430 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Junje 29, 1883. 



\ea mid ^wer fishing. 



FISH IN SEASON IN JULY. 



TRESH 

 Lake tftrat, Oristivomer namay- 



aisli. 

 Siscowet, Crisfivomer siscowet. 

 Brook trout, SidvrlinnsfonUnaUn. 

 Grayling, Tht/mallus tricolor and 



T.'montanus. 

 Rainbow trout, Salmo iridea. 

 Clark's trout, Salmo clarkii. 

 Dolly Vardeti trout, Salvelinus 



malma. 

 Salraou, Salmo salar. 

 Land-locked salmon, var. sebago. 

 Quinnat salmon, Oncorhynchws 



cliouycha. 

 Black bass, Micronterus, 2 species. 

 Shad, Alosa sapiaissima. 

 Waskinonge, Esox nobilior. 



a 



Sea bass, Centropristes atrarins. 

 Striped bass, Roccus lineatus. 

 White perch, Morone americana. 

 S»up or porgie, Stenotomus ar- 



gyrops. 

 Tantog or blaekfish, Tautogaoni- 



■!■](. Rsox. lucius. 



Yellow perch, Perca Jluviatilis. 

 Striped bass (Rockfl'sh), Roccus 



tin 



itu- 



tin. 



Bluefish or taylor, Pomatomus 



saltatrix. 

 Weakrish or squetague, Cynos- 



cyon regalia. 



White baas, Roccus chry.mps. 

 Rock bass, Ambloplites, two spe- 

 cies. 

 War-mouth, Chcunobryttus gulo- 



Crappie (Strawberry bass, etc.), 



Pomoxi/.t nicromncidatua. 

 Bachelor, Pomoxys annularis. 

 Chub, Semotilus bullaris. 



WATER. 



"Sea trout," Cynoscyon carotinen- 



Sheepsbead, Archosargus proba- 



toreplialus. 

 Rmgfish or Barb, Menticirrus ne- 



bulosxis. 

 Spanish mackerel, Cybium tnacu- 



latum. 

 Drum, Pogonia* chromis, 

 Lafayette, Liostomus obliquus. 

 Red bass, etc., Sciainopsocellatus. 



Angling Is a rest to the mind, a cheerer to the spirits, a dlverter of 

 sadness, a calmer of unquiet thoughts, a moderator of passions, a 

 procurer of contentedness. It is like the virfue of humility, which 

 has a world of blessings attending upon it. — Sir Henry Wotton. 



THE SKOODOOWOBSKOOK. 



In the course of the debate on the River and Harbor bill the other 

 day, Hon. S. S. Cox, of New York, causad the clerk of the House to 

 read ttie following beautiful poem, which originally graced the col- 

 umns of our luminous contemporary the Sun, and is tiow perpetu- 

 ated in the Congressional Record. The blending of ' sentiment and 

 fish is very beatvtiful: 



I. 

 O maid with the hair that is yellow, 



Tis time that your home you forsook; 

 Come over and live with a fellow 

 By the beautiful Skoodoowobskook. 

 H. 

 And ther« where the grasses the brooks kiss. 



In the prettiest kind of a nook. 

 Where the swift-running Skoodoowobskooksis 

 Pours into the Skoodoowobskook. 

 IH. 

 Our lives like their streams shall commingle, 



For heaven no further we'll look ; 



Then come— It is wrong to live single — 



O come to the Skoodoowobskook. 



IV. 



In thi3 lovely terrestrial Eden 



I'll teach you to fish with a hook : 

 The fishes are plenty, O maiden, 

 In the crystalline Skoodoowobskook) 

 V. 

 Our food shall be trout from the waters, 



Which you to your sweet taste shall cook; 

 Come, fairest of Uncle Sam's daughters, 

 To the banks of the Skoodoowobskook. 



NOTES ON THE "BOOK OF THE BLACK 

 BASS." 



BY D. W. CKOSS. 



