April 18, 1889.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



257 



amount of good food should be allowed to lie until it was 

 unfit to be eaten by anybody, and then thrown out on 

 the dung heaps. Doubtless Mr. Smith has some good 

 reason for his non-appearance in Iron Mountain before the 

 destruction of the venison was imminent, but we think 

 that, in the absence of a game warden, deputies should 

 be officially supplied beforehand with instructions as to 

 what they should do in such emergencies as the one 

 which has just cost Mr. Moriarity the loss of time, money, 

 and the opportunity of doing a great good to the poor of 

 Iron Mountain." 



Suggestions for Territorial Legislation.— Editor 

 Forest and Stream,: As bearing on the subject of the 

 destruction of large game on the borders of the Yellow- 

 stone Park, permit me to suggest that among the regula- 

 tions required should be some to forbid indiscriminate 

 slaughter irrespective of sex and age. The number of 

 cow and calf elk that are armually destroyed is out- 

 rageous. In the season of the Indian hunting the cows 

 and their young congregate in bands of six to twelve and 

 more. When once the herd is located it is surrounded 

 and few, if any, escape. I think also that the sportsman 

 when he has seemed the number of trophies he desires, 

 and has meat enough for the '•pot," should "let up." It is 

 each year more apparent to me that the influences now at 

 work* joined with the asylum the Park affords, are in- 

 creasing the game (elk and deer), and as I pass from 

 three to four months in my wanderings in the Rockies, I 

 am in position to see this. I do not exaggerate when I 

 say that last year, had I felt so inclined. I could have 

 killed between September 1 and October 15, 50 to 100 

 head of game instead of three head. We were at certain 

 points surrounded by elk. I have seen them fighting 

 within 200ft. of the outfit while packing. On one occa- 

 sion a big bull walked to within 10yds. of us while at 

 breakfast, and appeared rather to enjoy it. Woody and 

 myself frequently got within 20yds. of their family circle. 

 In camp of an evening I have seen three bulls in plain 

 sight feeding on the bluffs, and during the day band on 

 band of elk cows and blacktail deer, and have watched 

 their habits and actions with the greatest interest. I sin- 

 cerelv trust your praiseworthy efforts will be crowned 

 with the success they deserve.— E. Pendleton Rogers 

 (Hyde Park-on-Hudson). [Tire limitations suggested by 

 Mr. Rogers, desirable as they are, would necessarily take 

 the form of statutes enacted by the Territorial Legisla- 

 tures.] 



Massachusetts Fish and Game Protective Asso- 

 ciation.— The regular monthly meeting and dinner of the 

 Association was held on Thursday evening, April 11, 1889, 

 at "The Thorndike." ninety members being present and 

 President E. A. Samuels presiding. The following gen- 

 tlemen were elected members: His Excellency Gov. 

 Oliver Ames, Lieut. Gov. J. Q. A. Brackett, Hon. Alex- 

 ander H. Rice, Hon. William Gaston, Hon. John F. An- 

 drew, Hon. H. J. Boardiuan, Hon. James F. Dwindell, 

 Mr. Frederick L. Brown, Mr. M. R. Leonard, Mr. Charles 

 A. Read, Dr. Calvin B. Piatt, Mr. Charles R. Crane, Mr. 

 D. W. Butler, Mr, John S. Bartlett, Mr. John E. Hall, 

 Mr. Frank H. Mudge, Mr. Benjamin D. Sweet. There 

 were five applications for membership presented. It was 

 voted to offer a gold fish hook (in shape of a badge) as a 

 prize for the member obtaining the largest number of 

 new members. — A. W. R., Sec'y. 



New York. — Leonardsville, Madison County, April 13. — 

 There is not much duck shooting at this point this spring. 

 A few small flocks alighted on the Unadilla River from 

 which a limited number of specimens were seemed. 

