518 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[July 1, 1887. 



EXPERIENCE WITH TACKLE. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Seeing in a former issue an article on reels, I have 

 taken the liberty to write you on a subject which has long 

 been in my mind, and which I am afraid would never be 

 satisfactorily determined were it not possible to get other 

 people's opinion. 



I have thought many times, both while reading and 

 fishing, why do not more anglers use the automatic reel. 

 I have seen articles on various kinds of reels, but no one 

 has anything to say either for or against the automatic. 

 Perhaps the best way to call out the different opinions is 

 to relate my experience with it. 



When getting an outfit last spring, I got a reel with 

 both click and drag, and after using it once or twice came 

 to the conclusion that 1 did not like it, and having seen 

 something of the automatic, I decided to change the one 

 I had for one of the latter kind. When it came it seemed 

 so heavy and cumbersome that I was prejudiced against 

 it, but gave it a trial as soon as possible. The place 

 selected was a small pond where the fish were not large, 

 but were very plenty, and sometimes gave very good 

 sport. 



After having anchored the raft I proceeded to test the 

 whole rig. The rod was a light lancewood 10ft. long, the. 

 line 45yds. enameled fly line, the flies cowdung and stone 

 fly; but after getting * the rig strung up I was so disap- 

 pointed with it that I was about ready to give up and go 

 home, the whole thing was so heavy and cumbersome; 

 but my friend persuaded me to give it a fair trial. 



I can not cast very well at any time, but the first cast I 

 made th c re took my companion's hat out into the pond, 

 at which he made a few eloquent remarks relative to my 

 style of casting ; after this, nerved by the stinging sar- 

 casm and forcible expressions which my friend used, 

 I succeeded in doing better and a last got the hang of the 

 thing. The weight Was so great and so much below the 

 hand that it seemed very unhandy at first, but after a 

 while I found I could do better than ever, and after cast- 

 ing about half an hour, I bad a rise and struck a trout 

 t hat would weigh about half a pound. I raised the brake 

 and the spring was so strong that it brought the fish to 

 the raft so quickly that he came near making his escape 

 by being entangled in the logs. 



I had two or three rises, and soon found that if I wanted 

 any fun fishing I must uncoil the spring, as the reel was 

 doing all the fishing. After some experiments I got the 

 tension just right and then had some fine sport. All to 

 be done after the fish was hooked was to keep the brake 

 raised and the reel took all care of it. If he chose to run 

 he could have all the line he could unwind; if he tried to 

 sulk, there was that steady strain on him, and no matter 

 how he might tear around he could not get any slack, 

 but could be brought to net at any time. 



After catching about 201bs. we came home, both very 

 much pleased with the reel. Since that time I have used 

 it on both quick and dead water, and found it to work 

 splendidly in eveiy respect. 



Last June I took it to the Rangeley Lakes, and although 

 the fishing then (about the 20th) was not good, I had some 

 fine sport both at Middle and Upper Dams. While fish- 

 ing one morning on the boom walk at Middle Dam, I 

 struck a fine trout, and to test both the rod and reel, I 

 gave the fish the line and let him have a good start. lie 

 made for the gate, and seeing that he was going through 

 I gave him the butt. As I did so I thought, "Good-bye, 

 old rod," but to my surprise the rod did not snap but 

 stood the strain perfectly. The trout had got down the 

 sluice as far as the gate when he began to feel the spring 

 in the reel and in the rod. He stopped, and I could feel 

 the line quiver as he strove to gain his ground, or rather 

 water; but opposmg forces were too much for him, and 

 little by little he came to the top, and at last broke water 

 and came skipping back almost into the landing net. The 

 current was so strong that I could not hold him with one 

 hand, and he got started again; but after a few moments 

 he gave up and was drawn into the landing net, as band- 

 some a fish as ever came into the air. For fully twenty- 

 five minutes that trout, aided by the swift current, was 

 struggling against the rod and reel and at last had to give 

 up, and all the time I had not aided the reel, but was de- 

 termined it should be a test case between the fish and 

 current on one side and the rod and reel on the other. 



One morning a guide named Will Sargent came up to 

 camp and told Capt. Farrar and others that he had hooked 

 a very large trout above the dam; it was, he thought, the 

 largest one he had ever seen. He was standing on the 

 boom walk and was not very far from the gate. The fish 

 started to go down the sluice and Sargent tried to stop 

 him, but his line broke and away the fish went, taking a 

 number of feet of line with him. 



