230 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Oct. 15, 1885. 



every scfjond that the line would part or tlie little book snap. 

 What would I not have given for ray old tackle with its 

 three hundred feet of silk line, 



"Great Scott, what are you hitched, to'?"' gasped John. 

 "Don't know ! Up anchor, quick, and do your best to help 

 me with the boat. " 



As tlie boat moved 1 lifted all I dared on the flsh and suc- 

 ceeded in guiding him ai ound and around the boat, and as 

 he completed the circle the second time he vaulted into the 

 air, snapping his jaws together with a sound like the spring- 

 ing? of a steel trap. "A muscalonge! and a whopper!" 

 shouted John, excitedly waving the gall about, greatly 

 end.ingeriDg our heads. 



Now the fish makes a rush straight for the boat, and I 

 conclude that the game is up, but a powerful stroke of the 

 paddle, wielded by nay brother's nervous hands, averts that 

 danger. 



Five, eight, ten minutes of the incessant strain, and I ara 

 actually gettino- tired, and, fortunately, so is the fish. Once 

 more I pursuade him to imitate the immortal Andy and 

 "swing around the circle," and by standing upright on the 

 seat I succeed in compelling him to contract his orbit. 

 "Ready with the gaff. John, strike." John's movement was 

 sure, his aim strong, and the fish was quickly lifted from his 

 native element and deposited in the boat. Twenty-four 

 hours after being taken from the water he pulled the scales 

 down to .seventeen and a half pounds. 



Hardly wa.s the muscalonge in the boat when a strong 

 breeze from the west sent the whitecaps rolling in upon us 

 with such force that our low-sidetl boat shipped more water 

 than was at all agreeable. Rurminu in close to the shore, 

 and finding somewhat of shelter Itehind a long strip of rushes, 

 we endeavored (o work our way around a headland, where 

 the watei' wnuld be comparatively calm, but it was slow, 

 toilsome work. "O for a drink of good cool water," mur- 

 murs Jacob, wiping tlie perspiration from his flushed face. 

 ^ 'All right," I answer, "pull for that bunch of willows. 

 Unless the drought has dried it up, a spring brook runs into 

 the Jake there." Springing from the boat, I found the bed 

 of the brook quite dry, but by following it up twelve or 

 fifteen rods I found a spring of beautifully clear cool water, 

 on the margin of which stood a sleek fawn. What a beau- 

 tiful jacket the little fellow wore, and what a look of inno- 

 cence and trust in his large hmpid eyes. Keen sportsman 

 that T am, I would no more have shot that fawn than mur- 

 der the son and heir of my dearest friend; and to my notion 

 a man who will kill a fawn, unless it is a question of meat 

 or starvation , ought to be hung without benefit of clergy. 

 As I advanced to the spring the fawn bounded away, leaving 

 me in peaceful possession, Shoutiua to my companions to 

 come on, that I had found the spring, T waited for them sev- 

 eral minutes, and as they failed to come, I took a short cut 

 for the boat. They were not there. Three-quarters of an 

 hour later they put in an appearance, puffing like porpoises. 

 They had tracked me to the spring, and finding no return 

 tracks, jumped to the conclusion that I was lost, and had 

 been running and shouting through the woods. Peace was 

 restored by my promising not to leave the boat again unless 

 a hook was fastened to my coat tail, with the end of the line 

 tied to Jacob's finger. After a hard pull, and no little danger 

 of swamping our overloaded craft, we reached the extreme 

 northern end of the lake, and landing upon the white sandy 

 beach passed a quiet yet pleasant hour in gathering shells 

 and culling rare and fragrant flowers in the adjacent wood- 

 laud. A few yards from the water side, in a thicket of 

 rushes, we found where a bear had recently made its bed, 

 and judging by the fish bones lying around," concluded that 

 his bearship was a fisherman of no inconsiderable skill. His 

 tracks, in the wet and yielding sand, demonstrated that he 

 was a monster in size. A few months later a neighbor of 

 mine, only a short distance from the lake, shot a male bear, 

 which weighed, after the entrails were removed, 350 pounds. 

 Perhaps he was the one whose bed we found. 



