March 28, 1889.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



196 



GRANDACOY OR TARPUM. 



LAKE CHARLES, La., March 10.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: As usual, when in want of information, 1 

 appeal to you. Can you, or any of your readers, tell me 

 anything of a fish called the grand ecore (as nearly as I 

 can write the name from the pronunciation), which is 

 found here in profusion? Some of the fishermen claim it 

 is the tarpon, others deny it: some say it takes the bait 

 freely, others that it is caught, if at all, only by chance. 

 Can some one who has fished for it— if any such there 

 be— tell me the kind of tackle, Bize of rod, hook and line, 

 best kind of reel, bait, time and manner of fishing, etc., 

 and I'll do as much for you some time. H. P. Uffoed. 



[The grandacoy, grand ecaille, sabalo, savanilla. silver 

 fish, tarpon or tarpuni are some of the names applied to 

 the large silvery herring-like fish which has recently 

 achieved fame among anglers on account of its game 

 qualities, combined with its enormous size and brilliant 

 appearance. Forest and Stream of Dec. 13, 1888, con- 

 tains a good figure of the tarpuni and a description of 

 some of the tackle used in its capture. The writer of the 

 article, "Lancewood," used 5-0 Kirby Limericks on a 

 fifteen-thread line, and landed three tarpuni, weighing 

 128, 135 and 147ilbs. i-espectively. Another paper is pub- 

 lished in Forest and Stream, Dec. 27, 1888. Mullet is 

 used for bait, although the fish feeds upon any small fry 

 that may be convenient. Some anglers use a 10-0 

 O'Shaughnossy hook and a No. 15 or 18 linen line. Most 

 aiiglersu8e a large bass reel. The reel is placed about a 

 foot from the end of the rod; it should hold at least 500ft. 

 of line, as the fish travels like a flash and is prodigiously 

 strong. A bamboo striped bass rod in a single piece, 6 

 or 7ft. long, is employed, or a split-bamboo of about the 

 same length in two pieces. Snells should be 30 to 36in. 

 long, and the bait should be secured to the hook and snell 

 by means of fine wire. The time for the fishing is on 

 the flood tide. A good deal of activity will be required 

 on the part of the boatman, to keep up with the fish. 

 March and April are the best months for catching this 

 fish with rod and line.] 



WIRE LEADERS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In last week's paper "Lancewood" asks for information 

 about the wire leader. I procured a 9|ft. sample leader 

 from Messrs. Shipley soon after the advertisement ap- 

 peared, and tried it in fly-fishing for bass last season. It 

 is very pliable, in fact, as much so as gut, and is quite 

 invisible in the water. After making a few casts with it 

 (and it cast very nicely) about one-third of it with fly 

 attached, snapped off, very much as I expected it would. 

 As received by me there was no provision made for more 

 than one fly, and I did not try to attach more than one, 

 so the break was not caused by anything but a kink. I 

 have never used it since, and for practical use the gut 

 leader has little to fear from the wire leader, although it 

 might possibly be better adapted for still-fishing. 



HOliLIDATSBTTRG, Pa. T. E, D. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In reply to your correspondent's inquiry concerning 

 metal leaders I would say that I have found them unsatis- 

 factory. On account of their attenuation and ductility 

 they are very liable to knot or kink or loop. This 

 weakens them, besides being very annoying. For leaders 

 gut is still in the lead and is gut enough. O. O. S. 



Fkedonia, N. Y. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In answer to "Lancewood's" query concerning the value 

 of patent wire for leaders, I would beg to say that I tried 

 a few of them last summer and find that they are not 

 pliable enough, are very easily kinked, and when kinked 

 are very easily snapped asunder. If "Lancewood" would 

 order a sample foot or two he would very soon satisfy 

 himself. White Miller. 



Delaware, Ont. 



SALMON SATIETY. 



