March 37, 1884.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



169 



\m mi §iver <gishing. 



LONG OR SHORT RODS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In con: mon with many other fly -fishermen, I have been 

 much interested of late in reading the discussion iu your 

 excellent journal of the relative merits of long and short fly- 

 rods. Syracuse possesses a large number of expert fly-cast- 

 ers, as the recoids of the State tournament show, a fact 

 largely due to the exertions and enthusiasm of the lamented 

 Reuben Wood, and all of them take a warm interest in every- 

 thing pertaining to the manly sport. Now, in considering 

 this question of abort against long rods, it seems to me the 

 only points to be regarded are, the relative merits of the rods 

 for*actual fishing purposes. 



I have Ions regarded the annual contests at the State tour- 

 nament as very imperfect tests of the merits of either rods or 

 anelers. 



Distance seems to be the most important element, and 

 delicacv and accuracy of casting secondary. In actual prac- 

 tice, I think every experienced fly-caster will agree with me, 

 that these elements should be reversed, and a man's skill be 

 detei mined by: 



First, delicacy; second, accuracy; third, distance. 



With these points iu view it becomes very important what 

 kind of a rod to use. To secure the best possible results a 

 rod should be made to combine in the highest degree, deli- 

 cacy of action, strength, and lightness and ease in handling. 



A rod may be light and strong and yet so heavy in its ac- 

 tion as to require much muscular exertion of the wrist, and 

 so make the sport of fishing very fatiguing, while another 

 rod equally strong and light may work so softly and with so 

 little expenditure of strength that a long day's fishing will 

 not weary the fisherman. Now, all short rods, so far as my 

 experience goes, are stiffer in their action than long rods. 

 Their best work can only be done at long distances, and only 

 then by the exertio* of a good deal of muscle. Even then, 

 except in the bauds of experts, the flies are apt to drop with 

 a splash. In brook and stream fishing, long casts are seldom 

 necessary, and often impossible, on account of obstructions 

 preventing a recovery of the line. With long rods, on the 

 contrary, say of eleven to twelve feet, gradually tapered, the 

 spring is more soft and delicate and evenly distributed, than 

 in the short rods. 



Avery slight exertion of the wrist will put sufficient spring 

 into the rod to carry the flies to the full limit of the strength 

 of the rod, accurately, softly, and without "swishing the 

 flies, and they will drop at the end of a taut line, without a 

 ripple. Such a rod as 1 have described, and have the de- 

 light of possessing and using, works equally well at either 

 short or long distances. The muscular exertion is so slight 

 that the angler can cast all day without fatigue, with either 

 hand. 



Mr. Wood sometimes used short, stiff rods in casting at 

 the State tournament, but invariably used longrods in actual 

 fishing. Indeed, for the past two years he used a long sal- 

 mon rod, of sixteen or eighteen feet for bass fishing. 



Onondaga II. 



Syracuse, N. Y. 



THE POLLUTION OF RIVERS. 



[^HE fact that our rivers are used as sewers by all persons 

 . who may have refuse, which they can get rid of by 

 dumping them into the water with less expense to themselves, 

 is one that needs to be constantly presented to our legisla- 

 tors. It is bad enough for a man to put a dam across a stream 

 and deprive the people above him of their fish, in order that 

 he may make money, but when he adds to tlie injury by pol- 

 luting the waters below him, it is time that he was made 

 aware that he is a nuisance which should be abated. Saw- 

 mills and tanneries are among the principal offenders in this 

 line, and their refuse can be found for miles below them, 

 rotting arid spreading not only death to fishes and their de- 

 posits of eggs, but malaria to the unfortunate people who 

 live about or frequent the stream. That sawdust is fast till- 

 ing the Upper Hudson is well shown in the following com- 

 munication in the New York Herald: 



