Oct. 14, 1886.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



229 



banks and stony bars without a bass, and shooting a few- 

 plover. An hour before s^inset we went again for the 

 ranskos, and just as the sun set I caught another 10- 

 pounder, and very soon had another heavy strike. I 

 gathered in on the guy Line, when the fish, larger 

 than either of my two smaller ones, jumped not 

 30ft. from the boat; tliis rather astonished me, for I 

 thought him a long way oft'. He had struck the weed 

 hooks, wlncli were just at the surface, and as I had not 

 expected tliat any 'fish would interfere with it, it was 

 rather carelessly tied on. I did it myself. Tlie weed hooks 

 are in this bay a necessity; it's not a nice place for troll- 

 ing, especially with the wind off shore, for that brings 

 great quantities of grass and the water becomes covered 

 with slimy-looking scum as well. Hardly was this fish 

 lost, for his jump cleared him, than the bell rang again, 

 and I brought in a o-pounder. This closed my musko 

 fishing with this summary: Trolled 11 hours, had 6 

 strikes, saved 4 fish. Four of the six strikes were on lines 

 that at the tune were being hauled in to clear, if foul; 

 three of the four (including the weed hook) from 30 to 

 70ft. from boat. The shortenmg in of the lines, either by 

 increased rapidity of motion or by bringing the spoon 

 nearer to surface,' seemed to have good effect. I incline 

 to believe that at simset a sliort line is advisable. My 

 weed hooks consisted simply of the triple gang of an old 

 spoon, from which the sjiiiiuing plate and all but the 

 shanlfs of the feathers had been taken off; yet this rude 

 decoy at the sm-face A\-as selected instead of the perfect 

 appliances revolving from 130 to 150ft. astern and from 

 3 to 6ft. imder. Three out of my six muskellunge jumped 

 out of the water from twice to thrice their length; my big 

 one went out twice. 



On Satiu'day a rainy N.E. morning decided me to push 

 on. Now that I "had him on my list," the trolling for 

 mnskos ceased to greatly divert me. My Florida and 

 West India experience lately and more or less of it all 

 over the world for a lifetime^ had rather dampened my 

 ardor; but the thoughts of the bass to be had in West 

 Lake still drew me; and wrapped in oilskin, our little sail 

 doing the work, we started for Picton, making the twen- 

 ty-two mile trip in about five hours, tbe weather clearing 

 as we sailed. Airiving iu time for dinner, I went at once 

 to the Royal Hotel, the proprietors of which, Messrs. Soby 

 & Son, had kindly undertaken to post me up and start 

 me; and to theii- care I had sent my gear. To my disgust 

 it had not reached them, and a call at the express office 

 and a visit to the Custom house, failed to find them. My 

 trij) was at an end, for the resources of Picton were not 

 equal to my wants. 



The next morning, Sunday, although rainy, I drove 

 over to the lake to take a look at it. It was a very pretty 

 drive, iu spite of the rain, and the lake looked well. I 

 talked with a number of persons accustomed to fish on it 

 and an'ived at the conclusion, that althougli I would un- 

 doubtedly get plenty of bass, yet that it was rather too 

 late to expect any very large ones. So after thoroughly 

 looking over the situation I made up my mind to put 

 away my gear (unless it arrived that day,' which it did 

 not) and' postpone till next year, when, if from all that I 

 have heard I deduct for belief at least 75 per cent., tlvere 

 remains a very b-g probability of by far the best bass 

 fishing next year that I have ever di-eamed of. 



I found that to fish that lake for, say tlu-ee days, would 

 be a very expensive Inxui"}-. My boat would have to be 

 hauled to and fro (7 miles each way), my man and myself 

 transported daily to and from Picton, and___our hotel "bills 

 to pay there for what we didn't eat, and such farmer 

 along the lake as would give us a noon meal for what we 

 did. A good portion of om- time woidd be taken up go- 

 ing and coming and catcliing minnows with hook and 

 line, having, of course, to go some distance from the bass- 

 ing grounds to get them. So as the weather looked un- 

 favorable I gave up and came home. 



