352 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



(Mat 28, 1885. 



That Wax Recipe.— Editor Forest and Stream: I am 

 receiving many letters asking for recipe for making wax. re- 

 ferred to in my recent remarks about snelling hooks. Will 

 you pleasp say that the recipe can be found in your issue of 

 Jan. 22, 1885, page 508.— E. A. Leopold. We repeat it 

 here: ''The mode of preparation is as follows: Get a common 

 jam pot, and to two ounces of the best yellow rosin in 

 powder, add one drachm of white beeswax sliced in minute 

 pieces. Place the jar in a saucepan of boiling water, taking 

 care that no water gets in the jar. Stir thoroughly with a 

 stick when melted. Add two and a half drachms of lard 

 (without salt), and let the whole remain ten minutes, stirring 

 it the while. Pour it into cold water, and while warm pull 

 and knead it, to give it toughness, until nearly cold. With 

 a pair of greased scissors cut it into twelve balls. Give eleven 

 of these balls to your friends; the one which you keep for 

 your own use will last you a year or more. Keep the wax 

 in a cellar or other cool place. Extra heavy salmon gut 

 makes a good snood. Soak it in warm water, bite the end 

 flat for a distance of three-eighths of an inch. Tie on with 

 heavy sewing silk well wa ed. When winding on the silk 

 be careful to draw so tight that the wound part shows a 

 glossy surface. This is caused by the wax oozing through 

 the fibres. If the part that is wound does not show this 

 glossy surface, the work has not been properly done. Either 

 the thread was not waxed sufficiently or it was not drawn 

 tight and kept so until secured. If a fine finish is desired, 

 varnish with shellac dissolved in alcohol. This varnish may 

 or may not hold throughout a whole season ; it is a small 

 matter. The wax is there to stay, and will do its work until 

 the snood is worn out. I used this wax last season, tying all 

 my own hooks and a large number for my friends, and I 

 have yet to hear of the first one to give way in the binding. 

 I have never used gimD, but I believe it would hold on 

 gimp, as it has never failed to hold on to anything with 

 which I have seen it come in contact. It can easily be re- 

 moved from the hands by using soap and warm water." 



Flt-Fishino for Siiat).— Holyoke, Mass., May 22. — 

 Editor Forest and Stream: The shad season is opening with 

 a bonm and promises an improvement on the last two years; 

 1883 gave up no shad until June, when for a week the fisher- 

 men rejoiced over their catch of from one to three shad per 

 day — hardly a bow. 1 for each fisher; 1884 commenced a week 

 earlier with about the same number of shad. On the 12th of 

 this May, 1885, when cleaning out the fishing ground with a 

 small net one shad was taken. On Wednesday evening. 

 20th, they ran out the large net for the first time; result, one 

 dead and one Jiving sucker. Not discouraged, they (the 

 fishermen) were up with the lark yesterday (Thursday) 

 morning. The day's work counted forty shad: this (Friday) 

 morning up to noon forty shad and one pike of seventeen 

 pounds. The shad arc good in quality. Hope the number 

 will keep increasing and give us a little good angling. The 

 shad have not been tried with the fly yet. Expect to see a 

 couple of boats out this or to-morrow evening. Will give 

 them a trial myself next week if the prospects are good. 

 Will expect to see your Mr. H. along, with tip and landing 

 net in position. His little hands were never made to lift a 

 shad out of the water into the boat. Quite a number of 

 shad hatched here last .year. With the exception of a few 

 days at a time, there was a good flow of water. After the 

 fi«hing season was over there were more and better fish up 

 than all through the open season, and many were visiting 

 the spawning beds late in September. 



Pennsylvania Fish Notes. — It is not generally known 

 that fair bass fishing can be had about a mile above Trenton, 

 N. J., where the first rocks shew themselves and the water 

 begins to tumble. One or two railroad employes have been 

 taking bass from this ground by trolling for them with spoon 

 bait at the end of twenty or thirty yards of line. It has 

 struck your correspondent that fly-fishing could be had there 

 early in the season Irom what has been told him by these 

 railroad men, and I shall make the attempt when June opens. 

