July 3, 1884.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



449 



its waters -with never a temptation to impair in the least its 

 facilities for navigation. 



But we must be off. Cross hands with Truthful James 

 and us, lay the same with your blessing on the head of the 

 Reformer' and he assured that whatever flotsam may 

 drift under our canvas or heach itself on the borders of 

 our camp-fire, whether the same he catch, strike or bite- 

 that whatever of inspiration may come from the pines, the 

 balsams or the hemlocks, these, the lone campers will send 

 you with their greeting — Auf Wiederseht ft. 



Wawayanda. 



o 



BASS IN LAKE MADISON. 

 N Monday last, % L. Healy of this place caught fit Lake 

 Madison a Mack bass that weighed seven and one-half 

 pounds. On the same day, Mrs. Geo. A. Clark, of Man- 

 katOj took one "in out of the wet" that "kicked the beam" 

 at exactly seven pounds. This is no "fisherman's guess" 

 as to the weight of the fish, but the true weight ns indicated 

 by a pocket scale carried by one of our party. I think I am 

 justified in calling them a couple of tine fish. 



Lake Madison is located in Blue Earth county, Minn., and 

 is about ten miles from the city of Maukato. It is reached 

 by way of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad to Eagle 

 Lake station, and from thence overland four miles. It is 

 one of the most attractive sheets of water m the "Northwest, 

 having about thirty miles of shore Hue, with high banks 

 heavily timbered down to the water's edge, and a number of 

 high points projecting iuto the lake. On one of these is 

 situated the Point Pleasant House, kept by Capt. John Fos- 

 ter, an old Mississippi steamboat captain, well-known to a 

 large portion of the traveling public of the Northwest, who 

 spares no pains to make it pleasant for visitors at the lake. 



As a fishing ground for bass if has few equals in Minne- 

 sota, Thirty bass, weighing one hundred and sixteen 

 pounds, were the best afternoon's catch of two of our party, 

 during our recent visit, If your readers in the Northwest 

 want a few days' splendid sport in a delightful locality, let 

 them make a trip to Lake Madison. C. B. T. 



Maiishall, Minn., June 25, 1884. 



PROTECTION OF COAST FISHERIES. 



THE following is a summary of the amended hill, entitled 

 "A Bill for the Protection of Fisheries on the Atlantic 

 Coast," reported by Hon. E. G. Lapham, of New York, in 

 the Senate of the United States: 



Be il mooted by the Akn(tte and House of Bepresenfa tires of the 

 Untied States in Congress assembled: 



Section 1. That it shall not be lawful for any person or 

 persons, by day or night, to put, place, haul, draw, or in 

 any manner use any purse net, pound, fyke, web or other 

 appliance for the capture, of menhaden or mackerel upon the 

 high seas within three miles of the Atlantic coast, or in any 

 arm of the sea. river, etc., prior to the 1st of June, south of 

 a line drawn easterly from the southern cape of Chesapeake 

 Bay. and prior to the 1st of July north of said line. 



See. 2 prohibits the capture of any fish prior to those elates. 

 and in the places described, for the manufacture of oil or 

 fertilizing materia]. 



Sec. 3 makes persons convicted liable to a penalty of not 

 less than ten nor more than one thousand dollars, which shall 

 go to the U. S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries. 



Sec, 4. Any boat, nets, or apparatus used, hired or 

 loaned, to violate this act, shall be forfeited, confiscated, and 

 sold. 



Sec. 5 provides that such boats, nets, etc., shall be liable 

 for the penalty imposed by Section 3. 



See. 6. All nets in menhaden or mackerel fisheries shall 

 have meshes-not less than one and a half inches, bar measure, 

 under penalty of not less than ten nor more than one hun- 

 dred dollars for each offense. 



They Fished for the Vot.—Eelitor Forest and Streqm: 

 I had the novel experience last week of fishing a pool that 

 had never been fished, bringing home a basket of four dozen 

 as the result of a little over an hour's work with the rod. 

