472 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[July 8, 1886. 



CAMP OF THE BIG SIX. 



TUESDAY morning at four o'clock the six, with two dude 

 visitors, left Athens, Pa., for Fair Haven, with all the 

 camp outfit necessary, and some things that were superfluous. 

 The reader must please hear in mind that the whole six are 

 crack fly -fishermen, and several are almost experts at casting 

 the fly. On going to the company ground, which was some 

 half mile up the bay, two of the boys caught twelve bass, 

 then came the pitching of the tent and putting things in trim 

 for the coming four days. About four o'clock two boats 

 started out and cast along the shore; by supper time we had 

 over seventy bass, rockers and black, biggest percentage 

 rockers. Black, Ruben Wood, and Montreal flies were the 

 favorites for the black bass. The modocks appeared fond of 

 any fly we had on ; and we often took two and sometimes 

 three at a cast, one on every hook, but strange as it may ap- 

 pear most of the big black bass gotaway. I have noticed the 

 same thing with other fishermen. 



The second day in camp was quite cloudy with a high 

 wind, and it looked like a good bass day. At the place we 

 expected to take the most black bass we did not get a rise. 

 This was out in the lake. We fished faithfully all day; only 

 scored nine black bass for the boat I was in. At Blind 

 Lodus, which is several miles from Fair Haven, we saw a 

 big seine on the fence drying. We also saw one gill net 

 which we got our flies fast in, and I am sorry to say we had 

 to cut the net in two to get our flies loose. While we were 

 doing the cutting we saw a native on the bluff watching us. 

 He did not say anything or we would have invited him to 

 help us. After a hard pull we arrived in camp and found 

 that the other boys had not done much fishing. 



The third day we all got up at four o'clock and made up 

 our minds to slaughter bass by the wholesale, but this day 

 like the preceding one was dark and cloudy and bid fair to 

 rain. Nick and Frank made a small wager as to which boat 

 would get the most bass before they returned to camp. You 

 may be sure we all fished for all we were worth. One party 

 went down near the lighthouse, and when it began to rain 

 they got in a boat house. We were over on the west shore 

 and got quite well soaked, but we kept on grinding just the 

 same. Finally we went down to the light house and saw the 

 other boat; they were casting their level best and had two 

 more bass than we had. We were not discouraged by any 

 means. The other boat then left us and came over to the 

 east shore, while we fished along the breakwaters with poor 

 success. Then a big fog came sweeping down the lake. By 

 the time we were through lunch the other boat had vanished 

 in the fog. After spending some time we started for the 

 east shore, and while crossing discovered another gill net. 

 It was a long one and at the end there was a big fyke net 

 with short wings on it, and the gill net struck the center of 

 the fyke, so they could run the fish in from both ways. 

 This fyke we could not raise out of the water, so we cut the 

 fyke loose from the gill net. For the benefit of the owner, 

 we'll say we carved the balance of the net so it will not hold 

 fish again. It would be a good idea if every fishermen would 

 serve all nets the same way. It may be lawful to set nets in 

 New York State; but as we all live in Pennsylvania we for- 

 got and supposed we were in our native wilds. By the time 

 we got to the shore it began raining quite hard again, so we 

 ran the boat ashore, turned it over ana crawled under. We 

 were none too soon as it came down in torrents, in the 

 course of half an hour it ceased raining, and we went at it 

 again with better success. We caught three, then started for 

 camp to find the other boat had been in and gone out again. 

 They had caught thirty-two, which was the exact number we 

 had. When they came in again they had scored six more 

 and claimed the wager, but we "kicked" so the wager was 

 withdrawn. The next morning we broke camp and set out 

 for home. One op thk Srx. 



Camp Medicine Chest.— "Kingfisher" writes of camp 

 medicine supplies: "The following is an excellent remedy 

 in case of cramps, colic and ailments of like nature : 



Tinct. Zingib )-- 



Tinct. Meuth.pip. f aa 36S ' 



Spts. Vin. Gat. q. s. 

 Mis. Sig. Take at once. 