 One enthusiastic local sportsman lost his rifle overboard 

 and did not recover it. Partridges are shy and cling to 

 the gloomiest forest recesses. During the open season 

 for these birds there is some fair partridge shooting here. 

 Minks seem to be on the increase along the small creeks, 

 and. owing to the low price o'f their fur, have been 

 trapped but httle the past winter.— Boxer. 



Buffalo, April 8.— The first English snipe of the sea- 

 son iu this locality was shot March 19 at West Seneca. 

 Several have been taken since then. The season here is 

 getting a good start. Red and white maples and spring 

 beauty were found in bloom at the local park yesterday. 

 — Eben P. Dorr. 



Proposed Non- Sailing Law.— In the New York State 

 Assemblv Mr. De Peyster has introduced a bill amending 

 the game law, by providing that no person shall sail for 

 any wildfowl or shoot at any wild goose, brant or duck 

 from any vessel propelled by steam or sails. 



Florida. Game Note.— There are plenty of quail here, 

 but the deer are scarce in this neighborhood. Still we 

 have plenty of venison to eat.— F. G. (Clearwater Harbor, 

 Fia,). 



August or early September. Sandworms, which may be 

 bought at most tackle, stores and fishing resorts at ten 

 cents a dozen, are the favorite and almost the only bass 

 bait. The white sandworm is the best, the plain red 

 worm of large size following next in value as bait. 

 Shrimp, shedder crabs and shedder lobsters are some- 

 times used, but never with much success. The spring 

 bass are generally taken in the North River by casting 

 from the rocks which line the shore from 108th street up. 

 There is seldom a bass caught in the North River below 

 108th street. The best tide for fishing is the slack water, 

 the last of the ebb and first of the flood. The largest fish 

 are caught in shallow water, and the depth at which 

 catches are made varies from 2 to 15ft. Boats may be 

 used if desired, instead of casting from shore. 



For fishing in the North River a handy place to obtain 

 bait is New's fishing tackle and cigax store, 337 Tenth 

 avenue, near Twenty-ninth street, where much useful 

 information may be picked up. too, from the proprietor. 

 Another good place is Dirke's, 403 West Fiftieth street, 

 near Ninth avenue. Mr. A. H. Dirke is himself an expert 

 bass fisherman, and is never out of bait, as a score of 

 worm-diggers on Staten Island keep him always supplied. 

 The rig which Mr. Dirke uses for bass fishing is that most 

 affected by North River fishermen. His leader is U to 

 5if t. long, two small snell hooks being attached, one at 

 the end, the other about twenty inches above, and an 

 ounce sinker is looped on above the upper hook in such a 

 way that it can be made to slide up or down the leader, 

 as desired. The lower hook is allowed to fall nearly to 

 the bottom of the river. 



At the foot of 108th street, North River, is McDonald- 

 son's fishing resort. Take Sixth or Ninth avenue Elevated 

 to 104th street, from which station it is six or seven 

 blocks. McDonaldson has sixteen boats to rent to fishing 

 parties at one dollar a day. There are several favorite 

 fishing spots near. Malley's Rock, five blocks above, is a 

 famous place, where, on May 21, 1888, a bass weighing 

 4Jlbs. was caught by a deaf-mute who is one of McDon- 

 aldson's regular patrons and an enthusiastic fisherman. 

 Another favorite place is Kerrigan's Rock, at 118th street, 

 named in honor of Col. Kerrigan, who once caught a 

 70-pound bass there, according to the traditional history 

 of the 'longshore residents. McDonaldson does not 

 always keep bait, so the fisherman had best bring his 

 own. 



At the foot of 126th street, North River, is J. A. Tie- 

 mann's place. "Tony" Tiemannisawell-knownbass fish- 

 erman. Take west side Elevated to 125th street, thence 

 cable car to foot of 125th street, from which it is a short 

 walk. Or, take the Thirtieth street branch of the N. Y. 

