278 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[April 25, 1889. 



SAWDUST IN STREAMS. 



BUFFALO, N. Y. , April 12,— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 Noticing the discussion in your paper in regard to 

 sawdust in streams, I beg to say that I have known it 

 to have the effect of either killing or driving trout away 

 in a number of streams, several of which I remember. 

 The Shohola stream above Shohola Glen, Pike county, 

 Pfti , one of the prettiest stre'ams in the country for fishing 

 with ample room to cast the fly, once had plenty of trout 

 in it: now from the Shohola Glen up to the sawmill, 10 

 miles, you will not catch half a dozen trout in a day. 

 Before the mill was there you could catch 150, many of 

 them quite large. Another is below Judge Dobbins' 

 cabin, some 15 miles back of Oakland, Md. Another in 

 Sullivan county, Pa., northeast from Lackawaxen. 

 Another in the same county, northeast of Hancock. 

 Another, Lycoming Creek in Lycoming county, Pa. 



' J. M. D. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I note that immense slaughter of trout which "Sports- 

 man" tells took place on that New Brunswick river with 

 the jaw-cracking name, and as I happen to know some- 

 thing of the stream myself. I know it does not supply 

 the conditions I asked for, because an impassable mill 

 dam near the head of the tide completely blocks the 

 stream, so that fish cannot reach their spawning grounds; 

 hence their scarcity. It goes without saying that such a 

 sight as described, as the result of sawdust, never was 

 seen or occurred on any river on this planet: somebody 

 has been fooling your correspondent, and I protest that 

 this is not the sort of evidence that counts in this discus- 

 sion. 



I wotdd refer "Sportsman" to the eloquent denunci- 

 ation of sawdust, with repeated assertions, in the reports 

 of the New Brunswick Inspector of Fisheries, to be found 

 in the Blue Books from 1875 to 1878, in which he tells the 

 Minister of Fisheries that unless the sawdust lav is at once 

 enforced with vigor the speedy destruction of the fisher- 

 ies of the St. John is certain. * The law has not been en- 

 forced. On the contrary, the numerous mills, big and 

 small, have continued to throw all sawdust and other 

 refuse into the water. And now, after some twelve to 

 fourteen years have passed away, let me refer him to 

 the catch of fish on that same river as given by the same 

 officer, and let him explain how and why this large in- 

 crease, if sawdust is so deadly to fish, and let me particu- 

 larly invite his attention to the trout column. 



The opinions of men on this subject are not worth "a 

 row of pins" in the absence of facts such as the follow- 

 ing: 



Year. Salmon— lbs. Shad— lbs. AJewives— lbs. Trout— lb=. 

 1876 173,186 2,363' 12,361 2,700 



1877 184,544 3,172 4,464 1,1500 



1878 249,51-6 429 6.770 900 



1879 328,313 521 10,360 2,100 



1880 2^5,424 613 11,170 1,000 



1881 72,137 1,885 14,997 1,150 



1882 286,612 1,882 20,940 784 



1883 121,586 1,728 16,769 13,300 



1884 225.572 2,420 19,942 29 400 



1885 255,200 2,189 17,882 25 450 



1886 139,498 2,716 11,567. 21,100 



1887 .254,500 3,950 1^633 ' 27^600 



The first period of six years produced of salmon 1,233,200, and 



the second period 1,282,968, or an increase of 49,769. The catch of 

 shad the first six years was 7,983 barrels, the second 14,885 barrels, 

 or an increase of 0,902 barrels, nearly double. Alewives yielded 

 the first period 60,122 barrels, the second 98,733 barrels, an increase 

 of 39,611 barrels. Trout the first period 9,350, the second 99,733. an 

 increase of over 90,000. 



The logic of this is, open the dams and let the fish up to 

 their spawning beds, and protect them during the spawn- 

 ing season, and let all the sawdust run you please, you 

 will have plenty of river fish. This is proved in every 

 instance where the dams have been opened for any length 

 of time. Piscator. 



TROUT AND SALMON IN MAINE. 