ONE morning in the summer of 1885, while the Alba- 

 tross was at St. John's, a pair of fine salmon were 

 seen lying on deck, and near them stood the native who 

 had brought them on board. Some one remarked, 

 "Those are magnificent fish." "Yes," said the native, 

 "doze fish are de kings in Newfoundland; dey are de 

 finest fish we has; but, dare now, you'll git sick of 'em 

 mighty quick. We folks eats cod twenty-one times a 

 week "and takes it for lunch, and never gets tired on it; 

 but 'twon't take you long to git tired of eatin' salmon." 



We are informed by one who was on the Albatross at 

 the time and who was very fond of salmon that he soon 

 learned to appreciate the force of the fisherman's state- 

 ment. The ward room table was supplied with an 

 abundance of salmon for about ten days, by which time 

 our informant bad become so thoroughly sated that he 

 says he could not look a salmon in the face. He con- 

 fesses to having obtained in that time a more thorough 

 insight than he ever had before into the meaning of the 

 old story about early Colonial laws which prohibited 

 masters from compelling their apprentices to eat salmon 

 more than three times a week. Trout were eaten by 

 the same authority, on another cruise around the coasts 

 of Newfoundland and Labrador, almost every meal for 

 about a month, and the "hankering for fish" had not 

 decreased. 



Decrease of Seals.— Late arrivals at St. John's, New- 

 foundland, from the Dundee seal fishery report a steady 

 diminution in the number of seals. The fleet is con- 

 stantly being decreased in size through sales of vessels and 

 losses at sea, and the vacancies are not refilled. The oil is 

 greatly reduced in price, as in the case of whale oil, by 

 the introduction of petroleum products for lubricating 

 and illumination. Some idea of the shrinkage of the in- 

 dustry may be gained from the fact that in 1857 more 

 than 350 vessels were sealing from Newfoundland, while 

 in 1885 the fleet included only twenty steamers and a few 

 sailing vessels. A valuable account of the fishery was 

 published in Forest akd Stream, July 2, 1885. 



Salmon Fishing in Puget Sound.— Governor Semple 

 of Washington Territory, says of salmon fishing in 

 Puget Sound, which certain anglers have decried as 

 an impossibility or a failure on the Pacific coast: 

 "To troll for them either a sail or rowboat may be 



used, provided no greater speed than three miles an hour 

 is attained. Pay out about 100ft. of line, and leave half 

 that amount coiled in the boat, so as to be able to let a 

 large fish have a ran at the start. Such a precaution will 

 often save your tackle from being broken , for these big 

 fellows are of the same family as the trout, and will not 

 surrender without a hard struggle. They have been 

 known to describe a half circle with GOft, of line, holding 

 it as tight as a backstay and coming up from astern to a 

 point nearly ahead while the boat was under full head- 

 way. They will sometimes suddenly dart away from 

 alongside and go 30 or 40ft. diagonally downward, draw- 

 ing the line across the keel of the boat with the apparent 

 intention of rasping it in two against the barnacles. It 

 requires great skill and patience to land one, even with 

 the stoutest tackle, for you can never be sure that they 

 will not tear the hook out with a back twist the moment 

 you give them a bit of slack. If they fail in this maneu- 

 ver they will often get the line caught behind their gills, 

 and then they are an easy prey. In the height of the 

 seasou great catches are sometimes made. A party of 

 two recently killed twenty-five of these fish in half a day 

 in Tacoma harbor, and landed only two-thirds of those 

 that struck the trolls. The tackle was repeatedly broken 

 by large fish in spite of every precaution, and the party 

 landed with one damaged spoon out of half a dozen that 

 were on board at the start. The catch weighed 2001bs." 



Penobscot Salmon.— The last number of the Forest 

 and Stream has an article upon salmon fishing in which 

 it states that the fishing season has set in unusually early, 

 and with a remarkable run of fish, this year, in the 

 Canadian waters. From this we may anticipate an early 

 opening of the season on the Penobscot, and those best 

 acquainted with the habits of the king of fishes look for 

 its appearance here early in April. Last year the first 

 fish were taken April 27, which was the earliest on record. 

