23, 1885.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



811 



But not to wander too far from the text, we found our 

 trip down the south branch of the Muskoka the very ideal 

 of au outing. How many fish? Really, 1 do not know. 

 But we caught enough for all our wants while on the stream, 

 and we brought away with us to the "States" a box of speci- 

 mens that, sent an aggravating thrill, half recollection, half 

 anticipation, through the brother trout fishers among whom 

 tlixv were distributed. Some further experiences will have 

 to be withheld for another time, this letter already having 

 grown too long. 



With the latest number of Forest .vno Stream 1 have 

 lust laid down the latest letter of that modern Feu i more 

 Cooper, "Kingfisher." His accounts of his fishing experi- 

 ences are always enjoyable; he has the true angler's appreci- 

 ation of the subtle influences of wind and wave and son — 

 influences that fill up the measure of delight, whether the 

 catch be few or many. But what most interests me is the 

 query: Where in all the humdrum routine of office, shop aud 

 store, in the smoky, plodding city of Cincinnati, does 

 ^Kingfisher" gather up his collection of quaint characters 

 that dot the scenery of his letters? The answer to the query 

 is : He doesn't "gather them up" at all; he merely sits down 

 aud constructs them out of his inner consciousness. It cer- 

 tainly is not in the least to the discredit of "Kingfisher" 

 (who' is a capital representative of the best class of the gre- 

 garious ana ler) that one reads his letters with a faint suspi- 

 cion that '"Knots" and "Ben" and "Old Hickory" would 

 prove very plain, matter-of-fact people, talking quite as good 

 English as the rest of us when once, reduced lo the flesh. 



In looking over my second letter it appears that a carelessly 

 written sentence makes me say that the steamers of the M. 

 & N. Navigation Company start from Toronto. They don't. 

 The trains of the N. & N. W. Bail way run from Toronto 

 northward to Muskoka Wharf, Collingwood, Fenetang, etc , 

 and the steamers of the M. & N. Company from Muskoka 

 Wharf to Bracebridge, Rosseau, Port Cockburn and Bala. 

 The connections, however, are continuous. JaT Bebe. 



Toledo, O , July is. 



are told of the havoc the bass are making among salmon aud 

 other fish. When these fish were put into the waters that 

 were first stocked here, the people were willing to go to any 

 expense and protect the fishing for five years, in order to 

 give them time to increase. Now many would be glad to go 

 to all the same trouble over again in order lo get rid of the 

 bass if it could be done, On the whole, we don't want 

 them; but they are stayers, no doubt, and when the last fish- 

 erman is beneath the sod, Mr. Bass will still be here to 

 flutter his fins, cock his goggle eyes, and make faces at 

 whom he will." 



[The subject of worms iu fish has often been discussed in 

 our columns during the past four years. All fish, as well as 

 other animal life, have parasites, These we hold to be 

 harmless, and we have eaten perch containing grubs and 

 trout that had intestinal worms. Perhaps the Ichthyopha- 

 gous Club would eat the worms and discard the fish. There 

 are people who prefer to have their cheese "lively," and if 

 a fastidious person looks over all fish carefully before eating 

 them he will find minute parasites on and under the scales 

 in many cases. A boy iu a cherry tree never opens a cherry 

 for fear that it may contain a vvorm, whose flavor is the 

 same as the fruit; it would be a loss of time to him. If 

 black bass, perch and pickerel are in good order we eat 

 them aud do not fear a harmless worm]. 



THE ANNUAL WORM SCARE. 



WdiUry Forest and Stream: 



The following article clipped from the Boston Sunday 

 Herald will fail with a splash into the dish of the black bas's 

 enthusiast. Since it, appeared one or two of the Maine papei's 

 have republished an item from the Winthrop Budget also an- 

 nouncing worms in the black bass of the Cobbosseecontee 

 waters. In that section also the fishermen are greatly dis- 

 gusted aud wish the bass were out of the ponds and the 

 pickerel and white perch back again. A gentleman, famil- 

 iar with those waters, I happened to meet yesterday. He 

 believes that the black bass are fast running out the pickerel 

 and that the white perch are disappearing. 1 regret beina: 

 obliged to chronicle much unwelcome uews;the hopes of 

 sportsmen have been buoyant in the direction of black bass. 

