o 



348 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jons 1, 1888, 



ha mid Miver Mi 



FISH IN SEASON IN JUNE. 



FRESH WATER. 



■". SalovlinimfontinaliB. Yellow perch, Perca fluiHatili3. 

 Urnyilng. Tlrymalhw tricolor and Striped Imss (KoeM'ish), Roccus 



Rainbow trout, Salmo iridea. White bass, Ihircux rhrysvps. 



Clark's trout, Salmo clafhii. Rock bass, Amblovliies, two «pe- 



lidlly VarOah trout, SotecUnfW ei .g. 

 mjlm-.t. War-mouth. CJucnobryttus gulo- 



pterus, 2 species, .Iks. 



■'/'•.•'. Crappie (Strawberry bass, etc.), 



: .r Zucta*. ttyiatV* nicromaailatuss 

 i ulatus. Bachelor. I-onw.n;.! annularis. 



Pikepereh (Wnll-eyed pike) Sti- chub, Sentotilus bullaris. 

 zunlelhiuin. 



SALT •WATER, 



Sea bass, Oentropristep Vltrariut. Tautog or blackflsh, Tautoga oni- 

 Whitepeivh. Moron'uviu-rk-tiiin. liUicflsli or taylor, Pdmalomus 



Iqtivm or- xnttui,;.,. 

 i/yropti. Weaikfisli or squeiague, Cynos- 



cyon regalia. 



Because you prefer trout-fishing, but can't get away to stay a 

 week, His no reason why you should not enjoy hall a day upon the 

 ponds, or in the nearest stream with the perch. It need not be 

 beneath your dignify if you love the sport. Suppose that Dives, Jr., 

 did spent a fortnight among the Eangeleys and is going to Lake 

 Superior iK'jct month, let him sneer at your perch-fishing if he will. 

 he probably- won't enjoy it half as much as you will if you have not 

 hud a I'.nii'f of the pond lilies this season. My dear fellow! the man 

 who does these things for sport need not care about the size of his 

 game, ojul with light taclde the yellow perch of half a pound is 

 gamier than a lake trout of four pounds. This question of meat 

 reminds mo that while on the frontiers for six years I never went but 

 once on a buffalo hunt. Such butchering! It was no better than 

 riding up to a drove of tame cattle and blazing away until one 

 dropped; and then the skinning! My companions, however, were as 

 much disgusted with my shooting of prairie chickens, plover, etc., as 

 I was with the buffaloes. For these small deer they had the greatest- 

 eon tempt. They wanted "meat," and this feeling often extends to 

 fishing, Call the perch a third-class fish if you will ; 1 repeat, that 

 with light tackle and proper angling it affords fair sport, and 

 accessible to those who can neither spare the time or money to go 

 to th» haunts of the trout, grayling, bass or maskinonge.— Fred 

 3Utheb. 



TROUTING AROUND LAKE MEGANTIC. 



1HAD made excursions to various trout streams in differ- 

 ent directions and everywhere found the number of trout 

 di 



to the swarms of black flies that I wai. 

 L'ed and wholly disgusted, albeit my desire 

 fishing grew stronger at every failure. In 

 1 applied to "Old Paradis"— everybody 

 rafiis. As a whisky-drinker, fiddler and 

 stands at the head. As a carpenter, un- 

 ci uuu pia^terer he is above the average; his stories 

 sfcaustable, and his garrulity illimitable. Now, I 

 to :-;iv I set a long and bitter experience has taught me 

 Jly disregard all stories of wonderful trout-fishing in 

 any and all places. I listen with real or feigned interest, 

 expressing pleasure or wonder according to the size of the 



no dr. 

 nearly di 

 for a goe 

 this era 

 knows ( 

 trout-fiat 

 holsterer 

 are in.ex 

 gravsto 

 to tota 



utory, 



ho kn 

 day? "' 

 shore, a 

 :: half an 

 halt a dc 

 came the 



!ily agreed 

 Thf only ho 

 Major McAuk 

 been bought t 

 birthday, and, 

 Mash. We !•. 