THE weather and the season in Massachusetts and 

 States further south would indicate an early open- 

 ing of the Maine trout lakes. The streams in that State 

 are generally open, and this a fortnight earlier than in 

 many a season. There is also much less snow in the 

 woods, and in the southern part of the State it is all 

 gone, or rather there has been little or none for the 

 winter. The roads are in some cases dry, and "mud 

 time" is over, though this is not true of the celebrated 

 trout regions. Still the indications are in the direction 

 of an early opening of the lakes. Already the Boston 

 rod and reel sportsman is looking over his tackle, and re- 

 pairs are being made. The tackle trade is good for so 

 early. But after all the opening in Maine, so far as the 

 trout lakes are concerned, may be a late one. The weather 

 has been cold down there. A recent letter from Rangeley 

 says that the ice in Rangeley Lake is yet as solid as at 

 any time for the winter. A party just returned from a 

 sleighing trip on the ice down Rangeley Lake and across 

 the carry to Mooseluckmaguntic reports the ice still thick 

 and strong and the sleighing good. One gentleman who 

 has lived a long time at Rangeley suggests that the ice 

 may not go out before the last of May. At the Richard- 

 son end of the lakes the feeling is that the ice will get 

 out by the first of May; possibly before April is gone. It 

 all depends on the weather. 



The trout show has been taken out of Appleton's 

 window, having been in fourteen days. The brook trout 

 appeared to be doing fairly well, but the water was 

 evidently getting too warm for them. A curious feature 

 has been noted in this display this year. The male trout 

 have been, three or four of them, engaged in terrible 

 battles. In one or two cases they have fought so severely 

 that they had to be moved to other tanks. They would 

 dart at each other with open, jaws, biting and tearing 

 savagely. They would seize each other by the fins, often 

 tearing the fin severely. They seemed determined to 

 fight to death, and evidently would have destroyed each 

 other if they had not been separated. The worst battle 

 fought was between a couple of brook trout, weighing 

 somewhere about a pound each. The 24-inch landlocked 

 salmon grew very "loggy" and slow toward the end of 

 the confinement, and the story is that he has eaten noth- 

 ing since he was put in the tank. At least no one has 

 seen him take food. He is transferred to a fish pond, 

 where the accommodations are better for his salmonship, 

 and the experiment will be tried of restoring him to 

 health. This is the first time the keeping of a landlocked 

 salmon so large in a show window has been tried. 



The salmon season has opened at Bangor, two weeks 

 earlier than last year. Mr. Fred Ayer took with a fly, 

 on Friday the 12th, the first salmon of the season. He 



THE FISHERY LAWS OF CANADA. 



TABI.K OF CI.OSE SEASONS IN FORCE ON 1ST JANUARY, 



Kinds of Fish. 



Salmon (net fishing) 



Salmon (angling) 



Speckled trout (S. fontimnllt). 

 Large gray trout, lunge, winnin- 



ish and landlocked salmon 



Pickerel (dore) 



Bass and Maskinonge 



Whitefish and salmon trout 



Whitefish 



Sea bass 



♦Smelts 



Lobsters 



Sturgeon 



Oysters 



Sept. 15-May 1 . 



April 15-May 15. 

 April 15-June 15 

 Nov. 1-Nov. 30 



Quebec. 



Aug.l-May 1.... 

 Aug. 15-Feb. 1.. 

 Oct. 1— Jan. 1. .. 



Oct. 15-Dec. 1.,. 

 April 15-May 15, 

 April 15-J une 15 



Nov. 10-Dec. 1. 



April 1-Julyl... 

 July 15-Dec. 31.. 



June 1-Sept. 15.. 



Nova Scotia. 



Aug. 15-March 1 

 Aug. 15-Fcb.L. 

 Oct. 1- April 1... 



Oct. 1- April 1... 



April 1- July 1... 

 Julyl-Dec. 31+.. 



June 1-Sept. 15.. 



New 

 Brunswick. 



Aug. 15-March 1 

 Aug. 15-Feb. 1.. 

 Oct. 1- April 1... 



Oct. 1-April 1... 



March 1-Oct. 1. . 

