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FOREST AND STREAM. 



[April 7, 1887. 



April, but none— not one — in March. Here Charlotte 

 Harbor steps in and furnishes a refuge and asylum for us 

 hyperboreans. The March days there are soft, sweet and 

 caressing— just cool enough to' temper the fierce rays of 

 the sun, but not chilly at all. Summer clothing by day, 

 and open windows and a sheet for covering at night are 

 comfortable. 



The railroad runs to Trabue— alias Punta Gorda— and 

 the fifty miles ride by steamer over the lovely harbor 

 southward to St. James, the new paper city on San Carlos 

 Bay, is very channing. The boat brings the traveler to 

 his hotel at dinner time, and he can. as I and my com- 

 panions did, spend his first afternoon in becoming ac- 

 quainted with the surroundings and arranging for his 

 boat and boatman. 



T arrived at the new "enterprise'' of St. James City 

 March 2, and found San Carlos Bay much changed by its 

 establishment since last spring. Then there were on the 

 bay but the two houses, which still constitute the village 

 of Punta Eassa. St. James has a picturesque, very com- 

 fortable and very well kept hotel, and a number of neat 

 cottages and stores. The management of the hotel is in 

 the hands of gentlemen who make every effort to accom- 

 modate and please its guests. A mistake has been made 

 in putting the building too far away from the wharf— 

 nearly half a mile. It is true that a carriage is free to 

 the guests, and a tramway is promised B0i next season, 

 but the belated tisherman'at night and the energetic one 

 who wishes to be off betimes in the morning, will anathe- 

 matize the founder of St. James as lie trudges along the 

 pahnetto avenue which leads to the bay. John Smith 

 and his two sons Johnny and Frank, with Sam Ellis, were 

 still the prominent boatmen, but I noticed that the prices 

 for their services (including a good sailboat) had advanced 

 from the $2.50 of last year to |4 per diem. These wages 

 are reasonable, but who can say what next years will be? 



At Punta Eassa, Mrs. Zipprer has the same picturesque 

 and comfortable house as of old. For one who wants the 

 best fishing, and all day for it, with fair accommodations 

 at the small expense of $1.50 per day (the weekly terms I 

 do not recollect), her house is the place. Mrs. Sliultz has 

 enlarged the other house of Punta Eassa since last spring. 

 Her terms are somewhat higher — $2 I flunk. I have not 

 lodged there, but the house is well Bpoken Of as comfort u- 

 ble and well kept. Since last season Mr. Sliultz has built 

 a cattle wharf and appurtenances, so the honors are easy 

 between the two boarding houses on that drawback for 

 lady guests of tender sensibilities. 



At the San Carlos, as the hotel on Pine Island is called, 

 were enough guests — ladies as well as gentlemen — to tax 

 its capacity. "The men were evidently none of them con- 

 sumptives, seeking refuge from the chilly winds of their 

 Northern homes, but vigorous and stalwart. To quote 

 Mrs. Hermans' s elaborately answered string of conun- 

 drums: 



"What sought they thus afarV 



Bright jewels of the miue?" 

 Some had their wives and daugh'ers for company, but 

 the men had bat one object— tarpon. Every one talked 

 of that fish — hoped, longed, expected to, or feared he 

 wouldn't capture it. Mr. Lorillard's yacht, the Beva, 

 when I reached St. James, March 2, lay in front of the 

 wharf, and had been in and near San Carlos Bay a couple 

 of months, its occupants purstiing tarpon. The yacht 

 had a record of two, increased before I left to four or five 

 of the fish. Mr. W. H. Wood was at Mrs. Zipprers at 

 Punta Eassa, with a record of nine taken during six 

 weeks. He added two before he went North — the last 

 one in my presence. The ladies would go over to Sanibel 

 Wharf in the afternoons to catch sheepshead, but the 

 gentlemen were bold tarpon slayers — at least on the hotel 

 verandas, evenings. Great numbers of fish of all kinds 

 were daily brought to the wharf. Their proud captors 

 would have them transported to the hotel, in the hall 

 they would be inspected and proudly talked over, then 

 carried straight through, presumably to the kitchen, but 

 really to the compost heap back of the stable. The hotel 

 could not make use of them, and the sandy soil needed 

 them, surely. The nucleus of the heap was a devilfish 

 said to weigh a ton, and a sawfish of half that weight. 