 >at hous 



wish to go fishing I apply the test: Did 

 ! any good trout pond that could be reached that 

 BS, tnusfed. Eight miles up the lake, on the west 

 .lie brook comes in; follow that up for a mile and 

 ' 'oi' come to Grosbois Pond." He had visited it 

 en times, and never failed of a good catch; then 

 ;est question ; Would he go with me? Certainly, 

 EUrnish the tackle, as his Was all at home. This' I 

 wed to do. 



y boat obtainable was a light cedar skiff, owned by 

 Auiay of the Prince of Wales Hotel, which hacl 

 ie spring before for a regatta on the Queen's 

 distancing all competitors, had been named 

 mrrected it from under a pile of rubbish in 

 ,v here it had lain all winter, and then found 

 it to be just .■! wrack, with gaping seams, seats torn from 

 their fastenings, and streaks sun-cracked through and 

 through. However., it was still early morning, and as either 

 pf US -.viae fully competent to biuld an entire boat, we went 

 to work with a" will, and by 3 o'clock had it ready to launch; 

 than we bunted up two frightfully deformed oars of entirely 

 different pattern, weight and length, each one of which 

 crooked three ways, and I could feel in anticipation the 

 hiei! would adorn my hands at the end of the 

 eight-mile row. A light breeze milled the surface of old 

 MegflUtfe as we rowed leisurely up it, and very pleasant 

 looked the grand old forest on either side, the bright green 

 of the birchea and maples just coming into full leaf contrast- 

 ing beautifully with the dark verdure of the evergreen spruce 

 and f:r. A two hours' pull brought us to (he mouth of the 

 brook, and with hands burning from their contact with the 

 infernal implement of torture, which ought to have been an 

 oar, 1 shouldered a,xe and fishing rod and we started up the 

 brook. 1 found it tilled with trout, but saw none over six 

 indues in length, but hive no doubt that the fisherman "for 

 count" could have gone into the hundreds. 



Arriving at the pond I was surprised to find a heavy dam 

 at the foot, and then I learned that the name of the pond did 

 nol arise from the size of the timber with which it was sur- 

 rounded, as f had supposed, but that a Frenchman of that 

 name built the dam with the intention of building a sawmill, 

 but his funds giving out after damming the brook, he done 

 the same thing to the location and left. The pond is a third 

 of a, mile in length, and half that distance across, and is 

 nothing in faci but a huge spring with scarcely any inlets, 

 the water clear as crystal, nowhere more than four or five 

 feel in depth, and the bottom a la-own mud of unfathomable 

 depth. '■ fax Brs1 care w T as to build a raft, for which purpose 

 WO had brought the. axe. Plenty of dry cedar logs were 

 tying elOSQ to the fiank, and while cutting them into suitable 

 lengths, my ears were regaled with a noble song from a rose- 

 breasted erossbeak hidden in the dense foliage of a, huge 

 sugar maple' a few tods away; We soon had timber enough 

 raft, and as I stooped to pick up the last log, a flood 



i ima cedar thicket, 



1 1 by the red rays of the 



denlv pause, all oiy facultie 

 ng. it whs the 



forever associated in in 

 : ppj iay-s; whe 



among the drir .'■".' ■■'■: 



swamp i >hi : 

 melodious and flute-like 



top 



hi 



mind with trout 

 free from i arc I 

 ■s down the brc 

 every hand liquid 



just illuni- 

 sed nic to sud- 

 lie one sense of 

 t brush, a sons: 

 ling in my bov- 

 ndered barefoot 

 . and heard the 

 oid clear, flu 



tea floated ottf on the cairn air of 



that beautiful June evening, and as I listened, my surround- 

 ings faded from my view, and I stood in the deserts of 

 Nevada and saw again the tears in the eyes of a fellow coun- 

 tryman, wdto told me there that one of the greatest desires of 

 his life was to hear again the song of the hermit thrush. I 

 pulled myself back into the present with a wrench, and saw 

 Paradis looking at me half in amazement, half in contempt. 

 T knew that the poor wretch thought I was afraid of bears. 

 He had not even heard the song. 



