Nov. 17, 1887.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



Cape Cod Wildfowl.— Monornoy Island, Cape Cod, 

 jf ov . 5 f — Wildfowl are arriving now in full force. Large 

 flocks of scoters, commonly called coots, old squaws and 

 sheldrake are seen on the outside; but the wind has been 

 so fresh that there has heen no chance for boat shooting 

 off the shoals where the birds tend. Out in the bay a scat- 

 tering of coots, sheldrakes, old squaws, whistlers, and 

 some large flocks of black ducks are seen. Saw two 

 flocks of brant to*day, one of eight and one of twenty, on 

 the flats. A few beetle-heads or young black-bellied 

 plover, winter or greater yellowlegs. with now and then 

 ft Eimall bunch of bullpeeps or sanderlings, and dundlins 

 Or crooked bills, as they are called here, are seen on the 

 flats. One more Gold northwester and they will have 

 departed for warmer region, leaving behind the Bona- 

 partcs, herring and great black-backed gulls to swarm to 

 the bleak sandbars and flats seeking some palatable 

 morsel left to them by the receding tide.— Chester. 



On a Harvest Home Ticket.— Highland Park, 111., 

 N ov , s.— I've had my usual Dakota hunt and my usual 

 good time, although I" went a little earlier than usual and 

 so missed the geese. All the roads out of Chicago issued 

 "harvest excursion" tickets this year for one fare for the 

 round trip, good for thirty days to return, but the start 

 had to be made Oct. 11. We left Chicago with a large 

 train, and before we were through Minnesota had twenty 

 cars. Quite a respectable proportion of the passengers 

 were hunters, and we dropped some off at nearly every 

 station after ws readied Dakota. There axe many reasons 

 why I wish I had a. complete file of the Forest and 

 Stream, but when I And how much the paper is appreci- 

 ated by a couple of boys in Dakota to whom my copies 

 are mailed after I have read them I don't regret having 

 given them away. Every Christian sportsman should re- 

 joice that so good and clean a paper as the Forest and 

 Stream is published.— Harry Hunter. 



Texas Game Grounds.— Fort Worth, Texas. — I am 

 often surprised that nothing is to be found in Forest and 

 Stream portraying the merits of Texas as a hunting- 

 ground. We have game of all kinds and the mild winters 

 are more inviting than the Arctic winters of the North- 

 west. In the Panhandle antelope range the plains in great 

 number, and along the streams bear are oft-n found. 

 Turkeys and prairie chickens are not much thought of. 

 In eastern Texas deer abound, and along the Louisiana 

 line the dense brakes harbor a great many bears. Ducks 

 and geese winter there in myriads, and the lakes and 

 marshes are covered with them throughout the winter. 

 About half of the counties in Texas are exempt from the 

 operation of the game law, and the hunter is welcomed 

 wherever he goes. This information will be, I believe, 

 valuable to some of your readers who do not know Texas. 

 — C. E. L. 



Chilligothe, O., Nov. 11.— The quail season opened in 

 this State yesterday. Rain having fallen the night before 

 and the weather remaining moist and cloudy, it was a 

 hue day for the field. Many of the sportsmen of the city 

 were out and made very good bags. Birds are well grown 

 and fat. The writer and a companion bagged twenty- 

 seven quail and eleven hares. Birds were lying very 

 close and were hard to find after scattering. The dogs 

 were rank and gunners out of practice. Indications are 

 that quail are abundant. — J. B. McL. 



"That reminds me." 

 225. 



THE following was related to me a few days ago as a 

 fact: 



A few years ago a party who were hunting deer in the 

 great swamp in Proton township, Grey comity, Ontario, 

 were joined, after they had been out a few days, by two 

 tenderfeet. These were advised to follow carefully the 

 first fresh deer tracks that they found; and to their great 

 joy they discovered, fcef ore they had gone half a mile 

 from camp, the footprints, freshly made, of what they 

 were certain was a small deer. They followed rapidly 

 the trail, which indicated that the object of their pursuit 

 had been in a most uncertain frame of mind, as it zig- 

 zagged about in the most bewildering manner, and 

 finally led them to a clearing, in which stood a farm- 

 house and outbmlclings. A familiar grunt which eman- 

 ated from a well-known domesticated animal that stood 

 a few yards away on the trail they had been following 

 enlightened the hunters to the fact that the imaginary 

 deer of which they had been in pursuit had resolved 

 itself into a hog that, having gone in piu-suit of beech 

 nuts, bad led them to its owner's barnyard. The game 

 was not molested, but the air became blue. R. S. B. 



liver ^fishing. 



