jtmn ii, 1885.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



391 



were bore idng before the cduntry was settled. A.lthou 

 they have been ruthlessly wasted yea'r after yedr, their mi 



Although 

 they have been ruthlessly wasted yettr after year, their num 

 hers have, been larger this season than at any tune jfreviotfiS. 

 With the exception of the tenor twelve, days that they are 

 spawning in the spring, no smelts are ever seen in the streams 

 here, f bey are caught some through the ice iu winter and 

 in very deep water almost always. Those caught through 

 the ice or with hook and line at any time, are. generally 

 larger than those taken in the streams in breeding time. On 

 the whole, smelts in these parts are something of a puzzle, 

 and the people who see the most of them simply expect them 

 to put iu an appearance at about such a time, kill them by 

 the thousands when they do come, and think no more about 

 them until their next appearance. North Bridgton. 



NTokth B&IDKTOS, Me, 



TROUTING ON WILMURT LAKE. 



ON June 4 we were on the cool waters of Wilmurt Lake, 

 in the southern part of Hamilton county, N. Y .; taking 

 the finest trout which I ever saw or tasted, and in numbers 

 and size to satisfy any reasonable angler. The lake is_ some 

 two miles long by about one mile wide and has been rigidly 

 protected for the past fifteen years, only the guests of the 

 b'wner the Hon. 0. S, Matteson. being allowed to fish m it. 

 The rjarty which gathered there from different parts on 

 this occasion was Hon. Warner Miller and BOQ8, Hon. Titus 

 Sheard Mr. E. G. Blackford and wife, Mr. John D. Hewlett 

 of Cold Spring Harbor and wife; Mr. Frank Lincoln, the 

 popular comedian : Mr. John J Flanagan, of the Ltica Otf- 

 .svrwTand President St. Lawrence Association ; Mr. Amos J. 

 Oummings, of the New fork Sm\ Mr. Morris, of the Utica 

 Uerald: and myself and wife, We breakfasted at the Bristol 

 House,' Remscn. As the landlord knew that we were com- 

 ing and that we would get trout euough before we left the 

 woods, he had sallied forth and killed a few bams, and, by 

 the way, be is a dead shot on a ham. which with their eggs 

 and some steak and trimmings made a foundation to travel 

 on. We left Remsen at 1) and came iu sight of the white 

 tower of Matteson's Mountain Home about 1 P. M., where 

 the owner and his brave little granddaughter, who has a 

 record for rescuing travelers and for snowshoeing over the 

 mountain, greeted us. _ 



The creek, which ruus in front, of the Home, was too high 

 to fisb in, so Mr. Stimson, the business manager of the estate 

 said, and no one tried it: but we consoled ourselves by a 

 visit to the ice bouse to see the fish taken from Wilmurt 

 Lake the day before, and which were soon to be cooked 

 under direction of Mrs. Stimson, The party were mostly 

 old trout fishers to whom the sight of a lot of s. b's were 

 no novelty, but they all agreed that the fish were the finest 

 ever shown. Even Mr. Blackford, who has trout every 

 opening day from all parts, said the same, and without quali- 

 fication pronounced them the finest trout be bad ever seen, 

 and at table the best be bad ever tasted. Later on we exam- 

 ined the. stomachs of these trout and found them packed with 

 the larvae of insects, among which I recognized species of 

 Bphemera ehirohomtts, ueuroptera (dragou flies and small 

 helgramites), no traces of fish being seen, and it is said that 

 no fish are ever found in their stomachs. 



Next morning some of the party started for the lake early, 

 and by the time my companions had climbed the mountain 

 to the" lake which lies on its top. some 850 feet above the 

 Home, and about two miles from it, we found that Speaker 

 Sheard and friends, who bad been an hour ahead, had 

 twenty fine trout ready for our breakfast. I asked to see 

 the fly on which they were taken, and was horrified to learn 

 that it was with the barnyard hackle. Mr. Shearcl excused 

 his crime by saying that he had not been taught to fish with 

 a fly, and that if it had not been for the grovelling worm we 

 would have bad no breakfast. The latter extenuating cir- 

 cumstauce saved him, and he not only promised reforma- 

 tion, but. took some lessons in casting, and by his success 

 and the enthusiasm with which he denounced worm-fishing 

 as a crime which he never would be guilty of again, he was 

 not only pardoned, but admitted into full fellowship to the 

 sublime degree of fly-fishers. 