 Fish Commissioners in the various States have taken a great 

 deal of pains and spent thousands of dollars in introducing 

 them. The Herald communication comes from a thorough 

 sportsman and scientist— one who only withholds his name for 

 further investigations. I want to see the subject, thoroughly 

 bundled in the Forest and Stream, and if our game fishes 

 are to be further reduced in number, if we have put a mis- 

 erable deadhead into our waters, wormy and logy, but one 

 that cannot be got rid of, then let us know the worst! We 

 cau have some revenge on the black bass, if he is as black 

 as he is painted below. We can at least take away the pro- 

 tection the law gives him and let the poachers loose upon 

 him. Special. 



The Herald item referred to says: 



"Black bass created quite aflame here at first, and no 

 doubt they will last a good while. Norway Lake, Thomp- 

 son's and Crotched ponds were stocked with them at first by 

 the Fish Commission; and now all the surrounding waters, 

 including Long and Sebago lakes, in particular, have been 

 stocked gratuitously. Thousands of dollars worth of tackle 

 have beeu bought, and boats without number have been 

 built, all because the bass fishing was to be such a great 

 thing. Well, men of weak constitutions gave it up after the 

 first trial. Those men who were tougher, and boys who 

 could digest green apples, have survived the first attack, and 

 in some instances have tried it again, over and over, but 

 each time with lessened interest. Not that there are not 

 bass enough. There is no lack of the fish, but they will not, 

 rise to a fly any better than a chub, or brindled perch, and 

 only the small ones will bite at worms. When hooked they 

 make one promising leap, and you think you are in for some 

 fun; but 'the weather does not follow the indications,' and 

 after his first 'flop,' a black bass is about as interesting at the 

 other end of a fish line as an eel or bull frog. Barring the 

 one 'first spring,' a chub will make a longer and stronger 

 fight for life, and give more sport than a black bass of equal 

 weight. Bass are also voracious feeders and have the detest- 

 able habit of starving out their own species. At least they 

 seem to decrease in size in the waters that have been stocked 

 longest. 



"As to the rank of black bass as a table fish, he is no- 

 where. Dry, soft and insipid in flavor spoiling easily when 

 exposed to the sun, bony and full of worms, are all qualities 

 that this fish brought here with him. 



"Worms? Yes, lots of them. The morning of the 1st of 

 July (open season) brought out on Long Lake many who 

 had not tried bass fishing, and some who had. The fish bit 

 well for bass, and quite large catches, though averaging 

 small in size, were brought in. That evening, as the writer 

 was at work, a hand holding a fish partly skinned came 

 suddenly close under his eyes. 



" 'What are those?' said the owner of the hand, at the 

 same time pointing with a knife to dark objects, about the 

 size of a pinhesd, imbedded in the flesh of the fish, but not 

 deep enough to hide them from sight. 



Several of these dark objects were carefully dissected 

 out and a microscope brought into use. Under a power of 

 fifty diameters, these objects proved to be a tough sort of 

 sack, with a rudimentary worm in it. The one who had 

 skinned the fish said there were more or less of these worms 

 in every bass he caught, although they were more numer- 

 ous in the specimen he had brought tb me. The fish had 

 about seventy-five of these worms visible, and it would not 

 weigh half a pound. As the season advances these worms 

 are said to grow to the length of fully half an inch and the 

 sack disappears. The worm is then surrounded with putrid 

 matter. We don't care for black bass down here. 



