May 31, 1885.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



331 



rod and went for him and grabbed him in both hands, but 

 he went through them like a flash, when I dropped on him 

 bodily. That changed the affair considerably, fur he couldn't 

 get away with so much on his back, not very much; and I 

 carefully reached under me and got him by the grills and I 

 had him. "Who's got the biggest one?" said Will, and we 

 compared them together and they were perfect mates, weigh- 

 fully a pound each. We 1ried the eddy again, but not 

 another did we fiud, so we started again with, renewed cour- 

 age, fnr now we could have trout for dinner. We did not 

 try the stream again, but Judged it: might be very good fish- 

 ing earlier in the season, but the old logs and obstructions 

 having been removed to facilitate driving logs, thus destroy- 

 ing their favorite hiding places, and the "trout had probably 

 gone further up stream to seek cooler water. 



We found the "three mile tree" all right, and found a 

 newly spotted line leading from it at right angles to the left, 

 and we thought, we were almost to our destination. We 

 found a cool, shady place, built a small fire, cooked and ate 

 our dinner, and our two trout were all we could eat at one 

 meal. It was a very hot, still day, the sun coming down in 

 the old cuttings with almost furnace heat, so we lay down 

 under the trees and waited for the shadows to lengthen. 

 Our route now hvy through the unbroken forest, so after 

 resting a couple of hours we started off on the line that had 

 been "blazed" but a short time before, so we had no trouble 

 in following it; and we didn't hurry, for all we cared for 

 was to get to the. pond in time for the evening fishing. 



After we had gone, as we thought, about a mile, we came 

 to a blazed tree marked "200 rods." Could it be possible 

 we bad come only that distance? A mile is a long ways in 

 the Avoods, and the marking was probably correct, so it still 

 lacked considerably of being a mile from the "three-mile 

 tree." We now came to a bou of several acres in extent, 

 covered with thick moss and short, stunted spruce bushes, 

 the blazing being on the low bushes of not more than two 

 inches in diameter. We sauk half way to our knees in the 

 moss but didn't break through into the mud, but we were 

 soon across and into an almost impenetrable growth of firs 

 and spruce, but they had to swatnp a path for the chainmen, 

 so we found no trouble in getting through. Soon another 

 tree marked "400 rods," but no signs of the pond. 



"How much further do you suppose it is?" said Will. 

 "Oh! 1 don't know; but we are probably most there." 

 "Well, I hope so, for it is awful warm, and I feel as though 

 1 had Avalked about far enough for this kind of weather." 

 We now came up on higher ground with a larger growth, 

 mixed with birch and maple, with now and then a whitv 

 pine towering far above all the others, It was so thick over- 

 head that we were entirely in the shade and the traveling 

 much easier than iu the swamp, and crossing a low ridge we 

 came to a large clear stream that we supposed was the 

 "Black Branch." I madeabiidge by falling a small tree 

 across and we Were soon on the other side. I saw two or 

 three trout dart under the bank as I crossed, but as we were 

 anxious to reach the pond we did not stop to catch any. We 

 had not gone but a. short distance further, when we came to 

 another blazed tree marked 600 rods. "There ain't so much 

 signs of a pond as there was an hour ago," said Bill, throw 

 ing down his pack, "and I don't believe we are on the right 

 line." But I was positive we were following our directions, 

 so I persuaded him to go ahead, and we passed trees marked 

 800 rods, 1,000 rods and 1,200 rods. This began to get 

 monotonous, and it looked as though we should have to 

 camp on the line, when Bill suggested that "probably some- 

 body bad cut off the end of that line." After discussing the 

 matter awhile, we said we would run it into the pond or the 

 ground if it took us all the rest of the week. Off we were 

 with renewed vigor, for it was the pond before dark or no 

 trout for supper. 



