Oct. 8, 1885,] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



209 



especially afraid that Joe's lamentations would excite in- 

 quiry, wMcb would shortly lead to an interview with his 

 father in which a "hickory" would perform a prominent 

 prirt ; so there was every iacEulive for Herman to soothe 

 Joe's lacerated feelings and endeavor to hush liis cries of 

 anguish. There was a running "branch" not far off, and 

 Herman was lugging- Joe along to the branch in order to 

 obliterate as far as possible the traces of his disaster. Joe, 

 in much tribulation and sorrow, with his eyes fast closed, 

 was weeping and sobbing^vigorously. as is the wont of small 

 hoys under such misadventures. Herman all the while using 

 his best endeavors to quiet him. Suddenly between his 

 deep-drawn and distressful sobs Joe jerked out, ' 'Herman, 

 did you kill ary peckerwoodV" A.nd so ends mv story. 



Ouachita. 



Address all comnmnicalions to the Forest and Stream PublMi- 

 ing Co. 



THE COMING TOURNAMENT. 



AS stated in our last issue, the Committee of Arrangements 

 postponed the date of meeting to Wednesday, Oct. 21. 

 for reasons given. Several more prizes have come in, and 

 it is expected to have the score-book ready for distribution 

 at an early day. The prize cominiltce will probably arrange 

 the list next week and we will publish it in full. The con- 

 densation of the classes so that the tournament can be finished 

 in one day seems to be a good feature and meets with 

 approval. TJndcr the new arrangement there will be but one 

 class for amateurs in single-handed fly-casting, and but one 

 for the experts, instead of three for the former and two for 

 the latter, as in previous years. 



The changes in the rules, as published last week, is the 

 result of experience in former years; but whether they are 

 yet perfect remains to he seen. The rule of last year in 

 casting for accuracy was that the contestant should have 

 twenty-five casts at a float and should score one for each 

 time it was touched. This seemed perfection at the time, 

 but it was found that the general accuracy of some who 

 seldom struck the float was much better than that of others 

 whose flies touched it more frequently, and this test has 

 been abandoned and the matter of accuracy left entirely with 

 the judges. In minnow casting for hlack bass the rules now 

 allow casting overliand as well as underhand, and as many 

 use the rod in this manner it seems to be a good change. As 

 tills contest will probably take place on land, the committee 

 did not think favorably of the proposition to use a wooden 

 minnow. 



Tn heavy bass casting the abolition of the lane will show 

 some increased distances, and is an experiment worth try- 

 ing. Those who rememher the tremendous cast of Mr. Chas. 

 Murray, two years ago, when his line went over the top of 

 the willow tree in such a manner that the distance could not 

 be recorded, will not he surprised to see all former records 

 beaten. This class comes next to the single-handed fly-cast- 

 ing in popular interest and leads the salmon class; in fact 

 the latter class never seems to bring forth much enthusiasm, 

 while the interest in the minnow casting for black hass is 

 quite feeble, owing to the fact that it is a style not in use in 

 the East, where most of the contestants fish. The indica- 

 tions are that the tournament will call out a goodly number 

 of contestants, and will equal in interest any former one'. 



LIVE EELS FOR STRIPED BASS BAIT. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I wish to call the attention of those who fish for striped 

 bass to my experience with the live eel as the most con- 

 venient and alluring of all baits. I think if my brother 

 fishermen will give the eel a trial where there are bass they 

 will receive most generous returns. While not claiming to 

 be the first to use live eels, I have yet to see any account 

 when or where they have been so used successfully. 



Sand worms proved to be an attractive bait, huf they were 

 very perishable, and thinking that live eels might prove a 

 greater attraction, I obtained some small ones, say from six 

 to nine inches long, and xised them for small bass. I kept 

 the eels in a car or box suitably made for the purpose. I 

 afterward obtained larger eels, say ten to eighteen inches 

 long, by nieans of setting regular eel pots. These eels 

 were used for larger bass, and were also kept in properly 

 made cars. Most of my bass fishing was done from a boat, 

 taking the car or cars iiito the boat when on the move, and 

 putting them into the water when anchored, or when laid up 

 for the night. Eels may be kept in this way for weeks, and 

 perhaps months, without food. I kept some of the small 

 ■ones over a month without one of them dying. 



The following are some of the results of using the smaller 

 aive eels, 6 to 9in. long, on the 6th of August, this year: I 

 'took six hass, weighing 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5 pounds. On the day 

 -after I took nine bass, of 3. 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 7, 10, 16 pounds 

 weight; on another day four bass of 3, 4, 4, 5 pounds 

 weight; on another, three bass of 3, 11, 15 pounds weight; 

 on another, three bass of 4, o, 9 pounds weight; on another, 

 five bass of 7, 7, lO, 31,16 pounds weight. There then appeared 

 indications of the arrival of larger bass, and I then used 

 larger eels for bait, and the other fishermen, seeing my suc- 

 cess, also used the live eel. 