Launching forth once more, we pulled down the western 

 shore, where the heavily timbered bluffs largely sheltered us 

 from the force of the wind and made flshing"possible. Near 

 the inlet of the lake — it has no known outlet — ^we cast an- 

 chor and wet our lines again. For quite a while only sun 

 perch deigned to notice our plebeian bait, and then, as sud- 

 denly lis the evening before, the battle opened all along the 

 line. Jacob comically compared the sunperch to sappers 

 and miners, doing temporary duty as skirmishers and cov- 

 ering the approach of the main body. The pickerel he 

 classed as cavalry, bass as inf an try and pike as heavy artil- 

 lery, and certainly they came down upon us horse, foot and 

 dragoons. They came but returned not. When we repaired 

 to dinner forty-seven fish, averaging 8 lbs. 10 ozs. each, were 

 taken from the boat, and this with the muscalonge not reck- 

 oned. Let no one have the notion that we were catching 

 'fish simply to have them cast aside and wasted. Every fish 

 was cleaned, salted and packed down, both of my compan- 

 ions being desirous to secure half a barrel for future use. 



About 8 o'clock in the afternoon the wind moderated to a 

 gentle breeze, and we decided to row up the eastern shore of 

 the lake and once more try the cove where the muscalonge 

 was captured. "I say, Colonel," exclaimed John, turning 

 to me as we were about entering the boat. "I'll put up a 

 target on that oak yonder and try you three shots with my 

 rifle; if I make the best score you shall do all the rowing 

 this afternoon, and if you beat I'll handle the oars." 

 "Agreed! Up with your target and fire your three shots." 



1 knew that John was an extra good marksman with the 

 rifle, and also that from long use thereof he had unhmited 

 confidence in his gun. My only hope of success rested on 

 the certainty that after his first shot John would become 

 slightly nervous, while I, on the contrary, as my chances 

 diminished, would become calmer and steadier. I wonder 

 if I am an exception in this peculiarity? 1 can do as poor 

 shooting with the lifle as any man 1 ever saw, and yet if 

 anything of importance depended upon it, my nerves would 

 be under absolute control and my shot would be a center 

 one. The target, a bit of paper an inch square, was 

 fastened to tlie oak by a nail through the center, fifteen rods 

 paced off, and John blazed away. All three of his shots, 

 the first being the best, left their impress on the paper, but 

 the nail was untouched. My first shot equalled his poorest 

 one, my second his best, and my third drove the nail. 

 "Confound it," muttered John, "1 might have known better 

 than to have arranged for more than one shot with you. 1 

 can always beat you on a single shot and you are sure to win 

 if we try three." 



Arriving at the GOve Jacob was the first to wet his hne, 

 and almost instantly he raised the shout, "I've got the big 

 brother of your muscalonge, Frank!" But instead of that 

 being the case, his line after a very brief but vigorous con- 

 test came up minus the hook. My first cast— and I had 

 that good old orthodox bait, a frog— was to the windward; 



even as the frog touched the water I started back in affright, 

 for up from the depths below came a veritable monster, with 

 huge distended jaws which snapped together with such focre 

 that my companions turned hastily to ascertain what danger 

 threatened them. My poor frog appeared, in that enormous 

 mouth, like a baby mouse in a railroad tunnel, "Hooked!" 

 vociferated John. Yes, hooked, certainly ; but then I had 

 no expectation of holding the fellow with my miserable 

 tackle. For a moment I held him near the surface, and then 

 with a sweep of his tail that sent numberless drops of water 

 into the air, he slowly and majestically retired, taking my 

 hook and several feet of my line along with him. Up to 

 date my property has not been returned. I know that a lost 

 fish is always a "whopper," and the estimated weight usually 

 exaggerated; but I am confident that the one of which 1 

 speak was fully four and a half feet in length and Avould 

 weigh forty pounds. If any reader of Forest and Stream 

 doubts it and will come here next June we will go over and 

 get the fish and settle all controversy. 



"I know just how you feel. Colonel," said John, with a 

 world of sympathy in voice anrl expression. "Please inform 

 me then, for I really don't know myself." "Why, just f.s 

 though you had popped the question and been shown the 

 door." With a hearty laugh all round, though my merri- 

 ment ended with a sigh of regret, we again addressed our- 

 selves to btisiness; but though we used every enticement at 

 our command not even a nibble rewarded our efforts. The 

 "leviathan" had evidently frightened all small fry away, 

 and we finally pulled across to the inlet. There, as long as 

 our frogs lasted — we had only secured a few from a meadow 

 near camp — the bass bit ravenously, giving us magnificent 

 sport. Frequently we would all be playing a fish at the 

 same time, and once three noble bass, each securely hooked, 

 vaulted into the air at the same instant. 



