268 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



lOcT. 39, 1885. 



TAUTOG. 



ABOUT the middle of September, 1884, I found myself 

 at BreAverton, K Y.. on my way home from two 

 weeks' voyaging on Lake Ontario, having passed several 

 pleasant days among the Thousand Islands, where the 

 crowds became larger and more dense, owing to the intensely 

 bot weather — for autumn drew near only in the almanac — 

 each day adding to the torrid condition of the atmosphere. ^ 

 Brewerton nestles at the foot of Oneida Lake, a sheet of 

 water covering an area of one hundred square miles, lying in 

 Onondaga county mainly, and possessed of an enviable repu- 

 tation for game fish, especially Tauto ff a nigra * pike, pickerel 

 and black bass. Tlie lake is thirty miles long, about seven 

 miles wide, and 369 feet above tide water. It derives its 

 name from a confederation of Indians the etymology of 

 whose title is "Tribe of the Granite Eock," and whose token 

 was a stone set in a forked stick. Their origin is traced to 

 the Mohawks, but they early became a portion of the Iri- 

 quois branch of the Six Nations. Their home was the fer- 

 tileand extensive strip of country lying between Deep Spring, 

 not far from "Salt Pint"— now known as Syracuse, twelve 

 miles distant— and Utica. The lake was, of course, included 

 in their possession, and from time immemorial has been 

 haunted by that remnant of the tribe which remained in New 

 York after the treaty of peace with the French in 1700. 

 Throughout the Revolution they continued faithful to the 

 colonists, as did also the Tuscaroras, although Thyendanega 

 destroyed their homes and church and e'dled them for a 

 time. A treaty made at Fort Stanwix in October, 1784, con- 

 firmed their title, and in 181S they once more evinced the grati- 

 tude and patriotism which animated them by espousing the 

 cause of the States. There are, I believe, upward of 200 

 still residing on the reservations set apart for them when New 

 York acquired their lands by purchase in 1 785-8. These 

 reservations cannot be sold and only partially leased. 



The morning dawned with indications of atmospheric 

 change. A few clouds hung motionless in the far south- 

 west as I stepped out of my room end surveyed the horizon, 

 but not a breath of wind was stirring, and after breakfast 

 we proceeded leisurely to the boathouse to get everything 

 ready in time for the steamer, which was to give us a tow 

 up the lake, if necessary. 



At half-past eight, when I shipped the sculling oar and 

 with a slow, steady motion sent the boat up stream to the 

 marshes, where we "dropped a line" in hopes of getting a 

 bite before nine o'clock, the hour aa which the little steamer 

 would "catch our slack." 



Just as the steamer poked her inquisitive bows around the 

 island above us, the bunting at our masthead shook itself in 

 the rising mist and waved itself suddenly out. A puff from 

 the southward swept over the rustling sedge and brought with 

 it a ripple and sparkle from the lake which filled our grate- 

 ful hearts with exultation. Before the lines were stowed 

 and trolling-spoous made fast to larger and longer lines, the 

 breeze freshened so that we made sail at once and slipped 

 away with alacrity. Once in the open lake a magnificent 

 panorama spread itself before us. Away in the misty dis- 

 tance w^aved the tall green f oUage of Frenchman's Island, still 

 untouched by any visible tint of autumn, but nodding to us 

 and flashing in the oblique rays of the sun as the waves 

 tossed their white foam as far as the eye could discern their 

 motion. To the northward a column of dense blue smoke 

 streamed upward, and, bending sharply before the wind, 

 spread itself over the low, leafless woods in that quarter until 

 it blended with the sky and clouds indistinguishably. So 

 busy was I observing all this that a fish took my hook with- 

 out my knowledge, and before the eighty feet of line could 

 be overhauled he was dead. It was a small pike, but the 

 first fish for all that. 



In a few minutes I had another, a large fine fellow this 

 time, and he objected to the proceeding with such effect that 

 we were compelled to heave to and drift back until I could 

 bring him alongside. Lifting him in and dislodging the 

 hook, which he had greedily swallowed, I felt a touch of his 

 .sharp teeth which drew blood on one of my knuckles. 