 C. & H. R. R. R. from Thirtieth street and Tenth avenue 

 to Manhattan Station, close by Tiemann's. Fare, either 

 way, ten cents. Tiemann has six or seven boats (bateaux 

 and round bottom) to rent for a dollar a day. He fur- 

 nishes no bait. "Old Split Rock," about 150yds. above 

 here, is a famous place for bass. It is about 50ft. from 

 shore, and bass bite there on the first of the ebb tide, but 

 seldom between that time and the last of the ebb and first 

 of the flood, when they bite best. "Tony" says there is 

 a sort of slack water here at about half flood, when bass 

 bite well. Anchor in 10 or 12ft. of water and fish near 

 the bottom. Tiemann's is also near Kerrigan's Rock, 

 mentioned above. Tony advises the use of but one hook 

 for large bass, and a leader only 2 or 3ft. long, with an 

 ounce sinker, tied on either above or below the hook. 

 The bass, especially in the fall, run in schools, except the 

 largest fish, the "tide-runners," which voyage in pairs. 

 Among the regular patrons of Tony's place are George 

 Trowbridge, of 689 Madison avenue; M. M. Backus, of 61 

 East Fifty-second street; A. Ornstein, of the Cunard 

 Steamship Company, Thomas Grant, of 530 Hudson 

 street, and Alfred N. Lawrence. 



At the foot of 152d street. North River, is Uncle Billy 

 Cameron's place, next to the house of the Knickerbocker 

 Canoe Club. Uncle Billy is now dead, but his widow and 

 son run the place and keep half a dozen rowboats to let. 

 Two blocks above, at the foot of 154th street, is Peter 

 Hunt's, where a dozen or more boats are kept for rent. 

 At both places prices for boats range from seventy-five 

 cents to a dollar a day, according to the style of craft. 

 To reach these resorts take N. Y. C. & H. R. R. R. trains 

 from Thirtieth street and Tenth avenue at 6:20, 7:15, 8:00, 

 9:35 A. M.: 12:50, 4:00, 5:00 P. M., to 152d street station, 

 fare twelve cents. Returning trains leave 152d street at 

 9:01, 10:21 A. M.: 1:46, 5:11, 6:11, 7:11, 9:56 P. M. Or go 

 by way of west side Elevated to 125th street, thence 

 Tenth avenue cable road to 152d street, and walk 

 down a steep hill three blocks to the river. The climb 

 back again at night is equivalent to about ten blocks' 

 walk for a tired fisherman. At the point of rocks above 

 the railroad cut at Fort Washington, about two mOes 

 above 152d street, is one of the be3t spots anywhere in 

 the North River near New York for bass fishing. Two 

 springs ago, according to the local fishermen, a man sat 

 on the rocks between the eleventh and twelfth telegraph 

 pole above the mouth of the railroad cut, and caught 

 401bs. of bass before he changed his position. 



At Spuyten Duyvil, reached either from Thirtieth 

 street or the Grand Central Station by trains of the N. Y. 

 C. & H. R. R. R., there is good fishing on the seed oyster 

 beds. Fare from Thirtieth street twenty cents; from 

 Forty-second street twenty-two cents. More fish are 

 caught here than at the resorts further down stream, but 

 those caught at Spuyten Duyvil are smaller. Bass are 

 occasionally caught in Spuyten Duyvil Creek. At River- 

 dale, two miles above, is good bass fishing, perhaps the 

 best on the river from that place down to 108th street. 

 The draw tender at the railroad bridge crossing the creek 

 keeps fourteen boats for hire at from fifty cents to a dol- 

 lar a day, according to demand. 



There is no fishing except for eels in the Harlem River 

 between Kingsbridge and Randall's Island. The bass 

 have abandoned it, although at one time there was no 

 better place for bassing than Kingsbridge and the vicin- 

 ity of McComb's Dam Bridge. 