 At the dam, which is situated on the Susquehani a River at 

 Wrightsville, Pa., fly-fishing for rockfish or striped bass can 

 be had when these fish begin to run, in fact they will jump 

 at anything which is skittered ovei the water in imitation of 

 a living object. I got my information from friend Krueger, 

 of oeaglp fame, and would ask him to enlighten the readers 

 of Forest and Stream on the subject. Now that the bass 

 season is drawing near, our anglers are looking over their 

 traps ana 1 hear of many trips in prospect. The trout fish- 

 ing in our State has not tempted many to indulgein it yet this 

 spring. Ouly those who have had permits to fish in streams 

 protected from the "trout-hog" cau return and speak en- 

 thusiastically of their outings.— Homo. 



Elkhart, Ind., May 20. — At the regular meeting of the 

 Elkhart Sportsmen's Club, the following were elee'ed: Pres- 

 ident, Col. A. M. Tucker; Vice President, Ed. R. Kerstetter; 

 Secretary. J. M. Hughes; Treasurer, P. J. Parmater; Exec- 

 utive Committee, W. L. Gilmore, Dr. F. L. Miles, Frank 

 Seil. The club numbers thirty-four members, and owns fine 

 and commodious club and boat houses at Cnstiano Lake, 

 Cass county, Mich., six miles north of this city, and is mak- 

 ing exlensive improvements in them. The annual competi- 

 tive fishing contest takes place May 26, 27 and 28. Captains 

 Frank Sell and Thomas Turnock, the two veteran fishermen 

 of northern Indiana, have selected their teams for the con- 

 test, the losing party to present to the winning team a silver 

 medal beautifully and appropriately engraved. Seven 1 ? 

 members of this club are expert anglers, andinth e afl ^ °* 

 casting a fly Capt. Kerstetter has no peer. — A 3L T, 



Worcester, Mass., May £&*£&£* ™»T*a«y will be the 

 annual fishing day offer* orcester Sportsmen s Club The 

 ruies provide tliat all fish must be caught in a lawful man- 

 ner, and no trout less than six inches in length will be 

 counted. The points allowed are: Trout, 16 per pound, and 

 all over 8 ounces •»" extra point per ounce; perch 2 points 

 per pound, pickerel 4 points and pouts 2 points. 



Yeb^ont.— East Berkshire, May 13.— Our spring flight 

 f flecks has been very poor, and the sportsmen do not take 

 rmdly to the new law forbidding fishing with hook and line 

 til) June 15, and the brooks are so higu yet that but few 

 trout have been taken, consequently sportsmen about here 

 have the blues. — L. 



To Keep Lampreys.— Editor Forest and Stream: WP 

 you kindly ascertain for me from some of your numerous 

 readers the best method of keeping lamprey eels, f»a.d how 

 long they, can ; be kept alive under the most favorable cir- 

 cumstances ?— Giar'o. 



Pelee Island.— Southport, Pclee Island, Lake Erie, via 

 Sandusky, O., May 20.— We are having some very fine bass 

 fishing on the Pelee reefs. The catches have been running 

 from 40 to 100 per day for each boat, with two fishermen. 

 Self and partner took 61 good fish yesterday.— B. 



Lake George.— In fifteen years I have not found the 

 lake trout fishing in Lake George so poor as this year. I 

 hoped to try the brook trout to-day, but a heavy rain pre- 

 vented my starting.— A. N. C. (May 23). 



iffisffcnlture. 



AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY. 



The Giant Clams of Puoet Sound, 

 by robt. e. c. stearns. 



DR. STEARNS, referring to the fact that his paper was 

 the first on the programme, said: At the time my 

 Mend Prof. Goode asked me to say something to you about 

 the big clams of the west coast, I supposed that' my place 

 would be toward the close of the feast, somewhere near the 

 nuts and raisins, or the special delicacies and dainties of the 

 dessert. However, as this is a fish convention, and the Pro- 

 fessor's request may be considered as semi-of-fish-ial, f accept the 

 place assigned me, and you must regard what 1 have to say as 

 being in the nature of grace before meat. 



When an illustrious stranger from a remote country visits 

 a great civilized center, it is customary to introduce him into 

 the distinguished society of the place with some formality, if 

 not ostentation. Gentlemen, permit me to make you ac- 

 quainted with Glycimeris generosa, the boss clam of North 

 America, recently from Puget Sound. 



You will see that he is in that condition which prevents him 

 frc m saluting you. Besides, he is by nature somewhat reti- 

 cent. He is evidently in high spirits (95 per cent, alcohol), 

 but nevertheless speechless (as an Irishman might say), "as 

 many a gentleman has been before." 



This clam, Glycimeris generosa*, by far the largest found 

 on either coast of North America, was first described by Dr. 

