148 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



MY FIRST TROUT. 



THE ti-ain landed us at Graymont, Colorado, about 

 noon. The town lies at the terminus of the road 

 which runs up Clear Creek Cafion after the gold and 

 silver of this rich region. The whole bed of the valley 

 has been dug over, and the mountain sides to their very 

 summits pierced Avith mines by seekers after the shining 

 metals. The village consists of several cabins and a very 

 primitive sort of a hotel, with a clear, cold, trout}'- looking 

 stream leaping by. The engine turned around and the 

 tourists who had dined with us got on board followed by 

 the hotelkeeper and most of his family, bound for the 

 circus at Georgetown. It looked for a wlule as if we were 

 left in possession of the hotel and entire town. But one 

 nian kindly stayed behind to cook our supper and lent me 

 Ms rod. Gentle reader, you perhaj)9 can appreciate the 

 feelings of one who had read -with breatUess interest, for 

 years, the fishing columns of the Forest and Stream:, 

 and was now about to make his first cast for trout. To 

 catch one of the wary tribe would be worth almost any 

 effort. Victories over black bass would be far outshone. 



I left my ^vife with a couple of young ladies whom we 

 discovered were in the house, and started with ready flies 

 and high hope. Clear Creek, a well-named streani, was 

 full of floating wood, which is cut far up the mountain 

 sides, shot down to the side of the stream in long wooden 

 troughs and then sent floating toward Georgetown. There 

 was no hope for me but to ti-udge up beyond the point 

 where the wood was being put into the creek. Two miles 

 up I f oimd three men were up to their waists in the ice 

 cold water dislodging the wood and working it down the 

 streani. Above them everjiihing was clear and promis- 

 ing. Every rock looked as* if there was a trout beside it, 

 and each quiet spot promised a rise. Out flew the dun- 

 colored fly across the clear stream and came back un- 

 touched. The Little Professor, with a white hat on his 

 head, and other snow-capped mountains stood all about 

 looking on, but I hardly saw them. At length, climbing 

 over the rocks, I came to a particularly favorable looking 

 spot where the roots of a tree made it ahnost certain that 

 my first trout was lurking, I crawled up cautiously be- 

 hind a big boulder, and made a cast with all the skill of 

 wliioh I was master. If the trout was there he kept on 

 Im'king, I finally left him to his fate. 



After sundry dabs at the water in likely spots, a hope- 

 ful halt was made where a great piece of granite spread 

 out its huge bulk to protect and keep quiet, with the help 

 of a half sunken log, a deep pool where it seemed certain 

 there must be half a dozen "speckled beau — ," I mean 

 trout. Out flew the Ime, 'falling softly on the water, Imt 

 the expected s-^virl and tug failed to connect. But I was 

 not yet entirely disheartened. Another cast resulted in an- 

 other disappointment. Smely, I thought, I could not go 

 back to the hotel without m'y first trout which I had so 

 confidently expected to catch. But I did, gentle reader. 

 I haven't caught him yet. He still swims some stream, or 

 perhaps he isn't bom yet, Quien sdbef 



ElCHABD G, HOBBS. 



Spbingfieuo, hi. 



"Spanish JVIackerel ofi* Moeehead."— Cincinnati, 

 O., Sept. 6. — Your con-espondont Mr. G. C. Connor speaks 

 of Spanish mackerel weighing ISlbs, , also describes them as 

 "green and pearly-gray and maroon spotted." In some 

 seven seasons spent on the Jersey coast I never saw a 

 Spanish mackerel weighing over 6 or 91bs. and I saw a 

 great many. They are not green and pearly -gray, but 

 very silvery and the spots are decidedly golden. I think 

 Mr.' Connor mistook a bonito for a Spanish mackerel. 

 His description fits the latter very accurately. The bonito 

 is often sold in the markets for Spanish mackerel and I 

 have seen a specimen that weighed I41bs. The Spanish 

 mackerel will average 4 to 51bs. in weight. — Calumet. 

 [The Spanish mackerel, S. viaculatus, has golden si^ots 

 and is occasionally found of lOlbs. weight, but the usual 

 ■weight is from 1 to 31bs. The allied forms are the cero 

 and the king cero, S. caballa and S. regalis, the latter 

 growing to 351bs. and is furnished with brownish spots. 

