30 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Aug. 6, 1885. 



Cawada Salmon.— Montreal, July 30.— It has not come 

 to pa5s in many years tliat salmon has been a drug on the 

 inarkel. here, hut this season, owing to the splendid catches 

 Avliich have taken place on the Lower St. Lawrence, 

 the poorer classes have been able to luxuriate on salmon at 

 prices more moderate than they are accustomed to paj' their 

 butcher. The trout season, which is now at its height, is 

 almost nnpreccdeuted for the number and size of fish taken. 

 The Eestigouche and the Cascapedia has been thronged ever 

 since the season opened by many distinguished American 

 .•inglers, iuchidiug ex-President 'Arthur," Dean Sage, of 

 Albany; Mr. Lawrence, of New York; Dr. J. H. Baxter. 

 Chief Medical Surveyor United States Army; General Henry 

 DeForrest, Collis Johnson, John DeMott, W. K. Soutter, 

 Albert Bigelow, and H. P. Wells, the angling author, and a 

 large number of the members of the St. Marguerite Salmon 

 Club, New York. Ex-President Arthur is reported to have 

 killed more fish in a given time than any other rod this year, 

 his take within a week amounting to ninety-eight salinon, 

 averaging twenty-four pounds each. Since the Princess 

 Louise hail such good sport in these waters it has become 

 quite fashionable for ladies to whip the streams, and Lady 

 Luusdowue, prior to her visit to England, succeeded in hook- 

 ing and kilhng some of the finest fish taken during the 

 season. Sir Rodei'ick Cameron, of New York, who has 

 been fishing the Restigouche with one of the Judges of the 

 Supreme Court of the Dominion, has also enjoyed excellent 

 sport. He was, however, found guilty of violating the fish- 

 ery regulations by killing salmon on Sunday and was fined 

 $10. The Supreme Court Judge luckily got off by a tech- 

 nicality, being equally guilty of fishing on Sunday, but not 

 of kilUug his fish. Frequenters of the realms of the trout 

 and salmon know that this violation of the law is indulged 

 in regularly by people who, while under home influences, 

 are more pretentious, if insincere, in their observance of the 

 day of rest, and that the army of fish is not even allowed to 

 enjoy one day out of the seven. It is hinted by a local joiu- 

 nal here that a nobleman occupying an exalted position in 

 the Government of the countrjf'sets this bad example, and 

 that I he magnates and millionaires of wealthy railway cor- 

 porations follow in his footsteps. The same "journal aptly 

 remarks that it is these nabobs, who go to the salmon waters 

 armed with rods, Uies, gaffs and well-stocked hampers, who 

 are the breakers of the laws which they wish enforced 

 against the poor Indian, who knows no law of game preser- 

 vation.— Cc/'r^spo/it^tT^^e Mw York Evening Post. 



BBOWi^r Trout. — "About two and one-half years ago," says 

 the Rochester Democrat, "the State fish hatcheries at Mum- 

 ford imported from Gerniany a quantity of the eggs of the 

 German tiout, a fisli greatly' resembling the English brown 

 trout. This trout is a winter spawning fish and so could be 

 crossed with the native brook trout, and it was for this pur- 

 pose that the eggs were imported. Thursday, F. J. Amsden, 

 of Rochester, was casting the fly in the stream at Mumford, 

 below the ponds, and captured 'a beautiful specimen of the 

 Gel-man trout. It was taken with a No. 16 hook and was 

 landed after a struggle of fifteen minutes. Although but 

 two and a half years old, the ti'out weighed fourteen ounces, 

 It has small scales which are perfectly discernible and is 

 thickly covered with bright verraillion" spots. As the Ger- 

 man trout is such a rapid grower, the cross with the native 

 fish will undoubtedly give a more desirable fish." The 

 Bcniocrat is in error so far as to the importation of the eggs 

 of the "brown trout" of Europe is concerned. They were 

 not imported for crossing, nor were they imported by the 

 hatchery at Mumford. The eggs were sent by Herr von 

 Behr, president of the Germ a u Fishery Association, and 

 Herr. von dem Borne, the well-known fishcultmist, as a 

 personal present to K\\ Fred Mather, superintendent of the 

 New York Fish Coramisi;iou, at Cold Spnug Harbor, and he 

 presented a few to the Mumford hatchery. JMr. Mather is 

 lirm in the behef that this fish will prove of great value in 

 our waters if it can be successfully acclimatized. If they 

 have any of these brown trout at Mumford they will do well 

 to get a pure breed established before they begin to degrade 

 either the brown trout or our native fish by hybridizing, for 

 in this process what is gaintd on one side is lost on the 

 other. If the progeny of two species is superior in anj^ re- 

 spect to one parent it is certain to fall below t he other in 

 some other point, or to prove infertile. 



