832 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Mat 2#, 1686. 



the pleasures of that morniug at that beautiful stretch of 

 •water below the old mill near Meganlic, where we waded 

 down stream for a short distance and filled our baskets to 

 overflowing with half-pound trout. It was there that we 

 saw the trout jumping and trying to follow up a stream of 

 water that came pouring out from an auger-hole in the side 

 of the flume of the old milt. Some did succeed in going 

 through the hole into the flume, but where one succeeded, 

 many shot out of the slender thread of water and struck 

 against the planking and fell back again into the pool below. 

 Then came the red-letter day — that day in June in the Chau- 

 diere rapids at the mouth of Lake Megantic, where we caught 

 one hundred and eighty trout, not one weighing less than 

 half a pound, and from that up to three pounds each. Our 

 individual scores stood at an even ninety each. 



I also remember with a smile how Bro. H., the next morn- 

 ing as we were breaking camp, stole out to the river's side 

 with rod in hand, to catch another fish, so as to go out of the 

 wilderness one ahead, and when given his choice either to 

 ud joint and repack his rod, or take a ducking then and there, 

 he took apart his rod but at the same time emphatically 

 denied our ability to duck one side of him. Ah. H. ! you 

 then forgot the little bout in the camp by the still-water of 

 the salmbn river where we were deer hunting, when a "hip- 

 lock" stood not the writer's but another's head in the cook's 

 pan of baked beans, while the heels belonging to the indi- 

 vidual who owned that head were kicking out a jig up near 

 the roof of the camp. That was how many years ago? Well, 

 well, how time flies. Though its flight destroys the elasticity 

 and comeliness of the body and brings whitened threads 

 among the brown, may it never change the youthfulness of 

 our spirits, and our love and appreciation for our old and 

 tried friends, and for the gentle art; and neither may it 

 change the colors of my old love, the Montreal fly, body red- 

 ribbed with golden tinsel, hackle assorted scarlet and ginger 

 with light gray mallard wings. Stanstead. 



Montreal, Canada. 



Lake Erie Bass Grounds. — The Dayton (O.) Journal 

 reports: "The Dayton party of anglers, with fair weather, 

 will be bass fishing in East Bay on Saturday, May 15, the 

 day that the open season begins in Canada waters. Veteran 

 Valentine Winters, with Rufus J. King as his boat com- 

 panion, heads the list, the party being paired as follows: 

 Commodore Cooper and G. Shepherd, Captain and Dr. 

 Greenleaf, of the U. S. A. ; Major Bickham and Hon. E. 

 Schultz, Benj. F, Kuhns and Hon. John W. Turner, N. 

 Mory and Bert C. Mory, Ed. Best and George Kuecht. Dr. 

 McCormick writes that the steamer Louise is now making 

 daily trips, except Saturdays, that frogs' legs are ripe, mush- 

 rooms due, gulls are on, and that 'Piseatoria' is open for 

 any and all Dayton gentlemen who may desire to accompany 

 the anglers. Edward Hazzard, of the Dramatic J^etos, of 

 New York, and friend, have registered for the season; Hon. 

 J. B. Battelle. of Toledo, has his kit packed for Pelee, and 

 Dr. O. W. Nixon, of the Chicago Inter-Ocean, will be there; 

 and Alex. Starbuck and his veteran companion, Wesley 

 Cameron, and Dr. W. W. Dawson, of Cincinnati; Colonel 

 Wallace, of Indianapolis, and Judge Goode and friend, of 

 Springfield, and twenty or more other anglers have their 

 baggage checked for Pelee. The Pelee Club— Gen. Sheridan, 

 Robert T. Lincoln and twenty other gentlemen, have char- 

 tered the steamer American Eagle, and will occupy their 

 club house at Sheridan Point, Pelee, next Sunday. The 

 Kentucky party that always locates at Smith's Point are en 

 route. Colonel Len. A. Harris and several others of the 

 Cuvier Club, of Cincinnati, are already enjoying fishing at 

 Long Point and Gull Island reefs, off Kelley's Island, and 

 are to be largely reinforced this week. Kelley Island waters 

 are favorites of John Hardy, of Dayton, and Walter Halde- 

 man, of the Louisville Courier- Journal. TheLeffel party, of 

 Springfield, and friends from Cleveland, have chartered the 

 steam yacht Henry Douglass, and with Put-in-Bay as head- 

 quarters, will fish at North and Middle Bass islands, and 

 run over to Pelee for big catches. Joseph C. Peirce, of 

 Dayton, and probably others will go to Put-in-Bay." 