Now a few hints for a person going as I have indicated. 

 At Kingston and Picton, call at once on the Custom House 

 officer, tell him just what you have and where you are go- 

 ing. Your boat is a highly dutiable article, and you must 

 assure them that it won't be left in Canada. The officers 

 are very courteous, and if provided with good credentials, 

 as I was, there is no difficulty whatever. But if thi-ough 

 any cause they have not fuU'confidence, you will have to 

 deposit security to the full value of your dutiable articles, 

 such as yoiu- boat, gun, etc. Shooting is allowed on but 

 three days per week, and considerable tracts of the best 

 grounds are preserved. You can obtain a i^ennit by suit- 

 able introduction and paying for it. A call upon "^either 

 of our consuls will be a wise move; they are gentlemen, 

 and can render good advice and assistance. 



Don't expect to keep yom- friends at home posted as to 

 yom- movements. I posted one letter Fiiday evening by 

 a steam yacht going from Hay Bay to Picton, On Satur- 

 day evening I myself posted one at Picton. On Monday 

 evening I got home. On Tuesday my fiirst letter arrived, 

 and on Wednesday my second — available only as evidence 

 that I did keej) my promise and wi-ite. 



Carry with you everything you will need. Leave your 

 small silver at home. Our silver dollars fetch 85cts./half 

 dollars 40cts., quarters SOcts., dimes 8cts. Be careful not 

 to violate any of the laws or regulations about shooting. 

 Already an elTort has been made by certain shooting and 

 fishing men (I won't call them sportsmen), to establish a 

 license tax. S3 for natives, $25 for foreigners, which in- 

 cludes us. Fortunately there were sportsmen enough, of 

 whom I learn that Mr, Soby was a prominent mover, to 

 prevent this unneighborly act. PiSECO. 



Striped Bass.— Washing-ton, D. C, Oct. 10.— Noting 

 your comments in the last numlaer of Forest and Stream 

 in reference to the scarcity of sti-iped bass in the vicinity 

 of New York and further north, I am prompted to say 

 tliat great numbers of striped bass, or rockfish. as thev 

 are called here, are brought to our city markets. They 

 are sold in bunches of four or five at twenty -five cents per 

 bunch, the fish averaging hardly a half-pound each. They 

 are caught in the Potomac and adjacent waters. Thi's 

 would indicate that the striped bass is not in immediate 

 danger of extinction; but aU the same, there is some 

 great cause of the scarcity of the larger bass that you 

 speak of, and it may be traced to the same that is dimin- 

 ishing the quantity of bluefish. — J. C. B. 



ADiAN Akgling Notes."— Fi'iend's guide was 

 Freilch ^lude, the sun shone at 5 o'clock, and there was 

 no nec essity of casting far as the biggest trout came up 

 ae.ar to the' boat. 



TROUT STREAMS OF ALASKA. 



TO the pleasures of the sportsman in Alaska are added 

 the joys of the discoverer. Several times have I 

 felt this added joy when standing on the shore of some 

 lonely lake, where only the loon's diabolical cry awakes 

 the echoes, the first white man to gaze upon its shining 

 surface. This feeling may be shared by any one who will 

 peneti-ate to the interior of the islands or ascend the moun- 

 tains. Only the water ways are known at all and they 

 not weU. 'Water communication is everywhere so easy 

 that tlie Indian avoids the land in his travels except to 

 camp upon it, and formerly to trap along the streams. 

 Many a wliite man, I believe, has been deterred from 

 penetrating to the interiors on account of the supposed 

 difficulties. True, the vegetation is very dense along the 

 water, but it thins out considerably a little distance back 

 from it. 



I shall not enumerate all the trout streams of southeast- 

 em Alaska; this I am unable to do. But I shall describe 

 a few that are fondly remembered for the pleasures they 

 gave me. In the first place come the twice-mentioned 

 streams of Ward Cove and Karta Bay. 



Karta Bay is situated at the upper end of Kasa-an Bay. 