Tkout Slaughteb.— Philadelphia, Aug. 1.— Information 

 comes from Kane, Ph., that a great many trout are being 

 kihed in the streams of Elk, McKean and Cameron counties 

 by dynamite. The work of the fish butcher is not confined 

 to one county, but extends all over the lumber regions of the 

 northwestern part of the State. They have operated on 

 Johnson's Run, Bear Creek, Spring Cjxek and Mill Creek, in 

 Elk county; West Clarion Creek, Straight Creek and John- 

 son's Creek, in McKean county; along the Sinnemahoning 

 and Driftwood, in Cameron county, and on the small streams 

 of Clearfield and Clinton counties. When the Jersey Shore 

 & Pine Creek Railroad was being built the workmen openly 

 used dynamite, and laany large trout were secured in this 

 illegal manner. No w it is impossible to catch any but fln- 

 gerlings there when formerly it was an easy matter to fill a 

 creel with one quarter to one-half pound fish. The penalty 

 for fishing with this explosive is $50 fine and costs, and in 

 default of payment, imprisonment at the rate of one day for 

 each dollar of fine and costs. The legitimate fishermen of 

 Kane and vicinitj^ we are glad to learn, have determined to 

 see that the law is enforced, but find it a difficult matter to 

 push, as the law-breakers are shielded by their friends. It 

 would be well if the Fish Commissioners of this State would 

 act in the matter. — Homo. 



Wkakfish at Baenegat. — Philadelphia, Aug. 1. — The 

 weakflsh have not been biting well this week at Barnegat or 

 Tuckerton bays, notwithstanding it is stated there is this 

 season more shrimp in these waters than for years past. The 

 baymen attribute it to the hot weather which has likewise 

 reached the coast. There is every indication, however, of 

 there being plenty of fish in the bays, but they appear to be 

 sluggish in taking hold. — Homo. 



It Does Not Pay, — George Smith, of fjake Village, who 

 threw a djmamite cartridge into the lake at Wemsa few days 

 ago, killing an immense number of fish, was arrested by Fish 

 Commissioner Hodge, of Plymouth, Tuesday, pleaded guilty, 

 and was fined |od and costs. George will now explode 

 almost as bad as the cartridge did whenever any one says 

 dynamite to him. 



Bass in Chenango. — Bass-fishing is reported to be good 

 in the vicinity oi Green, Chenango county, N. Y, 



A Big Lake Trout.— The Manchester, N. H., Mirror 

 and American, of July 29, records the capture of a lake 

 trout, (S. n-amai/cush) which weighed twenty-eight and a half 

 pounds, near Laconia, N. H., as follows: An extraordinary 

 event took place on Lake Winnisquam, near this village, 

 Monday, which echpses anything in the piscatorial line ever 

 heard of in this section. A party of gentlemen went "across 

 the bay" and lauded upon the Sanbornton shore for a fish 

 prize. Five of the party subsequently took a small boat and 

 took a position a short distance from shore, to catch perch. 

