340 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[May 16, 1389. 



TAKE WHAT YOU CAN. 



Edit or Forest and Stream: 



A correspondent over the pen name "Pacific" in your 

 last week's i sue advises again.- 1 going tr out fishing if one 

 only has two or three days to spare. He say* : "Take two 

 or three weeks " Very poor advice, in my humble opin- 

 ion. He might ju-t as well lay d-wu the law, "catch 

 not hing but three-pound trout." This would be de.ight- 

 ful it' possible, and likewise, three weeks* fishingare better 

 than three days; but it is a ridiculous moral which he 

 dr iws. Now, I deem it my very good fortune to be able 

 to get away from the city for two or three days at 

 the nio-t the 1 itler part of May, taking advantage of 

 Decoration Day. and I hope to repeat my little vacttion 

 this year, if I hear of any place "where the trout hide" 

 and a e in a pla\ ful frame of mind. Three days I I will 

 not allow my three days to be laughed at, and then— but 

 thinking it over, it is not a three days' trip I take; it is a 

 trip longer than "Pacific" advises. " Here it is the 9th of 

 May, and I h we been planning: and talking trout for two 

 weeks at least, and it wants three weeks to Decoration 

 Day, and ab >ut four weeks to talk the whole thing over, 

 so my trip this year will foot up to about nine weeks and 

 three days. Quite a respectable trip after all, so I won't 

 attempt to ruffle the smooth surface of the Pacific any 

 more. F'LIN. ' 



Carp is the Passaic— Paterson, N. J., May 6.— Your 

 reference in a recent lsvue to carp in the Passaic River 

 is slightly incorrect in that you assume that carp niny 

 be found near Garfield. If there are any there, they 

 are so in very small number. The Passaic River above 

 Little Falls— a station of the Greenwood Lake Railroad — 

 is alive with c&rpj the recent heavy rains carried a num- 

 ber of them over the falls at Little Falls, and yesterday 

 I saw a man with a string of five caught a short distance 

 above Paterson. The carp he had would average 51bs., 

 the heaviest weighing over 71bs. I doubt whether many 

 carp would live in passing over the falls at this city and 

 the rapids below, and it would be only with difficulty 

 that they would get over the dam at Dundee, all of which 

 would be necessary for them to reach the river near 

 Garfield. Please do not urge any person not to catch 

 carp during the breeding season. Caro are worthless 

 as a gam^ fish and are not fit to eat at any time, and they 

 are, I fear, spoiling our bass and pickerel fishing, which 

 is not as good as formerly in the upper Passaic. — Chas. A 

 SHRiiNER. [Carp cannot possibly injure the fi.-hing for 

 bass and pickerel, as their fondis vegetable substances. 

 On the other hand, if carp become plentiful their young 

 will afford food for the game species. Opinions differ as 

 to the edibility of this fish; we recommended it on the 

 strength of personal experience and the corroborative 

 testimony of a large majority of correspondents who 

 have eaten it.] 



Posted Brooks in Connecticut.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: I have for the last week or ten days been on a 

 business trip into Berkshire county, Conn., and find on 

 inquiry that the new law was not working as satisfac- 

 torily as was hoped it would. Cutting off from the opnn 

 season the months of April and August has taken from 

 the farmers then- month-", for the farmer's time is too 

 fully occupied to think of fishing in May, June and July, 

 and he cjtild rub a little in April and August. It seems 

 the farmers were not consulted in the matter at all, and 

 the law was sprung on them unawares. Feeling aggrieved 

 they are retaliating by posting the brooks; and when the 

 sportsmen get into the country they will find, instead of 

 the free and open fishing, that all of the best of it is 

 posted ; and the farmers seem to be inclined to be rather 

 stringent in their restrictions as far as I was able to learn, 

 and I heard from every town in the county save one or 

 two. I gained my information through sportsmen, so it 

 is liable to be correct. These are the facts in the case, 

 and the sermons which might be preached from the text 

 I will leave for others to do.— Notliks. 