 It is the location of the Baronovich salmon fishery. A 

 few miles from this place, on the Skowl arm of Kasa-an 

 Bay, is the Hydah village of Kasa-an, containing the 

 largest number of totem poles now standing in Alaska. 

 There are more than one hundred totem poles and moiiru- 

 ary columns in good state of preservation, and many of 

 the former are good sioecimens of Hydah sculptm-ing. 

 Here lives, as his signboard names him, Hyderjohn Jew- 

 ellay. This man is the best artisan in Alaska, and Ms 

 silver bracelets and bangles are widely known. Kasa-an 

 village was also noted before his death as the dweUing 

 place of the great cliief, SkoAvl; as great in the sense that 

 his obesity was such that his body was unwieldy, as in 

 the other 'meaning of the word. He had two wives to 

 administer to his enormous appetite for food and di-ink, 

 and two slaves to sujiport his weight when he went about. 

 He stood nearly 6ft. high and weighed over 4001bs. On 

 state occasions it was his custom to dress up m a black 

 broadcloth suit, with a high standuig collar and gold- 

 rimmed spectacles. This mass of flesh thus decked out, 

 with his two slaves, one on either side of him, to bear his 

 weight, was a sight in Alaskan waters not likely to be for- 

 gotten. He inspired great fear and respect, as' well from 

 the fierce Chilcats of the north as from the more civilized 

 Hydahs of the souLh. He was the great tyee of Alaska at 

 the time of his activity; full of courage, and his deeds of 

 bravery have become ti-aditions among his people. His 

 wealth in blankets at one time was great, but in his later 

 years he squandered it in drink, and died comparatively 

 poor. He has been dead two years, but his body still lies 

 in state in a house set apart for that pmpose, sm-roimded 

 by the remnant of his fo]-tune. 



When we "visited this village all of its people were away, 

 working- at the different fisheries, or in the mines at 

 Juneau, providing for the winter of wet and cold. We 

 could not help being impressed by tlie feeling of security 

 with which they left most of then* household goods. 

 Many of the houses we could have entered without much 

 troutile, but such a thing as burglary among themselves 

 seems not to be thought of. They "are in the habit of 

 caching then- surplus wealth of blankets in the woods. 

 Recently the cache of a wealthy chief of the Klowak 

 tribe on Prince of Wales Island was broken open and 

 robbed of several hundred blankets, looking glasses and 

 wash bowls, by a white trader. Fortunately it was dis- 

 covered before tlie man had disposed of his plunder. He 

 is now awaiting trial at Juneau, a rough mining settle- 

 ment. If justice should miscarry in this instance it 

 would have a bad effect upon the Indian population of 

 Alaska. 



Into the head of Karta Bay, a mile or less from the 

 fishery, empties a stream with a wide and rocky bed. 

 Just the conditions exist there for good trout fishing, 

 deep pools, rapid water and a broad bed for casting. The 

 fish were gamy and very strong. I took 1.27 trout from 

 tliis stream as the result of fom* visits to it, a few hours 

 in the afternoon each day. Two of us made a combined 

 catch of 107 one afternoon. Fish ranging from 1 to 21bs. 

 were common. 



While we were at Karta Bay another vessel dropped 

 anchor alongside of us. and some of her people played 

 havoc iu our favorite stream. They chummed the pools 

 with salmon roe and used the same for bait. By these 

 means three of them captm-ed in two days over 400 trout. 

 The dull-colored flies are the most killing in aU these 

 waters. With one exception, where the fish showed a 

 Hktng for the gray-pakner and hare's-ear, the only flies 

 I have been successful with have been the coachman, 

 professor, brown-hackle and gi-ay-dun. 



The place where we most frequently anchored was 

 Ward Cove, a beautiful little rounded basin on the western 

 side of Revillagiged Island, and opening into Tongass 

 NaiTows. About a mile from the cove is a fresh- water 

 lake, and in the early part of the season I took many 

 trout from the stream which flows from this into the salt 

 water. But in August this stream was so crowded with 

 salmon that om- fisbing in it was totally destroyed. We 

 were obliged to tramp further for our sport, to a stream 

 emptying into the lake, where we had good sport until 

 late in the season. Many salmon had overcome the 

 obstacles below and were spa^vning in the upper river. 