 "First blood for you," said John, "but the first pickerel for 

 me;" and stopping the slow, steady, alternate hauling and 

 slacking of his line he began to lay it on the deck just aft of 

 the mast in long, irregular coils which gleamed as they 

 whipped clear of the water and shed the silver drops also. 

 "That is not tautog though," he added as tbe fish leaped out 

 of water ten feet from the boat and dove viciously. I 

 suggested that we had been sailing too fast for them, but he 

 preferred the exhilarating motion to the short tacks neces- 

 sary for the larger game, and it was finally agreed that we 

 would bear away toward Constantia, rounding the islands in 

 time to make the South Bay House for dinner. 



This new course gave us the wind abaft the quarter and 

 the little boat cut the seething waves like a knife under jib 

 and mainsail for a long straight mile. We did not time her 

 and can only guess at the number of minutes required for 

 the run. It was not many, however, as we caught only one 

 fish, .John's first pike, and had on new bait before I put the 

 boat about and stood over toward the cat-tails north of 

 Frenchman's Island. I was doubtful about there being 

 water enough there, but John said it could not be less 

 than three feet deep, so we stood on, and as we neared 

 the long white beach several ladies and gentlemen walked 

 briskly to the bluff from the hotel on the island, evi- 

 dently expecting to see us ground in the channel, but the 

 wind showed me where to steer by reason of being light, the 

 island being to windward and only the deepest water rolled. 

 We went through with a rush, and standing along the 

 western shore, filled away for the bay, about two miles 

 distant, which we made quickly, each taking a good-sized 

 fish while yet some way out. We found other guests there 

 ten or twelve of them, sportsmen like ourselves, evidently 

 from Syracuse and bent upon having a good time without 

 getting intoxicated. 



To fish for tautog successfully is not a difficult art. It is 

 practiced in two ways, from an anchoiage with book and 

 fine on rods, or with long trolls, keeping the boat in motion 

 most of the time, but stopping at short intervals to allow the 

 hook to fall upon the bottom. This last was our plan, and 

 to keep the boat in easy motion, heaving to on one tack and 

 then on the other, necessitated the keeping of one hand upon 

 the tiller all the while, with an eye to windward for the pui'- 

 pose of avoiding other boats. There were quite a number in 

 our vicinity fishing like ourselves. The exception was a 

 steam launch owned by the game constable, who saluted us 

 as he passed. He was going swiftly through the water ap- 

 parently in pursuit of larger fish. Later in the day he passed 

 within a quarter of a mile of us, having no less than ei^-ht or 

 en seines bunched up on the top of his awning. There are 



* rautoga nigra is a salt-water fish. Weare at a lose to know what 

 flsh they miscall ''tautog' In Brewerton. 



hordes of pot-flsheimen infesting this beautiful sheet of 

 water who repeatedly take the risk of losing their nets for 

 the gain realized by their unlawful capture of fish. It is not 

 unusual for tue constable to be in serious danger, and many 

 narrow escapes are rehearsed by the local boatman, who 

 justly regard the game constable as one of their best friends. 

 The nets are too expensive to be lost without a struggle, they 

 often cost $100, and the venture is considerable to the aver- 

 age man. Were it not for these scamps two hours' fishing 

 would giv^ a sportsman all he could carry home any day. 

 Although the wind was too high for a first-class caich we 

 took a handsome string, and finally tiring of the sport, be- 

 gan to make sail for a run up the lake toward Oneida. 



There is another island almost due south of Frenchman's, 

 quite near the latter, somewhat smaller but possessing finer 

 shores and magnificent timber. People are forbidden to 

 go ashore there, and the almost primitive beauty of its con- 

 tour is so effectually transfixed in my memory that I look back 

 longingly to it even yet. If Cowper had been exiled to this 

 island he would never have sung as he did of solitude; and 

 even Byron might there have realized his dream of the ideal, 

 the graceful curve "of stirring branches," the "popular .soli- 

 tude of bees and birds, " the free spaces reaching skyward, 

 limitless as air, that set a saddened spirit communing with 

 the stars. These are a sportsman's fancies, and they lead us 

 out of finite soundings in a moment. Like Theodidactus, in 

 his asbestos boat, we can cruise on the sun with heliacal 

 freedom, or swim the ether without any regard for the rules 

 of philosophy.* 



We hove to and set om" canvas, but no sooner done than 

 my line straightened out astonishingly, and seizing it I could 

 feel tbe peculiar quiver which accompanies the hooking of 

 large bass. Keeping the boat in the wind, I played the fish 

 till he gave up. He was a fine fellow, three pounds at least, 

 and was the only bass we captured that day. 



