a 
' 
[Jan. 22, 1886. 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
509 
TROUT AT MEACHAM LAKE. 
12 is gratifying to learn that the efforts of Mr, A, R. Fuller, 
owner and proprietor of the hotel on this lake in the 
Worthern Adirondacks, in stocking the lake from bis own 
private hatchery, have been very successful. For several 
neat he lias hatched and turned out thousands of fish in the 
ake, but this past winter his health did not permit him to do 
it as usual. The trout taken there are all consumed on the 
Jace, and the laws are strictly observed both in fishing and 
ooting, Mr, Fuller owns most of the land about the lake 
now, and this means the preservation of the timber. The 
past year he has bought 750 acres adjoining his property on 
the south, and now owns the entire north and west shores 
and most of the south shore, with the lands both sides the 
outlet, more than a mile wide. Mr, Fuller has had to forbid 
camping on the lake on account of the carelessness with 
which parties leave fires, which have destroyed much 
timber. 
Tn 2 private letter to a friend, who permits us to publish a 
portion of it, Mr. Fuller says: 
“Onur season began April 27 and closed Oct. 29, and was 
very busy. Twas vlad when it was over and I was alone, 
Our fishing season was an unusually good one and satisfac- 
tory to the trout fishers, We were not out of trout on the 
table a single day after opening while they were in season. 
The fish were taken in the Juke and not in the streams. 
‘T had a path cleared along the brook that comes in by 
the house, up to the pond, its head, aud on Aug. 2 sent two 
of the boys off to watch for deer, They heard seven deer 
and an old bear and two cubs crossed the pond after dark, 
but they could not get a shot at any of them. They rigged 
a rod of alder and caught 85 pounds of trout anc got home 
to dinner, A guide sent in another direction brought in a 
good buck, so that we had trout and venison. As the tramp 
to this pond, Wiunebagu, is three miles through the woods, 
very few of the guests try it; they like fishing in front of the 
house better. 
“On some daysas many as three hundred trout were caught 
by guests of the hotel, many of the ladies amusing them- 
sélves by trolling flies. I did no fishing or hunting after the 
house was open until the guests began to go, when I shot 
one buck that was running past the house, and caugbt one 
two-pound trout and one of my California trout, The 
catching of the latter did me more good than a basketful of 
other trout, because it settled the question whether any that 
I put in lived.” 
A JUNE DAY ON THE BLACK RIVER. 
[ was a June day in the year 1880, and although nearly 
five years have elapsed, the incidents of that day are as 
vivid before my mind’s eye as though they were the happen- 
ings of yesterday, It was the red-letter day of my trout 
angling, and partly for that reason and partly because of 
the contrast in the fishing between the ante-lumbering period 
and the age of saws and axes, I pnt this grain of sand into 
the kalcidoscope of forest life, the Formst AND §1RBAM, 
Our party had passed a pleasant week in camp at South 
Lake, but as this famous salmon water would not yield up 
any of its treasure at this advanced season of the year, we 
had decided. upon a change of base, and in the morning in 
question hid our boats, packed our camp outfit, and set out 
upon the ihree-mile carry. Before noon we had our camp 
re-established at the North Lake dam and disposed of an 
early and hastily prepared dinner, so as to be in readiness for 
the afternoon's conquests. The old guide and trapper, At- 
well Martin, who is indigenous to this region and who knows 
more of the woods thin of most other subjects, very kindly 
pave us the necessary pointers and suggestions on the route, 
but did not encourage us by giving any assurance that we 
would bring huck the coveted trout. We tramped down the 
rocky but dry basin of the North Fork (for it must be re- 
membered that the North Lake is but a reservoir, and the 
water is let out only at intervals) until we reached tle point 
where the South Point makesin. At this point we suppose 
the Black River proper begins. Proceeding a short distance 
further down we jointed our rods, for here the stream began 
to assume dimensions and it began to look unmistakably 
trouty. It would rest for a little stretch under the over- 
arching alders, and then with laugh and ripple chase down 
over the white pebbly incline and scoot with froth and 
bubbles out upon the surface of along, broad pool; now it 
would make a graceful curve along the base of an overhang- 
ing ledge aud the next moment be lost in a tangle of logs 
and fallen treetops This stream we knew full well had 
bemn made for an abiding place for trout. 
