March IS 1888. J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



Well, outen every hundred fish as comes into the hay an' 

 tries ter git up ter lay their eggs 'bout one lives ter taste 

 fresh water, an' likes 'nough he's an ole he fish an' aint 

 wurth a dum fur layin' eggs, au' so a poor pusson kint 

 git a cussed fish, fur they is a-watchin' sharp, an' as soon 

 's one or two is seen in enny o' the holes up here, 

 the. Government is after 'em hot stick, and glaums 

 the hull river over with their nets, scrapes the 

 tarnal hottom hare fan' tows the hull consarn in boxes 

 t' their hetchery down river, whare a. lot o' perlitical 

 hingers-ons too lazy to airn their livin's like honest folk, 

 an' don't care a cuss if all the fish hi the country an' all 

 the poor pussons went t' the devil. Well, these is 'ployed 

 to rassel with the salmon an' steal their eggs an' miss the 

 yoimguns, jes tho' they kin do it 's well as the fish their- 

 selvcs; an' then the ole ones as is twisted an' yanked an' 

 squozen in pullin' then eggs from 'em rnos'ly die, when 

 they's pitched back into the river, an' the eels eat "em: 

 an'"as soon 's the. younguns is born they is dumped into 

 churns made o' tin an' hauled in carts fur mos' a hull 

 day, bumpin' over stuns an' rocks an' mire holes, a-bounc- 

 in' an' a-chumin' all the time, which is onnatral, an' 

 shooken up by this tarnal kerchow all day, the little ones 

 gits dizzy an' weak an' sick an' puke an' turn their bellies 

 up'ards, an' menny dies an' pisens the water, an' then 

 more gits sick an' gasp an' puke, till bimeby when mos' 

 half of 'em's dead an' tlf uther half 'ud like ter be, the 

 carts gits t' the place whare they're goin' ter dump 'em 

 in, which is a shallus, the water not more 'n three four 

 inches deep, but a runnin' kinder quick an' jes full o' 

 spickled trout as hungry Vspring bears an' 's smart as In- 

 jun devils, not more 'n two three inches long, but all mouth 

 an* belly an' stumerk an' 's holler 's a punkin jes seems 's 

 if made on pupus ter be al'ays empty an' lyin roun' an 

 riddy ter bite at ennythin' from a skeeter to a toad; 

 p'tick'lar cusses they is, too, fur they'll eat mithin' Yept 

 what's alive, and seems ter take fun in bitin' an' pullin' 

 an' teasin' enny unlucky creeter's dropped in among 'em 

 or's been crippled somehow and cu'dn't help comin' 

 through the shallers, an' when they're jerked an' wooled 

 an' torn it mos' t' bits, so's the poor devil's mos' dead, one 

 swallers it an' the rest wonder where it's gone to, an' how 

 they bungled in letting it 'scape after they hed it kinder 

 weak and seem'ly not worth much, an so they scuds 

 roun' an' roun' a lookin' for it, but none o' 'em ever 

 'pears ter think o' such a thing 's one swallerin' it, an' 

 ten t' one but the one as did swaller it is doin' his level 

 best a lookin' fur it too, forgot all 'bout it. But the mos' 

 cu'r'us thing 'bout these cusses is they al'ays want ter be 

 holler, fur if enny happen tu git filled up once in a while, 

 which is generally when the casts an' churns comes 'long, 

 they puke right up agin an' out they is once, more in the 

 shallers, a keepin' a sharp lookout, gled they's holler agin 

 an' feel's they uster an' reddy ter gollup down enny livin' 

 varmint comes 'long. 



"Goin' ter hev a fine day to-morrow," observed Scrogg, 

 after gazing at a black spot on the coals until it had dis- 

 appeared, "al'ays a sure sign o" clearin' weather when 

 the black spot gits away quick. 



