348 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



(Nov. 22, 1888, 



SILKWORM GUT AND LEADERS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: . 



We shall be much obliged if you will give us space m 

 your valuable columns to reply to air. Cheney s letter m 

 your issue of Oct. 25, which reached us to day. The sub- 

 ject of Mr Cheney's letter is "Gut Leaders and Silkworm 

 Gut," and as we hare more of these articles passing 

 through our hands than any other house m the world, 

 and have obtained the highest award for silkworm gut at 

 the exhibition of Murcia, Spain, we think we can speak 

 with authority on this subject. , ' - 



Mr Cheney's letter seems to us very unfair to th« tisn- 

 in»- tackle dealers in the States. We do not wish to im- 

 ply that Mr. Cheney is intentionally unfair, but he is 

 certainly misinformed. We do not wish to dispute his 

 assertion "that if the London dealers have the first whack 

 at the gut crop, they are intelligent enough to take the 

 cream of it." The London dealers do not, however, "have 

 the first whack at the gut crop," and Mr. Cheney is mis- 

 taken in asserting that London is the chief market to 

 which most if not all the dealers in fishing tackle are 

 obliged to go for their silkworm gut. 



We supply most of the best wholesale firms in the 

 States, we deliver silkworm gut direct from our gut 

 manufactory in Spain, and if any firm will pay the same 

 price that we can get in London or elsewhere for our best 

 grades they can be sure of being as well served as the 

 London houses are. 



There is no more difficulty in being supplied with good 

 gut leaders than there is in being supplied with good gut, 

 and many of the best firms are trying to induce then- 

 customers to adopt higher class grades than those usually 

 in demand. The following letter which we have lately 

 received from Messrs. Eeuben Wood's Sons, to whom we 

 had sent some strong salmon leaders, known as 115 D.M. 

 quality, will suffice to illustrate the efforts that are being 

 made on the part of the dealers and to show that, if they 

 do not always stock the higher grades, the fault is more 

 with their customers than with them. 



Syracuse, N. Y., Oct. 20, 1888.— Messrs. S. Allcock & 

 Co., Redditch. Eng.— Gentlemen: The No. 115 D.M. gut 

 leaders were received and in good shape, which we have 

 tested particularly together ourselves and a few fishermen 

 in this section whom we shared them with, and we think 

 there will be created quite a demand for them next sea- 

 son. Yours vei*y truly, (signed) Reuben Wood's Sons. 



In conclusion we beg to say that if Mr. Cheney or any 

 of your readers will order from any respectable tackle 

 dealer in the State exactly the quality of gut or gut 

 leaders which they require, the dealer will have no more 

 difficulty in procuring it for them than the best London 

 house would have. S. Auucook & Co. 



Standard Works, Redditeh, Nov. 8. 



BOIS D'ARC RODS. 



KOCHESTER, N. Y, Nov. 0.— Dr. M. 67. Ellzey: Dear 

 Sir — In looking over the back numbers of my For- 

 est and Stream I came upon an article of yours of July 

 8, 1886, in which you speak very highly of osage orange 

 or bois d'arc for making fish rods. Being an amateur 

 rod maker myself, I became much interested in this 

 wood, and take the liberty of writing you concerning it. 

 I should be very much obliged if you would give me in- 

 formation as to where to obtain it, also its cost and 

 whether it is best to make a rod wholly of it or with a 

 split-bamboo tip. Yours truly, H. S. W. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I receive constantly from all parts of the country letters 

 similar to the one inclosed, asking information about the 

 wood of the bois d'arc or osage orange for making fly- 

 rods. I have replied to them privately hitherto, but as it 

 seems so many are unf amiliar with this wood and its use, 

 I beg space to reply to my present correspondent and 

 others interested. I have a rod which I have used in all 

 sorts of fishing for five seasons, which I made myself 

 from this wood, and it has never been broken, nor has it 

 to-day a particle of warp or set. It casts two bass flies 

 75ft. without difficulty, and I have killed great numbers 

 of large bass and trout on it. I have used rods of all 

 sorts, kinds and descriptions, and I have no doubt of the 

 superiority of this wood over all other materials used in 

 rod making. It is a marvel to me that professional rod 

 makers ignore it. It seems to be thought it is a mere 

 hedge plant, and so it is in the North; but in the South- 

 western States it is a timber tree of great value. It is 

 extensively used as posts for wire-fencing and in ordinary 

 house carpentering, and especially for wagon building in 

 that section; wagons made of it are worth thirty or forty 

 dollars more than others. There can be no difficulty in 

 getting ample supplies of it, say in northwestern Texas. 