 These fish are often confounded by anglers. The bonito 

 is a sti-iped fish and is said to pass "for Spanish mackerel 

 in some markets, but its appearance is so different that 

 we do not see how any person at all familiar with these 

 fishes can mistake them. Perhaps the fish captured by 

 Mr. Connor were the king cero, 8. regalis, which may be 

 called Spanish mackerel in parts of North Carolina.]. 



Preserving Rods During the Winter. — Editor For- 

 est and Stream: The season approaches, and in fact, is 

 here, when fishermen must put away tlieir rods for the 

 winter. TMs is a matter of more importance than some 

 suppose. More rods are spoiled by neglect or improf)er 

 care during the winter than from any other cause. Every 

 person who owns a rod should have a care for it, but one 

 trouble with me was that my love of a good rod has in- 

 duced me to spend so much "for them that I can hardly 

 afford to buy expensive cases to store them in. The other 

 day, however, I found what to me was a new contrivance, 

 which is cheaji and very serviceable. It is a rod case 

 made of rolled paper, japanned, covered with cloth and 

 made wa,terproof. It has handsome nickel trimmings, 

 and is jointed in such a way as to be most convenient. 

 It is light and very durable and is just the thing in wMch 

 to lay away a rod for the winter or to carry it in on a trip. 

 The contrivance is patented, but I did not learn where it 

 is made. It struck me as being the cheapest and safest 

 device for insuring the proper care of rods diu-ing the 

 long winter.— Fly-Rod. 



Boston and Maine. — There is considerable activity 

 around the gun stores, though hardly as much as usual 

 at this season. The fact is that the shooting is rather 

 poor within easy distance of Boston. There is as much 

 outfitting for the Maine woods as ever, but this does not 

 include the great number of s]3ortsmen who can get away 

 for but a day or two at a time. To go through from 

 Moosehead Lake, in Maine, to the Katahdin Iron Works 

 is becoming a popular trip with Boston sportsmen, and 

 one or two parties are planning to go that way in a few 

 days. Another member of the wool trade will start on 

 his annual trip to the Upper Moosehead region about the 

 20th, Mr. Heath, of the firm of Ginn & Heath, book 

 publishers, is contemplating a trip to the Andi-oscoggin 

 Lakes. Mr. Geo. T. Freeman, of the firm ®f Harrington 

 & Fx-eeman, jewelers, is now on a gunning ti'ip to E^st- 

 ham for a fevv days. Mr. Freeman takes his little boy, 

 ten yeai's old, with Mm. — Spbcial. 



A RONKONKOMA CIRCUMSTANCE,— New York, Sept, 13. 

 — I have been at Ronkonkoma dm-ing the past week and 

 fo\md the fishing quite bad, although the water is cold and 

 free from gTass, Few fish have been caught, but of those 

 nothing under l^lljs. L. M. They evidently are off feed, 

 as it is difficult to even get the small porch to take the 

 fly or worm; lience bait is scarce for the craft, Saturday 

 morning I had a very funny experience. Was fishing at 

 7 A, M, , clear and cool westerly wind. I put a medium- 

 sized frog on a No. 2 Sproat hook and sank it near the 

 bottom in about 28ft. of water, I soon felt a tug, and 

 giving the bass ample time to gorge, struck and com- 

 menced to fight him; but he let go after a few struggles, 

 evidently not hooked. I reeled in to replenish bait, and 

 imagine my surprise to find my frog gone but in its place 

 a nearly dead 4in. perch hooked clean across head between 

 mouth and eyes! Will you or your readers explain how 

 this happened and so enlighten- Brooklynite. 



The Bass Record.— A report from Castleton, Vt., in 

 the Troy Times of July 20, stated: "While Fish Warden 

 A. H. Smith was retm-ning from a midnight trip to the 

 northern part of Lake Bomoseen Wednesday, he saw a 

 large fish floating on the water. Ho drew it to Goodwin's 

 boat landing and procured a pair of steelyards and 

 weighed the fish. It proved to be an Oswego bass. It 

 was 34in. long and weighed a little more than 251b8. The 

 fish had apparently been dead several days." If that 

 weight can be verified, is it not the largest bass on record? 