Rendered into plain camp language this would sound like: 

 Mix a good strong dose of Jamaica ginger, essence of pep- 

 permint and brandy or other spirits enough to taste good, 

 down it and await results. If the pain is not relieved, re- 

 peat with a milder dose at the end of a half hour or so. To 

 above formula add five to fifteen drops of Tinct. Opii if you 

 have it. It is too, I believe, equally as efficacious without 

 as with the spirit. I have tried it both ways. Here is 

 another formula that may serve outers a good turn when 

 they most need it, in case of diarrhoea induced by a change 

 of water or diet : 

 9 



Tinct. Catechu ) 

 " Cardamom Comp. I - - 

 " OpiiCamph. f aa *«* 



Spiced Syrup Rhubarb ) 

 Mix. Dose. A teaspooDf ul to a tablespoonful 

 as required two or three times a day. 



Then, if you have a few dozen i or £-grain podophyllin pills, 

 a box of Seidlitz powders and a few sections of court 

 plaster, you are supplied with remedies for all the ills an 

 ordinary camp will fall heir to. — Kingfisher." 



Suspension Bridge, N. Y., July 2.— Inclosed I send you 

 clipping from Collingwood, Ont., Weekly Enterprise. The 

 editor is a fisherman and would not tell a lie. The clipping 

 reads: "Messrs. Frank Nettleton, Will Begg, Jas. Stone, W. 

 W. Nettleton and W. Watts were out at the river fishing on 

 the first of the week, and while trolling near the mouth suc- 

 ceeded in catching an immense muskulonge. It took the 

 combined efforts of F. Nettleton and Begg to haul the huge 

 fish into the boat. They brought their prize to town and 

 placed it on exhibition at Stone's hotel. The fish measured 

 6 feet three inches and weighed 128 pounds. It was the 

 largest caught for some years in these waters." 



This is Vouched for by the Correspondent who 

 Sends it. — Reading Centre, N. Y. — A novel mode of fish- 

 ing has been employed by a resident of Penn Yan, N. Y., 

 who some time ago, while out rowing in Keuka Lake, had 

 occasion to bend over the side of the boat. No sooner had 

 his face come in close proximity with the water when his 

 nose was seized by a large pickerel. The possessor of this 

 delicate organ having resisted his antagonist, he succeeded 

 in landing him in the boat and rowed ashore, proud of both 

 wound and fish. This is not what is generally known as a 

 "fish story," but an actual case of live bait fishing.— A. T. 

 Gesner. 



The Biggest Brook Tbout.— We have to record the 

 capture of a brook trout weighing 12i pounds, by Mr. J. 

 Frederic Grote, of 114 East Fourteenth street, New York 

 city, in Mooselucmaguntic Lake, Maine, on June 11. The 

 fish was a female, and Mr Grote kept it in a car for one 

 week, when it died. It was weighed several times at the 

 Mooselucmaguntic House, in presence of Mr. John Schultz, 

 of Philadelphia, and the proprietors, Messrs. Crosby & 

 Twomley. It was 26i inches long, Yl\ in girth, 7f deep 

 and was 4 inches thick through the back The guide was 

 Jerry Ellis, and they were trolling with a live minnow in 40 

 feet of water with a 7-J-ounce bass trolling rod. The trout 

 was brought to New York and shown to Mr. Blackford, who 

 decided that it was a fontinalis. It had been proposed to 

 send it to the Smithsonian Institution to have a plaster cast 

 made of it, but there were doubts as to its standing the 

 journey as it was beginning to soften. It Is now in the hands 

 of Mr. Wallace, the taxidermist, and will shortly be on ex- 

 hibition at Mr. Grote's place of business. We believe this to 

 be the largest brook trout yet recorded. 



Maine Special Salmon Laws.— Trout and salmon fishers 

 are having a good time this season. Landlocked salmon are 

 being caught m Cathume Lake. One weighing six pounds 

 was caught in Denny's River on a salmon fly flast week. 

 Cathume Lake empties into Denny's River. Poachers have 

 ruined Denny's River for salmon. This is one of the best 

 rivers in Eastern Maine for salmon, but it is under a special 

 law, which means, in Maine, no law at all. If our commis- 

 sioners had it under State law it would be fine in a few 

 years. All the special laws for salmon streams in Maine 

 should he abolished at once. It is proved in every case that 

 towns and corporations will not protect. Let this thing be 

 fixed next winter. There is a big scramble for the last 

 lobster, herring and mackerel.— H. (Machias, Me., June 28). 



