Oct. 1. 1885] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



189 



Pbjnnsyltania CrAAiK.— Athens, Pa., Sept. 21.— Squirrels 

 are very scarce here this fall. Quail hatched well; several 

 coveys can be fouud within a mile of town. Ruffed crouse 

 are plentier this fall than they have been for several years, 

 but some pot-huuters have already beeu shooting the young, 

 and no one seems willing to be witnesses against th'em. T 

 heard of one case where quail were killed a month ago. I 

 did not know such men were loose around here. The gun 

 club are now looking up such parties and will make it un- 

 pleasant for them if detected. The gruj rabbit is so thick 

 as to be a nuisance, and farmers are killing them off to save 

 their fruit.— Park. 



WruE Caktridges — St. Cunegonde, Montreal. — I own a 

 light gun, ]2-gauge, not choked, which I prefer to any other 

 for snipe shooting, my favorite sport. I have been in the 

 habit of carrying'a few of Ely's wire cartridges loaded with 

 one ounce No. 4 chilled English shot, and three drams Curtis 

 & Harvey. With these I frequently bring larger birds to 

 bag and at longer ranges than I find practicable with ordin- 

 ary cartridges.' My gunsmith here tells me that using these 

 wire cartridges will ruin my gun in time and urges me to 

 discontinue their use, but I am loath to stop them. Can any 

 of your readers give me points? Will they in jure the barrels? 

 — N. 



Address all communications to the Forest and Stream Publish- 

 ing Co. 



THE COMING TOURNAMENT. 



A MEETING of the Committee of Arrangements was 

 held in Mr. Blackford's laboratory on Tuesday, Sept. 

 29. On account of the absence of Judge McOown, Mr. En- 

 dicott took the chair. In conseqnence'of the absence of so 

 many members in the country at present, it was decided to 

 postpone the date of the tournament to Wednesday. Oct. 21, 

 and condense the programme so that it can be finished in one 

 day. It was moved that only one amateur class in single- 

 handed liy-castiug, one in expert, one in salmon, one in 

 heavy bass casting and one in minnow-casting for black bass 

 be held, five in all. 



Mr. Blackford moved that a sufficient sum be appropriated 

 to purchase gold medals for first prizes in all classes. Letters 

 were read from prominent dealers in fishing tackle offering, 

 many handsome prizes. 



The Committee on Grounds reported that the Park Com- 

 missioners have granted the use of Harlem Mere for the pur- 

 poses of the tournament. 



The Committee on Rules reported that the following 

 changes have been made; In minnow casting for black bass 

 the contestants will be allowed to cast either under or over- 

 hand, as they choose, instead of confining '.hem to the under- 

 hand mode of last year. In heavy bass casting the lane was 

 abolished. In single-handed fly-casting the casts for delicacy 

 and accm-acy shall be made at the same time, and these 

 points will be left to the judges. As the dinner of the 

 Ichthyophagous Club occurs on tne evening of the tourna 

 ment the annual dinner of the Association will be omitted. 

 The following are the amended rules for 1885: 

 Rule 1. All persons competing for prizes shall pay an. en- 

 trance fee in each contest as follows: Members, $2; non- 

 members, |5. 



Rule 2. No one shall be permitted to enter an timateur 

 contest who has ever fished for a living; who has ever been 

 a guide, or has been engaged in either the manufacture or 

 sale of fi.shing tackle. The judges in the different classes 

 shall appoint a member to see that the tackle is at all times 

 in accordance with the rules and requirements of the Associ- 

 ation during the contests. The judges in any particular 

 class, on appeal, shall have power to decide in all matters 

 relating to entries, and their decision shall be final. 



Rule 3. No trout rod shall exceed 11 feet 6 inches in 

 length, and it shall be used with a single hand. 



Rule 4. In single-handed fly-casting any style of reel or 

 line will be allowed, but a leader or casting line of singlegut 

 of not less than eight feet in length, to which three flies, one 

 stretcher and two droppers, shall be attached. 