^ Launehingour raft, we made our way slowly to the center of 

 the pond. There was not a particle of vegetation to be seen, 

 and the bottom could be discerned for rods in every direc- 

 tion, and the outlook was far from promising. Paradis de- 

 clared that the bottom was covered in many places, the pre- 

 vious summer, with eel-grass and lily pads, and its total 

 disappearance confounded him. He insisted on fishing with 

 ally; but knowing that it was not according to the habits 

 of trout to rise iu shallow water unprotected by vegetation, 

 and in clear weather, T baited carefully with worms, and 

 being provided with a thirteen-foot rod,* I unreeled as much 

 line as I could conveniently handle and by dint of making 

 long casts and letting my bait slowly settle, I succeeded in 

 landing half a dozen nice trout in the very finest color and 

 condition, their sides glistening like silver as they were taken 

 from the water. Our stopping place for the night was to be 

 at Mycr's Mill, on the shore of the lake, half a mile above 

 the mouth of our brook, so that we had to "pull for the 

 shore" in order to get to land before total darkness set in. 



The next morning we were on the ground in good season. 

 The sun rose bright and cloudless and the prospect for a suc- 

 cessful day's fishing looked dubious; but by adopting the 

 tactics of the previous evening I got now and then a trout, 

 the intervals growing longer and longer as the. sun climbed 

 higher in the heavens. Paradis still clung to his fly, although 

 be had Caught only two trout. I was about to "propose an 

 adjournment, when, happening to cast my eyes to the west, 

 I saw a heavy bank of clouds rapidly climbing toward the 

 zenith. In ten minutes the sun was hidden, the thermometer 

 went down with a rush, and a hail-storm seemed imminent. 

 I was about to flee for shelter, when I heard a musical splash 

 and gurgle behind me. Turning my head, I saw Paradis's 

 rod iu the form of an arc, and I stood with suspended rod, 

 watching the struggle. He soon had him landed, and mak- 

 ing another cast, his fly was again seized the instant it 

 touched the water. Then I reeled in my line, and with 

 fingers that trembled with eagerness began to tie on a east of 

 flies. Before I could make a cast Paradis had landed five 

 trout. Then the rain came down, so cold that it was almost 

 snow, and my fingers soon became so numb that I could 

 scarcely handle my fish; but, for an hour, how the trout did 

 rise! Then the clouds rolled away, the sun came out in 

 cloudless splendor, the fish stopped rising, and we decided 

 that we had enough. 



Wet and chilly, we made our way to our boat. The row- 

 ing exercise soon warmed us up; but our pile, of trout, so far 

 from hindering us, seemed to help us along wonderfully. I 

 reached the hotel tired and hungry, but well pleased with my 

 trip to Grosbois Pond. Penobscot. 



IS THE FRESH WATER MUSSEL EDIBLE? 



THE following letter from a professor in a Western college 

 raises the question of the edibility of the JJm'o, or fresh 

 water clam. We have eaten them among the Indians, but 

 they were flat and insipid. No doubt they can be made 

 palatable, certainly in the hands of a clu-f of the famous 

 Ichthyophagous Club, but whether they can be so rendered 

 in ordinary every day, or camp cooking, is a question. The 

 professor writes: As the time approaches for the annual din- 

 ner of the Ichthyophagous Club, I wish to call the attention 

 of its caterers to a possible article of food which, as far as I 

 know, they have never tried, and which, if they can render 

 palatable for people of ordinary stomachs and tastes, will 

 permit a new and abundant supply of food to the people of 

 the West. I refer to the fresh-water bivalve mollusks ( Union- 

 idw), the so-called "fresh-water clams." In the streams of the 

 Western States these creatures live in vast numbers, and can 

 be readily obtained with such simple instruments as a com- 

 mon garden rake, and often by the hand alone. So numer- 

 ous are they that I have often found pools or lagoons at the 

 sides of the streams where I could gather a half bushel of 

 them by rolling up my sleeve and plunging my arm in a foot 

 of water or less, and with a small dredge that 1 use for col- 

 lecting specimens of aquatic animals, I have scooped up 

 bushels of them. There is nothing in the appearance or 

 smell of these mollusks more disagreeable than that of other 

 creatures found in similar places. I have dissected hundreds 

 of them and see no reason to suppose that they would not be 

 as -wholesome food as an oyster or clam. 



Some of the country people tell me they have tried cook- 

 ing these "shell-fish" and find them very tough, but I have 

 no doubt that the cooks of the Ichthyophagous Club could 

 soon devise a method of rendering them tender and eatable. 

