390 



FOREST AND STREAM, 



pltjKE l.Jj 1S8'?. 



from young (jitirdiin-i by tie who is little acquainted with 

 fishes. 



-. ^Oi^ifl ff.iirdncri. Rich.— Steelhead, hardhead, salmon 

 trout, ah shut (Sitkas). Sacramento River to Rodiak, 

 Alaska. The adult bears a striking resemblance to the salar 

 or Maine salmon, and reaches a weight of twenty pounds or 

 more. I found gravid females at Sitka, iu .Tune, 1880. As 

 already remarked, it is very difficult to distinguish the dif- 

 ferences between the young* of this and the last, though the 

 adults are easily enough separated. 



3. 8nhno /nirptin/his palkts. Columbia River salmon 

 liTOUt, Rocky Mountain brook trout, lake trout, "the salmon 

 trout of the Rocky Mountain region," "not common south 

 of Mount Shasta in California." Abundant in Washington, 

 Oregon, British Columbia and Southern Alaska. This' is a 

 black spotted species, with red patches on the lower jaw, 

 a ml is readily distinguished from the two preceding. 'You 

 remember the pair which was sent von from the museum 

 over a year ago, marked Sitka, L. A*. Beardslee and T. H. 

 Bean. 



4. Hriliitopvrpurttim, var. Henshawi, Gill & Jordan.— Lake 

 Tahoe trout, silver trout, black trout, found in Lake Tahoe, 

 Pyramid Lake and streams of the Sierra Nevada, Con- 

 sidered by Prof. Jordan to be a variety of & piirpit/utiix. 

 This trout is regularly brought to San Francisco market. 



Two of the above species (ftifow and purpuratu*). were 

 included in the lot which we received from you April 6. 

 1882. You have also sent us the Lake Tahoe trout at 

 another time. With the trout forwarded April 6 there was 

 •h species of California salmon from Willow Brook, Minne- 

 sota. 



The only species of reel-spotted trout so far known on the 

 whole West coast is the s,<hdu, us mulrun (Walbaum) Jordan 

 & Gilbert. This is the Dolly Varden trout, bull trout, red- 

 spotted trout, salmon trout," Galetz (Russian), Aim Chuck' 

 (Kodiakmut) ; it is found west of the Cascade Range, from 

 .Northern California to, at least, Colville River iu Alaska. 

 In other words, throughout the mainland and islands of 

 Alaska. This trout has received a great many scientific 

 names, but the one here given is apparently the oldest. The 

 sea-run individuals lose their red spots, and are then analo- 

 gous to the Saimo immimtlafyf& of H. R, Storer. This is 

 much like the common brook trout of the East (8. fimUnalw), 

 reaching its greatest size in cold, northern waters. At 

 Rodiafcit forms an important article of export under the 

 name of salmon trout, Now, as to the question, "Is there any 

 difference between the California mountain or rainbow trout, 

 and the MeCloud River trout?" In rny opinion the two names 

 are applied to the same fish {StUmo irldbtix), and 1 think there 

 * is no other black-spotted trout in the MeCloud. Besides this 

 iriSfUh there is the red-spotted species (SalivMnu* inahnn). 

 I have the impression that we have never received any other 

 black-spotted species from the MeCloud than iridms. ' How- 

 ever, I will look up the records and inform you if I find that 

 lam in error. "MeCloud River trout'' is a bad name, be- 

 cause you can not know whether reference is made to the 

 red-spotted or the black-spotted one. Rainbow trout is a 

 good descriptive term for 8. irideus. Very respectfully 

 yours, T. H. BjBAM, " 



Fishim; tn tite Sabanacs.— Saranac Lake, N. Y„ June6. 

 —I would say to the readers of the Pokest and Stream 

 that the season has opened favorably for fishing in the Sara- 

 nac waters, _ Several gentlemen making their annual fishing 

 tour this spring have been very successful, amongthem Mr. Z. 

