Nov. SO, 1895.J 



forest and stream. 



473 



BcaleB; but all things considered, I now believe the weight 

 given to have been correct. There was another bass 

 taken from Glen Lake, and one of the partieB to the tak- 

 ing, in whom I have every confidence, assures me that it 

 weighed 13£lbs. This fish was speared, and consequently 

 never exhibited, for it was taken in an illegal manner and 

 out of season; but having heard the whole story I cannot 

 doubt the weight. For the purpose of comparison, I will 

 give the dimensions of the fish I have mentioned: 



Captor. Weight. Length. Girth. 



Cheney SMlba. 22in. ISi^in. 



Reed 8^lbs. 22}#n. 18Uin. 



Boynton 8lbs. lOoz. 25in. 18%in. 



Pardo 81b8, 12oz. 23^in. 19in. 



Parker. lOlbs. 25J^in. 19in. 



Seelye llj^lbs. 25in. 211n. 



I weighed and measured Reed's, Boynton's, Parker's and 

 my own fish; the other figures were given to me by the 

 people who caught the fish and confirmed by witnesses. 



- A. N. Cheney. 



THE NEW CANADIAN TROUT 



(Salnio salvdinus marstoni). 



It was recently my privilege to feast my eyes upon a 

 number of specimens of this newest and most beautif ul of 

 Canadian chars, which were taken (by special permit, for 

 scientific purposes) from a series of lakes in Rimonski 

 county. I call the Marston trout advisedly a char, recall- 

 ing the fact that the word "char" comes from the Gaelic 

 ceara (blood) and the Irish eear (red or blood-colored), 

 which are almost synonymous with the more western 

 torgoch (red-bellied). And certainly the new trout is the 

 most brilliantly blood-colored of any non-tropical fish 

 that I am acquainted with. In the words of Professor S. 

 Garman, who first identified Salvelinus marstoni as a • 

 variety new to science, who asked Mr. A. N. Cheney to 

 name it, and who examined last year a single specimen 

 that I was able to procure for him from a lake between 

 Quebec and Lake St. John: "Some artist with his pencil 

 will delight everybody interested in the fishes if he will 

 give the public a few ideas of the splendid colors, drawn 

 from life, of the male of Marston's namesake." The 

 Rimonski specimens that I was recently privileged to see, 

 and enabled to identify as members of the same variety, 

 lack none of the radiant beauty and brilliancy of coloring 

 of the fish that I sent to Professor Garman at the Museum 

 of Comparative Zoology at Cambridge, Mass. In fact, per- 

 haps because it is nearer their spawning season, the Ri- 

 monski fish that were shown me early this month more 

 nearly approached in the coloring of their flesh that of 

 the red snapper than did that of any specimens that I had 

 previously seen. Held before a bright light, the thinner 



Sortions of the fish adjoining the ventral, anal and caudal 

 ns are of deepest salmon. Its unvermiculated, dark- 

 brown back with its bluish tinge shades into a pale 

 orange on the sides, deepening as it descends with a 

 soupgon of pink, which latter color increases in intensity 

 and aepth until it becomes upon the belly a brilliant crim- 

 son ; while among the varied colored spots of this bewitch- 

 ingly beautiful leopard of Northern water are some of 

 deepest scarlet. The colors fade somewhat after death, 

 but even after shipment of the fish to Quebec, a distance 

 of nearly 200 miles, are beautiful beyond compare. 