 This gave the trout an abundance of food, yet they rose 

 eagerly to the flies. I was of the opinion that with an 

 abundance of food, trout were sluggish in rising to 

 the fly. My experience here, however, proves that such 

 is not always the case. I have already alluded to the 

 eggs running out of the trouts' mouths when held up by 

 the tail. Last year the fishing was practically over early 

 in August, except in streams whose mouths were ob- 

 structed by weirs, above high waterfalls or in waters 

 beyond the reach of the salmon. This year we have not 

 observed the same rush of sahnon. 



Fi'om the south end of Etolin Island we moved up into 

 Wrangell Strait and anchored off Finger Point, midway 

 the strait. Abreast of this point, on Mitkoff Island, is a 

 large sti'eam, which at its mouth tumbles over a broken 

 ledge of rocks in a naiTow gorge, makmg a picturesque 

 waterfall about 8ft. high. Back of tliis for a little dis- 

 tance the water is broken into a series of falls and rapids, 

 beyond which the stream broadens out in the wide valley; 

 buit it is not fordable except in places. My fii'st visit to 

 this stream was at the end of a drizzly afternoon in the 

 middle of August. I took a number of fine fish from a 

 large and deep pool not far above the rapids. Among 



them was one weighing 30oz., the heaviest of the season, 

 and a number weighing 8, 10 and 12oz. each. I never got 

 another rise from this pool. Though the stream was "vis- 

 ited several times afterward this practically ended my 

 ti-out fishing in Alaska, for the next day it began rainiag 

 hard and continued with few intermissions as long as we 

 remained — till Sept. 12. The rain never ceased falling 

 long enough for the SAVollen stream to subside. After the 

 first day just mentioned our tramps were so full of fatigue 

 and so poorly rewarded "with fish that I finally put away 

 my light bamboo and jointed a stouter lancewood rod for 

 the sea ti'out at the foot of the lower falls. 



In the Mitkoff Island ti-out the whole side showed a 

 rainbow ti'idescence, not bright, but like the reflection of 

 a rainbow in the sky. These were the first in my sight 

 to merit tlieii- name, and they were a connecting link 

 between the uniformly marked"^ lake denizens and those 

 of brighter color inliabiting swift running streams. The 

 clearer and colder the runuing water the brighter and 

 narrower is the streak on the side. I have seen it almost 

 crimson. The average fishing has been poor in south- 

 eastern Alaska this year on account of the wet season. 



While fishing for sea trout at the foot of the falls the 

 salmon took our baited hooks a number of times. Twice 

 it fell to my lot to be fastened on to one. The first, I 

 suspect, was pretty well exhausted by its efforts to jump 

 the falls. I had nearly succeeded in landing it, when my 

 companion, in his eagerness to assist me, waded toward 

 it "with landing net in hand — our sole reliance in such an 

 emergency. Tlie fish gave a flouuce and the hook parted 

 company from the snell. The second time the salmon 

 took the' bait as if it were fresh from the sea and started 

 back whence it came at great speed. As I could not 

 foUow it took but little time to reel off all the line, and I 

 then gave it the point of the rod. It saved my line 

 and leader. I have been told of a number of instances, 

 occurriag both here and do"WTi the Oregon coast, where 

 the salmon have taken the baited hook while deep-sea 

 fishing. 



I will close this narrative with an account of a strange 

 freak which I saw in Cliolmondely Soimd, P. of W. Island. 

 We were at anchor in a harbor which we named Dora 

 Bay. A driving mist put a stop to all work, but not to 

 sport, A companion and I, -with an Indian to paddle the 

 canoe, set out to fish a little stream in our vicinity. In 

 the shallow water at its mouth we saw a bunch of about 

 twenty salmon going round and round in a circle about 

 six feet in diameter. They kept it up without intermis- 

 sions or breaks m the ring. It reminded of the merry-go- 

 rounds wliich one sees at certain kinds of amusements. 