"Well 's I wus' sayin', the churns is lugged from the 

 cart an' took out into the shallus jes at the top an' a leetle 

 clus in shore, some one side an' some t'other, now enny 

 pusson's ever seen a spickled trout 'cept in a baskit or on 

 a gad or fryin' pan orter know that tho' the leetle cuss is 

 full o' fun an' works hard at it like enny uther youngster 

 an' 'pears very foolish an' acts queer p'tickly 'bout his 

 fe'jd an' stumuk hes not by a long chock a big enough 

 dunce ter hang outen the middle o' that air rapid an' 

 keep a scullin' an' a scullin' day in an' night out agin the 

 tide, an' them's thinks so are bigger fools nor the trout; 

 no suree the wee varmints is clus in 'long- shore an' is not 

 a scullin' ether, they's a lyin' easy, hid behint a leetle 

 stem or stick or bit o' bark with one eye or mebbe both 

 on the shallus a watchin' out fur business. Well, the 

 men sits down the churns, an' look into the rapid an' 

 see no trout an' thinks thare's none roun', 'cause they don't 

 come out an' show themselves, which would be a very 

 silly thing fur them ter do, an' byemby they pulls out the 

 heads an' dump the churn over, an' swish goes the hull 

 consarn into the water; the dead ones an' sick, an' well 

 ones, if thare is enny, is mos'ly mixed up at first, but 

 prisently the dead ones float an' the little weak an' sick 

 critters begin ter wriggle, ether tryin' ter swim or most 

 likely mebbe givin' their las' kick a-dying, an' all riot 

 down a leetle, when all of a sudden a spickled varmint 

 spies 'em an' dai-ts out, an' enether an' enether. till by- 

 emby the water's jest as thick's parrige ; sich pullin' an' 

 yankin" wus never seen, but the trout don't tetch the 

 dead ones, not them; the eels git 'em furder down, 

 an' so the holler cusses jes gaullops the leetle fry 

 like a half-starved turkey eatin' buckwheat, an' 

 how menny o' them wee wrigglers do yer s'pose a trout 

 ull hold? Well, I'd say 'bout a dozen or more, an' what's 

 wuss an' wuss for the wee fry when them empty gluttons 

 is filled up, they pukes the hull business up an' begins 

 over again. Well, the little salmon's able ter swim make 

 fur the stuns and weeds long shore, but the trout don't 

 heed 'em, they'll see them later on, they's too busy jes' 

 then killin' the weak ones 'fore the tide kerries 'em too 

 fur down, an' when they's done all of 'em, an' the big 

 picnic's over, they come back agin t' their hidin' places 

 an' begins ter hunt up the well ones as is keepin' dark, 

 but these poor in'speerinced cusses don't know nothin' 

 'bout hidin', an' in 'bout a week p'raps or more the trout 

 hev 'em all kilt an' jDuked up, an' is holler agin, so the 

 eels gits the ole ones and spickled trout the young ones, 

 and there's not a dum fish left in the countiy for a poor 

 pusson." "Chiktek. 

 Newcastle, N._B. 



Better than Guide Books. — I have been able to get 

 information through the medium of your valuable paper, 

 for which I have studied railway maps, time tables, 

 guides, etc., for months without success; if it is any sat- 

 isfaction to you to know it. In one instance I have loca- 

 ted a lake where the trout fishing is reported to be elegant, 

 a lake not widely known, and kept mighty shady by its 

 few visitors. I heard of this lake indirectly three years 

 ago, and since then have written a dozen parties regard- 

 ing it, but to no purpose. In a Forest and Stream con- 

 tributor I recognized a party who was familiar with that 

 section, and from him learned the long- sought-after loca- 

 tion. Worth a year's subscription, and cheap at that. — 

 Swirl. 



Maryland Anglers are striving to have the laws for 

 the protection of game fishes amended, so that they may 

 be more effective. 



DURABILITY OF ARTIFICIAL FLIES. 



A CORRESPONDENT writes on the subject: 

 Your correspondent "Percyva!,'' in his admirable 

 talk on "Fishing Tackle" in a recent issue, makes the 

 suggestion that fly-tyers should make flies to wear better 

 than they do. What does he say to the following per- 

 formance of a specimen of double-winged fly with pro- 

 tected body, made for Florida fishing? Dr. George Trow- 

 bridge thus writes from Sarasota, Fla.: "The fly with 

 red tail, scale covered orange body, light yellow hackles, 

 and double white wings, has made the following score: 

 Feb. 3&, 4 sea trout, I skipjack; Feb. 33, sea trout, 1 

 channel bass of 17lbs. This is probably the largest chan- 

 nel bass ever taken with the fly by any one. Feb. 24, 11 

 sea trout; Feb. 25, 9 sea trout, i cavaille, 1 grouper, 1 

 rockfisk. While lifting a small sea trout into my boat, 

 not using the landing net, the old and frayed leader 

 broke, so T cannot return the fly for your inspection. The 

 greatest damage was done to the hackle, which was almost 

 entirely destroyed." 