Absorbed in our sport, we took no heed of external sur- 

 roundings until a sudden gloom and the heavy rumble of 

 distant thunder aroused us to the fact that the si orm king 

 had marshalled his foi'ces and was swiftly sweeping down 

 upon us. With long, powerful strokes John sent our craft 

 toward the tent, which we reached just as the first large 

 drops begfn to fall. The heaviest of the storm swept round 

 to the southward and but little rain fell where we were; but 

 up the lake we could see that the water was ]a.shed to foam, 

 the air filled with dust, leaves, and even large branches torn 

 from the trees by the fury of the wind ; the lightning glared 

 and glinted against the somber background; how the thunder 

 crashed and rumbled until the very earth quivered and 

 trembled as if in terror at the elemental strife raging above. 

 A few moments and the clouds had disappeared, the sun 

 shone out, seemingly more radiant than before, and not a 

 ripple disturbed the perfect tranquillity of the lake. We were 

 not in the mood for fishing again that evening, and at an 

 early hour we sought our beds of fragrant hay. 1 had been 

 sleeping, I know not how long, when a savage growl from 

 Dandy, Avho wa-s serving as my pillow, aroused me to the 

 consciousness that a cowbell was tinkling close to the tent, 



"Don't let the dog out," exclaimed John, starting up. 

 "and I'll catch that cow and get some milk for our coffee in 

 the morning." 



Pulling on his boots and seizing a pail in which to secure 

 the coveted fluid, he.sallied forth into the darkness, followed 

 by Jacob, who was also eager for the spoil. "Coa! Coa! 

 So, so," I hear them call in tones of dulcet sweetness. "Well, 

 did you get any milk?" I inquired as they returned. "Milk!" 

 snarled John, "that bell was on Lew Hansen's old horse." 



Immediately after breakfast we went to the inlet and en- 

 deavored to obtain some minnows, but not one could be ob- 

 tained, neither did a search of the meadows yield more than 

 half a dozen frogs. To be sure we had a couple of trolling 

 spoons in our outfit, but as neither of us was partial to that 

 sort of angling we were obliged to return to the old bait. 

 During the forenoon our success was exceedingly ])oor, 

 scarcely a fish coming to the landing net, save "flat.sides," 

 with which the lake seemed to be literally swarming. I did 

 have a moment of excitement, and in this wise. Tired of 

 such poor sport T had allowed my hook to sink to the bot- 

 tom, and was lazily watching a pair of loons out in the lake, 

 when I became aware that my line was taut and the rod slip- 

 ping through my hands. Springing up 1 pulled away and 

 brought to the surface an enormous great turtle. Hook and 

 sinker were out of sight down his throat, and there was 

 nothing to do but cut the line as near his mouth as possible 

 and let the ugly thing go. Drawing him close to the boat I 

 reached over, knife in hand, to cut the line, when, presto, 

 he sent the knife spinning out into the lake. 



Our failure of the morning was amply compensated by the 

 success of the afternoon; from four until five we actually 

 worked too hard for sport. Off a steep bank, where the 

 bottom afforded excellent feeding ground, we struck a school 

 of bass and pike that seemingly had been fasting for days. 

 My experience in fishing covers more than thirty years, and 

 all the way from Maine to Montana, but the results of that 

 hour surpassed any previous experience. 



In the midst of our excitement there came the report of a 

 rifle from the direction of the tent. Three times the rifle 

 was discharged, with regular intervals of half a minute be- 

 tween each shot. "Up anchor, gentlemen; we must hasten 

 to camp," "Why? What for?" "Those three shots were 

 fired either by my wife or her order; it is a private signal to 

 call me if within hearing. Listen, and if at the end of a 

 minute two more shots are fired in rapid succession, they 

 will mean make haste. Even as I spoke the two shots were 

 fired. Reaching the tent, we found a messenger who 

 brought the sad intelligence that not only was there sickness, 

 but also death, in the village, and that my return was im- 

 peratively demanded. 