 There, as refuse— Fulton Market, attend!— were sheeps- 

 head, sea trout, snappers, groupers, channel bass — a list 

 to make a New York housekeeper weep with regret. No 

 pompano; no Spanish mackerel — they were honored with 

 a place at table. 



My companion after hearing the tarpon talk announced 

 his intention of not molesting that fish. I had allotted 

 one week to Charlotte Harbor, or rather to the southern 

 end of the harbor, which is called San Carlos Bay. I 

 wanted to take one tarpon, and therefore set apart the 

 last two days of my stay for that purpose, in order to give 

 some time to the less exacting species of fish, and at the 

 same time fix with certainty on the place to find the great 

 desideratum. Four days we spent delightf ully in sailing 

 about the bays, lagoons and passes and taking channel 

 bass (very few), groupers and spotted trout. The first 

 afternoon I took my companion to the wharf at Sanibel 

 to exhibit the sheepshead. Two hours satisfied liim with 

 that fish. I repeated my attempt of last year to take four 

 at once, but failed again. I do not see that the new hotel 

 at St. James, with its afternoon parties at Sanibel, has 

 affected the abundance of these fish materially, since I 

 landed in the short time we fished two sheepshead at a 

 time ten times, and the same inquisitive swarm as of last 

 year followed the captured fish to the siuface of the 

 water. 



My friend, the Captain, by invitation, visited Mr. Wood 

 Saturday, and under his guidance went off the mouth of 

 the Caloosahatchie, opposite the first creek east of Cape 

 Blanco, and there hooked, and after a contest of an hour 

 and a half (concluded after dark) killed his tarpon, weight 

 1181bs., just the weight of the captor. Monday afternoon 

 I anchored on the same ground and saw Mr. Wood skill- 

 fully take and save his handsome fish of IBOlbs. without 

 taking up anchor, "one of the greatest angling feats on 

 record," as Mr. Clarke (or any one else) might say. This 

 was the only fish taken that day, although I saw six 

 others take the baits among the different boats and ex- 

 hibit their magnificent shining proportions above the 

 surf ace of the sea in the light of the declining sun. 



. Tuesday was the last day, and to be convenient to the 

 grounds, I stopped over night at Punta Eassa, at Mrs. 

 Zipprer's, arranging for Sam Ellis, my boatman, to come 

 to Cape Blanco with lunch as soon as he could, Tuesday. 

 The Captain having taken his fish, with the generosity 

 which infiltrates every fibre of his I ody , took me down 

 ia a small boat to our fishing ground, and although he 



was little more familiar with the spot than I, anchored 

 the boat in the best place, in spite of my foolish protests. 

 Mr. Wood soon joined us, and another gentleman from 

 St. James, who had also stopped over night at Punta 

 Eassa, completed the line. At 9 o'clock Mr. Wood had 

 an enormous fish displaying his argentine magnificence 

 only to disgorge the bait arid escape after a leap or two. 

 Then Mr. T. had a wonderful commotion about the boat, 

 a very considerable silver bar turning and twisting with 

 great rapidity here and there, and apparently rising from 

 the water in two or three places at once. Mr. T.'s anchor 

 was duly weighed and a very lively contest of 20 minutes 

 or so ensued— the fish was not very large— which ended 

 by angler and boatman attempting to take the fish at the 

 shore;" a quick stroke with the gaff, and a severed line 

 floating in the air. Sadly the fisherman returned to his 

 anchorage. 