The first large bass was caught on the 7th of September by 

 a brother fisherman and weighed 51^ pounds, and in a day 

 or two another bass was taken weighing 53 pounds, and the 

 next day a 40-pounder was taken. 1 gaffed the above three 

 fish for my friends. On the 13th of September I caught a 

 48-pounder, a friend gaffing him, and on the 15th I caught 

 a 40-pounder in a two mile an hour tide run on a very light 

 rod and reel with a nine-thread line and a 6-0 hook, and 

 iifter the fish had taken some 500 feet of line I reeled him in 

 .against the tide and gaffed him myself and took him into 

 the boat. A day . or two after another friend took a 55- 

 pounder and on the 30th I took a 30-pounder. 



In looking over my record of bass I find I have caught 

 ;since th 5th of August over fifty bass with the live eel, 

 :averaging over eight pounds each; during the season up to 

 the 1st of October I have taken eighty-three striped bass, 

 .averaging nearly eight pounds each, and I credit most of my 

 success, together with that of my companion, to the use of 

 the live eel as a bait. In using the eel I hook it upward 

 Ihrough both jaws a little in front of the eyes, and in most, 

 but not in all, of my fishing with the eel I trolled it out from 

 the boat in the tide run which was strong enough to pre- 

 yent the eel from swimming to the bottom or tying itself into 



a knot. I use a dry towel or cloth in handling or hooking 

 on the eel, this prevents unnecessary squeezing or hurting it, 

 for the livelier they are the more alluring they must, of 

 course, be. T caught a number of bass by casting out the 

 eel and slowly reeling it in, and even when there is no cur- 

 rent either io casting from the boat or shore the live eel will 

 be found to give the best returns of any bait now known, 



To give an illustration from the fishing of one of the most 

 expert soft crab fisherman I know of; 1 induced him to try a 

 live eel some sixteen inches Ions:, and he soon caught an 

 eighlcen-pounder, and up to that time this year he had caught 

 notldng largei- than seven pounds, and all my friends who 

 have made the trial, emphatically assert that the live eel is 

 the bait. Live eels enough for the day's use can be taken in 

 a pale or basket and kept alive for the day if properly pro- 

 tected from the sun. Megalops. 



New York, Oct. 1, 1885. 



THE RANGELEY TROUT SUPPLY. 



IT cannot be denied that appearances superficially show a 

 decided decline in the volume of trout in the la.st decade. 

 I say superficially because no one has made a general esti- 

 mate of the catch from one year to anothoi', and the most of 

 men who think they see trout growing less from year to year 

 Irave no good chance to make comparisons except by their 

 own catches, and those are subject to so many influences of 

 chance that no true estimate can be so formed from any one 

 man's experience. 



Hotel keepers near the fishing grounds have of course the 

 best chance to know the facts, but if they discover a de- 

 crea.se in the catch it is not for their interest to publish it. 

 Some years are more favorable than others for securing 

 trout, and also more favorable for the trout. Very much 

 depends on the state of the water and the rainfall through 

 the whole open season, and as much perhaps on the atmos- 

 phere. A long siege of hot, dry, calm weather in the fall 

 fishing season will keep back the fish from their feeding 

 haunts, and if some work on to the favorite places where 

 they are expected and fished for, they will not rise in such 

 weather. 



\Ne must not lose sight of the fact that there are hundreds 

 more fishermen who visit our lakes now than ten years ago; 

 and this would seem to diminish the average as well as the 

 individual catch, for very few new places are found where 

 fish congregate from year to year, and the guides take all 

 parlies to the same old places, as a rule. And who cannot 

 see that the general catch is divided into smaller strings? 

 More than this, the dams at the outlets of each lake have 

 been built higher within a few years, which flows the water 

 back further "into the woods, making new feeding places for 

 trout and shelter or retreat for thousands of small and large 

 fish, and that, too, where it is not convenient for anglers to 

 follow them; and who shall say that there are not new places 

 where trout congregate — good fishing grounds somewhere in 

 these new pools, formed by the higher flood of the lakes, 

 that have not yet been discovered. It is evident to us all 

 that the extra Ti.se of the lakes gives a greater chance for the 

 small fry to feed in security and grow unmolested; and we 

 have good reason to conclude that the lakes are now being 

 replenished, quietly and unobserved, in a manner that in a 

 few years shall exceed our most sanguine hopes and astonish 

 the frequent visitors to our lakes. 



It is not only my opinion, but that of the Fisli Commis- 

 sioners and others who have good opportunities to judge, 

 that large trout have materially diminished of late 'years, 

 so that comparatively few of the largest sizes are now taken. 