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



A HUGE WHITEFISH. 



The Bear River Country.— Delphos, Kan., Oct. 31.— 

 Just in from my annual trip to the mountains. Had fine 

 success. Secured deer and elk; and killed a large grizzly 

 bear at short range (30ft.), besides much smaller game. 

 Was in the Bear River country of Colorado; and settlers 

 (here sav that the Utes were the worst game butchers in 

 the State, killing during the summer for hides and in 

 spring kiUing the female elk to feast on the unborn calf. 

 — G. N. B. 



Lloyds Neck, Long Island.— The Lloyds Neck Game 

 Protection Association, having as its object the strict en- 

 forcement of the game laws in that section of Suffolk 

 county, has been organized. The officers elected for the 

 year are: President and Treasurer, O. E. Schmidt; Secre- 

 tary, Dr. R. H. Derby. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The catch of whitefish at the fisheries on the west shore 

 of Lake Erie, in the vicinity of Monroe, Mich., has this 

 season been very large, greatly in excess of any previous 

 season for a dozen years. There has also been a very per- 

 ceptible improvement in the size and quality of the fish 

 taken. Some very large ones have been seen, but the 

 largest ever taken here, and it is believed the largest 

 caught in Lake Erie of late years, was taken from the 

 pound net of Duval and Duclo, near Monroe on Tuesday, 

 Nov. 8. The fish is a male, and weighed, two hours after 

 landing, 181bs. and loz. Its length is 31^in. from nose to 

 tip of caudal fin. Measurement around body in the larg- 

 est part 20fin., and midway between first and second dor- 

 sal lSin. 



The picture transmitted herewith is not a satisfactory 

 likeness of this king of the poissons Mane, but it will give 

 your readers some approximate idea of the royal propor- 

 tions of his majesty. Tbe "haul" which contained this 

 fine specimen weighed a little over nine tons of fish weigh- 

 ing from U to 3 ilbs. each. The fish are shipped in ice to the 

 East principally, though many of the fisheries are freez- 

 ing their entire catch, and placing them in cold storage 

 for the winter and spring trade. J. M. B. 



Monroe, Mich, 



TESTING THE STRENGTH OF TROUT. 



THE article of Mr. Henry P. Wells, in your issue of 

 Nov. 3, brings forward a subject that I have thought 

 much upon, and I am glad to learn that some one has 

 made experiments and taken notes of them for publica- 

 tion, for I think that if anglers did realize the amount of 

 strength that a trout exerts when first hooked they would 

 not report the loss of so many large fish. 



Once while we were fishing through the ice for a fish 

 called in northern New Hampshire and Vermont "lunge," 

 and which, I think, is set down in scientific works as the 

 Salmo namaycush, a discussion arose among us as to the 

 amount of strength required to pull in a certain fish; and 

 to test the correctness of my opinion I took one of these 

 spring scales such as fishermen carry in their pockets and 

 proceeded to make loops in each line, so that in case I 

 should get a fish on either one of them (I had ten lines in 

 all) I could hook on the scale at once. The depth of water 

 was from 18 to 25ft. Following is the results as I have it 



A lunge weighing l'-i 



» 1 2 k 

 « P 4 j 



- ^ ft! 



i pounds pulled pounds. 



8 ? I-S 



CONNECTICUT GAME EXPORTATION. 



Editor Forest and Stream : 



In vour issue of to-day "Elk" says relating to the shipping of 

 game out of the State, "Towns on the Connecticut River still ship 

 via the Connecticut River Steamboat Company through the con- 

 nivance of the baggage masters." In the first place, there is no 

 "Connecticut River Steamboat Company," but the Hartford and 

 New York. transportation Company run a line of steamers be- 

 tween Hartford and New York. 1 think that as "Elk" is greatly 

 mistaken about the "Connecticut River Steamboat Company," he 

 is equally so in regard to birds being shipped to New York from 

 this section by any line of steamers. Now, "Elk," come out and 

 produce your proof . Y r ou have made a statement. Will you prove 

 it? I ani well acquainted with tliat keen sportsman, Mr. C. C. 

 G-ood rich, general agent for the H. & N. Y. Transportation Co. 

 He has issued very strict orders to his employees, and should any 

 one get caught, G. B. would surely stare him in face for receiving 

 any game for shipment to points outside the State. 



