MAY 9, 1889, ] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



319 



^portion of the upper deck where there is no space on 

 felie deck beneath fir another fisherman to angle, as near 

 the middle of the boat. ; s possible. 



Ciptain Albert G. Foster of Ihe steamer Angler is the 

 Veteran pilot (f the Fishing Brinks. He has made tlie 

 lk«unts of fish the study of years, and consequently 

 Jlmows exact iy where to go at various seasons and under 

 Tfjvrious conditions of weather to secure good results. His 

 ^brother, Mr. Fred Foster, to whom I am indebted for 

 taueh of the information below, has sailed with "Captain 

 41" for many seasons, and is not at all behind the latter 

 ih reliability as an authority ou banks fidiing. Mr. Fred 

 Jtester says the point on the Cholera Banks to which the 

 Stagier takes her parties is about eleven miles off Point 

 "Lookout (Long Beach, L. I.), and beatings are determined 

 by the range formed bv the Point Lookout Hotel and the 

 J£iing Beach Hotel. The Angler goes to many other 

 ■fjilact s be-ides the Cholera Banks, however, and Captain 

 ijfosier is said to be the only pilot who can reach desirable 

 ligJOunds by steering according to ranges instead of feeling 

 jras way by soundings. Sometimes the Angler goes to the 

 HBp- thwPrt Cholera Banks (fourteen fathoms), two miles 

 Ifom the Ch lera Banks proper and s-ometimes to the 

 Hidd'.e Ground (twelve fathoms), a short distance norlh- 

 we^-t of the Cholera Banks. In bad weather the anchor is 

 hove about three miles southwest of Long Beach Hote', 

 #Wd sometimes the boat only goes as far as the banks oii 

 Bocka way B^ach, about four miles distant from the big 

 Hoc k a way Hotel. At this time of year the best fishing 

 ; s lound on the Farms Banks, which lie twelve miles to 

 jfoe southeastward of the New Jersey Highlands and 

 Ipbout ten miles off shore, or at the Rocky Spot south of 

 lightship in seventeen fathoms of water. Mr. Fred 

 Jjtyster says that neither the Rocky Spot, the Farms Banks 

 aertl e England B inks, six miles off Elberon, are put d >wn 

 Eason the charts of the coast survey, and there are many 

 tajefs which have been discovered by C iptain Al Foster, 

 livhich are ignored in the charts. To the presence of these 

 itanmarked reefs Mr. Foster attributes the wreck of 

 £/Amerique, the French vessel that went to pieces off the 

 'jer-ey shore some time ago. 



The Augler at present leaves her pier at the foot of 

 "Must Twenty-first street every Sunday, Tuesday and 

 tThur^day mornings at 6:30, touching at Beekman street, 

 feist River, at 7 A. M., and at Pier 6, North River, at 7:30 

 T&M. During the summer she will prof ably run every 

 [dav, and nhe continues her trips just as long as fishermen 

 will j»o. Last winter her last trip was made Dec 15, and 

 Gap am Fo-ier guarantees that his pstrous wdl ea ch fidi 

 any day in the jear all the year round. Fare for round 

 trip is 75 cents for gentlemen, 50 cents for ladies. Din- 

 ner is served on board for 50 cents, and the seasick angler 

 .{Jan have a stateroom all to himself for $1. Bait and 

 tackle can be purcha-ed on board at city prices. 



Mr. Fred Foster gave me informa' ion more in detail 

 •eoncerniug the banks fishing than I had been able to ob- 

 tain elsewhere. The conger eel-t, which are the mo;t 

 jpceedy biters now, run from 2 to 121bs. this season, and 

 besides the cod. spoken of near the .beginning of this arti- 

 ©e, Mr. Foster mentioned many of the cod's near rela- 

 tives which are caught now, including the haddock, hake 

 and ling Lobsters are hauled in freely weighing as 

 High as 121bs. The bl.ckfisb.Lng now is done in shal- 

 low water. The sea bass fishing begins about May 15, 

 l»r. Foster says, and a month later (lie big poigies, the 

 ifeluefish, the large we akfish (10 to 15lb3. and caught on 

 Hfessbunker bait), and skates (lib. to 751bs. in weight; will 

 'begin to run. Besides these fish bonitos averaging 61bs. 

