluefish; weight from two to twenty pounds; a very game 

 fish, but indifferent on the table, the flesh being oily, and 

 streaked with black and white like that of the mackerel. 



The pompano has a truncated snout; color when first 

 taken, blue and silver; afterward pale blue above and golden 

 yellow beneath ; first dorsal with six spines; second dorsal 

 soft-rayed. Both species have small scales and deeply-forked 

 tails, and similar brilliancy of color. 



The pompano seldom exceeds three or four pounds in 

 weight ; is a bottom fish which feeds chiefly on mollusks, 

 and very rarely takes a, bait; it is usually taken on the ocean 

 beach with the cast net. 



Its great distinction is its value on the table, surpassing 

 that of all other species in Southern waters; a combination 

 of richness and delicacy difficult to describe but easy to re- 

 member. No one who has ever compared (he above two 

 species alive, or eaten of them when cooked, can ever con- 

 found them. 



The supremely delicious pompano should not be degraded 

 by having the rank-fleshed cavalli called by the same name. 

 The name of the inferior fish, '•'cavalli. "' or horse, was given 

 to it b.y the Spaniards in reference to the swiftness and 

 agility of this ocean rover. Call the new giant African ca- 

 valli 'if you will, but, confine the name pompano to the un- 

 approachable sovereign of the seas. 



Perhaps the attempt to induce people to call things 

 by their right names is useless, and the names trout, 

 bass and chub will continue to be used in different 

 places fol the same fish. In your last number, a writer dis- 

 courses about catching fifteen mackerel, meaning, doubtless, 

 bluefish, which again in Rhode Island is called horse mack- 

 erel, s, C. 0. 



Mabibtta, Ga. 



A few years ago the U. S, Fish Commission received a 

 single specimen of a fourteen pound pompano from Mr. 

 Blackford, of Full on market, it was found to be an Afri- 

 can species, Twr/iyiii/f.us goreepsis, common about the 

 Canary islands. The next year several were caught and they 

 are now not rare in the market of New York. We think 

 the fish has come in some numbers, perhaps to stay, and, in 

 the article alluded to, suggested that it be distinguished as 

 the "African pompano." We do not doubt but the New 

 Orleans Specimens were the same fish, which is new to our 

 coast now, a,s the bluefish was fifty years ago. but it, is not 

 the. cavalli. 



TENNESSEE ANGLING NOTES. 



EVERYBODY has gone wild on the subject of angling. 

 Fish are reported as more abundant than ever known 

 before, and as business is rather dull, the banks of the 

 streams in close proximity to Nashville, are lined with hun- 

 dreds of persons of all colors, ages, and both seves. Col. 

 Alters and Ed. Horn went out this morning to wet their lines 

 in Mill Creek, and as both are noted manipulators of the rod 

 and reel, it will not surprise me to see them return with a 

 handsome creel. 



I regret to say, that among our well-to-do people there is a 

 decided spirit of lawlessness existing, and many of them 

 not a particle, too "square" to indulge in sinning where 

 they can do it on the sly. This is shameful, inasmuch as 

 our protective laws fire the most lenient passed in any State, 

 and the increase of fish in our many beautiful streams de- 

 pends entirely upon a, cessation of wholesale slaughter for a 

 few years. By the time, the next General Assembly meets 

 here, it is to be hoped that amendments will be offered and 

 passed to the present bill, and those persons violating the law 

 be severely punished. With our streams well stocked with 

 game fish, and the forests -with turkeys, deer, and quail, a 

 great many Northern and Eastern sportsmen would be iu- 

 duced to pass a portion of the season, and enjoy our fine cli- 

 mate, and perhaps become investors in property down here. 

 The Forest and Stream, ever ready to aid in the cause of 

 game and fish protection, must come to our assistance. The 

 influence of such a journal, and the able manner With which 

 it deals of such subjects can have but a most salutary effect. 