We began to reach out into the most promising pools and 
ripples just to see whether the inhabitants felt kindly dis- 
posed toward us or not, The larger ones were evidently sus- 
picious of thrir visitors, but the smaller ones soon began to 
send the electric current through our bones by dangling with 
spirit from our light tackle. We had not come prepared for 
wading, because we had not anticipated finding so much 
water; but we soon found that we could not dodge it. The 
Doctor evidently had no aversion for water, but his beauti- 
ful cordurey breeches would present a rather water-logeed 
appearance when he came up out of the crystal element, and 
his hunting shoes sent out jets of the spray in all directions 
like au old leaky pump log, But the Doctor had got inter- 
ested, and was just as happy as though he had had on his 
rubber wading pants. The Dentist followed in the wake of 
the Doctor, but I hung off until it came to: going back or 
wading, and then gave in and began soaking my shins with 
the others, 
As we proceeded downward the stream grew larger, the 
trout grew larger and bit fiercer, the mosquitoes became 
more intimate, the black flies ‘came and brought their families 
- with them to see the fun, and finally the clouds, which had 
been gathering for an attack, sent down their watcry mis- 
siles in such an unmerciful way that we came to the conclu- 
sion that all nature had combined against us to thwart our 
attack upon the beautiful inhabitants of the stream, But 
the fun grew fast and furious, and as greater grew the diffi- 
culties of the situation, the more eager were the sreat fero- 
cious fellows, the lords of the river, who tyrannized over 
theic weaker brothers, and before whom the fingerlings 
trembled and often disappeared. 
Pool and riffle alike yielded up its beautiful fruit. Our 
ercels grew heavy. At ove point where the stream was 
wide and still, the Doctor, who was upon the opposite shore, 
reeled in a noble fellow, which eluted lim so greatly that he 
sang out to us thut he bad captured the “grandfather.” At 
that instant | noticed the eye of the Dentist dilate; L noted 
the quick, sharp rattle of his reel; 1 noted the strain upon 
his reel and—al) the movements of my companion sank into 
oblivion, for a quick, strong tug, which was conveyed to my 
pervous system through the slender silk line, had vibrated 
through my body and produced a palpitation which threat- 
ened to upset me But my self-control returned, and aftera lit- 
tle persuading 1 had a three-quarter pounder safely in my 
basket. In the mean time, our friend of the forceps had 
been wrestling with a bigger snag than he ever had fastened 
to before, but he proyed himself equal to the occasion, and 
soon had his clutches on the handsomest specimen of the 
Salmo fontinalis my eyes had ever feasted on, But ‘‘there is 
many a slip,” etc., for as he was forcing his prize into his 
creel it gave a mighty flop for liberty, and landed with a 
sickening splash upon the surface of the water. My com- 
panion made an intuilive lunge into the current, and betore 
his troutship had sufficiently collected his scattered senses 
to swim off, the fingers of his pursucr had shut down upon 
him like a vice, and he was borne out of his native element 
triumphantly. That trout tipped the beam at sixteen ounces 
in camp that night, 
lt was nearly dark when we unjointed our rods and began 
to move up the swollenstream tuward camp, which we 
reached long after dark in a wet, hungry and exhausted 
condition, But the sight of our catch as the bright, plump 
fellows lay stretched out side by side in a long row was 
ample reward for all the hardships and discouragements of 
the trip. There were nearly one hundred, ranging in weight 
between three ounces and one pound, and darker or more 
brilliantly colored trout [ have never seen, I have not vis- 
ited the stream since, but I have learned that the ravages of 
the lumbermen hath wrought its ruin. This is only one of 
the many rich trout streams which the vandals have de- 
spoiled. Must this work go on until in that now grand 
and natural park, no tree or thing of life shall en ? 