 Should they succeed in finding a way to make these creatures 

 as much of a delicacy as the oyster is now, or any approxi- 

 mation to it, they would confer a lasting blessing upon the 

 people of the West, as oysters can only be brought here now 

 during a .few of the coldest months of the year, and then, 

 having been for a long time out of the water, they are far 

 from having the flavor of the fresh "New York" or "Provi- 

 dence River'' on the shell. If the club can give the people 

 of this sec! ion of the countiy a recipe for cooking these 

 native shell-fish in such a way as to make them take the 

 place of the sail water ones, we shall have an abundant 

 supply of "oysters" at our very doors, and those who ruin 

 their digestion in the first experiments may console them- 

 selves with the reflection that they suffer for the good of 

 their fellow men. 



[We hope that the club will procure these mussels and try 

 them. If good, our columns are open for the recipe.] 



The Opeka Singer and the Shad — New York.— Since 

 reading in your last issue, under head of "Information 

 Wanted," the following: "We have been troubled to recall 

 which of the famous opera singers who have visited this 

 country it was that so resembled a shad. Our office boy sug- 

 gests Matilda Heron, but she was not a singer, We thought 

 at fust that it might be Grisi, but there is little adipose mat- 

 ter about, the shad. It might be Alboni. but perhaps some 

 reader can correct us if wrong." I have been much trou- 

 bled. You don't mean Galassi. for he was a bass. Nor yet 

 Palti, who cast all the others into shad-ow. Ah: here We 

 have it. Mario Roze (rots) a fin-ished artist of the Italian 

 school. — Dick. [You are a Lucca guesser, but have not 

 properly caught on.] 



A FISHY COINCIDENCE. 



CONSTANT reader as I am of your delightful ami valu- 

 able journal, Forest and Strea.m, 1 venture to avail 

 myself of the invitation which you have extended to the 

 public to furnish brief statements of any extraordinary or 

 remarkable occurrence in the realms of nature, or on 'the 

 subject of sport by flood or field of a nature suitable to your 

 pages, and which, although it had chanced to come under 

 the observation of the individual writer, was not otherwise 

 likely to be generally known. 



The occurrence, which took place here, that is at St. 

 Johns, P. Q., Canada; on the 2d of this month, is at least 

 remarkable, and, so far as I am aware, not to be accounted 

 for by any theory based on natural causes; while to those 

 who regarded the matter from a superstitious point of view, 

 and now trace a connection between this freak of nature and 

 a subsequent most deplorable national calamity and tragedy, 

 one is constrained to admit that the two events thus taken 

 together, and regarded from the point of view already men- 

 tioned, do certainly form what is 1 believe generally termed 

 " a remarkable coincidence." 



On the morning of May 2, 1882, as some St. Johns fisher- 

 men were engaged iu taking up their nets and night dues, 

 the latter, I understand, stretching right across the Richelieu 

 River in the immediate vicinity of the Barracks, they weru 

 filled with feelings of surprised delight, not, however, un- 

 mixed with a certain degree of superstitious awe and appre- 

 hension as to what dire calamity the omen might portend, at, 

 the discovery that they had taken for their prisoners during 

 the past night on one single line no less than seven sturgeon, 

 the largest of which measured six feet seven inches in length 

 and weighed 125 pounds, while the smallest was four feet 

 long and weighed 40 pounds. It is true that sturgeon have 

 been taken singly in this neighborhood, but very rarely, and 

 they have, always been, comparatively speaking, small; but 

 never within the memory of those who have been familiar 

 with this river for the last fifty years has anything like the 

 occurrence which I have just related taken' place, nor has 

 there, indeed, been more than one specimen of this kind of 

 fish taken at a time, and that one not exceeding twenty-rive 

 or thirty pounds in weight. The situation of Bt. Johns, on 

 the Richelieu, between Chambly and Rouse's Point, and the 

 connection of the river with Lake Champluin in the one 

 direction and with the St. Lawrence at Sorrel in the other, 

 are easy to be seen on the map; and I shall lie interested lo 

 see if either you, sir, yourself or any of your numerous read- 

 ers can suggest an explanation based on natural causes which 

 can in any way account for or throw light upon this extra- 

 ordinary occurrence. In the meantime 1 can only assure 

 3 r ou that the implicit faith of my friends the Canadian fish- 

 ermen in the portentous nature of tliis event would have done 

 honor to any ancient augur in the Eternal City of seven hills 

 in days of yore, B. C. 