"In his business habits Mr. Bass is a veritable tyrant among 

 other fish, driving them anywhere and everywhere, even out 

 of existence. There was formerly good pickerel fishing in 

 all these ponds and lakes. Since the advent of bass the 

 pickerel are decreasing rapidly in numbers, and hard storie s 



BASS IN THE UPPER HUDSON. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I am indebted to Mr. Mather for his comments upon the 

 paper ("Transplanting Fishes") that I wrote for the Fish- 

 eries Society, for therein he calls my attention to the loose 

 language I used in writing of the black bass in the Hudson 

 River, I did not see the article after writing it until it was 

 printed, with Mr. Mather's comments, in last issue of Forest 

 and Stream, consequently this is the first opportunity I 

 have had to correct my misleading statement. 



I should have said that the black bass from Effner's Lake 

 stocked the Upper Hudson River. It is quite true, as Mr. 

 Mather states, that the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 

 brought the black bass from the Great Lakes to the Hudson ; 

 but the bass cannot, or will not, go up over a fall of water 

 that is mere play for a trout to surmount — I am inclined to 

 believe they cannot, as they gather at the foot of a fall in 

 the spring as though they would like to make the ascent, if 

 it were possible — and consequently the progress of the bass 

 up the Hudson was barred at Baker's Fa,lls at Sandy Hill, 

 if not at Fort Miller. I do not know when the dam at the 

 latter place was built, but Baker's Falls is a natural obstruc- 

 tion and was formerly the limit of the upward movement of 

 the shad. Later the Fort Miller dam and still later the 

 Troy dam proved impediments that the shad could not over- 

 come. Effner Lake has an outlet into the Sacandaga River, 

 which joins the Hudson at Luzerne, only a few rods below 

 the Little Falls of the latter. Bass fishing was excellent for 

 years at the foot of Little or Luzerne Falls, but not a bass 

 was to be found above, although the fall is not a difficult 

 one for a fish to ascend, until they had been taken to 

 Schronu Lake and had worked their way down the Schroon 

 River into the Hudson and thence to the waters above 

 Luzerne Falls. From the Sacandaga River the bass drifted 

 down over Big or Palmer's Falls, Glens Falls, Baker's Falls 

 and Fort Edward dam, and afforded excellent fishing, but 

 they have now r gone from south of Big Falls to join thedodo 

 where the woodbine twineth; "all on account of" — the saw- 

 dust. A. N. Cheney, 



Gj-LESS Falls, N. V. 



KILLING BASS FLIES. 



Editor Fared and Stream: 



The followina observations on bass flies were inspired by 

 a recent communication to the A r . F. World from the pen of 

 Mr. Silh Green, iu which the writer, together with sound 

 advice on the art of fly-casting for bass, takes his readers 

 into his confidence, and reveals the secret of his success by 

 naming his "killing flies." 



He says: "I have sifted down the hundreds of flies until 

 1 have but four kinds left; they are the 'killers.' My upper 

 fly has a red body, white wings, and white hackle with a 

 gold tinsel stripe; my second is a fly called the Grizzly 

 King; my third is the Governor Alvord; the other fly is the 

 Seth Green." 



With the above mentioued flies in his book our author 

 considers himself satisfactorily equipped for all bass-fishing 

 emergencies. We should be pleased to learn on what waters 

 Seth Green's flies are so taking — so uniformly successful as 

 to be denominated "killers." Doubtless there are unsophis- 

 ticated bass living in streams seldom fished with anything 

 more tempting than the unpretentious earth-worm, whose 

 mouths would water at sight of the gorgeous fly; but in the 

 rivers and lakes of Central New York the bass is something 

 of an epicure. His appetite is capricious. The fly which 

 lured him to the surface so successfully on one occasion is 

 neglected at another, no matter with what degree of skill it 

 be'east on the water. The "killers" to which we pinned 

 our faith in early June are displaced by others in July, The 

 fly which was seized so savagely in the morning is neglected 

 later in the day. Flies with which we have made numerous 

 captures one season have failed us or are little thought of in 

 the next. These facts have been impressed on us year after 

 year, and we are at a loss to understand how a fisherman of 

 Seth Green's reputation can find all his requirements in so 

 limited an assortment of flies. 



