[Fkb. 315, 1885. 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



89 



certain to get attention, if tile fish are in jibe mood; for, as 

 all anglers lSiow, there are times when no persuasive agency 



is of any avail whatever. I agree with "E. F." that, a, hghtly 

 cast fly \S best; but there are times when a pretty heavy 

 splash ' doesn't seeiu to scare them. Then again, T have 

 found il necessary - -this when the wafer is a little muddy or 

 ''milky"— to sink the flies a little, by the use of a light split 

 shot at the head of the hook. With this expedient I have 

 sometimes made a good catch when the wary or lazy fellows 

 would not rise to a fly on the surface. I have not found 

 very light tackle or (lies of special advantage at any time or 

 place with bass.; and, in a general way, I would say to 

 beginners in bass fishing that a, good fly-fishing ontflt for 

 trout will generally be lound a good outfit for" bass, with 

 such modifications or variations as experience may suggest 

 or circumstances require, according to locality, season and 

 the disposition, for the lime being, of the lish themselves. 



S. H. X. 

 Washington, Feb. I?, ISS5. 



THE TROUT OF BEAR RIVER. 



EdUoi' Forest niid Strrnm: 



The caption and date of "Millard's" letter in a late Forest 

 a.nt) Streak turns my thoughts backward nearly a score of 

 years and prompts me to ask a question, The first western 

 trout that I ever caught in its native waters, I took from 

 Bear lttvcr, Wyoming Territory; at least it was then 

 Considered that Bear River, rising in the Uintah Mountains, 

 flowed through the southwestern corner of Wyoming before 

 It attain reached Utah, but I find upon consulting a map 

 that it is located entirely in Utah and Idaho, leaving 

 Wyoming out in its windings. WhereitdoesflowIwi.il 

 not attempt to tell, hut T know it does not flow across the head 

 of Echo Canon, as this map seems to make it. 



At the time referred to I had been fishing Clark's Fork 

 and was relating my uusuccess to a, friend when be suggested 

 that I try Bear River, as "speckled trout" were plenty and 

 grew large in that stream. I was rather more of a "tender- 

 foot" than be and asked him to go with me. The first fish 

 was a vigorous tighter and afforded all the sport [ could 

 desire, but when 1 laid him on the bank and called my friend 

 I asked: "Do you call that thing a "speckled trout?" 

 "Yes." "Well, I don't. He, she or it is evidently a trout, 

 hut not such as we get in New York State." "No, nor 

 such as we get in Massachusetts, but they are good, as you 

 will find." And I did find them good, on the book and on 

 the table. And now I would like to know what kiud of 

 trout these were, whether Sabno spilurus or S. purpuralnx? 



As I try to remember their appearance my memory fails 

 me except as to the black spots which were such a surprise. 

 My thoughts reverted to these fishes recently when President 

 Jordan, of Indiana University, in writing me about Western 

 trout, said he would like to see the 8. piiipuralus (Lake 

 Tahoe trout) get a fair trial in Eastern waters, 



I presume some of your readers will be able to tell the 

 kind of trout found in Bear River. In asking whether it is 

 apilurux or purpurakis that is found in this river, I mean the 

 Rio Grande trout by the former, and by the latter the Rocky 

 Mountain brook trout or Yellowstone trout (8. tirgiiialts of 

 Gunther and Girard). Jordan's synopsis of N. A. fishes 

 states that the characteristic red blotch ou the lower fin of 

 the 8. purpitmtus Pallas, is "very constant," but too many 

 years have elapsed for me to recollect whether the fish I 

 caught had it. I made note at the time, of the, to me, new r 

 trout, but my diary was burned soon after. The fact that 

 they Mere very gamy on the hook, and very excellent on 

 the table, requires no pen and ink memoranda to recall. 



A. N. Cheney. 



Glens Falls, N. V. 



OTSEGO LAKE. 



ITS FISH, FISHING AND FISHOTJLTURE. 



THE natural attractions of Cooperstown and the Lake 

 region of which it is the center, are in many respects 

 so like those of the English lakes, that no observant tourist 

 can have failed to note the resemblance. 