Rule 5. No allowance of distance shall be made for dif- 

 ference in length of rods. 



Rule 6. Persons entering these contests shall di-aw lots to 

 determine the order in which they will cast and will bereadv 

 to cast when called by the judges. 



Rule 7. Each contestant will be allowed five minutes to 

 cast for distance and will then stand aside until called in his 

 turn to cast for delicacy and accuracy, when he will be al- 

 lowed five minutes for this purpose. 



Rule 8. The distance shall be measured by a line with 

 marked buoj^s stretched on the water ; said line to be meas- 

 ured and verified by the judges at least once each day of the 

 casting. A mark shall be made from the stand from which 

 the buoy line shall be measured, and the caster may stand 

 with bis toes touching this mark, but may not advance be- 

 yond it. Should he step back of it, unless directed so to do 

 by the judges, the loss in distance shall be his. 



Rule 9. The stretcher fly must remain at the end of the 

 casting line in all casts. The others are not deemed so im- 

 portant. A contestant may claim time for repairs, which 

 shall be allowed by the judges, or the judges may order the 

 next on the list to cast while repairs are Inade, in their dis- 

 cretion. 



Rule 10, In the absence of an appointed judge the com- 

 mittee will fill the vacancy. 



Rule 11. Salmon Fly-Casting. — The foregoing rules shall 

 govern, except that the rods shall not exceed eighteen feet 

 iu length, and may be used with both hands, and that only 

 one fly will be required. 



Rule 12. Black Bass Casting. — All general rules which 

 do not conflict with the following special rules shall govern. 

 No rod shall be less than 8 nor more than 10 feet, nor less 

 than 7 nor more than 10 ounces. Any black bass multiply- 

 ing reel may be used ; but clicks, drags, or any device to 

 control tbe rendering of the line, except the thumb, will 

 not be allowed. Lines shall not be of less caliber than No. 6 

 (letter H) braided silk, or No. 1 seaarass, or corresponding 

 sizes of other material. The weight of the sinker shall be 

 one-half ounce, the same to be furnished by the committee. 

 In casting but a single hand shall be used. Each contestant 

 shall be allowed five casts, the longest to count, and then 

 will be allowed five minutes to cast for style and accm-acy. 

 The scale shall be the same as in fly-casting, viz; Distance, 

 the longest cast in feet ; style and accuracy, 25 points each'. 



Rule 13. Heavy Bass Casting.- Rods shall not exceed 9 

 feet in length; any reel may be .used, but the line shall be of 



linen not less than No. 9. The casts shall be made with 

 sinkers weighing 2^ ounces. (These will be furnished by 

 the committee,) Each contestant will be fUlowed five casts. 

 His casts shall be measured, added and divided by five, and 

 the result shall constitute the score. 



BASS SIZES AND WEIGHTS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Last spring there was some controversy in your columns 

 regarding the weight of a ten-inch black bass. Below 1. 

 give the weight of a few small bass that I caught in the 

 Missisquoi River in this town: 



June 15 llj^in 11 oz. July 3 lOUin TUoz. 



June 16 10 in 8 oz. July Il5|in 12 "oz. 



June 17 llj^in 9 oz. July 15 llj^in 9 oz. 



June 19 lOt^fn 10 oz. July 18 14 "in 20 oz. 



June 25 .iSJ^in 10 oz. 



Please let us hear from the other gentlemen who were in- 

 terested in this subject. Stanstead. 



THE ICHTHYOPHAGOUS CLUB. 



A MEETING of the committee was held at the office of 

 Mr. E. G. Blackford, on Tuesday, Sept. 29. There 

 were present Mr. John Foord, President: Mr. Blackford, 

 Head Caterer; J\Ii-. C. M. Miller, Prime Taster; Mr. Fred 

 Mather, Poet Laureate, and Mr. Barnet Phillips, Naturalist. 



The Head Caterer presented an invitation from Messrs. 