The Hell Gate fishing for bass is almost all trolling. A 

 rod, with reel holding plenty of line, a small hook and 

 small sinker tied 18in. above it, constitute the outfit, the 

 bait (sandworms) being allowed to trail from 50 to 75ft. 

 behind the boat near the surface of the water. Some 

 fishermen troll with squid, but white sandworms are the 

 favorite. Still-fishing is also done with the same sort of 

 rig in 10 to 12ft. of water. And here, contrary to the 

 conditions in the North River, fishing is most successful 

 on the flood tide. Favorite places for trolling are Mill 

 Rock Reef, below Ward's Island; Hallefs Cove on the 



Newfoundland Game License. — Editor Forest and 

 Stream: It may be of interest to your readers, particu- 

 larly to those who anticipate visiting Newfoundland in 

 the near future in quest of our lordly caribou, which 

 presents such world renowned attraction to sportsmen 

 from almost every quarter of the globe, to understand 

 that a change has been made in the game laws during 

 the present session of the Legislature of this country, and 

 that in future alien sportsmen or any person not domi- 

 ciled in Newfoundland will be prohibited from shooting 

 caribou on the island without a license, which costs $100 

 for a season. The number of caribou to be shot is not to 

 exceed five, under a penalty of $500 for each and every 

 breach of the act. Hitherto Newfoundland has been 

 most liberal with regard to her game laws. In fact she 

 has been shamefully neglectful. Consequently Canadian 

 and English pleasure seekers, particularly the latter, 

 disguised in the garb of sportsmen and equipped with all 

 the latest improvements for the preservation of hides 

 and heads, have on numerous occasions been guilty of 

 the most brutal acts in the way of caribou slaughter, 

 killing hundreds of these noble animals in the most 

 cowardly manner possible, and leaving their carcases to 

 rot on the best hunting grounds of the interior. Hence 

 the present action of the Newfoundland Government in 

 establishing a law to protect this valuable food animal 

 from extermination. It is to be hoped that the abund- 

 ance of small game, such as ducks, ptarmigan, etc., etc., 

 will be sufficient inducement for sportsmen from the 

 United States, where small game is notusually found easy 

 of access, to visit Newfoundland annually and enjoy good 

 healthy sport without procming a license to shoot caribou 

 for the enormous sum of §100.— W. (Little Bay Mine, 

 Newfoundland). 



St. Lotus, Mo. , April 13. — Editor Forest and Stream: 

 The past week has riot been a satisfactory one for the 

 sportsmen of this city, because snipe have been very 

 scarce. Rain is wanted very much. Tbe marshes are 

 drying up very fast, and the birds are giving this section 

 of the country the go-by. From reports gathered from 

 the game dealers there is every reason to believe that 

 there is still a large body of birds south. One dealer on 

 Broadway was in receipt of a large consignment of birds 

 from near Galveston, Texas, in the early part of the 

 week. The same dealer also received several dozen blue- 

 wing duck from the New Madrid country in the south- 

 east portion of this State. In this immediate vicinity 

 bluewing shooting has been fairly good and several very 

 respectable bags were made by parties who were out in 

 quest of them during the past week. But bluewing is 

 not what the sportsmen are hankering after just now. 

 They have had their fill of the duck shooting, and now 

 want snipe. Kidd Lake, which is loca ted about 25 miles 

 south of this city, in Illinois, sent in a report yesterday 

 that a fair body of birds had made their appearance on 

 the marshes in the vicinity, and in consequence of this 

 report, Mr. Fred Huginin and Charles Budd packed up 

 and last evening left by steamer Emma C. Elliott for the 

 ground. They propose to remain several days. The 

 gentlemen have taken with them then fishing tackle, 

 and should the shooting prove slow, they will cast their 

 hooks for croppie and bass.— Unser Fritz. 