The general topography of the country is, in fact, nearly 

 the same, save that the mountains about Otsego Lake are 

 somewhat less majestic and imposing. 



About two miles northeast of the village, and well up the 

 mountain side, stands Natty Bumppo's Cave. This wild 

 crag, now so famous, is distinctly visible and with a good 

 opera glass may be quite satisfactorily examined from the 

 deck of the steamer Natty Bumppo, as she furrows the 

 placid waters below, or, with screaming whistle, challenges 

 old Natty himself to the echo. 



Still further on, from a point nearly midway of the Fern - 

 leigh Farm, just northeast of the Fenimore Cooper "Chalet," 

 so-called, and about two hundred and fifty feet from the 

 water, there bursts upon our view a most magnificent pano- 

 rama of the lake, with all its jutting headlands, the charm- 

 ingly diversified meadow and woodland of the opposite 

 shore; the blue-tinted range of the Mohawk, and the sweet 

 Susquehanna winding gracefully out of view in the far 

 away southern valley. 



Indeed, under the mellow light of a calm June evening, 

 with "Glimmerglass" in perfect repose, its mirror-like bosom 

 absolutely undecked, save here and there perchance by the 

 salmon's wanton plashes, which, "like scars on the face of a. 

 warrior, make it all the more attractive," imagination itself 

 could scarcely conceive a picture of more consummate 

 loveliness. Only he who has stood ou the battlements of 

 Stirling Castle, and had his soul ravished with the scene 

 there spread out before him, or from the summit of Redwing 

 has looked down upon sweet Grasmere, dreaming in the vale 

 below, can, even by comparison, form any adequate concep- 

 tion of its beauty, 



Still further on we reach the Dugway, a favorite haunt of 

 + be salmon irout, where the mouutain, four hundred feet in 

 isight, sheers precipitately down into ice cold water, nearly 

 jsvo hundred feet in depth. Near this spot the mountain is 

 virtually^ bisected by what is called the Hog's Back, a most 

 extraordinary freak of nature, not sufficiently familiar to 

 visitors, but which will never be forgotten by those who 

 have taken the pains to climb its lofty ridges. 



ludeed, the entire eastern shore is somewhat Alpine in 

 character, and with its terraced ledges, flood-washed gorges, 

 virgin forest and sequestered haunts, must ever afford 

 ''To biin who in the love of nature holds 

 Coxmnunion with her visible forms," 

 inexhaustible sources of delight. 



Having thus adverted to some of the points of interest 

 which have made Otsego Lake so irresistibly attractive, we 

 proceed to describe in detail the water itself, with its fish, 

 its 'fishing, and its fisbeulture. 



Otsego Lake is nine miles long by about one in width, run- 

 ning nearly north and south. 'The. water, averaging about 

 fifty feet, attains in some places a depth of two hundred, and 

 is chiefly supplied from cold bottom springs. Its only con- 

 stant tributaries are two small streams, whose entire volume 

 is not half that of its outlet, the Susquehanna River. The 

 Upper and lower portions of the lake, being shallow and 

 weedy, afford ample pickerel grounds, while the middle por 

 tion and whole eastern shore are admirably adapted, by deep 

 water and a soft marl bottom, to the coregoni and salmon 

 trout, and nearer shore, by rocky bottom and sharp ledges, 

 to the rock bass, black bass and yellow perch. After further 

 stating that the food supply is abundant, especially of the 

 "lake shiner," an exquisitely beautiful creature and most 

 dainty morsel, about; four inches long, not fouud elsewhere, 

 it will be readily seen that in no other water of the State 

 could the conditions be more favorable for the artificial 

 propagation of lish. Without irrelevant particulars we ap- 

 pend a record of the actual plantings made in Otsego Lake; 



1873— Otsego bass (Coregonus albus) 74,000 



iS^-Salmou trout ' 8,000 



1873-SaJinon trout 150,< 00 



1874— Sa luion trout (35.000 



1874 - OtsbRO basS - 94,000 



1874- Black bass. 95 



1 r- ; 4-R,.ek bass 1,000 



1876— Salmon trout 100,000 



1875— BIS -It bass 105 



I&76— Salmon trout .., 70,000 



1877— Whiteflsta I from Caledonia) 300,000 



IS7S- Landlocked salmon 5,000 



IU78— SaJ mon trout lOO.Ooi) 



lH?t)-Salmou trout 100.000 



1880— Salmon trout lOo.ooo 



1880— Smelt (from Hackeusaek, N. J.) BOO 



1882— Salmon trout 55,000 



188.2— California mountain trout HO. 000 



1S84— Salmon trout 100,000 



Total 1,359,000 



RECAPITULATION. 