 T. Hollingsworth, of Boston, who took a very tine lake 

 trout, weighing twenty-one pounds, on Upper Lake, and 

 another weighing twenty-two and a half pounds in Wolf 

 Pond (one of the tributaries of Racquette River), on which 

 he broke his rod, but by the aid of Charlie Green, his ex- 

 perienced guide, lie lauded him after an hour's exciting 

 sport. Last weak a gentleman from New York city caught 

 four trout, weighing iu fcha aggregate thirty-six pounds, and 

 such large catches are of frequent occurrence. Dr. and Mrs: 

 Trudean. who wen.' staving at E, R. Derby's, at the head of 

 Upper Lake, being out on the 27th of May, with Albert 

 McKenzie, who has been fcheir guide for the la'st three or four 

 years, Mrs. Trudean captured a fish weighing sixteen and a 

 half pounds. When (lie fish first struck, Mrs. Trudean 

 thought her hooks had caught on the bottom, hut the guide, 

 knowing the depth of the water to be from thirty-five to 

 forty feet, understood the case better, and after a "spirited 

 resistance the fish was safely landed. Lower Lake was 

 stocked seven years ago with '35,000 brook trout, which are 

 now often caught weighing from three to three and a half 

 pounds. Trolling is now at its height, lasting through the 

 month of June, 'i'he Saranac waters have never been stocked 

 with bass or pickerel, and when we fish it is only for trout, 

 which are more abundant and of finer quality than in any 

 other water in the State. — Saranac Guide. 



Who Fishes Neak Pittsburgh?— My acquaintance with 

 the Forest and Stream dates back to Vol. 1,, No. 1, and I 

 have to thank it for many a happy hour and valuable hint; 

 and now I wish to trespass on its generosity for a little space 

 to ask if some reader in or near Pittsburgh will kindly in- 

 form me where 1 can tiud some kind of fishing within rea- 

 sonable distance of this smoky place, say where I could, by 

 taking a train in the morning, reach my destination in time 

 to have a lew hours' enjoyment and return in the evening? 

 Auy kind of pond or river fishing would suit me, as I no 

 not care so much for the catch as I do for the pleasure of 

 the trip. My acquaintance here does not yet extend to any 

 one who is posted on such matters, aud as the monotony of 

 office life is almost killing me, and I am so situated that I 

 can hardly spare the time to hunt up a place of ibis kind, 1 

 take this course, hoping it will meet the eye of some gen- 

 erous sportsman who is acquainted with the count I'y here- 

 abouts and who will help me in this dark hour. I would 

 greatly enjoy an occasional trip of this kind with a pleasant 

 companion who has a taste for this kind of amusement, if I 

 can make the acquaintance of one.— Sthaxgeh, (Pittsburgh, 

 Pa., June 3). 



What Fish is Tuts:— Houston. Tex.— My friend. Col. 

 Munson, from Brazoria county, has been catching some 

 strange fish, which he tells me are strangers of recent 

 appearance in the waters of his locality, lie calls them 

 black parch. Iu the Water, when they can be seen, they 

 present to iiu eye thfr appearance oi being blaok, hul when 

 taken from the wafer- they ate found tp be covered with 

 minute black spots 80 thick as to be indistinguishable as 

 1 " when viewed from a short distance. Their 



■ l md general formal .ion is thai of our common perch. 

 Another remarkable tlculure of the fish is its. month,; when 

 ■ '-• - >l it 1m- yevj much the appearance of that of the perph, 



but when open it resembles that of the black bass, being 

 large, wide and very prominent. What renders it difficult 

 to take is the delicate construction of its mouth, the mem- 

 brane being perfectly transparent and so thin that the hook 

 tears out at once if the fish makes the least effort to gain its 

 liberty. They take the My readily, but prefer live bait. 

 Their weight is front three ounce* to one and a half pounds. 

 They move in congregations or schools, and when one is 

 caught the entire school can he readily taken. They 

 resemble the black bass in flavor and are highly esteemed as 

 a table fish. Their appearance in the waters from which 

 they have been taken is quite recent, the first noticed being 

 taken about two years since. What is it ?— J. W. Daniels.' 



Former Stze op Shad.— A short time ago we published 

 an account of the shad in Morocco, from a correspondent 

 who said of their size and quality that they far exceed those 

 caught in the United States. Among a lot of sixty-four he 

 found one of eleven pounds and not one less than six pounds. 

 He said that he had heard of them of fourteen pounds. Dr. 