[Editor Forest and Stream: 



I submit to your readers the following timely criticisms on 

 my "Book of the Black Bass," by D. W. Cross. Esq., of 

 Cleveland, Ohio, author of "Fifty Years With the Rod and 

 Gun." Mr. Cross is a veteran sportsman, of great experience 

 in all matters pertaining to shooting and fishing. His little 

 work on the Rod and Gun contains more practical informa- 

 tion to the square inch than any work published, especially 

 on wing shooting, which is based upon true scientific prin- 

 ciples. My own comments are enclosed in brackets. — J. A 

 Henshall.] 



Book of the Black Bass, pp. 135. "Mkropterus mlmo- 

 kles (Lac), Henshall, the large-mouthed black bass, or, as it is 

 sometimes called, the Oswego bass," 



Last summer I caught a great many black bass on the 

 rocky shores of Lake Ontario, between 'Oswego and Salmon 

 rivers, also many in Salmon River, below the Pulaski Dam, 

 and it appeared to me that all were the small-mouthed bass.' 

 The Oswego River is a rapid one, and does not appear to me 

 to be a favorable resort for the big-mouthed bass. 



[Mr. Cross's conclusions are correct ; most of the bass in 

 Oswego River belong to the small-mouthed species. Never- 

 theless, the large-mouthed bass is quite generally called the 

 Oswego bass throughout the West and Northwest, which 

 many anglers attribute to its being found in Oswego "Lake," 

 in New York; but this is entirely erroneous, there being no 

 such lake in that State, It is one of the many names of the 

 black bass which should be wiped out. The distinctive and 

 descriptive names, "Small-mouthed" and "large-mouthed" 

 are the only ones that should be used.] 



Page 164. "After h tching, the young fry remain over the 

 bed from two to seven days, usually three or four, when 

 they retire into deep -water, or take refuge in the weeds, or 

 under stones, logs, ;.i.c; other hiding places." 



Your description of choice of location, making- nests, in- 

 cubation, time, etc., shows correct and careful observations 

 of their habits. But, really, do the young retire, into de,-p 

 water? So far as my experience and observation go (and 1 

 took particular pains to watch the young fry last "summer. 

 and many times prior) the young fry seek the sluxil water 

 near the banks, and in the bayous, where hiding places are 



ipt i_ r 



[The fry are usually observed in shallow water, among 

 the weeds, because the observer is usually on shore. But 1 

 have often seen the young fry on the surface of the deepest 

 portion of lakes and ponds, and especially was this the case 

 in Florida the past spring (March and April), where I fre- 

 quently observed the newly hatched fry in the middle, or 

 deepest, portion of the streams and bayous. And this is no 

 doubt the safest place for them, for large fish are seldom 



found in the deepest portions at these seasons; they are 

 found on the shoals and other feeding grounds. The j'oung 

 fry are very active, and are constantly on the move] 



Page 251. "The reel should be so placed as to be under- 

 neath when reeling up the line. " 



Sound! Another reason is: when it is used on top, the 

 wet line clings to the rod and reels up hard. 



Page 273. "Black bass leaders should be from six to nine 

 feet long. " 



And you recommend putting the flies three or four feet 

 apart. That is all good. But, did you ever try only three 

 and a half feet of salmon gut, with two flies (all" that "should 

 ever be used), the flies twenty-seven inches apart'? Reasons: 

 Too long a casting line increases the chances of breakage, 

 and the bass will not shy a line when fastened to a shorter 

 leader. If the flies be too far apart, in playing the bass, the 

 unoccupied hook is more liable to hitch on weeds or snags. 

 Twenty-seven inches apart will permit you to land a bass 

 with your net from either fly without endangering the hitch- 

 ing of the other in the net, or on the bottom, weeds, etc. 

 Hence I have adopted three and a half feet with two loops 

 twenty-seven inches apart, with snells not more than i\v& 

 inches long (three is better), in all my bass fishing. For trout, 

 I use a nine feet leader with from three to five flies, twenty- 

 seven inches for the first, and twenty-two inches apart for 

 the balance. When snells are six to eight inches, they are 

 apt to twist about the line and knot. 