 — Troy. [We have written to Warden Smith, but no re- 

 ply has been elicited,] 



A Fair Angler's Skill.— Birmingham, Conn,, Sept, 4. 

 — During two weeks of last month Mrs. Brewster and my- 

 self were camping on the inlet to Cranberry Lake, St. 

 Lawi-enoe county, N, Y. The stream is called the Inlet in 

 that section. Mrs. Brewster caught out of one hole, in 

 one hour, two speckled brook trout, one of which weighed 

 41bs. and the other 31bs. lOoz, She caught them alone, 

 that is -wdthout help, no one except herself toucMng the rod. 

 Pretty good for a lady, isn't ib?— Cyrus Brewster, Jr. 



Montreal, — Quebec, Sept. 8. — The catch of bass, dore 

 and maskinonge has been a large one in the St, Lawrence 

 waters, wMoh shows the effects of protection. — Stan- 

 stead. 



All newsdealers sell Forest and Stream Fables. 



Address all communicatiom to the Forest and Stream Pub. Co. 



THE OHIO FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



IN the list of Fish Commissioners in our issue of Sept. 2, we 

 gave the names of the officers of the previoiia year, fol- 

 lowed by a note to that effect, and saying that there liad been 

 no information furnished. It now appears that an entire 

 change has been made, and the following are the names and 

 addresses of the board: 

 0. V. Osborn, President, Dayton. 

 H. P. Ingalls, Huntsville. 

 John Hofer, Bellaire. 

 A. G. Williams, Secretary, Chagrin Falls. 

 We will esteem it a faVor if the Commissioners of the 

 different States will notify us of any change in their officers. 

 We aim to keep our readers informed on this subject. 



PLAN OF A FISHWAY.— Bridgewater, N. S.— Build a 



rough but strong crib-work with a log bottom and sides, 

 one side, if the river bank be rock; the sides high enough to 

 be above the rock floor, the rock being carefiilly laid with 

 large and small rock, so as to resemble the "natural mn of 

 water round the end of a dam," the large ones to form 

 pools for rests, crooked and uneven, just as a natural run 

 over rocky bottom, with a gi-ade from fi to 8ft., but it may 

 be :^hat a sharper grade will answer as well as the lesser grade 

 over plank or cut stone. Then fill in with concrete to tighten 

 and keep the stone rock in their place. The side, or sides, 

 may be of hewn timber or plauJied, say, 2 or 3ft. above the 

 bottom. The head should be 18in. or 3ft. below the top of 

 dam, with a strong open pier in the pond to protect all trom 

 drift ice, logs, snags, or any drift debris from injming the 

 work or plugging it up. The rock bottom will be begim at 

 the very lowest end, even under ^vater, and may be fitted 

 into the bottom logs and fastened by iron and wood plugs. 

 Care must be taken to have it contract the water mto a 

 narrow stream, when at its lowest, and eveiy pains taken to 

 have it resemble a "naim al stream." Where a rocky forma- 

 tion is at one side, but the bottom and one pier outside is 

 requii-ed, while if the formation be of soft drifting material, 

 a pier at each side is required. It may be at any part (place) 