 The largest trout weighed a pound and a quarter and the 

 smallest six ounces. I was at the Lake House in Point de 

 Bute, New Brunswick, and a friend offering me a seat in his 

 boat we proceeded down the Portage Lake to Beach 

 Point, when by dint of dragging aud pushing the boat for 

 nearly a, mile through a channel almost grown up with alders 

 and "hard-hacks," we reached Duck Lake run, at the point 

 sought. Our tackle consisted of a couple of mackerel hooks 

 suspended from alder poles by coarse linen lines, with sheet 

 lead for sinkers and angle "worms as thick as one's little 

 finger for bait, Being a guest, 1 refrained from criticising 

 the outfit, and I was glad afterward, for my companion 

 knew his business, and we had no more than' got the boat 

 steadied after dropping anchor, before he gave a seventeen- 

 ounce trout what he called the "parliamentary yank," and 

 landed him in the boat unaided by gaff or landing net, with 

 the mackerel hook imbedded in a hold strong enough to lift, 

 a shad. The trout were very unsophisticated and unused to 

 worm diet, and each time the hook was lowered it seemed to 

 be a race among them to see who would get on first, with 

 the odds in favor of the largest. 1 am free to admit it was 

 not very scientific work, but then 1 never took much stock 

 in fishing as a fine art, and the weight of the "pot" was a 

 great satisfaction. The supply seemed to be unlimited. — B, 



Bass m Lake Ontario.— Oswego, N. Y., June 27. — Now 

 that the season is fairly open — for in this country we don't 

 count May 20, but wait until the iee breaks up— I may be 

 permitted to tell you of our bass catches in Lake Ontario 

 within ten miles of the mouth of the famed Oswego. For at 

 least three weeks, at Lake View. Pleasant Point, Mexico 

 Point, Texas and Ford's Shoals, points both east and west 

 from the city along the lake shore, i he bass fishing has been 

 perfect; and bv perfect 1 mean this, thai two fishermen with 

 a boat, from':-; P. M. until dark, could catch from ten to 

 thirty small-mouth black bass, none of them less than a pound 

 in weight and some of them tipping the beam at from two 

 and a" half to three pounds, will) an occasional big-mouth 

 thrown in that might go even four pounds. Catches have 

 ranged from eight fish weighing thirteen pounds, to thirty- 

 seven fish weighing over eighty pounds, in an afternoon. 

 This, too, when ten or twelve parties were fishing, each with 

 a large basketful at night, and there arc more left, We do 

 our fishing in the lake at (his season with trolling, minnow 

 and fly. Later in the season fly alone. Night before last a 

 bass that weighed four pounds was caught in the river 

 within twenty rods of the heart of the city.— Lex. 



A Trip Postponed.— Our w r ell-kuown correspondent, 

 "Piseco" (Capt. L. A. Beardslee, of the Navy), had a trout 

 fishing trip to Maine planned for June. Messrs. Cheney, 

 Wells, and others had given him directions just where logo, 

 and if we are not mistaken were going with him. Routes 

 were studied tip. tackle prepared, 'all was icady, and 

 "Piseco" impatiently wailed for his expected leave of 

 absence. A document finally came from the Secretary of 

 the Navy, but instead of a leave of absence it was an assign 

 ment to the command of the U. S. S. Powhatan, and instead 

 of taking in some of those big Maine trout, "Piseco" is now 

 on his way to the European squadron. 



State Forest Preservation.— Albany, N. Y., June 28. 

 —Comptroller Chapin has appointed, to investigate and 

 report upon the system of forest preservation. Prof. Charles 

 S. Sargent, of Harvard University; William A. Poucher, of 

 Oswego; O. Willis James, of New York, and Edward M. 

 Shepard, of Brooklyn. The appointees are to serve without 

 compensation, as their expenses are likely to consume nearly 

 all of the appropriation. 



Maryland.— Brady's, Md., June 23. — The open season for 

 bass on the Upper Potomac began June 1, but the catch is 

 very light, owing, I believe, to the negligence and delay of 

 the State Fish Commissioners in erecting ladders on Dams 

 Nos. 5, 6 and 7. Very lew fish over one pound are taken 

 above No. 7, at Cumberland. Woodcock are scarce, but 

 there is a splendid prospect for quail this fall. — 4-11-44. 



Pittsfiejld, Mass., June 30.— The Rod and Gun Club held 

 a meeting Saturday evening and appointed committees to 

 see about their encampment at Ouota Lake, They expect 

 Lo be hi camp some weeks. They will have notices printed 

 and sent about the county notifying the people that they 

 must not fish for trout after Sept. 1 this year, which is a 

 month earlier than in previous years. 