Dynamiting Trout. — A gentleman who has recently re- 

 turned from Chatham, N. H., reports that some mean speci- 

 mens of human beings have made use of explosives in Moun- 

 tain Pond, and that "its shores are wind-rowed with small 

 dead trout, suckers, etc." A party (from Maine, we are 

 sorry to say) who camped there about June 10 are suspected. 

 The matter, our informant tells us, is in the hands of the 

 proper authorities and is to be vigorously pushed. We hope 

 the perpetrators of this meanest of all mean wavs of poach- 

 ing will get the full length of the law.— Black Spot (Seba- 

 go Lake, June 28). 



Maine Waters.— North Bridgton, Me.— The black bass 

 season in Maine opened July 1. The prospect for fishing 

 in Long and Highland Lakes, Bridgton. was never better. 

 A New York party have boats engaged on both lakes dur- 

 ing the opening week. Our bass fishing attracts more 

 attention each year, situated as we are at the head of the 

 Sebago Lake route, one of the most charming steamboat 

 trips in New England, and in the midst of beautiful drives 

 and fine scenery our location is especially inviting to those 

 seeking rest from the hurry and bustle of city life.— J. C. M. 



New Richmond, Que., July 2. —The salmon fishing, which 

 has been hitherto very poor on the neighboring rivers, has 

 much improved of late. Lord and Lady Lansdowne, who 

 have been camping out on the Cascapedia, have made several 

 fine catches. Mr. R. G. Dun, of New York, fishing in the 

 same stream yesterday, caught a salmon weighing fifty-one 

 pounds, which he has shipped to the Merchants' Club of 

 New York. 



The HmiiSTON Preservative Co., New Haven, Conn.— Gentle- 

 men: Being a habitnal flBherman, and having caught some fine 

 specimens of trout, (on the farm of Charles Parker) one of which 

 weighed over two pounds, I had a desire to preserve them in order 

 to show them to the many callers at my office, and procuring some 

 "Viandine" at your works, I treated three of them, and I am pleased 

 to report, that after exhibiting them In my office for four weeks, 1 

 then sent them to a friend In Waterbury, where two weeks later I 

 saw the fish, and found them still sound aud good, with no indications 

 of decay. It is a wonderinl thing, and one of the most importance 

 in the commissary outfit for sportsmen and tourists.— Fred A. 

 Dukant (Duraut Hotel, New Haven, Conn.).— Adv. 



Ajllen's bow-facing oars «an be attached to any boat in 5 minutes. 

 Try them. Little catalogue free. Fred A. Allen, Monmouth, 111.— Adv . 



Address all communications to the Forest and Stream Publish- 

 ing Co. 



THE AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY. 



[Discussion following the paper of Mr. John H. Bissell, entitled 

 "Fishculture a Practical Art," published in Forest ano Stream, May 

 SO, 1886.) 



MR. BOOTH— I would like to state forthe benefit of some of 

 the gentlemen here, to show the enormous results to be 

 derived from fishculture, that at the cannery I am interested 

 in on the Columbia River, in the State of Oregon, they pack 

 600,000 cases of salmon per annum. It is worth four to five 

 dollars a case on the ground. Now you can readily see that is 

 $3,000,000. It takes three fish to the case. That is less than 

 2,000,000 of fish. Now the salmon there produce, I understand, 

 from 15,000 to 20,000 fry, so you can readily see it doesn't take 

 many salmon to re-supply by artificial propagation the salmon 

 that are taken from that river to produce $3,000,000 per annum. 

 In other words, we catch 3,000,000 of fish which produce $3,000,- 

 000, and they can ^be replaced by artificial propagation for at 

 least $10,000 in money. Now if thereis anything in this world 

 you can speak of|that will produce so much for so little invest- 

 ment I should like to know it. 



Mr. Bissell— Mr. Booth has spoken about the comparative 

 cost of policing and artificial propagation. It is a very com- 

 prehensive subject, and I have stated in outline in my paper 

 just what my conclusions are, drawn from a great many facts 

 and a great deal of thought and consideration of the subject. 