I am told by those who have fished in the lakes where 

 Mr. Marston's namesake is found that it is held in no 

 great esteem by the residents of the vicinity who act as 

 guides upon these waters. With them fish is only food 

 and food is chiefly fish. Quantity is more than quality, 

 and with such enormous specimens of thick, deep fonti- 

 nalis as there abound, they regard with something like 

 contempt the rapid lush toward the surface lure of what 

 they call the dore of those lakes. This name applied to 

 these trout can only be accounted for by the golden yellow 

 of a portion of its sides. The fish is of course no more like 

 the true dore of Canadian waters {Stizostedion vitreum) — 

 the pickerel of Upper Canada and elsewhere, and pike- 

 perch or wall-eyed pike of different parts of the United 

 States—than the latter resembles the John Dory of South 

 British and Mediterranean seas — the much-prized Zeus 

 faber of the ancients. The only points of outward similar- 

 ity between these last two are the hard, bony spines of the 

 first dorsal and the outer coloring, including sometimes 

 the dark spot on the shoulders, supposed to correspond 

 with the finger mark of St. Peter, which has caused the 

 "John" to share with the haddock the honored myth of 

 having been the fish from whose mouth the tribute money 

 was taken. No doubt the familiar English name of the 

 acanthopterygian fish is merely a corruption, as vulgarly 

 supposed, of the French jaune doree, applied because of 

 its golden yellow color. The early French settlers of 

 Canada from the fishing coasts of Brittany must have 

 been well acquainted with the English John Dory, and 

 as color, next after size, would be the most attractive 

 feature to them of a new fish, it is pretty certain that they 

 gave the Canadian dore its name, for no other reason than 

 its resemblance in color to the European fish from which 

 it differs so materially in most other respects. 



It has been hitherto supposed that the marstoni trout 

 were only bottom feeders, but their discovery in the 

 Rimonski lakes and the method of their capture deal a 

 death blow to the theory that they will not rise to the 

 fly, and place them beyond any question among the first 

 game fishes of the American continent. It is probable 

 that they are not to be taken by fly-fishing in summer, 

 nor am I aware that until the present season it was known 

 to fly-fisbermen that they would rise even injthe fall of 

 the year to their gay deceit. This is now established be- 

 yond peradventure by members of the club controlling 

 the fishing of these Rimonski lakes. When the Marston 

 trout takes the fly, it does not spring from almost immedi- 

 ately below it, as the brook trout seems to do, but pushes 

 at it with a rapid dart, often for some distance along 

 the top of the water, like the run of a hooked salmon, 

 leaving a swirl behind it resembling the wash of a small 

 narrow boat. It leaps repeatedly out of the water when 

 hooked and makes a desperate fight, its rapid motions 

 being apparently due to its slender shape and graceful 

 form. A pound fish of this variety is nearly a third 

 longer than a brook trout of the same weight in good con- 

 dition, but not more than half the circumference. From 

 what I can learn of its methods of fighting when impaled 

 upon a fly-hook, it must come nearer to the ouananiche 

 than to any other Canadian fish in the sport that it 

 affords. Like that silvery monarch of rapid waters 

 which it resembles in outer form much more than it does 

 its nearer relative, fontinalis, it seems constructed for 

 about the greatest velocity attainable by fish of its size. 



Salvdinus marstoni spawns later in the season than the 

 American brook trout. Opportunities for observation 

 have not thus far been very abundant, but it is likely that 

 it only spawns in January or February. It is found in 

 October and November, however, upon the spawning beds 

 of the brook trout or in their immediate vicinity, and 

 hence perhaps the report that it frequents them to devour 

 the spawn. Whether the tongue of slander has been 

 raised against it in this respect, or whether there be truth 

 in the grave charges so brought against this handsome 

 fish, the question of its spawn-eating qualities ought to be 

 definitely settled before it is introduced into waters al- 

 ready inhabited by fontinalis. There is at least this in its 

 favor, that it is found at Rimonski in lakes that contain 

 vast quantities of brook trout. E. T. D. Chajdbers. 



Quebec, Canada, Nov. 23. 



TO TEXAS FOR TARPON. 



Portland, Ore., Nov. 4. — Editor Forest and Stream: 

 Having for some time past contemplated taking a trip to 

 the Gulf coast of Texas to fish for tarpon, I read carefully 

 everything obtainable in the way of literature bearing 

 upon the capture and subjugation of the silver king, 

 whose very existence, not to speak of his eccentricities, 

 seemB, except to the favored few who have been presented 

 at his court, to be shrouded in some degree of mystery. 