 Manager T. F. Allen, of the Penobscot Salmon Club, is 

 getting everything in readiness for business and will have 

 the club house in first-class condition. The telephone 

 wire, that was carried away by the freshet last spring, 

 causing much inconvenience, has been replaced, this 

 time below the dam whei - e the ice or high water cannot 

 affect it. Mr. Allen has laid in a stock of first-class flies, 

 of the best make, adapted to the use of these waters. He 

 also received, recently, as a present from Archibald 

 Mitchell, Esq., of Norwich, Conn., the most enthusiastic 

 and most successful of our visitors from abroad, a box, of 

 beautiful flies made by Mr. Mitchell himself, who is an 

 adept to the business and occupies his spare moments 

 in making all that he uses.— Bangor (Me.) Whig. 



Blackford's Trout Opening. — Mr. E. G-. Blackford's 

 exhibition of trout on the opening day, next Monday, 

 April 1, promises to exceed anything in the past, in 

 addition to goodly specimens of all the varieties of trout 

 reared at the State hatcheries, he will have a thousand 

 half-pound live brook trout on exhibition in tanks. We 

 can give no further details of the exhibition to-day, as 

 arrangements are not yet completed, but we hope to be 

 in a position next week to furnish full particulars. The 

 opportunity should be improved for comparing in the 

 flesh the several species, of which accurate drawings 

 will be given in our next issue. 



Chautauqua Lake. — Com. R. TJ. Sherman has selected 

 a site for a State hatchery, and the work of stocking 

 this beautiful body of water with muskallonge will be 

 undertaken at once. 



Trovt Supplement next v-eek. 



egislfcttlturq. 



CHALEUR BAY PRODUCTS.* 



FROM Mr. Mowat's extremely interesting and valuable 

 review of the fisheries of Chaleur Bay we learn that cod 

 banks extend into the bay about sixty miles from its en- 

 trance and forty miles seaward, Lobsters are caught ou its 

 shores on both sides. Five salmon rivers fall into its north 

 shore, and on the south is the noted Nepisiguit. The Resti- 

 gouche. with its branches extending north and west 140 

 miles, furnishing a fresh-water surface of nearly 400 miles 

 on which salmon spawn, is the principal nursery for the 

 salmon caught in the bay. The total catch for 1887 was 

 l,021,4001bs., distributed as follows: 



Pounds. 



Restigouche county 271,700 



Gloucester county 386,000 



Bouaventure county 208,700 



Gaspe countv to Ship Head It 0,000 



Add for anglers' catch 50,000 



Total 1,021,400 



The entire amount taken in New Brunswick for the same 

 year exceeded the yield of the bay of Chaleur by only 333,- 

 OOOlbs. [Nova Scotia and Labrador combined furnisbed less 

 salmon than the bay of Chaleur. The quantity taken on the 

 north shore of the bay was much smaller than on the south 

 shore, owing, says Mr. Mowat, to the following causes: (1) 

 It has fewer netting stations by about sixty, (2) Quebec net- 

 ters dare not use traps or pache nets such as are used in New 

 Brunswick, (3) the Quebec netter pays a license of 40cts. per 

 200lbs. of fish caught, while the New Brunswicker pays3cts. 

 per fathom of net used. Reliable returns under such cir- 

 cumstances cannot be obtained. 



The catch of salmon iu Quebec showed an increase of 

 142,0001bs. The angling scores were small, but the supply 

 of salmon was fair. There was an increase of salmon in 

 New Brunswick of 88,0001bs. 



The fishery products of the bay of Chaleur are valued as 

 follows: 



Restigouche and Gloucester counties $792,028 



Bouaventure and Port of Gaspe 599,000 



Expenses of 200 ang] ers 50,000 



$1,441,628 



nearly equalling British Columbia and Quebec, above On- 

 tario, and more than Prince Edward's Island and Manitoba 

 combined. Of the above amount, the salmon yiels only 

 about S90.000 or §100,000, the cod fishing being the most im- 

 portant, supplemented by the waning lobster industry. A 

 brief historical sket*h of the early methods of fishing, the 

 disposition of the catch and the laws governing the fisher- 

 men follows. Mr. Mowat recommends the abolition of 

 fixed nets and pickets and the use of gill nets with certain 

 restrictions as to the size of the mesh and the observance of 

 a weekly close time. 



