FOREST AND STREAM. 



(jVtii 4, 1889, 



PENNSYLVANIA STREAMS AND FLOODS 



DANSVILLE, N. Y., June 22.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: In your issue of the 20th inst. I noticed a 

 short, "snap shot" regarding the late floods in Pennsyl- 

 vania, and the havoc wrought in the 1 rout-bearing tribu- 

 taries of the Susquehanna. It is too true, as I learned by 

 bitter experience. 



It was rny fortune to be just nicely started on my 

 annual fishing trip along the Loyal Sock Creek and tribu- 

 taries in Sullivan county, Pa., when the floods struck us 

 and effectually housed us for nearly a week. We had 

 just returned to the cottoge after a very indifferent day's 

 sport on Bear Creek, when the rain began to fall, and 

 although we had a very pleasant time sitting by the back 

 log smoking our pipes ."reading, telling stories and mend- 

 ing the fire", we got no fishing, and were forced to see our 

 vacation slip away unprofitably. 



At last came the faint rumors of the terrible tilings go- 

 ing on down in the valleys, so we resolved to start for 

 home the moment we were fairly sure of getting through. 

 This gave us one more day, and the rain having ceased 

 we decided to try the trout once more in spite of high 

 water. 



We found the stream very high, with riparian evidence 

 of a tremendous flow of "water. Old landmarks and 

 holes, cherished and loved through many years of happy 

 contact, were totally obliterated. The whole character 

 of the run was changed, and we almost felt as if we were 

 working new water. One fine pool in which m3 r com- 

 panion "had fished for the last twenty-five years was 

 totally annihilated, and his expressions of regret were as 

 keen as if he had lost an oid tried friend. But though 

 other things had changed, the trout were still there, and 

 at 3 o'clock we had seventy-five. 



The next morning we started for home, very regret- 

 fully, we had been beaten out of our sport, but the lesson 

 of the flood from an angler's standpoint was, that while 

 the streams were badly torn up the trout still remained, 

 and one of the least of the evils of the great flood of 1889 

 was the injury done to the game fish of the Susquehanna 

 and its branches. H. W. DeLonq. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Believing that you would be interested in learning how 

 the flood affected the trout streams in the Juniata Valley, 

 I send you a description of one of the best as I found it 

 on fishing it on the 24th of June. Big Run is, or has 

 been, one of the finest trout streams in the county. In 

 addition to its having a good natural supply 1 have 

 stocked it with trout fry supplied by the State hatchery. 

 This stream had fine pools along its entire length, but on 

 fishing it in company with my son Charles, I was hardly 

 able to recognize the stream. In many places the channel 

 has been entirely changed, and in others there are two or 

 three channels. Up in the mountain the bed of the 

 stream in many places is cut down to the rock, the pools 

 washed away and the harbors destroyed. We caught no 

 trout except near the mouth of the stream, where it flows 

 through meadows and low lands. These were fair-sized 

 trout— another illustration of the ''survival of the fittest." 

 I fear nearly all of the small trout have been destroyed., 

 We caught twenty-two in all, the largest about 12in., the 

 smallest 8in.; my son, who is an ardent trout fisher, 

 catching nearly all of them. 



I confess thai after seeing the destruction of this once 

 beautiful stream I had little heart to fish. I have been 

 told by parties who visited the other streams in our 

 county that they are similarly washed, particularly on 

 the east side of the Juniata River. The flood in the 

 Juniata does not seem to have affected the black bass; 

 some very fine strings have been caught since the river 

 has fallen. Sancho Panza. 



Mifflin town, Pa., Jane 29. 



CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 



CHICAGO, 111., June 25.— Even at the risk of the im- 

 putation of being thought tedious, I must once more 

 repeat the old assertion that Chicago is a city blessed of 

 the gods, and the only true dwelling place for any sports- 

 man of this country. This proposition, more especially 

 as applied to the angling interests, I had intended delib- 

 erately to set about proving by means of a series of trips 

 into our northern fishing country. Lack of time has thus 

 far prevented that, and gradually the proposition is prov- 

 ing itself, through just such hasty confirmations as a 

 chance trip or so and a few odd bits of news may offer. 

 Perhaps the note or two sent in earlier in regard to mas- 

 callonge fishing may have sufficed to show the certainty 

 of success and the amount of it which meets the angler 

 for that great fish in certain waters north of here. The 

 season has been a prolific one, and the great streams and 

 lakes, fished for the past five years so dangerously close 

 and hard, seem not depleted, but still abounding, and 

 indicative of the rare plenty which they may always 

 offer under any intelligent treatment, The mascallonge 

 season is now practically over, and will not begin again 

 until the first sharp frosts of autumn has cut down the 

 lake growth. 