"The newspapers have informed the public of the neces- 

 sity of insuring the water supply of the Upper Hudson, but 

 they never have been told of a flagrant practice licensed by 

 years of indulgence, a practice burdensome to the taxpayers 

 of this State, ruinous to the Upper Hudson and poisonous to 

 its valley — namely, the annual dumping of several thousand 

 tons of sawdust, edgings, sticks, chips, etc., from fourteen 

 sawmills into the Upper Hudson. The sawdust dumped is 

 burdensome to the taxpayers of this State, because large 

 quantities of it carried away by high water help to form bars 

 in the river near Albany, the removal of which costs the 

 State $50,000 a year. In 1867 the State paid $525,000 for 

 the dredging of bars near Albany, no small part of which 

 was sawdust. The dumping of sawmill refuse is ruinous to 

 the Upper Hudson, because at many points below Glens 

 Fails Feeder Dam it has clogged, choked and filled the chan- 

 nel, so that in summer a person can walk across it without 

 wetting bis feet. At Fort Edward au accurate survey has 

 shown that sawmill refuse to a depth of eight feet, more or 

 less, covers eight acres of the river's bed within the cor- 

 poration limits of that village. It is ruinous, because 

 for miles below Fort Edward in summer, when the 

 water of the Upper Hudson has fallen, little remains to 

 mark the river's course, save great bars of sawmill refuse, so 

 completely has its channel been filled in. I saw last sum- 

 mer below Fort Edward immense bars in places in the chan- 

 nel, where fifty years ago I fished where the water was from 

 thirty to forty leet deep. I remember when the channel of 

 the Upper Hudson was clear and well defined. That was 

 before the dumping of sawmill refuse was so great. Now- 

 adays bars of sawmill refuse are formed with great rapidity, 

 because the volume of the Upper Hudson is yearly growing 

 smaller, its channel — what remains of it— narrower and 

 shallower, and the dumping of sawmill refuse greater. 

 Years ago canal boats were floated up the river to Fort 

 Edward. Now there are times when not even a rowboat can 

 be floated to that place on what is called the Hudson. 



"The dumping of sawmill refuse is poisonous to the valley 

 of the Upper Hudson, because the rotten accumulation of 

 acres and acres of refuse lodged in its channel breeds dis- 

 eases which fifty years ago, whea the channel was clear, 

 were unknown to the inhabitants of that valley. Alas! I 

 have lived to see the river that once was a full, clear, active, 

 unobstructed, uninterrupted stream, transformed to a filled 

 up, dried up, snake-like creek. But what will it be a few, 

 very few', years hence if the'dumpiog of sawmill refuse con- 

 tinues? Must the people of this State be taxed that the 



Upper Hudson may be sacrificed to the convenience and 

 profit of a few sawmill owners? Must the people stand 

 silently by and see an important part of the Hudson River 

 filled up with waste and refuse without lifting one hand to 

 stop it? Must health be destroyed and life taken to Satisfy 

 the avarice of a few sawmill owners of Northern New York? 

 If so there is a sad scarcity of men among us— and espe- 

 cially among our so-called lawmakers." 



THE DOWEL QUESTION. 



Editor Forest and Strcenn: 



1 have read with considerable interest the several discus- 

 sions in your paper concerning the dowel pins in fly-rods. 

 I think Mr. H. P. Wells is right in every point, although I 

 have never used a rod made without dowel pins, for the 

 reason that there are no ferrules in the market suitable on 

 account of being made tapering. I have used rods with the 

 lap joints (no ferrules) with good success, except just the 

 point that Mr. Wells condemns them on; the liability of the 

 thin ends of splices to accident is just where the failure 

 comes in. I have made rods for the trade for a good many 

 years and used rods many more, and I certainly can see no 

 use for the dowel pin, when we can get straight ferrules or 

 tubing as Mr. Wells recommends. Will not Mr. Wells In- 

 form me either by mail or through your valuable paper 

 where such tubing or ferrules maj T be had, for which I will 

 be under obligations to him and the Forest and Stream. 



E. M. E. 



Hancock, N. Y., March 31, 



The above letter has been submitted to Mr. Wells, whore- 

 plies as follows : 

 Editor Forest and Stream: 



The ferrules, the complete success of which in actual and 

 severe use inspired me to agitate the subject of dowel pins, 

 were made from German silver tubing drawn for me by Mr. 

 John H. Knapp, manufacturer of gold and silver pen and 

 pencil cases, No. 17 John street, New York city. 



Mr. Knapp drew these tubes from time to time as a favor, 

 it being a small matter, and aside from the usual business of 

 his factory. Being somewhat doubtful whether he would 

 care to do this for others, I called on him to ascertain. He 

 will fill such orders as he may receive for brass or German sil- 

 ver tubing, drawn inside and out, at the following rates: Brass, 

 from 10 to 15 cents afoot; German silver, from 15 to 25 

 cents a foot. 5 The length of the tubes will be from 3 to 5 feet, as 

 desired, but the whole tube ordered must be taken, since of 

 course fragments are useless to him. 



The tubing for the male ferrules, as supplied me in the 

 past by Mr. Knapp, has been just a shade too large to enter 

 the female ferrule, so as to permit nice fitting. This tubing 

 was beautifully drawn inside and out, and of good "temper. - ' 

 Mr. Knapp prefers samples should be sent with orders. He 

 can supply any size which does not exceed half an inch in 

 diameter. Henry P. Wells. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I am very glad that the dowel question for fishing rods is 

 being ventilated in your columns. I have fished for the last 

 twenty-four years for black bass, and have made duriug that 

 time about twenty rods, none over ten ounces in weight. I 

 have never used the dowel with the exception of a piece of 

 one-eighth inch brass wire of about one inch in length let in 

 to the butt end of the second joint and proportional boring 

 in the small end of the butt. This I find steadies the joint at 

 that place and does not detract from the strength, as the hole 

 in the butt is so small. I have never yet had the joints pull 

 apart, and have fished about all known ways for bass, and 

 am satisfied for my part that the dowel is not actually re- 

 quired. It is only an additional labor to fit them, I use the 

 swelled ferrule, thereby getting the full size of the wood. 