BrRooxriewp, N. Y., Dec. 20, 1884, 
DRAG AND CLICK REELS. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I think it was last winter that Mr. Wells furnished a series 
of very interesting articles concerning fishing rods, dowel 
pins, etc., for which he earned the thanks of all loversal the 
rod. In one of these articles he uttered a well-grounded 
complaint, that anglers do not write as much for their ait 
and its pursuit as they shonld do. That they do not do so 
is more for want of time than want of talent or inclination, 
for some of the most graceful writers of the country are 
anglers, When they do write, however, itis usually in the 
tone of genial gentleman; and hence the pages devoted to 
angling and kindred pursuits always afford the most delight- 
ful reading to be fouud in Fornsr anD STREAM, 
An excellent way to bring out correspondence is to ask 
questions, I have a number to ask, but will put only one at 
atime. Will Mr. Wells or any of your correspondents tell 
me what is the use of a drag and a click in the same reel? I 
have been an angler for upward of forty years, and during 
all that time have not been able to find it out. IL under- 
stand perfectly well the use of a drag or a click in a reel, but 
what is the reason for complicat'ng the movements and in- 
creasing the expense of a reel by adding both? Here, as it 
seems to me, is a chance for somebody to muke himself use- 
ful. PETRA, 
Mamaroneck, N, Y. 
BaRBLESS Hooxs.—Turning to page 470, I am puzzled to 
know what ‘‘Pete” mears by saying “‘Barbless hooks are 
not worth a cent, for you lose your fish every time, if the 
line should get slack.” Ido not see how the fish is going to 
eet off after he is once on. J have used the barbless hook 
for several years, and have never known a fish to get off 
unless the hook was torn from his month, I haye more 
than once let a fish play about the boat with aslack line to 
see if he could unhook himself; bul I have not yet seen a 
fish smart enough to doit. What kind of a barbless hook 
did you use, ‘Pete’? It could not have been like mine.— 
Petra (Mamaroneck, N. Y.). [We think there has been 
a misunderstanding between our correspondents regarding 
what is meant by a barbless hook until our correspondent 
‘Petra’ called onus, and in the course of conversation ex 
plained that he meant and used the patent ‘Edgar barbless 
hook,” which has a sort of snap attachment to it that makes 
it look tous like an implement which is adapted to those 
who do not care to take risks in landing a fish, and some- 
thing that we would hesitate to use lest we be mistaken for 
what we are not. We thought that all our correspondents re- 
ferred to an ordinary hook with the barb filed off, or in 
other words, a needle-pointed hook. This latter form is ad- 
vocated by some, and certainly it is a hook that has no 
fiavor of pot-fishing about it, We object to all snaps, ‘‘sock- 
dolagers”, ‘‘eagle’s claws”, and all forms of hook that tend 
to spring something on a fish to hold it after it is hooked, 
and we never suspected that the term ‘‘barbless’” meant one 
of these and must suppose that many of our readers did not. | 
LSisheulture. 
FISH FOR PENNSYLVANIA. 
ESTERDAY afternoon the United States Fish Commis- 
sion’s splendid car No. 2, passed through Mechanics- 
burg with Col. M. MacDonald of the U. 8. Commission on 
board. The car was in charge of Superintendent H. H. 
Moore, four assistants and a cook, Col. MacDonald is an in- 
seueent tall, elderly gentleman, a native of Winchester, Va,, 
and has been connected with the Commission for many years. 
Mr. Moore’s car ariived on the noon train from Wythe- 
yille, Va.,via the Cumberland Valley, having been delayed up 
the line in putting off a large number of German carp. the 
car yesterday, in large tin cans, were 5,000 rainbow trout, 
peprenied in the fresh waters of the Allegheny Mountains at 
ytheville, Va, They varied from two to five inches in size. 
A number of the largest, twenty months old, being five inches 
in length and as frisky as grasshoppers, These beautiful fish 
were the first consignment sent out and the fresh water 
streams of Northern and Western Pennsylvania, where the 
native trout flourish so well, will receive them, The spawn 
was extracted from fish captured among the ice cold streams 
of the Shasta Mountains in California, 150 miles or more from 
Santa Barbara, The eges extracted on the Pacific slops from 
fine large trout, were sent ina frozen state across the continent 
and succe-sfully hatched at Wytheville. 