 It is true that artificial propagation, if carried on on a proper 

 scale, can be done very cheaply. I made some figures for 

 presentation to the committee by our register two years ago, 

 and if I remember rightly it was something like this: That if 

 we produced about three hundred millions of whitefish in the 

 way that we were then and are now doing it, that the cost per 

 thousand fish planted in the lakes wherever they were to be 

 planted would be about one-third of a cent per thousand. I 

 think it was that — one-third of a cent, or less, per thousand. 

 After you get over a hundred millions you begin to scale down 

 the average very rapidly. Even if it were a cent a thousand, 

 I think that the cost of proper policing, inspection and regula- 

 tion of the fisheries will not cost what Mr. Booth seems to in- 

 dicate. We asked the last Legislature to give us $15,000 for 

 two years' work. That was on a careful estimate of what we 

 could get an inspector and probably four or five wardens for. 

 It will not be necessary to police the entire 2,000 miles of coast 



to prevent the use of nets of improper m'z q if we have the 

 power of inspection. If we could go to Mr. Booth's packing 

 house, if our inspector could go there with ample author- 

 ity and power to seize and confiscate all fish that 

 were under one pound in weight, then Mr Rooth 

 would not buy those fish any more. It would not 

 be necessary for us to go a" thousand miles to pre- 

 vent all intrenchment on the coast if we could co to the 

 market and inspect there. That is one wav. Another way 

 is when the nets are being made up, we could inspect the nets 

 and seize those which were under the size. Ai other thing I 

 indicated in my paper was about forming a healthy state of 

 public opinion. We have taken some pains in reference to 

 that, and in the latter part of February or early in Ma ch we 

 succeeded in securing a meeting of representative fishermen 

 of Detroit. I think there were something over fiftv fishermen 

 present. That meeting went so far as to perfect an organization 

 which I hope will be permanent among fishermen for the 

 discussion of useful knowledge and practical good sense with 

 reference to the purposes and the objects, and this work 

 among the fishermen will go as far as anything else towards 

 the enforcement of the law. I doubt if among the three or 

 four hundred fishermen in Michigan with whom we have 

 been in communication the last year, there are half a dozen 

 that would not be prosecuted if we had reasonable laws to 

 regulate the fisheries; so that the cost of police power exer- 

 cised with reference to the fisheries 1 think is very slight, and 

 the importance of preventing the capture of small fish is not 

 by any means an insignificant part of rearing marketable fish 

 in great numbers. A single man with a pound net. such as I 

 know of near the straits of Mackinaw, where he couldn't find 

 any net with a mesh that was small enough, he used sacking 

 for the back of his pound net so nothing could get throudi. 

 Such a man as that might destroy a quarter or a tenth of the 

 product of one of our large hatcheries. 