We soon crossed quite a large stream that we afterward 

 learned was the Logger Branch, and the outlet of Lewis 

 Pond. "While standing a few moments at the side of the 

 stream, I saw a mink corn'mg up the stream, and keeping 

 perfectly still he came along and jumped over my feet, and 

 continued on his way without noticing us at all. The line 

 took a diagonal course along the side of a smalt mountain, 

 where we saw plenty of deer sign, their paths running in 

 all directions where they had come to the stream to drink. 



Another blazed tree marked 1,400 rods, and after traveling 

 awhile longer we saw water glistening through the trees, and 

 soon came out on the shore of the pond where we found a 

 tree marked "1,51.2 rods from the 3-mile tree." It was 

 nearly sunset, and we said if we ever started to find another 

 unknown pond, we would inquire the distance so as to have 

 some idea of how far we should have to walk. Lewis Pond 

 is very pleasantly located, surrounded with hills, and con- 

 tains 125 acres. The water is very clear, the shallow water 

 covered with lily pads, and its shores are a favorite stamping 

 ground for deer. Its waters contain only trout; they were 

 formerly very plenty and of very large size, specimens 

 having been taken weighing nearly five pounds. I saw 

 where the inlet had been staked across, and in spawning 

 time, as T was afterward informed by one of the party, 

 they caught by staking the inlet and driving the fish down 

 from the spawning holes above, when they threw out with 

 their hands more trout than four of them could carry away, 

 some of them weighing more than four pouuds! 



We crossed on a raft to the camping ground, where we 

 found a good bark camp and wood enough cut for the night 

 We didn't have time to do any fishing that night, and after 

 eating supper we very soon went to sleep and did not wake 

 till broad daylight. I took my fly-rod and went out to get 

 a mess of trout for breakfast, and Will said he would do 

 the cooking and try them later. They were rising in all 

 directions on the pond, but after fishing about two hours, 

 came in with only one fish that would weigh perhaps half a 

 pound. We didn't have a very heavy trout breakfast, but 

 noted the flavor of that one as first-class. After breakfast 

 we fished till nearly noon, and I tried nearly every fly in my 

 book, and Will used angle-worms, and we didn't catch a 

 fish. They were rising all the forenoon among the pads, 

 and we judged from appearances that some of them were 

 large ones; but after fishing the best I knew how, was un- 

 able to get a rise. After eating our dinner of bread and 

 pork, we lay back in camp and concluded that they would 

 probably bite better toward evening. We started out again 

 about 3 o'clock. There was a slight ripple in the open 

 water beyond the lily pads, but it was one of the hottest 

 August days, with a hazy, smoky atmosphere, and if wc 

 had caught any in the forenoon we shouldn't have tried 

 them again till about sundown, but we were getting trout 

 hungry and were bound to have some for supper. We fished 

 faithfully till long after sunset, when we had to come in 

 without a fish. 



This was a new experience; plenty of trout all around 

 us, and we couldn't catch one, Will was usually a very 



successful fisherman, and I supposed I could catch trout 

 anywhere where there was any. This was a damper. 

 Couldn't catch trout enough to cat. What would the boys 

 say? Only one trout in all day's fishing. That meant short 

 rations soon. 



The night was almost as light as day, and we could hear 

 the trout jumping all the evening, and one big fellow within 

 five or six rods of the shore would rise every few minutes, 

 aud Joe could hear others in different directions, and they 

 appeared to be feeding all night. W r e fished the next day 

 without getting another one; that evening tried them again 

 with the same result. After fishing until 10 o'clock the next 

 morning without getting another fish, we went ashore feel 

 ing that those trout were "too many" for us. After eating 

 nearly all our provisions for dinner, we saw, as Bill said, 

 something had "got to be did." After talking over the mat- 

 ter, we concluded to strike for the headwaters of the Black 

 Branch and fish that down to the line on which we came in. 

 So we packed our knapsacks and crossed the pond to the 

 "1512" rod tree, and left the pond, having caught but one 

 trout while there. We followed back on the line for about 

 a mile and struck across the Logger Branch to our left and 

 over a ridge of high land, and across a level tract of land 

 perhaps a mile wide, aud struck the stream above the falls, 

 and found it nearly as large as where we had crossed it on 

 the line coming in, but here it was a quick, rapid stream. 