 It is utterly worthless for hedges, but planted for timber, 

 is of most rapid growth, and not even locust is so durable. 

 Why it is not better known I cannot conceive. 



M. G. E llzey, M.D. 



SPAWNING HABITS OF BLACK BASS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I consider it my duty to inform you and my fellow 

 fishermen of a fact which came to my knowledge re- 

 cently in regard to the gamy small-mouth bass. Sept. 23 

 last, I caught in the Oneida River, below Brewerton, 

 some fine bass, one weighing over 4Hbs. When I dressed 

 these fish five were females, and all of them were in a 

 breeding condition; that is to say, the spawn sacks or 

 bags were formed, and in those taken from the larger ones 

 the eggs were plainly visible, the sacks varying in size 

 from fcin. in diameter by 2in. long, up to -Jin. by4in.. 

 which last came from the largest bass. Now, the curious 

 thing about this is this. Bass do not spawn, according 

 to the best authorities, until in May. These bass were 

 caught in this condition about seven months before their 

 spavraing time. Query— How long are bass in this con- 

 dition before spawning? Is the period with them the 

 same as that of a human being? This find was a new 

 thing to me, but it may not be to you, and it has caused 

 many queries to arise in my mind. At any rate I should 

 like to know whether or not it is a settled fact that bass 

 are in this condition always in the month of September. 

 If I had only caught one such female I should not have 

 thought much about it, I and other fishermen here wish 

 information and consider your paper the best source of 



su PP 1 y- I GO A- FISHING. 



Syracuse, N. Y., Nov. 17. 



[The eggs of the bass, as in most other fishes, begin to 



develop for the next season's spawning shortly after the 

 breeding season is over, and as it takes a whole year to 

 mature a crop of eggs, it is not strange to find the ova- 

 ries of a black bass partly developed in autumn nor those 

 of the trout in the same condition in June. The eggs 

 develop slowly during the first eight or nine months, and 

 increase more rapidly afterward. The black bass in 

 western New York and northward undergo a partial 

 hibernation, and do not take much, if any, food during 

 the winter. In the spring they begin to feed, and then 

 as the water gets warmer the eggs develop more rap- 

 idly until they spawn in May or June.] 



CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 



CHICAGO, 111., Nov. 13.— I was in Jenney & Graham's 

 gun store the other day and saw a fish hanging on 

 the wall big enough for the original whale. It was a 

 muscallonge, very nicely mounted, weight 431bs M length 

 52iin. It was taken by Mr. Chas. E. Scott, of Freeport, 

 III., at Big Twin Lake, 'Wisconsin, on an 8oz. split-bam- 

 boo rod, after a fight which lasted three hours and a half. 

 The fish was finally shot before he could be landed. As 

 mounted it is certainly a beautiful trophy. 



Mr. J. M. Clark, a clear, dyed-in-the-wool enthusiast in 

 bait-casting with the short lancewood rod. lets go of the 

 fishing season mighty reluctantly. He swears off, but 

 every bright, warm day makes him break his sweat and 

 go up to Silver Lake again, just for the last of it, you 

 know. The last last time lie was up he hooked a big 

 pickerel, which he thought would have weighed between 

 15 and 201bs., but lost him, since the big fellow, doubtless 

 pricked many a time before, made haste to spit out the 

 bait as soon as he found what it really was. This leaves 

 Mr. Clark with a bad taste in his mouth, too. 



