60 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Aug. 13, 1886. 



LIGHT RODS FOR SALT WATER. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Let me welcome "A. E. C." Perhaps we who have 

 always hold that given the light rod and tackle there is 

 almost if not quite as much sport to be found in salt water 

 as fresh water, is gaining converts at last, A small 

 enough array are we, laughed or at least smiled at by both 

 salt-water anglers of the general run, and by our brethren 

 of the fresh water and brooks; but the proof of the pud- 

 ding is in the eating, and we who iish with light pliable 

 rod and thinnest tackle want no approbation from others. 



Years ago 1 turned some attention to the qiiestion, hav- 

 ing become more and more dissatisfied with the heavy 

 rods gciievally used; and as the result of my cogitations I 

 entrusted nay tackle dealer with the duty of making a rod 

 for the purpose of salt-water angling. I left the weight 

 to his discretion, as also all other details, as to stiffness, 

 etc. , simply telling him I wanted one as much Uke a black 

 bass rod of medium weight for bait-fishing as practicable. 

 What was the result? He took advantage of the clause 

 "as practicable" and made a stiff, though light rod which 

 had the most xmearthly bend, threatening at every strike 

 to break, yet at the crisis recovering almost by a miracle. 

 It gave as much play as a 31b. hop pole. I discarded it 

 and tried from that time on many rods in succession, yet 

 never succeeded in getting one exactly right. I have tried 

 rods of lancewood, greenheart, etc. (not made to order), 

 of all weiglits from 16 to 6oz.. but none were suitable. 

 Some were too stiff, others too pliable. If I had had the 

 tackle dealer make another one to order I could, no doubt, 

 have been suited much sooiiei', although I am satisfied at 

 last, that is, since last year. I liad a very light and re- 

 markably well-made trout rod, weighing only about 6oz. 

 It was of split bamboo and was just a tantalizer to me. 

 Time to go tr outing I had none, having only one or two 

 days at intervals in which I could escape business. So I 

 stopped to consider what could be done with it. One day 

 I took it to Sheepshead Bay to see what could be done 

 with it in castiag, intendiag to meet a friend (a splendid 

 fly-caster), who wished to use the rod in a tom-nament. 

 He had not anlved so I laid the rod in the boat and went 

 fishing. I had no notion of using it, but angled with my 

 heavy rod, with, however, very poor success. Thi'ough 

 ennui I rigged xxp the light rod with a squid hook and soon 

 had the pleasure of making fast to a large sea bass, and, 

 as he happened to be a good game fellow, I had quite a lot 

 of fun. After that I used this light rod (it weighed just 

 5|oz.) but soon found it was too pliable altogether and 

 could only be iised in slack water, being useless in a tide- 

 way. Now, as it behaved so well in slack water I felt 

 very loth to discard it like the rest, so I had the thin tip 

 taken off and on the middle or second joint put an agate 

 tip, making a remarkably light two-joint spht bamboo 

 rod. This suits me exactly. It is stiff enough to, carry 

 some lead in a tideway without bendmg materially, anil 

 yet so liliable that when a fish takes the hook you feel, 

 after he is landed, more as if you were his conqueror and 

 not his mm'derer. 



On such a rod weakfishing is inferior to none and be- 

 comes the tiaie thrilliag sport. Let me assm-e "A. E. C." 

 that I had no trouble at aU by either losing fish, gettin: 

 the line tangled rormd stakes or any other difficult, am 

 so I think I can answer his question by saying that a 

 weakfish can be taken like a black bass, not forgetting 

 even the bass fly, for I often use that instead of tlie squid. 

 I don't mean that I cast the fly, but I use it in stiU-fishing 

 submerged and bait the hook besides. 



Why don't you, llr. Editor, give us poor struggling 

 anglers a lift? Of the thousands who love the art, how 

 few are there who have the time or wealth to follow it, 

 and how many would not welcome any news of true sport 

 from salt water? The average salt-water angler I know 

 has screwed the sport down to slaughter. The more rea- 

 son, then, for you to help us who are trying to build it 

 up. Open yom- columns to the experience of ti'ue anglers 

 who have tried salt, you have been and are so liberal in 

 all other matter, be liberal in this also. Give us a chance. 

