Nov. 16, 1895.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



427 



Mongolian Pheasant in Pennsylvania. 



Philadelphia, Nov. 8.— Editor Forest and Stream: I 

 received from a friend on Monday, Nov. 4, for the pur- 

 pose of being mounted, a cock Mongolian pheasant, shot 

 near the Top-rocks, on the Delaware River, Bucks county, 

 Pa., Nov. 1. It was a magnificent specimen in fine 

 plumage — very large and heavy (not weighed), had fed on 

 wheat with a few kernels of corn. No others are re- 

 ported to have been seen in the vicinity. Where could 

 this bird have come from? Frank Robinson. 



Cayuga Lake Ducks. 



Ithaca, N. Y.— Varn Van Order, of the steamer Fron- 

 tenac, was at the village of Cayuga during the closing 

 days of October, and on the marshes north of there he 

 bagged twelve wild geese in one day. Van Order affirms 

 that there are acres of ducks on Cayuga Lake this fall. 

 At Union Springs he saw a great flight of redheads. 

 Geese and brant in unusual numbers have lately been 

 seen here. M. Chill. 



The Ins and the Outs. 



The plaint of Tode, of Providence, in Forest and Stream 

 of Nov. 3, is but the prelude to many more such which will 

 be given publicity more and more as the preserves multiply 

 and outsiders protest. It is a natural effect of a natural 

 cause, just as the indiscriminate slaughter and consequent 

 extermination of game is a natural cause of the game pre- 

 serve. His reference to the "English park system" is not at 

 all pertinent to the matter, nor is his deduction that "we will 

 soon have poachers and sneaking pot-hunters arising from 

 the ranks of those who don't believe in that sort of thing 

 now," a sound deduction or wise saying. Tode unwisely con- 

 cealed that those who became poachers were law breakers, 

 and often lost their liberty by poaching. Also, in the English 

 park system, many of the birds are raised in domestication 

 and are the property of t he landlord quite as much as are his 

 other domestic fowls. The game preserve is but a natural 

 result of indiscriminate slaughter and extermination, in the 

 effort to supply the demands of an insatiable market. Stop 

 the sale of game and the game preserve is unnecessary. Let 

 the sale go on and the game preserve is a certainty through- 

 out the land. Great changes have great causes, and the 

 same impulses which impel Tode to lay in a season's supply 

 of coal- are the same, differently directed, which impel a 

 Sportsman to lay in a supply of game. Each has a want 

 which he endeavors to supply in an orderly and certain man- 

 ner; and after legally gaining possession, Tode does not care 

 to have any poacher invade his coal bin, nor does the sports- 

 man care to have the poacher in his game preserve. If a 

 man were to take his coal Tode would call it a harder name 

 than poaching, yet the principle is the same in either case. 



Dick of Connecticut. 



FIVE OF A KIND. 



New Bedford, Mass., Nov. 5.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: An old Nantucket captain said to his wife during 

 the civil war that he would rather hear it thunder any darn 

 time than to listen to her scrape the bottom of the sugar 

 pail. This eccentric and wise old sea dog is much Ike 

 the scientific sportsman of to-day who would rather hear 

 his click reel buzz than eat. 



But to make your reel spin legitimately is the question 

 which troubles most of the latter-day fishermen. 



The photo which accompanies this letter is a piece of 

 art in itself, and the owner is justly proud of it. 



The "five of a kind" which it reproduces show both 

 the patience and product of two hours' fun on July 16, 

 1895. The fish were taken by a Cincinnati gentleman, 

 Mr. Henry Stetinius, one of the many enterprising mem- 

 bers of a most successful club. Now about the bass, 

 the largest one on the left astonished the scales to the 

 tune of 421bs. ; the next 32, 29£, 25^ and smallest lOlbs. 

 making a grand total of 1391bs. , all landed safely with a 

 12-thread Irish linen line, Vom Hofe reel, aided by an 

 expert with gaff, as per photo. 



Do you wonder these two fishermen feel proud of their 

 extreme good luck? who wouldn't? But just think of the 

 weather; it was raining horribly, and old Vineyard Sound 

 was in her most rugged mood, two conditiocs which are 

 very essential to proper bass fishing. 



These beautiful specimens are the five largest fish ever 

 caught at one time by any single member of the club. 



Menhaden is the bait used principally, although lob- 

 ster at times proves effective. The best fishing is gener- 

 ally found in September, but the weather must be as bad 

 as possible to make the large fish come out of the deep 

 water and feed, 



The club builds a number of fishing stands every spring; 

 they are composed of a number of single planks which 

 rest on iron spindles driven into the boulders until the 

 depth of 30ft. is reached to fish in. 



Each fisherman has a chummer, as he is called, to bait 

 the fish around and also stand ready to gaff the gasping 

 and flurried fish when it is skillfully brought within gaff- 

 ing distance. 



Mr. A. B. Dunlap, of New York, holds the record for 

 the largest fish, which was caught by him on Sept. 21, 

 1867, and weighed 62lbs. Mr. Dunlap is still an active 

 member of the club and occasionally tests his nerve and 

 luck by indulging in this most manly sport. 



The club is in a very prosperous condition, with forty- 

 five members; J. Crosby Brown, president, and John 

 Scott, treasurer, both of New York. 



Mr. Stetinius, it may be said, was all of twenty-five 

 minutes landing the largest fish in the photo. 



|E. A. de Wolf. 



Large Iowa Black Bass. 



Charles Cit¥, la., Nov. 3. — Editor Forest and Stream: 

 I take the liberty to note a fishing experience I had last 

 week, which, though perhaps nothing wonderful, is a 

 little extraordinary for this locality. I live in the city, 

 on the bank of the pond which is formed by a dam across 

 the Cedar River. 