I inclose a letter just received from C. C. Goodrich, Secretary 

 and General Agent of the Company: 



Haktford and New York Tbanspobtation Co.— Hartford, 

 Conn., Nov. 11, 1887. A. C. Collins, Warden, Dear Sir: In answer 

 to your clipping from Forest and Stream, my baggage masters 

 and L 1 1 s most positively deny any complicity m the 



shipment of partridge, quail or woodcock. They think that your 

 correspondent "Elk" must be misinformed. If he is positive and 

 can give proof that our employes are defying law and deceiving 

 us we will immediately displace the guilty party according to 

 notice issued previous to Oct. 1. Yours very truly, C. C. Good- 

 rich. 



Mr. Goodrich has promised me his support, and his word is his 

 bond. Another statement of "Elk": "Now the market hunter 

 shoots nothing but woodcock and grouse, for quail and rabbits do 

 not pav enough to bother about." 1 will admit that this may ap- 

 ply to rabbits, but on quail I cannot concur. Quail are scarce and 

 command a better price than woodcock. I quote the market 

 price (prices that are paid the market hunter): Ruffed grouse, 10 

 cents each; quail, SO cents each; woodcock, 20 cents each. Can 

 "Elk" name a market hunter that will not bother with quail? for 

 I have a friend who would go miles to secure a negative of him, 

 for he must be a vara avis. If "Elk" is for the protection of game 

 and can furnish any evidence that will convict, let him write me, 

 giving bis name. A. C. Collins, Game Warden. 



Hartfohd, Conn, Nov. 10. 



At this point the scales became frozen up, water being- 

 spattered into them, and I think that the last two tests 

 were not correct, owing to this cause. These fish are 

 very gamy in this lake and I do not know but that they 

 are everywhere. They are built much bke a landlocked 

 salmon and I think have been so called, but they are not 

 like them in color nor in any other way except outline. 



The results of this experiment led me to think that we 

 were using too fine leaders for trout fishing and that if 

 we wanted to save our biggest fish we must use leaders 

 that would at least stand the strain of as many pounds 

 as the weight of the largest fish, and so whenever I 

 started fishing I always selected leaders of a size that I 

 thought ought to stand the strain of the largest trout in 

 the water. But in order to know more about the matter, 

 especially in regard to trout, I endeavored to make tests, 

 as Mr. Wells did, and even went so far as to hold the rod 

 upright with the scales fastened two-tenths of the entire 

 length of the rod from the bottom, having the line fast- 

 ened to the reel so as not to give at all and holding the 

 butt of the rod in the hollow of my hand which rested 

 against my knee. I found that that would not give the 

 right results, for when the rod was bent the leverage 

 was not the same and could not be computed. 



At last I hit upon the following plan: After having 

 cast out as much line as I thought was necessary it was 

 taken into the canoe and a line a little longer than the 

 rod was fastened to the line on the rod about Cin. from 

 the top ring. This line was in turn fastened to the 

 scales which lay in my lap. At first it bothered me a 

 little in casting, but after a while I could do as well with 

 as without it. After a fish was hooked I allowed the 

 line to run from the reel until I could lay the rod down 

 and bring the whole pull of the fish on the short line, and 

 by keeping a close watch on the scales the number of 

 pounds that the fish pulled was noted, but not so accurate 



as could have been done with registering scales. As Mr. 

 Wells says, the scales were in constant motion and it was 

 difficult to see the exact figures. By this method we got 

 the strain of the first .grand rush of the fish, which I 

 think is much his best, unless it be the time when he is 

 first brought to the top of the water. As soon as we had 

 got the number of pounds pulled noted, and we were 

 satisfied tha,t he had done his best, the short line (which 

 was fastened by winding three or four times around the 

 long one and then brought up with a half hitch with a 

 howknot end) was passed to my guide, while I took the 

 rod, and as soon as I had gained control of the fish, the 

 guide pulled out the bowknot, his line became loose and 

 the fish was landed in the usual manner. 



While this test left much to be desired, still it gave me 

 figures enough to base an opinion upon . I now think there 

 is no doubt that a brook trout will pull more than his own 

 weight when he is first hooked, but how much more de- 

 fends very much upon the nature of the water in which 

 le has lived and the time of the year in which he is 

 caught. Pond trout will not pull so much in propor- 

 tion to their weight as swift water fish, but will pull 

 more in proportion to their length because they are deeper 

 and can pull harder when going sideways. I give below 

 the notes 1 have taken from time to time in different 

 localities : 



PAUL stream. 