The next morning I went down on the apron of the 

 dam, and putting on a minnow, cast into the little eddy, 

 by the side of the sluice. The bait had not been in the 

 water more than a minute when a very large trout took 

 it and started for white water, and quicker than it takes 

 to tell it he had nearly every inch of line out and I was 

 holding the butt of the rod with both hands, while the 

 tip was nearly in the water. The strain was tremendous, 

 and it did not seem as if the fish could hold it long, and I 

 knew I could not. But at last, when my arms were 

 nearly pulled out of my shoulders and it did not seem as 

 if I could hold on another rninute, the line began to wind 

 up and I knew that he was as tired as I was and was 

 coming in. After he left the white water and struck the 

 eddy I could see lrim, and I give you my word he did 

 come, but not too quick for the reel, for when he was 

 lying in the still water near the bank the line was all in 

 and not a foot of slack out and there had not been any at 

 any time. 



I was alone, but there were two gentlemen across the 

 stream whose attention I tried to attract, but the water 

 made so much noise and the spray was so thick that all 

 attempts were failures. I tried to get the net under hini 

 alone, but could not reach him, and there was no way to 

 reach the shore except to go back upon the dam and 

 around the end, so I had nothing to do but to wait for 

 him to make a move. I did not have long to wait. Soon 

 he began to move, and move he did. I thought I had 

 seen fish when they seemed to have urgent business in 

 some other place, but this one had more business than "a 

 man on the town;" he was in three or four different 

 places at once, and I was so excited that I could not have 

 done anything to help capture him; but there was no 

 need of it, for the reel was doing all that there was to be 

 done. Back and forth, up and down the pool he ran, try- 



ing to get slack enough to snap the line, but not a foot 

 did he get, for the reel had the line wound up as soon as 

 the fish was done with it. It was a tremendous fight, 

 such a one as I never thought possible for a trout to make, 

 and I have caught them for the last twenty years. He 

 seemed determined to get away. Sometimes he would 

 throw himself out of the water, then down to the bottom 

 he would go; and then, as if he had thought of some- 

 thing new, would start for the foot of the pool, only to be 

 turned and brought back, contesting every inch of the 

 ground. 



At last-the line came in rapidly, and I knew something 

 was the matter, the rod straightened out aud the reel 

 burned as it took up the line, and I knew it was all over. 

 The fish was gone, the fun was over, I had lost my 

 golden opportunity of getting one of the big Rangeley 

 trout. My vacation was spoiled, and I was going home 

 as soon as I could. That was the way I felt as I took my 

 rod apart, and in fact all that day. It seemed as though 

 I could never fish any more, I had lost my good luck and 

 it was no use trying. 



Upon examination of the line I found that the hook 

 had pulled out of the snell, which was a double one, hav- 

 ing been turned around the hook, cork-screw fashion. 

 This same thing has happened to me several times, and 

 always when I have had large fish on, and I have come 

 to the conclusion that dealers can not be too careful how 

 the hooks are snelled. 



From the time the trout took the bait until the line 

 came back was nearly an hour, and all this time the reel 

 had kept the line wound up in good order so that there 

 was not a foot of slack nor a kink, nor anything to trou- 

 ble or bother me ; and a one-armed man, could lie have 

 held the rod, would have had as good a chance of securing 

 the fish as I did. Chas. D. Chase. 



RIGHTS OF POND OWNERS. 



THE right of pond owners to take fish from their 

 ponds in the close season has come up in Indiana. 

 Mi'. W. C. Harmon writes to Mr. Enos B. Reed, fish com- 

 missioner of Indiana, as follows : " Sir : As you are the 

 fish commissioner of the State, I have a few questions to 

 ask in regard to the fish law, and which I hope you will 

 be kind enough to answer. First — Has the State legal 

 power over private property that overflows and leaves fish 

 in ponds and sluices on their land ? Can the owners of 

 such lands take seines and nets and catch the fish that 

 remain in said ponds and sluices without violating the 

 State law? Please state what streams and tributaries in 

 the 1 Pocket' the fish law reaches?" To this the commis- 

 sioner replies: "An owner or occupant of lands most as- 

 suredly has the right to control them, and if the State 

 streams overflow, and fish get into private ponds, the fish 

 are lost to those streams and become to all intents and 

 purposes the property of the owners of the ponds, who 

 have the right to do what they please with them — appro- 

 priate them to their own use or give them away to whom- 

 soever they please. A man has the right to fish in his own 

 waters in any way he chooses. The fish laws are applic- 

 able to all public streams of the State — lakes included. 

 Send a two-cent stamp for the codified fish laws of the 

 State. Address State Fish Commissioner. Indianapolis, 

 Ind." 



If Mr. Reed be correct in his interpretation of the law, 

 there must be in the statute some provision expressly 

 conferring such a right, or providing that it be not taken 

 away. It has been repeatedly decided in the courts else- 

 where, as in New York, that the State does have control 

 over private waters. In the famous Pheips-Racey case it 

 was settled that the owner of a private trout pond could 

 not lawfully take trout from the pond in the close season. 