 One reason for this is that anglers have found the most of 

 the places where they congregate preparatory to going on 

 to their spawning beds, and diligently and persistently fish 

 for them day after day, rain or shine, and take every fisb 

 that will rise, and so lessen the school of big ones. I am 

 now referring to the largest brook trout which run together 

 in masses, all of nearly the same .size, or at least of two 

 pounds weight and upward. One-pound trout, as a rule, 

 spawn in entirely different localities and by themselves, and 

 commonly earlier in the season by some weeks. This is not, 

 however, exclusively so, for many one-pound trout are often 

 mixed with larger ones on their spawning grounds. 



It is thought by many good judges that there are more 

 trout taken in the spring of the 3'ear now than formerly, 

 and that there are as many or more trout in number in the 

 lakes now than in previous years, but that they are less in 

 size. This is probably true. 



I am indebted to Hon. Henry O. Stanley, of Dixfield, Me. 

 —one of our Fish and Game Commissioners — for figures as 

 well as important facts in regard to artificial distribution of 

 trout and salmon in the Eangeleys for the past ten years. 

 Mr. Stanley says he has lost his minutes of the number of 

 trout fry distributed, but judges that between two and three 

 millions have been put into the Rangeley water since 1875, and 

 of land-locked salmon up to 1881 fifty thousand in all, and 

 two hundred thousand since. He thinks we are now having 

 the benefit of the fifty thousand first put in only andsavs: 

 "More salmon have been taken this season than ever before." 

 Now, if it be a fact that we get no benefit from the planting 

 of trout fry under six years, we may soon expect an abund- 

 ant harvest, for the most of these two or three millions have 

 been distributed since 1880. This we think encouraging. 

 Mr. Stanley further says "small fry are abundant in all the 

 brooks and streams of the upper lakes." The dams across 

 the outlets of the several lakes have gradually changed the 

 feeding and spawning grounds of all the fishes in these lakes, 

 and they are still very unsettled in their migratory habits, so 

 that there are doubtless many more trout in the aggregate in 

 these waters than is generally supposed or than can be 

 estimated. 



There always have been and are now, indlvidaal cases 

 where anglers have had no success fishing for trout in their 

 visits to these lakes, and sometimes their catch has been so 

 much less than anticipated that they have called it a failure. 

 I have often known one party to take a big string on a 

 certain day, and the next day another party to have no luck. 

 Fishing is uncertain, as we all know who have spent the 

 best of our days at it. There are so muny influences, pro or 

 con, which alter the conditions necessary to success, as — 



The height of the water, 



The condition of the weather. 



The whereabouts of the fish. 



Tfie appetite of the game when found. 



The manner of fishing or the cunning of the angler. 



I sometimes read— even in Forest and Stream— the ex- 

 perience of a party who has visited our lakes and had poor 

 success, and who avers that the troirting has played out. I 

 always think of these men— if they had been here at such a 

 time, and seen such a party's catch, they would have formed 

 a different opinion. Had they taken that eight or ten- 



pounder that such a one caught the week before, they would 

 have written more hopefully. 



On the Kennebago River on the 14th day of October, 1884, 

 the Fish Commissioners of Maine turned out between '1 00 

 and 500 trout of all sizes from eight pounds and less. The.se 

 trout had been captured to secure their spawn for artificial 

 hatciiiug, and no prettier sight could be imagined than these 

 beauties sparkling in the sun with ah the colors of the rain- 

 bow, their bright vermillion spots glistening with untold 

 splendor, as Ihey scampered away out of our weir to the 

 waters of freedom. 



These lakes are not to be depleted in a hurry of the famous 

 ten-pounders that have made the liangeleys famous. In all 

 our observation and experience on and about these waters, 

 we conclude: 



First— That the largest sized trout have diminished in 

 number. 



Second — That smaller trout are more abundant now than 

 in any time within the last ten years. 



Third — Tl at on the whole there is great encouragement. 

 With the present yearly repletion our supply will continue 

 to give pleasure to the thousands of anfilers who visit our 

 wilderness and lakes. J. CI. R. 



BETHEXi, Me. 



ANDROSCOGGIN WATERS. 



THE trout season at the Androscoggin Lakes, in Maine, 

 came to a more prosperous ending from the angler's 

 point of view than the early September foretold. During 

 the first of that month the fishing had the name of being 

 very poor. Repairinir the breach at the Upper Dam and the 

 consequent stopping of all the water by a coffer dam at Trout 

 Cove, utterly destroyed the fishing, both above and below the 

 dam, on the grounds heretofore so celebrated for big trout 

 and remarkable catches. This cut off a great slice of terri- 

 tory usually giving a chance for from ten to thirty sports- 

 men every day during September, and in consequence a 

 large number of fishermen were like the trout themselves, 

 demoralized, and did not know where to go. A few trout 

 gathered in the pool below the pumping works at the foot of 

 the dam, and there was some fishing at the mouth of the 

 river, but it was not; generally satisfactory. Some of the 

 regular visitors to this celebrated trout ground at once 

 "packed their kits" and turned for home when they saw the 

 situation of affairs. Others fled to Parmacheene, Kennebago 

 or the Seven Ponds. At any rate there have been very few 

 fi.shermen at the Upper Dam the past September. 