 There was but one "trout gear" among the party, which 

 Will J. Busiel utilized, and in about half an hour landed an 

 lli-pound trout. At this another of the party, William 

 Belford, remarked, "I'm going to catch one that will lay 

 you all out," and proceeded to hunt up a "tackle." It 

 appears that there happened to be a large ball of twine in 

 the boat, near the size of a pipe stem. Belford got hold of 

 this and also an old rusty cod hook. These he "bent" together 

 and attaching a "cold"^ chisel" for a sinker, put on a good 

 sized bull frog for bait and cast off. The eccentric para- 

 phernalia went to the bottom, as a matter of course, very 

 suddenly, where it lay for about five minutes, when there 

 was a bite. Business on the boat began to be hvelv soon 

 after and intense excitement prevailed. The huge trout, (for 

 such it proved to be) was boarded in about twenty minutes, 

 not before all hands however rendered assistance in taking 

 him in. The trout in coming to the surface broke water 

 some twenty feet from the boat, where he "skived" about 

 in all directions with great energy. Getting nearer to the 

 boat, one of the party, Jonas McGuire, dealt a poweiful 

 blow with a piece of board, which cut a gash two inches 

 deep in the trout's back, which sort of numbed him, when 

 John Gordon in.serled his fingers into the gills, and hoisted 

 him into the boat. Belford was "pale as a ghost" at the 

 conclusion of the operation, and. although a powerful man, 

 came near fainting away under the excitement. The singular 

 part of the affair seems to lie in the fact that such a hastily 

 improvised and uncouth rig should capture the prize trout 

 ever landed from the waters of any lake in this section, in- 

 cluding Winnipesaukee. The weight was twenty-eight and 

 one-half pounds, the head alone weighing four and a quarter 

 pounds, and the extreme length being forty inches. ]Sh\ 

 Belford has been the recipient of many congratulations since 

 the event, and when approached upon the subject to make a 

 statement, warms up to the situation almost as much as 

 though he had another bite. Mr. Belford is proprietor of 

 the Belknap Shoddy Mill, and a well-known devotee of the 

 rod and gun. 



Death op Uncle Fr.ank O'Dosnel.— Francis B. O'Don- 

 nel, an old-timefisherman and politician.died at his residence, 

 138 Lexington avenue, yesterday afternoon. He was born 

 in Ireland in 1812. He came to New York with his parents 

 when only 2 years old. When a young man he had a tenor 

 voice of remarkable power and sweetness, and for fifty years 

 he sang "The American Boy," at all the Tamany Fourth of 

 July celebrations. He retained his voice to the day of his 

 death. For a quarter of a century he was an officer of the 

 Court of General Sessions. He was afterward an attache of 

 the Mayor's office. Of late years he had not been in public 

 hfe. Much of his time was spent in fishing from the docks. 

 Split Rock at Manhattanvihe, Staten Island, the Newark 

 draw and other j^laces. He was probably the oldest fisher- 

 man in New York city. He caught drum fish off the Hook 

 on the East River forty years ago. Old John Den net, Billy 

 Baird, Aleck Murray and xlmos Cummings were his favorite 

 compauians. Mr. O'Donnel died from aneurism of the heart. 

 He was familiarly known as ' 'The Captain." He leaves a 

 widow, three sons and a daughter. A more genial, warm- 

 hearted man, and a more patient fisherman never breathed. 

 The Tammany Society passed resolutions of regi'et last 

 night. — Hew York Sun,, Aug. 3. 



Salmon Angling in Maine. —The Belfast, Me., RbpiMi- 

 can Journal says: "Salmon have not been so abundant in 

 the Penobscot for fifty years, and over forty of these royal 

 fish have been taken at Bangor. Fish Commissioners Still- 

 well and Stanley indulged in an hour's angling with the rod 

 and fly there, Thursday, Mr. Stillwell succeeding in captur- 

 ing one fish and Mr. Stanleys hooking two, but losing them 

 both. Statements had been made that the fishway on the 

 dam was not effective, but the commissioners proved the 

 utility of the way by closing it and examining the interior. 

 They found several salmon therein, one being at the head 

 and about to enter the water above. The Penobscot salmon 

 are now characterized by their medium and small size, which 

 is evidence to the comniissioners that they are the same fish 

 with which the river was previously stocked. Mr. L. A. 

 Dow, Brigadier's Island, Searsport, so far as we can learn, 

 was the champion salmon catcher in this vicinity for the 

 season just ended. He caught 507 salmon, averaging thirteen 

 poimds each — a total of 6,591 pounds. It was a profitable 

 season's work for him." 



How TO Catch Crayfish, — ^Memphis, July 29. — In reply 

 to "W. L. A." the method pursued by the dagoes an'd 

 negroes in lower Louisiana is novel as well as interesting. 

 Great quantities of these Crustacea are captured in that 

 region for the New Orleans market, where they are highly 

 esteemed for making "gumbo," a veiy toothsome dish when 

 prepared by a Creole cook. The modus operandi of the 

 capturing is simple enough, as I have frequently seen it 

 practiced, A piece of cord a couple of feet in length is 

 tied at one end to the middle of a light stick about a foot 

 long. To the other end of the cord is securely tied a small 

 bit of meat, usually fat bacon. Each artist manipulates an 

 indefinite number of these machines, perhaps two dozen. 