We fished Wilmurt Lake for three days and took over two 

 hundred pounds of trout, which were eaten by ourselves 

 and the ladies at the Home. The ladies came on the lake 

 one day and took some fine fish. I had the pleasure of fish- 

 ing alternately with Mr. Blackford, Mr. Hewlett and Senator 

 Miller, and of seeing them enjoy the rises, strikes, captures 

 and misses which fell to their lot, and occasionally took a 

 little one by way of intermission, but saw no man who en- 

 joyed it more than Mr. De Graaf, who is an expert, and 

 whose health improved so much that he was loth to leave 

 when the inexorable demands of business called him away 

 on the third day and compelled him to leave the trout to the 

 rest. The trout averaged above half a pound, the largest 

 weighing two pounds, taken by Mr. Lincoln on his first 

 trouting trip. As usual, a novice carried off the honors. 



The flies most in use on Wilmurt are red and brown 

 hackles, dressed on large hooks. Mrs. Stimson ties them 

 very neatly, but I prefer to use small flies if possible, and 

 had good success with the Montreal, cowdung, royal coach- 

 man, oak fly, and in the evening the white miller and even- 

 ing dun. On this trip Mr. Matteson entertained the party 

 and sent a relief expedition to the lodge every morning with 

 the necessities of life, and we returned the pack basket full 

 of trout. 



The gentlemen slept at the lodge on the lake, and Mr. 

 Lincoln, Mr. Oummings and Mr. Flanagan kept the party 

 in good humor by droll stories which never exceeded the 

 limit of good taste. As for me, it was sufficient to do good 

 missionary work in having a daily class in fly-casting, and 

 one of the pupils, a son of Senator Miller, who had no 

 knowledge of it at beginning, east the entire line on his reel, 

 soine sixty feet, on the third day, when bis father, fearing 

 that the boy would excel himself, broke up the school by 

 taking the teacher out on the lake for a little quiet fishing. 



The road from the Home up the mountain is a steep one, 

 about as good a two-mile climb as most people want to put 

 their blood in circulation, and a heavy rain had fallen on 

 Friday before a few of us started in the evening. Being 

 lighter rigged than the others, with corduroy knickerbockers 

 and a pair of oil-tanned moccasins, I led the way with Mr. 

 Miller's active boys at a rapid pace in order to get out of the 

 woods before the dark should settle down, and inconse- 

 quence we accumulated much mountain soil which we 

 washed off before going to the house. Next morning some 

 one placed the moccasins under the stove and cooked them ; 

 they were tender, though, but I could not eat them, I prefer 

 tbem raw. 



By Saturday the party had dwindled to seven, and we re- 

 turned by way of Polaud, taking the Herkimer, Newport 

 and Polaud Railroad to Herkimer, where we dined with the 



Senator and left his hospitable roof late iu the eveniug for 

 the train home, after one of the most enjoyable fishing trips 

 Which it has been my good fortune to enjoy. I hope to go 

 there again before this month closes, even if the black fly is 

 holding court there. 



Speakiug of the black fly, it happened that he only made 

 himself obnoxious on one day when there was no wind on 

 the lake, and forbore to annoy the ladies at the Home. I 

 had provided myself with antidotes for the fly in the shape 

 of the two remedies advertised in the FOREST and Stream, 

 "Repellene" and Hind's black fly cream, and with my usual 

 forethought had carefully left them down at the Home with 

 Mrs. Mather. They might as well have been at Singapore, 

 and when they massed their forces in column by batalliou 

 on the aforesaid day, 1 remarked to Mr. Hewlett, my com- 

 panion iu the boat,' that 1 thought it cruel to apply lotions to 

 deprive the poor little fly of his food by disgusting him with 

 it, much as the wolverine renders meat unfit for food when 

 he can't eat it, and that I was glad to see the tiny insect en- 

 joy himself and waa proud to contribute to bis comfort, 

 etc., when he pulled from his creel a box of "Ihnellene"— 

 and we used it. 