Then came my turn. The Captain and 1 were both 

 fishing, when, without warning, two beautiful fish arose 

 on either side of the boat at the same moment, high in 

 air, and frantically twisting, with mouths wide extend- 

 ing, and then falling with a simultaneous mighty crash, 

 throwing the spray high hi air. One line came back limp 

 to the reel, the other ran out with a whirr, and its comae 

 was marked by the frantic leaps of the monster, who 

 seemed to be pervading the scenery. The stern fine was 

 untied from the pole which held the boat steady, the 

 anchor was lifted, the Captain took his seat in the stern 

 with an oar, I moved forward to the bow and away we 

 went merrily toward deep water. I looked at my watch 

 and found the horn- to be 11:35. The details of the con- 

 test, need not be given. There was a succession of rapid 

 leaps high in the' air, then a long steady pull, most of the 

 time with the fish near the surface, pulling the boat 

 steadily; occasionally — say ten times in all— a rolling 

 plunge* for air, like the roll of a porpoise, and, just before 

 he was gaffed, five magnificent concluding leaps, which 

 finished the performance. Nineteen leaps in all were 

 made clear of the water, and the time occupied in 

 capture was an hour and five minutes. Length of fish, 

 6ft. lin.; weight, HOlbs. It was a most thrilling experi- 

 ence. At times, when the huge glittering fish shot into 

 the air close to the boat, quivering and twisting in every 

 muscle, and fell with a mighty crash back into the sea, 

 the effect was almost terrifying. At the conclusion of 

 the contest, after two gaffs* and an iron hook had per- 

 formed then office, and the dying fish lay in the bottom 

 of our small boat — nearly filling it, it seemed — my sail- 

 boat appeared, and we Vetumed to Punta Eassa. Like 

 Francesca — 



li We flatted no more that daw" 



The next morning we were homeward bound, having 

 gone through a week's entertainment at San Carios Bay, 

 where all the pieces on the programme were carefully 

 and in their proper order performed to our satisfaction, 

 and leaving the principal performer to be— as Johnny 

 Smith said — "pizened" and sent on to us. F. S. J. O. 



THE COMING TOURNAMENT. 



PEIZES are coming in to the committee, and there is 

 every prospect of a full prize list and a successful 

 tournament. We will publish the list in full as soon as 

 the classes are made up and the prizes divided among 

 them. The new departure made this year of holding the 

 tournament in May instead of October seems to be popu- 

 lar, and the experiment will decide the question as to the 

 time at which the meetings will be held in the future. 

 At present writing we cannot say how many classes there 

 will be, but hope that there will be two salmon contests, 

 one for amateurs only; this, however, will depend upon 

 the number of prizes. 



We shall watch with interest the proposition to make 

 it a social club, with rooms, a library, and all the neces- 

 sary adjuncts of such an organization. To accomplish 

 this there must be a great increase of the roll of member- 

 ship or the annual dues must be made larger. The Fly- 

 Fishers' Club, of London, has about two hundred and 

 seventy members, and the dues are fifty dollars for city 

 and five dollars for country members, the latter being- 

 defined as those who have no* fixed occupation in London 

 and do not live within ten miles of St. Paul's. This 

 club is purely a social one and holds no competitions, 

 although in their report for 1886 we see among the list of 

 expenditures a "Donation towards expenses of fly-casting 

 tournament at Twickenham.'' We see by the treasurer's 

 account that the club has a balance of $580 to its credit 

 as it enters upon the third year of its existence. 



We know of no good reason why such an institution as the 

 Fly-Fishers' Club should not thrive in New York, but to 

 make it a success the gentlemen proposing it must work 

 diligently, as Mi*. Marston and his confreres in London 

 have done. Once squarely on its feet it will stand alone, 

 but must be vigorously "boosted" at first. Perhaps a call 

 for a meeting after the tournament might be made and 

 the question considered at that time, when a goodly num- 

 ber of anglers are in town and then have the matter fully 

 discussed. 