 April 1-Julyl... 

 July 1-Dec. 31+.. 

 Aug. 31-May 1.. 

 June 1-Sept. 15 . 



P. E. Island. 



Oct. 1-Dec. I. . 



April 1-July L. 

 July 15-Dec. 31. 



June 1-Sept. 15. 



Manitoba 



and 

 N.-W. Ter. 



Oct. 1-Jan. 1. 



April 15-May 15. 



Oct. 5-Nov. 10. 



May 1- June 16. 



*Bag net fishing prohibited, except under license. 

 New Brii^swk^ COast ' fr ° m 0ape 0an8 ° *° b ™ndary line, United States, July 15-Dec. 31, in remaining waters of Nova Scotia and 



Not e. The following regulations are applicable to the Province of British Columbia: 1. Net Ashing allowed onlv under licenses 

 Salmon nets to have meshes of at least Gin. extension measure. 3. Drift nets confined to . tidal S B ntfts to bar more ?hln 

 one-third of any river. Fishing to be discontinued from 6 A. M. Saturday to 6 A. M. Monda v. 4 T^i^ M^'ni^«r^of "Marin e and MsTi- 

 Marchlf. rmme DUmber ° f b ° atS ' SCineS ° r nCtS t0 be US6d ° n 6ach Str ^ am - 5 - The cWseason for trout is fixed f fom Oct. 15 to 



Synopsis of Fishery Laws.— Net fishing of any kind is prohibited in public waters excent. under lea<«"» or lippn<sp« The «iVp 

 of nets is regulated so as to prevent the killing of young fish. Nets cannot be set or semis used so aVtX ch^MlforbaTS A 



fnro^kiflin 1 / fisris^^r ^^ j » addit r, t0 * Pe ^ 0l °4! The use of 'S&^i^^^S^S^i: 



ing or killing fish is illegal. Mill dams must bo provided with efficient fish passes. Models or drawings will be furnished bv the 



All communications relating to fisheries should be addressed to the Deputy Minister, Department of Fisheries, Ottawa, Ont. 



landed that day two; one weighing 8 and the other 211bs. 

 A big run is expected. This early opening was expected, 

 for salmon had been taken at the mouths of the rivers, 

 both in Maine and in the Provinces, much earlier than 

 usual. It is suggested by the Maine commissioners, and 

 others well posted on the habits of the salmon, that as 

 the number increases arrivals may be expected earlier 

 each year. 



But the trump card of the whole pack has been turned 

 up. The superintendent of the Maine Central Railroad 

 has issued some ironclad orders to his subordinates in re- 

 gard to the transportation of fish and game in close time, 

 and contrary to law, even in the open season. The order 

 absolutely forbids station agents receiving the large game 

 for transportation between the first day of October and 

 the first day of January, the only open season of the 

 year; and at any other season nobody would care to offer 

 it for transportation, because it would be illegal, and the 

 possessor would surely be asked to pay fines and costs for 

 every moose, caribou or deer he had in possession. The 

 Maine game laws are certainly strong under the manage- 

 ment of such a railroad as that. It reaches, with its 

 branches, as near as any railroad, about all the regions 

 worth hunting in that State. If the Legislatures of Maine 

 have for some years been controlled by politicians and 

 lumbermen, who have defeated wholesome game laws, 

 her great railroad management evidently understands 

 what is conducive to the best interests of the State, and 

 appreciates the value of her fisheries and game. 



Some things are true blue, and the management of the 

 Maine Central is on that list. But how about the man- 

 ager of the Fulton Market, first-of- April trout show ? Is 

 everything true blue there ? It is in your own New York 

 city, dear Forest and Stream. Now did Mr. Blackford 

 know, or did he not know, that baby lobsters, illegal in 

 the State from which they came — doubtless Maine — were 

 opened there on more mornings than one ? A gentleman, 

 well known to the Forest and Stream, called on Mr. 

 Blackford on one of the mornings early in April, but Mr. 