It may not be amiss to inform those of your readers who 

 are, like myself , amateur rodmakers, how the wire is fitted. 

 I cut a fine thread on the part that is to go in the middle, or 

 second joint, for about half an inch, leaving three-quarters 

 uncut which is to enter the butt. Then take a small piece 



A, the Morse drill, \i inch. B, the wood fitted to the inside of butt 

 ferrule. C, bit stock. 



of wood, fit it to the female ferrule of the butt, bore a hole 

 with an one-eighth inch Morse drill, leaving three-quarters 

 of an inch protruding through this piece of wood. Bore the 

 hole in the butt, the piece of wood that you have fitted is a 

 true guide. W. K, 



THE RAINBOW DARTER. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Inclosed you will find a small fish which I send you for a 

 name. It was caught in a small stream in this locality this 

 winter, when getting minnows for bait. It is something out 

 of the knowledge of any one in this section. Please give it 

 a name and general description, and if they are common, 



W. II. Johnson. 



Linden, Mich,, March 6. 



[The fish is one of a large family called "darters," Etheos- 

 tomatida, which seldom grow to over a finger's length. They 

 usually inhabit swift brooks, and lie in the sand "or on the 

 stones and dait by a movement of the pectoral fins. Most of 

 them are plainly colored. There are about thirty species ar- 

 ranged in a dozen genera. The specimen sent is brilliant 

 with blue and orange even in death. We take the following 

 description from Jordan's Manual of the Vertebrates: "Rain- 

 bow darter^ blue darter, Poxilkhtnys ceeruleus (Storer), 

 Agassiz. Rainbow fish, blue Johnny. Olivaceous, tessallated 

 above, the spots running together into blotches ; back without 

 black lengthwise stripes; sides with about twelve indigo 

 blue bars running obliquely downward, most distinct be- 

 hind, separated by rich orange interspaces; caudal deep 

 orange, edged with bright blue; anal, orange with deep blue 

 in front and behind; soft dorsal chiefly orange, blue at base 

 and tip ; spinous dorsal crimson at base, then orange with 

 blue edgings; ventrals bluish, often deep indigo blue; throat 

 and breast orange, these two shades very constant ; female 

 much duller, with but little or no blue or orange, the ver- 

 tical fins barred or checked ; colors fade in alcohol; body 

 short and stout; head large; D, X— 12; A. n, 7; lateral line 

 45 scales; length two to three inches. Mississippi Valley, 

 abundant; the mpst gaily colored of aU darters." This 

 would mab,e a gOrgeo'us fish fdr an aquarium, and should be 

 brought East for this purpefee.] 



BIG BASS LAKE. 



HERE we are on the ice. The thermometer is at 14 : be- 

 low zero, and is undecided whether to slide still lower 

 or stop short. We have been fishing for the past week, 

 with grand good luck, and now we have but one more day 

 and then home. We have averaged thirty-five lines each 

 day. and our lines have been busy, as you may judge when 

 six hours each day was our actual fishing time. A week 

 ago we packed up a bundle of "tip-ups," packed our satchel, 

 filled our grub bag and started for Big Bass Lake. It was 

 cold when we left home; it was colder when we struck the 

 kike, and by the time the ice was crossed and we had reached 

 our camping place it was solid cold. 



Last summer we had fished here and built a log hut, and 

 now we find it still intact. Our axe cuts boughs from the 

 nearest hemlock for our bed, and that tall spruce gives us a 

 load of its branches with which to cover the hut. Over 

 these we pile snow, and pack it down hard. INow we have 

 as snug a den as we could wish. Our camp-stove bums in 

 one corner, our bed is in the other. 



Supper over, to bed. The next morning I am the first 

 awake", and so I get breakfast ready, and then for the ice. 

 I won't tell you about the trials of cutting the fishing holes. 

 You who have fished through 24-inch ice ean appreciate it. 

 I have never seen fish bite as quick as here. They seemed 

 to have been starved, and we could hardly attend to the 

 lines. The lake trout were the largest fish caught, and 

 seemed to bite the least sharply. Our bait was first-rate, as 

 lively as crickets, and a great many were the popular "red 

 fins," and though in summer in the same waters we had no 

 luck using "red fins," in winter they were the best bait. 



We give a table of our catches of the six days at the lake, 

 and think it will compare favorably with the "same number 

 of traps, etc. 