Captain Ramage, one of Mr. Clark's converts to the art 

 of bait-casting, is another fisherman who thinks spring a 

 long way off. He will try Silver Lake again this week, 

 the weather having now cleared up. I left these two 

 gentlemen engaged in a red hot discussion over the rela- 

 tive merits of the Kentucky and Abbey & Iinbrie reels. 

 I don't know whether they intend to fish through the ice 

 this winter or not. 



Nov. 14. — A party just back from a duck shooting trip 

 on the Illinois below Peoria, report that they varied the 

 monotony by trying for the fish in the Illinois, and took 

 over 100 bass and pickerel, including a number of 4-pound 

 bass. The fishing was better than shooting. Fish bit in 

 the lower Wisconsin lakes on the bright days of this 

 week. E. Hough. 



An Ariieicial Squid. — The commercial fishermen of 

 Gloucester, Mass., have discovered that codfish will take 

 an imitation of the squid , made of rubber, and are more 

 or less jubilant over the fact in the belief that it will settle 

 the vexed question of bait, which is the great difficulty 

 with tbem, and which has assumed the importance of an 

 international question. These fishermen go out on the 

 Grand Banks with herring packed in ice for bait, and un- 

 less they are successful in getting a fare, or cargo of 

 fish, before the bait spoils, they are obliged to return at 

 great expense of time for more, because the Canadian 

 law does" not permit them to put in to the nearest port 

 and buy a fresh supx>ly. A recent test was made of the 

 rabber squid which promises to solve the bait problem. 

 The day selected for the test was rough, and, in a locality 

 where cod are very scarce, only two squid were used. 

 Six large-sized cod and two small ones were taken, which 

 proves conclusively that cod, like other fish, will bite at 

 artificial bait. These cod were taken in the afternoon, 

 when the boat fishermen find it very hard to make fish 

 bite. The artificial bait consists of a rubber squid, the 

 counterpart of the natural squid, the favorite bait of the 

 cod. On this occasion the squid was coated with a 

 preparation of anise-seed oil. It is proposed to so manu- 

 facture these squid that the hook will be concealed. 

 Rubber imitations of frogs and insects are to be found in 

 all the fishing tackle shops but are only used by anglers 

 when the natural bait cannot be readily obtained, there- 

 fore there is nothing new in this idea but the application 

 Of it. Perhaps there are other tilings which our com- 

 mercial fishermen might learn from a study of the 

 methods of anglers, a class who have expended much 

 ingenuity in devising means to attract and capture their 

 game. By the way, we do not hear of the extensive use 

 of the Norwegian gill-nets in the cod-fisheries, which 

 were introduced by Prof. Baird and Capt. Collins, and 

 which were expected to solve the bait question. 



The Delaware Rod and Reel Association.— In our 

 last issue, under the heading of "Fish Protection in Dela- 

 ware," we gave an account of the proposed formation of 

 a society for the protection of fish and game and of a 

 meeting for this purpose which adjourned to November 

 15. The second meeting was held on the date named at 

 the rooms of the Board of Education, in Wilmington, at 

 8 P. M., and an organization was effected under the title 

 of the Delaware Rod and Reel Association. Mr Ell wood 

 Garrett was chosen as temporary chairman and Mr. J. 

 Travers Jones acted as secretary. The constitution and 

 by-laws as reported by the committee were read and 

 adopted. A permanent organization was formed by the 

 election of Dr. E. G. Shortlidge as President, and of 

 Messrs. Ell wood Garrett, Dr. J. P. Wales and John P. 

 Doughten as Vice-Presidents. It was voted to elect six 

 vice-presidents, three from Kent and three from Sussex, 

 making niue in all. Mr. John P. Allmond was elected 

 to be the Treasurer and Mr. J. Travers Jones, the Secre- 

 tary, all the officers to hold office for one year, dating 

 from the first Thursday in December. In addition to the 

 annual meeting in December it was ordered that a semi- 

 annual meeting be held on the first Thursday in June of 

 each year. The annual dues will be |2. and about fifty 

 persons have already signified their intention to join. 