 We cast the flies over them and dropped the hooks in their 

 midst without interrupting them in what they were doing 

 —play it might have been. My companion determined to 

 caiitm-e those fish and he set about it in the following 

 manner. He and the Indian lashed their sheath knives 

 to long poles and waded into the water. As the fish came 

 around they speared them with the knives until they had 

 taken the entire lot. In the meantime I was am'using 

 myself with the trout in the sti-eam near by, and when 

 they had finished with the salmon I had made a string of 

 19 S. purpiireus, T. H. S. 



Alaska, Sept, 14, 1886. 



BASS FISHING AT RIVERTON. 



IT was one of those warm days about the middle of 

 April, when a man begins to think that no result 

 whatever would justify the least display of energy, and 

 there comes to a discijjle of Izaak Walton visions of run- 

 ning water and leaping fish and he longs to take himself 

 away from the weary routine of his office and spend a 

 day or two with his rod and line. At noon Judge Wm. 

 A.'Hudson, a regular breeze of a man— rather should I 

 say gale, for he is a man of that impulsive, resistless 

 energy that carries everything before it — burst into my 

 office." "Hello here. Charles, look at this." And "this'" 

 proved to be a telegram as follows: "Riveeton, Va. — 

 The bass are biting finely. Come down. — L. B.'' 

 "Well,"-said I, "what does this mean?" 

 "This means that the bass are biting at Riverton, and I 

 am going down there this evening and you are going with 

 me, ■■ 



"You're too sudden, I don't think I can get ofif this 

 evening. To-morrow — " 



"To-morrow! Thunder!" interrupts Hudson. "We're 

 going- this evening." 



"But I haven't any suitable flies." 



"Fhes be hanged! You don't want any flies. You 

 couldn't catch these bass tins time of the year with flies 

 to save yom- life. What you want is minnows, big hooks 

 and a sinker. They are feeding on the bottom. But I 

 haven't time to be fooling here with you. Dick Bell is 

 going "with us, and I have got to see hi'm yet. Now, you 

 get ready and meet me at the 4 P. M. train." 



The mere contact ^vith the man had infused new energy 

 into me ; I hmriedly closed my office and struck for home 

 to gather up the things necessjuy for my trip — wading 

 pants, a pair of old shoes, some old clothes, a couple of 

 light rods, lOOyds. of line, two dozen large bass hooks on 

 double guts, a dozen sinkers of various sizes, which I pur- 

 chased very reluctantly, but which Hudson said I could 

 not get along without, and he was right, and various 

 other things. We met at the B. & O. depot. Oiu- party 

 consisted of Judge Wm. A. Hudson, a prominent lawyer 

 of Staunton; Richard P. Bell, Commonwealth Attorney, 

 and his son, a boy of some 10 years and myself, a young 

 lawyer of the same place. After a somewhat long and 

 tu-esome joiu-ney we arrived at Strasburg about 10 P. M. 

 We put in the night there, and the next day before day- 

 break were -aroused from our peaceful slumbers to take 

 the Manassas Gap train for Riverton, where we arrived 

 before 7 A. M. , and proceeding to the house of Col. Rich- 

 ards, one of those old Vu-ginia farmers who remind you 

 so forcibly of the times "befo de wah."' We sat down to 

 a breakfast fit for a king, and before 8 A. M. we were on 

 the river. The south branch of the Shenandoah was too 

 muddy for fishing. They seemed to be biting only in the 

 north' branch between the Fork and Kenner's Dam, a 

 stretch of about three-quarters of a mile. 



On nearing the river what a sight met om- eyes I Early 

 as it was there were a dozen fishermen on the eastern 

 bank, just where the water came over the dam. So tliick 

 were the anglers that theh- lines were becoming constantly 

 tangled. The water was covered with anchored boats, 

 containmg from one to five rods each. The banks were 

 lined on both sides with fishernifin, black and white. At 

 every 20yds. was a party of from one to five or six, and 