Massachusetts Trout. — Taimton. Mass., April 2. — 

 Yesterday, in spite of the snow, several local fishermen 

 started out early to try their hand at trout fishing in a 

 snow storm. Five fish were the largest string heard 

 from and those were small. Fowl are very thick in the 

 ponds; as the train passed Prospect Pond yesterday morn- 

 ing I counted thirty (in two flocks) from the window; I 

 called them whistlers. To-night we have snow up to my 

 knees. The horse cars stopped running in the afternoon. 

 If it is pleasant I shall spend Fast Day at the Cape. At 

 Falmouth we have some fine fishing, * There are several 

 fine streams running through the cranberry bogs and old 

 fields and finally emptying "into Vineyard Sound. When 

 the herring are running some very large trout are caught. 

 They are called "salters,'" being fresh run from the salt 

 water, and make lively sport when* held with a 4oz. or 

 5oz. rod. — Cohannet. 



■ A Steamer on Great South Bay. — To accommodate 

 anglers and others Mr. A. H. Angell will put a steamer 

 on the Great South Bay of Long Island this season. It 

 will fun from Patchogue and other points on the main 

 island to Watch Hill, Water Island and Cedar Grove. 

 The steamer Morris Gross has been chartered for this 

 service; she is 85ft. long, 22ft. beam, and will accommo- 

 date 300 passengers, 



New York Trout Season.— Albany, March 31.— 

 Editor Forest and Stream : Having received innumerable 

 inquiries of late in regard to the open season for trout I 

 desire to briefly summarize the law and ask as a favor to 

 the parties desiring the information, as well as to myself, 

 that you give publicity to the same through the columns 

 of your valuable journal. The present Legislature has, 

 as yet, made no change in the present trout laws. Under 

 the present law speckled trout, brook trout, brown trout, 

 California trout, salmon trout and landlocked salmon 

 may be taken in the waters of this State, exclusive of the 

 Forest Preserve, from April 1 to Sept. 1. Within the 

 Forest Preserve (as established by Chap. 283, laws of 1885) 

 which includes the counties of Clinton, Essex, Franklin, 

 Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, Saratoga, St. Law- 

 rence, Warren, Washington, Greene, Ulster and Sullivan, 

 the open season for the above named fish is from May 1 

 to Sept. 15, except that salmon trout and landlocked 

 salmon may be taken up to Oct. 1. The transportation of 

 trout to market from the counties constituting the Forest 

 Preserve is prohibited unless the owner of the fish ac- 

 companies the same.— Floyd J. Hadley, Chairman 

 Assembly Committee of Game Laws. 



Trouting on Long Island.— The opening day was 

 cold and cheerless, and Saturday brought a heavy snow 

 storm, yet, in spite of the weather, some fair fishing was 

 done. On Friday, the opening day, there were some 

 fifty anglers on the Nissequogue, the largest trout stream 

 on the north side, and some of them were rewarded by 

 good-sized fish, the largest one taken being about two 

 pounds. On the south side the fishing on the opening- 

 day was hardly up to the average at this season, but on 

 Monday, the 4th, the weather was spring-hke and the 

 surface of the waters showed rising trout in abundance 

 and the fishing was good. Several New York anglers 

 brought home full creels on Monday, and had better sport 

 than those who went down on Friday. As a rule the 

 trou t of Long Island are in good condition in early March 

 and the trout fishing is practically over in June, because 

 the fish do not rise well late in the season. 



Black Bass in Maine. — According to a recent enact- 

 ment black bass may now legally be caught in any of the 

 waters of Maine which have been stocked with them for 

 five years. There are several lakes which will be open 

 for bass fishing under this law. 



Trouble Ahead for Them.— Michigan.— It looks now 

 as if the fish hogs and deer butchers would meet with 

 trouble since the passage of the law authorizing the 

 appointment of a game warden. — Central. 