 The association has a good start, and as there is a good 

 field for it to work in it will prove to be useful. In the 

 selection of Dr. Shortltdge as President the association 



~ association 



has an ac';ive worker and one who has been especially 

 active in stocking the waters which it is now proposed 

 to protect. 



Angling Talks. By George Dawson. Price 50 cents. Fly- 

 Rods and Fly-Tackle. By H. P. Wells. Price $2.50. Fly- 

 Fishing and Fly-MaMng for Trout. By J. H. Keene. 

 Price $1.50. American Angler's Book. By Thad. Norris. 

 Price $5.50. 



THE CONNECTICUT COMMISSION. 



WE have the twenty-third report of the Fish Commission 

 of Connecticut to the Governor, Januarv, 1887. The 

 statutes of the State require the Commission to make an 

 annual report of the season's work and provide that it shall 

 be "made, returned and printed" on or before the first day 

 of November in each year. In States where the fiscal year 

 begins in October this is a most excellent provision as it 

 places the report before the members of the Legislature in 

 due time and the matter is all fresh and the hatching sea- 

 sou of the succeeding year has not begun, ami consequently 

 does not in any way overlap the one recorded. The report 

 under consideration is a supplement to the last one. which 

 has not yet been transmitted to the General Assembly. By 

 the terms of the appropriation for the use of the Commis- 

 sion, the money can only be devoted to two purposes, viz: 

 The artificial propagation of shad and the purchase and dis- 

 tribution of young trout for stocking the streams of the 

 State. 



There is no State hatchery in Connecticut, and no nominal 

 superintendent, the work being-done and paid for as Deeded. 

 The hatching of shad was continued by Mr. Henry J. 

 Feuton, at Birmingham, on the Housatonie River below 

 the dam. The laws in regard to shad fishing in that part 

 of the river were observed, and as a consequence the spawn- 

 ing fish were plentiful. The batching is all done in the 

 McDonald jars and from 11,615,000 eggs there was planted 

 10,167,000 fry. Of these, 5,600,000 were placed in the Connec- 

 ticut River audits tributaries, 500,000 in the Quinuipiac 

 River, and the remainder, 4,067,000 in the Housatonie River. 



Again the Commissioners are compelled to report any de- 

 crease of the number of shad taken in the Connecticut River, 

 and by the pounds near its mouth. Mr. Robert B. Chalker, 

 who has collected the statistics of the catch for several years, 

 reports the catch for 1888 at 68,450, which is 11,900 less' than 

 the number reported for the previous vear. The returns for 

 the last four years show that the catch in 1885 was 190,300; in 

 1886, 117.950; in 1887, 80,350; and in 1888, 68,150. The details 

 of the catches by different methods are given, showing that 

 the largest number are taken in the pound nets; the gill- 

 nets come next, and lastly the hauling semes. As was the 

 case in 1887, the catch of shad in the Potomac and Hudson 

 rivers seems to have been very large, while the Delaware 

 and Connecticut rivers have shown a decrease. As-to the 

 causes of the gradual disappearance of this most valuable 

 fish from the waters of Connecticut the Commissioners have 

 nothing to add to the theories mentioned in their last report. 



Of brook trout there were 336,000 fry bought of Henry J. 

 Fenton, and 3,000 were allotted to each of the 113 applicants 

 who wrote for them previous to March 1. Every year there 

 are persons who wait until after that time and then are dis- 

 appointed because they cannot be supplied. The fry are 

 delivered free at the hatching house at Poquonock, but any 

 person who prefers to have them delivered can do so by 

 paying the expenses of a messenger and §3 perdav for his 

 time. 



The question alluded to in a former report, whether brooks 

 stocked by the State with trout could be closed to the public 

 and leased to private individnals, has taken a practical form 

 during the past year. Certain gentlemen ot Middletown 

 have for several years applied to the Commissioners for 

 trout and have placed them in the Hammonassett Brook, 

 with the consent and approval of the owners. The trout 

 have increased and the stream has beeu much improved 

 for fishing purposes. Under these circumstances a New 

 Haven club of well-known citizens has taken a lease from 

 the owners of several miles of the stream and closed it to al 1 

 except its own members. The Middletown geutlemen claim 

 that this cannot be legally done, and offered the New Haven 

 club to make up a test case for the Supreme Court of the 

 State to decide. As this overture was declined, some of the 

 most prominent of the Middletown gentlemen gave notice 

 that they should go on a certain day and fish in'the stream 

 with the expectation of being arrested. It is understood 

 that this was done, but thus far no arrest has been made. 