Game in Guatemala. — Tumbador. — There are many 

 animals in this country , besides birds, which I am sure 

 are not known to science; any naturalist could make a 

 fine collection. I am a great hunter myself, and keep a 

 fine pack of hounds and kill a great many deer, and wild 

 hogs, of which we have two kinds. I use a Daly 3-barrel 

 gun, which is just the thing for this country, as one never 

 knows what kind of game is going to turn up. This gun 

 I sent for through seeing the advertisement in Forest 

 and Stream. Should any taxidermist care to come down 

 here, you can give him my address, and I would be happy 

 to see him here on my ranch, and will do all in my power 

 to help him.— Guatemala. 



tit m\& stiver ^wiring. 



FISHING NEAR NEW YORK. 



THERE are several hundred places within easy distance 

 of New York city to which the New York fisherman 

 may go with rod, reel, line and fish basket of a pleasant 

 morning, and return the same night with his basket com- 

 fortably filled with fish. And the New York fisherman 

 may even fill a moderate-sized basket without leaving 

 the city at all if he wishes. To give an accurate and 

 comprehensive directory of the several hundred places 

 where fish may be caught by the man who can only get 

 one day off at a time, with a correct estimate of what a 

 day's fishing at each place will cost, is the object of this 

 and the papers to follow under this heading. The first 

 article furnishes a fishing directory of the territory in- 

 cluded within the boundary lines of New York city, and 

 the articles to follow will in the same way cover Staten 

 Island, the New Jersey shore, the north and south shores 

 of Long Island, the north shore of the Sound, the Hudson 

 .River, the Fishing Banks, and fresh- water listing near 

 New York. 



I. — NEW YORK CITY, 

 The only fish of importance that may be caught with 

 hook and line in the waters which surround New York 

 city is the striped bass. Weakfish, bluefish and kingfish 

 have been and are even now occasionally caught in the 

 Bay and in the North and East rivers, but so are sharks 

 and sturgeons, for that matter. Possibly other fish are 

 taken by mere chance, but of the best known salt-water 

 fish the bass is the only one which may be depended 

 upon. Salt-water eels are very plenty in the North, the 

 East and the Harlem rivers nearly all the year around, 

 and just about now half the piers between Canal 

 street and General Grant's tomb in one river, and- 

 between Roosevelt Ferry and 125th street in the other 

 river, are occupied by boys and men engaged in catch- 

 ing the little tomcods, or "tommies," as they me 

 called. Flounders will begin running in the East River 

 after the first straight week of warm sunshine, and in 

 the North River a few will then be caught. Up the 

 Sound as far as City Island and Pelham Bridge flounders 

 are already reported, and William Buehl, a skilled fisher- 

 man who keeps a German beer saloon at 1680 Avenue A, 

 made some fair catches of flounders in the East River 

 beyond Hell Gate on March 29 and April 5. 



"Tommies" are the most accommodating little fish in 

 the world. They may be caught off any pier in the city, 

 and they are not very particular as to bait, although they 

 prefer sandworms. Use small hooks, two or three on a 

 line, and la light sinker. "Tommies" rarely weigh over 

 three-quarters of a pound. 



Flounders do not run much heavier in weight than the 

 "tommies." They are caught from docks and from boats 

 in the East River in 15 or 20ft. of water, the flood tide 

 being the most favorable one. Use sandworms or soft 

 clams for bait, small hooks and light tackle. They are 

 never plenty in the North River. 



The first bass fishing occurs in the North River in the 

 spring about a fortnight or three weeks after the shad season 

 opens. These are the "spring bass," and are not so plenty 

 as in the fall, which is the proper bass season. A few 

 spring bass go through into the Harlem River near Ran- 

 dall's and Ward's Islands, and they are caught occasion- 

 ally about Hell Gate and at the Sunken Meadows or Mid- 

 dle* Ground, between Ward's Island and Port Morris. 

 From spring until the fall bass season opens bass are 

 occasionally caught, but their rarity makes it hardly 

 worth while to go after them until the fall run begins in 