Novel Bill of Fare.— The Lake View House, Elk 

 Rapids, Mich., prints on its bill of fare a record of the fish 

 caught in the vicinity. The bill for June 32 sums up the 

 season's catch to date as 778 trout and 166 bass. They were 

 not all taken by hook and line; some were netted, 



Large Lake Trout. — TheMontreal Witness says : "Lately 

 Capt. W. II. McLeod, who is running one of the fishing 

 boats belonging to Mr. D. McLeod, an extensive fish dealer 

 in Southampton, caught an immense salmon trout, weigh- 

 ing 80 pounds, measuring from the point of its nose to the 

 end of its tail 5 feet 2 inches, and around the thickest part 

 of its body 34 inches. The head was 10 inches in length, 

 and the width of the tail, from point to point, was 12 inches. 

 This is the largest fish of that species ever caught in that 

 section, The monster was packed in ice aud consigned to 

 Mr, Furey, of Woodstock, where it is now held for exhibi- 

 tion. 



Large Trout.— New London, Conn,, June 21.— Strolling 

 through the town, where I am a stranger, I noticed in the 

 store of W. S. Chappell two platters, each containing a large 

 trout. On entering, 1 learned that they were three pounders, 

 and were caught by Mr. F. H. Chappell, who also had a 

 larger one of eight and three-quarter pounds on another 

 platter, which he was showing to some friends. The fish 

 was twenty-seven inches long, and was caught by Mr. Chap- 

 pell off Metallic Point, lower Richardson Lake, Me,, with a 

 fly. The fish was very shapely for one so large.— Poke-o- 

 MOONSHINE. 



> 



BLACK BASS IN MAINE. 



(A paper read before the American Fisheultural Association. J 



BY GEO. SHEPARD PAGE. 



IT is often difficult to determine the exact date, or obtain 

 reliable information as to the original introduction of a 

 new species of food fish into a river or lake, and particularly 

 to ascertain the facts relative to the stocking of the water of 

 a State for the first time. This is important, not only that 

 the agents in the work shall be placed ou record, but chiefly 

 that w r e may know definitely the time required to disseminate 

 fish over a large territory in such numbers that the people 

 can rely upon them for food and sport. Experience with the. 

 black bass iu Maine is one of the most pertinent and effective 

 illustrations of the value of such labor. 



In August, 1869, accompanied by four friends, I left New 

 York by Hudson River afternoon steamer for Newburgh. 

 Arriving there about 7 P. M., my transportation box was 

 conveyed to the small private pond of Mr. Walter Brown. 

 At daylight the next morning we literally surrounded the 

 pond and began casting the fly. In an hour, thirty-five 

 small-mouthed bass were placed in the box, and at 7 A. M. the 

 steamer Mary Powell started with us for the metropolis. Ar- 

 riving there at 11 A. M., the box containing forty gallons of 

 water and thirty-five bass from one-quarter pound to a pound 

 weight, was taken to the dock of the Fall River hue, and a 

 stream of Croton water turned on untU 5 P. M. Arrangements 

 were made with the night watchman to work the air pump 

 at intervals. Arriving in Boston an express wagon conveyed 

 the box to the Eastern Railroad, and during the journey at 

 intervals of fifteen minutes 1 aerated the water by 'the use of 

 the ah pump. At 3 P. M. the train reached Monmouth in 

 Maine, about fifty miles northeast of Portland. Very near 

 the railroad station is Cocknewagn Pond. I selected twelve 

 bass and quickly transferred them to the pond. The tram 

 moved on and a few minutes later arrived at Winthrop. A 

 wagon was hired and the box taken to East Winthrop, four 

 miles distant, aud twenty-one bass were liberated at the head 

 water of the famous Cobosseecontee Pond, the largest of a 

 chain of lakes thirty miles in length. Placing the remaining 

 pair of bass in a three-gallon pail, I started by team for Phil- 

 lips, Franklin county, forty miles away. On the route one of 

 them died. The remarkable vitality of the base is exhibited 

 in a strong light in view of the mode of capture, long and dif- 

 ficult transportation and mid-summer temperature. 