 We put our tackle together and began fishing, and found the 

 water literally alive with trout of a fair size, and a fly could 

 hardly touch the water before it would be taken, and at 5 

 o'clock we had a sixteen-pound basket nearly full, so we 

 stopped fishing and built up a fire and began to fry trout. 

 Just how many we ate that night I shall not tell, but Will 

 said after breakfast the Bext morning that "something must 

 have carried off a lot of them during the night." We ate 

 all our bread for supper, so we had only trout and pork for 

 breakfast. We camped that night by the side of the brook 

 and built our fire by the side of a large birch tree. We 

 slept well, with no covering over us and nothiug but the 

 trees for a shelter. 



We were astir quite early, and leaving our axe for the 

 next comer, we began fishing again, saving only the largest 

 ones, and soon came to the falls. Here the water tumbles 

 down between two hills for perhaps half a mile, and every 

 few rods we came to a large pool containing from half a 

 dozen to perhaps twenty trout. We would only take two 

 or three of the largest and move on to the next one. Alter 

 we came to the level land below the falls the trout were 

 larger, and soon we had all we wanted to take home with us. 

 It was a beautiful stream, aud probably had not been fished 

 before that season up so far as we were. We caught several 

 that would weigh three-quarters of a pound each, and I pre- 

 sume if we had fished further clown stream we should have 

 got some still larger. 



After catching enough more for dinner, we followed down 

 till we struck the line where it crossed the stream, and fol- 

 lowed it back to the "three-mile tree," and we ate our dinner 

 of trout at the old dam, where we caught the two big ones 

 when we came in. 



When we arrived at North Stratford that afternoon and 

 showed the agent our catch, he said it was the best be had 

 seen that season. We took the mixed train to Groveton 

 Junction, where we had to wait for the train on the Boston 

 & Lowell road till evening, when we arrived at Lancaster at 

 8 o'clock P. M., feeling perfectly satisfied with our catch 

 after all. 



What the reason was that we only caught one trout at the 

 pond I cannot tell. I used the same flies that I have been 

 successful with at other ponds. I never went fishing to a 

 pond where there were trout before, or since but what I could 

 catch, enough to eat, although I have noticed it is a poor 

 time to fish for trout during the full moon in August. Can 

 some old fisherman tell the reason? 



1 have always intended to try that pond again; but the 

 fishing times have come and gone, and I have never returned 

 to cast a fly upon the waters of Lewis Pond. But if nothing 

 hinders I mean to take a week's provisions and visit it again 

 this summer if I can find some one who is not afraid of the 

 tramp. 



My companion on that trip was one of the most skillful 

 bait-fishermen that I ever weut fishing with, a good tramper, 

 and we never failed in the many excursions that we made 

 together of having a pleasant time, if we did not bring 

 home a great many fish. He has since passed over to the 

 "other side," with the "boatman pale," and perhaps some- 

 time we may again, with other disciples of the Great Master, 

 who said, "cast your nets on the other side," fish fairer 

 streams, flowing through far more beautiful meadows than 

 any we have ever seen in our pleasantest dreams. S. J. G. 

 Lancaster, N. H, 



RAGGED LAKE CLUB. 



SOME of your readers will be glad to know that the ice 

 _ has disappeared from the lakes in the North Woods, and 

 that the trout are on deck again and as beautiful as ever; 

 they can scarcely wait for the June and July days to come 

 that will bring the city man to them with his fancy rod and 

 flies. 



A party of four, including Hon. James Geddcs, Fred 

 Frazer, F. P. Deuison and H. S. Holden, came to Bagged 

 Lake to look over the club's possessions, which we have an 

 interest in, and found everything had wintered well under the 

 care of Adam, our resident director. The first day's fishing 

 was done along the margin of the ice, but last Thursday the 

 wind broke up this legacy of winter, and since then we have 

 good fishing all over the lake. 



