28 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Aug. 2, 1888, 



NOVA SCOTIA TROUT \TERS. 



NEW GLASGOW, Nova Scotia, Ji , 24.— Editor 

 Forest and Stream: In late issue '<\ your paper 

 are some interesting data referring to, C ! j \ weight of 

 several large trout taken at Rangeley lttre*es and else- 

 where. I am prompted for the benefit of fellow-sports- 

 rnen to tell of a catch of sixty-five trout taken in a pond, 

 (it can hardly be called a lake as there are less than 400 

 acres of water surface) situated some fifteen miles from 

 here and seven miles from the line of the Inter Colonial 

 Railway. On the 3d of June, accompanied by a friend, I 

 started* for the pond, arriving there at 4 P.'M., in time 

 for the evening fishing. Fished that evening and the 

 following morning and left the pond at noon. Total 

 catch, sixty-five trout; largest 4flbs.; two of 31bs. 4oz. 

 respectively, and six over 21 bs. each. Largest measured 

 by rule l&tin. long and 4-j- deep and tail 4£ broad, A few 

 days previous to our visit to the pond, a trout 5lbs. 2oz. 

 was taken; and some days afterward a party from New 

 Glasgow took two of over 41bs. each; one measured 

 23|in. in length, twenty-four hours after he was taken. 

 The exact measurement of the largest trout (51b. 2oz.) 

 taken by Mr. McKenzie of Picton, I have not been able 

 to Ret, which I much regret. 



None of the lakes in the Province of Quebec north of 

 Gaspe can in my opinion compare with the Nova Scotia 

 lakes, as regards the size and game qualities of the trout, 

 not excepting Lake Edward, about which Mr. Clarke 

 writes. I have had better trout fishing in the St. Maurice 

 River country and Rawdon Lakes, Quebec, than I ever 

 had along the line of the Lake St. John Railroad. 



The weights of the trout above given are exact and are 

 nothing exceptional. I hare visited this same pond for a 

 number of years every season, and have always had good 

 sport. In the larger lakes trout of much greater size 

 can be taken. , The best time for fly-fishing is from June 

 1 until the end of August. June is the best month, and 

 as a rule the fish take the fly better than the bait. At 

 the lake above mentioned they will not take bait at all. 

 I only know of one large trout taken with bait for the 

 last five years in this pond. 



I have often wondered how it is that some of the New 

 York and Boston sportsmen do not acquire one of these 

 lake* either as a club or individually. The cost would 

 be slight compared with what they have to pay for fish- 

 ing privileges elsewhere; and there would be no danger 

 of their being crowded out of the best spots; there is 

 room for all so far as trout fishing is concerned. Fliojs 

 are not troublesome as a rule; the nights are delightfully 

 cool; there are no hotels on the lakes with brass band's 

 and Deluionico bills of fare; but there is a power of 

 good solid enjoyment and comfort for all true sportsmen 

 who enjoy camping out in its full sense. The amount of 

 duffle and the size and expense of the outfit can de- 

 pend upon the individual taste of the sportsman and the 

 length of his stay in the woods; the difficulty of trans- 

 portation of baggage is not great, hardly ever over three 

 miles into the woods, and generally over a fair logging 

 road." 



I pen these hurried lines, thinking it may interest some 

 fellow sportsman who has been crowdei out of Ins 

 once favorite river, pond or lake. I have no axe to 

 grind. I don't run a hotel, keep a store, nor am I pro- 

 prietor of a stage line, but I shall be glad to give any in- 

 formation on the subject of Nova Scotia fishing to any 

 brother of the rod who may feel inclined to ask. 



Globe Sight. 



THE RANGELEY LAKES. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Captain Farrar's elaborate and sorrowful defense of 

 Cha.s. A. J. Farrar in this week's issue of Forest and 

 Stream is hardly an adequate reply to my open assertion 

 that "good fishing at the Rangeley Lakes is a thing of 

 the past." The original remark was but a passing item, 

 hidden away in a quiet corner of a long article upon Lake 

 Edward, and I did not dream that any person would 

 have temerity to question such an evident fact. Neither 

 do I propose to give publicity to the name of the angler 

 who cast flies below the Upper Dam for thirteen days 

 without a rise; but I will add that within a week I have 

 received many letters— some thirty— all coinciding with 

 my views, and among them one from a sportsman whose 

 name is most familiar and who almost surpassed the 

 above dismal record. He cast flies steadily for two weeks 

 and caught— t wo little fish, one per week. I have neither 

 authority nor inclination to drag his name into this con- 

 troversy, but the editor, for his private information, will 

 find it upon the slip inclosed. 