The Clarion. — The Clarion, Pa., Fish and Game Pro- 

 tective Association, of which Mr. F. M. Arnold is President, 

 has been prosecuting the dynamite fiends. The Jacksonian of 

 that town reports: "On Mondy last Daniel Steiuer, of Scotch 

 Hill, had a hearing before Esq. Thompson, upon a charge 

 being one of a party of dynamiters who placed explosives in 

 the Clarion River for the purpose of killing fish. The offense 

 was committed on the 19th of April, and was clearly proven, 

 no defense being made. The justice found in accordance 

 with the facts and imposed a fine of $50 and the costs of 

 prosecution on the defendant, which he paid, the aggregate 

 being $65.60. Warrants are out for the arrest of two other 

 members of the party, E, D. Steiner and John McClelland, 

 who will doubtless be similarly dealt with when apprehended. 

 The law against placing explosives of any kind in any of 

 the waters of this Commonwealth is very clear and explicit, 

 and the Clarion Fish and Game Association is determined to 

 bring all violators to punishment. In the instance noted 

 above, the witnesses testified that after the clearing of the 

 water it was found that the bottom of the river at that point 

 was white with dead fish. Take in connection with this 

 fact the millions of little fish, no larger than " wrigglers," 

 with which the river abounds at this season, that must have 

 also been destroyed, to say nothing of the eggs in the vicinity 

 —and the destruction of the finny tribe caused by one of 

 these explosions is beyond computation. There is no reason 

 why the Clarion should not be one of the best fishing streams 

 in this section of the State, if the laws are complied with, 

 and it is proposed that respect for the protective enactments 

 shall be strictly enforced. 



New Jersey Laws. — About twenty bills affecting the 

 game and fish laws, some good, some bad and others radi- 

 cally wrong, were presented for passage in both branches of 

 the Legislature of this Stale just adjourned. But few of 

 them passed, however; among those which did was Senate 

 113, a righteous good bill for the protection of stocked 

 waters. It provides that no person or persons or corpora- 

 tions shall place in any fresh water stream, lake or pond, 

 any lime or other deleterious substance, or any drug or 

 medicated bait, with intent thereby to injure, poison or 

 catch fish, nor place in or allow to flow or be discharged 

 into any lake, pond or stream stocked with or inhabited by 

 trout, bass, pickerel, pike, sunfish or perch, any drug, acid, 

 gas tar or any deletetious substance whatever which will kill 

 or destroy sa'id fish. Other bills passed opens the season for 

 catching black bass with hook and line on May 30 and closes 

 it on Dec. 1 in each year; prohibits the catching or killing 

 of black bass less than seven inches in length, or trout less 

 than six inches in length. — Plainfield Constitutionalist, 



The Privtjlegep Classes.— Central Lake, Mich., May 6. 

 — In the neighborhood of the ponds and brooks, I have noted 

 a goodly crop of fish-spears. I am disposed to think that 

 the particular industry of which these are the token, is 

 likely to languish in this region before long. Even now, 

 those that follow it are conscious that they do so by suffer- 

 ance, and though the loud-mouthed among them say that 

 all fish protective legislation is only for the benefit of tourists, 

 and that they will spear as long as they like; it is a fact that 

 there are fewer jack-lights on the lakes than in any pre- 

 vious spring for some years, and one or two prosecutions for 

 violation of existing statutes will practically put an end to the 

 spearing. The gill-nets will still be used, but only for 

 a time, and I think that our waters will yet be restocked with 

 fish in abundance for all. It is comical to hear the netters 

 and spearmen talk of legislation for the benefit of "privileged 

 classes." As I see it, they themselves are the ones who 

 claim exceptional privileges, and by their exercise in defiance 

 of law, prevent those of us who desire nothing more than 

 equal rights with all, from even securing enough of fish for 

 an occasional meal, to say nothing of the sport. For several 

 years I have told these gentry that the end of these things 

 was not far distant, aud behold, it cometh. in the near future. 