 Weatherby & Fuller, of the Buckingham Hotel, asking the 

 honor of entertaining the club. This' was accepted and the 

 date was fixed for Wednesday evening, Oct. 21, at 6:30. 



Mr. Francis Endicott was added to the committee and 

 delegated to provide the necessary quantity of sand fleas for 

 a bisque. Mr. Blackford suggested that the club experi- 

 ment with starfish. Mr. Mather was ordered to furnish 

 mantis shrimps, horsefeet, and sea spiders. 



Mr. Phillips proposed a tea of sea-weed and agreed to pro- 

 vide the material. Mr. Foord promised a baby alligator and 

 JMi'. Miller suggested that porpoise liver might be acceptable. 

 Then with mournful glances at the tank in which the electric 

 eel killed the hellbenders and then died from the exertion, 

 the committee adjourned. Tickets can be obtained at Mr. 

 Blackford's, price five dollars. 



STRENGTH OF HOOKS. 



Ediiar Forest and Stream: 



Through the courtesy of Mr. Mather I have received 

 samples of sproat hooks, manufactured by Samuel Allcock 

 & Co , of Redditch, Eng. They are size No. 5 as nearly as 

 1 can judge, and I have compared them with Harrison's No. 

 4 sproat in the following tests. Each hook was fastened in 

 a vi?e, three-eighths of an inch of the end of the shank being 

 between the jaws. Pressure was applied to the hook by 

 means of a spring scale, coupled to the hook with a small 

 cast iron ring, the inside surface of which offered a practi- 

 cally flat surface for the point of the hook to rest against. 

 Five hooks of each kind were selected indiscriminately. In 

 the flrst test, pressure was applied up to five pounds, in the 

 second six. The following table shows the breaking strain 

 of those which were broken: . 



Allcock . . 

 Harrison.. 



Poimds Pressure. 





s 



4ii* 



5 



6 



6 



6 







5 



^* 



4* 







6 





Pounds Pressure. 



*Broke off under the beard . 



Of those still unbroken one of each kind was tested up to 

 seven pounds, at which point the Allcock hook straightened 

 out to such an extent that it slipped out of the coupling ring 

 and sprung back in such shape that it would still hold a fish 

 under ordinary circumstances. At seven pounds the Harri- 

 son hook slipped out of the ring and broke into pieces, and 

 the only part I could find was the end of the shank between 

 the jaws of the vise. The Harrison books being made of 

 heavier wire should have withstood the harder strain; the 

 opposite, however, was the case. 



While on this subject I will stale that I bought last season 

 of a large tackle dealer in New York half a dozen each of 

 trout and lake flies, that were rated as highest qualit}^; and 

 with what I should call fair ordinary usage the most of them 

 were either broken off under the beards or the beards were 

 broken off. Several of my angling friends have complained 

 of the same trouble, and as the^ hooks were bought of differ- 

 ent dealers, I incline to the belief that a really first-class hook 

 is the exception and not the rule. I inclose the hooks and 

 fragments which remained after the tests. You will note 

 that the three Allcock hooks are still fit to catch fish. 



E. A. Leopold. 



NoHRiSTOWN, Pa.. Sept. 16. 



FLY-CASTING FOR BLACK BASS. 



SOME weeks ago, while at Rawley Springs, Va., I had the 

 pleasure of a trip to Pendleton county, West Virginia, 

 along with my friend, Benjamin Berry, of Baltimore, who i^ 

 one of the most skilled fly-fishermen of the day. We went 

 to fish the South Fork of 'the South Branch of the Potomac 

 for bass; and enjoyed a lovely drive over the mountains and 

 four days' fine sport on the stream. The water was low and 

 extremely clear, and the fish were taking no notice of any 

 sort of bait, but we found them rising readily to the fly and 

 caught as many as we cared to. In that condition of the 

 water bass will, 1 think, always be found to take the fly 

 much better than the bait. 