 Augustus A. Gould from specimens (probably of the shells 

 only) obtained by the exploring expedition commanded by 

 Commodore Charles Wilkes, during his famous cruise in the 

 years 1838 to 1842 inclusive. 



It was detected in Puget Sound and subsequently collected 

 in Awatska Bay, Kamschatka, by the North Pacific Exploring 

 Expedition, under command of Commanders Ringgold and. 

 Rodgers ; the late Dr. William Stimpson was the naturalist of 

 the latter expedition. 



The range of distribution, it will be noticed, is quite exten- 

 sive, as from the above points in the North Pacific it extends 

 southerly along the west coast of America to San Diego, Cal., 

 where it has been found by Mr. Hemphill. A range northerly 

 and southerly twenty degrees of latitude. It is apparently 

 much more abundant in the north, for Mr. Hemphid states 

 that at the southern locality I have named, in the course of 

 several years he had not been able to find more than a dozen. 



From' Captain J. S. Lawson, of the U. S. Coast Survey, I 

 learned some years ago of its frequent occurrence in Budd's 

 Inlet, Washington Territory: from others residing in the same 

 general neighborhood I had heard of its presence at various 

 points in Puget Sound. 



Aside from its large size, which would naturally attract 

 attention, its excellence as aa article of food is attested by all 

 who have eaten it, and it holds by common consent a place in 

 the front rank, in the opinion of the epicures of the northwest 

 coast. 



In the spring of 1882, Professor Baird, being desirous of ob- 

 taining further and more definite information as to the occur- 

 rence, habits, quality and abundance, etc., of Glycimeris or 

 feoduck,+ as it is called by the Indians, and also more special 

 nowledge of the principal (so-called) clams of that region, I 

 went up to the sound at his request in June of said year, and 

 fixed upon Olvmpia, at the head of Budd's Inlet, as a base. 

 The character of the sea bed here may be described as varying 

 from sandy mud to muddy sand, occasionally gravelly, and 

 there is sometimes found a patch of hardened or compactly 

 indurated clay of a fight blue color. 



The most striking peculiarity of the environment, and the 

 principal one relating to the presence and obtaining of geo- 

 duck, is the extreme tides which occur here from about the 

 middle of May to the summer solstice in June, or a little later, 

 during which'peiiod the rise and fall of the tides, or in other 

 words, the difference between high and low water, is twenty 

 to twenty-five feet. Now it must be borne in mind that it is 

 only during the season of these extraordinary tides that the big 

 clam can be obtained. I found that by the '23d of June, "the 

 long run-outs," as they are called by the people there, had 

 nearly ceased. The white man and Indians employed by me, 

 who had been sent out in various directions, returning at night 

 or early in the morning for three consecutive days, haci met 

 with "fisherman's luck." I was uot disappointed for I knew 

 the cause, not having been able myself to reach the low water 

 line of three or four days before. 



By this we are able to perceive more clearly the force of the 

 common expression, "as nappy as a clam at high water.' 1 



It is presumable that the scarcity of the geoducks along the 

 ocean coast as far to the south as the species is found, is more 

 apparent than real. The rise and fall of the tides along the 

 main coast is, say, about six feet, and not sufficient to uncover 

 that portion of the zone preferred by the geoducks: again the 

 temperature of the water at the southerly stations may be too 

 high and cause them to seek a cooler temperature by living at 

 greater depths. As to the more special habits of the geoduck 

 such as burrowing, etc. . the following is not without pit^est. 



Captain Lawson informed me that upon one evasion lie. 

 saw the end of the large siphon tube projecting above t he sur- 

 face of a small shoal. Upon exMetn^g me spot it was found 

 to be sandstone- in order to capture the ciam 4Ue stone had to 

 hPbXS» crowbar. Beneath this superstratum was 

 found sar^ and gravel, in which the huge niollusk was "at 

 ho ,v J= . ' ' Its communication with the water above being by 

 means of a hole in and through the sandstone capping ; through 

 this hole it extended and protruded its siphon*. The hole, no 

 doubt, was originally made by the c-'am, when quite small, in 

 its younger stages, in order to reac'i a permanent and suitable 

 burrow or bed, and of course the principal growth was at- 

 tained after it had reached the >nore favorable substratum of 

 easier material; the hole or pe-f oration through the sandstoue 

 being enlarged coincident with its growth as needed to meet 

 its requirements. 