Trout Portraits.— Mr. Wakeman Holberton, of this 

 city, has just completed for the Smithsonian institution 

 oil portraits of the Dolly Varden trout (Salvelinus nialma), 

 female, an 1 the reJ-throated trout (Saimo purpuratus), 

 male and female. The painting i- from life stud es mad 

 by Mr. Holberton at Kanusku Lake, in northwest Tdaho, 

 one of the headwaters of the Columbia. These fish are 

 most brilliantly colored and they are here set off by a 

 becoming background w ith gorgeous effect. The capture 

 of this particular Doby Vaxden trout, by the way, has 

 never been heralded with much pride by Mr. Holberton. 

 In fact he did hot take it, nor is he himself an adept at 

 the mode of fishing by which it was killed. The cook 

 had excavated more deeply a natural spring hole in the 

 lake neir camp as a depository for provisions which it 

 was desired to keep cool; and going down one morning, 

 Sept. 22, lor the butter, he was startled by the sloshing 

 about of a 80in. trout, which he inc mtinently clubbed to 

 death. Tne fish had just been spawning. 



Fish Protection in Minnesota.— Twenty-three bills 

 for the preservation and protec itn of fish were passed 

 during me late session of the Minnesota Legislature. We 

 are indebted to Mr. W. D. Tomlm for a list of these 

 measures, which pre-cribe close times during the spawn- 

 ing period, limit the methods of catching fish and pro- 

 hibit fishing for sale, m all the counties having fishery 

 interests worthy of protection. "In the bill relating to 

 the protection of the Whitehall in L >ke Superior the office 

 of fi-h warden is created, and the munificent sum of $200 

 is named as cuch fish warden's salary." 



The First Weakfish.— New York, May 13.— A weak- 

 fish was caught y esteniay by G. W. Graham, at Great 

 K lis, Giffords, Staten I bind, wind east, tide half ebb, 

 bait shriuip. Thi-s is the earliest ever known in these 

 paits. Mi . Graham is a member of the Squeteague Club, 

 headquarti rs at Fiizgerald's, at the above place— G. C, 

 Meyer, Secretary. 



Fishing Near New York.— Ed tor Forest and Stream: 

 The cruiser Seneca is laid up on the stocks this week for 

 repairs, after a wreck in Nvw York Bay. She wdl be in 

 commission again on S iturday, and will sad at once for 

 Jamaica I^y in pursuit of further information for salt- 

 water fishermen on "Fiohing Near New York."— Seneca 

 (New York, May 13). 



A Bio Sdnfish. —Probably the largest sunfish on 

 record was the «me captured at the Li'e-Saving Station 

 at Morehend, N. C recently, and forwarded to the 

 National Museum. The length of the specimen was 6ft. 

 9in., and the distance from tip of dorsal to tip of anal 8ft. 

 The eye, which is inclosed in a bony capsule, was iJJ'ra, 

 long. The name of this fish is Mola'mola. The develop- 

 ment of the species offers oi,e of the most interesting 

 problems for the embryologist. 



Bass in Lake Erie.— Dayton, Ohio, May 14.— The Day- 

 ton Club, Chic igo Club and about fi»ty other anglers from 

 various parts of the country are now enjoying bass fi-h- 

 ing in the waters around the Lake Erie Islands. The 

 Davton Club, sixteen rods; Springfield Club, four rods; 

 Chicago Club, twelve rods, are on Pelee Island. Canada 

 water.". The Cmcinnatian-t are at Kelley's Island; Indian- 

 apolis and Columbus at Put-in-Bay; Toledo Club at 

 Middle Bass Island. 



The Way of the Transgressor is (Sometimes) Hard. 

 — The Connecticut Association has just caused the prose- 

 cution and fining of seven men at Salisbury, in Litchfield 

 county, for spearing black bass and pickerel in Twin 

 Lakes. Game Protector Kidd, of Newburgh, has secured 

 the punishment of John Gatrison, of New Jersey, who 

 has been dynamiting trout in Warwick Creek, in Orange 

 county, N. Y. . 



" Lines Cast in Pleasant Places" was the title of a 

 lecture delivered at a special meeting of the Massachu- 

 setts Fish and Game Protective Association last Tuesday 

 evening by President Edward A. Samuels. The illustra- 

 tions embraced over one hundred beautiful stereoscopic 

 views of picturesque scenery and fishing incidents in 

 Canada, and the talk was of the most delightful char- 

 acter. 