"Alas, for (lie rarity 



Of Christian charity 



Under the sun." 



'Repellene" 



The flies bad my sympathy no longer, and we laughed at 

 their hunger. They~were not yet numerous nor as blood- 

 thirsty as they will be before 'they die, about July 1, but 

 thev were just getting up their appetites. Of course trout- 

 fishing is best iu June, and the angler risks the flies, and if 

 he does not leave his lotions behind he may defy them. Tar 

 and oil in conjunction is more or less efficacious, but it is 

 disgusting stuff at best. Mr. Oummings had some of the Jap- 

 anese headache cure, "mentholiue," I think it is called, this 

 tallow-caodle-looking material, in a wooden box, and he 

 found it also kept off flies to some extent, but required to 

 be continually applied, because there was no body to it to 

 hold the odor. 1 hope to see the festive fly again soon, for 

 where he abounds the trout lives also, and if the trout will 

 rise freely all the time the fly is out, I move to have the fly 

 kept out all summer. Fred Mather. 



A REMARKABLE CATCH. 



THE voracity of the pike has, since Buffou first wrote 

 the nick-name, retained for it the appellation of "fresh- 

 water shark." and many are the dire and terrible stories 

 of its ostrich-like digestion related by the anglers who have 

 greatly fished for this flsh. Some time since the writer 

 was in company with a select party of anglers of the loqua- 

 cious and yarn-spinning order, and had let off one or two 

 stories of more or less truthfulness concerning the funny 

 ways of fishes and fishers, when one of the party— an Eng- 

 lishman, be it said— surprised us by saying, "I saw a pike 

 once which, when it was opened, contained a sow and pigs!" 



"Say," said one, after the assertion bad fallen with a thud 

 succeeded by a dead silence of some moments, "Hid you 

 come to this "country to learn to be a fish liar?" 



"It is a positive fact, "was the answer. "This pike was 

 the talk of the town near , where the lake which con- 

 tained it was situated, and at last, after it bad consumed the 

 young ducks of the small farmers located near the water, the 

 keeper determined to net it out. It weighed 38 pounds, and 

 was in magnificent condition." 



"But about that sow and pigs," we asked, in accents child- 

 like and bland. 



"The sow and pigs— oh! aye— the sow was a guinea sow 

 and she was in pig" The keeper had found her dying and 

 had mercifully killed her, and to avoid his children (with 

 whom she was a great pet ) seeing her lifeless body, he had 

 cast it into the water. John Pike had gobbled her up. 

 That's all. She weighed perhaps a pound and a half, pigs 

 and all." 



A guinea pig, as my readers may know, is a small rodent 

 resembling a pig in stiape, and often kept as a pet in Europe. 

 J. Harrington Keene. 



ChateAugay Lake, Adirondack*, June 3.— Wo ex- 

 expected an extra catch of salmon this spring trolling, and 

 although they showed themselves in great numbers after 

 minnows, they failed to take the spoons and baits very freely, 

 six being the most caught in one day by one boat. We have 

 taken some very fine trout, no large numbers, but very good 

 size, weighing from a quarter to two pounds. Our best 

 trouting here, for local reasons, is in July. We have shad 

 here that weigh from one to seven pounds that take the fly 

 from June 20 to -inly 10, we also chum for them, catch them 

 with bait at the bottom. They afford fine sport, being called 

 by the knowing ones equal to black bass for game qualities. 

 Four or five years ago this lake was stocked with Rocky 

 Mountain trout, and although (owing no doubt to their hav- 

 ing different habits from the speckled trout) very few are 

 caught, with hook and line, the boys kill them with clubs in 

 brooks. They weigh from two to four pounds. If any of 

 your correspondents will tell through your paper how to 

 catch them they will oblige— R. M. S. 