"Percy val" can see in the abovo that his ideal of dura- 

 ble flies has been realized. No man should complain if 

 his fly safely lures 35 fish, including a 171b. channel 

 bass, all of which are "death on ordinary flies." 



Fishing and Camping Wanted.— Princeton College.— 

 A party of college fellows have in view a trip to the 

 woods of Wisconsin this coming summer. We know 

 nothing more of the country than its general reputation 

 for good fishing and shooting. If we go, we would start 

 in from Duluth. Can your readers give us some idea of 

 in what part of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan the 

 best sport is to be found and what pay guides get, etc. , 

 in that part of the country, and oblige— C. F. TJ. 



JUishcttlhtre. 



THE DECREASE OF FOOD FISHES. 



[Concluded from page 128.] 



THERE is no need of further examination of the hidden 

 wealth of the sea, or the returns of the fishermen. You 

 have seen the one heaved up for our instruction, and the 

 weirs and nets of the other spread open to our view. The 

 dominion was given to man tor his constant comfort and 

 support, and not to satisfy his avarice or his greed. It is 

 dominion and not destruction. It involves careT protection, 

 increase and continuance, and not the violation of laws 

 which can end only in exhaustion and consequent misery 

 and want. The preying of the fishes, one upon another, 

 will prevent any overstocking of the waters, and no agency 

 but that of man can prevent an enduring supply. 



It is not enough that a few straggling specimens may be 

 found feeding upon the shoals and around the rocks. They 

 Only serve to"~cafl bitterly to mind the days when Ave used 

 to go a fishing, and the great store of fish which we used to 

 catch. They only remind us of the glory which once was, 

 and the wretched means which have caused it to depart. 

 There are a few reasons, of quite a different nature, why the 

 trapping and seining of fish should be regulated by law. 



First — It is a monopoly. No sufficient reason can be as- 

 signed why a few men with an extensive apparatus should 

 be permitted to absorb the common wealth of the sea to the 

 injury of those whose scanty means permit the use of only 

 the simplest and rudest of tools. It is no answer to say, 

 even if it was true, which it is not, that the traps will fur- 

 nish them cheaper than the hook and line. We prefer to 

 catch them ourselves. We like the excitement which it 

 produces, and the health of body and mind which it insures. 

 Besides, we much prefer our fish "fresh out of the water," 

 to the stale refuse of the market man's ice chest. The right 

 to catch fish belongs to all the people alike. They are the 

 property of all, and no one has the right to interfere with it 

 in such a way as practically to shut out another from his 

 share. The five Or six mill ions of edible fish which are 

 known to have been taken in the weirs and nets during the 

 past two seasons, have fallen into the hands of less than one 

 hundred individuals. It is here quite in place that I should 

 call your attention to the great waste of fish consequent 

 upon their being caught in such vast numbers^ It will be 

 shown to you that a very large proportion of them are not 

 marketable fish, and such as are not, are either used by the 

 trapper to enrich his land or thrown out to rot upon the 

 shore. Such a sacrifice of our growing fishes should not be 

 allowed to continue, and furnishes of itself a sufficient rea- 

 sou for the suppression of the traps. If this vast number had 

 been allowed to seek their feeding grounds, they would have 

 been distributed fairly among all those who were pleased to 

 fish for them. It is the right to catch fish which belongs 

 equally to all, and not simply the right to go fishing, which 

 is about all that remains to us. The weary day, the longing 

 expectation, the disappointment, the wet jacket, the empty 

 basket and the hungry stomach; these are what are left to 

 us, while the trap is overflowing to him for whom the sea 

 was forced to yield up its treasures, while he was sleeping in 

 his bed. 



Second — The increase of the population and the greater 

 facilities for shipment and transportation to people inland, 

 the increase of pauperism and crime, the difficulty of obtain- 

 ing employment, all demand that every obstacle in the way 

 of the natural increase and distribution of our food fishes 

 should be removed. There is no miracle now which will 

 make the five loaves and two small fishes feed the hungry 

 multitude. 