However, as no angler of repute has denied my state- 

 ment, and as the only contradiction of any kind comes 

 from parties who openly confess themselves financially 

 interested in the prosperity of the Rangeley Lakes as a 

 resort for tourists in search of "pure air and fine scenery," 

 I shall not further encumber your columns upon the sub- 

 ject. I note with great glee that W. A. Robinson, refer- 

 ring to my statement, asserts that "myself and another 

 man in seven hours' fishing caught 500 trout weighing 

 from i to 41 bs." 



In seven hours there are four hundred and twenty 

 minutes, and therefore the above gentlemen took one 

 and a fifth trout every minute steadily during the mem- 

 orable seven hours. Had they only stopped to light a 

 pipe, eat a sandwich or drink a cup of water, the record 

 would have been ruined. He does not state where or in 

 what year this illustrious event occurred, but of course 

 little things like these are immaterial. Besides, if— and 

 then — or because— as stated — nevertheless— and if not— 

 or in consequense— but, and whereby— notwithstanding 

 —the old flag— and yet people continue to go there, in 

 spite of these lamentable facts. I do not wish Mr. Robin- 

 son to insinuate that I have denied or questioned his 

 legend. Not for a hecatomb of orbicular worlds would I 

 permit myself to harbor such an uncivilized fancy. My 

 sincere and lasting regret will be that I was not there to 

 give him a hand in landing the quarry. Most assuredly 

 the glorious moments were crowded to the brim with a 

 steady undulation of unalloyed and exquisite excitement. 

 A few more sfiining deeds' like this, or even better, will 

 speedily restore the former pristine celebrity of the 

 Rangeley Lakes. 



And now, ever amiable Forest and Stream, turn and 

 see what my "new discovery," lovely Lake Edward, has 

 already produced. The Providence Journal, the Roches- 

 ter Democrat, the Manchester Union and your own col- 

 umns, have within a week printed letters from anglers J 



who have recently visited my "new discovery, 1 ' and 

 behold the result! All have taken fontinalis in large 

 numbers and larger in size— even to bibs, in weight. It 

 gratifies me to read these records, and cheers me to think 

 of the many more who will go down to this beautiful 

 water to find themselves guided aright, and to feel "the 

 thrill of the rod and the pulse of the reel." 



An angler, in the last issue of Forest and Stream, 

 speaking of Lake Edward, says; "If there is hidden away 

 in this wild tract a more beautifully diversified sheet of 

 water that this 'Lake of the Great Islands,' I have not 

 seen it yet." Let me whisper a gentle word in your ear, 

 adventurous friend: There is such a lake, concealed deep 

 in those majestic forests, whose rippling waters bathe the 

 base line of imperial mountains, and where every vision 

 is a spectacle of surpassing beauty. In the shortening days 

 of the coming September my little birch canoe will again 

 glide o'er its placid waters.and if the harvest verifies antici- 

 pation, the readers of Forest and Stream will learn 

 fully of this ideal Utopia. Kit Clarke. 



New York, July 28, 1888. 



Trout Killed by Leeches.— The Truckee, Cal., Re- 

 publican says: "For a number of years past in has been 

 observed that the trout in Lake Tahoe whenever they 

 would ascend some of the streams to spawn, would perish 

 in large numbers, and at times the bodies of the dead fish 

 would accumulate in such numbers along the banks of 

 the streams that the stench arising therefrom would be 

 unbearable. The cause of this strange mortality has been 

 discovered. Messrs. Stevens & McKenney, who have 

 been taking spawn for the State, on the north side of the 

 lake, near Hot Springs, have discovered that the great 

 enemy of the trout are nothing more or less than water 

 leeches, which are to be found in immense numbers in 

 some of the streams which flow into the lake. These 

 blood-suckers are found attached to the rocks and pebbles 

 of the stream and are so numerous that thousands can be 

 seen in a square yard of space. They are different from 

 the ordinary leech, being round, about an inch to an inch 

 and a half long, and about a sixteenth of an inch in dia- 

 meter, when not full of blood. Each end is provided 

 with a 'sucker,' that is a flat elastic surface, the center 

 of which draws in and causes a vacuum by which the 

 worm can adhere to any object. In the water the tail is 

 attached to the body upright, to sway to and fro, ready 

 to catch hold of any passing object. The fishermen above 

 named state that it is not an uncommon sight to see fifty 

 to a hundred leeches on one fish. They form on the gdls 

 in bimches twice as large as a man's thumb. The fish 

 cannot then breathe and die; when only a few leeches are 

 on the gills the blood is soon drawn from the body and 

 death results in a short time. It is only a matter of time 

 until the red trout of Tahoe will disappear. (The silver 

 trout do not go up the streams, hence are not affected.) 

