410 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
{Dnc. 18, 1884, 
three feet to the foot, and two feet to the ounce, 'The judges 
to haye power to rule out all rods evidently made light in the 
butt or handle to obtain unfair advantage in the handicap 
for weight, How many of the light weight rods that have 
been used in the tournaments for the past two years have 
been practical fishing rods?) The whole reduction in weight 
has been ‘taken from the handle; in fact, nearly all of the 
light rods have been made to win in long casting, and not 
for angling. The rods have the body and stiffness of an 
eight-ounce rod, with a liandle just long enough for the reel 
and hand, and that in some instances made of cork, and in 
all cases so small that no man could swing them for an 
hour on stream or lake, for the lack of weight at the butt 
would tire his arm, and the smallness of the handie would 
cramp his hand,” 
If a rod made tight in the handle has an adyantage, then 
it isa good thing to know and we will all have our rods so 
made, certainly the grip can be made Jarge enough not to 
cramp the hand, but I do not think that the rods used are 
made expressly for tournaments, and if they are, then, as 1 
say, we will learn the best length and weight of rod, Many 
of the rods used last October were those that had done a 
summer's work on the stream, one at least I can vouch for, 
for it was my own which was loaned toa friend. If Mr, 
Wood had said anything of lines made for this purpose I 
would agree with him, 
I sincerely hope to see Mr, Wood still taking an active 
part in the tournaments, for no man works harder than he to 
assist contestants in untangling lines and lending a hand 
where needed than Ira Wood, We differ as to the value of 
the old State rules, and the Committee of Arrangements has 
differed with him also, but we don’t quarrel over it. 
: FreD MATHER, 
ONEIDA LAKE. 
Hdiior Forest and Stream: 
Your favorable notice in your issue of the 4th inst. of My. 
Wm. H. Lindley, State game protector of the Tenth Dis- 
trict, is a just tribute to a faithful, cool and intrepid officer, 
whose efforts in suppressing illegal fishing in Oneida Lake 
more particularly, and also in other waters, is commendable 
in the highest degree and worthy of emulation by all other 
State game protectors, and every good citizen who desires 
that their rights shall be maintained and just laws be en- 
forced for the benefit of the public, 
To better understand the difficulties that Mr. Lindley las 
had to meet, and toa great extent has overcome, I beg to 
state that Oneida Lake is some thirty miles in length aud 
covers some 58,000 acres of land, has numerous buys und 
inlets, reefs aud shoals suilable for producing and maintain- 
ing a great quantity and variety of desirable fish, and has 
been for years the happy, unmolested resort and abiding 
place of men fishing with nets forthe market, in and out of 
season, without the least regard for law, the supply of fish, 
or the rights of the public, It is a magnificent body of 
water, and in itself, if not depleted by nets, can furnish 
more fish than any other similar water within this State, It 
needs no artificial stocking. 
With such conditions, and abundant food for young fish, 
it is not a wonder that this lake has been accepted and 
adopted by men netting for the market, many of whom, it 
is a matter of regret to state, are respectable citizens, owning 
productive farms or otherwise engaged in business that 
should preclude such illegal and unnecessary acts as fishing 
with nets. You can, therefore, see that to suppress this 
wholesale destruction in this lake is no ordinary nor easy 
undertaking, and can only be done by great daring and ¢ool- 
ness, 2nd good judgment and untiring effort; and Mr, Lind- 
ley ig the man who, to a greater extent than ever before, has 
accomplished it. ; 
Like many other State game protectors, he has been sub- 
ject to expenses that his limited salary really would not war- 
rant, yet, notwithstanding, has fearlessly and faithfully done 
his duty so far as possible for any one man todo. Consid- 
ering the necessity of laws protecting game and fish, and the 
consequent greater necessity of having such laws enforced 
and the State not exceeding its present expenditures for such 
purpose, it seems to me a larger appropriation should he 
made for these officers in performing their duties and less 
for the artificial propagation of fish and the erection and 
maintaining of State hatching houses, which, while essential 
under certain circumstances, have received all the appropri- 
ations that the necessity of the cuse demand, 
The artificial rearing of trout and salmon, and other like 
fish, the supply of which can only be maintained by like 
process, and at great expense, is a useless and unnecessary 
expenditure of public funds that should be used in the more 
practical way of protecting fish that do not need to be 
“brought up on a bottle,” and that inhabit waters that cau 
be reached with limited expense of time and money and by 
the public generally. I beg leave therefore through your 
columns to call the particular attention of the Commissioner 
of Fisheries to this very important question, and most re- 
spectfully ask that the services of our State game protectors, 
encountering as they do one of the most reckless class of 
meu, shall receive the remuneration they fully deserve. 