Athens, Pa., June 1. — The bass fishing season opened to- 

 day, and Mr. E. W. Davies and Mr. Frank Fuller took a 

 fine number with the fly, the professor being the favorite. 

 There is good prospects of fine bass fishing here this sum- 

 mer, as the late spring prevented the pot-fishermen doing any 

 damage with seines, as iu previous years. Yellow bass 

 weighing eight and ten pounds have' been speared before 

 June 1, but the parties kept very quiet about it. This prac- 

 tice should be done away with, as many large bass are taken 

 that way which would have given flue sport with the rod. 

 Rock bass are also plentiful, and not much sport in catching 

 them.— Park. 



California Trout est the Adtroxdacks.— Meacham 

 Lake, N. Y., May 26.— Our trout fishing began and has kept 

 up first-rate. The score by guests of the house for seventeen 

 days is 4,113, and all hands have been very particular to re- 

 turn the small ones if unhurt. One day last week Mr. Davis, 

 of New York, caught a California trout eleven inches long, 

 which must have been one of my first cross, three years of 

 age. They were turned out near the house, and this one was 

 caught four miles from the house, in the outlet. When 

 cooked it was tasted by several persons, who pronounced it 

 as good as the brook trout. This has been a question 

 whether they would be worth anything as a table fish. My 

 landlocked salmon have all gone from the boxes into the 

 brook. I hope this season to see some of my three-year- 

 olds. — A. R. Fuller. 



How to Keep Lampreys. — Editor Forvrf and Stream: 

 "Giarc" asks to be informed of the best method to keep 

 lampreys. Have him make a box two feet wide by three 

 feet long, and eighteen inches deep. Place in the box nine 

 inches of the silt or mud in which lampreys are found. Bore 

 boles in each end of the box two inches from the top. Have 

 water run in one end of the box and out the other, so as to 

 have a steady flow over the silt. Place the lampreys in the 

 silt and they will not only keep well but will breed. — Keouk. 



Mosquitoes at Bahneciat— Philadelphia, JuucC— Word 

 came to the writer to-day from Barnegat that few, if any, 

 fish of any kind were being taken by the baymen, excepting 

 with nets. This is reliable information and may save disap- 

 pointment on the part of parties who go down to fish this 

 early, inveigled by false reports from professionals who have 

 merely the leasing of their boats in view. Good fishing at 

 Barnegat and Tuckerton bays need not be expected until the 

 latter part of June or first of July, especially for weakfish. 

 As a part of the pleasures connected with sea-fishing on the 

 New Jersey coast, the season bids fair this summer to be one 

 noted for its number of mosquitoes. A cloud of them re- 

 sembling a coming storm was observed by a Cape May 

 farmer making their way last week before a southerly breeze 

 toward the upper New Jersey coast line. The insects ap- 

 peared to have been bred on the eastern shore of Maryland 

 from the direction in which they were coming. Returning 

 sportsmen from the bay shores also state that during the 

 week they were fairly driven from their blinds by the innu- 

 merable hordes of mosquitoes that had just arrived. We 

 may depend upon it, we shall have a grand mosquito season. 

 — Homo. 



MossFor Bait. — Memphis, Tenn. — A paragraph in your 

 last number about shad fishing, calls to mind an incident. 

 Two years ago, at Monroe, La, , on the Ouachita River, 

 there was an old wharf boat which had sunk and drifted 

 under the railroad bridge. The roof of the boat was partly 

 exposed above water, and a quantity of fine green aquatic 

 moss had attached itself to the edge of the roof. Schools of 

 fish were constantly playing about this moss. The bridge 

 watchman tried hard to catch them with a baited hook, but 

 no bait he used w r ould induce them to bite. He accidently 

 entangled his hook in the moss, some of which adhered to 

 it, and it was soon seized by a fisb, which he caught. After 

 this be had only to hook up' some of the moss for bait, wheu 

 these fish took it quite readily, and a number of them were 

 thus taken, These fish were'nearly uniform in size, about a 

 foot long, rather broad vertically, and very thin laterally. 