 Some means should be taken to clear the streams of these 

 leeches. It has been suggested that the only remedy 

 would be to poison the waters of the streams with some 

 substance which would kill the blood-suckers. What 

 would kill them is not known. Perhaps lime would or 

 petroleum. It would he well to make some experiments 

 in this direction at once. The preservation of this fish 

 interest at Tahoe demands it." 



The Quebec Fish and Game Protection Club are 

 determined, if possible, to protect the unrivaled finny 

 wealth of the Lake St. John waters north of this city 

 from the practices which would quickly lead to its exter- 

 mination. After the seizure some time ago of nets and 

 fish belonging to one Tremblay. who was trading in the 

 produce of the lake, it was contended that the law fav- 

 ored the practices in which he indulged, and no further 

 action was then taken. Emboldened by this circumstance, 

 Tremblay appears to have not only resumed the business 

 of netting the landlocked salmon and other fish of the 

 lake for shipment to the United States, but to have gone 

 even still more extensively into it. During the session 

 just closed, however, the Legislature passed an act which, 

 it is thought, will cover just such cases as his; that is to 

 say, declaring the taking of fish except by rod and line in 

 the inland waters of the Province illegaland punishable. 

 Armed with this new authority, which received the Royal 

 assent on the 12th instant, and acting also in obedience 

 to the instructions of the Fish and Game Protection Club 

 and of the Government, Mr, O'Sullivan pounced down 

 upon Mr. Tremblay a second time last week and captured 

 all the nets and night lines he had set in the lake, to- 

 gether with twenty-four barrels of landlocked salmon 

 and other fish which ho had salted down and ready for 

 shipment, and about a hundred weight of fresh fish re- 

 cently caught. Placing a guardian over the property 

 seized and to watch further proceedings, Mr. O'Sullivan 

 then returned to Quebec and the next step in the busi- 

 ness will, no doubt, be a prosecution before the Police 

 Court here by the Fish and Game Club, when the whole 

 question of the legality or illegalitv of Mr. Tremblay's 

 proceedings will be thoroughly ventilated. It is not our 

 desire by any means to prejudge the case, but we mav 

 express the hope that some means will be found to effec- 

 tually check at Lake St. John the short-sighted and 

 destructive practices which have already ruined so many 

 of the fine water stretches of this country.— Quebec 

 Chronicle. 



Large Adirondack Trout.— Cazenovia, N. Y., July 

 26.— If length has anything to do with the weight of a 

 trout, I shall have to differ from Mr. Hewlett, for I once 

 caught in the inlet to Cranberry Lake a trout that meas- 

 ured 22|in. in length. Had no scales so could not weigh 

 him, but his length was as stated. — Will H. Cruttenden, 

 [A fish of the length given must be l^in. larger than the 

 one recorded by Mr. Howlett, but its weight might or 

 might not be so great. Larger fish than Mr. Howlett's 

 may ha^ e been taken in the Adirondacks, but the record 

 of any one of them to have any value must be complete 

 in details, with nothing left to conjecture.] 



Fishway in the Hudson.— Albert Blaisdell, of Wash- 

 ington, D. C, is at the American House. He will sniper- 

 intend the building of a fishway in the State Dam. The 

 fishway will be put in the center of the dam, and the 

 McDonald system will be used. The fishway will cost 

 about $1,800. Six or eight men will be employed three 

 weeks in the construction. — Troy Times, July 2\. 



The Net Decision.— Experience has shown that a lat 

 which simply punishes netters who are apprehended in 

 the actual use of nets in places forbidden by statute can 

 not be efficiently enfoz-cecl. The netters enjoy practical 

 immunity, and practice their unlawful calling almost a' 

 will. The fisheries of the State cannot stand the drair 

 they suffer under the unrestrained use of nets. Person? 

 who enjoy line fishing are not the only ones concerned 

 TIih people generally have a direct economic interest h 

 maintaining the fisheries. Net fishing should be limited 

 as under the existing statutes. We are of the opinion 

 that Justice Williams went out of his way to declare the 

 act in question unconstitutional, and we trust that the 

 higher courts will take a different view of the situation. 

 But if it is decided that the Legislature exceeded its au- 

 thority, no time should be lost in framing a statute which 

 will accomplish the object desired. The fisheries mus 

 be protected from the ravages of the netters.— Syracuse 

 Herald. 



Weakpish in Prince's Bay.— During th#*past week 

 the catches of weakfish in Prince's Bay, and in fact al ' 

 around Staten Island, have been Light. The small "school 

 fish" have been taken in some numbers, but the largei 

 ones were scarce. We tried the "tide runners" in the 

 bay last week with a friend who knows he best spota. 

 and while we saw many small fish taken in the channel 

 outside our game did not come on the flats in either tin 

 number or in size which was expected from the report? 