The following October Mr. Charles G. Atkins, then Commis- 

 sioner of Fisheries of Maine, procuring my transportation box, 

 took thirty-nine basslf rom Mr. Brown's pond, which he placed in 

 Duck Pond, near Portland, Me. So far as I know these seventy- 

 four were the first and only black bass deposited in Maine 

 waters. Fourteen years have elapsed, mark the gratifying 

 results: The report of Hon. Henry O. Stanley, Commissioner 

 of Fisheries for Maine for 1S81, contains the following: "The 

 black bass, owing to its very game qualities, continues to be a 

 favorite fish with anglers, and applications for introduction 

 are received beyond the power of the Commissioners to 

 gratify. It should never be introduced into any waters where 

 there are trout, or from whence it can gain access to trout 

 streams. For ponds, whose stock of trout has been ex- 

 hausted by poachers, who murder the fish in their spawning 

 I beds, and where only yellow perch, bream, and pickerel are 



left, it is invaluable. Trip Pond, in Minot, Gardiner's Pond, 

 inWiscasset; Gun Point Ice Company Pond, in Harpswell; 

 Ilosmer Pond, in Rockport, Keazer's Heald, and Cushman 

 ponds in Loved, and Little Pusbaw, in Corinth, have all 

 been stocked with bass this Oast year." 



Messrs. E. M. Stillvr ell and Hon. H. 0. Stanley, in the report 

 fbr 1883, report as follows: "The black bass is still growing 

 in popular favor. We have had more orders this year for 

 stocking ponds than in our power to fill. The great success 

 met with at Pushaw Lake; the number and size of the fish 

 taken, some turning the scales at tour and one-half pounds, 

 tend to poputarize fish protection and fish planting; the in- 

 crease in the product of fish, the result of the suppression of 

 netting, all tended to produce a great and beneficial change 

 in the public mind, giving firm and even enthusiastic support 

 where hitherto We have been met by active opposition. New- 

 port and Glenborn can now boast of two of the most beauti- 

 ful and productive lakes in the State, destiued in the future to 

 become popular places of summer resort for devotees of boat- 

 ing and angling, and where pretty cottage residences may be 

 built for family homes at but trifling cost, and where easy 

 access to telegraph and railroad would render their occupants 

 scarcely conscious of absence from city comforts. Cobossee- 

 contee," Snow and Belgrade lakes are places of marked beauty 

 and healthfuluess, easy of access and where f acuities for boat- 

 ing and angling are unsurpassed. Homes for hundreds whose 

 lives are dependent upon country ah and exercise can be 

 made in cottage and tent, while the expense of the more 

 fashionable places of resort bars them from all but those, of 

 large means. We often wonder that our city residents do not 

 appreciate at how small a cost a pretty summer cottage can 

 be built upon the shore of any of these beautiful lakes, 

 abounding in fish, with health and exercise, and freedom from 

 all the cares of city life.'' 



In a letter dated Dixfield, Me., April 27, 1884, Mr. Stanlev 

 writes: "Yours of the 24th received. With regard to black 

 bass, I know we have them here in great abundance, the num. 

 ber of ponds we have stocked (all pickerel ponds) I think will 

 reach to the hundreds. Wherever you put half a dozen, they 

 are sure to take aud will be heard from in two or three years. 

 I have taken bass of two and one-half pounds in a pond that 

 had only been stocked two years, and with young fry, so they 

 could not be over two and one-half years old. there has 

 been a great demand for them in our State, and in many pond 

 there is good bass fishing where there was none whatever 

 before. 1 think they are a fish that cannot be thinned out by 

 fishing with hook and line. I have met with the best success 

 with the fly from dusk till 10 P. M. at night, fishing close in 

 shore in very shoal water, have caught large fish when it was 

 so dark I could not tell, casting from a boat, whether my fly 

 struck on shore or in the water, aud only knew I struck a fish 

 by feeling the tug or hearing the splash. The Winthrop 

 Ponds, Cobosseecontee, one of the ponds you stocked. Lake 

 Maranocook and in all that chain of lakes, is good. I have 

 taken in one afternoon in Cobosseecontee, sixty pounds of 

 from two to three and a half pounds each. There is also fine 

 fishing in Belgrade ponds, Pushaw Pond, Bangor, and in 

 scores of others. I mention these as they are easy of access by 

 rail, and good accommodation can be had at hotels and farm 

 houses, and at low rates. Also pleasant places to camp. The 

 inhabitants are always glad to welcome sportsmen and 

 visitors, and accommodate them with boats and information at 

 low rates. I think the black bass are a great benefit to Maine." 