♦Chaleur Bay and its Products for 1887-"88, with Net and RorL 

 By John Mowat. 



EXPLORATIONS FN GULF OF MEXICO. 



THE U. S. Fish Commission schooner Grampus left Key 

 West Feb. 14 to investigate the off-shore grounds in the 

 region between the Tortugas and Cape San Bias, to deter- 

 mine as far as practicable the extent of the banks and the 

 abundance of fish and other animals inhabiting them. 

 Dredgings were made at intervals of ten miles and tempera- 

 ture observations recorded. During the day the small sur- 

 face net was towed and collected various species of small 

 fish and many Crustacea. Flying Gsh were abundant, also 

 small schools of skipjacks. Two large turtles were seen at 

 the surface. Mr. Cohley struck one of them with a harpoon, 

 but the iron did not penetrate. A Portuguese man-of-war 

 was secured. 



Feb. 15, between I and 2 P. M. , while dredging, three red 

 snappers were caught in quick succession; other lines were 

 put out but only one more fish was taken, as the vessel 

 drifted on to soft bottom. The average length of the speci- 

 mens was 26in.: average weight 131bs. The stomachs con- 

 tained one eel-like fish and several small shrimp. One of 

 the fish contained pretty well developed roe. The location 

 of the fishing is north lat. 25° to 25" 01' west long., 82° 33' to 

 82° 40'. 



Feb. 16, in north lat. 26° 01', west long. 82° 52', while drift- 

 ing with the dredge out, red snappers were struck. Five 

 lines were immediately put over, and before they reached 

 the bottom every one had a fish on, and some hauled in 

 pairs. The fish 'continued to bite very greedily for about 

 fifteen minutes, during which time 31 red snappers and 3 

 groupers were landed ou deck. Fishing was stopped be- 

 cause no more were needed. It seemed as if a vessel might 

 have caught a full fare in that place. The average weight 

 of the red snappers was lolbs.;. average length, 24in. The 

 groupers averaged 16lbs. 



Feb. 18, Mr. C'onley harpooned a spotted porpoise, which 

 was hauled ou deck "and a skeleton preserved. 



Feb. 19, in north lat. 25° 15', west long. 82° 39' 15", the 

 Grampus "struck" fish, and they appeared to be plentiful 

 for a few minutes; 15 groupers' and 3 red snappers were 

 caught. A number of groupers were seen alongside, nearly 

 at the surface. A school of redfish was seen breaking water 

 about a quarter of a mile distant. During the afternoon a 

 large shark and a turtle were seen at the surface near by. 

 Fishermen claim that the presence of turtles indicates good 

 fishing grouuds, but the officers of the Grampus cannot 

 agree with them. 



The present systematic study of the Gulf is the outgrowth 

 of the preliminary examination by the Albatross in March, 

 1885, which indicates possibilities of such importance as to 

 lead Capt. J. W. Collins to mention them in the following 

 terms: 



"The investigations that were made after leaving Tampa 

 may fairly be considered as probably the most important 

 work done on the cruise in the direction of making re- 

 searches on the fishing grounds. The region lying between 

 Tampa and the Tortugas. outside of depth of 20 fathoms, 

 has never been resorted to by fishing smacks, and it is cer- 

 tainly questionable if any one knew that red snappers could 

 be taken on the ground we went over. That they aro more 

 generally distributed here, in depths of 26 to 27 fathoms, 

 and far more abundant than on the grouuds visited by the 

 snapper fishermen of Pensacola, seems clearly established by 

 the result of the researches made. 