John captured his fifth tautog a few minutes later, and 

 remarking that we had fish enough for all of his neighbors, 

 he coiled his line, changed the water in our bait pail to rinse 

 it, allowing the little bait remaining to go adrift, and then 

 settled himself to enjoy the long sail we had promised our- 

 selves. 



The rowboats were coming and going in the bay with their 

 long trolling lines stretching far behind them. We were 

 just rounding the point when a row boat with two men on 

 board drew near us, and suddenly the fellow in the stern 

 sheets jumped to his feet and sang out, "I've got him now!" 

 He was so much under the influence of "fever" that he did 

 not play his catch at all, but hauled in, hand over hand, so 

 rapidly that the line went scooting off one way then the 

 other, and once I thought I caught a glimpse of a large black 

 fin, while John coolly remarked: "It's an old blackfish, I 

 guess." Knowing that to be another name for tautog and 

 being aware that they sometimes attain the size of a small 

 whale, to which species one class of them belong. I ranged 

 alongside in order to get a good view of the fish. John asked 

 the fellow if he had a landing net, but the latter was too far 

 gone to hear and we could only enjoy the fun by keeping 

 still and watching the line as it zipped about, while the 

 boat careened and dove until everything in her threatened 

 to go overboard in spite of the rower, who feathered and 

 shifted his weight with admirable dexterity. All at once 

 with the rapidity of lightning, the straining line showed more 

 and more of its rigid length and John called: "Look out, 

 now, he's going to give you the dirty shake!" In a second 

 the breach occurred. The water recoiled, flashed and broke 

 as something black leaped two or three feet into the air and 

 fell flat upon the surface, while the man at the opposite end 

 of the line tumbled backward into the bottom of his boat, 

 showing his boots above the gunwale an instant with a groan. 

 "He is hurt!" said I. John laid his hand cautiously on the 

 mast and deliberately getting on his feet, looked at the float- 

 ing object with a curious grin. In a moment we ran near 

 enough to see that it was a strip of board, and the hook, as 

 it dropped, had caught in a small knot-hole so near the mid- 

 dle that an eager pull to fasten the hook had done it and set 

 the thing on edge defiantly. 



The tears rolled down John's cheeks as I trimmed down, 

 and several minutes passed before either of us oould articu- 

 late a word, John got his breath first and whisper ed "tau- 

 tog." Eoo. 



* Kirchner's "Extatic Journey to Heaven." There are many poeti- 

 cal fancies in this work. The planet Venus is described as an island 

 of transcendent beauty, peoiiled with angels. 



THE TIM POND COUNTRY. 



IT was my eighth annual trip to Tim Pond, Maine. I 

 left Boston the 5th of August. The Farmington & 

 Megantic Railroad has given a new impetus to King- 

 field. Smith has very much enlarged and improved 

 his house. We found the fronting at Tim Pond just about 

 as it was in 1878, better than in 1881. The very large 

 number of sportsmen that visit this most famous pond do 

 not deplete the fish as did the natives when they were ac- 

 customed to take them by the basketful from their spawning 

 beds before the protection by law. Never did I see finer fly- 

 fishing in August than I enjoyed here last month. We went 

 from Tim Pond to the Seven Ponds on horseback. The fly- 

 fishing on L Pond was fairly good. On Big Island Pond 

 trout did not rise well to the fly, but could be caught of large 

 size in its deep water with bait. At Rock and No'west 

 ponds fly-fishing was excellent for the season. These ponds 

 have not deep water. Taken the season round Tim Pond is 

 the "daisy" of all in this region — or the region of the Range- 

 leys which have been damaged for years to come by high 

 dams and broken ones— though this may protect the trout 

 for future generations. 