I agree with Dr. Heushall and so does Mr. Berry, who has 

 devoted himself to trout exclusively for many years, that the 

 future "old reliable" of the game fishes of the' United States 

 is the black bass. In the South Branch we caught exclu- 

 sively the small-mouth variety. It is by some said that both 

 the large and small-mouthed sort are found in the Potomac. 

 I believe they are wrong. I have fished from Long Bridge 

 to the fountain head of the ereat river and have never yet 

 taken a large-mouthed bass in the Potomac or any of its trib- 

 utaries. It is my opinion that a small-mouth black bass of 

 a pound and a half to two and a half weight is as gamy 

 a fish as exists. The bass will rise but once to the fly, 

 rarely indeed a second time, whereas the trout will 

 usually rise a second and even a third time if not 

 struck pretty hard by the hook. Moreover, if the bass 

 fly be but slightly meager in its dress, you are very likely 

 not to get the fish well enough hooked to" hold him. My ex- 

 perience teaches me that a small hook well covered is much 

 better than a large meagerly-dressed fly. A stone-colored or 



light brown wing over a green body perhaps topped with 

 yellow, is about the right color, such as the Seth Green or 

 Ferguson. A stone wing over a red body does very well; 

 but if there are any fall fish about, and thev abound iu the 

 South Fork, they seem to be so thoroughly'infatuated with 

 the red that you will have to catch all of them out of a pool 

 before you get at the bass. Of course, aU fly-casters know 

 that it is pretty much of an effort to cast three large heavily 

 feathered flies with a delicate rod. I often discard the tra- 

 ditional whip and use only one fly. My experience is that 

 95 per cent, of the bass are hooked on the stretcher at any 

 rate, the droppers are of no use. 



Bass fishers know that you must make a good long cast to 

 get at bass in clear water. Fly-casting for bass is the ana- 

 logue of still-hunting deer. I advise the use of a light trout 

 rod with a long leader and one moderate-sized, stout-bodied 

 and ample-winged fly. I don't hke hackles for bass. If the 

 water is smooth and glassj^, don't cast in that place until the 

 breeze riffles the surface; it will be "no good." 



In wading, discard all boots and waterproofs. Get a pair 

 of hob-nailed, broad-bottomed brogans, fitting comfortably 

 over wool socks, and a rather close-fitting pair of blue cotton 

 pants, and a short-tailed gray flannel .shirt, no Coat, but a 

 short jacket of canvas, and take the water waist deep with- 

 out hesitation. Keep wet while you are fishing and dry 

 yourself as soon as you are done. This beats all the gum 

 boots and water-proof breeches out of sight. Some say fish 

 up stream, some say fish down. My rule is to take the pool 

 so as to keep the deep water where the fish lie on my left 

 hand, whether in so doing I must begin at the top or bottom 

 of the pool. 



There is one art in getting bass to rise to the fly, that is to 

 say, don't scarce the fish by plunging and slashing around ; 

 be deliberate, keep out of sight, and mind what you are 

 about. If you are looking at the clouds, or scratching your 

 head, or changing your quid when the fish rises you are cer- 

 tain not to get him. Any good fly-rod will do. One of the 

 best I have tried I made myself about fifteen years ago, mid- 

 dle joint and tip. hornbeam, butt red cedar. I am just finish- 

 ing a very beautiful rod of Osage orange, or so-called bois 

 d'arc. I think it will perform wefl. This wood is one of 

 the most beautiful when polished, and makes a bow three 

 times as good as the best lancewood. Split bamboo will do 

 when one can't do better. An ash rod with lancewood tip 

 is good. Hornbeam is the best, I have tried all kinds. 



M. G. Ellzet, M. D. 



THE STRIPED BASS LAW. 