 of the dam, to answer circumstances. The rocks and con- 

 crete answer the double purpose of ballast and floor, and 

 additional ballast may be placed in the piers at the sides, 

 making the whole structure perfectly solid and durable. By 

 this mode of fishway it is easily seen that fish may be taken 

 over impassable rapids of high elevation, but my object is to 

 lay my plan before the public and learn their views concern- 

 ing it.— E. D. Davison^ 



THE NEW YORK OYSTER COMMISSION,— Fish Com- 

 missioner E. G. Blackford, in charge of the oyster investi- 

 gation of the State, is gradually getting things into shape 

 for a complete survey of the oyster beds of the State, to be 

 made by W. G. Ford, Jr., an engineer formerly attached to 

 the U. S. Coast Siu'vey. Careful measurements are to be 

 taken, and when the work is completed every plot of gronnd 

 under water will be so positiA'ely defined on a map that 

 buoys and stakes may be dispensed with. The field work 

 Mill be accomplished diu-ing the summer and fall, and dur- 

 ing the winter the maps vnll be made. At the same time 

 the lines are being defined the depth of water, the tempera- 

 ture, the diversity and character of the bottom will be 

 studied. When the work is completed, a bill will be fi-amed 

 and presented to the Legislature for action, which vrill give 

 any one whose grounds have been surveyed the opportunity 

 to obtain a title to the same by the payment of igl per acre, in 

 conformity with the law now in force in Connecticut. At 

 the present time the tenure of oyster grounds in this State is 

 rather held by custom and habit, and disputes as to owner- 

 ship are constant. When the lines have been drawn and 

 legal rights to grounds are shown beyond chance of dispute, 

 a title -svill be given which will be as valid as if granted for 

 uplands. Whenever natui-al oyster beds are fotmd, they 

 being the pi-operty of the public, they will not be interfered 

 ■with. To those to whom titles are given a. small yearly tax 

 will be imposed to keep up the system. At Cold Spring 

 Harbor some experiments in the artificial culture of oysters 

 will be made by Mr. Fred Mather, and an analysis of the 

 water from the different oyster beds is now being conducted 

 by Mr, BasMord Dean. 



THE NEBRASKA COMMISSION.— We have the report 

 of the board of Fish Commissioners of Nebraska for the 

 year ending Dee. 31, 1885. In former years the U. S. Fish 

 Commission was depended upon for a supply of carp for 

 distribution, but this year enough min-or carp were raised to 

 supply all applicants up to the close of the season, besides a 

 large number retained for breeders at the fishery. Superin- 

 tendent O'Bi'ien reports the demand for carp to be four 

 times larger than heretofore. The followins are the num- 

 bers of fish distributed during 1885: Brook trout, 131,000; 

 California trout, 8,000; wall-eved pike, 5,575,000; black bass, 

 605; carp, 3,745; total, 5,707,3.50; 



FISHWAYS FOR VTRGINIA.-The State of Virginia is 

 now erecting McDonald fishways on Reed Creek and all of 

 its tributaries, with the object of opening the way for the 

 ascent of bass, red-eyes and catfish from New River. The 

 head waters are to be fully stocked vvith brook and rainbow 

 trout, and full protection is guaranteed by consent of the 

 laud owners along the stream. As this stream has been 

 heretofore without fish, the results accomplished will be 

 watched with great interest as furnishing a measure of what 

 may be accomplished by stocking and protecting waters by 

 fishways. 



WYOMING. — Fish Commissioner Gramm has returned 

 with his car load of fish, and distributed them through the 

 Territory. He had a whole car load of black bass, sun fish 

 and catfish. 



Forest and Stream Fables sold by all Tuywsdealers^ 



Lake George Camp and Canoe Chats: Gossip on Canoes, 

 Camps, Religion, Social Manners, Medicine and Law, 

 Gastronomy, Politics and Marriages. Illustrated with 

 ten phototvpes of beautiful views on the lake. New 

 York: A. J. Whitemali, 1886. 

 This pretentiously printed volume purports to record the 

 experiences and conversations of three canoeists at Lake 

 George. From the title one might expect to find its pages 

 pervaded with the perfume and breezy freshness of the forest 

 and bright with the glinting sunshine of the rare spot where 

 the scene is laid; taut the atmosphere of the book is quite the 

 reverse; it is unhealthy, fetid and depressing. The three 

 canoeists (whom we take to be fictitious characters) are a 

 divorce lawyer, who is a crank on the subject of marital in- 

 fidelity; a physician, who is well posted on female immor- 

 ality, and a clergyman, who does not r(!sent an outraj^eously 

 blasphemous joke. The .subjects di.scnssed are umltiiarious, 

 chief among them being the deprarity of the female flirt; to 

 this the talk comes around again and again with disgust- 

 ing frequency and the pertinacity of prurient persistency. 

 The average canoeist, who takes up "Camp and Canoe Chats" 

 for what canoeing there may be in them, will lay them 

 do\TO again in vexation at the recurrence to sexual sinning. 