Salmon trout 851.00O 



Otsego bass 1 08,000 



Whitefish 300,000 



Calif orn ia mountain trout 80,000 



Baud locked salmon 5,000 



Rock bass 1,000 



Black bass 200 



Smelt 800 



Total 1,359,000 



The operations during 1871, 2, 3 and 4 on our own account 

 and at our expense, were conducted in a small domestic hatch- 

 ery, and in the most economical manner, by Capt. P. P. 

 Cooper. The total outlay, however, was about fifteen hun- 

 dred dollars. 



Subsequently all young fry were obtained from the State 

 hatchery at Caledonia, at the mere cost of transportation, 

 Which was about $40 for 100,000 lish. This beneficent 

 policy of the State our people fully appreciate, and it must 

 eventually produce grand results, 



On a general review of our work we have to speak first of 

 the salmon trout. So rapidly did this fish increase, that in 

 1878 they were more numerous than at any time within the 

 preceding thirty years. During the spring of 1880, in one 

 forenoon, with a companion, at a single anchorage, in water 

 55 feet deep, and near the "Sunken Island," the writer took 

 forty-four fish weighing 86 pounds. Thirteen others were 

 hooked, but escaped, two of them large fish, makiug 57 

 strikes in less than five hours, A day or two later twenty- 

 nine were taken weighing 50 pounds. During the same 

 week 300 pounds were taken in a single day. 



AU this was clone still-fishing. 



In the following summer, the writer, trolling one morning 

 with a Seth Green gang of O'Shaughnessy 8s, had twenty- 

 seven strikes, losing two gangs, and taking nine fish weigh- 

 ing twenty-seven pouuds. About the same time, Seth Green, 

 who first introduced the trolling gang into our lake, took 

 eighteen or twenty fish i n a single afternoon. For the last 

 two years, however, these fish have gradually ceased to bite 

 until the catch has become so small as to excite serious appre- 

 hension and widespread discussion. Among the various 

 theories some contend with great pertinacity that the trout 

 are all dead, destroyed by some epidemic, which seems im- 

 possible, as all dead fish at some stage of decomposition, 

 either before or after sinking, having become surcharged 

 wih noxious gases, bloat and float, Now if floating, they 

 would surely be seen in large numbers, and if sunken they 

 would either be dragged up by seines or washed ashore. 

 Neither condition having occurred, this theory must cer- 

 tainly be discarded. Others maiutaiu that the scarcity is 

 wholly due to the illegal use of that most deadly and abom- 

 inable of all devices, the gill-net, one of which was accident- 

 ally booked up through the ice filled with our choicest fish. 

 Others still insist that the trout are as numerous as ever, but 

 are either gorged with superabundant food, or else, like some 

 handsome flirts who keep their adorers dangling by the gills 

 for months before pronouncing the fatal "yes, have simply 

 taken a capricious whim not to bite until they get ready. 



On a careful review of the whole case we come to share 

 the opinion expressed by Judge Potter, of Toledo, and now 

 concurred in by Seth Green, "that all the salmon trout 

 originally planted in Otsego Lake, excepting only such as 

 have either been taken out by fishermen or devoured by 

 other fish, are there now." It is but just to Mr. Green to 

 add that his late theory of an "epidemic" was advocated by 

 bim simply in consequence of our own statement and belief 

 that there was little if any gill-netting going on in Otsego 

 Lake. Subsequent events, already adverted to, have, how- 

 ever, forced us both to another and very different conclu- 

 sion. The prediction is therefore made with confidence 

 that if netting of all binds can be strictly prohibited, the 

 trolling and still-fishing for salmon trout will ere long be as 

 satisfactory here as it ever was, and as it is now on Lake 

 George, where, only a few years ago, the fishing was if pos- 

 sible worse than in our own. Now, after artificial plantings 

 almost precisely like those which we have made, it is said 

 to be a common occurrence for a single fisherman to take 

 with hook and line in one day fifty or seventy-five pounds 

 of trout, averaging five pounds each. 