In its native waters, said Col McDonald, the rainbow trout 
in the suniight presents ali the colors of the rainbow on its 
speckled sides, forming a beautiful object in the water, hence 
its name. hese valuable fish will be distributed as follows: 
1,00U go te Commissioner Duncan, in the Cumberland Valley; 
1,0U0 to Commissioner Spangler, m Philadelphia: 1,000 for 
Commissioner Gay, 0. Greensburg; 1,000 to the hatchery at 
Allentown, and 1,000 ta Commissioner McGinness, of Sullivan, 
They are all to be placed in private streams bo be watched for 
| two years and ted, Col. McDonald is the inventor of 
the say. bearing his name and of certain excellent appli- 
ances for fish-hatching purposes. 
The carp for the Cumberland Valley will_be placed in the 
Connodoguinet Creek, Yellow Breeches Creek and Silver 
Spring Dam, R. W. 8 
MrcHaniseure, Pa., Jan, 14, 
REPORT OF THE U, S. FISH COMMISSIONER, 
Ghee vast amount of work, both in scientific exploration 
and in fishculture, which has been accomplished by the 
U.S. Fish Commission, has tasked its clerical force to keep up 
with it, The annual reports have been supplemented with a 
“Bulletin,” into which the shorter papers, letters, etc., go, as 
atelief tothe annual report. Until the establishment of the 
Bulletin, in 1881, the reports fell behind from two to three 
years, but are now catching up. Within the present year the 
reports of 1881 and 1882 have been issued, and this is the first 
instance in which two reports haye appeared in the same 
year, except where they have been comprised in cne volume; 
those for 1881 and 1482 are in two large volumes, which have 
come so close together that it looks like an intention to make 
the reports keep up with the work. 
In the report for 1881 we learn that the most noteworthy 
features of the year haye been: The production and distribu- 
tion of German carp on a larger seale than before. The con- 
struction of an additional pond and of atransportation car. A 
change in the policy of distributing ay, larger plants being 
made in fewer localities. An increased distribution of shad. 
Hxperiments in hatching codfish. Hmbryological work, Ex- 
periments in oyster culture, and much other useful work. 
With the increased interest taken in the supplying of 
fish to the people, the business of the Fish Commission has 
augmented to an enormous extent. By careful methods and 
a thoroughly philosophical system the Commission has been 
enabled to carry out a work which is always expanding with 
scarcely any increase of staff. It has had the immense 
advantage of educating, as it were, its own body, and free 
from political disturbances, it really does present one of the 
tmost industrious, intelligent and painstaking organizations in 
the country. Uniting the best scientific acquirements with 
common sense practical work, the results obtained have been 
in the highest degree satisfactory. it may be asserted, with- 
out the least arrogance, that the United States stands first in 
the world for its knowledge in regard to fish, and it has given 
the greatest impulse to fishculture. After the whole matter 
was sifted down, the prime functions of the United States Fish 
Commission being to make fish on our coasts, lakes and rivers 
more plentiful, that vast amount of scientific knowledge 
which has been acquired has helped most directly in arriving 
at the desired end. 
The appendiges, as usual, are filled with most interesting 
material. In appendix B may be found one of the most im- 
portant contributions to the history of our edible fish, a com- 
prehensive study of the mackerel, the work of Messrs. G. 
Brown Goode, Joseph W. Collins, B. H. Earll, and A. Howard 
Clark. This contribution of over 400 pages is absolutely 
thorough, as it presents not only all that is Known of the natu- 
ral history of the fish, but contains the complete statistics of 
this fishery. Mr. Harrison writes of the early shad fisheries 
of the north branch of the Susquehanna River, Mr. Charles 
W. Smiley treats of the use of fish guano as a fertilizer, Mr. 
Frank N. Clark reports his experiments for determining the 
smallest amount of water in which young shad and eggs can 
be kept, while Messrs. Coutance, Ryder and Forbes contribute 
articles relating to scientific subjects. Messrs. Rice and Ryder 
treat of retarding the development of shad eggs, In appendix 
C Megsrs. Smiley. Clark, Stone, Atkins and McDonald report 
on the practical work under ther charge. 