Detectives under Com. Stilwell have been at work about 

 the Rangcley and Seven Pond waters to mete out justice to 

 the law-breakers. You may have heard that a man by the 

 name of Soule, after his pocket had become minus forty 

 dollars for shooting a deer, used his shotgun as the detectives 

 appeared in his vicinity a second time. Recently another 

 of the tribe of Soule, doing his nefarious work of poaching 

 on the shores of Big Island Pond, I am informed has enriched 

 the State Treasury. These "guides" or keepers of outpost 

 cabins in lone shadowy places are learning to have fear and 

 respect for tbe majesty of the game laws. May their vile 

 work and the big .slaughters end soon. 



Aug. 22 we returned to Mount Vernon to spend a week 

 with the black bass. I had grand outdoor sport, but the 

 weather and the moon were against me. 1 landed a mod- 

 erate number of fair size, but my hopes were not fully real- 

 ized. The great chain of ponds through Monmouth, Win- 

 throp, MaranacGok, Readfield, Mount Vernon and Belgrade 

 are well st.bcked with this gamy fish, and in these clear 

 waters their meat is most excellent for the epicure. I spent 



my time on Long Pond. Mr. Stilwell thinks Cabbosecontee 

 was stocked first and has some monster black bass. There 

 is good fl.shing for white perch in this chain of ponds. 



During the past year your correspondents have taught me 

 much about snelling hooks, and I have spent time in experi- 

 ments and practice in the art. The result is, in all my deep 

 water bait trouting and all my black bass fightins I did not 

 lose a hook from fault of "tying." I do not care a fig for 

 the loss of fifty hooks, but I care much for the loss of the 

 "big fish." ItookDobson with me, but I am not sure the bass 

 had ever been introduced to one before. I am sure the 

 native sportsmen had never seen one till those I took. Grive 

 us more light about these fish that are locked up in ice four, 

 five or six months a year. Much has been written of black 

 bass in the Middle and Southern States. We need more 

 light about their ways in the colder climate. 



Aug. 31 1 unstrung my rods, cleaned and dried my tackle 

 and put it in the attic till another year. Sept. 1 1 returned 

 to business, a happier, heartier, liealthier man. J. W. T. 



THE ICHTHYOPHAGOUS DINNER. 



ABOUT seventy staid and solid-looking gentlemen sat 

 down to dinner at the Buckingham Hotel on the eve- 

 ning of Wednesday, Oct. 31. To a strausrer's eye there was 

 no indication that in the long array of clavs^-hammer coats 

 and expansive shirt-fronts of the well-groomed diners that 

 any among them had spent the day in the rain and slush at 

 the fly-casting tournament, and only a few hours before had 

 been drenched to the skin. They had met to again sample 

 the uneatable, and in many cases unspeakable, monsters of 

 the deeps and shallows, and while on their invitations they 

 made a jest of indigestion, it was evident that all hastily read 

 tbe bill of fare with anxiety; for up to the moment of taking 

 their allotted seats no one but the committee had the slisrhtest 

 idea of its contents. The President, Mr. John Foord,''with 

 his gavel of walrus bone, sat at the head of the table, while 

 the committee, consisting of Messrs. E. 0. Blackford. Fran- 

 cis Endicott, Fred Mather, C. R. Miller and James De Mott, 

 were scattered about. Among the guests we noticed Judge 

 Reeder, of Ilarrisburg, Pa. ; J. S. Van Cleef, Cornelius Van 

 Brunt, Adolph L. Sanger, President of the Board of Alder- 

 men; Dr. E, C. Spitzka, A. De Cordova, Nathaniel Hunt- 

 ing, proprietor of the Murray HUl Hotel; Gordon L. Ford, 

 Gilbert E. .Jones, Henry L. Dyer, Amos Robbins, R. B. 

 Roosevelt, Howard Carroll, F. B. Thurber, A. E. Whyland, 

 Louis Liebman, Jules Turcas, G. Wetherbce, proprietor of 

 the Windsor Hotel, and B. F. Nichols. 



The tables were decorated with pyramids of horsefoot 

 crabs, lobsters and crayfish, twined with smilax. The fol- 

 lowing is the menu: 



Blue Points. 



Vln de Graves. 

 Eslract of Razor Clams. " 

 Bisque of Starfish. 



Royal Sherry. 