 All this would be well enough in its place in a treatise 

 on psychiatry or as a contribrition to the literature of the 

 social evil, but it does not properly come under the head of 

 canoeing, any more than a cabbage grower's disconrses on 

 the ravages o"f snails and slugs woiild come under the head 

 of shooting on the mng, or a series of conversations on lep- 

 rosy would belong to angling. As a piece of literary work 

 the book is devoid of art, a,nd overtaxes the reader's credul- 

 ity. The snake scene at the end is as ridiculous as it is im- 

 liossible. Mrs. Janus (the moral monstrosity who serves as 

 the author's ''horrible example") swims after her drowning 

 childj bursts a blood vessel, and being brought to land, dies 

 in this •wise: "Long and earnestly she looked into the eyes 

 of the frightened child, .and as the blood still flowed from 

 her mouth she gi"ew weaker and weaker. At length the face 

 began to lo.so expression. At tlds moment .-i rustle was 

 heard in the undergrowth, and looking for its cause, all 

 beheld an enormous serpent reai-ing its liead to seize a white 

 dove that was flutterin.m and about to fall into its jaws. The 

 woman's eyes followed theirs. As she saw the reptile a 

 shudder passed over her fonii that seemed like a convulsion. 

 Her eyes regained their expression, and with one powerful 

 effort she raised up her l)ody to gaze upon the monster. 'At 

 last,' she ga.sped, 'at last I know.' Tlien with a struggle 

 she raised her arm and waved it toward the dove. The mo- 

 tion seemed to release it fi-om the fearful fascination of the 

 serpent, and \vith a qiuck movement it rose into the air and 

 flew away. The serpent glided off, stopping now and then 

 to look back with upraised head and open mouth, out of 

 which its forked tongue flickered viciously. In the back- 

 %vard turn of its head and expanded jaws there was a hide- 

 ous reseml)lance to tli(^ old artful smile and glance over the 

 shoulder which had been one of the djing woman's frequent 

 aresttires. The spectators shuddered at the siccht. The tide 

 of life had nearly ebbed. Clasping her cLuld still closer, the 

 mother whispered, 'Shun the serpent and be the dove, dar- 

 ling — be the dove.' The arms relaxed, the form sank back- 

 ward, and the great soul was gone." 



It must not be inferred from what we have said, however, 

 that there are not many bright things in this book, and the 

 lawyer, physician and clergyman being men of the world 

 (albeit the author proves them donkeys in the chnomancy 

 incidents), have a deal of shrewd philosophy. The illustra- 

 tions are liciautiful .specimens of printer's-ink photographs, 

 happily cho.seii and finely executed. 



Southern California: Its Valleys, Hills and Streams; its 

 Animals, Birds and Fishes; its Gardens, Farms and Cli- 

 mate. By Theodore S. Van Dyke. New York: Fords, 

 Howard & Hulbert, 1886, 

 Mr. Van Dyke is by profession a lawyer. Some years ago, 

 at the instance of his physicians, he abandoned a lucrative 

 practice, and leaving his home in Minnesota, sought health 

 in the milder climate of Southern California, where he hag 

 since resided. As a wi-iter he needs no introduction to the 

 readers of a journal whose colunms have freqnently been 

 graced by contributions from his pen. In the handsomely 

 printed volume before us, the scope of which is set forth in 

 its title, he has endeavored to picture the outdoor attractions 

 of his adopted home. His preface, in which the reader is 

 taken into the author's confidence in a manner quite as 

 charming as it is winning, warns us that we need not hope 

 to find a book on Southern California which is not tinctured 

 either by ignorance or by affection; in tliis volume one 

 finds that Sir. Van Dyke's pages, if colored at all, owe 

 their hue to affection, but never to any lack of in- 

 formation. He writes in graphic style of the hills and 

 valleys and bavs of that Pacific summerland. The de- 

 scriptions of natural scenery are vivid; one sees the flower 

 bedecked hillsides, catches mid-air the flash of bird plumage, 

 and hears the wlurr of wings, the beat of hoofs and the 

 tinkling splash of the waterfall. 



The advantages of Southern California as a pei-manent 

 home are set forth, and the disadvantages appear to be de- 

 tailed with equal frankness; as are also its agricultural and 

 industrial capacities, for Mr. A^an Dyke has no land to sell 

 nor lots to boom. We most heartily commend the volume 

 to any one who may be seeking information aliout Southern 

 California, to all who enjoy close studies of the ways of 

 nature, and to all who enjoy well written descriptions of 

 a favored land. 



Poems: Drift Weed. By Celia Thaxter, Boston: Hough- 

 ton, Mifflin & Co. ^ ^. ^ ^ , 

 It affords us much pleasure to clirect attention, to these 