SYRACUSE, 
FISHING LAWS FOR LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 
Slee Legislature of Vermont has very materially modified 
the laws relating to fishing in that portion of Lake 
Champlain lying within the borders of the State. The 
essence of the new law is as follows: 
Section 8867. The Governor may appoint two Fish 
Commissioners, who shall confer with the Fish Commission 
ers of the New England States and Canada, direct and super- 
intend the coustruction of fishways, and introduce shad and 
salmon, ot other fish, and adopt measures to haye executed 
all laws relating to the protection of fish; but the expense 
incurred under this secfion shall not exceed two thopsand 
dollars anoually. 
. Sec. 3871. The selectmen of each town shall appoint and 
remove at pleasure a fish warden who may arrest on any of 
the waters, public or private, of this State, or on Lake 
Champlain, or on the shores thereof, any person found vio- 
lating the provisions of Chapter 170, Revised Laws, or any 
amendment thereof, and prosecute such offender. Any pet- 
son refusing to aid such fish warden, on demand in the 
name of the State, shall be liable to the penalties provided 
for in Section 4285, Chapter 200, Revised Laws: 
See. 3873. A person who takes or catches a black bass, or 
has in his possession any such fish captured in the waters of 
the State, between the first oe of February and the fifteenth 
day of June in any year, shall pay a fine of five dollars for 
each fish so taken, caught or possessed, and the costs of 
prosecution, 
Sec, 4. A person who at any time takes or catches a black 
bass less than ten inches in length shall immediately return 
such fish to the waters from which it was taken, and set it 
free therein. And fora failure so to do shall pay a fine of 
five dollars for every such fish so caught and not returned, 
together with the costs of prosecution. 
Sec. 3875. A person who takes or catches a wall-eyed 
pike or pike-perch, or has in his possession any such fish, 
taken in ihe waters of this State, between the first day of 
February and the fifteenth day of June in any year, shall pay 
a fine of five dollars for each fish so taken, caught or pos- 
sessed, with the costs of prosecution. 
Sec. 6, Section thirty-eight hundred and seventy-seven 
(3877) is hereby repealed. ‘ 
Sec, 8880. All pound-net, trap-net, gillnet, set-net and 
fyke fishing, or any other device for entrapping or ensnaring 
fish in the waters of Lake Champlain or the tributaries 
thereof are hereby prohibited; and any person or persons 
Wao shall fish in said waters with any such pound-nets, trap- 
nets, gill-nets, set-nets, fykes, or any other device for ensnar- 
ing or trapping fish, shall pay to the State a fine of $100, 
and the costs of prosecution. Any person discoverin® any 
such net or nets or devices for ensnaring fish set or being 
used in the waters hereinbefore described, or on the shores 
thereof, contrary to the provisions of Chapter 170 of the Re- 
vised Laws, or any amendment thereof, may seize and 
destroy the same, Provided, however, that seine fishing 
shall be allowed during the months of October and Noyem- 
ber in each year, and fishing with hook and line between the 
fifteenth day of June and the first day of February next 
after, and nothing contained in this section shall prohibit the 
capture of minnows for bait. Any person who takes or 
catches any black bass, pike, wall-eyed pike, shad or pond 
pickerel from any of the waters, public or private, of this 
State, or from the waters of Lake Champlain, or has any of 
said fish in his possession, between the first day of February 
and the fifteenth day of June in any year, shall pay to the 
State a fine of #5 for each fish so caught, taken or possessed, 
with the costs of prosecution. 