A salmon of 221bs., and one of 171bs., were taken in the 

 Housatonie in May and June. Mr. T. L. Cornell writes 

 from Birmingham about these fish, and says that in 1887 

 there were three caught weighing llUIbs., lOVflhs. and Slbs. 

 respectively. The State has not made any plantings of sal- 

 mon for several years, and the fish mentioned are the rem- 

 nants of former plantings. About twenty salmon were 

 taken in the Connecticut in 1887. A letter from Mr. Fred 

 Mather, General Assistant to the U. S. Fish Commission, is 

 printed, in which he informs the State Commissioners that in 

 May, 1887, by order of the late Prof. Baird, he planted 50,000 

 salmon fry in the Housatonie, placing 10,000 at New Milford, 

 10,000 at Kent, and 30,000 at Falls Village. 



SALMON HATCHING ON THE CLACKAMAS RIVER, 

 OREGON.— Editor Forest and Stream: 1 beg to correct a 

 statement which appeared in the papers a short time ago, 

 and for which I am myself responsible. The statement was 

 to the effect that the Canadian salmon breeding station, on 

 the Frazer River, turned out more young salmon last season 

 than the TJ. S. station on the Clackamas River. This state- 

 ment is to some extent misleading, for although the Frazer 

 River establishment took more eggs and did turn out more 

 fish than the Clackamas station, nevertheless most of the 

 salmon from the Canadian station were biuebacks ("saw 

 quai," "sock eye." Oncorhyneux nerka). an inferior kind of 

 salmon, while there were only a million Chinook salmon 

 (Oneorhynens choulca) hatched at that station. At the 

 TJ. S. station on the Clackamas all the young fish that were 

 hatched were Chinook salmon (Oneorhynens ehouica) and 

 of these there were about four million. Consequently the 

 United States station hatched out about four times as many 

 as the Canadian station, and the fish, most ot which are 

 now in the hatching house, are in magnificent condition- 

 nothing could be finer. They are a splendid sight.— Living- 

 ston Stone. 



A Dining Cab Line to the Pacific Coast.— The completion of the all rail 

 line between Portland, Ore., and San Francisco gives the Pacific coast trav- 

 eler an opportunity to patronize the famous Dining Car and Yellowstone 

 Park Line, the Northern Pacific Railroad. The sportsman traveling In the 

 West, whether a lover of the rod or gun, naturally seeks this road, pene- 

 trating as it does the lake park region of Minnesota, and running through 

 the valleys of such trout sU-eams as the Yellowstone, Gallatin, Hell Gate, 

 Clark's Fork, Spokane, Yakima and Green Rivers, for a distance of fully 

 1,500 miles, as well as lying Immediately contiguous to the finest hunting 

 grounds in the United States, viz., The Big Horn, Snowy Belt, Bitter Root, 

 Coeur D'Alene and Cascade Mountains. Inf ormation In regard to this 

 region can be obtained by addressing Charles S. Fee, General Passenger 

 and Ticket Agent, N.R. R.. P. St. Paul. Minn.-^di;. 



The following letter received by the United States Cartridge 

 Co., Lowell, Mass., from Mr. F. S, Lindsley, Supt. American Wood 

 Powder Co., West Hoboken, SJ. J., speaks for itself: "I am per- 

 fectly willing that you should use iny name to indorse your 

 shells, and especially your new primer for American wood pow- 

 der, and 1 heartily' recommend your shells lo wood powder shoot- 

 ers. As h matter of fact I have recommeuded your paper shells 

 for the last eighteen months, and Jiave in that time shot thou- 

 sands of them, and given away thousands of them loaded with 

 wood powder.— Adv. 