So ended my trip to Long Lake. I cannot close, however, 

 without a more direct word to those who may be planning 

 for a summer's vacation. It is ten rods from where I write 

 to the shore of Swan Lake, a magnificent body of water. 

 Twenty rods northwest from the head of Swan is Mous 

 Lake. Half a mile from Mons is Bass Lake. Less than a 

 mile from Bass is Long Lake. Three miles west of Swan is 

 Big Swan Lake, and two miles south is Moose Lake. All 

 these lakes (they are from one to five miles in length) afford 

 excellent fishing. I should be more than glad to show these 

 lakes to any reader of the dear old Forest and Stream 

 who can honestly lay claim to being "a manly sportsman." 

 No others need apply. J. Frank Locke. 



PlLLSBURY, Minn. 



Experience with Minnow Boxes.— ^Louisville, Ky. — 



Some time since I wrote you with reference to a minnow 

 box, that is, what kind of box would keep minnows alive in 

 lake water where there is no current. Would it be asking 

 too much for you to ask your readers who have had experi- 

 ence in this matter to give their views?— L. T. R. 



The Ichthyophaqous Ci/DB — The following invitation 

 has been issued and can be obtained by n on members if 

 properly vouched for; Dear SrR— The Ichthyophagous Club 

 will hold its annual dinner at the Buckingham Hotel, on 

 Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 6:30 P. M., and will be plea.sed to 

 have your assistance in sampling the varied collection of 

 aquatic life, which has been collected for experiment in de- 

 termining its value as food. The Club points with pride to 

 the very low rate of mortality at its tables, and the fact that 

 the insurance companies no longer class its members as "extra 

 hazardous." This result has been attained by not allowing 

 the younger members to indulge too freely in EncJiytneus 

 triventralopeetinatus, or in t^trongyloeentroiiis drohacMensis, 

 but in confining them to the .safer and more palatable marine 

 forms, hke Phurohradiia rhododactyla, trout from the Bigosh, 

 and Luijanm Uackfordii. There will be several medical men 

 present who will make no charge for attendance, the price of 

 the dinner ticket ($5.00) being ample to cover everything. 

 These necessary pasteboards may be obtained from the trcas- 

 m-er, Mr. E. Q. Blackford, Fulton Market, for an equivalent 

 in Treasury notes, silver certificates or Bland dollars. Trade 

 dollars, mutilated coin and promises to pay will be turned in 

 to the landlord. By order of JoH^f Foord, President; E. G. 

 Blackford, C. R. Miller, Francis Endicott, Fred Mather, 

 John H. DeMott, Committee of Arrangements. 



One Hooked and One JigCtEd.— Athens, Pa., Oct. 10. 

 — I have just read in the last copy of Forest and Stream 

 how Mr. Leopold caught two bass. Mr. Frank Sherman 

 caught two black bass this summer in exactly the same man- 

 ner, he using small bullheads for bait. The one which took 

 the bait weighed three pounds, the other nearly a pound, 

 and was hooked on the side back of the gills.— Park, 



Address all communications to the Forest and Stream Publiah- 

 ing Co. 



WORK AT COLD SPRING HARBOR. 



[Read before the American Fisheries Society,] 

 BY .FRED MATHER. 



IN this paper will be given merely a glance at the work done 

 at the hatchery, under my care, on Long Island during 

 the season of 1884-8.5. The place is leased, and most of the 

 work done, by the New York Fish Commission, altoough the 

 United States Commission on Fisheries ha,s considerable work 

 done thei-e. In the fresh-water department we can report: 



A. Shad. — On May 20,1884, 1 received 80,000 shad eggs from 

 Washington in compliance with my request to be allowed to 

 experiment with them in spring water. They were placed in 

 the McDonald jars, and on May 39 there was planted in the 

 Nissequoge River, at Smithtown, Long Island, 72,000 fry. 

 This seems to have been the first trial of hatching this fish m 

 spring water, and as Col. M. McDonald wrote me that the 

 success privately reported might revolutionize present meth- 

 ods, I win give the details in full: 



[May 20. received 80,000 eggs at 6:20 P. M , put them in the jars at 

 r:iJO P. M.' Temperature of water 58" Falir., of eggs 55<=. Eggs began 

 hatching May 24, finished May 37.1 



Temp. Loss Loss 



Date. of water, ot eg^s. Of fry. 