 They were new to these waters, and were thought to be shad, 

 mainly, I believe, because some shad fry had been previously 

 planted by the Fish Commissioner in the headwaters of the 

 Ouacl i i fca. — Coahoma . 



Pollack in New York Bay. — Pollack have made their 

 appearance on the fishing grounds in the lower bay. It is 

 the first time they ever came here, and anglers who have 

 never seen them before are puzzled by them and delighted 

 at the large catch. Their visit is attributed by old salts to 

 the backward season and the cold water, 



Tim and the Seven Ponds thrust aside their Icy cover- 

 ings about ten days ago. Two parties of sportsmen from 

 Boston with great expectations started for a trip to fill their 

 creels from these waters last week. A party of eleven men 

 with your correspondent "M,"at their head, start to-morrow. 

 The reports from the advance corps are good.— J. W. T. 

 (June 3,1885). 



Watsonton, Pa.— The prospects for bass and Susque- 

 hanna salmon fishing in this section of country are good. 

 Trout fishing in oiu mountain streams has not been as good 

 as our expert fly -fishermen would like. In the early part of 

 the season we had cold and snow to contend with, and now 

 our summer showers break in on our dreams of pleasure'.— 

 J. R. H. 



Moiua, New York, June 2. — There has been good trout 

 fishing in the streams and ponds south of here during the 

 past three weeks, and many fine strings have been caught, 

 —A. 



tgislfmlture. 



« 



PROTECTING AND HATCHING THE SMELT. 



f Read before the American Fisheries Society.] 



BY FRED MATHER. 



rr\HE smelt, Osmerus mordax (Mitch.) Grill, is not common 

 L on Long Island, and but few streams contain it. In the 

 spring of 1884 I attempted to get eggs from a stream at Locust 

 Valley, on the north side of the island, in Queens county. 

 The fish run up the streams at night to spawn, and on this one 

 I spent one night. There were about twenty men with lights 

 at . dift'ereut points within half a mile using what they called 

 ' 'grab-alls" or "snatchers." These were variously shaped con- 

 trivances, some round, some, square, and others tiangular, but 

 averaging about five inches square, made of wire with fre- 

 quent cross wires, to which were soldered fish hooks. 

 Imagine a small grill made by bending a wire so as to 

 form a square, each side of which is six inches, with five 

 interior wires one inch apart soldered across it parallel to the 

 handle, and on each of these wires, both interior ones and of 

 the frame, are soldered fish hooks one inch apart, forty-nine 

 hooks in all, and you have one of tne most merciless fishing 

 implements that devilish ingenuity has devised. This is the 

 "grab-all," and I have seen many a poor smelt impaled on it 

 when seeking a place to deposit its precious burden of eggs 

 under cover of the night. I tried to buy one of these murder- 

 ous implements to exhibit at the London Fisheries Exposition, 

 but failed because the owners had use for them that night 

 which I spent in their company. The men who used these 

 implements were, to judge them from their own lips, the most 

 depraved wretches which I ever met. 1 never fell into worse 

 company as far as language goes. 



At Locust Valley there was a scarcity of ripe fish and an 

 absence of milt on the night referred to, and I arranged with 

 Mr. John Cashow, Supervisor of the town, to have one of his 

 men save me some nshjtaken in nets. The man did so. and 

 picked out, as he told me, "all the nice large ones," which of 

 course were females, for the female smelt is many times 

 larger than her mate. In addition to this judicious selection, 

 he left the fish, seme two hundred in number, in a can under 

 the horse-shed all night without attention, and the "nice 

 large ones" were dead in the morning. The season was get- 

 ting late, and I sent my foreman, Mr, Walters, over there 

 with a fyke-net; but he was threatened with death in several 

 abhorent fortas by the men who handled the gentle grab-all if 

 he persisted in taking a smelt in a fyke. He bought half a 

 dozen fish and we tried to take and hatch the eggs, but failed. 

 Milt was scarce and the eggs were not of the best. 

 The catch has been gradually decreasing for the past few 