THE following from the Brooklyn EagleyriW be of interest 

 to our striped bass fishermen. We have referred to 

 this subject before, and in our editorial columns will be 

 found reference to it again. The Eagle says: 



The Anglers' Association of the St. Lawrence, of which 

 Mr. John Flannegan, editor of the Utica Observer, was, 

 president, caused to be introduced into the last Legislature 

 an amendment to the game laws passed in 1879. In the 

 amendment was the clause that "no person shall expose for 

 sale or have in his possession, after the same has been killed, 

 any black bass, Oswego bass, striped bass or muscalouge, 

 salve only from the twentieth day of May to the first day of 

 .lanuary." This amendment was passed by the Legislature 

 May 9, and soon after received the Governor's signature. It 

 was then transmitted to the State Pish Commissioners — 

 Robert B. Roosevelt, of New York; Richard U. Sherman, of 

 New Hartford; Eugene G. Blackford, of Brooklyn, and 

 Wilham M. Bowman, of Rochester, for enforcement. 



There come lothe New York markets (from which all the 

 Brooklyn markets are supplied) two kinds of striped bass — 

 the fresh-water fish and the salt-water fish. Tbe former is 

 found in lakes in the northwestern part of the State, and 

 very rarely gets as far south as the New York market. But 

 of the salt-water bass during the months of Pebraary and 

 March, between one and five tons arrive each day from South 

 Carolina, which is the principal place of supply. After the 

 season for other fish has closed'and during the Lenten sea- 

 son, the salt-water striped bass is about the only fish worth 

 much that the dealers have to offer. By the wording of the 

 amendment, however, the importation or sale of this'tishwas 

 prohibited except from May 20 to Jan. 1. Commissioner 

 Blackford said to an Eagle reporter: "I saw that the enforce- 

 ment of this amendment would work a great injury to the 

 fish dealers' interests in this State, to the extent of between 

 $200,000 and $300,000 a year, as near as I could estimate, 

 and I at once called a meeting of the Fish Mongers' Associa- 

 tion here in New York, in order to get the general sentiment. 

 They all looked upon the matter as I had,"and believed that 

 the change must have been brought about by somebody hav- 

 ing malicious intent, or who was wholly ignorant of tlielaws 

 governing fisheries. I also wrote to ray colleagues and at 

 the same time tried to find out who instigated the change. I 

 found that it had been passed at the wish of the Anglers' As- 

 sociation of the St. Lawrence, a pleasure club. I received 

 letters from the other Commissioners, who had come to the 

 same conclusion as myself on the subject, that is, that this 

 Anglers' Association, with an eye to the protection of fish 

 in the lakes and other waters of this State, had ignorantly or 

 carelessly given such wording to the measure that a literal 

 reading of it would not only have bearing upon the striped 

 ba.ss in the waters within the State, but also govern striped 

 bass indigenous to waters outside of the State. I wrote to 

 the Anglers' Association to ascertain their intention, and re- 

 ceived the following reply from the secretary: 



Albant, July 2. 1SS.3. 

 Exigene G. Blackford, New York State Fish Commissioner: 



Dear Sib— The sti-iped bass referred to in the law means 

 the fresh-water striped bass and no other. This fish has w^liat 

 may be called lateral stripes, which run around the body, and 

 is entirely diflerent from the others. The question was raised 

 while the biU was before the Senate and it was distinctly un- 

 derstood that it was the fresh-water lish, and nothing else, 

 which was intended by the law. 



In the game law which has been in force since 1879 striped 

 bass has been constantly mentioned in connection mth the 

 other fresh-water game fish. Under the old law it was illegal 

 to have it in possession. We have never had any doubts as to 

 the meaning of the old law. that it was illegal to have it in 

 possession during the closed season, but in amending the law 

 on some other points we merely made the law more clear, and 

 in doing so mentioned precisely the same fish that were men- 

 tioned in the old law. 



I sincerely regret that it is causing you and other honorable 

 dealers any trouble or worry, but you will see that there is no 

 reason for it, and if there was our association cannot be held 

 responsible, for as to this part of the new law it was the old 

 one re-enacted. Yours very truly, 



W, W. Byington. 



"By this," continued Commissioner Blackford, "it was clear 

 that the law did not intend that the importation of salt-water 