As may be supposed it is quite a job to remove a good-sized 

 geoduck from its native bed without injury; to do so with 

 proper care as many »s three persons are needed, otherwise 

 the clam will be mo-e ox less mutilated. The length of the 

 siphons when extruded indicates the depth of the burrow, if 

 this word may v* used, and an excavation equal to the size of 

 a flour barrel "has to be made. The instance related of Cap- 

 tain Lawsoa's specimen shows the difficulties which are some- 

 times mpi with in collecting these big fellows. 



TMf niollusk may well be called generosa, for its ample and 

 generous size makes it at least the mammoth clam of North 

 Jmefica, According to the testimony of Captain Lawson it 

 has been known to reach the weight of sixteen pounds and 



*Etymol?gy — Glycimei is from glukous, sweet, mens, hitter j gen- 

 erosa, from its ample size, etc. Sometimes placed in the genus faiio- 

 paia, from fanopi a nereid, ancient mythology. 



+ Accent the second syllable and pronounce hurriedly, with a- hard 

 g and a short 6, »s if spellea g'e-wo", ge-wVdiick. 



frequently seven to ten pounds, while the siphon tube may 

 measure one and a half to two feet in length. Those collected 

 and observed by me weighed from three and a half to seven 

 and a half pounds. 



More might be said of the many virtues, which in connection 

 with high water, may be the cause of the clam's happiness, 

 such as pertain to its gastronomic excellencies, etc. Geoduck 

 is, however, a real delicacy, and skillfully cook-ed, would 

 completely puzzle anybody tasting it for the first time, as to 

 whether he was eating fish, flesh or fowl. 



The. nearest guess that I have heard was by a person to 

 whom I gave a piece, "That it tasted a little perhaps like 

 nicely stewed crab," which hits the mark very nearly. The 

 proper way to cook geoduck, or one way, is to parboil thor- 

 oughly, then remove the skin and cut in strips about one inch 

 and a half wide by a half an inch thick (no thicker) and fry 

 the pieces in good batter, in very hot salt pork fat. I dare to 

 say that parboiled, then stuffed and baked or roasted geoduck 

 would prove satisfactory to the daintiest epicure. Mr. Hemp- 

 hill thinks it tastes somewhat like poached egg, but the taste 

 to me did not suggest that of eggs cooked in any form. If 

 tresh and well cooked, it is, as I wrote to Professor Baird in 

 my report, "suitable food for good men of scientific proolivi- 

 ties." 



THE ILLINOIS COMMISSION. 



V\TE have the report of the Pish Commission of Illinois for 

 T T 1884. The pi incipal w :>rk has been, as in former sea- 

 sons, the taking and distribution of native fishes. These are 

 fathered from the low, flat places, levee pits, etc,, along the 

 lississippi River, where they are left by the freshets to die 

 in summer. In this way many thousands of valuable fish 

 have been saved. To facilitate this worn a boat 34 feet long 

 and 12 feet v ide has been built, containing a cabin and an 

 office, with storeroom for nets, etc. Two other boats are also 

 owned by the Commission, one of which is for the storage of 

 tanks, small boats and cans, while the other is fitted for a man 

 to live in to protect the property and the fish wliich may be 

 in the boxes. There has been no effort made to hatch fish, but 

 the Commissioners think the time has come to do some work 

 in that direction. 



In the matter of fishways, the laws requiring thetr erection 

 have not been enforced, and the opinion of Justice Walker is 

 given at length, wherein he interprets the law as constitu- 

 tional, and the best form of fjshway is now sought. We think 

 the Commissioners are wrong in their interpretation of the 

 manner in which the meshes of nets should be measured, they 

 following the mode of some inland fishermen of measuring 

 from knot to knot, instead of measuring the mesh stretched 

 to itss greatest length, four knots making a mesh, as is done 

 by net makers and all marine and most lake fishermen. The 

 report gives the laws regarding the netting of fish, streams in 

 the State, tables of distribution of carp by the State and 

 United States Commissioners, and two valuable articles by 

 Prof. S. A. Forbes, Professor of Zoology in the Illinois Indus- 

 trial University, one a catalogue of native Illinois fishes, with 

 illustrations, and the other on the food of fishes. 



MASSACHUSETTS LOBSTER LAW. 