No fly-caster of experience in these waters would venture 

 after the black bass with so meagre an artificial diet as that 

 prescribed above. It not infrequently happens that the day's 

 successful fly is found, not among the so-called killers, but 

 in those little used. On one occasion, when our old friend 

 "Rob Roy" was out with us we cast the "killers" faithfully 

 over along stretch of good bass ground without a rise. As 

 a sort of forlorn hope our friend substituted a fly without 

 any record, remarking that he had little confidence in it; but 

 since all the others had failed, it was worth a trial. After a 

 few casts a bass was taken. This was followed by a suc- 

 cession of strikes, and with each successful cast we heard a 

 sort of suppressed chuckle which was not a little irritating 

 to us, who did not at all relish the situation. As the "kill- 

 ing" fly was the only one of its kind in our books, we were 

 forced td submit to the inevitable, consoling ourself with 

 the reflection that if we bad possessed that particular fly the 

 order of things would have been reversed. 



The Seth Green, Governor Alvord and Grizzly King are 

 taking flies, and arc always given a prominent place in our 

 collection, not, however, to the exclusion of others, among 

 which we would name the Silver Doctor, Johu Mann, 

 Reuben Wood, and the magpie, which in these w r aters, at 



least, arc equally good, if not better. None of the flies here 

 mentioned should lie absent from a good assortment of buss 

 flies. Each is at times a killer. 



In view of the experiences here related, we desire to im- 

 press on those who are acquiring the art the importance of 

 having a well-stocked fly-book, lest by an overweening faith 

 in authority, they have more failures to record than suc- 

 cesses. J. G. J. 



iSYii.Aonsn, N. V. 



Lime in Trout Streams.— Westfi eld, Mass.— Editor 

 Forr.it a rat Stream: Some six or seven years ago the supply 

 of trout in the streams here was found to he rapidly dor i 

 ing until it scarcely paid one to join his rod for a day's trout- 

 ing. In 1881 the state of affairs was much improved. In 

 1882 still better were the reports and baskets brought in by 

 anglers, [n 1888 the- brook* were literally alive with trout 

 and catches of four to six pounds, and averaging three 

 ounces per fish, were not uncommon, in fact an every day r 

 occurrence. In the years gone by when our streams were. 

 being so rapidly depicted it was an open secret that certain 

 parties were netting and also that one man in particular had 

 used lime on all the best brooks, thereby destroying all the 

 small fry in order to fill his paunch for once. At the time 

 nothing was done. We had not then the powerful influence 

 of the Bod and Gun Club. Then our streams began to show 

 the. effects of being fairly dealt with, and the heart of the 

 angler was made glad, Rut alas now it is the old story, our 

 trout have, been going, going, and in the last few weeks the 

 work has been on a wholesale scale. Within the month of 

 June, Powder Mill, Sandy Hill and other famous brooks have 

 been completely cleaned out by the aid of drugs, What do 

 you think of sixteen and a half pounds of catches of dressed 

 trout, and another of fourteen pounds in a few hours', angling 

 (claimed) iu brooks run to low water mark by recent drouths, 

 and then when the rains come and the brooks rise our pesl 

 anglers seek in vain for a single rise? The instigator aud 

 perpetrator of this infamous work is well known, although 

 no convicting proof is yet to hand, and of what account 

 would it be if obtainable? A fine of sjpO for poisoning a 

 stream, that's all, while for netting a fine of five to twenty 

 dollars is the penalty for each trout so taken.— Trout. 



New Orleans Fuy-Castlng; Tournament.— Dr. VV. C. 