Fishery Industrifs op the United States.— We are 

 indebted to the TJ. S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries 

 for volumes II. to V. of the important work published by 

 the Commission, on "The Fishery Industries of the United 

 States." These volumes complete the publication and we 

 shall have occasion to refer to them in detail in a subse- 

 quent number. 



The Warm Weather which came with such a rush 

 last week started the fishing tackle trade with a vim. 

 It has been a great time for fish ta k, and dealers report 

 that they have been hard pushed to fill orders. 



JUisljcttUttrq. 



Northampton, Mass., May 13.— Some fine strings of 

 trout have been caught in this neighborhood the past 

 week. 



Seises, Nets of every description. American Net & Twine Co., 

 Mfrs., 34 Commercial st., Boston, or 199 Fulton st., N. Y.—Artv. 



"WHERE THE TROUT HIDE."* 



THIS little hook of 115 pages is printed on flue woodcut paper, 

 and contains some excellent illustrations, among them sev- 

 eral views of celebrated northern lakes and waterfalls. The 

 writer treats the principal fishes of the angler's fauna in a graphic 

 and rollicking style, not burdening himself with t he requirements 

 of scientific nomenclature or a discussion of the halvts of th« 

 species. Black bass fishing in Lake Gogebic furnishes the oppor- 

 tunity for a vivid desc ription of the endurance and finesse of the 

 small-mouthed Microptrrun, and for a comparison' between the 

 bass and the brook trout, in which the former is damned with 

 faint praise m one breath and sland- red in vigorous English im- 

 mediately afterward. Similar treatment is bestowed upon the 

 Rangeley Lakes for some reason unknown to us, and certainly 

 not indorsed by many other anglers. The muscalonge of the 

 Eagle waters comes in for a glowing tribute because of his agiJity 

 and wonderful heroism. 



The enthusiasm of the author culminates in his account of 

 Lake St. John and its famous landlocked salmon, b t while we 

 grant the marvelous beauty of the region and the admirable 

 qualities of its salmon, we cannot admit that this is "the only 

 home of the peerless winirmish, the grandest game fish and the 

 m st prodigous warrior that piows lresli water." The perfection 

 of angling and the intense gratification of taste and toucii were 

 enjoyed in the royal waters of L ic des Grandes lies. Hero the 

 number, size, brilliaut coloration and fighting qualities of the 

 brook trout awaken another burst of enthusiasm. The charming 

 view of Lac des Grandes lies, which accompuiies this chapter, 

 is one of the most pleasing features of the book, fairly dividing 

 honors with the illustration of Lake St. Jospph embellishing tne 

 account of Isle de Paradis. The trout fishing from this "island 

 elysium" must bo of a kind long to he rememhered. Brief men- 

 tion is made < f lake trout fishing in Lake St. Joseph. In the clos- 

 ing chapter the sojourn in the wilderness will awaken the cn'hu- 

 siasm of every one who has ever diopped a fly or pulled a trigger. 



foe accompanying ex traces will give a fair idea of the ma t-er 

 and method of this series of sketches. The mixed mttapbots 

 heaped upon the bass may spoil the author's luck when next he 

 goes a-fishing. 



"The black bass is a nobleman among the tinnv nobility. He is 

 an aquatic terrier, tenacious as a bulldog, and a three-pounder on 

 a light rod will fully compensate a man lor a day's vt xation. 

 What a vicious break he makes when he rushes for {be 11 v. * * 

 He is a patrician among his soefdea; an aristocrat worthy of honor 

 and respect, and after the Sabnonlrtce ne is the bravest inhabitant 

 of the waters, 



"There is no denying t he fact that the black bass is a splendid 

 fish, Out in the fiuny race for leadership he is outclassed at all 

 p unts by the trout. 



"For the brook irout is crowned with the ineffable eusign of 

 roj alT— the red and the gold— and it reflects his uohility in greater 

 magnificence tiian any living .spectacle with which tne Creator 

 has gladdened the earth. * * * 



"The black bass is a grand fish, an honor to the litmv nation, 

 but he should r over be compared to the biook tr'mt. The one is 

 a thing of beautv and a joy forever, the other is a blackguard and 

 a tough torever." 