 There are persons who argue that a fisherman's is a lazy life, 

 but these Would-be murderers offish find it to be, the very re- 

 verse, hence they wish to set nets, traps, and other com rivan- 

 ees, by which to catch unsuspecting creatures that they are too 

 indolent to capture in a legitimate way. " Since the introduc- 

 tion of the system of extra, fast trains, we are getting many 

 varieties of fish hitherto unknown here. Andy Meaders dis- 

 played hard and soft-shell crabs on his stall to-day ; also 

 shrimp and crayfish; fresh herring are brought to us from 

 the Chesapeake, and even the noble salmon reaches this far. 

 Nashville, April 1, 1882. J. D. H. 



TROUTING ON LONG ISLAND. 



BOYS, let us change the opening day for trout! All 

 Fools' day is not a, good one for trout and trappers com- 

 bined. Last year our lines were frozen aud this year the 

 wind blew our flies off. I went a fishing on the two first 

 days of April and only had two hours of good fishing. We 

 left flies and leaders, too, on many a bush, and much of my 

 good temper with them. Usually, it soothes our tempers to 

 get a good, bright, and enjoyable day on a stream which we 

 know of ou the south side of Long Island, which is without 

 an oral dam. But we cannot keep our tempers down if we 

 have such April openings. 



Think of it! In two hours we killed six fish, weighing 

 seven and one-quarter pounds, and on the remainder of the 

 two days could not drop a fly or land a half-pounder. A 

 saint could not stand such treatment. The weather was sour; 

 the beauties sulked; our favorite flies would not tempt them. 

 The favorite fly used in some localities we know of, was a 

 big fat worm, and even the worms were so cold and wiggle- 

 less that they had to be warmed in the mouth to get sensi- 

 bility enoug'h in them to squirm ou the hook. 



The. best cafehes : ,t,hat, I hear of are: Imbrie and Clerk, fish- 

 ing at Green's Creek, Sayville, thirty-four; eighteen weighed 

 ten and one-half pounds. Wilbur and Chapman, fishing 

 the same stream, eighteen; largest one and three-quarters; six 

 weighed seven and one-quarter pounds. John Ripper, near 

 Glen Cove, two and one-quarter pounds. Mr. W. Holberton 

 had excellent success somewhere on the south side. Very 

 fine fish have been taken at the ponds of August Belmont. 

 At Islip, Mr. P. Remsen took twenty-two pounds of trout in 

 two hours, and a part}' of four are reported as having cap- 

 tured sixty-three pounds near Freeport. 



It is said that President Arthur, who is an adept at, casting 

 the fly, and who has fished for a dozen years or more, in the 

 brooks of South Oyster Bay, on Long Island, will be the 

 guest of William Flovd Jones during his visit this season. 



X. 



SOUTHERN FISHES IN 1775. 



OUR valued correspondent, "S. C. G," wrote us on this 

 fish, aud we printed it trnpo/i, after the manner of Al. 

 Fresco's spelling. Mr. 0. objected to this, and we wrote 

 him that it was an oversight in proof -reading, as it, is spelled 

 in different ways. We incidentally stated that we always had 

 spelled it tanmui,, having only the authority of Gill's Cata- 

 logue of the Fishes of the east coast of North America for 

 such spelling. Our correspondent again writes : 



As to Tarpnm, 1 have written the word with an o, follow- 

 ing one of the earliest writers on the Fishes of Florida, Capt. 

 Bernard Romans, of the British Army, whose "' Concise Nat- 

 ural History of Fast and West Florida.,'' was published in 

 New York, '1775. A very able and original writer was this 

 captain of engineers, and had many ideas far in advance of 

 his time. He writes: "The whole of the -west roast of 

 East Florida, is covered with fishermen's huts and flakes ; 

 these are built by the Spanish fishermen from the Havana, 

 who come annually on this coast to the number of thirty 

 sail, and one or two visit Rio d'Ais or Indian River, and 

 other places on the east coast. The principal fish here, of 

 which the Spaniards make up their cargo, is the red drum, 

 called iuEast Florida, a bass ; this is here a fine fish, although 

 in the northern provinces they are generally poor; They also 

 salt a quantity of fish which they call " painpanos," for 

 which they get a price three times as high as for other fish. 