 —Kelpie. 



Trout near New York. — I am somewhat of a sports- 

 man and can readily say that in all my experience I have 

 never before indulged in such sport as during the past week 

 in Sullivan eounty, N. Y. I took the train at Weehawken 

 for Fallsburgh Station, where TJncle John Waldorf met me, 

 and drove to his Woodbourne House, at Woodbourne. The 

 first day I fished three miles of the Neversink River, and the 

 result was 19 pounds of brook trout ranging from J to Im- 

 pounds. The second day I fished over the same ground and 

 realized a like result, and on the third day I tried a smaller 

 stream with flattering success. I am only one among many 

 who has met with the best of luck on this popular trout 

 stream, and I would advise any person in search of first-class 

 trout fishing to make arrangements with Uncle John. — A 

 Sportsman. 



Canadian Salmon Rivers. — Editor Forest and Stream: 

 With reference to the paragraph, "Canadian Salmon Rivers," 

 issued in your edition of April 8 last, I beg to remark that 

 your assertion, as regards the rivers of this Province, is far 

 from being correct, as almost all, if not all, the salmon rivers 

 of some importance are under private control (see accom- 

 panying report, page 130); and it is expected, from the de- 

 mand for more fishing privileges, that other rivers not 

 hitherto sought after will be taken up, improved and pro- 

 tected. So I hope you will make, in your next edition, the 

 necessary remarks and corrections concerning same. — W. W. 

 Lynch, Commissioner of Crown Land, P. Q. 



The English Angling Tournament. — The sixth inter- 

 national Fishing Gazette fly and bait casting tournament will 

 be held on June 5, on the grounds of W. Cunard, Esq., Or- 

 leans House, Twickenham, within 150 yards of the famous 

 Twickenham ferry. The tournament will be, as before, for 

 the benefit of the Angler's Benevolent Society. The prize 

 list and programme is not yet published. Upon a payment 

 of ten shillings any fishing tackle maker will be allowed to 

 exhibit and sell bis stock upon the grounds, 



The Sussex Anglers' Club, T. S. Morrell, Secretary, 

 Newark, N. J., proposes to take up, as its means allow, the 

 numerous bass and pickerel waters within ten miles of 

 Deckertown, N. J. The club offers very desirable advan- 

 tages to New York city anglers who want fishing near at 

 hand. Properly managed, such a scheme as this ought to 

 insure an abundance of first-class and sure fishing. 



Eagle's Nest, Stamford, Delaware County, N. Y., May 

 17. — A. S. Churchill, Esq., just brought me to my sick 

 chamber a speckled trout 14 inches long and 5 inches wide 

 at front fin; weight, 1J pounds. It was caught by his little 

 grandson in Spring Brook, within three rods of his cottage 

 in the village of Stamford. The brook is alive with fish, 

 but few are so large.— Ned Buhtline. 



Canada.— A good fishing resort, in a comparatively new 

 country, is Gurrie's Hotel, at Lake St. Joseph, Canada, an 

 hour's ride from Quebec. Mr. Adam Watters and son, of 

 that city, one afternoon last season, caught there 19 lake 

 trout, weighing 157 pounds 6 ounces. Sportsmen in Canada 

 can be fitted out with supplies of all kinds by Mr. Watters. 

 See advertisements in other columns. 



The NrPiasiNG.— Cobourg, Ont., May 13.— Will "B. and 

 H.," who signs the article "Fishing at Nipissing" in your 

 last number, give me further information about deer and 

 partridge shooting, fishing and best month in which to visit 

 Trout Lake. Would I get any lake trout in September and 

 what would be the best bait?— W. 



FISH CULTURE— A PRACTICAL ART. 



BY JOHN H. BISSELL. 

 [Bead before the American Fisheries Society.] 



I DO not forget, gentlemen of the American Fisheries Soci- 

 ety, that lam but a student in the craft which we pro- 

 fess, and for the encouragement of which this society exists; 

 nor that many of you have grown gray in this honorable, nay, 

 may I not also say patriotic, service; and so I should be sit- 

 ting at the feet of some piscicultural Gamaliel, instead of 

 standing before you as an essayist, but for the summons of 

 your committee which left me no room for excuses or refusal. 