 A trout weighing >V pound pulled 1 pound. 



V'it 



In dead water of a swift stream: 



MILLSFIELD PONDS. 



A trout weighing «,„ pound pulled M pound. 



I i :|: t ii I i 



With a fish of it the line unfastened. Very fat flslii 

 did not fight long. 



GKBENOUGH POND. 



A trout weighing % pound pulled 14 i 6 pound. 



" " 1*!" " " M " 



Fish not biting well. 



magallaway river. 

 A trout weighing l 9 I(i pounds pulled 2 pounds. 

 " 2= 1S " a m " 

 3 " " 4g " 



•& \ M 3^ " " 5 



These fish were caught early in May, when the water 

 was high at the Grass eddy, and the large ones had the 

 current to help them. At Pond de River, below Middle 

 Dam. a trout weighing 3£lbs. pulled 4jlb3., and I think 

 he was in comparatively still water. 



I regret that I did not test those which I caught last 

 spring, but I was so afraid I would lose them that I did 

 not take any risk. I asked my guide how big a one we 

 would catch, and he said of about 61bs., and so I tested 

 my leaders to 91bs. I broke two in doing so, but I am 

 now glad of it; the leader that stood the test of 91bs. held 

 a 91b. fish that day, but was broken by a fish the next 

 day. I learned one thing then, and that w r as that very 

 much depends on the way the fish is hooked. If it can 

 shut its mouth, it will pull harder and fight longer than 

 if the hook is in such a position as to hold the mouth 

 open. 



I hope that Mr. Wells will succeed in his experiments 

 in this direction, as we do not want to use any larger 

 leaders than are necessary, but we want to save our big 

 fish, if only to prove that "some of the lies we tell are 

 true." C. D. O. 



Northumberland, N. H. 



UNDER THE WHITE-HEADS. 



I'VE just got back from over the pond where some very 

 decent fishing came my way, also three or four or 

 five, may be it's six, fishing rods, which I hope to make 

 you break the Tenth Commandment over with all your 

 might. It's sad , but when it comes to first-class work we 

 tins, with those honorable exceptions who tie their own 

 rings on their own sticky sticks, are not "in it." 



It was under the White-heads, in Belfast Lough, Ire- 

 land. The fish would not rise to any fly whatsoever. 

 Jock-Scott, the silver-doctor, and several midge duns 

 were all N. G., it was hopeless to persist with maggots, 

 cheese-paste, white lurk, scoured brandlings, and even if 

 potted salmon roe had been on hand it would have been 

 despised. The fish were there and we had to get them, so 

 we jigged. Let me confess utterly. Conceive four sets 

 of stout crossed wires, soldered on to a central wire so that 

 the ends are not over each other. Then clinch on to each 

 end a small lozenge of tin, and a big bare hook fast to the 

 lower end, put two pounds of lead at the bottom, may be 

 more, get a string and drop overboard, jigging up and 

 down until you catch on. Then the reel shrieks Yankee 

 Doodle, the two and a half ounce masterpiece twists into 

 a perfect corkscrew, until the big speckled beauty pants 

 and palpitates in the boat. 



I was rather successful, for my jig got rigged up 

 with treble hooks while the other lambs had only single 

 ones. Often six at a dip came inboard, and on one 

 memorable occasion every hook save one was graced 

 with a finny victim. You never had such sport, and 

 nary a cent for bait. The exercise is grand, for horns at 

 a time you yank up and down until some other man 

 strikes the school and then you all gather round to hear 

 him swear at your coming, by which time the fish have 

 got scared and gone under to come up half a mile away. 

 But while they come to you, and let me tell you that a 

 speckled beauty— I mean a fresh herring that never saw 

 solid salt— is so good that, as you can't get him any other 

 way than above stated— well, I've gone for him accord- 

 ingly. Gray John. 



A Catfish Caught by Trolling. — Mr. E. A. Black, of 

 Ottawa, a fisherman of some local reputation, reports a 

 curious piscatorial, experience on a recent canoeing ex- 

 pedition on the Upper Ottawa. One morning, when 

 trolling at the foot of the Allumette Rapids, one of the 

 party caught a very large catfish. As the canoe was 

 heavily laden a bullet was fired through the creature's 

 head to enable him to be landed. The hook of the troll 

 was firmly fastened in the fish's mouth. The strangest 

 thing was that the canoe was being steadily paddled all 

 the time, so the troll never could have rested on the 

 ground. — G. S. 