Sec, 8. Possession of any black bass, pike, wall-eyed pike, 
or shad, by any person in this State, between the first day of 
February and the fifteenth day of June in any year, shall be 
presumptive evidence that the person took or caught such 
fish in violation of the laws of this State. 
Sec. 9. Between the first day of February and the fifteenth 
day of June in any vear, any fish warden may cause to be 
opened, or in case the party huving the custody or posses- 
sion thereof refuse, may himself open any parcel, box, trunk, 
barrel or other receptacle, found in any wagon, car, or oiker 
vehicle of transportation, or on any wharf, railroad platform, 
or in any storehouse of any transportation company, or in 
any other place not the dwelling house or immediate depen- 
dencies thereof of the person or party haying possession, 
control, or authority of such parcel, chest, box, trunk, bar- 
rel, and if said fish warden is satisfied that the same were 
caught in any of the waters of this State, or of Lake Cham 
plain, in violation of law, he may sell the same, and pay the 
proceeds arising from such sale to the county clerk of ihe 
county in which such seizure is made, one-half to go to the 
person making such seizure and sale and one-half to the 
State. 
SNELLING AND GIMPING. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I want to get some help through your columns from some 
of the anglers who form part of your Clientele. Who can 
give ine points on the snelling and gimping of hooks, the 
best kind of silk and wax to use, manipulation of the gui, 
wrapping, knotting, etc.? Also, about the barbless hooks; 
are they worth anything? Also who can ‘‘put me on to” a 
good place for a month’s camping and fishing next summer 
in the lake region of Minnesota? If ‘‘Nessniuk,” ‘*Piscco,” 
‘“‘Wawayanda,” ‘‘Truthful James,” Kingfisher,” ef a/, will 
hear my cry and respond, they shall have the thanks of 
H. P. Urrorp. 
CASsSELEON, Dakota. 
A DAY WITH THE SPONGERS. 
HAs a curiosity to learn something of the modus 
operandi of “‘sponging,” I started one bright morning 
for the mouth of the Anclote. The air was soft and balmy, 
the surroundings were all that an enthusiastic lover of Florida 
could wish, the canoe sped merrily along on the strong ebb 
tide, the air vocal with the songs of birds, the water fretted 
with the leaping fish. Nearing the mouth of the river I 
caught sight of the spongers’ fleet, some forty odd sail in all 
and all hailing from Key West; trim, jaunty craft they were, 
too, all schooner rigged and varying in size from five to twent 
tons. Some were painted black, some green, but the preyail- 
ing color was white with a narrow red stripe. Singling out 
the tautest one of the fleet, the “General Hancock,” I laid a 
course to bring me alongside. It was evident the crew had 
never seen a canoe and double blade before, but 1 found their 
hospitality even greater than their curiosity. I was soon 
alongside, and accepting the hearty invitation of genial 
Captain Sawyer, I stepped on board, the canoe was hauled on 
deck and critically examined, Captain Sawyer propounding 
the question, “‘Do you take that ‘thing’ to bed with you?” 
“No,” 1 replied, “but I make my bed in that ‘thing’ quite 
often.” 
T found the ‘‘General Hancock” a very tidy craft, and well 
adapted to the work she was engagedin. The crew, all told, 
consisted of nine men, and she was fitted out for a three 
mouths’ cruise. Sponging has been a lucrative business, but 
of late years competition has been high, and consequently not 
s0 many chances for a good strike. The vessels fit owt on 
shares, half to the ship, half tothe men, Off the Anclote Keys 
is considered the best sponging ground on the coast, although 
it is good anywhere between here and the Suwanee River. 