 A younger generation is now coming upon the field to take its 

 part in carrying forward fishculture, to apply the precious 

 stores of knowledge, which have been laid up by the practical 

 observation and scientific research of the past twenty-five 

 years, to the practical solution of some very important eco- 

 nomic questions that are beginning to olamor loudly for solu- 

 tion. . 



The question most urgent just now is not, can fishes be arti- 

 ficially hatched and reared, and acclimated in alien waters, 

 but can the fisheries of this country now be saved* That the 

 men of whom this question is being asked are the members of 

 this societv, once called "Fishcultural," may not improperly 

 be regarded as evidence of the ability with which the elder 

 generation, the pioneers of fishculture, have done their work, 

 as well as of the value of their work and the appreciation in 

 which it is justly held by the people of this country. 



At former meetings of the society you have been favored by 

 the eloquent speeches of statesmen who judged rightly that 



fishculture was worthy the statesmen's consideration.* You 

 have been honored by papers and addresses from men of your 

 own number who have won distinction by knightly deeds- 

 no less knightly and honorable because won in the uhromantic 

 armor of waterproof coats and rubber boots— in conflict for 

 the secrets of nature, wresting from nature's willing hands 

 the knowledge that practical men have been gathering and 

 storing up against the day when the millions that are peopling 

 and are to people this continent, shall cry out for more and 

 better and cheaper food. You all know the men to whom I 

 refer, so there is no need of mention of their names. I know 

 them, not by personal acquaintance and familiar discourse, 

 bnt none the less really, through their writings and experi- 

 ments, which have made it possible for men of the class to 

 which I belong to accomplish something for the States which 

 have honored us with the oversight of their fishing interests. 

 Without the knowledge which has been gained and freely 

 disseminated by these intelligent and devoted men the fishery 

 establishments of many of the States would have no exist- 

 ence, or their officers no reasonable aud sufficient answer to 

 make to their State governments when asked, as they so fre- 

 q uently are, "Can fishculture do anything worth the expense 

 for the food supply of the people of this State?' 1 Have we then 

 any such answer to make? That we have; that the answer is 

 reasonable and sufficient I shall try briefly to show. While 

 we have not learned all there is to know about the culture of 

 fishes and artificial propagation of them, enough is known 

 both scientifically and experimentally to place the practical 

 art of fishculture beyond thedomainof rnere curious research, 

 and make it a useful, and to the same extent, a necessary de- 

 partment of the public business. To this practical aspect of 

 fishculture I invite your attention. In using the expression 

 "fishculture" I mean to be understood as including artificial 

 propagation of fish and the protection of them until thev are 

 marketable. 



Consideration of fishculture as a department of the public 

 business is growing every year to greater prominence, particu- 

 larly in the States bordering upon the sea and the Great Lakes. 

 Of course I only profess to speak with accuracy about the 

 condition, or needs, of the fisheries of my own State— Michi- 

 gan ; but, the state of affairs there is in some measure analog- 

 ous to the circumstances of other States, and the subject from 

 my point of view may prove of more than merely local 

 interest. 



Are our fisheries worth saving? 



Michigan has a coast line of more than 2,000 miles in length 

 upon the Great Lakes and their connecting rivers by actual 

 measurement upon the Government charts. Its lisheries pro- 

 duce annually over 13,000 tons of food, the value of which is 

 something over §800,000 at first cost. The capital invested in 

 the prosecution of this industry is abouc §1,200,000, it gives 

 employment to 1,800 men, which means that over 7,000 people 

 are dependent upon the prosecution of the fisheries for then* 

 living. The pound nets used in this industry placed end on 

 end will stretch 200 miles, the gill-nets placed end on end 

 measure 1,588,852 fathoms— over 1,800 miles. 