"The finny dwellers of the waters must possess a singular con- 

 ceit, conceding that ihey are ever encumbered with any son of a 

 notion regarding the cyclopean phautoms living and moving up 

 there on top of the mud. 



"If a trcut possestcs meditative qualities— and if any fish does 

 it surely must be tne brook trout— he will be struck with amaze- 

 ment as, enjoying a tranquil siesta in a cool and shady brook, he 

 observes an awkward, lumbering monument slowly approacmng 

 the water's edge, vainly endeavoring to be shrewd and sly 

 about it. 



"Suddenly, with a huge missi'e long and stout enough to sweep 

 the wateis of the brook aside, the monster projects the ponderous 

 weapon upward and onward, as if endeavoring to close a vacuum 

 in the surrounding atmosphere, and continues to repeat the out- 

 landish proceeding art infinitum. 



"And the trout, having carefully observe d these unique and 

 nexplicible gyrations, does not remain there any longer. He 

 knows a lovely Bhaded retreat some fourteen miles down the 

 brook, and he proceeds to seek it with dispatch. * * * 



"there is no recreation in which a man can engage that will 

 bring an equal reward in renewed health like a day or a week 

 wandering and wading along a woodland brook in quest of its 

 trout. The water is as sweet and bright and pure as if the Wood- 

 laud Queen had brought it direct from its source in a silver cna:- 

 ice. Where the stream broadens the angler's purpose broadens; 

 where it is shoal he rs careless; he understands its everv ripple, 

 its dark depths, its rocky undulations and its mad rushes'; its lul- 

 laby haunts him forever." 



'Where the Trout Hide." hy Kit Clarke. New York: Bren- 

 tano's, 1889. 



MASSACHUSETTS TROUT SPAWNING. 



WE have long believed that the brook trout on Cape Cod 

 and vicinity extend their spawning Benson well into 

 April and that the fishing shou d not begin as early as it 

 does, in order to obtain fresh and reliable information on 

 this subject we appealed to Mr V. N. Edwards, of Wood's 

 Holl, Mass., a resident observer for the TJ S. Fish Commis- 

 sion, and have just received the communications given 

 below. These letters sufficiently indicate the necessity of 

 exhaustive investigations in the same direction, and" we 

 hope the Commissioners and others interested hi the pro- 

 tection and preservation of this valuable soecies will inquire 

 to what extent ^his late spawning occurs and take measures 

 warranted by the circi in stances. 



Wood's Hoi.l. Mass., May 10, 1889— Dear Sir: About two 

 weeks ago I went to the trout stream at Waquoit and saw 

 some large ones as well as small ones. A erreat many have 

 been caught there this spring and sent to New York market. 

 They never before were known to be so plentiful and so 

 large as this spring. The fishermen say they are full of 

 spawn until the middle of April. I wrote' a letter to Henry 

 Bartlett, who used to keep large numbers of big trout m an 

 aquarium in his market. I had seen them Spawning there, 

 but had forgotten the time of the year. I inclose his letter. 

 Yours truly. Vl.NAL N. Edwabds. 



New Bfdford, Mass., May 9, 1889.— Mr. Vinnl N. Ed- 

 ■wards, Dear Sir: The trout I had in my tank usually got 

 through spawning by the middle of December, but some of 

 the smaller ones were a little later. I dressed a trout three 

 years ago, which was caught in Westport River, as late as 

 the middle of April. This trout had a nice spawn and a 

 number of ripe eggs ready to be dropped. Respectfully 

 youis, H. Bartlett. 



It maybe that this late spawning is limited to brook trout 

 which have the sea-going habit; at any rate the suoiect 

 deserves careful investigation. 



STRIPED BASS IN CALIFORNIA.— In 1885, when Mr. 

 B. B. Redding and Mr. S. R. Throckmorton were commis- 

 sioners of California fisheries, two lots of young rockfish or 

 striped bass were brought over from New Jersey, the last 

 shipment arriving in August. A number of the fish of 

 various sizes have been caught every year since that time. 