The work is done in calm weather when the water is com- 
paratively smooth. The small boats (each vessel has from 
two to four) supplied with poles, grapnels and water glass, 
and manned with two and sometimes three men, drift along 
with wind and tide, all the time keeping a bright lookout on 
the bottom. The water glass is simply a bucket with a piece 
of common window glass setinthe bottom. By setting this 
contrivance in the water with the glass just below the surface, 
one can see quite plainly to a depth of thirty or forty feet, 
the vibrations from ripples, swell, etc,, being entirely over- 
come, and nothing to obstruct the vision save the density or 
color of the water. When sponge is discovered, the grapnel 
is brought in use, the sponge torn from its hold and deposited 
in the boat, . 
The grapnel is simply a bunch of strong hooks at the end of 
a long pole; let the reader half close his hand with the fingers 
slightly separated, and he will have a fair idea of a sponge 
grapnel. The boat, when full, is pulled to the vessel, the 
sponge is then thrown on the Geck where itis leit to die. At 
this stage of the proceedings the spenge looks like a lump of 
semi-transparent jelly; it is left on the deck of the vessel from 
four to eight hours. then taken to the rendezvous, and thrown 
into the crawl.—(Kraal, from the Dutch), The 
of a palisade of ten or twelye yards in diameter, and is mada 
in shoal water, After the sponge has lain in the crawl for 
some fiye days, the men get in with bare feet, and tread and 
squeeze the sponge until it is comparatively clean, when it is 
taken to the ship and stowed below. 
I spent a very pleasant day on the Hancock, in the after- 
noon visiting the Keys, inspecting the crawls, ete. As night 
approached, it brought a fine breeze from the westward, and 
with a sponge and a branch of coral as souvenirs of the trip 
I made sail, and with a hearty ‘good bye” from all hands, 
swung off for the mouth of the river. In two hours I was at 
home, so well satisfied with my trip that I decided to write it 
out for my friends of ForresT AND STREAM. Hoping soon to 
send you the details of a longer cruise, I will say, good night. 
TARPON, 
Tarpon SPRinGs, Nov. 16, 1885. 
SHap TAKH THE Fuy my OrEcon.—The Portland Oregon- 
tan says: ‘It is nearly fourteen years since the United States 
Fish Commission planted its first ustallment of young shad 
in the Sacramento River, a short distance below Colusa, 
Since that time the young shad have been taken in nets and 
fykes, not only in the bay of San Francisco and its estuaries, 
but in the Sacramento River as far north as Red Bluff, and 
in the San Joaquin near the mouth of the Tuolumne. But 
the migratory habits of the fish, its fondness for seeking cool 
northern waters in the summer nionths and returning south- 
ward during the antumn days, has led it to go into other 
sireains than its original seat of acclimatization. About six 
years ago a few small specimens of shad were taken in nets 
at the mouth of Hel River, near Humboldt Bay; and for the 
past two months the salmon nets of the Columbia River 
fishermen haye caught numerous specimens of the Alvsa 
prestabilis, which is the largest variety of the herring family. 
It is a rare thing for shad-to be taken with hook and line, 
save in the very headwaters of rivers frequented by them. 
They are occasionally taken at Lansingburg, on the Hudson, 
and Springfield, on the Connecticut, with 2 bait composed 
of salmon spawn pounded up with bread dough or rye flour 
paste. And there are instances of these fish being taken 
with the fly in Eastern waters, But it is also an established 
fact that they have gone into others than the Sacramento or 
Columbia, and have been taken both with fly and with bait 
Along in April of the current year an employe of this office 
was fishing for trout in the Elokomon in company with the 
bookkeeper in a large wholesale Front street house. They 
had taken about thirty trout apiece when 4 loud cry of sur- 
prise from the accountant caused the newspaper man to go 
to his assistance. On reaching the spot he found that his 
friend had caught a young shad ten inches in length. And 
last week, On the Wynoochie River, a small and switt tribu- 
tary of the Chehalis, two shad were taken with hook and 
line, with salmon spawn for bait. One of these was nearly 
fourteen inches in length, and the other about eight inches, 
Both were female fish and the larger one had already cast its 
spawn.” 