To tell the whole truth (and as matters have turned out I 

 feel almost in honor bound to do so) I, iu the first instance, 

 purposely refrained from sending this letter for awhile, in 

 anticipation of the enjoyment of a jolly good laugh when I 

 did send it, after the lapse of a reasonable time, at the bare 

 notion of such incredible superstitious ignorance. Now, 

 however, I feel bound to admit that the deplorable national 

 calamity and bloody tragedy which has since actually taken 

 place in Ireland has completely taken the wind out' of my 

 sails. All I can say is, " Let those laugh who win." 



The Wigwam, St. Johns, Canada. E. Whitacre Davteb. 



FISH FOR COLORADO ANGLERS. 



Editor Forest and Stream : 



Sportsmen and others interested in the preservation of 

 game and fish have just completed the organization of "The 

 Colorado Game and Fish Protective Association.'' The call 

 for a meeting for the purpose, which, by the way, I see 

 copied in the last Forest and StrBaJi, brought an unex- 

 pectedly large number of gentlemen together, representing 

 all the more populous counties of the Stale. Mucu interest 

 was manifested, and the organization starts out; with enthu- 

 siasm and most encouraging prospects. Its membership will 

 embrace the entire State, reinforced by local gun clubs in 



the various counties. Its first object is to enforce < 



game and fish laws and secure their improvement, when the 

 Legislative Assembly meets next winter. 



It is evident that our trout streams are being fast depleted— 

 a loss that is felt more than the destruction of game. It is 

 done by market fishermen, who use dyuamite and giant 

 powder for the purpose, thereby killing all the fish wiibin Lta 

 reach. We did not exactly wait until the horse was stolen 

 before attempting to lock the stable door, (nil that result was 

 fast impending, and, in fact, actually exists to-day in many 

 of our trout streams and lakes. 



The 300,000 New England brook trout hatched out at the 

 State hatchery iu January last have nearly all been distrib- 

 uted in the streams on the eastern slope of the mountains and 

 in San Luis Valley. A few are st'dl held to be taken over 

 the range. They have done remarkably well, and suffered 

 hardly any loss. ' Some of those yet at the hatchery arc said 

 to be three inches long, though but four months old. Ten 

 thousand rainbow trout from California, received recently, 

 have hatched with a loss of less than two hundred. Com- 

 missioner Sisty is making a fine success of Ids nursery. B. 

 Denyeh, Colorado, May 20. 



[The officers of the Colorado Game and Fish Protective 

 Association are: President, W. B. Byers, Postmaster of 

 Denver; First Vice-President, D. H. "Dougan, Mayor of 

 Leadville; Second Vice-President, Charles L Danua, of 

 Greeley; Third Vice-President, T. T. Beaty, of Pueblo; 

 Treasurer, J. Cook, Jr., of Denver; Secretary, -I. 8. Sedam, 

 of Denver. For membership apply to ,1. S. Sedam, Secre- 

 tary.] 



Potomac Black Bass Ancu.tno.— In reference to the 

 angling ground resorted to by Chambersburg angler*, 1 

 would like to state the precise grounds. The place is about 

 midway between Falling Waters and Williamsporl, on the 

 Potomac River, and il can be reached via Chambersburg to 

 Falling Walers. At the latter place good bass fishing b< 



bad and comfortable quarters procured at the hole). But 

 should the angler wish lo try the larger fish, about midway 

 between Falling Waters and Williams-port, no. doubt board 

 could be had at any of the farm houses on the shore. My 

 informant, Dr. W. S' Hope, of Chambersburg, camps yearly 

 at the place, but at a season when none but a thoroughly 

 acclimated person could stand the malarial tendency of the 

 region. Late June or early July would he the safest period 

 for a stranger. The minnow is the best bait for a stand-by 

 between Failing Waters and WillUHDSport, but ihe ,, 

 ing lure, when obtainableis a small frog or toad,— Homo, 