Of rock bass (the original plant being 1,000) the lake is 

 full. It is regarded as an excellent panfish, and being both 

 a bold biter and a hard puller, affords good sport to the 

 angler of moderate desires. 



The result of the smelt experiment remains still undeter- 

 mined, but as the fish, chiefly gravid females, were deliv- 

 ered here in au exhausted state, and from actual necessity 

 deposited at the foot of the lake, where it was impossible 

 for them to deposit their spawn in the natural way, very 

 slight hope is entertained of its success. 



These fish too, it will be remembered, were transferred 

 from salt to fresh water, which possibly may throw some 

 light upon the matter. All expenses were defrayed by 

 Edward Clark, Esq., of Cooperstown, lately deceased. Hon. 



Samuel Webber, late New Hampshire State Fish Commis- 

 sioner (to whom, as to other gentlemen who have politely 

 responded to my troublesome inquiries, I desire thus publicly 

 to make my acknowledgments) is of the opinion that the. 

 native smelt of Lake Cliainplain would be certain to thrive 

 in Otsego Lake, and we are not without hope that this in- 

 teresting experiment, may yet he undertaken. 



The landlocked salmon deposited in June, 1878, were pro- 

 cured with much difficulty by the joint courtesy of Prof. 

 Spencer F. Raird and Fred Mather, Esq., both of the U. S. 

 Fish Commission, Mr. A. W. Thayer superintending their 

 transportation, and Mr, Edward Clark defraying the entire 

 expense. From this plant, most unfortunately, nothing has 

 ever been heard, save in one or two untrustworthy instances, 

 and the experiment must therefore be regarded, like many 

 similar ones in our own State, as a complete failure, the 

 causes of which remain unexplained. From the black bass 

 plant of two hundred in all, an immense product has been 

 realized, hundreds of this noble fish having been seen at a 

 time disporting themselves about the Sunken Island. Despite, 

 however, the most enticing lures, and the most persevering 

 effort, very few have been captured. The finest and largest 

 are, thus far taken in deep water with the shiner gang, when 

 trolling for salmon trout. How shall these wily old patri- 

 archs be seduced from the lake into the frying-pan? A 

 liberal reward and high sport await the man who shall solve 

 the mystery. 



Of the 30,000 California mountain trout (deposited in 

 June 1881) 20,000 were placed by Seth Green and the writer 

 at the head of the lake, near the steamboat landing, and the 

 Balance in a cold stream running through Mud Lake and 

 discharging into Otsego Lake. Although nearly three years 

 have now elapsed not one of these fish has been taken or 

 seen, and the question whether they will appear at all is 

 growing to be serious. If not, it will prove a bitter disap- 

 pointment, as the experiment was made under the most 

 favorable auspices, its entire cost being defrayed by James 

 B. Jcrmain, Esq., of Albany. Lastly, we take up the 

 Lavaret or Otsego bass, falsely so-called, beyond all perad- 

 venture the very finest fresh-water fish that swims. 



Hanked by many as only a highly honored member of the 



treat Coregonus family, with which by recent intermarriage, 

 eth Green himself presidiug at the nuptials, it has now 

 become so irretrievably amalgamated as to prevent any pos- 

 sibility of future scientific distinction, this truly noble fish 

 is, we firmly believe, what that sagacious scientist, Governor 

 De Witt Clinton, long years ago pronounced it to be — a 

 "nondescript, and not the whitefish of the upper lakes." 



At a still later day Prof. Louis Agassiz, certainly the very 

 highest authority of his time, after careful analysis, pro- 

 nounced it to be "in its organic structure, a distinct fish, not 

 found in any other waters of the world." But, apart from 

 these high sanctions, which might well be conclusive, the 

 Coregonus albus and the Otsego bass present even to the 

 most superficial observer striking points of difference. 