 ■apiece are sometimes common, great sunfish are occa- 

 sionally met with, and once in a while some fisherman 

 frauds a shark. Mr. Foster says that just now there are a, 

 few peculiar fish cdled "bom fidi" or "horn hound'' 

 >eaughf, which hid from 3 to lOlbs. in weight, and he 

 asserts that these fish are viviparous, in the fall many 

 being taken which contain in a sort of womb or sack 

 from three to seven young ones each.* 



Ciptain Al Foster advises the use of a dark olive-col- 

 ored line 150ft. long and -| L B in. diameter. When fishing 

 in Irom 3 to 10 fathoms of water with a moderate tide, 

 fcse a Goz. smker; from 10 to 20 fatboais a l2oz. one, with 

 two hooks sufficiently apart to clear each other, one be- 

 low and the other above the lead. Having touched bot- 

 tom with your sinker, raise the line about 2 or 3ft. and 

 keen it th^re. 



When fishing for sea bass or cod, bait with shedder 

 erab, lobster, squid, sea clam or skimmers, hard clam, 

 ^io?sbunkers, dolphins, smoked, salt or fie=h herrings, 

 *els or any other soiled fresh fish. Sea bass or cod are 

 more certainly hooked if the hooks are left a little ex- 

 posed. For blackfish and sheepshead use mussels out of 

 "ihe shell, hermit, shedder, hard or fiddler crabs, sea bugs, 

 ■Shrimp, periwinkles or soft clams, also out of the shell, 

 ?ind blackfish or Virginia hooks, letting your sinker lie on 

 the bottom. For porgies have as light a sinker as pos- 

 ile, and fish from 6 to 12ft. off bottom in shoal water, 

 with your bait just out of sight in deep water. Use 

 >ut small Virginia or blackfish hooks and bait with soft 

 :jsea, hard or razor clams, or the lips of the scollops, all 

 jfr-e.-h from the shell. For weakfish use No 7 Kirby or 

 No. 5 5 Kirby Limerick hooks, and a 1 or 2oz. sinker. 

 Bait with crab, shrimp, bunker, snappers or herring. If 

 wou have a pt-arl or bright tin squid on your hook (usio; 

 |uut one in this instance) you c.n, by constantly bobbin^ 

 ijip and down this un baited decoy hook, catch many weak- 

 dish. For fluke or plaice use a Kirby Limerick 7 = hook 

 and bait with bunkers, herring, killies, her^alls, or other 

 i&rnall fish, though the better way is to use tin or pearl 

 fiqxiid hooks baited with a piece of fish and gently raise 

 and lowir it at 1 or 2ft. from the bottom.- This will cause 

 flukes, and sometimes large bluefish, weakfish and cod to 

 snap at it. 



In chumming for bluefish use 3 or 4ft. of No. 13 music 

 ^ire for the sneli, first taking the precaution to daiken 

 or remove the polish by immersing the wire in strong 

 coffee or tea; or, better still, in a solution of tannic acid. 

 iPass the Avire through the ring of a No. 7° Kirby Lim- 

 erick hook, twist or overlay it, then make a loop at the 

 other end with pliers for fastening on the line. Wind 

 '.the overl ay of the line with thread of t.n olive*color. For 

 Abe ''chum" cut or chop up fine fresh mossbunkers, and 

 ♦throw a litole ou the water at inteivals, forming an oily 

 "rlick" tint attracts the fish. Cover your hook well with 

 •a slice of the flashy back of the bunker and Ci*t it among 

 the floating chum. If the water is not too char, so that 

 Hhe fiih are not shy of the baited hook, bluefish (and often 



*Genus Mustdm, related to trie shark and dogfish. 



bonito) will seize the hook as fast as it can be baited and 

 thrown over. 



The Angler does not carry small boats, but is arranged 

 so that all fishing can be done on board. The aftermost 

 end of her huriicane deck is the most advantageous 

 position. Seneca. 



[On May 6 Thos. J. Murrey caught a 7|lbs. striped ba^s 

 in the Hudson River, above the Fort Washington depot.] 



THE RANGELEY LAKES. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



My friend Stebbius, proprietor of the Journal and 

 Courier of this place, made me very envious when he got 

 back last fall from his periodical hay fever trip, by his 

 angling tales, and the. furor which the big fish he had 

 brought home from the Rangeleys had created in the 

 village. In this one grand coup he had beaten my entire 

 record, He told me where he caught them, and warmed 

 me up with the how. 