 A few sea, trout and the roe of mullets and black drum, and 

 some oil from the liver of nuftses and sharks is also carried 

 to make up the cargo." f 



These " nueses" are a species of shark — a bottom fish, liv- 

 ing on mollusks — of a sluggish disposition, and not ferocious 

 or destructive, like their cousins. We sometimes book this 

 species, while fishing for sheepshead P. H. Gosse, in his 

 "Naturalist in Jamaica," describes it under the name of 

 Sc-i/lUum cirrniuhi. Cn<\ 



Capt. Romans gives th ■ following list of species : " King- 

 fish, barracoreta, farpom, bouita, oavallos, ambertish, pampus, 

 silvgr-fish, jew-fisa, groupers, rock-fish, porgys, morgate-fish, 

 hog-fish, angel-fish, yellow-tails, red, grey, -and black-snap- 

 pers, manuTove-snappers, dog-snappers, parrot-fish, mutton 

 fish, gruhts, iriuray, mullet,?, sprats, red and black drum, 

 iionerish. stingrays, sharks, and an immense variety of others, 

 all excelleni in thi ■< kinds." 



Most of i lii..- we know under the same names. "Mut- 

 ton-fish'' are probably sheepshead, "rOolcnW are perhaps 

 striped bass, which have been taken recently iu St. John's 



River, but what are " amberfish," "dog snappers," and 

 " muray?" The "parrot-fish" is a West India species. 



I found a copy of Roman's book in the Boston Atheneum, 

 from which I made extracts. g 



Marietta, Gta. 



In our last volume, page 511. we gave a. list of Southern 

 Sea Fishes in 1(175, by Captain Dampier, just one hundred 

 years before Roman's, and the common name of 31,i/,dopx 

 thrksoMeti was spelled, as in the present case, tarpom. Hence 

 we will drop our orthography, and in future spell it as 

 originally spelled. 



TROUT AND SALMON IN NEW HAMP- 

 SHIRE. 



IN your notice of the trout season, you give it as opening 

 in N. H., April 1. Please correct this, as it, opens Mavl. 

 the jsamc as Maine and Vermont. 



Your correspondent, "Hodge," speaks of salmon fishing in 

 the Merrimac and Pemigewasset, but your readers must bear 

 in mind, that the prohibitory law doe's not expire till June 

 14, '82. 



This will probably be as soon as any salmon get up the 

 river, they not making their appearance 'at Lawrence usually 

 much before the 1st of June. 



The pools and eddies at Golfs Falls, four miles below Man- 

 chester, Ihe large- pool hclow Hooksett Falls, eight miles 

 above Manchesti r, and the one below Garvin's Falls, five 

 miles above Hooksett, Would seem to be the most likely places 

 to find them. 



The springs and lakes, at head waters, are full this season, 

 and we hope that the salmon may be moiv. successful in their 

 efforts to ascend the Merrimac, than they ware last summer, 

 when they were caught by low r water in June. 



The robins and bluebirds have been plenty here for a fort- 

 night, and the "May-fiower," Epigea repivx, 'is just, beginning 

 to show its pink buds. I picked quite a little bunch yesterday. 

 But, the winds hold cold from the north, and it froze sharply 

 last night. 



It is many years since I spent the early spring in a country 

 village, and in wandering about over the hills, since the snow 

 went off enough to make tramping possible, I am struck 

 with the dissapearance of the old familiar woods. 



No wonder our streams dry up in the summer, and our 

 trout are exterminated. 



We shall have to get boards of forestry yet, in New- Eng- 

 land, to preserve our water-powers, for manufacturing pur- 

 poses, for they are becoming more variable yearly, as the 

 timber is stripped °ff of the mountains. Sam Webber. 

 Charleston™, N". H. 



The Dead Fish. — Concerning the tile fish found on the 

 borders of the Gulf stream the following report is made by 

 Captain Ole Jorgcnsen, a Norwegian, to Secretary Wilcox, 

 of the Boston fish bureau: "Ou March 14, in bit. -lOdeg., Ion. 