 Blackford was not in. He saw the little lobsters being 

 opened and taken from the barrels. Some of them were 

 hardly more than six" inches in length. Did Mr. Black- 

 ford know of this ? True, there is no law to hinder these 

 little lobsters from being sold in New York, but how 

 about the State from which they came? Special. 



Trout Opening in Pennsylvania.— The trout season 

 opened at Newville, Pa., April 15, with a large number 

 of fly-fishermen from Eastern cities and towns, whose 

 aggregate catch in the Big Spring exceeded 2,500 fish. 

 The day was admirably adapted in every way to the 

 sport, and the trout as a rule were fairly large. Cow- 

 dung, stone-fly, willow-fly and crown-ant were the favor- 

 ite flies. Among the good catches were those made by 

 Frederick Jones, Jean Laizeane and J. F. Parker, of New 

 York; W. W. Abbott, of Philadelphia; John U. Adams, 

 of the Hagerstown, Md., News; J. M. Keedy, Hagerstown, 

 Md. ; A. Z. Hode, Charles Murdock and R. W. Short, of 

 Mechanicsburg, Pa.; B. M. Nead, editor of Morning Call; 

 Dr. Vallerchomp, Dr. Moffitt, Dr. Peddicord, Dr. Holl- 

 ingshead and Jacob Hess, of Harrisburg, Pa. : Edward 

 Hutton, of Carlisle, Pa.; and A. C. Lay, of Newville. 



American Fisheries Society.— The eighteenth annual 

 meeting of the American Fisheries Society will be held 

 in Philadelphia at the rooms of the Anglers' Association 

 of Eastern Pennsylvania, No. 1020 Arch street, on Wed- 

 nesday and Thursday, May 15 and 16, at 11 o'clock A. M. 

 On the afternoon of the 16th the Society will be the guests 

 of the Anglers' Association of Eastern Pennsylvania and 

 will have an opportunity to observe the artificial hatching 

 of shad upon the U. S. Fish Commission steamer Fish 

 Hawk, which has been placed at the service of the 

 Anglers' Association for the occasion. This will be fol- 

 lowed by a planked shad dinner at Gloucester City, N. J. 



Fly-Casting Tournament.— Indianapolis, Ind., April 

 20.— The Fly-Fishermen's Club, of Indianapolis, will hold 

 its second annual fly-casting tournament on Friday, May 

 31, near this city. Our club is the first in the West to 

 hold an anglers' tournament, which it does for the pur- 

 pose of encouraging others in the art of fly-fishing. It is 

 hoped ere long to build up a sentiment in this State suf- 

 ficient to enforce our fish laws, but it is uphill work at 

 present. The club is arranging to go into camp during 

 the summer about twenty miles above the city, on White 

 River, which stream is becoming noted for its bass. — 

 Jesse H. Blair, Sec'y (36^ East Washington street). 



First Salmon in the Hudson.— The first North River 

 salmon of the season was to be seen on Monday of last 

 week in Fulton Market. It was caught off Coney Island 

 in a shad net by Joseph Denyse. It weighed ll^lbs. , and 

 was in fine condition. 



Shad and Salmon Migration.— The first shad of the 

 season in the Connecticut River was taken April 11, nine 

 days earlier than last year. The first salmon of the season 

 at Bangor was taken April 12, two weeks earlier than 

 last year and five weeks earlier than any record previous 

 to last year. — Gloucester Daily Times. 



OPEN FISH SEASONS. 

 Maine. 



Salmon, April 1 to Sept. 15. Between April 1 and July 15 

 there is a weekly close time from sunrise Saturday to sun- 

 rise the following Monday, during which no salmon, shad, 

 alewives or bass may be taken. Landlocked salmon, trout 

 or togue, May 1 to Oct. 1; in the St. Croix River, May 1 to 

 Sept. 15; certain streams around Rangeley Lakes, May 1 to 

 July 1. Black bass, Oswego bass, white perch. July 1 to 

 April 1 following, except that citizens of the State may fish 

 and take landlocked salmon, trout and togue during Feb- 

 ruary, March and April, and convey the same to their own 

 homes, but not in Rangeley Lakes. 



Massachusetts. 