Bass fishing was never better in the waters adjacent to 

 Chicago than it is this spring. I simply dare not tell all 

 I know, or hunt up all I might find about the excellence 

 of the black bass angling north of here this season, for 

 it would hardly be believed. The angling referred to is 

 black bass fishing of the very highest grade, not for -Jib. 

 or lib. bass, but for the veterans of 3 and Albs, weight. 

 The bass angler of Chicago, I am proud to say, is ranked 

 not by count but weight. The fisherman here who re- 

 turns laden with a long string of small bass is simply 

 laughed at or treated with silent contempt. It is the 

 glory and the subject of rivalry with our anglers to bring 

 in a few bass, the largest and best specimens possible, 

 and to return all below the standard to the water. The 

 standard is placed at 31bs. by a sort of tacit agreement. 

 The cracks will not bring in anything of less weight than 

 that, I do not know of any other city where this cus- 

 tom prevails or could well prevail, but it is good com- 

 mentary on our angling and our anglers. Moreover, it 

 is the starting point of a very good sentiment on angling- 

 matters in general, and the growth of such sentiment 

 will be all against the old fish butchery. 



The fishing clubs have their quarters full. Fox Lake 

 fairly hums with its summer social life. The magnificent 

 Mineola club house is completed, and a grand place it is. 

 It is brilliantly lighted with gas from one end to the 

 other every night, and to the belated boat coming in 

 across the lake it presents a gorgeous and magnificent 



spectacle. Within, the club house is finished and furn- 

 ished elegantly. The floors are of hard wood, bordered 

 in red wood, and all else is on the same scale. It is the 

 most luxurious sportsmen's home near Chicago. 



Ed. Howard, of Fox Lake, has added another hotel to 

 his bluff possessions, and is now about the busiest man 

 on the lake. The summer cottages are now pretty much 

 all full. Mr. John Wilkinson and the other Crabapple 

 Islanders are mostly at home on the island nowadays. 

 Lippincott's holds its quorum, and so do all the other 

 resorts. The two Mason cottages near Lippiucott's burned 

 down two weeks ago, the occupants barely getting out 

 alive in the night. 



Fishing at Fox Lake for the past week has been only 

 fair, the catch running much to pickerel and small bass. 

 Above Fox Lake, on the same system of lakes, the records 

 are simply marvelous, and as I said, I should hardly dare 

 repeat them. E. Hotjraj. 



HELL GATE CAMP. 



HELL GATE, Wentworth's Location, N. H., June 22. 

 — We left Boston June 1, tarried in Colebrook a 

 week, and meanwhile visited the Diamond Ponds to try 

 our luck with fly and bait. The weather was most un- 

 favorable, and very little success rewarded our efforts. 

 Monday, the 10th, we left Colebrook for Wentworth's 

 Location and Bennett's, The heavy rains had made the 

 roads almost impassable, and when we arrived at Went- 

 worth's we found the Diamond so swollen that we were 

 obliged to make a detour and be ferried across the Ma- 

 galloway, opposite Bennett's. 



John being a model Boniface we concluded to remain 

 with him until the water in the Diamond subsided suf- 

 ficiently to permit our fishing on the Rips. On the 12th a 

 party of seven gentlemen from Laconia, N. H., joined us, 

 and on the 13th we had some very good fishing, though 

 the water was still high . A member of our party suc- 

 ceeded in bringing to net a 3^-pounder, which proved to 

 be the largest fish of the day. That night we had a severe 

 shower, and this spoiled fishing there for a week at least. 



On the 17th, the river having flattened out somewhat, 

 we made an early start for Hell Gate camp. The day 

 proved all that could be desired, and we arrived at Am- 

 asa's aboirt 5 P. M. Since then the weather has been 

 beautiful, the river has fallen to almost its normal level, 

 and we have had some grand sport with the fly, If one 

 can judge at all by appearances the river never was so 

 full of trout as it is this season, which may be accounted 

 for in a manner from the fact of the partial destruction 

 of the old dam at Bennett's by the lumbermen last winter. 



Let me give you an illustration of how numerous the 

 trout are here. There are ten people here in camp now, 

 and yesterday three of us went up the river two miles 

 and fished only in the best places on our return. On ar- 

 riving at camp we had 93 fish which weighed 281bs. I 

 should say that not more than one in five which we 

 hooked were put into our baskets. An hour's float down 

 the river any evening just at sunset will fill a ten-pound 

 basket with fish from i to lib. in weight. 



Amasa also counts upon a very successful season for 

 deer. Last winter there was but very little snow here, 

 and no crusts, consequently hunting by that method was 

 a signal failure, and absolutely no deer were killed here. 