 Ayres, the gentleman who has of late published iu these col 

 limns a proposition to inaugurate a fly casting tournament, 

 has prepared a list for entries to the different kinds of cast- 

 ing, which is sit Rhodes's, 55 St. Charles street, ready for 

 signatures. Dr. Ayres has arranged for ten entries for each 

 class. The different entries are as follows: 1. Rod and reel 

 casting; light sinker, one ounce. 2. Rod and reel casting; 

 heavy sinker, 2£ ounces. S. Hand-line casting, -i. Call b 

 ing pounds of silver fish. Catching pounds of fed fish , trout, 

 green and speckled; sheepshead, Spanish mackerel, pompano, 

 etc., Until the end of the fishing season (average of times 

 fishing and fish caught). (!. Combination of simple casting 

 as one point (for any fish) and actual capture of same fish 

 also one. point of 1.00. In endeavoring to organize a tourna- 

 ment of this kind the Doctor is solely influenced by a love 

 of the sport; he does not believe, that he is a better angler 

 than anybody else, but as some one has to make a start in a 

 matter of this kind he determined to make the effort. The 

 Doctor desc a res the support of the followers of this delight- 

 ful sport, who should lose no time in entering one or more 

 of the different classes. By bringing the fishermen together 

 many pleasant and interesting contests could be arranged 

 similar to those that have made the competitions between 

 hunters, for instance, so popular. Dr. Ayres is an Ocean- 

 ian, but during the last fifteen years has' lived in Europe 

 and New York. In the North he belonged to clubs which 

 participated in these casting tournaments, which are bene 

 ficial and highly enjoyable. — K. 0. Times-Democrat. 



The Failing Connecticut.— The Connecticut River, 

 given over to the timber-drivers, has become a canal. Reefs 

 are blasted out. Bulkheads are built to turn the current 

 into the central channels. The melting snows, no longer 

 held back in the spongy mosses of the forests, and the spring 

 rains, are hurried swiftly down in the freshets which destroy 

 property in the lower country. The freshets are utilized to 

 bring down every spring the timber from thousands of acres, 

 where no pine wood will ever grow again. The Summer 

 comes, hot and dry, with low water in the rivers, which 

 were formerly full all the summer from the slow drain out 

 of the dark shades in the upper country. The natural reser- 

 voirs, which thus gave out slowly their reservoirs of water, 

 are gone, and all the water comes down with a rush after 

 every rain. Manufacturing companies everywhere have 

 found it necessary to make artificial reservoirs to take the 

 place of the lost natural reservoirs. Hills that were once 

 forest-covered are bleak masses of rock, growing drier year 

 by year. If there was ever an instance of killing the goose 

 that lays the golden eggs, it is in this method of treating our 

 Northern forests. In hundreds of valleys where water" was 

 abundant iu former years, the waterlinc in the ground is 

 below the reach of ordinary wells. The tendency is toward 

 that, condition which in a century or two will compel a re- 

 sort to irrigation for ordinary agricultural purposes.— Dr. II' 

 C. Prime, in the Journal of Gom.rn.eree. 



Another Black Prince.— Editor Forest and /Stream: In 

 your issue of July 2, C. E. Hart asks for a description of the 

 Black Prince trout fly, and refers to a letter of "Sport's" 

 about that fly. Mr. Hart states that he cannot find the By 

 in Orvis's or Conroy's selection of flies. He certainly cannot 

 have read carefully the articles on the "Most Killing Fly " 

 that have been published in the Forest and Stream for 

 the last thiee months. In "Sport's" first article in answer to 

 mine about the best fly for the Colorado trout, he described 

 the fly, but did not name it. I did so in my next communi- 

 cation on trout flies. The Black Prince is a fly with black 

 wings, black hackle, black body wdth gold twist, and a small 

 red tail. It is a good fly for the trout iu question, but not 

 nearly as good as the coachman. I could give in this letter 

 the address of the tackle dealer from whom I buy the Black 

 Prince, but prudence tells me not to do so; for a somewhat 

 lengthy and bitter experience has taught me that it is dan- 

 gerous to mention in a paper the names of dealers in fishing 

 tackle, as you are at once accused of favoritism aud of giving 

 the dealer free advertising for "value received." However, 

 if Mr. Hart will drop me a line, care of Forest and Stream, 

 I shall be pleased to give him the address of the rmm from 

 whom 1 buy the fly referred to. — Cyrtonyx (Fort Stanton, 

 New Mexico). [This is the third different description of this 

 fly. Next.] 