THE M. F. & G. P. Association has since its organization 

 accomplished much, and it is in the hope of further use- 

 fulness that we are again kneeling at the feet of the LflgMsir 

 ture. We have obtained a close time for smelts, lobsters, trout 

 and other dsh— prohibited the netting of smelts, restricted the 

 sale of lobsters to ten and a hah: inches, secured some protec- 

 tion for our game bn*ds, and. were our laws enforced— abso- 

 lute immunity from danger to our useful birds; and yet we 

 are charged with a selfish design to monopolize all the "sport- 

 ing and angling of the commonwealth. If we could imitate 

 the State of Maine — which so far as game is concerned, is a 

 hundred years ahead of us— and secure the appointment of 

 some efficient game wardens to enforce the 1 iws we already 

 have, there would be less need of further legislation. As a 

 rule, longer close time means more protection to the birds. 

 Close your markets during the breeding season and your birds 

 are safe. Acting upon this principle we think it wise to give 

 to the ruffed grouse {JBomasa umbellus) and also to our quail 

 the entii e month of December. What few of b >th species are 

 left on hand at the tirst day of the month are worth more to 

 the sportsman and consumer left on the. field as breeding stock 

 than taken to bag after that date. 



We need more piotectiou tor our brook trout (S'almo fonti- 

 nalis). They are poor, and have an earthy, muddy flavor un- 

 til they begin to "feed at top," and we think April should be 

 a close month, nor should any ever be caught during or after 

 the month. of August. And further, all trout less than four 

 and a half or five inches in length should at once be returned 

 to their native element. Black ba>s we have no love tor. do 

 not believe they are worth as much or give as much sport to 

 the angler as the species they have displaced. The selling 

 length of lobstets we honestly think should be increased to 

 twelve inches. ''Ruin our business," the lobster men would 

 say. Yes, partially for one year, but then such luscious fel- 

 lows as we should get after that— three, four and Live pounds 

 — a thing hardly kno'vn to the present generation. A eatcbes 

 lobsters down to ten inches. B is in the same business and he 

 must beat A, and so he goes down to nine and a half. C aiso 

 is "buffeting with lusty sinew" time and tide for a bare sub- 

 sistence. He has customers who want small lobsters for bait, 

 canning, or domestic use— there is au open market— the 

 Fish Commissioner isn't arou»J very oiten, and it is 

 easy enough to elude kirn, so he tatces all the 

 nine-inch crustaceans, and this in time gets to be 

 about the stand »*'d length; nor are we quite clear that 

 this is in * u cases respected. Well, a nine-inch lobster 

 wLli wp% n about three-quarters of a pound, nearly half of 

 ■priieh is shell. Query: How many lobsters would it take for 

 a full meal for a man, his wife and six children? We give it 

 up. We are not, however, surprised at the universal com- 

 plaint that there are no large lobsters. Let these nine-inch 

 lobsters five another year and they will weigh one and a half 

 pounds And just give them one year more, and Jo, you have 

 three-pound lobsters. Does it pay to keep them? Decidedly. 

 yes. But we cannot make any lobster man understand that 

 if he would give these little Joosters two years growth, his 

 business would be increased three hundred per cent. What 

 will the people do for lobsters during the next two years? Just 

 what we are fold they are doing to-day, sending smacks down 

 to the British Provinces, Newfoundland or Labrador, where 

 lobsters are cheap and of good size. 



Member of the M. F. and G. P. A. 

 Boston, Mass. 



FISHWAYS ON THE NEPONSET.— Boston, May 22.— 

 Editor Forest and Stream: Will you please inform me to. 

 whom I must apply to have the fishways on the Neponset 

 River put in repair? They are in a terrible condition, and as 

 the shad and herring or alcwife are now running, 1 think it 

 high time they were fixed. A friend of mine, and also one of 

 your old subscribers, Mr. Geo. T. Esty, stocked the river a few 

 years since, and while he lived they were in perfect repair. 

 Since his death I am quite positive nothing has been done to 

 them, and even if the water was allowed to run through them 

 they would be no good, as the pieces that alternate are, half 

 of them, knocked out. Mr. Esty died some three years ago, 

 and for the last two seasons there has been a marked falling 

 off in the number of fish running up our stream. Would it not 

 affect the smelts too? I know some of them go up a small 

 creek that finally becomes fresh and should suppose they 

 would go up river if they could get there. — H. E. [Apply to 

 the Commissioners of Fisheries of Massachusetts. They are 

 E-. A. Bxackett, Winchester; F, W. Putnam, Cambridge, and 

 A. W. Lathro'p, Springfield.] 