 Don't be so silent about our doings, which is as bad almost 

 or worse than decrying us or fighting us. You are looked 

 up to by so many sportsmen as an authority, that any 

 words you say in " encouragement will be certain to find 

 response and belief. Ah, what game lies hidden in salt 

 water. The gamy weakfish and Mngfish first on the list, 

 the resistless sheepshead, last, but not least by a great 

 sight, the striped bass. (By the way, why does every 

 one persist in i)ronouncing the poor fellow stiipe'd bass?) 

 And in deep water I have had very fine sport with the 

 Bculpin, sea-robin, gxmiard, or whatever other name the 

 rosy-Avinged little' marine butterfly may go by. 



There is one trouble about fishing in salt water Avith a 

 light rod: you are Liable to get dogfish and fluke, which 

 are unmitigated nuisances, being almost as hard on fine 

 tackle as skates. But have not fresh-water anglers the 

 pilve and pickerel to look out for? So perhaps both sides 

 balance here. Salt and fresh-water fish do seem to be 

 coimterparts to some extent. Weakfish fight very much 

 like trout. Large blueflsh often fight like black bass, leap- 

 ing again and again from the water. Striped bass are 

 much like salmon in some pomts. Fluke resemble pike 

 and pickerel in voraciousness, mode of taking the hook 

 and their way of fighting; as with pike, there seems to 

 be no Hmit to their weight, and I have often taken them 

 with pike spoons. I have a pair of fluke jaws at home 

 which look more like a shark's than any other fish's, and 

 are about as large as a small-sized handsaw. That is 

 another point about sea angling which captivates its vota- 

 ries. There is the delightful and exciting probability of 

 getting those big ten and fifteen-pounders. Except, how- 

 ever, in the way of fluke (wliich I have taken of great 

 weight), I have never made fast to any very large fish, 

 and the few times I did ahnost excite me yet. Once I 

 had a fish or a locomotive on the end of some heavy Cufc- 

 tyhunk tackle and rod which two of us could not hold. 

 I^hat fish pulled one man who caught the line half way 

 overboard, and myself nearly so, when luckily the line 

 parted. Five minutes afterward I had. another strike and 

 got him. I don't know how much he weighed, as we 

 omitted doing that, but I know it took tAvo of us to hold 

 him do-wm after he lay in the boat, which he half filled. 



But noAv, before my snow-white reputation gets dan- 

 gerously tarnished, I wiU close. Yours, in hopes of sym- 

 pathy, J. W. MULLEE. 



[The Forest AND , Stream's columns are always open to 

 the salt-water anglers, and the reason the sport is not 

 more frequently represented is only that those who find 

 in sea angling a most charming pastime do not of tener 

 write their experiences for publication.] 



Don't Use Your Leg for a Fish Tow.—Uditor Forest 

 and Stream: The above advice may seem superfluous,, 

 but it will perhaps be better appreciated after an experi- 

 ence like one which I had last Monday morning in Prince's 

 Bay. The weakfish suddenly stopped biting, and even the 

 sea robms and dogfish quit bothering me. Thuiking that 

 it would be fun to get a few crabs, I picked up a good- 

 sized dogfish, split him through the middle and fastened 

 him on a big hook and strong piece of trolling Ime. 

 Attachmg a half pound sinker to the line, I tlu-ew it over- 

 board and took a couple of hitches about my leg. Then I 

 went to fishmg again with my rod. In the midst of a 

 quiet reverie which followed I was astonished at seein; 

 my leg go over thegimwale and to find myself yanked oi 

 the seat and sliding along the bottom of the boat. I had 

 time to brace myself and prepare to have my sins come 

 back to me, when aU at once the line slackened. He had 

 bitten it in two. My leg shows a black and blue streak 

 the line sawed on it. Next week I'm going down again 

 rigged for sharks, but I'm not going to tie a bait to both 

 ends of the hne any more. The question for the debating- 

 society is, which one of us escaped?— Mark West. 



AMrem all communimtiom to the Forest and Stream Pub. Co. 



Metapedia Salmon and Sea Trout.— Mic-Mac Sal- 

 mon Club, Metapedia, P. Q., Aug. 1.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: The salmon fishing in this region has not been so 

 gOQid as last year, Early in the season the catch was very 

 fair and some good-sized fish were taken. Dr. and Mrs. 