First day, 70 fish, weighed 2501bs. Eoz. 



Second day, 100 fish, weighed tOllbs. Muz, 



Third day, 91 fish, weighed S20JbS. C'oz. 



Fourth day, 66 fish, weighed 200lbs. loz. 



Fifth day. 79 fish, weighed 3i51bs. 



Sixth day, 83 fish, weighed StfitbB. foz, 



In six days 188 fish, weighed l,G891bs. lOoz. 



SIZE OFFISH. 



First day, smallest fish 21bs. 4oz , largest lOlbs. 



Second day. smallest rish..31bs. loz., largest . ..17 9-l61bs. 

 Third day, stnallett fish . . . .21bs. largest. ... B l-16lbs. 



Fourth day, smallest fish.. 21bs. ooz , largest ...Utglbs. 



Fifth dav. 'smallest fish 21bs. loz., largest 7J41bs. 



Sixth day, smallest fish. . . 31bs. 4oz., largest. ...11 15-161bs. 



The smallest fish was a pickerel of two pounds, the largest 

 a whale of a lake trout. The fish ran very even, as a 

 general rale, but now and then a whopper got on to the line 

 and made it sing. 



Now, many of your readers may be curious to know where 

 the lake lies that we fished in. We are sorry that we cannot 

 publish it. We have fished this lake in summer and winter, 

 and the fishing is grand. In the summer the bass fishing is 

 unsurpassed. 



The expense of the trip we have just taken, exclusive of 

 personal conveniences, was — 



Bait, -1.500. at $4 per 1,000 $6 00 



Fare, railroad 8 00 



Food and drink and other expense 8 00 



§23 00 



Making $11 for one person for a trip of a week. We don't 

 give this as a criterion to go by, as on one occasion in the 

 early winter our expense was $20 apiece, and again at 

 Christmas time only $9 for a week; still it is a fair average. 



TWO BROTHEIiS." 



VERMONT FISH LAWS. 



f~pHERE is no State in the Union, and probably no coun- 

 J_ try among civilized nations, where the laws for the 

 preservation of fish are so set at naught, and so openly vio- 

 lated, as in Northwestern Vermont. In Franklin county, 

 within the immediate vicinity of one of our two Fish Com- 

 missioners, there are dozens of seines, pound and fyke nets, 

 fully manned and constantly at work during the close sea- 

 son, sweeping the fish out of Lake Champlain's waters. 

 Some of the nets are owned by parties from New York 

 State, who, during the fall of JS82, came into this vicinity 

 and. within fifteen miles of our wide awake Commissioner, 

 built a large ice-house, where they have stored tons of fish 

 caught illegally. It has been estimated by those who are 

 posted that during the close season of 1883 from fifty to 

 seventy-five tons of fish were caught in these waters and 

 shipped to New York and Boston markets. Several writs 

 were issued and served against some of these fishermen, but 

 so far we have yet to hear of a single conviction. The 

 Governor of the State appoints our Fish Commissioners, 

 and it is to be regretted that for this locality he did not 

 appoint a man who not only understands the duties of his 

 ofhee, but has moral firmness enough to put the laws into 

 force. At the next State election a strong effort will be 

 made, irrespective of party politics, to elect representatives 

 who will do their utmost to remedy these evils by making 

 provision to have competent men appointed as fish wardens. 

 About a year ago an officer visited this locality and was 

 driven over the ice within a few yards of holes' cut in the 

 ice, where trap nets were set and barrels of fish taken out 

 daily, but he did not know what those holes were cut for 

 and passed them by without examination. With a short 

 pole with hook on it he could have fished something out of 

 the water there that would have astonished him— trap nets 

 of the most destructive kinds. I have no doubt but what 

 the intentions of this officer were good, and that he intended 

 to do his duty faithfully, and had he been "posted" or en- 

 gaged a trustworthy guide, that he would have succeeded in 

 capturing quite a number of large trap nets, and temporarily 

 put a stop to this work. Stanstead. 



Highgate, Vt„ March 13, 1&84. 



Sea Bass in Canada. — An unusual devolopment in bass 

 fishing was made this winter in the Tidnish River, which 

 forms the north shore boundaiy between New Brunswick 

 and Nova Scotia. Last spring when the heavy ice left the 

 river, an old farmer found some dead bass on the flats where 

 they had evidently been crushed by the tide letting the ice 

 down on them at low water. This winter, about a month 

 ago, he cut a hole in the ice, and found the river so full of 

 sea bass that he resolved to use a scoop net instead of hooks 

 and lines. With the scoop nets, fivo tons weight of the fish 

 were caught in one night, and since that two or three thou- 

 sand dollars worth have been shipped to the Boston market. 

 It was ne'ver before suspected that bass came there in winter 

 — B. (New Brunswick. March 2(i). 