 He (or she) tosses them out into the muddy ponds or "borrow 

 pits," near the levees. Then the operator, with breaches 

 rolled up or petticoats elevated, wades gently through the 

 pond with a pail or basket in one hand, and visiting each 

 line in turn, slowly raises it out of the water and drops the 

 catch into the receptacle provided. — Coahom.a. 



San Buenaventura, Cal.-^The trouiing season is about 

 closed here now. Great numbers of trout have been caught 

 in the Ventura and other streams in this vicinity. A friend 

 and the writer caught 115 one day last week, but many of 

 them were flngerlings that we threw back. The largest were 

 from eight to fifteen inches in length. A salmon trout 

 twenty-one inches long was caught near here some time ago. 

 —Ty po. 



AL,1UERAL REWARD WILL BE PAID FOR INIiORMATION 

 itiat will lead to ttie discovery of an aagler who is not "a true 

 disciple of Old Izaak," who does not go to bed "to dream of the 

 glorious sport on the morrow," who does hoc "entice with his lure 

 the finny denizens of the stream," and who does not catch "speckled 

 beauties," I am such an one myself, hut I am awfully lonely. Ad- 

 dress SJLAS SYLVAN, care Forest and Stkbau. augtj.lt 



Black Bass in Lake Champlain.— St. Albans Bay, Vt., 

 Jidy 28— Editor Forest and Stream: The fishing is not at 

 its best here yet, although there are fish enough to satisfy 

 any reasonable man. 1 met your correspondent, Mr A. N. 

 Cheney, and his friend Major Butts htj'e. Mr. Cheney went 

 out last Saturday and took 8 bass weighing in the "aggre- 

 gate 19| pounds. On Monday he took 16 bass which weighed 

 28i pounds, and he reports them as very gamy. There are 

 half a dozen anglers here but none come up to Mr. Cheney's 

 record, and he is continually applied to for lessons in the 

 art. In his genial way he tells them that he simply fishes 

 when the fish are hungry and they do not; but we don't be- 

 lieve that to be the only reason. He is known as an expert 

 and it is impossible for him to impart all that he has learned 

 in many years in the course of conversation, i hope to try 

 the fish to-morrow and will report.— The Thirsty Pelican. 



A Seventy-Pound Bass.— An enormous striped bass, 

 caught off Neman's Land (south of Martha's Vinevard), was 

 on exhibition in Boston last week. It weiirhtd 70 pounds, 

 and is said to be the largest of its species ever caught with 

 line and reel alone. 



Address all communications to the Forest and Streavi Fr'hii. 'th- 

 ing Co. 



MOSQUITOES KILL TROUT. 



THE following letter to the TJ. S. Commissioner of Fish and 

 Fisheries opens np a new question concerning the mor- 

 tality among yoimg tibut. We have never heard of such a 

 case, and commend it to the attention of fishcultm'ists. It is 

 not unusual to see fry with a large umbilicus at the surface 

 for a few seconds while in the hatching troughs, but it is rare 

 to see them rise thus in streams, where they are not so crowded 

 and disturbed by their fellows: 

 Prof. Spencer F. Baird, Washinyton., D. C; 