Last month, upon making: a personal investigation, I 

 found that I had not been sufficiently informed as to many 

 essential details. In the hope, therefore, of guiding the 

 footsteps of sportsmen seeking knowledge in this direc- 

 tion, I beg to relate my experience as follows: 



On Oct. 3 I left this city for Aransas Pass, Tex., a 

 favorite haunt of the tarpon. Upon inquiry at home and 

 en route at Kansas City, I found dealers knew nothing 

 about the outfit I required; but at San Antonio, Tex., had 

 no difficulty in equipping myself, although even there 

 those who deal in fishing tackle have something to learn 

 about the needs of the angler for tarpon. 



They told me, for instance, that a sinker was necessary ; 

 but this I found to be a mistake. The outfit which I 

 bought, and which was found to be ample for a short 

 trip, was as follows: A bamboo tarpon rod (not jointed), 

 fitted with tip, leaders and hold for reel, $3; one 200yd., 

 No. 36, Conroy line, $3 50; one 200yd., No. 21, Tryon line, 

 $4; one 200yd. tarpon reel, $3.50; one dozen tarpon 

 hooks, each mounted on piano wire, with two Bwivels 

 (one in the middle and the other at proximal end to attach 

 to line), $3.60. I also bought some hooks mounted on 

 heavy leather and tubular cotton snells, such as are used 

 for bottom tarpon fishing on the Florida coast; but found 

 those on piano wire much to be preferred, as the hooks 

 on leather and cotton snells are too visible and are not 

 provided with swivels, and on this account the constant 

 rotation of the bait in the water is inclined to cause kink- 

 ing of the line. 



Running down by rail to the town of Aransas Pass, 

 where, unlike some Texas towns, there is an excellent 

 hotel, I was joined by my brother, Mr. S. P. Panton, an 

 angler who seems to hold all finny creatures in absolute 

 subjection, calling them at will to his fly or bait. The 

 neighborhood of Aransas Pass is a very paradise for the 

 sportsman, unequaled tarpon fishing being only one of its 

 many attractions; for the waters of that region abound in 

 gamy and delicious food fish, including the jackfish — 

 which is probably the greatest fighter of all, not except- 

 ing tarpon, trout and salmon— redfish, flounders (four 

 varieties), Spanish mackerel, pompano, sea trout, catfish 

 (three varieties), skipjacks, jew or June fish, etc. The 

 surrounding country is the home of the wild turkey; also 

 wild hogs or peccaries (locally called javalinas), deer, etc., 

 while the bays are covered with myriads of ducks, geese, 

 plover, curlew, etc., throughout the winter. 



After a few days of delightful sport, fishing for redfish, 

 flounders and trout, during which a huge blue shark bit 

 off the end of our cast line, with a couple of large hooks on 

 2ft. of wire, on Oct. 14 we sailed across the bay to Aran- 

 sas Pass, a channel 1 ,000ft. wide, from which the town 

 takes its name and which joins the Gulf of Mexico and 

 the beautiful harbor inside, separating Mustang and St. 

 Joseph islands, on the former of which is a hotel. Mr. 

 Silver, the veteran tarpon slayer, was engaged as my 

 boatman; and when he had laid in a supply of live mul- 

 let for bait, he prepared me for action by securely tying 

 my reel to the rod and lashing a piece of stout leather to 

 the rod behind the reel to act as a brake. The free end 

 of this leather projects forward over the reel, and is for- 

 cibly pressed by the thumb against the fine on the reel dur- 

 ing the struggles of the fish. Pushing off acrosB the little 

 cove in front of the hotel about 4:30 P. M., we entered 

 the pass and steered for rough water toward St. Joseph 

 Island. As I sat facing the stern I hooked on a live mullet 

 through the jaws, dropped him overboard and paid out 

 about 50ft. of line. No sinker was used, for the silver 

 king is essentially a surface feeder, and the headway of 

 the boat kept the mullet on top of the water. As we got 

 into waves bo rough that the boat seemed in danger of 

 swamping, a gleam of silver and gold on the crest of a 

 billow told me I had seen a tarpon, and in about ten min- 

 utes from the time we left the shore I hooked my first 

 fish. It was a mighty one. The tarpon was plainly vis- 

 ible as he took the bait with a grand lunge. There was 

 no such thing as waiting for him to swallow the bait and 

 then striking him in due and ancient form, as I have read 

 in descriptions of tarpon fishing off the coast of Florida. 