Radishes. Celery. Olives. 

 Squid, fried (Ohondoptei-ygien). 

 Winkles, Burgundy fashion. 



Sea Spider Crab k Tin fern al. 

 Orayflsli du Potomac. 



Liebfrauenmilch. 



Cucumbers. HoUandaise Potatoes. 

 Skate. Cream Sauce (Acandopterygien), 

 Crevalle a la Marseillaise. 



Sea Robins, Baked a TAmphitrite. 



Salmon (Royal Fishl, Parisian Style. 



Buisson of Lobster, Tartare Sauce. 



Pontet Canet. 



Filet of Beef. 



Mushrooms aud Tomatoes Fai-cies. French Peas. 

 Stewed Ten apin, Buckingham Style. 

 Ichlhyoptiagoua Punch. 

 Broiled Teal Duck. 

 Lobster Salad. Crab Salad. Lettuce Salad. 

 G. H. Mumm's Cordon Rouge. 

 Neapolitan Ice Cream. Fruit Jelly. Assor ted Cakes. 

 Fancy Pyramide. Fruit. Cheese. 

 Caf^. Liqueurs. 



The novelties were the starfish, Avinkles. sea-spiders, and 

 creralles. The latter is an ordinary looking fish and at- 

 tracted no attention. The spider crabs were devilled and 

 served in the back shell and were quite good, although their 

 repulsive appearance when ahve will long forbid their com- 

 ing into common use. The winkles were, as they always 

 are, tough and unpalatable and were, if not ihe pUce lUremtr 

 amie, the joke of the evening. The bisque of starfish was 

 quite good, and if this enemy of the oyster can be made 

 popular as food it will be a good thing for the oystermen. 



Letters of regret were read from Henry Ward Beecher, 

 Charles A. Dana, Amos Cummings, Dr. W. A. Hammond 

 and M. P. Handy. In evident agony the president an- 

 nounced that as a gastronomic delicacy the winkle was a 

 failure, and called on Mr. Roosevelt to explain how he came 

 to recommend it to the club. The latter gentleman, fully 

 conscious of his guilt, wandered ott' into a description of the 

 beautiful manner in which the winkle lays its eggs, aud en- 

 hanced on the merit of the winkle for fish bait because it 

 was too tough to be nibbled oft', and acknowledged that he 

 had tried to eat it in former years but had skipped it to- 

 night, and tried to throw the responsibility of the winkle on 

 Mr. Blackford. Howard Carroll, J udge Reeder and others 

 argued about the relations of the winkle to nightmare, and 

 Amos Robbins and Fred Mather opened bags of "chestnuts" 

 and put the party to sleep before Dr. Spitzka could speak on 

 the forms of insanity caused by eating the roystering winkle. 



The Rod and Reel Associatton.— At a meeting held 

 by the National Rod and Reel Association after the tourna- 

 ment the following ofHcers were elected forlH86: President, 

 Hon. Henry P. McGown ; Secretary, Mr. Fred Mather, Cold 

 Spring Harbor, N. Y. ; Treasurer, Mr. James L. Vallotton. 

 Before the election Mr. Mather positively declined to accept 

 the secretaryship longer, on account of the press of work; 

 but the members refused to listen to him, and it is very 

 doubtful if it will be possible for him to serve. The meeting 

 adjourned subject to the call of the President. 



Two Bass at Once.— Kansas City, Mo., Oct. 19.— In 

 your issue of Oct. 15 I see your notice of Mr. Leopold's aud 

 Mr. Frank Sherman's double catches. July 13, at Detroit 

 Lake, Minnesota, on a light bass rod and an 0206 Abbey & 

 Imbrie reel, I took two small-mouth black bass, one on a 

 minnow and one on a crawfish. Length of each 17i inches, 

 and weight twelve hours after taken from the water, 3 

 pounds each. — F. M. O. 



Three to Each Rod.— "M. W." asks if the location of 

 the "Parmachenee Belle" had anything to do with the trout 

 showing a preference. 1 found this fly the most taking in 

 June below the Upper Dam no matter where it was placed 

 on the cast, above or below. Had Messrs, Allen and Max- 

 son used four of the above flies they might have beaten the 

 record.— WrtiB. 