 J. H. Baxter, of Waslniigioii, scored some very lai'ge fish 

 — 30-34Ib— dming the last weels: in .June. Mr. Dean Sage, 

 of Albany, N. Y., and his friend, Mr. Lam-ence, killed 

 over a hundred fair-sized fish at his camp tip the Besti- 

 gouche, at the mouth of the tJpsalquitch. The members 

 of the Restigouche Club, at Metapedia, have done fahly 

 well. Sea ti'out are no\A" running of good size. I have 

 taken them fresh-run and silvery, and in all the A^arious 

 stages of transformation of coloring, until they cannot be 

 distinguished from the ordinary brook trout in coloration. 

 Til ere are no specific differences whatever; they are one 

 and the same fish, as I have heretofore averred. My 

 friend, Dr. Dawson, of Cincinnati, O., and I start to-mor- 

 row for some ne-Avly opened brook trout waters on the 

 Batiscan River, a hundred miles north of Quebec, where 

 the trout are said to rival those of the Nepigon in size 

 and numbers. More anon. — J. A. Henshall. 



A Pot-Hole Incident.— Place, Wild River, Me.; 

 scene, two fishermen on a ledge above a pot-hole. We 

 had just aiTived. H., as a preliminary, caught his fly in 

 a hemlock, and I had taken in two quarter-pounders out 

 of the Avet, and no more Avould rise to all our wiles; so 

 Xmtting a worm on the end of om- flics, we dropped them 

 deep toward a "big un." "Big im" ignored it; not so a 

 baby trout, which seized and Avi-estled Avith mine might- 

 ily. I Avas drawing it away, Avhen out rushed the pounder 

 and seized the infant and sailed away doA\Ti the poolAvith 

 the fly still in the latter's mouth. Noav for it. If he 

 swallows one he must the other! When lo! out mshed a 

 larger trout and chased him around the pool. The fly 

 shook out, the little trout vanished and my hopes with it, 

 Avhile the largest one, mad at losing his dinner, snapped 

 at H.'s bait, and then there was a rumpus. H. fairly 

 hugged him Avhen 'tAvas landed, but I've been in the 

 dumps ever since. If only I'd caught that cannibal! 

 John Preston True. 



Sportsmen and Canadian Customs. — Agency of De- 

 partment of Marine, Quebec. — Editor Forest and Stream: 

 In ansAver to your letter I beg to state that I have seen our 

 collector of customs, and learn that guns, fishing tackle, 

 etc., are subject to duty: Firearms, 20 per cent. Flies, 

 etc., 35 per cent. Fishing rods, 30 per cent. Nets, free. 

 But if parties visiting Canada tor sporting purposes Avill 

 deposit with the collector of customs, at the first port of 

 entry, the amount of duty, it Avill be retiu-ned to them 

 when they go out of the coimtry again; or if they know 

 any responsible Canadian at such port of entry, he Avill 

 be accepted as security that duty avlU be paid unless arti- 

 cles again go out of the countiy in a reasonable time. — 

 J. U. Gregory. 



Raquette Lake, Aug. 5. — It may interest men fond of 

 fishing that Raquette Lake is by no means fished out. 

 Judge Fi'eedman aiid son brought to this place as result 

 of a day's fishing a sti-ing of forty, say forty bass and 

 trout, ranging from f to lift. Dingman, a gtiide, em- 

 j)loyed by this hotel, delivered as AA'elcome addition to our 

 menu a lake trout of 1911.. and 8 bass of about 21>. each. 

 All that on a day on which the thermometer never shoAved 

 more than 53% the previoxts days having depressed the 

 mercurv to 43\— FiOR da Lice. 



Bluepish and Weakfish. — Philadelphia, Aug. 5.-^^ 

 The scarcity of bluefish at Beach Haven, N. J., and the 

 neighborhood is quite marked, and it is laid to the men- 

 haden fishers. Weakfish have been caught in gi-eat num- 

 bers the past week, at any time and tide. Our party took 

 733 last Fi-iday; and there were numerous catches of 300 

 and 400. No one wanted them and they were left on the 

 dock to spoil. They run small, and will continue to do 

 so until something is done to stop the "slaughter of the 

 innocents" by net and hook. Bass are also small, and 

 seem to grow so each year. — S. 