The mountains and forest have very little beauty in them 

 at this season of the year, the dense foliage that in the sum- 

 mer time looks so cool and inviting is not here now, and 

 one can not help regretting the absence of it, not because the 

 shade is needed to keep cool, but because all the dead timber 

 that lies in a tangled mass in the woods is visible. The 

 charm of the woods is broken, but within a month from this 

 date all this will be changed, the trees and underbrush will 

 renew their age and put on their green leaves, making fairy- 

 land of what now looks desolate. Tkoot. 



Ragged Lake, Adironciacks, May 13: 



"Fishxns With the Fly."— A second edition of this 

 readable book, by Messrs. Orvis and Cheney, has appeared. 

 The first edition bore the imprint of Mr. C. F. Orvis, 1883, 

 and the second is published by H. B. Nims & Co., Troy, N. 

 Y., 1885. Two additional chapters appear, "Fly-Fishing 

 for Trout in the Rangeley Region," bv Henry P. Wells, and 

 "Fly-Fishing on the Nipigon," by Henry H. Vail. The 

 plates of flies are the same, and as "we have said before, are 

 both elegant and truthful. 



Kalamazoo Trout.— Kalamazoo, Mich., May 11.— May 

 1 found the streams about this city teeming with fishers for 

 trout, though few were posted as to the best streams. A few 

 of us were, however, and among those whose catch is worth 

 mentioning is that of Doctor Gibbs aud the gentleman ac- 

 companying him. They caught about seventy, a number of 

 them weighing over a pound. My party caught about fifty; 

 several weighed over a pound, while another friend of mine 

 caught one weighing 2^ pouuds. I make mention of this as 

 illustrative of the good work done in this State by the Fish 

 Commissioners. Jt is but five years since the first were put 

 in our streams. Now the fishing is superior by far to that 

 of Northern Michigan. Much unlawful fishing is done, for 

 the detection of which our gun club offers a suitable reward, 

 and we mean to put them through when we do catch one. — 

 G. H. W. 



CiiAZT Lake, P. O. Dannemora, N. Y., May 11. —This 

 lake is the least known of any in the Adirondacks, but 

 should be the best known, as it has the finest speckled and 

 lake trout fishing. About a dozen fishermen have got their 

 support and that of their families from this lake; for that 

 reason they do not want sportsmen here. There is a small 

 hotel, with accommodations for twenty-five. Until last 

 summer tne proprietor of this house has been in league with 

 the fishermen, has bought and sold their trout, and" allowed 

 them to use night lines and uets. Last season the fish were 

 protected on the spawning beds, and will be protected from 

 night lines aud uets this season.— M. A. C. 



Monson, Me., May 9.— The ice is not yet out of Lake 

 Hebron and the other lakes and ponds in this region, al- 

 though in the former the water is open near the shores and 

 a very few trout are beginning to show themselves in these 

 openings. A Swede laborer on the 6th inst. caught a 

 "squaretail" that weighed four pounds, near a place known 

 as the "Cove Dump." From present appearances nearly all 

 of these ponds will be free from ice within the next week. 

 Spring fishing will open in earnest on or about the 20th of 

 this month Gentlemen from Lynn, Mass., are making 

 arrangements to erect a club house the coming season at 

 Bear Pond. — Angler. 



Fastening Droppers.— E< litor Forest aud Stream: Will 

 you be so good as to allow me, through your columns, to 

 thank your correspondents who so kindly answered my 

 queries about leaders, mode of attaching flies, etc. I appre- 

 ciate their kindness, and am their debtor. Permit me to say. 

 however, that they all omitted to describe the manner of 

 fastening to the leader the large flies that are tied with a loop 

 instead of the ordinary snell. This is easily done in the case 

 of the tail fly, but how about the droppers? — M. 