 Howell, of the New Jersey Fish Commission, whose memory 

 runs back to an earlier day on the Delaware River than any 

 living intelligent man, says, in commenting on the corres- 

 pondent's article above mentioned: "The above description 

 answers to the size and character of the Delaware shad 

 before the large ones were fished out, and the meshes of the 

 nets reduced greatly in size. In 1820 five hundred and 

 twenty shad salted at Howell's fishery (five miles below 

 Camden) filled ten and a half meat barrels, while, as the shad 

 have run in the last few years, it takes one hundred fish to 

 fill a barrel." The Doctor remembers very well when it 

 was by no means an unusual thing to take shad weighing 

 ten pounds each, but they have declined in size since then 

 as well as in numbers, until about three years ago, since 

 which time there has been a marked increase, so that shad 

 weighing six and a half pounds each, which were extremely 

 rare six or eight years ago, are quite frequently taken now, 

 and there have been some taken this year, as well as last, 

 weighing seven and a half to eight pounds each. 



atone haul, and made a total catch for the week of 500, (WO. 

 The Hawkins Bios., of Barren Island, las) week added a 

 new steamer, the Commodore, to their fleet. The steamer is 

 one of the largest engaged iu the fishing business, and was 

 built at Philadelphia." 



" Uonadxock Trout."— Boston. June ;.— Have hail the 

 pleasure of taking specimens of the " Monaduock Lake" 

 trout with the fly. You are already aware of their peculiar 

 silvery white appearance, and you will comprehend the long, 

 peculiar shape when I give you the following dimensions 

 and weight: twelve indies long weigh ten ounces, also ten 

 inches long weigh six ounces. How is that for style':' — M. 



The Opera Singer and THE Shad.— New York. —The 

 singer could not have been Bernhardt, as she was never 

 accused of casting a shad-o-where's my Sara gone? — Too 

 Thin. 



Boston. — It has ,-eeurrel to rne that it nittst have been 

 Parepa Rosa, on account of the beautv of her scale. — Old 

 Times. 



Florida Fishing. — Jacksonville. Fla.— Sea trout and 

 kingfish are bitiug at the outer, or sea buoy, and to-day 1 

 received an invitation from one of the pilots to go after 

 them. Will soon try the bass and tarpum and report 

 thereou. — At, Fresco! 



Ontahto. — Peterborough, June. — Fishing here in this pari 

 is most excellent. Black bass and maskinonge very plenti 

 ful and in good order. Trout (lake) fishing by rod 'and line 



in Stoney Lake and Burleigh was very poor this, spring. 



St. Claik Flats.— Detroit. Mich.— The black bass fishing 

 season has jus1 opened at the Si. Clair flats. Few strings 

 have been made as yet. but no doubt good catches will be re- 

 ported soon. — Kee'Tash, 



The Same Pickerel. — Lynn, Mass. — As you invite re- 

 ports of incidents of an unusual nature I recall an instance 

 of landing a pickerel, the circumstances attending which, 

 being of so peculiar a nature as to doubt a like experi- 

 ence by any Forest and Stream reader. A number of 

 years ago I was trailing the shores of a small pond for pick- 

 erel, a few miles from town. I had already taken six or 

 eight fish and as I hooked a small pickerel of about half a 

 pound weight I threw it with a sudden twist of the rod some 

 ten or fifteen feet from the edge of the water where it lay as 

 it dropped from the hook. I began adjusting a new bait and 

 had barely got. ready for another cast when the pickerel com- 

 menced such a vigorous flopping, that before I could reach 

 him he succeeded m wriggling back into the water and made 

 off to a bunch of lily pads twenty feet from shore, and as I 

 trolled my bait (I was using frogs) past his snout he fastened 

 to it like a man-eater to a darkey's leg. I gave him time to 

 gorge and as he moved for deep water, struck and landed 

 him again, this time for sure. I know it was the same indi- 

 vidual, for I watched him from the time he got back into the 

 pond till he took the bait the second time. Next! — N. L. M. 



Standard Trout Flies. — There has been a lack of a 

 standard to which anglers can refer with confidence and 

 rely upon it to tell them exactly the form aud colors of the 

 different named flies. It is well known that the same fly 

 bears different names in different places, and in ordering 

 flies one is not always certain that his nomenclature is 

 identical with that of his fly maker. To remedy this Mr. 