On a farm near Pennellville, New York, are three 

 beautiful lakes, in which the boys have done their 

 fishing for years. The lakes always swarmed with fish of 

 the common kind. Five years since a city gentleman 

 purchased the farm on which the lakes are located, posted 

 notices forbidding fishing, and proceeded to stock the 

 lakes with bass. We understand that the State did the 

 stocking, and as some four years have passed since the 

 fish were put in, the lakes now afford the finest fishing in 

 the county, judging by the strings carried by some of the 

 city friends of the owner. If the State stocked the waters 

 can we be prevented trorn catching the fish, although it 

 is impossible to reach the waters without trespassing, as 

 they are surrounded by his land? What would the dam- 

 ages amount to if we were caught fishing in these waters, 

 providing it could be proven no damage was done but the 

 catching of the fish? Pennellvillian. 



[The law on the subject is as follows. Chap, 243, Sec. 16, 

 Laws 1885: "Any person who shall knowingly trespass 

 upon inclosed or cultivated land, for the purpose of shoot- 

 ing or hunting any game protected, by this act, or shall 

 take any fish from private ponds or private streams 

 not stocked in whole or in part by the State, or after 

 public notice has been given by the owner or occupant 

 thereof, or person, association or corporation luring or 

 leasing the exclusive right to shoot or hunt thereon or 

 fish therein from the owner or occupant, as provided in 

 the following section, shall be liable to such owner or oc- 

 cupant, or "person, association or corporation," in addition 

 to the actual damages sustained, exemplary damages to 

 an amount not exceeding twenty-five nor less than fifteen 

 dollars."] 



Adih'cm all communieations to the Fm-cst and Stream Pub. Co. 



HATCHING THE WALL-EYED PIKE. 



BY JAMES KEVIN. 

 [Read before the American Fisheries Society.] 



THE eggs of the wall-eyed pike cause more trouble while 

 undergoing the process of hatching, than those of any 

 other of our better class of fish, owing to their great adhe- 

 siveness. If not attended to properly before being placed in 

 the hatching jars they will stick together in bunches and 

 float off through the outlet from the jar, and should screens 

 be used to prevent this, they will be blocked up and the eggs 

 carried off with the overflow. In our Milwaukee hatchery 

 we have been raising pike fry for the last three seasons, and 

 after trying various plans to counteract this evil, I have 

 found the following to answer most satisfactorily. 

 As soon as impregnated the eggs are placed in tubs or 



some such vessels, and kept in constant motion by gently 

 stirring until they have become hard, usually about five 

 hours after being taken frorn the fish. They are then placed 

 on cotton flannel trays and shipped in boxes in the same 

 manner as whitefish eggs, As soon as they are received at 

 the hatchery they are put into tubs, each tub to be not more 

 than three parts full of eggs; they are then gently stirred 

 with the hand until thoroughly loosened or separated. Tin- 

 mediately alongside should be a screen about three inches 

 deep and with holes just large enough to allow the egg to 

 pass through. This screen tits into a tub of clean water and 

 the eggs are dipped into it, and by gently shaking the screen 

 they all pass through. By this means' we know that each 

 egg is separated from those surrounding it. I then take 

 some of the sediment from the bottoms of the supply tanks 

 and mix thoroughly with the eggs. A certain amount of 

 this sediment adheres to the egg and prevents the "bunch- 

 ing" when placed in the jars. After carefully following this 

 plan the eggs can be placed in the jars, and if given a suf- 

 ficient current of water to keep them moving very gently 

 there will be no danger of them floating off; nor do' they re- 

 quire continual watching for the first forty-eight hours as 

 in the old method. 



They take from fifteen to thirty-five days to hatch, accord- 

 ing to the temperature of the water, the colder the water the 

 longer the time required. When the fry are seven or eight 

 days old the little felloAvs will begin eating one another, and 

 hundreds of them can be seen swinnning in the tanks, each 

 with a fish in his mouth that seems as large as himself. A 

 small percentage of loss can be put down to this cause. We 

 usually ship 50,000 in a twelve-gallon can, and find it neces- 

 sary to use ice to keep the temperature of the water suffi- 

 ciently low for them to stand the journey. 



If 50 per cent, of the eggs can be hatched it can be consid- 

 ered very fair success. My opinion is that the general 

 average is lower, although one case that came under my 

 notice very much exceeded this. In the instance 1 refer to 

 there were two small shipping boxes of eggs sent to a hatch- 

 ery and fully 75 per cent, were dead before leaving the 

 spawning grounds, and the man who took the eggs told me 

 that the rest of them died when put in the jars, and there 

 were no more pike eggs sent to that hatchery that season; 

 yet, on reading the annual report for the same season's oper- 

 ations at that hatchery, I saw that ten millions of wall-eyed 

 pike fry had been distributed! Men claim that they can 

 natch 50, 75 and even 90 per cent, of the eggs of certain fish; 

 but here is a case that calls for special attention— several 

 hundred per cent, from dead eggs. Why each egg, even if 

 dead, must have brought forth twins, or triplets, at least. 