The whitefish has, universally, along the spinal column, a 

 gross fatty secretion, which, in the process of either cleansing 

 or cooking, emits a pungent and somewhat disagreeable 

 odor. The Otsego bass, on the contrary, has always a pure, 

 wholesome smelt, precisely like that of a fresh cucumber, 

 and is wholly free from the fatty substance above alluded 

 to. The flesh is also of a much more delicate texture and 

 marked by a peculiar racy flavor, imparted undoubtedly by 

 the tiny "bass fly," so-called, upon which in its prime, dur- 

 ing April and May, it chiefly feeds, and of which, by the 

 aid of a microscope, literal thousands may be discovered in a 

 single fish. 



As the Otsego bass has rarely been taken except with 

 the seine or gill-net, and as all netting of every descrip- 

 tion has beeu lately prohibited for three years by our Board 

 of Supervisors, it become a question of grave moment 

 whether this very delicious fish can be taken freely with 

 hook and line, and we have, therefore, undertaken to inves- 

 tigate it thoroughly. The following opinions of the most 

 intelligent and experienced anglers and fishculturists of the 

 United States, and with which this article will conclude, 

 must, we are confident, be read with lively interest, especi- 

 ally as they all agree, in direct opposition to the popu- 

 lar belief, that the Coregonus albus can be certainly and 

 freely taken with hook and line. 



Seth Green says : "The Otsego bass (Coregonus albus) can 

 be taken with small minnows or red angle worms. I think 

 if your tackle is very fine, and you do not twitch when 

 they bite, they will swallow the bait. Put five or ten hooks 

 (O'Shaugnessy 8s, forged) on fine snell, and loop them five 

 feet apart, with small sinker at the end. Bait some with 

 small minnows (one inch or so in length) and some with 

 worms. Cast out as far as you can from the boat, and let it 

 lie half or three-quarters of an hour on the bottom, feeling 

 now and then to see if you have one on. The best way is 

 to let them hook themselves. The angle worm, if used for 

 bait, should be strung ou to the hook with both ends left 

 dangling. When I had the whitefish bites in your lake, I 

 had a salmon trout rig on the same line, and when I felt the 

 bite, made the same hard stroke that I would for the salmon 

 trout and tore the hook out. A fight stroke must be made 

 and the fish handled very carefully." 



Charles Carpenter, Kelly's Island, Ohio, says: "Many 

 years ago when whitefish were much more abundant than 

 now in the lake, seeing large schools of them, I tried various 

 baits and succeeded in catching a few with cockroaches 

 drawn rapidly through the water. Many more were taken 

 by the hook sticking in their gills or sides outside of the 

 mouth. Some further account of this experiment will be 

 found in the first Ohio Commissioners' Report, pages 33-4." 



The lamented Dr. Theodatus Garlick says: "I was once 

 storm-bound at Copper Harbor, Lake Superior, and tried 

 bottom-fishing at night, baiting with small pieces of fresh 

 beef, and caught several large whitefish. A friend of mine, 

 seeing me take these fish on board, soon rigged a line with 

 baited hook, and he caught several also. We were fishing 

 from a steamer, with hand lines, in water about twenty-five 

 feet deep. 



"I cut the bait quite small, and handled the fish very care- 

 fully, lifting them on board with a landing net. 1 also 

 caught a few with rod and fly at the Sault Ste. Marie, in the 

 rapidly running water at and about the locks of the canal 

 company there. But I think in deep water the fly would be 

 of no use. I have no doubt you can take the Otsego bass 

 or whitefish in your lake as I took them at Copper Harbor. 

 I would use several kinds of bait, putting on my line several 

 small books and letting it lie ou the bottom. These fish bite 

 very gently, with no dash, like the trout or other game fish. 

 You will barely feel a slight movement of the line in your 

 fingers. Then with a fight strike, you bring them slowly to 

 the surface, and take them out with a landing net. I pre- 

 sume they will take a bait as well in the day time as at night. 