 About April 1, Inguglia & Co., of Clay street market, San 

 Francisco, had at their stall a bass weighing 17lbs. besides 

 some small ones weighing from 1 to 31 bs. A few days later 

 the same firm exhibited a specimen 39in. long and 25in. in 

 circumference, weighing 271bs.; three smaller ones were 

 shown with this large one. These fish were caught in nets 

 nearVallejo. This locality furnished many smaller ones 

 during part of March and April. It is estimated that the 

 total annual catch does not. exceed 700, and the scarcity is 

 attributed to the Chinese methods of catchiug the young 

 fish migrating to the ocean and drying them with other 

 small fish for export to China. In Suisuti and San Pablo 

 bays this mischievous practice is said to flourish. 



FOOD OF THE BULLFROG. — The large American bull- 

 frog, (Rana, catesbiana) has a varied diet of insects, fishes, 

 batrachians, reptiles, birds, and even mammals. Professor 

 Sedgwick, of the School of Technology, Boston, Mass., once 

 had a very large frog in captivity, which used to eat not 

 only frogs of other kinds, but also those of its own species. 

 It was often given mice and English sparrows and would 

 swallow them alive. I have found iu the stomach of a large 

 frog a young mud turtle, or painted tortoise, Chryscmys 

 plcta, half digested, and have seen at other times snakes in 

 the stomachs of large specimens. I consider the bullfrog 

 the most voracious of the batrachians.— S. T. Denton 

 (Washington, D. C.) 



ENORMOUS YIELD OF SHAD —On the 6th of May at 

 three stations of the U. S. Fish Commission on the Potomac, 

 Susquehaunah and Delaware rivers, sixteen and one-half 

 millions of shad eggs were taken, or about as many as were 

 collected during the entire season of 1881. The total num- 

 ber of eggs secured to May 8 will be about 80,000,000. The 

 distributing cars now carry 4,000,000 shad eggs at a time, 

 starting with them when they are within two or three days 

 of hatching. The effect of this wholesale work is evident in 

 all the shad rivers. Iu 1879 the catch in the Potomac was 

 178,000; this season's yield, from present appearances, will 

 be 500,000. Boe shad have been offered at retail iu Washing- 

 ton as low as three or four cents per pound. 



INTRODUCED S H A D IN GEORGIA.— Hon. H. G. Tur- 

 ner has forwarded to the U. S. Fish Commission two shad 

 which were caught in a trap May 3, near Quitman, Georgia. 

 The Withlacoochee River, from which they were obtained, 

 flows into the Suwannee, which empties' into the Gulf 

 of Mexico about ten miles north, of Cedar Keys. This 

 is one of the streams stocked by the U. S. Fish Commission, 

 and the shad gives promise of successful acclimatization 

 therein. Both of the examples were males, the smaller 

 8.;-_in. long, the larger 14in., and with the spermaries mod- 

 erately developed. 



AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.-The annual meet- 

 ing of this society now iu session iu Philadelphia will he 

 one of the most important in its history. From Mr. Henry 

 C. Ford, the secretary, we learn that "'The meeting prom'- 

 ises to be the largest the American Fisheries Society has 

 ever had. Nearly all of the diffi rent State- Fish Commissions 

 will be represented, with many prominent invited guests." 

 This afternoon the society will be the guests of the Anglers' 

 Association of Eastern Pennsylvania at a planked shad din- 

 ner at Gloucester, N. J. 



"LA CARPE."— Under the above title M. Albert Le Play 

 has written a treatise on recent methods in feeding and rear- 

 ing the carp. The work is well recommended. 



"That reminds me." 

 266. 



I THINK I can beat "M. E. N." While out after part- 

 ridge one fail I heard the sharp yip, yip, of a cur, 

 and looking over my shoulder saw a partridge flying 

 toward and behind me about four feet from the ground, 

 and the dog not more than four feet from the bird, and 

 both were doing their level best. Raising my gun to the 

 shoulder, and whirling to face the bird I caught my feet 

 in a vine, which threw me to the ground, causing my 

 gun to explode, and when I awoke to sober consciousness 

 I saw the bu-d fluttering on the ground and the dog run- 

 ning in an opposite direction, evidently astonished, and I 

 know I was more than surprised. A. 