From this brief statement it appears that Michigan has in- 

 dustrial fisheries that are worth" caring for. A few additional 

 facts will show that they need care. Forty years ago at one 

 of the seine fisheries on Detroit River the number of whitefish 

 constituting a fair catch was from 90,000 to 115,000 fish, aver- 

 aging in size aboat four pounds. That fishery has been 

 abandoned for more than fifteen years, and the last vestige of 

 docks, houses and pounds have rotted away. Another fishery 

 havingas fine a plant as any on the lakes, about nine miles 

 below Detroit, as late as the fall of 1883 had over 12,000 white- 

 fish, which was thought the poorest catch ever known. In 

 1884 at the same fishery the total of whitefish was 3,400, and 

 for the season of 1885 less than 2,000 whitefish were taken 

 there by actual count. This we know, for we bought and 

 handled the entire catch to take the eggs for the State hatch- 

 eries. At many points on Lake Michigan hundreds of thous- 

 ands of whitefish under one pound in weight, one, two, or 

 three years old, which have been planted, have been caught, 

 shipped to market when worthless, or thrown upon the shore 

 to rot as not worth handling, or salted and sold as herring. 

 Such complaints have come to us by the fishermen themselves 

 and by nearly every dealer who handles Michigan fish. 



But there is not space here aud now to multiply examples 

 to prove, and 1 therefore content myself with stating the facts 

 very generally. In Michigan waters everv year the area of 

 fishing operations is greatly extended; miles of ground once 

 productive are abandoned ; the average size of whitefish is 

 gradually growing less ; the price is gradually getting higher in 

 the market; and while some large firms are getting fairly prof- 

 itable returns, the fishermen as a class are getting poorer; 

 where formerly the nets were served by sailboats and row- 

 boats, steamboats are fast coming iato common use ; the de- 

 mand for fish is increasing steadily as population increases; 

 the total supply is comparatively stationary or falling below 

 the increasing demand; and all this mean's that the fisheries 

 of our lakes are fast becoming exhausted and ruined. These 

 facts suggest some pertinent inquiries, just such as are being 

 asked of the State Fish Commissioners by the representatives 

 of the people every year. Has artificial propagation then been 

 a failure? No, for it has not had a fair chance in several 

 ways. 



First — It has not been conducted upon a scale adequate to 

 accomplish the results. 



Where we are hatching about fifty millions of whitefish we 

 need from six to eight times that number every year to restore 

 the wasted and deserted grounds, as also to replenish and 

 keep up the stock in others yet productive. Numerous early 

 experiments were made of planting whitefish fry in interior 

 lakes of various sizes, where we now know they will not 

 thrive because the conditions of food and temperature are 

 not favorable. This could not be known without trial. But 

 it does not follow that the experiments should not have been 

 tried. It was no waste of time or money. The lessons 

 learned from such f aihires are perhaps more valuable than 

 constant successes. There are large and deep lakes in the 

 iuterior of Michigan and other States where the whitefish are- 

 indigenous. In such lakes they can and should be grown to 

 the utmost capacity of the food supply. Such lakes we havo 

 in Michigan, and we are planting them now as preserves from 

 which to draw a future stock of breeding fish to furnish eggs 

 for keeping up the supply for the industrial fisheries of the 

 Great Lakes. 



There are many localities on the Great Lakes where the plant- 

 ing of whitefish has resulted in the appearance of vase schools 

 of small fish coming in upon the inshore feeding grounds 

 during the summer months at points where that phenomenon 

 had never before occurred within the memory of the oldest 

 fisherman. That they were the planted fish is beyond ques- 

 tion, as it is not doubted by the practical fisherman and others 

 who have examined them, that these young fish are identical 

 with the Lake Erie fish, that being the source whence all our 

 ova and almost all of that used by the U. S. Commission are 

 taken. 



Second — Artificial propagation has not had a chance in 

 point of time. 



It is only within the first few years of the second decade of 

 its existence— say from 1882 or '83— that the practical operations 

 of fishculture have been anything more than the merest ex- 

 periments. In my own State it is only within that time that 

 we have ever hatched and planted over 15,000,000 of whitefish 

 in any one year. The same period will cover also the most 

 extensive operations of the U. S. Commission in this direction. 

 The force of this point will be appreciated when itis under- 

 stood that from our present;knowledge we have no reason to 



*Dhless the statesmen of this generation have lost the art of wise 

 and wholesome statecraft, we s"bah hear from them still further on 

 this subject, if not in our deliberations, yet more potently in the State 

 capitols and In the halls of Congress. 