In the report for 1882, Vol. 10, Prof, Baird gives a brief sum- 
mary of the work of the Commission. In its first year the only 
work intrusted to its care was the investigation of the facts 
as to the decrease of food fishes in American waters. It was in 
the second year that the Comyaission directed its attention to 
the propagation of food fishes, with ‘their tramsfer to, or 
multiplication in, the waters of the United States.” 
To accomplish this a most thorough scientitic investigation 
wasnhecessary. The vital question relating to the natural his- 
tory of both aquatic animals and plants had to be studied, 
and for the furthering of these researches a corps of specialists 
had to be created. If the educational advantages of such 
studies had their special value the practical results were 
equally great. Throughout the whole country ademanad arose 
at once for specimens for the use of colleges and schools, while 
at the same time, alive to the practical results, fishermen were 
anxious to derive benefit from such devices as the Fish Com- 
mission might furnish them. As an instance of the latter, it 
may be insisted upon that the United States Fish Commission, 
by its advice and instruction, had already added some millions 
of dollars to the New England fisheries. It has also revolu- 
tionized the winter codfishery industry of the North Atlantic 
States. At first gill-net fishing for cod was thought impossible, 
sven laughed at; but since it was brought to the notice of the 
Gloucester fishermen, these gillnets have come rapidly into 
use, ‘until ab the present time they represent the most im- 
portant element in the winter fisheries, the number of fish 
taken being not only much greater, but the fish themselves of 
finer quality.” Wot less important is the humanitarian en- 
deavors of the Commission. That terrible loss of life which 
occurs annually to fishermen, owing to the wreckage of their 
vessels, the Commission believes, could be much lessened, 
The tendency on the part of cod, and especially of mackerel, 
fishermen has been to give more attention to the speed of their 
craft than their safety. The Commission has been incessant in 
urging that more substantial and deeper vessels be built, 
resembling in model those constructed in England and Scot- 
land. One great object of the Cummission isto determine the 
extent and character of the old fishing localities and to dis- 
cover new ones, “There is no doubt,” writes Prof. Baird, 
“that there still remains many important areas, even in the 
best known seas, where the codfish and halibut may be found 
in their old abundance,” 
So far there has been no carefulinvestigation made, and the 
banks now fished over have been brought fo light by accident. 
Itis certain that by a systematic research the area of good 
fishing ground will be largely extended. On the Gulf and 
South Atlantic coast tish abound, but this wealth has not been 
localized. As a source of income to the fishermen of the Seuth 
the same chances are likely to be presented to them as to the 
men of New England. For the better prosecution of these re- 
searches the Commissioner advises that an pppronuaion be 
made for the building of a proper vessel, fully fitted with fish- 
ing implements, which shall proceed to Southern waters, and 
there practically determine the question, In an economic 
sense, the labors of the Commission haye been particularly 
directed toward the preparation, prevervation, and curing of 
fish, An industry already worth millions of dollars in the 
State of Maine can be carried out quite as successfully on 
other portions of the seaboard. This subject is receiving care- 
ful consideration, and numerous facts bearing upon it haye 
been published by the Commission. 
Tt is the effort to increase the stpaly of valuable fish in our 
waters which has to a great extent occupied the attention of 
the Commission. The difficulties of this work are really greater 
than is apparent at the first glance. ‘It must be remembered 
that the agencies which have tended to diminish the abund- 
ance of tish have been at work for many years and are in- 
creasing in an enormous ratio,” While fish do not increase, 
population does; or, in other words, between supply and de- 
Yaand no such thing as an equilibrium can exist. Hyery con- 
dition is changed, and these changes must increase, all tending 
toward a greater scarcity of fish. If the subject of the arti- 
ficial propagation of fresh-water fish seems to have been 