Dear Sir— It may be of interest to you and of some import 

 ance to science if I detail some facts that I was witness to in 

 regard to the destruction of youQg mountain trout by mosqui- 

 toes. In the middle or latter part of June— I think it was— in 

 1882 I was prospecting on the headwaters of the Tumiehie 

 Greek, in the Gunnison Valley, Col. About 9 o'clook in the 

 morning I sat down in the shade of some wiUows that skirted 

 a clear but .shallow place in the creek. In a quiet paa-t of the 

 water where then movements •were readily discernible were 

 some fresh hatched brook or moimtain ti out, and circling about 

 over the water was a small swarm of mosquitoes. The trout 

 were very young, still having the pellucid sack pulflng out from 

 the region of the gills, with the rest of then body almost 

 ti ansparent when they would swim into a portion of the 

 water tUat was lighted up by direct sunshine. Every few 

 minutes these baby trout— for what pm-pose I do not 

 know unless to get the benefit or more air— woidd come to the 

 surface of the water so that the top of their head was level 

 with the surface of the water. When this was the case a 

 mosquito would Light down and immediatelv transfix the 

 trout by inserting his proboscis or bill into the bi aiu of the 

 flsb, which seemed incapable of escaijing. The mosquito 

 would bold his victim steady until he had "extracted all the 

 life juices, and when this 'was accomplished he would fly 

 away, the dead trout would turn over on his back and float 

 down stream. I was so interested in this before unheard of 

 destruction of fish that I watched the depiedations of these 

 niosquitoes for more than a half hoiu", and in that time over 

 twenty trout were sucKed dry and their lifeless shells sent 

 floating awaj^ with the current. It wus the only occasion 

 that I was ever witness to the fact, and I have been unable 

 by inquny to ascertain if others have observed a similar de- 

 struction of fish. I am sure the fish were trout, as the locality 

 was qiute near snowline and the water vei-y cold, and no 

 other tish were in the stream at that altitude.' From this ob- 

 servation I am satisfied that great numbers of trout, and per- 

 haps infant Hsh of others varieties in clear waters, must corae 

 to their death in this way, and if the fact has not been hereto- 

 foi'e recorded it is important to those interested in piscicidture. 

 1 remain, very respectfully yours, C. H. Murray^ 



Denver., Col., July 23. 



MASSACHUSETTS LOBSTER LAW.— Pubhc Statutes. 

 Chapter 01: Sec. 81. Whoever dm-ing the month of Jidy iii 

 any year catches or takes from any of the waters of tills 

 Commonwealth any female lobster bearing eggs, shall be 

 punishen for each offence by a fine of not less than ten nor 

 more than one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the 

 house of correction for not less than one nor moro than three 

 months; but a person catching or taking any aitch lobster 

 during said month of July, and immcdlateiy retaining It 

 alive to the waters from winch it was taken, shall not be 

 subject to such penalty. [As amended in 1883, chap. 5)8.] 

 Sec. 83. Whoever dmiug the month of Jidy in any year sells 

 or has in his possession Avith infant to sell, any female lobster 

 bearing eggs, taken in this Commonwealth. shaU forfeit for 

 each offence a sum not less than ten nor more than fifty 

 dollars. [As amended in 1883, chap. 98]. Sec. S3. The mayor 

 and aldermen of every city, the selectmeu of every town, and 

 all jjolice officers and constables shall cause the pro\'isions of 

 the two preceding sections to be enforced in their respective 

 cities and towns. Acts of 1881, Chapter 313. Sec. 1. Section 

 eighty-four of chapter ninety-one of the Public Statutes is 

 amended so as to read as follows: Whoever sells or offers for 

 sale, or has in his possession, a lobster less than ten and one 

 half mches in length, measm-ing fiom one extreme of the body 

 extended to the other, exclusive of claws or feelers, shall 

 forfeit five dollars for every such lobster; and ia all prosecu- 

 tions under this section the possession ot any lobster not of 

 the required length shaU be ^jrima/aeif evidence to convict. 

 Sec. 3. Any mutilation of a lobster affecting its measure- 

 ment shall be prima facie evidence that the lobster is less 

 than ten and one half inches in length. Sec. 3. The commis- 

 sioners of inland fisheries shah have the same powers to 

 enforce the provisions of this act as they have to enforce all 

 laws regulating inland fisheries given them by section three of 

 chapter ninety-one of the Pubhc Statutes. Sec. i. The 

 governor may, at the written reciuest of the commissioners of 

 inland fisheries, or either of them, detail one or more of the 

 district police, from auy distiict or town he may see fit, to 

 enforce the provisions of this act throughout the Common* 

 wealth. Acts of 1885, Chapter 3.56 : Sec. 1. For the piu-pose 

 of enforcing the provisions of chapter two hundred and 

 twelve of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and eighty- 

 four, relative to the protection of lobsters, either of the com- 

 missioners on inland flsheries, personally or by deupty, or any 

 member of the district pohce detailed by the governor as 

 provided in said chairter, may search in suspected places for, 

 seize and remove, lobsters taken, held or oS&ved.iQV sale, in 

 violation of the provisions of said chapter, 



FISHCULTUP^E IN MAINE.— Three hundred thousand 

 young salmon have been placed in the head waters of the 

 Penobscot River; 300,000, of the Kennebec; 300,000, Saco; 

 40,000, Denny's. One ;,hundi'ed thou.sand laud-locked salmon 

 were hberated in Moosehead Lake, and .5'J,(iOO in Rangeley 

 Lakes. Black bass are nosv very rhoi'oughly distributed 

 throughout the State, and but little more effort will h&_ 

 requu-ed in the way of increasing the numbers of these fish,. 