 As a result, Amasa has counted thirteen deer in one day 

 within a mile and a half of camp, something unprece- 

 dented in his experience here. He has already booked a 

 number of parties for this season, and holds himself in 

 readiness to give all who may visit him a true backwoods 

 welcome and plenty of sport. Since orrr arrival here 

 Messrs. Adams and Kidder, of Plymouth, N. H., have put 

 in their appearance, bent on tickling the palates of some 

 of the trout. J. W. B. 



THE HARVEST FISH. 



THIS pretty and excellent food fish is now at its best, 

 and I think it the equal of any pan fish on the 

 market. Its small size is against it, so far as demand 

 goes, but it has few troublesome bones and flesh so at- 

 tractive that when once one makes its acquaintauce there 

 is no doubt about an increased demand on the dealer, 

 who, here in Washington, calls them "butter fish," hav- 

 in mind the Stromatens triacanthus, which is somewhat 

 similar in appearance. 



The harvest fish (Slromateus alepidotus) in general ap- 

 pearance resembles the short or ovate pompano, being 

 slightly shorter and deeper. Its cousin of the Pacific 

 coast, S. simillimus, is known as California pompano, 

 and is highly prized as food. In general color the harvest 

 fish is silvery, turning to a more or less golden yellow on 

 lo wer portion of body. Its name is derived from the fact that 

 it usually makes its appearance about harvest time. Out 

 of the half dozen individuals examined by the writer on 

 June 21 but two were females full of spawn, wkich would 

 have been deposited early in July. They were slightly 

 larger than the males, measuring 7in, in length by 4in. 

 in depth. The recorded range of this species is from 

 New York to South America. It is often abundant in 

 the Chesapeake, at its mouth, and is taken in trap nets, 

 pounds, etc. In New York it is said to command a good 

 price, while here in Washington it retails at a low price, 

 have seen a dozen sold for twenty-five cents. Bab. 

 Washington, D. C„ June 24. 



BLANCHE LAKE BASS. 



BATTLE CREEK, Minn., June 20.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: In looking over your paper I find under- 

 head "Chicago and the West," an account of an angler 

 taking sixty-five black bass out of Twin Lakes in one day, 

 the catch weighing I251bs. Now let me give you an 

 account of a catch that was made in what is known as 

 Blanche Lake, about four miles north of this village. A 

 party consisting of H. S. Townes, of Petersburg, Va., W. 

 M. Anderson, of Duluth, Minn., and O. Albertson,a mer- 

 chant of this place, went out one evening the first of the 

 week and caught thirty black bass, twenty-seven wall- 

 eyed pike and between forty and fifty rock bass and 



Eickerel. The last two named varieties were thrown 

 ack into the lake, as it is not the custom here to save 

 any fish but the black bass and pike at this season of the 

 year. Fifteen of the black bass weighed 591bs., the thirty 

 black bass weighed 831bs., the twenty-seveu pike weighed 

 631bs. The catch was made in about three hours. Blanche 

 Lake and one near to it known as Lost Lake are full of 

 bass, and during the month of September a catch like the 

 one above referred to will be no uncommon occurrence, 



B. Strain. 



The Grand Isle Seiners.— Sorrell and Mitchell, the 

 men caught illegally fishing on Grand Isle and sent to 

 the House of Correction for over two jeurs, were brought 

 before Judge Powers at Middlebury last Friday on a writ 

 of habeas corpus, and discharged. Nobody pretended 

 that they were not guilty, or that their sentence was other 

 than that inrperati vely required by the law under which 

 they were convicted, but they got off on a legal technical- 

 ity. W. C. Hodgkins, the justice before whom they were 

 tried, was either ignorant of what a legal commitment 

 was or else purposely made the mittimus imperfect, it 

 reading that they were committed "for the crime of ille- 

 gal fishing," when it should have read that they were 

 committed for the crime of illegal fishing with a seine. 

 On this technicality they were discharged, and it reminds 

 people of something that happened in Washington County 

 Court when Judge Asahel Peck was on the bench. Henry 

 Welcome stole a team from Bruce & Ladch of Water-bury; 

 He was arrested and indicted by the Grand Jury of 

 Washington County Court, M. E. Smilie being then Sta,te's 

 Attorney, and upon trial his counsel raised the point that 

 the indictment was not good because it set up that Wel- 

 come stole a horse from Bruce & Ladd, instead of saying 

 that he stole it from H. M. Bruce and Daniel Ladd, who 

 comprised the firm of Bruce & Ladd. Upon this techni- 

 cality Welcome was discharged by Judge Peck, and In 

 six weeks from the time of such discharge he murdered 

 old man Russell, of Hinesburg; a classmate and close per- 

 sonal friend of the judge, who said up to the time of his 

 death that discharging Welcome on that technicality was 

 the greatest mistake of his life. It is to be hoped that 

 before anymore criminals are arraigned before Justice 

 W. C. Hodgkins, of Grand Isle, he will make himself 

 sufficiently conversant with the law to perform his duties 

 in a legal manner.— Montpelier (Vt.) Argus and Patriot. 