A few days ago, I having bought, read and enjoyed 

 ''Where the Trout Hide," loaned it to him, and asked 

 him to give me the data as to his trip to the Rangeleys. 

 This be has done and handed the result to me. with per- 

 mis-ion to use the material for a letter to Forest and 

 Strfcam, but finding that I could in no way improve the 

 paper, I forward it intact, accompanied by a photograph 

 of the fi-h. 



I think the interests of fair play demand that facts 

 shall be freely given when a question which affects many 

 worthy men, such as John Dan forth, Fred Barker and 

 others, is raised. 



I myself spent a week at the Rangeleys four years ago, 

 and in company with Mr. Charles Mallory, Mr. Adon 

 Smith, Mr. Lazelle and others of the Oquassoc Angling 

 Association worked very hard with but slight re-ults. 

 My time being up, I returned to New York via the Upper 

 Dam, and there met a number of anglers who up to that 

 day had been very poorly rewarded; but on that day the 

 fun had bpgun, and a dozen or more large fish had been 

 caught that morning. I afterward met the three gentle- 

 men 1 have named, and they told me that directly after 

 my dpparture the fishing became excellent, and Mr. Mal- 

 loiy caught a very large fish— I believe that they told me 

 a nine-pounder. Piseco. 



Linns Falls, N. Y., April 39. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



My friend Capt. L. A. Beardslee has called my. atten- 

 tion to the following passages in Kit Clarke's interesting 

 little book "Where the Trout Hide:" 



The luster of the Androscoggin, more familiarly known as the 

 Rwngeley Lalcw. has flown, their glory has departed arid the big 

 ti out whose ra : nhnw-lirtfd ma ctihieeni'e bus given them univer- 

 sal f.ime are a fond memory. * * * Now a fish is rarely taken 

 from among their huge boulders and d**pp p mis. * * * The 

 fish for well-known reasons have nearly ail disappeared. 



After a very pleasant perusal of Kit Clarke's book I 

 am forced to the conclusion that he not only has a grudge 

 against Rmgeley but that he has some peculiar partiality 

 for the St. John's Lake boom in the interests of which 

 the book is evidently written. I was never at Rangeley 

 Lakes until la-t season, when I spent two weeks in Sep- 

 tember at Upper Dam and at Camp Bemis. I have no 

 interest in anything connected with hotel or transporta- 

 tion cimpany and was only led to make the visit from 

 the White Mountains in the hope of combining fishing 

 with immunity from hay fever. I may add here in pass- 

 ing, that for hay fever sufferers I do not believe there is 

 a better place in the United States. 



Those who remember the la-t two weeks of last Sep- 

 tember will recall the fact that in that region there was 

 rain and wind almost every day. My diary says there 

 was but one bright sunny day. It was very poor weather 

 for fly-fishing, and late in the season at that. But at the 

 Upper Dam some large fish were caught nearly every 

 day. I am not expert with the fly rod and my catch was 

 not among the largest. But I inclose to you a photo- 

 graph taken by my son after my return home, showing 

 five brook trout weighing respectively 4, 4£, 4£, 5J and 

 Gibs., being the largest fish taken by me in the pool at the 

 Upper Dam during the last week of my stay there. Dur- 

 ing the same time each of some six or "eight men showed 

 a better record than this. Of the one sunny day we had 

 I spent four or five hours upon a mountain stream with 

 very good success, the number taken being forty-eight, 

 of which the largest weighed l^lbs. 



Sept. 23 and 24 I speut at Camp Bemis, one of the love- 

 liest spots in the world. My brother, who had never be- 

 fore cist a fly, was with me. The first forenoon we caught 

 thirty -three fine trout, weighing 271bs. ; the next fore- 

 noon twenty-nine trout weighing 23ibs. At each of 

 several casts we took a fib. trout on each fly, with as 

 lively sport as I have ever known, even when bass are 



on the bite." 