Third— The setting of stationary devices for the catching 

 of fish presents an obstruction in "the way of those who have 

 occasion to pass and repass along the shore in the small ves- 

 sels and boats; no very general interference with naviga- 

 tion, perhaps, but, as the witnesses will tell you, some of 

 the leaders of the pounds extend a mile or more from the 

 shore, and some are anchored out. In their efforts to over- 

 reach and outdo each other, the trap man plants his stakes 

 further and still further into the sea. Besides this, it is now 

 complained that the traps obstruct the kelp and seaweed 

 and prevent them from being deposited on the beaches. It 

 will be shown to you that this evil is not inconsiderable. 

 The uses and value of seaweed as a fertilizer are well known. 

 Perhaps it'will be proved to you that its value to the lands 

 near the coast is equal if not greater than that of un- 

 marketable fish which are spread upon it. The traps in 

 many places, particularly on Sconticut Neck, are set so thick 

 that upon seeing a sketch of them on the map, the resem- 

 blance to a fine tooth comb was readily suggested to us. It 

 is also claimed that a large, number of the young of those 

 fish which have been procured to restock our streams and 

 rivers with edible fish are destroyed. To what extent, there 

 are some here who will perhaps be able to give us informa- 

 tion. The pounds have a capacious maw and not a very dis- 

 criminating taste. It is useless for Massachusetts to spend 

 large sums of money to propagate fish only to have their 

 young swept by the tide into these prison pens of the sea. 

 Still further, none desire the maintenance and continuance 

 of them except the trappers themselves, the market or mid- 

 dle men, the railroads, guano companies, the manufacturers 



of seine twine and other materials used in their construc- 

 tion, and those who complain that but for the pounds the 

 cod and mackerel fishermen could not be provided with bait. 

 As to all of these except the last, for the reasons already 

 given, no consideration should be had. The evil which they 

 do is not compensated for by any advantage to those who 

 claim that they will be injured by their discontinuance. 



Fourth— But it is said that if you do away with the traps, 

 fish will become dear. As I have before said, there is not a 

 particle of truth in this. The thing is absolutely impossible, 

 for they have become so dear now that very few can afford 

 to buy them. This story was once thought to have some 

 foundation for it, and the trap men havetoldit so often fchq,t 

 some of them actually believe it themselves. Because the 

 market men don't pay the trappers but a cent or t wo a pound 

 for fish, does not make them cheap to the consumer. When 

 all the fish are caught in a few days or a few weeks and 

 shoved into the markets, it gives the market men a chance 

 to combine, which they do, and charge the consumer what 

 they please. They are undoubtedly here in full force to de- 

 feud these traps, as might be expected, to defend a business 

 that pays them from 800 to 1,000 per cent. IE the trap men 

 would or could deal with the consumer himself we might be 

 shown some mercy, but whoever knew a fish market man 

 to have either conscience or mercy? Fish of all kinds were 

 very high in the markets last year, and have been more or 

 less so tor many years. The scarcity of an article of food is 

 what makes it dear, and the traps have made the fish scarce. 

 They catch up vast numbers of fish very early in the season, 

 and then they may be very cheap to somebody, but they are 

 very dear to the people. If they are cheap at all, they are 

 only so for a short time, while all through the season they 

 are scarce and dear. It is simply outrageous that the trap- 

 pers should catch up so many fish at one time as to be obliged 

 to sell them for one-quarter or one-half what they are act- 

 ually worth, because they will not keep, and then tell us 

 that this is the way to make fish cheap. These very fish, if 

 they were left alone, would in due time seek their feeding 

 grounds, would be of better quality (for no fish is good until 

 they begin to feed), and then would be caught in such quan- 

 tities and at such times as to supply the market at a fair 

 price. The trappers do well with their fish for a little while, 

 but the marketmen are the ones who make the money by it. 



They tell a good story of one of our trappers in Fairhaven, 

 which perhaps is worth repeating. He had taken a very 

 large number of small scup from his traps one day last sum- 

 mer, for which there seemed to be no market near at hand. 

 So, being a very thrifty man, he packed them up nicely and 

 sent them to New York, thinking he might get something 

 for them there. A few'days afterward he received a letter 

 from his consignee, who acknowledged the receipt of the fish, 

 and coolly said that although they were not spoilt, they were 

 not saleable, and requested him to refund the money which 

 he had paid for the freight. I don't know whether he sent 

 him the money, but being rather a liberal man for a trapper 

 I conclude he did. and then it is not likely that he would 

 care to lose so valuable a customer. He can tell us about 

 that himself, as he is here, I believe, and expects to become 

 a witness. He is the one who says so much about making 

 fish chep by trapping them, and I suspect this is the way he 

 found it oiit. 