 I think it would be a capital idea for all of us that are en- 

 gaged in pike culture to get our eggs from that locality for 

 the future, and Ave should work hard to get very stringent 

 laws passed protecting the locality, so that such a very pro- 

 lific and peculiar class of fish should not be killed or de- 

 stroyed. 



There is no doubt that such deception as this injuriously 

 affects the science of fishculture. The people of the country 

 on reading or hearing of certain waters being stocked with 

 thousands or millions of fry, as the case may be, naturally 

 look for some beneficial result in the near future, and when 

 no such result shows itself they are inclined to say that arti- 

 ficial propagation of fish is very much over-estimated, nor 

 can we blame them. 



During the season just passed we secured for our Mil- 

 waukee hatchery about 30,000,000 wall-eyed pike eggs, esti- 

 mating them at 120,000 to the quart measure, and though as 

 fine a looking lot of eggs as one could wish to see I do not 

 expect to have more than 10,000,000 fry to distribute. These 

 10,000,000 will fill about one hundred of the applications we 

 have on file, leaving nearly another hundred to be left over 

 until next year. 



The best breeding grounds in Wisconsin for this fish are 

 Green Bay, and Fox River emptying into it. Last winter 

 our Legislature passed a law preventing the killing, buying, 

 selling or having in possession any wall-eyed pike from these 

 Avaters Aveighing less than H-jlbs. A similar laAv protecting 

 our whitefish in Lakes Michigan and Superior, and their 

 bays, Avas passed, and I have no doubt that a very feAv years 

 will prove the wisdom of these laws, as the fish Avi'll be 

 enabled to reach an age and size that Avill make them useful 

 as breeders and valuable as commercial fish. The main 

 trouble hitherto has been that our lake fish have been caught 

 Avhen weighing a pound, and even less, consequently they 

 had no opportunity of being reproducers of their kind and 

 brought such a Ioav price per pound that a fisherman could 

 hardly make more than living expenses. 



In conclusion I will gi\'e a brief summary of the try that 

 have been turned out and the number of applications filled 

 in 1887 up to the present time, by the Wisconsin Fish Com- 

 mission : 



No. of applica- No. of fry 

 tions tilled. planted. 



Brook trout 312 2,980,000 



Mountain trout 119 1,350,000 



MackinaAv, or lake trout 500,000 



Whitefish 31,500.000 



Wall-eyed pike 67 8,800,000 



Total 398 45,080,000 



Mauison, Wis, 



THE NEW HAMPSHIRE COMM ISSION. 



\YTE have the report of the Fish and Game Commissioner, 

 VV of New Hampshire, giAing the Avork done by them 

 for the year ending May 31, 1887. The fish distribution in 

 1886 consisted largely of landlocked salmon and brook trout, 

 which observation and experience has shown to be the best 

 adapted to the waters of the State. 



The work of the Commission for the past few years has 

 returned very favorable and encouraging results. Protec- 

 tion in the breeding, or close seasons, in addition to largely 

 increased number of fry planted, have done much to restock 

 many waters nearly barren. Over 600.000 brook trout were 

 distributed last year. 



The establishment at Plymouth is in good condition, and 

 the neAV plan in taking the trout eggs adopted by the super- 

 intendent, has resulted in a large saving of eggs. So far they 

 have never been troubled with fungus, Avhich in some places 

 is so fatal to the young. The wanton destruction of small 

 landlocked salmon in Hebron River, compelled the Commis- 

 sioners to close that stream to all kinds of fishing for three 

 vears. That river contains the finest spaAvning grounds for 

 these fish in the State, and it is from there that the supply 

 of eggs is expected to be obtained. 



The report of Col. Elliot B. Hodge, superintendent of the 

 State hatching houses at Plymouth and Sunapee Lake, 

 naturally gives a detailed account of the work. Six hun- 

 dred thousand salmon Avere hatched and planted iu the 

 Pemigewasset River i n May at various points from one to 

 twenty miles above Livermore Falls. 



The number of young fish and eggs in the hatcheries for 

 distribution in the spring of 1887 is as folloAvs: 



Penobscot salmon 500,000 



Brook trout 600,000 



Landlocked salmon 157,000 



Lochleven trout, from Scotland 30,000 



Sai bling, from Germany 3,000 



California trout 10,000 



Brown trout, from Germany 5,000 



Total 1,305,000 



The question of the species to which the newly found trout 

 in Sunapee Lake belongs is touched upon, and the Commiss- 