[In my special instructions for fly-fishing, I advise (pp. 

 390) a six feet leader and but two flies; and snells for flies 

 (pp. 377) from three to six inches long. The snells six to 

 eight inches long (pp. 275) refer to bait fishing, as will be 

 seen.] 



Page 296. "Flies should be small, rather than large." 



Y"our remarks on flies are very lull and instructive. But 

 — here comes that everlasting "but" — does not the size of 

 the fly depend a good deal on the character of the water? 

 If still and clear, a smaller fly might do ; but the bass has a 

 mouth, which (like the immortal Henry Clay's) speaks for 

 itself, and is adequate to take in a large bait. You cannot 

 have a large hook on a small fly very well; Nos. 3 to 6 

 Sproat hooks are pretty sure to catch and hold, while smaller 

 may fail. In waters ruffled by winds, or on rapid streams. 

 I have always found large flies the most successful. Here- 

 with I send you a specimen or two that have proved very 

 killing with me, on our club grounds, Sandusky Bay, Ohio, 

 and on the waters and shores of Lake Ontario, north of 

 Oswego. 



[The flies sent by Mr. Cross were of the same size that I 

 use and recommend (pp. 296 and pp. 300) for cloudy days, 

 and high or rough water. For bright days, with clear, low 

 or fine water, I recommend (pp. 2y8) small flies. 1 recom- 

 mend, first, Sproat hooks, next O'Shaughnessy, for flies; 

 from Nos. 2 to 5 (pp. 299), "the latter being the smallest that 

 should be used under ordinary circumstances, though, for 

 the smallest flies, Nos. 6 and 7 "may be employed."] 



Page 320. "To hook the live minnow." 



I do not now fish for bass, much, with the minnow, but 

 when I do, I invariably run the hook ilu'ough the mouth, 

 carefully out at the gills, close to the cheek, and draw the 

 snood through far enough to run the hook under the skin at 

 the back fin, in a way so as not to double up or injure the 

 minnow. He will live and play, and you will be almost 

 sure to hook your fish every time. If hooked through the 

 lips (a good way in still water), and the minnow is large, the 

 fish often grabs below the hook, when away go both minnow 

 and bass; often when rises are scarce. 



[I find that hooking through the lips is the best way, all 

 things considered, as I recommend. I advise Mr. Cross's 

 method (pp. 436), for spinning or trolling with the live min- 

 now,] 



Page 331 — "Landing net handle." 



I use one for wading, especially in swift water and rocky 

 bottom, long enoughfor a support, with a steel spike screwed 

 into the lower end. I have it hollow, and long enough to 

 insert a small brass, copper or tin tube large enough to hold 

 one bamboo tip. The tube is made perfectly water-tight, 

 otherwise water will get in and the tip will be spoiled. 

 When on land, I stick the spike (five inches long and taper- 

 ing) into the ground while playing and killing' my fish, or, 

 if wading, lean it on my arm; then I have support in switt 

 water, and what is belter, always have an extra tip handy. 

 Try it. 



Page 340— "Minnow pails." 



Many years ago I used to carry my minnows several miles 

 to favorite bass grounds, when, if shut up* they would die, 

 or, if open, the water would slop over in the carriage; so 1 

 devised a minnow pail which proved successful in keeping 

 minnows alive, and no water was spilled: The ouiside 

 bucket was made tapering, of heavy tin, 14 inches across 

 the bottom, 8 inches across the top, and about 10 inches 

 high, with a stout bail, and handle of wood. Inside of this 

 I put a straight bucket about half an inch less than the 

 diameter of the top of the outside bucket, and an inch and a 

 half shorter, and perforated with many holes on (op. sides 

 and bottom. On this there is a sliding door to put in and 

 take out the minnows (just as you describe it), and a small 

 bail that will fit inside the cover of the outside pad. The 

 water (when in a carriage) will strike the slanting sides of 

 the outside pail and fall back, while the minnows will live 

 without change of water, even if riding all day. 