There is another thing in that connection. I say these fish- 

 ers must be licensed, not only as a part of the exercise of 

 police power, but to protect the citizens of the State. Now, 

 it would not be fair if the State of Illinois were spending 

 fifteen to twenty thousand dollars to stock the shores of Illi- 

 nois and Michigan with whitefish for my friend Dewey to 

 come over here and catch all those fish and ship them to 

 Toledo and Cleveland; neither is it right that the people of 

 Illinois and of the city of Chicago should be fed with fish 

 which we have planted in the waters of Michigan. Now, for 

 that reason I want the fisheries of Michigan to be licensed. I 

 want a regulation which will prevent Mr. Booth from coming 

 into our territory and catching our fish unless he pays a 

 license. I know Mr. Booth will do it. He would be very "glad 

 for the right to use good fishing ground, just as any of us gen- 

 tlemen would be very glad to pay for the right to fish in a 

 pond where we knew there were three-pound trout in great 

 numbers. Now, when we get to that point, the fees that will 

 result from a very reasonable and very low license, our fishing 

 will not only pay all the cost of regulation and inspection, but 

 it will pay all the cost of hatching and planting as many as 

 Mr. Booth thinks we ought to plant in Lake Michigan, ft will 

 pay for hatching and planting six or eight times the fifty 

 millions that we are now hatohing, 



One other thing has been alluded to and that is the question 

 of what the United States Government should do. I said in 

 my paper very briefly that the question of the regulation of 

 the fisheries was officially settled. It has been settled for 

 more than thirty years, although it has not been genearily 

 understood. The United States Supreme Court has passed 

 definitely and finally on that question. The regulation of the 

 fisheries of each State out to the State border is a matter of 

 municipal regulation, a matter of State legislation. That is 

 so even in tide water. In the State of Maryland they passed 

 a law preventing the dredging for oysters and the State officers 

 have seized a boat that was doing that, a vessel which was 

 chartered and which was registered in the United States Cus- 

 toms office at Baltimore. She was replevined fro in the State 

 constable who seized and condemned her, and under which 

 proceeding she had been sold. That case went from the 

 Supreme Court of Maryland to the Supreme Court of the 

 United States. Benjamin Curtis being the justice who gave 

 the opinion, said that the condemnation was right, that it was 

 within the police power of the State to regulate fisheries of 

 that State to the State border, and it was not a matter for the 

 United States Government to interfere with, yet it was in 

 tide water, and notwithstanding the vessel was one which 

 was registered in the United States Customs office, and al- 

 though the United States Government had the right to regu- 

 late the navigation of those waters, the control of the fisher- 

 ies was within the police power of the State. At a meeting 

 of the Commissioners held in October, 18S3, at Detroit, this 

 subject was very fully examined and presented to the meet- 

 ing by the Attorney General of the State of Michigan very 

 clearly and forciby. That I regard as entirely final. 



There is one other thing I want to speak of that Mr. Fair- 

 bank referred to, and that is the work of the United States 

 Fish Commission. Now, if any gentleman will take the pains 

 to examine the law under which the United States Fish Com- 

 mission is constituted, he will see that the sole purpose of the 

 creation of that commission was to procure scientific researches 

 with reference to the fishes, the fisheries and the food sup- 

 ply, and see what the causes of the decrease were. It was also 

 deemed proper under the definition of that law to undertake 

 experiments in artificial propagation, but it was not the pur- 

 pose of the United States Fish Commission to stock the waters 

 of the United States. The procuring of information by scien- 

 tific research, which we could get in no other way, has been 

 admirably done by the United States Fish Commission. The 

 planting of whitefish in the Great Lakes and the propagation 

 of shad have only been incidental to the work of the United 

 States Fish Commission. It was directed that under that l tw 

 and the provisions to carry out that law that they should 

 make experiments in artificial propagation, and because, in 

 the course of their experiments, they wer e able at very slight 

 increased cost, to get more eggs than they wanted for that 

 purpose, it was thought to be perfectly right to return the 

 fully developed eggs, young fry, to the waters where they 

 were taken from, and also to plait some of the young white- 

 fish in interior lakes where they did not exist, to see if they 

 could not be propagated there; but it is not the purpose of the 

 United States, and it is not the business of the United titates 

 Government, as I contend, to plant our own wateis That is 

 our own business. The waters are ours; they are under our 

 own control: they are just as much a part of the State as is 

 the land of the State, and it is the business ot the State, there- 

 fore, to see that its public waters, which are its only domain 

 left, should be properly cultivated and properly used, 



Mr. Booth— I must beg to differ with my friend with refer- 

 ence to the amount of the cost of policing:* mi propagation. 

 From his own figures, and the most exaggerated estimate of 

 the cost of propagation of whitefish or trout, it wouid be 

 about one cent a thousand if we have gathered twent-four 

 millions of pounds, in other words, eight millions of fish. 

 Now, at one cent a thousand, how much Is that? It is about 

 $800. It seems to me that is very much the chea.pt sc way of 

 reproducing the fish in these lakes. You could scarcely hire 

 one man for less than $800 a year. I thoroughly indorse his 

 ideas for exacting a license fee from any and everybody, from 

 every man engaged in catching fish in the waters of the State 

 of Michigan or Illinois or anywhere else. I believe that is a 

 great source of revenue. I don't want to ask the United States 

 Government to assist one dollar in this matter. T think the 

 people that are making their money out of catching these fish 

 are perfectly willing to pay a license for the privilege of doing 

 so. I have a great many nets and a great many boats, and I 

 am perfectly willing to pay a license if that amount is spent 

 for the reproduction of the fish. These small meshes— you say 

 they have put in canvas to catch them,— I would allow them. 