 The frequent toadfish seemed to appreciate the expensi^f 

 shedder crabs, and early in the day it was thought that i| 

 change in the tide woidd bring in the yellow fins that 

 we sought, but the tide went out and came in again with' 

 out materially affecting our basket, and at sundown a 

 small boy could carry it. Others fishing near by met 

 with the same success, and all were of the opinion that 

 the day would have been better spent in the channel 

 where the school fish were. 



The Largest Black Bass.— St. Catherines, Ont, July 

 24.— Editor Forest and Stream: We are desirous of know- 

 ing the weight of the largest black bass on record, as we 

 think we are catching some record-breakers here. Two 

 were caught this week weighing 61bs. and 61bs. 7oz., 

 respectively. If the latter fish breaks the record I can 

 send you affidavits of its weight, or, if I hear from you 

 in time, will send the fish.— H. D. K. [In our issue of 

 August 25, 1887, will be found a record of a bass taken 

 by Mr. A. N. Cheney, of Glens Falls, N.Y., which weighed 

 8ilbs. In the issue of August 31, 18S2, Mr. F. Joyner, 

 also of Glens Falls, records the capture of one of 8flbs. 

 These were the small-mouth species. In Florida the 

 large-mouth grows to 121bs. and over,] 



Fey-fishing at Lake Edward.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: It gives me great pleasure to inform you that I 

 just received information from a most reliable source 

 that the large trout in Lake Edward are now rising freely 

 to the fly. Several gentlemen from the States who are 

 now there, report that they have never enjoyed such fine 

 sport before. This being true of Lake Edward, the same 

 is doubtless true of all the lakes of that region. No 

 black flies nor mosquitoes now. Millions of large trout I 

 know are there. What a paradise for a fly-fisherman 

 during the month of August!— Geo. F. GALe, (Brattle- 

 boro, July 28). ' 



Alexandria Bay.— St. John's Island, July 26.— As 

 your paper has* always suggested that successful fisher- 

 men should make known their successes to their brothers 

 in the pursuit, I send you the following: Mr. Charles 

 Donohue, Jr., while out fishing yesterday hooked a mas- 

 kalonge, and landed him after nearly fifteen minutes of 

 very skillful playing. Two hours after capture the fish 

 weighed 37-ilbs. He is the largest fish taken in some 

 time on this section of the river, and the splendid fight he 

 made adds greatly to the credit of the fisherman who i 

 caught him. — F. L D. 



To Get Ahead of Mosquitoes. — A wide awake con- 

 tributor cites several instances where the use of Dalma- 

 tain insect powder, burned in a metal vessel, not only 

 banished mosquitoes from a room, camp, schooner, wood- 

 shed, but prevented their return. It was successful in 

 every instance from 1881, when it was first tried, up to 

 the present time. A teaspoonful is the quantity men- 

 tioned to be burned in a room. The writer suggests 

 burning it in vases on a verandah where people sit out of 

 an evening. 



Bluefishing continues good in the Great South Bay of 

 Long Island. Among the recorded catches was one of 

 sixteen fish in one tide by a nine-year-old youngster, and 

 another of four bluefim and a 4lbs. flatfish by a seven- 

 year-old girl. It is believed by the baymen that this 

 increase in bluefish is decidedly due to the fact that the 

 menhaden nettprs and oil factory people have shut up 

 shop. Weakfishing is good, too, one catch scoring thirty 

 fish caught by moonlight; one of the fish weighed 4 lbs. ' 



Winnipesaukee.— The Lake Village, N. H., Republican 

 says: Among the big strings of fish taken on Winnipe- 

 saukee recently were seven bass that weighed 251bs.; a 

 string of pickerel weighing Golbs., and averaging two 

 pounds each; a string of 16 lake trout, taken by Thomas 

 French, of Tuftonboro,' in one day. 



A telegram from Crescoville, Pa., says: " During the thun- 

 der storm that visited this region July 9, a maple tree in 

 front of Minor Cresco's residence was struck by lightning 

 The only damage done to the tree was the splintering of a 

 piece out of the trunk, midway between the ground and the 

 lower branches. After the storm was over, Mr. Cresco went 

 out to look at the tree. On the ground at the foot of it lay 

 an immense black snake dead, and holding in its mouth a 

 young robin. There was a robin's nest in the tree, and it 

 was known to have had three young ones in it. As the tree 

 had been struck by lightning, it was supposed that they 

 had been killed. A boy went up the tree and found two 

 young robins in the nest, alive and lively. It is supposed 

 that the black snake had climbed the tree and robbed the 

 nest of one of the newly hatched birds, and was descending 

 the trunk as it was struck by lightning and killed with its 

 prey in its mouth. The lightning thus avenged the robin " 