May 31 HO 30 



May 22 59 45 



May 33 GO 60 



May 31..... VI 40 185 



May 2.5 62 35 80 



Mav 2(5 60 30 42 



May 27 .W L'5 800 



May 28 59 .... 150 



May 39 00 .... 40 



285 



Dead on unpacking 380 



615 1,177 



Totalloss I.t92 



A similar trial made later pi-oved a f ailm-e. 



From the above table of losses and therotmd figures given as 

 planted it will be seen that there is a discrepancy of only 208 

 flsh and these are on my side. Further, my estimate of eggs 

 received exceeds that of Colonel McDonald by about 5,000. 

 The cool spring; water, say of about 60 degrees (the metin of 

 the above table is 60.7 degrees) seems to account for tne ab~ 

 sence of fungus on the dead ey:gs. Having hatched shad eggs 

 in iced water (see Repoi't U. S. Fish Commissioner for 1873, 

 '74 and '75, pp. 372, .376) and on the rivers of the Atlantic coast 

 fi-om the Pamuuky to the Connecticut, where it has often 

 reached 80 degrees," I find sirring water at about 60 degrees to 

 be the best medium for shad eggs which I have used. In the 

 summer of 1884 I made an examination o£ the shad li.sheries of 

 the Hudson for the New York Fishery Commission to find the 

 best place to take eggs. There are several pomts on the river 

 where eggs can be obtained, and these lie between Kingston 

 and Hudson. The catch of flsh during the season of 1884 was 

 a very fair one, owing no doubt to the plantings by the State 

 and bv the U. S. Fish Commission. 



B. Brown Trodt.— On Feb. 24, 188.5, we received from the 

 Deutschen Fischerei Verein a box of 40,000 eggs of the brown 

 trout (Salmo fario), half o£ which were biUed to Mr. E. G-. 

 Blackford and the remainder to me. The loss in transit was 

 1,030 eggs and we afterw^aid lost 2,594 eggs and 8,131 fry; 

 28,000, according to our estimate, were planted in Queens, 

 Suffolk, Westchester and Rockland counties, N. Y. These 

 flsh ai-e destined to become gi-eat favorites and the demand 

 for them increases. 



C. Brook Trout.— We received 7,000 eggs from the United 

 States Fish Commission at North ville, Mich., Frank N. Clark, 

 Superintendent, and a lot of Rangeley and blueback trout 

 eggs from the Maine Fish Commission on account of Mr. 

 Francis H. Weeks, of Cold Spring Harbor, but which were so 

 arranged that we could not tell which was which, and no 

 careful estimate of the number was made, as a mistake oc- 

 curred in shipping ; probablv there were 50,000 m all. These 

 together wdth some lii.OOO eggs taken from our ponds were 

 hatched and distributed on Long Island. . , „ 



D. Rainbow Trout.— From 20,000 eggs received from the 

 United States Fish Commission, N ortliville, Mich., we hatched 

 and distributed 14,500 in Kings, Queens, Westchester, Suffolk 

 and Rockland counties, N. Y. . , 



E. Saumon (Penobscot).— From oOO,000 eggs received trom 

 the U. S. F. C. station at Bucksport., Maine, Mr. Chas. G. 

 Atldns Supt., we planted 269,300 in the tributaries c.f the Hud- 

 son in Warren county; 99,350 in the tributaries of the Dela- 

 ware, in New Jersejs 46,000 in the Oswego River, and 4,900 on 

 Lono' Island. The success of former plants in the Hudson is 

 announced by Mr, A. N. Cheney, of Glens Falls, N. Y„ who 

 says they are' plenty in Clendon brook and promises specimens. 



F Land-LockedSalmon.— Of 60.000 eggs of the land-locked 

 salmon presented to the State by the U. S. F. C, only 16,300 

 fr.y were distributed owing to theu- being retai-ded in troughs 

 too long awaiting orders. The fish were assigned to Adiron- 

 dack waters, but for lack of orders were finally distributed on 

 Long Island. 



G. Whitefish.— We have favorable reports from former 

 plantings of whitefish on Long Island, but lack specimens and 