Bluefishing at Fire Island.— The great South Bay is 

 now full of bluefish, which run about 24lbs. each, and 

 great catches are being made of these excellent fish. Mr, 

 Sammis's hotel on Fire" Island is most conveniently located 

 for this fishing, and no more comfortable place can be 

 found, in our opinion, for spending the Fourth of July or 

 a summer Sundav. Good fisSing, good fare and cool 

 breezes; what Could be more attractive on these hot days? 



To wanda, Pa., June 30.— Two different parties, con- 

 sisting of two persons each, one fishing on Bowman's 

 Creek (Wyoming county), the other in the Loyal Sock 

 and smaller streams in the vicinity of Laporte (Sullivan 

 county), this State, brought in respectively 20 and I61bs, 

 of brook trout,— Susquehanna. 



Trout in Catskill Creek.— Cauo, N. Y., June 22.— 

 It' is estimated that not less than one hundred and fifty 

 pounds of trout have been taken from the "Deep Hole'* 

 in the Catskill Creek^ near this village, and there are 

 many more trout left. 



Log Cabins. 



Loo Cabins: How to Build and Furnish Them. By William S. 

 Wickes. Illustrated. Price $1.50. Published this' dav by the 

 Forest and Stream Publishing Company. 



America's Fastest Railway Train, and -mis Outsat Recoud 

 it has Made.— The "two-hour train" whir h leavers toe Reading 

 Railroad, station at Ninth and Green for New York at 7:30 A. j£, 

 is the fastest scheduled railway train in the United States. In 

 addition to this distinction, it has made a record for precision and 

 regularity of movement which high authorities declare to be. 

 without precedent in the history of raiiroads. From January 1 to 

 June 1 this train made ISO trips— that is, a trip every day except 

 Sunday— and in the five months it reached its destination behind 

 time on only nine occasions, and in these instances the maximum 

 variation from the time-table was but a few minutes. On the 

 remaining 131 trips it arrived on schedule time to the second, 

 averaging 94 per cent, of absolute promptness. This unparalleled 

 showing demonstrates that the Reading Railroad not only pos- 

 sesses, a magnificent and completely-equipped line between Phila- 

 delphia and New York, but also that it is managed with rare 

 ability and with close regard to the requirements of the traveling 

 public— Philadelphia Times— Adv. 



THE CALEDONIA HATCHERY. 



STATISTICS of the fish and eggs shipped and fish turned 

 _ loose from the Caledonia State Fish Hatchery and Hud- 



son River for the season commencing Jan. 28 and endiug 

 June 24, 1889; 



Whitefish fry deposited in Lake Ontario 1,900,000 



Frost fish fry deposited in Hemlock Lake 80,000 



Salmon trout fry 1,501,000 



Salmon trout eggs 750,000 



Brook trout fry 1,525,500 



Brook trout eggs. -. 100,000 



Brook trout yearlings 335 



Brown or German trout fry 521,000 



Brown or German trout eggs 188,000 



Brown or German trout yearlings 175 



California trout fry 738,000 



California trout eggs 125,0C0 



California trout yearlings , 150 



Hybrids, % brook and % salmon trout from 4 to 6 



years old 200 



S hi p merit o f shrim p 30,000 



Shipment of German carp 23 



Shipment of bullheads 20 



Shad fry deposited in Hudson River 6.033,200 



Total 13,492,603 



Monroe a. Gkeen, Supt. 



SAWDUST IN TROUT STREAMS. 



Editor Forest ana Stream. 



A week ago I suggested an itinerary for a short fishing 

 trip through a small portion of western Pennsylvania, 

 ending at Clear Shade in Cambria county. I might have 

 advised the sportsman to cross a hill to Piney Run,, two or 

 three miles from Shade, where for ten years I caught some 

 magnificent trout; but several years ago a sawmill was 

 built on that stream, and the trout gradually diminished 

 both in size and numbers until fishermen ceased visiting the 

 stream entirely. We, of course, attributed the death of the 

 trout to the sawdust and I have yet to see a good trout 

 stream with a sawmill in it. Follow up the streams and the 

 argument, as does "Piscator," and we find that after Piney 

 Run empties its waters into Clear Shade the trout in the 

 latter stream are comparatively scarce, while above this 

 point they are in abundance. Following the stream and its 

 accessories on down until it empties into the Stonycreek, we 