Black bass, July 1 to Dec. 1. Trout, lake trout, and land- 

 locked salmon (except in Berkshire county), April 1 to Sept. 

 1. Salmon, May 1 to Aug. 1. 



Missouri. 



No close season. 



Michigan. 



Speckled trout or landlocked salmon, Mav 1 to Sept. 1. 

 California trout, grayling, June 1 to Nov, 1. Black, straw- 

 berry, green or white bass, muskallonge, no close season for 

 rod and line. 



Mississippi. 



No fishing laws. 



Montana. 



N o close season. 



New Hampshire. 



Landlocked or fresh-water salmon, lake trout, brook or 

 speckled trout, May 1 to Sept. 30. ' Pike-perch or white 

 perch, July 1 to May 1 following. Black bass, June 15 to 

 April 30 following. Muskallonge, pickerel, pike, grayling, 

 June 1 to April 1. 



New York. 



Salmon, March 1 to Aug. 15. Trout (speckled, brook, 

 brown, California), April 1 to Sept. 1. In forest preserve, 

 May 1 to Sept 15; salmon trout and landlocked salmon, May 

 1 to Oct. 1. Steuben county: Trout (speckled trout, brook, 

 California), May 1 to Aug. 1. Dutchess county: Speckled 

 and brook trout, April 15 to Aug. 1; salmon trout, April 1 

 to Oct. 1; pike and pickerel, June 1 to Feb. 1; black bass, 

 July 1 to Jan. 1. Lake Champlain and tributaries: Muscal- 

 longe, black or Oswego bass, pike or pickerel, June 15 to 

 Dee. 31. 



Pennsylvania. 



Speckled trout, April 15 to July 15. Black bass, green 

 bass, yellow bass, willow bass, rock bass, Lake Erie or grass 

 bass, pike or pickerel, or wall-eyed pike, commonly known 

 as Susquehanna salmon, June 1 to Jan. 1. 



Ohio. 



Black bass, rock bass or goggle-eye, June 15 to May 1 fol- 

 lowing. Streams flowing into Lake Erie open all year below 

 first dam above lake. No prescribed season for trout. 



FISH LEGISLATION AT ALBANY. 



ALBANY, N. Y., April 19.-Attorney-General Tabor has ren- 

 dered an opinion that, according to the provisions of law, no 

 trout can be caught in Washington countv in April. 



Assemblyman Pearsall has introdeced a bill making an appro- 

 priation for fislnvays in the Chenango Paver at Chenango Forks. 

 Tbo Chittenango Creek fishway bill has become a law. 



GEORGIA FISH COMMISSION. 



THE fifth bi-ennial report, for 1887 and 1888, of Dr. H. H. 

 Cary, Superintendent of Fisheries.was submitted to' the 

 Commissioner of Agriculture Oct. 20, 1888. At the outset of 

 his report, Dr. Cary regrets the limitation and embarrass- 

 ment of his work by reason of the small appropriation. He 

 describes at some length the experiments of Messrs. Ellis 

 and Page of the U. S. Fish Commission, by which it was 

 established "(1) that the artesian water at Atlanta, when 

 fresh from the well, will destroy shad eggs, but if time be 

 allowed for the sulphuretted hydrogen gas to escape, the 

 water would answer the purpose of hatching; and (2) that 

 the minimum quantity of alum used in the filtering of the 

 city water would also be harmless. " When the fire pressure 

 is put on the distributing pipes an excess of alum sufficient 

 to kill eggs and young fish is carried over. 



"During the last two years, by the aid of the United States 

 Fish Commission, we have been able to plant many millions 

 of shad fry in the rivers of Georgia; and there is now no 

 difficulty in getting abundance of milters and spawners for 

 the purpose of artificial propagation." Dr. Cary wishes to 

 plant 20,000,000 of shad fry annually, and urges an appro- 

 priation for building a commodious hatchery in some part 

 of the State. 



Great interest is felt in the German carp, and during 

 November, 1887, a shipment of between 15,000 and 18,000 

 young carp was sent by the U. S. Fish Commission to be 