Little Rook, Ark., Aug. 4.— Fishing has not been good 

 around here this season. The long drouth during the 

 summer and winter, and constant netting, has ruined all 

 the lakes and streams aromidhere. No attention Avhatever 

 is paid" to the so-called fish law. A party from the Oua- 

 chita River report fishing unusually good there. Fisliing on 

 Fourche La Fave is reported good, if minnows can be ob- 

 tained, but they are scarce. No other bait seems to tempt. 

 White and Caclie rivers have been too high all the season. 

 —Casual. 



Forest mid Stream Fables have been reprinted ivith 

 illustraMorks by the, a/wthor, "Awahsoose;' whose sketches 

 are as felicitoxis as the text of the fables themselves. There 

 are seven of the Fables, each lUlth a full page picture, and 

 speckaiy designed covei' and title pa^ge. Postpaid, 10 cento's 



THE ICED AND FROZEN FISH TRADE. 



BY A. HOWARD CLARK. 

 [Read before tlie American Mslieries Society.] 



THE iced-fish trade of the United States began about the 

 year 1842. Prior to that date the inland trade in fresh 

 fish Avas very limited and could be earned on onlA^ in the 

 AAanter months. In 1845 the fishing A'essels of NeAA^ England 

 began to carry ice for keeping the catch fresh. Care aa as at 

 first taken that the ice be kept separate from the fish, being 

 placed in a comer of the hold. It was soon found, however, 

 that packing the fish in crushed ice did not materially injure 

 them, and this method was soon in general iise oh all the 

 vessels and largely superseded the trade in liA-e feh north of 

 Cape Cod. For many years it was thoixght impossible to 

 transport flsh inland, even if packed in ice, and it Avas not 

 until 1859 or 1860 that Gloucester dealers could be induced to 

 try the experiment of sending fish in ice to Boston and New 

 York. Old sugar boxes were used for packing, and as the 

 experiment was perfectly successful, a large trade AA-as 

 quickly developed and iced fish Avere sent west as far as Min- 

 nesota and south to St. Louis, or even to more distant 

 markets. 



For ten years or more prior to 1842, Boston and Gloucester 

 dealers had carried on a trade of frozen fish dm-tng the Avin- 

 ter and early spring, sending the fish by teams inland as far 

 as Albany and Montreal: but as Avarm weather advanced 

 the frozen fish gave place to dry and pickled fish. In the 

 Avinter of 1854 an enterprising Gloucester fisherman tried the 

 experiment of bringing frozen herring, cod and halibut 

 from NeAvfoundland to Gloucester, where the herring AA'ere 

 sold to the cod fishermen to be used for bait. From that 

 experiment began a rapidly increasing trade in frozen her- 

 i-ing from NeAvfoundland and New Brims wick for the supply 

 of the George's codfishermen, and this bait is still the prin- 

 cipal kind used by the fleets fishing from Gloucester in AAin- 

 tei-. The frozen herring also found a ready market in Bos- 

 ton, NcAA' York and other places as a cheap food supply. 

 These fish have alAA^ays been fi-ozenby simple exposure in the 

 open air, a Avarm spell interfering 'AvLth the Avork. After 

 freezing they are x>acked in bulk in the vessel's hold, snow 

 being often mixed with them, 



In Russia and other cold countries of Europe and Asia, for 

 very many years there has been a trade in frozen fish and 

 other animal foods. In Thibet, as early as the year 1806 the 

 flesh of animals was preserA^ed by frost drying — not simply 

 freezing — and in this condition it would keep in good con- 

 dition for many months. Meat thus preserved did not have 

 a raw appearance, bwt in color resembled that which had 

 been well boiled, the ruddiness being removed by the in- 

 tense cold. 



Thus far I have spoken only of iced fish and of fi.sh fi-ozen 

 by natural means. The first definite record we have of fish 

 frozen by artificial method is the patent (No. .SI, 736) granted 

 in March, 1861, to Enoch Piper, of Camden, Maine. It is de- 

 scribed as a method of preserving fish or other articles in a 

 close chamber by means of a fi-eezing mixture haAdng no 

 contact Avith the atmosphere of the preserving chamber. Mr. 