^whcnltnre. 



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



BRITISH SALMON1D/E. 



]7VROM a very interesting account of the Salmonida; of 

 J Great Britain, in the Journal of the National Fishcul- 

 ture Association, by Dr. Francis Day. the very best authority 

 on this family in England, we make the following extracts, 

 omitting: the more technical portions and such parts as 

 relate to' species other than fronts. We especially commend 

 to American fishculturists a careful perusal of the opening 

 paragraph, which relates to the varieties of trouts. The 

 lishculturist who is not also an ichthyologist is not always 

 clear on the subject of species, and in what respect they may 

 differ from varieties, and this is not to be wondered at, be- 

 cause the defining lines are not well marked by the ichthy- 

 ologists themselves, and what one of the latter may often 

 consider to be well enough denned to have a specific rank, 

 is by another considered to be a mere variety. The tendency 

 at present is rather to reduce the number of species than to 

 muhaply them, and in America several nominal species 

 which were considered valid some years ago, have been by 

 the later authorities conceded to be only varieties. This is 

 especially the case with a trout of Lake Superior and other 

 lakes known as the siscowet, also with the landlocked sal- 

 mon, the sea trout of New Brunswick and Canadian waters, 

 and the three species of brook trout described by De Kay, 

 which are now reduced to one. Dr. Day savs: 



To the fishculturist who especially turns his attention to 

 rearing Salmonida?, to the proprietor who takes an active in- 

 terest in the sporting fishes which frequent his stream, and 

 to the river conservator whose duties are connected with the 

 preservation of salmon and trout, it is a matter of great 

 moment to be able to he certain among these forms as to 

 "what is a species." No greater injury has occurred to these 

 various parties than the sub-divisions of our trout, which 

 has been done by ascribing specific rank to varieties and 

 local races. For" this course has not been a harmless one, 

 because it has misled riparian proprietors and others, who 

 possibly have neither had the opportunity or. probably, in- 

 clination to study these so-called species in our museums; or 

 were they to have done so, perhaps among the numerous 

 specimens presented on the shelves, they might well have 

 found themseves confused,, at least, unless they had previ- 

 ously an iutiiuate scientific knowledge of the finny tribe. 

 Or supposing such persons to have accepted the statements 

 made on authority, that all these reputed forms are distinct 

 species; they must have found such theories, when accepted 

 and carried into practice, to he a great cause of unnecessary 

 outlay of money, as well as a source of annoyance — not only 

 to themselves, but to fishculturists from whom they obtain 

 their eggs or young fish for replenishing their waters, or 

 augmenting the size of their local breeds. The riparian pro- 

 prietor sends for — let us say — Salmo ferox, to improve the 

 strain of his local race by crossing, and after a year or so he 

 feels confident that the imported forms are only'brook trout. 

 Naturally indignant, he may come to the erroneous conclus- 

 ion 1 that the purveyor had imposed upon him, and it will 

 not be until he underst ands this is merely a simple variety 

 attaining a large size, due to certain local circumstances, 

 that he will comprehend how his money has been thrown 

 away. He had far better have looked to the food and con- 

 dition of the water on his estate before 'attempting to im- 

 prove the indigenous breed. If, however, food is abundant, 

 and sufficient mouths do not exist to consume it, then the 

 importation' of larger forms, obtained by pedigree breeding, 

 would very prcbabfy add size and spcrtmg character to his 

 local race," and lastly, if we really possess numerous species 

 of trout in our. fresh waters, and 'these species interbreed 

 one with another, the results will be hybrids, and "these 

 generally tend toward sterility; hut; if instead of being 

 species they are merely local races, then the intercrossing 

 will produce mongrels, which are usually prolific. 



The following is a very condensed, and consequently im- 

 perfect, summary of the natural history of these fishes as 

 observed in the 'British Isles, Many questions have been 