Page 373. "Keep out of sight of the fish aa much as pos- 

 sible, for herein lies the greatest secret of success in ang- 

 ling." 



Y ou here strike the key-note of success for either bass or 

 trout fishing. But, really, is the bass as shy and scary a fish 

 aB the trout ? My experience runs the other way. A bass 

 will scare as quick, but he won't stay scared. He will come 

 out, if he hides from the scare, in from five to fifteen min- 

 utes; but not so with the trout, you must wait hours instead 

 of minutes after you have scared him. The bass is a bolder 

 fish; will tackle anything, and is inclined to show his pluck. 

 Think of it. 



[I have thought of it, a great deal, and have expressed the 

 same opinion as Mr. Cross (on pp. 373, 374 and 41)3). I hold 

 that the bass is as wary, but not so timid as the trout, and 

 withal is more knowing.] 



Page 374. " On wheu and where to fish." 



Your remarks as to the best time and the best places show 

 to me how much you have been there. I agree with you 

 heartily, that to know always whei-e to fish, requires more 

 "gumption" than to know how to handle a fly-rod in the 

 most skillful manner. In my experience, whatever that 

 may be worth, I have found just at dawn and at twilight, 

 especially in still water and on a still day, tbe best time. In 

 a good breeze, any time. This, I believe, confirms your 

 practice. On some grounds a good breeze is indispensable 

 to success, in bass and trout fishing. 



Page 380. "Inch for inch, and pound for pound, the black 



bass is the gamest fish that swims." 



Fred Mather, Dr. Garlick (the father of flshculture in 

 America), Dr. E. Sterling, and many others, agree with you 

 in this. 1 cannot tell you how many trout and bass 1 have 

 caught and timed, and how difficult, sometimes, to deter- 

 mine which had "got the case." Both are gamy enough 

 for all the sport and excitement the most ardent sportsman 

 could wish. I must confess, however, that gamy as the 

 bass is, the trout of equal weight is his superior both in time 

 of endurance and muscular activity. But the difference, 

 weight for weight, is so little, that no two true sportsmen 

 will cross swords over the question of superiority. The Cali- 

 fornia mountain trout, I feel quite certain, will ultimately 

 become the rival of the black bass. It thrives in warmer 

 weather than the brook trout, grows faster, and is hardy and 

 prolific. It and the black bass will ultimately become the 

 game fish of America. 



[If the same tackle, or at least the set me rod is used, the 

 black bass will not suffer by a comparison with the trout; on 

 the contrary, where the two fish are of equal weight, the 

 bass will fight as long, or even longer than the brook trout, 

 andwill prove the hardest customer to manage. I mean no 

 disparagement to the brook trout; but the black bass should 

 receive his due. I sincerely hope that Mr. Cross's anticipa- 

 tions regarding the 'rainbow trout" of California will be 

 more than realized; but there seems to be much difference of 

 opinion as to its gaminess. as well as to its successful intro- 

 duction to our waters. We will, at all events, hope for the 

 best; at the same time I will here reiterate my opinion that 

 the black buss will eventually become the leading game-fish 

 of America.] 



TROUT AND TROUT STREAMS. 



I HAVE read with interest Mr. Blackford's article on 

 trout culture, and acknowledge him to be good authority 

 on everything pertaining to fish and fishculture, yet I claim 

 the privilege of differing from him. 



Mr. Blackford says brook trout are no more plentiful, or 

 cheaper now than a dozcu years ago. If so, how happens it 

 that brook trout sent to him on the 1st of last April netted 

 the raiser but a 'trifle over sixty cents a pound? Ten to 

 twelve years ago I sold trout" in New York and Boston 

 at seventy-five cents a pound, and have sold them as high as 

 one dollar a pound, I think they must be more plentiful, 

 or else people have taken a dislike to them, which I hardly 

 think possible. 



Mr. Blackford says that the brook trout, from their shy- 

 ness, disappear from the streams as soon as civilization 

 comes near them. The fact is the brook trout are the most 

 easily domesticated of any fish with which 1 am acquainted. 