 W. Holberton has issued an elegant card nineteen by twen- 

 ty-four inches, on which he has had the flies correctly 

 printed and afterward colored them by hand himself. This 

 he calls the " Standard," and it contains sixty-four patterns, 

 faithfully colored, of the leading trout flies, with an en- 

 graving of a trout in the centre. The price of the card is 

 $3.50, or, if the trout is also colored, $5. It can be had by 

 addressing W. Holberton, 65 Fidton street, New York. 



Fish Parasites.— Washington, June 5.— The fish para- 

 sites mentioned by your correspondent, Mr. Andrew Lackey, 

 as occurring in Adirondack fish, probably belongs to the 

 species IJgula simpllmina. It is a low form of tape worm, 

 and infests a variety of fishes, including the salmoa, trout, 

 pike and the like. In these it lives in au undeveloped state, 

 never becoming .sexually mat tire. The perfect worm is found 

 in a variety of birds. The embryo Liguh when received 

 into the intestine of the fish, its host, and freed from the 

 egg. perforates the intestine and passes into the body cavity 

 where it was found by your correspondent. Much of the 

 history of this worm, as of many other parasitic worms, ig 

 still obscure. I should be glad to receive specimensin order 

 to confirm my identification of the species. — Frederick W, 

 True (Assistant Curator National Museum). 



Planked Tkolt.— Fish's Eddy, N. Y. — Seeing a remark 

 in your paper of May 4 on planked shad, the question was 

 asked whether trout could be cooked in that way, aud for 

 the benefit of those who don't know, I will say that it is a 

 very common way of cooking trout in 1 he Adirondack* among 

 the' guides, While on their nomadic excursions without par- 

 ties and destitute of cooking tools. They there split a slab 

 from a birch tree for their plank, and although it requires a 

 little more labor, a person is fully repaid, for a more deli- 

 cious plate offish it would be impossible to place before an 

 epicure.— An Old Giude. 



Tennessee Notes. — Nashville.— The spawning season is 

 now over, the weather more pleasant, and the Waltonians 

 are again out upon the banks of our beautiful streams en- 

 joying rare sport, Although the fish law r is not rigidly 

 "obeyed, great good has already resulted from it. The Ken- 

 tucky Fish Commissioners have been distributing a large 

 number of shad and salmon fry lately. Col. Geo. F. Akers 

 was with them as their guest.' The 'Colonel says he cannot 

 help lending a hand iu the good work. — J. D. H. 



Destiui "HON of Food Fish. — We recently published an 

 account of 50,OUO mackerel being made into oil by I lie men- 

 haden fishers. We now find the following item in the New 

 York World: "Nearly 2,000,000 menhaden were tendered at 

 ihe fish factories at' Promised Laud. L. I., last week, and 

 50..QQQ drumlish caught in the pounds were converted into 

 scrap. The captains of the fishing steamers report an 

 abundance of menhaden. Captain Bateman. of the steamer 

 Falcfln. on Satutdav. off Montauk, took '380,000 menhaden 



<0isf(culhw. 



TROUT CULTURE. 



er trout culture has 



expects to make a sudden 



narket, has attractec! 



rout, who sent a re- 

 cford. one of the Coin- 

 rew York, on the sunt 

 i in a whole column, 



rpHE fact that the early enthusias 

 I died out. and that now no one 

 fortune by raisins this delicate tish t 

 the attention of the New Yorl 

 porter to interview Mr. Etigei 

 missioners of Fisheries of the 

 jeet. Mr. Blackford's views are given in : 

 from which we make the. following extracts: 



"The brook trout, owing to. ita gamynature, the beauty of 

 its form and color, and the firmness and delicacy of its flesh 

 as food, has from the beginning- of the work of 'those inter- 

 ested in fishculture been the principal object of their efforts--. 

 To-day, however, notwithstanding all the money expended 

 and the labor put forth to restock the waters where they once 

 abounded, in addition to the large number of preserves scat- 

 tered throughout the country where they are bred by private. 

 individuals, the brook trout is no more plentiful and is no 

 cheaper than it was a dozen yea rs ago at the beginning of the 

 work, and it probably always will continue a luxury beyond 

 the reach of the poor man as an article of food. 