 71deg\, I commenced sailing at 1 o'clock in the afternoon 

 through great quantities of dead fish, which I kept seeing 

 until dark. They were from one to four feet in length, but 

 mostly from one to two feet long. On March 15 there was a, 

 severe storm, with rain and snow, and I (fid not see any fish." 

 The captain also states that his men tried to hook up 

 some of them, but they did not succeed, as the wind was 

 blowing very hard from the northwest! At, the rale Captain 

 Ole Jorgcnsen was sailing he must have seen the dead fish 

 for forty or fifty miles. Other seamen must, also have seen 

 the same fish, since their statements agree :e to the lati- 

 tude and longitude and the date of seeing them. Prof. 

 Spencer F. Haird, of the United States 'Fish Commis- 

 sion, in a letter to the Boston fish bureau, desires all seamen 

 who have come in contact with these dead fish to give all the 

 facts they observed concerning them, either to the newspa- 

 pers, to the fish bureau or to communicate with him person- 

 ally. The object is to identify them, if possible, beyond a 

 doubt. Prof. Baird at present has no doubt but what they 

 were the tile fus\\—Lr>pho(atilui< — seen by his commission, 

 both in 1880 and 1881, on the borders of the Gulf stream. 

 Prof. Baird thinks they were rendered lifeless by some great 

 natural cause, and hence they were seen in such great num- 

 bers. He is of the opinion that they might have been 

 killed by the force, of the recent gales which had previously 

 prevailed. Other men of science are not inclined to this 

 idea, since, they say, such wholesale destruction of a, pow- 

 erful fish as the tile fish is know T u to be, by the force of the 

 waves alone, would have been simply impossible. They in- 

 cline to the belief tnat some volcanic action of the ocean 

 must have destroyed them. Their death could hardly have 

 been the result of disease, since some of the captains 'report 

 having taken one or two on board and Laving found them 

 hard and nice, and to have enjoyed good dinners from them 

 after cooking. The locality mentioned by Captain Ole Jor- 

 gcnsen N. lat. 40deg., W. lon.71deg., corresponds almost exact- 

 ly with wdiere the LopholoUUi were found by the United 

 States Fish Commission in the summers or 1880 and 1881. 

 Any facts concerning the tile fish, either dead or alive, 

 should be communicated to Prof. Baird. Prof. Baird is of 

 the opinion that they exist in great numbers in and about 

 the locality mentioned, and that in them exists one of the 

 great food' supplies of the ocean. 



A Compact A-nolijno Ron. — We were recently shown by 



Mr. W. Holberton, with Conroy A: Bissett, almost complete 

 and compact fishing rod. It is called the' Holberton pattern 

 split, bamboo trout rod, and, with Ihe exception of a : , 

 butt which can be carried in the pocket or in the creel , 

 whole tiling goes inside of the landing-net handle. When 

 the angler arrives at. the stream, he takes the rod out of the 

 bamboo landing-net handle, screws the folding ring in. puts 

 the rod together and all is ready for business. As an extra 

 rod to take along, it is very desirable, for, though hot over 

 ten e et long, it is powerful enough to kill a good sized black 

 bass and to cover a cast of sixty feet, in expert hands. 



Whitebait. Pawtucket, R. I., April 4.— I scud you by 

 this mail some fish winch of late have been caught in small 

 quantities iu the I'awtueket River iu tide water. Our fisher- 

 men are trying to sell them as "whitebait." I tell them that 

 they are not whitebait, although I am nut posted at all on 

 fishes, but think such fish have been sold in your city by that 

 name. Will you have the kindness to identify them f,', t , 



giving both common and scientific name? ! , , pmation 



which you may give about, them will be appreciated by— 

 Samuel F. DiiATKi:. [The fishes came to hand. They are 

 called "silver-sides," and "friar" along the coast. The 

 matic name jg QMrostotna nototrk Slitcb. Gill. They an 

 sometimes sold as wdiite-bait in New r York, hut are not the 

 genuine article. The true whitebait tire the young of herring 

 alewives, etc. Now York m< ' I icaring." 



They grow no larger ihau your specimens. 1 