But those lovers of the sport who kept their cotu'age up, 

 as all successful sportsmen must, and sought other locations, 

 have been awarded with fair September catches. One 

 remarkable catch is recorded. Mr. John Prentice, of JSTew 

 York, took Sept. 28, off Brandy Point, Lake Mooselucma- 

 guntic, a remarkable trout, Sahno fontlnalin, which weighed 

 lO-l pounds. It measured 274inches in length and was fully 

 8i inches deep. Appleton & Litchfield's window in this city- 

 was ornamented with it a couple of days* It was a male 

 fish, though the hook on the under jaw was less prominent 

 than usual on large trout of that class just before the 

 breeding season. The hook was much less prominent 

 than on the celebrated Marble trout taken at the Upper Dam, 

 Sept. 29, 1880, and now in the possession of the Smithsonian 

 Institute. This specimen is said to have weighed 11 pounds, 

 but your correspondent had the good fortune to see the fish 

 before it was dead, and when it av as first weighed. This 

 was done with old steelyards, the best there were at hand, 

 which were capable of weighing but 10 pounds on one side, 

 and the other side was broken down and bent in the hooks. 

 In order to weigh the fish a little pebble was required in 

 addition to the steelyard weight to balance him. The fish 

 caught by Mr. Prentice was Ear more symmetrical than the 

 Marble fish, said to be the largest iSalmo fontinalis on record. 

 Its coloring was remarkably bright and perfect. Other large 

 fish have also been taken this fall. In fact, the fall record 

 shows larger fish this year than last, but not so the spring. 



It is claimed that the Prentice fish was taken with a 

 toodlebug fly, but it would require the unqualified statement 

 of the successful capturer to make the writer believe it. It 

 was also stated that the Marble fish rose to a fly. But those 

 who saw the operations of Marble's guide in a boat directly 

 over a spawning bed where the big trout had been seen for 

 several days are obliged to doubt the fly part of the story. 

 Such trout are down to the spawning beds each autumn, and 

 the disgusted fisherman who casts his best files over them for 

 days without a rise is strongly tempted to jig them up — an 

 operation as easy as wicked. It is much to be hoped that 

 Mr. Prentice will state over his own signature in the Fokest 

 AND STHE.4.M, corroberated by his guide, just how his big 

 trout was taken. Trout with all tlie force of reproduction 

 upon them do not feed, much less come to the surface to our 

 artificial fly. 



It is pleasing to note how general is the dropping of fish- 

 ing tackle at the Androscoggin waters when the close season 

 begins on Oct. 1. This year the haunts were deserted 

 promptly, although the weather was fine. But the law is 

 respected in Maine by all true sportsmen. One of the camps 

 on Richardson Lake, Camp Whitney, was closed by the 

 firing of a salute as the little steam launch of the owner left 

 the landing with his wife and family on board. They had 

 been in camp five months. Trout have graced their table all 

 summer long as often as desired. Indeed this should alwaj^s 

 be the case, and might be the case at the Androscoggin 

 lakes were the abominable struggle for the boxful to take 

 out as trophies abandoned, as many sensible fishermen have 

 abandoned it. Trout enough for the camp table should sat- 

 isfy any reasonable man. The idea of "a box of trout" to 

 one's friends should be set aside with the term "speckled 

 beauties" and other marks of the greenhorn. The writer 

 was so fortunate as to be in camp nine days, catching twenty 

 trout. The largest weighed four pounds and the smallest 

 not less than one pound. The average must have been about 

 two pounds. Here were at lea.'st forty poonds of trout for 

 one camp. It was enough, though none were suffered to 

 waste. Every fish was caught with a fly. Two were landed 

 at one cast. Witli this record the writer is content to live 

 and dream over his fly-rods till another year. Special. 



[This is, we beheve, the third in size of the Eastern brook 

 trout. There is a cast in the National Museum at Washing- 

 ton of a trout which weighed eleven and a half pounds. We 

 think the fish came from Maine, but do not know" who 

 caught it. Then there is the trout that brought so much 

 glory to our genial friend, George Shepard Page, which 

 weighed ten pounds three weeks after capture, and which, it 

 is claimed, must have weighed at least twelve when caught. 

 This last fish was taken in the Rangeley Lakes of Maine, and 

 its capture raised a controversy as to its species at the time 

 whicla was settled by the highest authority in the land. Gill 

 and Jordan, to be a brook trout.] 