 Away he went at railway speed — my reel shrieking, not 

 singing, as reels are said to do— and immediately there 

 was a rush to the surface, and the huge fish jumped 8 or 

 9ft. into the air with mouth wide agape, shakiDg his head 

 furiously from side to Bide in a vain endeavor to get rid 

 of the hook. In the brilliant sunshine the spray thrown 

 from the struggling fish assumed prismatic colors, which 

 enveloped the royal captive in a halo. Then followed the 

 wildest exhibition of jumping and vaulting I ever wit- 

 nessed. Sometimes the fish turned a complete somersault 

 in the air, then varied the programme by plunging to the 

 bottom and rushing back to the surfase. Both of my 

 thumbs firmly pressed against the brake seemed for long 

 enough to impede his antics but little. At times he came 

 so near that 1 was afraid he might jump in upon us, but 

 Silver assured me that a hooked tarpon never does that, 

 although sometimes when in play or chasing mullet one 

 has landed in a boat or vaulted over it. I would as soon 

 have had the foul fiend himself in the boat with us as that 

 tarpon. When the fish was rushing toward me it seemed 

 that he was gone; but he was securely hooked. Of course - 

 kept my line as tight as possible, and especially when h 



was in the air gave him the butt. When possible I took in 

 line by turning the crank of the reel in the ordinary way; 

 but more commonly the reel had to be turned just as one 

 would wind a clock or turn a screw driver, for the line 

 was too taut to work it otherwise. The tide was going 

 out, and the water of the pass ran like a mill race. This 

 favored the fish and kept us in constant danger of being 

 washed out into the breakers of the gulf; but after an 

 hour of the hardest work ever undertaken by an angler, 

 I had the satisfaction of seeing my fish rise and lie upon 

 the waves; having apparently given up the fight. I reeled 

 in my line until we bad him only about 15ft. away and 

 could deliberately examine his proportions. Silver de- 

 clared he was over 6 ft. long and one of the largest tarpon 

 he had ever seen. At that time we were near the Mus- 

 tang Island shore, and could have landed him but for the 

 tugs and barges which are engaged in the great harbor 

 improvements going on at this point. In endeavoring to 

 tow our fish up the beach out of the way of these ob- 

 stacles we waked him up again, and after a few surges 

 he settled down on the bottom and sulked there among 

 the rocks. At this point, although I am no weakling, 

 my hands and arras became completely exhausted, and I 

 gave my rod to Silver till I could get the cramps out of 

 my muscles. 



The sun had set and night was rapidly closing in upon 

 us, as is usual in this semitropical region. I began to 

 fear the energy of this marine monster could not be con- 

 quered, and to wonder whether we had captured the fish 

 or he had captured us, when some explosive cursory re- 

 marks from Silver announced the end of the contest. He 

 reeled in my Conroy line and found it parted, frayed and 

 torn. I was disgusted, supposing the long struggle had 

 been too much for the line. Indeed the wonder was 

 that any line could have Btood it. 



Dejectedly wending my way in the darkness to the 

 hotel, before retiring I took off my Conroy line and wound 

 the Tryon, not very tightly, into the reel, muttering death 

 and destruction to tarpon on the morrow. 



In the morning we were up in time to see the sun rise 

 gorgeously out of the gulf, and found Silver wading about 

 in the shallow water of the cove flinging his cast net at 

 the mullets. Bait was very scarce, however, and it was 

 nearly 10 o'clock before we were ready for "business. As 

 soon as we reached rough water in the pass, tarpon were 

 to be seen on all sides— a perfect shoal ot them. In a few 

 minutes away went my line like lightning; but, as it was 

 not tightly wound on, 'the great tension caused it to cut 

 down between the wound line and the inside of the reel, 

 where it jammed and would not run out. In an instant 

 my beautiful Tryon was broken off; and, as the fish did 

 not appear upon the surface, I thought it must have been 

 a shark. 