 Piper states that the most important application of his in- 

 vention is for the preservation of salmon, which had hereto- 

 fore been preserved in a fresh condition only by being packed 

 in barrels AAfith crushed ice, Avhich in melting had moistened 

 and injured the fish. The ice, he said, could not keep them 

 more than a month, Avhereas by the neAV method they could 

 be kept in good order for year!?, if need be. The apparatus 

 used by Mr. Piper is described as a box in which the fish are 

 l)laced" in small qixantities on a rack, this box being sur- 

 rounded by a packing of charcoal or other non-conducting 

 material. Metallic pans filled with ice and salt are then set 

 over the fish and a cover shut over the box. About tAAa^nty- 

 four hours is needed to complete the freezing, the ice and 

 salt being renCAved once in tAvelve hours. The fish are then 

 I'eraoved to he packed in the storage or preserving box. If 

 desired, the fish may be coated Avith ice by immersion in iced 

 Avater; they may then be Avrapped in cloth and a second 

 coating of ice applied, or they may be coated Avith gum-ara- 

 bic, gutta-percha, or other material, to exclude the air and to 



Erevent the juices from escaping by eA'aporation. The storage 

 ox is a double one, the inner one Avithout a cover; the .space 

 between the sides and bottoms of the two being filled with 

 charcoal or other non-conductor. Metallic tubes for the 

 freezing mixture pass through the cover of the outer box 

 and through the bottoms of both boxes, connecting with a 

 small pipe to carry ofl' the brine. The combined area of the 

 tubes is required to be about one-fifth the area of the inner 

 box, in order to keep the temperature below the freezing- 

 point. 



Numerous and complex methods of freezing flsh haA'e been 

 devised since Mr. Piper obtained his patent, but the simplest 

 methods are perhaps as eftective, and are surely more eco- 

 nomical than the expensive machinery sometimes used. 



In 1869 Ml-. William Davis, of Detroit, patented a freezing 

 pan for fish Avhich he describes as a thin sheet metal pan or 

 box in two sections or pai'ts, one made to slide over the other, 

 the object being to place the fish or meat in one part of the 

 box and to slide the cover on to or in contact with the freez- 

 ing mixture. The pans are packed on top of one another in 

 a freezing box Avith iced .salt over and around them. By 

 this method from thirty to fifty minutes is said to be suf- 

 ficient to complete the freezing, when the fish may be taken 

 fi-om the pans and stored in a keeping chamber where the 

 temperature is constant at six to ten degrees below the freez- 

 ing point. 



In 1869 Mr. Davis also patented a preserving chamber, 

 .AAdiich he says may be a room, box or chamber of any desired 

 Jorm. It has two Avails with the intervening space lUled with 

 a non-conducting material. AVithin this are metal walls of 

 less length than the outside walls, so that between the tAvo 

 a freezing mixture may be placed. Entrance is obtained 

 through the top or side by closely fitting doors or hatches. 

 Other methods of freezing fish have been patented, such as 

 making a series of seven circular pans of a size to fit in a 

 barrel, and of putting the fi.sh in rubber bags Avhile they are 

 being frozen. In 1880 Mr. D. W. Davis patented a method 

 of packing fish in finely crushed ice in a barrel and freezing 

 the mass solid, the fish being so stowed as not to come in con- 

 tact with each other. 



Freezing pans, Avith or without covers, are now in common 

 use in most of the fishing centers of the Great Lakes, as also 

 in some Eastern markets. In Boston, New York and at 

 other points large buildings are devoted to the freezing and 

 storage of bluefish, salmon and other species. The large 

 species are frozen bv hanging them in the freezing room or 

 by ranging them on shelves. The improved systems of 

 refrigerator cars and steamers render it feasible to transport 

 frozen fish to any part of the United States or to foreign 

 countries whenever the trade may require. 

 Washingxon, D. C. 



The accident policies of the TraA*eler9, of Hartford, Conn., in- 

 demnify the business or pi-ofessional man for his profits, the wage- 

 Avorker for his wages, lost from accidental injury, and guarantee 

 principal sum in case oi deatlu — Adv. 



A SOFT, at;lvt:t texturs is Imparted to the skin by the use of 

 Glenn's Sulphur Soap. For skin diseases it should be, used f reely. 

 Never take a hath Avithout it. It is also especially useful as a 

 means of bleaching and pui-ifying woolens, cotton, etc. Hill s 

 Hair and Whisker Dye, black and brown, 50 cents.— J.dt!. 