Whatever may the opinion of any one with respect to the 

 general subject here under consideration, whatever theories 

 may be set up to account for the scarcity of these fish, the 

 importance of ascertaining certainly is conceded by all. 

 While we. have been examining and dredging, theorizing, 

 speculating and guessing, the mischief has'been steadily in- 

 creasing. Costly researches have been made, costly and 

 tedious bearings have dragged themselves along, and yet the 

 only experiment which could set this vexed question f orever 

 at rest, has never been tried. 



It reminds me of what is said to have taken place a great 

 many years ago with respect to another question about fish. 

 A question before the Royal Academy of London was, 

 whether a vessel of an ascertained weight would weigh any 

 more after a living fish of one poundweight had been placed 

 in it. An excited debate arose on the subject during the ab- 

 scence of Sir Isaac Newton, who was a member of the soci- 

 ety. One said that it would weigh a pound more, others said 

 it would not weigh any more, and each was full of theories 

 and reasons to justify his view. The discussion was renewed 

 when Newton was present, who, perceiving its warmth, arose 

 and asked to have the vessel of water and the living fish 

 brought in that the experiment might be tried and the truth 

 ascertained. So here we say, let the wholesale methods of 

 catching fish be stopped for a time and we shall know all 

 about it. If the stopping of the traps does not increase the 

 number and cause them to be more evenly distributed, 

 according to their instincts and habits, then there is an end 

 of the matter, and the time and expense of future hearings 

 on the subject will be saved. But if it does, then our wafers 

 will be speedily repeopled. and these valuable food fishes 

 will be as abundant as formerly. The causes which have 

 been assigned to account for the scarcity of fish otherwise 

 than by over-fishing, not having been found to be sufficient, 

 or that they have ceased to exist, we find the question com- 

 plicated with financial or mercantile interests of several 

 forms. We are told that many business enterprises mil suf- 

 fer, and perhaps be destroyed, "if the weirs are discontinued. 

 So it always has been. Whenever and wherever any capital 

 is invested in any business, no matter how injurious it may 

 be to the general welfare, so soon as it is attacked, an army 

 of capitalists is immediately on foot, provided with all the 

 sinews of war, ready to take the field. To this the catching 

 of fish presents no exceptions. 



It is alleged that if the traps are interfered with the fol- 

 lowing list of disasters will happen: 1. The owners of these 

 devices will suffer loss. 2. That a large number of men will 

 be thrown out of employment. 3. That the markets will be 

 inadeqately supplied with fish. 4. That the railroads will 

 not earn so much freight. 5. That agriculture will suffer 

 for want of fertilizing compounds. 6. That the manufac- 

 turers of twine, will be obliged to suspend. 7. That the cod 

 and mackerel men will not be able to procure sufficient bait 

 in due season. These several interests are all represented 

 here in remonstrance to demonstrate the alarming conse- 

 quences which will ensue upon any interference with their 

 particular business. Caring nothing for the fisheries except 

 so far as they are a source of profit to them, indifferent as to 

 whether the poor have food or not, looking each one for his 

 own interest, they join in a fight against these petitioners 

 and appeal to you to protect them. They care not if all the 

 fish along the coast were captured in one day, without 

 regard to the injury of others, if they could sell them for 

 money, and run the risk of a fresh supply to-morrow. 



In illustration of what "Man, the destroyer" will do for 

 gain, I quote an extract from the London 'Spectator, to be 

 found in the February number of the Audubon Magazine: 

 "It is stated that the quagga, the beautiful wild striped ass 

 of South Africa, has suddenly ceased to exist. The boot 

 makers of London and New York wanted his skin for a par- 

 ticular kind of sportsman's boot, and he consequently passed 

 away out of zoology. There may be a few left on the high- 

 est and wildest plateaus; but the Boers, tempted by the 

 high prices, have extirpated the herds which existed only 

 ten years ago in South Africa. That will be the fate of the 

 elephant, too. There will soon not be a bird of paradise on 

 earth, and the ostrich has only been saved by private 

 breeders. Man will not wait for the cooling of the earth to 

 consume everything in it, from teak trees to humming birds, 

 and a century or two hence will find himself perplexed by a 

 planet in which there is nothing except what he makes. He 

 is a poor sort of a creator." 



And I add that woman is as bad as man, and not for so 