"There are a. number of reasons for this practical failure, 

 for, in reality, the efforts to stock our streams and ponds with 

 brook trout can only be looked upon as a failure. The first 

 of these is probably the hbvne.-s of the tish, which, like the 

 salmon, as soon as'eivilization comes near the waters Inhab- 

 ited bv them, disappear. This disappearance is not due alone 

 to the" fact that many are caught and they are thus given M 

 opportunity to breed and multiply, uor bo the change in the 

 character and temperature of the' waters caused by the clear- 

 ing of forests, the cultivation of the land, or the pollution of 

 the streams by the establishment, of factories upon the banks: 

 but it is simpl'v because the. trout, apparently dislikes civiliza- 

 tion, and when it comes in he goes out. No better verification 

 Of this can be found than in the fact that in many of the un- 

 explored rivers of Canada a man can catch from fifty to om- 

 hundred pounds of trout in a day. 



"The raising of trout in ponds or preserves has been at 

 tempted on a large scale by many fisheulturfsts, yet there ra 

 no record of any of them ever making a fortune or even earn- 

 ing a Irving when they had to depend alone upon the result,-. 

 of trout-breeding. Ten years ago there was a great deal said 

 and written about the adaptability' of the brook trout as a 

 food fish for the people, and a book was written in which the 

 writer ingeniouslv demonstrated that immense fortunes were 

 to be made by raising them for the market. Tables wete 

 made up, showing that a man having a few acres of watei, 

 either iu ponds or stream,-,, by the expenditure of 81,000 in the 

 purchase of young fry. would, in the Course of two or three 

 years, be in'the receipt of au income amounting to 

 sao.000 per annum. 



"The manner of figuring out this result was apparently hon- 

 est and trustworthy, because a person unacquainted with 

 practical fishculture could be easily led to believe that from 

 100,000 trout eggs, which lie could ptu-chase for about Su.tKKi, 

 ho would in two years' time obtain about T5.00Q live tish 

 Weighing about half a pound each, which in the, market 

 would bring at least, seventy-Jive cents a pound. Tins is an 

 epitome of the bright picture of prosperity drawn by the 

 writer of the boot A great many people, however, accepted 

 these statements, and at once became enthusiastic fislieultur- 

 ists The result, in two veais, war. usually a bankru 

 breeder: for instead of Tri.000 or sn.000 half-pound livi 

 to his, astonishment he would lind it a difficult matter lo gel. 

 1,000 fish of that size. 



"There are uianv fatalities attending the life of a trout, 

 from the time he leaves the shelJ until he attains the age when 

 it gives a fisherman the greatest joy 01 bis life to see tun., rise 

 to the eiiuninglv-devised 11 y so temptingly dropped into the 

 water. In the first place 'there is a fungus which forms on 

 the shell before the yolk-sack is absorbed, and fifty per cent. 

 of the voung fish die before I uey reach the age when they 

 begin to take food. The natural enemies of the, trout aie 

 many — birds, muskrats, eels, and other fish— so that the, 

 proportion of those which escape all these ills, and reach the 

 age of two years, when they are ftt for food, is very .-mall 

 indeed. Then take into consideration the element of food. 

 The trout bae a most voracious appetite, he ie carnivorous, 

 and by the time be is. two years old and tit, for market he will 

 probably have cost his owner at least, fiftl rent, for each 

 pound of fish matured. 



■'The United States Fish CY.m!uis:-i"iier- have never under- 

 taken the artificial propagation of trout. The only work 

 done bv them relates to the cultivation and distribution ot 

 fish not looked after bv the State Cominissianere, They have 

 diftJ ibuted the ews of the California trout in the Wftte 

 borne of the Eastern States, lad further than tins have not 

 looked after trout. 



"The New York State Fish Omnii^-aon will devote but a 

 small portion of the new premises recently e-talihshed lij 

 them at Cold'Spring, on Long Island, to the cultivation •>!' 

 trout, The principal features of the work here v 

 cultivation of salt, wider tish. 1 think that hereafter tbj 

 Fish Commissioners of this Stwfce will devote but Uttlt 