Philadelphia, May 16— Striped bass, weighing from a 

 half to one pound in weight are taken iu numbers at most all 

 the wharves extending into the Delaware River below Phila- 

 delphia. The villainous sturgeon roe is the favorite bait, 

 and it seems that this and shad roe are the only lures that 

 will tempt the rockfish to take hold.— Homo. 



Little Rock, Ark., May 16.— Fishing is reported good 

 in all the lakes around here, and iu such streams as are not 

 too high. Fly-fishing reported good in Bearskin Lake. 

 Parties returning from Rosebaum Lake report goggle-eyes 

 large and biting freely. — Casual. 



Ex-President Arthur, Ex- Secretary Lincoln, Mr. J. B. 

 Battle, of Cleveland, O., and others, were at Pelee Island, 

 Lake Erie, last Monday, bass fishing. 



^islfcttltnre. 



PROFITS OF FISHCULTURE ABROAD. 



\ LARGE class of poorly -informed laymen and a few jour- 

 JrV nalists are stilt only too ready to sneer at fishculture 

 and denounce it as a humbug and failure. They regard it as 

 a business to be engaged in only by the man of leisure and 

 wealth who may have a few thousands of dollars per annum 

 to dissipate in it as a means of amusement, or as satisfying a 

 whim, which might as well be gratified perhaps in the posses- 

 sion of highly-bred running horses or hunting dogs. The same 

 kind of criticism, often part' ally justified at 'the outset by the 

 fact that many failures were encountered by the inexperi- 

 enced, was aimed at bee-culture in its early days, when Lang- 

 stioth and Quimby in this country began to applv the results 

 of the labors of Dzierzon, Siebold, Huschka and. others, to 

 place apiculture upon a scientific basis. Now that bee-keep- 

 ing has become a success as practiced under the guidance of 

 well-determined scientific principles, which are to be mastered 

 in the same way that any other sort of technical knowledge is 

 to be acquired and applied, we hear nothing more of bee-keep- 

 ing as a humbug, because at last it has been recognized that 

 it can be followed as a business provided he who pursues it 

 has ordinary business qualifications and the adequate skill, 

 as well as practical and scientific knowledge. Bee-keeping 

 has now become a profitable business, and I know of no more 

 humane achievement of science than that'of the abolition of 

 the "sulphur match" formerly thought to be necessary in 

 order to obtain the golden sweets which the industrious in- 

 sects had so laboriously gathered, their only reward for which 

 was cruel death at the hands of man. 



So too in fish breeding, especially in the case of those species 

 of Salmonoids and Cyprinoids which lend themselves readily 

 to the purposes of domestication. Ages of careful selection 

 have enabled the Japanese to produce the most grotesque 

 modifications of the feral form of the goldfish, just as nigeon 

 and fowl fanciers have bred choice strains of birds true to a 

 feather by care in selection so as to reproduce at will those 

 characteristics of form and markings most prized by the con- 

 noisseur. Of such achievements we may expect even greater 

 results in the future, but while the production of new races 

 has gone on in order to minister to a taste for the beautiful 

 and the novel, no less remarkable progress has been made in 

 an exact knowledge of tne conditions necessary in order to 

 successfully breed and rear fishes for profit as an article of 

 food. 



On the continent of Europe where every available field tor 

 profitable effort is occupied as soon as it is explored and 

 tested, the cultivation of fishes for market is pursued on a 

 large scale for profit alone, not simply by the wealthy nobles, 

 but by commoners, who may be wholesale dealers in market 

 towns. Enterprising wholesale fish dealers, such as Mr. G. 

 Ebrecht, of Geestemiinde, Germany, have found it profitable 

 to invest capital to the amount of -$50,000, mainly in trout 

 culture, as a business venture. This gentleman's trout cul- 

 tural establishment, now said to be the largest in Europe, was 

 designed, built, organized and operated for the last four years 

 by Mr. Josef Swetitsch, an Illyrian German by birth, who 

 has recently arrived in this country seeking employment in a 

 similar capacity. This gentleman is as yet unable to speak 