LOBSTER PROTECTION. 



ATTast a strong step has been taken in the right direction 

 toward enforcing what is known as the ten-inch lobster 

 law here. The statutes of Massachusetts provide that "Who- 

 ever sells or offers for sale, or has in his possession with intent 

 to sell, either directly or indirectly, a kbster less than ten and 

 a half inches in length, measuring from one extreme of the 

 body extended to the other, exclusive of claws or feelers, shall 

 forfeit live dollars for every such lobster, and in all prosecu- 

 tions under this section the possession of any lobster not of the 

 required length shall be prima, facie evidence to convict." Not- 

 withstanding the fact that the law would appear to be strong 1 

 enough, yet it has been constantly broken, and it has been ex- 

 tremely difficult to secure the conviction of guilty parties. The 

 lobsters under size have generally been left out of sight, how- 

 ever, and used to supply other retail markets. 



But the lobster trade itself has at last become alarmed at 

 the general destruction of this valuable crustacean. Commis- 

 sioner E. M. Stillwell, of Maine, when here a year ago, tried 

 to induce some concert of action with his State toward pro- 

 tection of the lobster, but did not succeed in any marked de- 

 gree. Messrs. John Fottler, Walter M. Bracket^ F. R. Shat- 

 tuck, and several other members of the Fish and Game Pro- 

 tective Association here have taken great interest in the sub- 

 ject and tried to see that the law was enforced, but their 

 efforts have been sustained by no State force until now. 



An informal meeting of 'the association was called on 

 Wednesday evening, when several men from the lobster trade 

 were present and pledged both money and influence to aid iu 

 enforcing the lobster law. Commissioner of Internal Fisheries 

 E. A. Brackett, has also obtained promise from State author- 

 ities of all the aid he may require in the way of detectives and 

 officers to enforce the law. It is now believed by the friends 

 of lobster protection that matters are in a fair way to make 

 those who have been in the habit of supply other markets with 

 lobsters uuder size sick of the business. They hope that the 

 day has gone by when a barrel of under-sized lobsters can 

 easily be hustled out of sight before an officer can be obtained. 

 Much of the work wall probably be done by detectives. 



Special. 



Boston, Juue 20; 



SALMON FOR THE ANDROSCOGGINS. 



THE Fish Commissioners of New Hampshire have awarded 

 10,000 salmon fry to Umbagog Lake, the lowest of the 

 Androscoggin chain, and a part of which is in Maine and a 

 part in the first-mentioned State. Last Monday, Fish Com- 

 missioner E. B. Hodge left Plymouth in the morning- with the 

 10,000 young fry in cans. At Groveton Junction he missed 

 the Grand Trunk train, necessitating a delay of three hours, 

 in consequence of which he did not reach North Stratford till 

 10:40 o'clock. Here he was met by Capt. Charles A. J. Farrar, 

 of steamboat fame on the Androscoggin lakes. The Captain 

 had a team ready, and after procuring a supply of ice to reg- 

 ulate the temperature of the water in the cans, they started 

 with the precious freight of 10,000 living fish for the long 

 drive of nearly twenty miles to Errol Dam, at the foot of the 

 Umbagog. 



Errol was reached without accident at about 5 o'clock A. 

 M., and it was found that the fish had stood the journey re- 

 markably well. Only a few were dead, which were at once 

 removed from the cans. By little steamer the living fry were 

 taken up to Sunday Cove at the head of the lake, and thence 

 three miles by buckboard up the Rapid River, which flows 

 five miles from the Middle Dam, Richardson Lake, to Um- 

 bagog. Into a little stream, which flows into the river near 

 the camps of the Oxford Club, a part of the fish were put, and 

 the balance into the river itself. Within ten minutes after 

 the fish were liberated from the cans they might be seen 

 feeding and moving about as quietly as though they had not 

 been hatched and planted for the future delectation of the 

 angler. The planting of thsee fish is regarded as successful, 

 since out of the whole 10,000 not more than 500 died from 

 transportation. 



To Prof. Hodge much credit is due. He has taken great 

 pains with his charge, and in his efforts for successful trans- 

 portation he was seconded by Capt. Farrar. Both gentlemen 

 are pleased at being able to plant nearly 10,000 young salmon 

 in the headwaters of this, once one of ithe most famous trout 