On Monday I caught with hook and line, with minnow 

 bait, two black bass weighing 3£ and 5£lbs. Two days 

 later I caught two more, one weighing 5ilbs. and the 

 other Gibs. 9oz. I hooked another and failed to land it in 

 boat, which I think was mate to the last one mentioned. 

 I have lived in this vicinity thirty years and have never 

 seen but one bass that weighed 5ibs. , and that I caught 

 five years ago. To say they were lively fellowa to handle 



FIVE OF A KIND 

 Pas que Island Bass tat en by Mr. Heni y Stetinius. 



does not express it. Along in September I caught sixteen 

 wall-eyed pike that weighed 521bs., an average of 3^1bs. 

 each; one of them 61bs. and one 7ilbs. The large bass 

 went to Marion, la., to compete for 40 per cent, of a $25 

 prize offered by a sporting club at that place for largest 

 bass caught in Iowa waters — $25 if caught in Linn 

 county. The above weights are correct, not fish stories; 

 can be verified\ S. G. Pickett. 



ONE DAY'S FISHING. 



Port Arthdr, Ont.— I arrived at Missanabie Station on 

 the Canadian Pacific Railway, about 675 miles west of 

 Montreal, on a Wednesday night. I stayed that night 

 with the Hudson's Bay Co. trader, next morning he got 

 me two Indians and a canoe. I bought some provisions 

 in his store, and we started about 6 A. M. for Stoney Por- 

 tage, at the head of Michipicoteu River, about ten miles 

 down Missanabie Lake, about two hours' canoe ride. At 

 the foot of the lake there is a narrows which leads into 

 the river. This is on the route from St. James Bay to 

 Lake Superior. The speckled trout fishing commences at 

 the first portage. It is about 100yds. long. We landed 

 about 8:15 A. M. 



I put my rod together. I used strong tackle, for I had 

 been told that the trout were large-sized. I put two flies 

 on my leader. It was a bright day, so I tried the silver 

 doctor, which took well. I tried the stream above the 

 falls and got a rise to my second cast. You know the 

 feeling that comes over you when you hook a large fish. 

 This was something extra, I was guessing it at 61bs. in my 

 mind. I called for the Indian David to bring the landing 

 net, he ran down below me, I played the fish and it gave 

 me lots of fun for a few minutes. I brought the fish over 

 toward where the Indian was standing. He commenced 

 to laugh and landed the fish. Instead of a 61b. trout, to 

 my disgust, they were two pickerel, one on each fly. I 

 unhooked them and threw them into the bush, 

 I left and went below the falls. This proved a 

 success, for the first fish I caught was a 31b. 

 speckled trout— a beauty, as red as a prairie sunset 

 on a summer evening. I caught several more in this 

 pool and lost some. Then the Indian, Johnnie, came 

 across the pool with the canoe for me to come to dinner. 

 He had cooked the two pickerel, made some tea, boiled 

 some potatoes, and with bread and butter and fried 

 bacon I made a good dinner, for I was hungry. After 

 dinner we went further down the river; I had fine sport 

 in Stoney rapids; on our way down stream in the calm 

 water I caught some pickerel with fly. They came down 

 stream from the lake above, and euce below the falls 



they cannot return; the trout drive them from the rapids 

 into the calm water. The pickerel are so plentiful that 

 the Indians caught twenty in about thirty minutes with 

 a spoon bait I loaned them; they trolled from the canoe. 



For two hours after noon I took a rest and watched the 

 Indians catch pickerel or wall-eyed pike. I quit fishing 

 about 6:30 P. M. ; we had supper and returned up the 

 river, through the narrows and across the Lake to Mis- 

 sanabie. At the Hudson's Bay Post I weighed sixteen of 

 the largest trout, which weighed 421bs. I had a splendid 

 day's fishing. I then took the train for Port Arthur that 

 night. I often call to memory that day's fishing at 

 Stoney Portage on the Michipicoteu River. 



J. E. Newsomb. 



P. S.— If any of the readers of Forest and Stream 

 want any information about the fishing in the district I 

 shall be only too glad to furnish them with it. J. E. N. 



POOR FISHING IN MISSOURI STREAMS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



It has been many years since fall fishing has been so 

 poor as it has been this fall. This is the report from all 

 the streams in the State. Even in the St. Francis River, 

 which heretofore has furnished excellent sport nearly the 

 whole year round, fishing in a flat failure. The only rea- 

 son which can be ascribed for this condition is the ex- 

 treme lowness and clearness of the rivers. There was no 

 high water in the spring at the usual season when fish 

 run up and there has been but little high water any time 

 during the year. There was some fishing in the spring, 

 but as the season advanced it became poorer, until now 

 anglers are thoroughly disgusted. The natural condition 

 of most streams in Missouri is a semi-turbid condition, so 

 that fish are pretty well protected. With the extreme 

 clear water which has prevailed, it would seem that the 

 fish became frightened and have gone down the stream 

 until they have reached deeper waters, or have gone into 

 the Missouri and Mississippi. In the streams in the North, 

 where clear water prevails the year round, the fish are 

 not so wild and are not frightened at their own shadows. 



As an instance of how low the water is, a party of four 

 enthusiastic anglers recently shipped their boats to Knob 

 Lick with the intention of floating down the St. Frarcis 

 River to the club house at Chaonia. When they reached 

 the river they found there was not enough water to float 

 the boats, and they hired wagons to take them seventeen 

 miles down the river below Silver Dam, where it was 

 thought there would be plenty of water. When they got 

 there they found the same conditions prevailing, and hir- 