Now my line is properly wound and I put on another 

 mullet; a large tarpon takes it and flings himself into the 

 air, throwing a shower of blood in all directions. Every 

 time he comes to the surface the water round about is 

 reddened, showing very copious hemorrhage; but still he 

 fights till I am obliged to give Silver the rod in order to 

 rest my hands. In a moment he is off;' but we see him 

 twice afterward, apparently disabled. However, by this 

 time we are so busy with another fish that we have to let 

 him drift out to the gulf. 



Several othev lively fish took my bait, and, after a few 

 wild rushes, broke away; but at last one was well hooked 

 and about 11 o'clock I landed my first tarpon on St. 

 Joseph Island. I got ashore, lifting him inward on each 

 succeeding wave, until Silver was able to rush into the 

 surf and gaff him. Although such a splendid creature in 

 the water, the tarpon quickly dies when landed. This 

 was a beauty, 5ft. long, and succumbed only after a great 

 fight. It was now time for luncheon; and at the hotel, 

 from which my brother and other people had been watch- 

 ing our sport in the pass, Mr. Jenkins, the chief engineer 

 in charge of the great jetty works, photographed the 

 writer and his beautiful silvery victim, 



In the afternoon I landed two fine tarpon, one 5 and 

 the other 4ft. long. One of these fish dived among the 

 rocks in the same manner as my first one, and when he 

 came up again I discovered that my line was almost 

 severed. Seizing the opportunity afforded by the inter- 

 val before his next plunge Silver deftly took in a loop of 

 the line, including the cut portion, and tied it, thus en- 

 abling me to hold my fish. I lost two other fiBh through 

 their cutting the line in the same way. On account of 

 these rocks, which lie close to Mustang Island, I would 

 advise sportsmen to insist upon landing their tarpon on 

 St. Joseph Island, where the conditions are more favor- 

 able, otherwise they are apt. to lose them. 



Altogether I hooked about thirty tarpon and saw 

 probably a hundred. We ran out of fresh bait, but they 

 took the dead mullets left from the day before. Not 

 once did we row across the pass without getting ferocious 

 bites. 



The sportsman who desires to catch tarpon may rest 

 assured of getting all he wants at Aransas Pass. They 

 are also found all through Aransas Harbor and the bays 

 communicating with it, but are nowhere so numerous as 

 in a certain strip of water in the pass with which the 

 boatmen are familiar. I fished altogether less than one 

 day, and stopped simply because my hands and arms were 

 tired out. They were sore for a week afterward. Next 

 year I hope to try the sport again, but will prepare my 

 muscles by a course of club swinging and other such train- 

 ing. This I would strongly recommend to those, no mat- 

 ter how stalwart, whose daily lifeMoes not involve vigor- 

 ous exercise of tbe hands and arms. 



Tarpon fishing will be good up to Dec. 1 or later, unless 

 they have some unusual northers on the gulf, in which 

 event the fish disappear. The harbor improvements will 

 be completed in January, and next year there will be 

 plenty of shipping traversing the pass, going to and from 

 the harbor inside. It remains to be seen what effect this 

 will have upon the fish, but they do not seem at all timid, 

 and I imagine this great fishing ground will continue to 

 be the ideal one for the tarpon angler. 



_A. C. Panton. 



Lake Champlain. 



Sheldon, Vt,, Nov. 15.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 Hook and line fishing in the northern part of Lake 

 Champlain has been this season fairly good, but it is safe 

 to say that it will be much poorer another year, as the 

 seine fishermen are taking tons and tons of game fish out 

 of the lake. Licenses were granted during the autumn 

 months for the purpose of allowing the whitefish, wrongly 

 called shad in this vicinity, to be taken as they come up 