"In view of the growing demand for red snapper, and the 

 fact that the fish on the old grounds are believed to be more 

 or less depleted and becoming scarcer every year, the import- 

 ance of this discovery, if it may so be termed, can scarcely 

 be overestimated, since it opens up an additional field of 

 broad proportions that there is good reason to suppose will 

 be profitably worked i*i the future. Its nearness to Tampa, 

 which has the advantages ot an excellent harbor and rail- 

 road communication, are features that should not be over- 

 looked, for if the distance from Pensacola is too great to run 

 fish there they can be shipped from the nearer port." - 



Influenced by this report the schooner Wateska. of Chat- 

 ham, Mass., in the latter part of 1888, fished forty miles 

 southwest from Egmont Key in the region discovered by the 

 Albatross. The crew of six men averaged about 9,0001bs. of 

 red snappers per week in this locality. The grounds reported 

 by the Grampus are new and within easy reach of railroad 

 communication from Charlotte Harbor. 



Feb. 26, in north lat. 25" 23', west long. 82° 43', several 

 bonito were caught on troll lines. 



Feb. 27, north lat. 25° 24' 30", west long. 83° 06', flying 

 fish were numerous. A school of porpoises was sighted. 

 One bouito was caught. 



March 1, north lat. 25° 34', west long. 83° 28', two 

 groupers were hauled to the surface. A few flying fish 

 were frequently observed during the day. Two large schools 

 of porpoises were seen. 



March 4, at 10 A. M.. in Charlotte Harbor, the seine boat 

 joined the Grampus. Dr. Henshall reports a pleasant cruise, 

 and all hands well. The Doctor has made a very large col- 

 lection of fishes. 



March 5, Mr. Hahn took the seine boat to Punta Gorda to 

 supply her with provisions from the Fish Hawk for another 

 cruise of three weeks. 



FOREIGN ZOOLOGICAL STATIONS —Danish Biolog- 

 ical Station.— Iu the estimates for 1889-'90 is an item of 

 $11,502 for the establishment and support of a biological 

 station, which is to be modeled after the "movable station" 

 known for the last few years in Scotland, The cost of the 

 building is calculated at $9,180. Netherlands Zoological 

 Station.— The Netherlands Zoological Society has deter- 

 mined to begin, during the coming spring, a building for a 

 permanent, zoological station in Nieuwediep, the most im- 

 portant fishing port of Holland. The structure will cost 

 about §0,750. The lower story will contain the aquaria, 

 laboratory and library: the upper the director's living rooms. 

 The post of director is, with the consent of the Government, 

 conferred upon its adviser in fishery matters. Dr. P. P. C. 

 Hoek, who is. also, the first secretary of the Zoological So- 

 ciety. Dr. Hoek will go to Nieuwediew about Easter. It is 

 hoped that the laboratory will be open in the latter part of 

 the summer. " 



MICHIGAN FISH COMMISSION.— Mr. John H. Bissell 

 has retired from the Commission at the expiration of his 

 term, aud Mr. Hoyt Post, of Detroit, has been appointed in 

 his place. The president of the Commission now is Mr. 

 Herschel Whitaker. of Detroit. An unusually large number 

 of brook trout is being planted this spring, and the distribu- 

 tion is made with the new car, to the great satisfaction of 

 the Commissioners and the parties who receive the fish. The 

 Commissioners believe the purchase of this car to have been 

 one of the best investments they have made. 



STUDY OF HERRING MIGRATIONS. — Filip Trybom, 

 who is well-known to Americans, is now the first fishery 

 assistant of the Swedish Government, and is engaged in 

 studying the migrations and spawning habits of the Kat- 

 tegat herring.— Deutschcr Fischer ei-Verein. 



Lafayette, Ind„ July 34, 1888.— United States Cartridge Co., 

 LoKf'll, Mass.: Dear Sirs— I find your Climax paper shot shells 

 excellent and Quite equal to Eley's. There is no hang fire or ten- 

 dency to do so. I intend usine; your shells in a match next week. 

 1 will give them a good boom, as they deserve it. 

 Yours truly, 



— Adv. (Signed) W. Graham, Champion English Shot, 