Wasuinaton, b. C., Dec, 15.—This city is probably as 
well supplied with game and fish as any of its size in the 
country. The markets, which are excellent, abound with 
all kinds. Venison, wild turkeys, grouse, quail, ducks, 
squirrels, rabbits, and the different salt and fresh water 
fishes can be obtained in season in large quantities. The 
Potomac Riyer, Chesapeake Bay, the marshes of both, and 
the mountains of Virginia and Maryland; are very prolific, 
considering the fact that they are in the oldest part. of the 
country, where game has been hunted and fishes caught, from 
the colonial days to the present. The localities named are 
exccllent preserves, and with ordinary care could be for all 
time. The catches of fishes in the bay and river, however, 
bear no comparison to those of former years, and the busi- 
ness bids fair to be almost entirely destroyed by the short- 
sighted policy that prevails, Trap-nets, gill-nets, seines, and 
other devices of the fishermen, catch nearly every living 
thing, and nothing but an eel or a catfish can reach the head- 
waters to spawn in the spring. The immense seines that are 
used from hundreds of yards tou mile or so in length, bring 
up great qnantitics of spawn and small fry, which are 
destroyed utterly. It is amazing that men will be so heed- 
less and foolish, but they are, and no argument or experience 
can arouse them from their destructive cupidity. The fish- 
ermen see 45 well as men can the folly of their work, which 
is rapidly ruining their own means of livelihood, but they 
go on as if their sole ambition was to destroy every fin, and 
slory in the dreary result.—J. ©, B. 
Hishculture. 
—— 
AMERICAN FISHES IN GERMANY. 
BY C. G. ATKINS, 
[Translated from Circular of ths Fischerei Verein, dated Nov. 18, 1884. ] 
‘OHH American fishculturist, Marshall McDonald, commu- 
nicates the information that success has not attended the 
efforts to avclimatize the California salmon in the tributaries 
of the Atlantic Ocean and of the Mississippi, but that the Sac- 
ramento River yields, in consequence of artificial culture, twice 
as Many salinon as formerly, and that the annual product of 
the fisheries has incréased about $300,000. The cause of this 
henomenon seems to be that the water of the rivers of the 
West coastis colder, while that of the Hastern and Southern 
rivers is warmer than that of the ocean. In France this fish 
appears to haye been successfully naturalized in the Aube 
River at Narbonne, and to return thither from the Mediterran- 
ean Sea, 
A California salmon weighing five pounds, was caught by 
Mr. yon Ealkreuth at Obragérziv, in the Lake of Kurzig. This 
specimen was, ab an earlier stage of growth, in an aquarium 
of Mayor Schuster, at the International Mishery Exhibition at 
Berlin. 
At Szomolany, Hungary, the California salmon died in con- 
sequence of the taking of the eggs, and therefore His Excel- 
Jeney, Count Palffy, had the stock still on hand planted in the 
Waag, with the expectation that the fish would descend tothe 
Black Sea, and eventually stock the Danube, In the autumn 
of 1882, there were 109 fish on hand, weighing intheaggregate 
52 pounds. F ; 
The Baroness von Wattmann of Cieszanoro, Galicia, reports 
that at her breeding establishment the California salmon 
were at the end of a year twice the size of domestic salmon 
trout. 
The American brook trout (Salmo fontinalis) is alrearly so 
far naturalized that 21,684 impreenated eggs could be sent irom 
Céslin and 12,630 from Bottzenburg, and that Count Migazzy 
of Arranyos Maroth, impregnated 17,000 eggs. In addition to 
these there was a fresh importation of 18,776 eggs from Amer- 
ica, When the water does not get yery Warm in the summer 
this fish thrives wonderfully. At Cleysingen, a part of the 
brook trout of last year have got to weigh 2 third of a pound; 
at Scheibe and Zwatzen the brood of 1885 has grown aston- 
crawl consists | ishingly; at Woschetita and Wasterbarth the fish of ‘1883 