I append the record at Upper Dam of the large fbti 

 caught by Mr. Wm. H. Fullerton, of Windsor, Vt. I saw 

 many of these fish and know that the record is correct: 

 Aug. 24, 84, 0, 3; 25th, 3i, 2jr, 2. 5, f: 27th. 8. 1, 1; 28th, 

 2L li; 29th, 2i, 1L 3i. (jJ-, 7; 30th, 21, 3|, 31; 31st, 14. 

 Sept. 3. 5, 1|, 7f; 4th. 64, 6|, before breakfast; 5th, 8|; 

 (hh, 6j; 7th, 31, 3i; 8th, 3; 11th, 5f ; 14th, 44. 



This was the best ncord of the sea-ou, but several 

 others had good ones, th ough I have neither the number 

 nor weight. Mr. R M. Parish, of Montvdle, Ct., on Sept. 

 21 captured two beauties at the same time with a 64-oz. 

 rod, the one on the tail fly weighing in my presence 61bs. 

 14oz., the other weighing 2£lbs. He saved both without 

 assistance. 



Kit Clarke, I believe, is right in saying that the fishing 

 in the Rangeley Lakes is not so good as it used to be (and 

 I have yet to find a place where it is); but the assertions 

 that "a fish is rarely taken," that "the fish have nearly 

 all disappeared," the big trout "are only af md memory," 

 etc., etc. — these assertions show that the writer is either 

 very prejudiced, very ignorant or very mad at something 

 that may have happened to him at the lakes. Perhaps a 

 lai *e truut shook his tdl in his. face! 



I may add that Captain Brrker at Bemis and Landlord 

 Pickens at Upper Dam take the best of care of fishermen 

 and their frit nds, whether thes-e friends are ladies or gen- 

 tlemen, and that there are many charms of lake and 

 river here which can be enjoyed without the discomforts 

 which Kit endured in the wilds of Canada. 



Jean R. Stebbins. 



Office Journal and Conrkr, Little Falls, N. Y., April 26. 



EARLY FISHING IN MAINE. 



A CURIOUS feature of the trout season is that the very 

 early opening has put sportsmen completely off their 

 Tfckoning. Last year the ice was very late about getting 

 out of the Maine lakes, and a number of fishermen, annu- 

 al visitors to these waters, were ready and waiting. In- 

 deed, the telegraph was anxiously watched for the signal 

 to start. This year the ice is out the earliest on record — 

 or nearly so, there being an old record, back in the for- 

 ties, which S 'js that the ice went out of the Rangeleys 

 on the 25th of April— this year it went out on the 29th. 

 But the sportsmen are not ready, and some of them will 

 not go at all, for the reason that they are not ready to 

 start as usual— at the opening of the season — and they 

 fear that the best of the fishing will be over before they 

 can get away. Still some merchants and professional 

 men of Boston, and other cities, are about starting for 

 Maine. The Tuttle party went on Tuesday, but it misses 

 some of the familiar faces of former seasons. Mr. Fare- 

 well, with three or four friend=, also started on Wednes- 

 day. Mr. Stevens, of Camp Vive Vale at the Narrows, 

 Richardson Lake, cannot be the first to start, as usual, 

 this vear. He i* detained by a case in court, which case 

 would probably have been finished had the ice staid in 

 t he lakes as late as usual. Under the circumstances, Mr. 

 Stevens -will probably make the trip late in the spring sea- 

 son, in spite of the black flies. Still he has a friend in 

 Philadelphia waiting for the signal to ^tart. Mr. Shat- 

 tuck and Mr. Smart, both of the Vive Vale Camp, will 

 probably start about Saturday. The trains are not loaded 

 with sportsmen, as is usually the case, for a week after 

 the ice is out of the Maine lakes— the ice has played them 

 a trick, and with this trick there is considerable dissatis- 

 faction. 



Maine sportsmen are on the alert, and several have 

 already reached the fishing erounds. Mr. Freeland 

 Howe, of Norway, with Capt. W. W. Whitmarsh and F. 

 W. Sanborn, editor of the Oxford County Advertiser, 

 were off as soon as the ice had left the lakes. They went 

 at once to the Upper Dam, where J. A. French, of the 

 French's Hotel at Andover, has charge, instead of the 

 Union Waterpower Co., as formerly. A letter from Mr. 

 French, written Saturday, says that Mr. Howe and his 

 party have struck excellent fishing. The day before, Mr. 