 The "trout in my pools are. so tame that they will take food 

 from my hand, and every morning as I pass by the pools, 

 they leap out of the water and cut up all sorts of antics, as 

 if to say good morning. 



The cause of the disappearance of and the failure in re 

 stocking our streams with brook trout, is that the streams, 

 the waters of which were once suited for them, are no longer 

 so, by reason of the dams that have been built on I hern. 

 flowing large ponds, thereby exposing a very much larger 

 surface to the heat of the summer sun, and the water that 

 formerly maintained a temperature us low as fit'ty-live 

 degrees in midsummer, now rises as high as eighty degrees, 

 rendering it unfit for the brook trout to live in. Brook 

 trout will not thrive in water above sixty-five degrees in 

 temperature. 



I know of one stream in this town where before any dams 

 were built upon it, the trout were so plenty that the farmers 

 fed them to their pigs. Now, there are three d.'ms on the 

 stream, flowing ponds of an aggregate area of not less than 

 500 acres, and not a trout can lie found in the stream. 



This is simply an illustration of the condition of nine- 

 ton ths of the streams in New England and New York. Al- 

 most every stream large enough to furnish any motive power 

 is now dammed up and used for some kind of manufacturing. 

 Restore the waters of our streams to their original tempera- 

 ture and purity, and with restocking and judicious fishing 

 they will furnish as many trout as'any streams of their size in 

 the wilds of Canada, even if they should flow through the most 

 thickly settled part of the country. W. L. Gilbert. 



Old Colony Tkout Ponds, Plymouth, Mass. 



FISHING ABOUT PITTSBURGH. 



BEING in this city on business, and while looking over 

 the Forest AND STREAM of a friend, I called his atten- 

 tion to a letter in it from a stranger in Pittsburgh, and my 

 friend remarked, "Why, who of the readers of Forest and 

 Stream have not heard of the glorious times spent with the 

 rod by the many fishing clubs of our city, and the many 

 points near by, and right here, where may be found the 

 golden perch, the gamy bass, the flavoiy salmon, the beauti- 

 ful surrfish, and the greatest of all, the trout streams o:' the 

 neighborhood. Upon these streams, to be successful, the 

 angler will find opportunity for the exercise of all his skill. 

 But if one wi -lies for fish, and but little sport, let him paddle 

 out upon the waters of our Allegheny, or float upon the 

 muddy Monougahela, and drift down into the still muddier 

 waters of the Ohio, and there he will, as is well known, tmil 

 the four-pound Monougahela chub, the live-pound cattle, 

 and, although 'tis said the sucker will not take the hook, in 

 thesewaters the man after meat can, notwithstanding .all that 

 is said about; this fish, find it in large quantities, it is re- 

 lated of a fishing party that camped upon the banks of the 

 Monougahela that they took some mud catfish weighing 

 twenty pounds, and 1 ot a few of the Monongahela chub 

 weighing eight a.nd ten pounds. So large are some of the 

 catfish caught here that it has given rise to many stories 

 about their fabulous size. In many cases these tales are true, 

 "An old ferryman on the Allegheny tells of and exhibits a 

 pair of boots made from the skin of one of these fish taken 

 by him last season in that stream. He fishes for no other 

 kind, and the secret of his success with that j articular fish, 

 he. claims, is in the bait he uses. Regularly does the old 

 man take his tramp for the woods near by, and from there 

 he brings ihe skin of one or more 'coons. With these skins, 

 properly preserved, he baits for the catfish. He declares no 

 other fish will take it, and, for some reason, only the larger 

 Of those. This manner of fishing, the old man says, he 

 learned from the Indians of the upper Missouri (the home of 

 the mudcat), when a trader among them. Whether there is 

 any merit in this or not, one thing is certain, he is successful 

 with the catfish of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. 

 It need not be told to the readers of Forest and Stream 

 in Pittsburgh of sparkling Blue Creek, or the shaded Cas- 

 sango, or further up the Monongahela, the charming You- 