 Howe had landed some twenty trout, and some of them 

 of good size. At the Rangeley end of these lakes the 

 Sportsmen are not arriving very freely. They come 

 "dragging along;" the season being so early as to be 

 ahead of everybody's calculations. Reports aiso speak of 

 cold weather, though the ice is out. One early arrival 

 was seen fishing with mittens on his hands, and occasion- 

 ally he would throw down his rod to warm his fingers by 

 thrashing them against his sides. There are still no re- 

 ports of good fishing at Bangor, though the run is daily 

 expected. There have been heavy rains in that part of 

 Maine, and the river at Bangor has been very high. But 

 there is no snow left in the woods, and the water is likely 

 to fall very rapidly. Indeed such is the case with all the 

 trout waters of the State, and unless the weather is very- 

 cold and rainy for a couple of weeks hence, fly-fishing, 

 all over Maine, will be unusually early. 



After all there is something very curious about this 

 early fishing for trout. The theory is that the first on 

 the ground are sure of a majority of the fish, but such is 

 not always the case. Mr. Stevens, mentioned above, 

 went down to his camp on the Narrows last year long 

 before the ice left the lakes. Indeed, he was at the Nar- 

 rows in season to troll over the best trout ground in that 

 section a part of every day from the 16th to the 25th day 

 of May. before catching a single trout. He was there 

 with hiB guide, Adana Brooks, and they desired trout 

 about as much as ever sportsman did, for they were get- 

 ting short of provisions. They had taken in what they 

 supposed was food enough to last them till the steamers 

 came up, but they had not calculated on more three or 

 four days at the most. The ice left the Narrows by the 

 16th, but it did not leave the lake below, so that the 

 steamer could not get up with safety till about the 24th. 

 They trolled and trolled in the Narrows, but still no 

 trout. Both are expert at trout fishing. Each day they 

 made a record of the temperature of the air and of the 

 water, which record they have in camp, and they noted 

 particularly that the trout did not take hold till the temper- 

 ature of the water was nearly up to that of the air in the 

 morning. Then the fun began, and on the 25th one of 

 51bs. was taken, and for days after— till the fishing 

 stopped— there were probably hundreds of pounds of 

 trout taken from the Narrows. When the temperature 

 of the water gets too high, as every sportsman knows, the 

 trolling season for trout is done, and trout are only taken 

 at nightfall and early in the morning at the mouths of 

 the streams and in the rapid water. After all, the troll- 

 ing season is only a couple of weeks in length, and it is 

 well that it is so; for the drain is too great upon the trout 

 supply. 



Moosehead Lake cleared of ice very early, but the usual 

 spring visitors to those waters are all demoralized in the 

 matter of time. The Thomas party, or the Kineo Club, 

 made up extensively of Boston merchants, will not start 

 at present, but will wait for fly-fishing. One or two gen- 

 tlemen left Boston by train on Tuesday for Moosehead, 

 and they will try the trout, but they left with the feeling 

 that the season is altogether too early. Cold weather in 

 the trout region is yet expected. Special.. 



MAY 6. 



Stuisg by a Trout Fly.— Newton Bigorey and Geo. 

 W, Blake have a colored servant name Lizzie. Chas. 

 Barker Bradford took dinner with the above named gen- 

 tlemen the other evening. While they were sitting at 

 the table after the meal, smoking and looking over a 

 catalogue, Lizzie, in clearing the table, caught sight of a 

 page illustration of small trout flies. "Excuse me, sab," 

 siid the girl, pointing to one of the flies, "dat's de nasty 

 leetle ting dat played rle debel wid one o' my fingers de 

 ocler ebening." Bradford asked the girl what she meant, 

 and she said: "Well, sab, I war clearin' up Meester 

 Blake's top bureau dva ver an' I seed what I 'spected war 

 two or tree leetle feathers a sticking to a silk umbrella 

 case, an' I jus' grabbed hoi' ob dear and yanked dem jus' 

 as any one would who wanted to clear away any bit o' 

 dirt from a gemman's tings, and would yo' believe it. 

 sah, de nasty leetle ting stung me jus' like a bug. I 

 didn't wait to see what it were, I jus' shook it off my 

 finger an' out ob de winder." Like a great many other 

 persons, Lizzie had never seen a trout fly. — J. Charles 

 Davis. 



