Nov. 14, 1889.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



329 



its own people; and fishing clubs are not an exclusive 

 American institution in Canada. The Canadian Govern- 

 ment is composed of sound, sensible thinking men, gov- 

 erned by a wise policy ? and they have made laws that 

 seem wise and for the best interest of the country, and I 

 doubt if the views of "R. O. S." will affect the question 

 beyond his own immediate circle. If New Brunswick 

 does not want us, we are not going to weep over the fact; 

 there is plenty of good fishing nearer home. 



One of the grievances of the gentleman, and perhaps 

 the tenderest point, is that American club men do not 

 risk the quality of New Brunswick "supplies." but bring 

 their own with them. If he alludes to beverages, it is 

 not strange that they do, for no one who has ever once 

 indulged in New Brunswick stimulants would ever care 

 to risk his life a second time. Podgers. 



HER ACCOUNT OF SEA FISHING. 



SACRAMENTO, Cal. — Editor Forest and Stream: 

 Although a woman I am a constant reader of FOR- 

 EST and Stream, and as such I trust you will permit me 

 to tell my "fish story." My husband is quite a sports- 

 mau, and T, a very apt pupil, am fast becoming one my- 

 self, and in no way do I take so much real genuine pleas- 

 ure as in hunting and fishing with my husband. We 

 often drive to the country early in the morning and spend 

 the day very pleasantly either dove shooting or fishing, 

 and never return without plenty of game, and frequently 

 we supply our neighbors as well as ourselves. 



While spending the month of August at Santa Cruz, 

 Cal., we thought it would be a novelty to try our luck at 

 salt-water fishing for the first time hi our lives. (But we 

 sincerely hope it will not be the last.) We were informed 

 that few tourists dared to venture on account of seasick- 

 ness; but this only made us the more determined to go. 

 My husband felt quite certain that I would be sick, and 

 equally sure that be would not be; while I was secretly 

 praying that he might be the unfortunate one, that I 

 might laugh at him. 



We secured the services of an old Spaniard, who prom- 

 ised to take ua out four or five miles to sea, for one dollar 

 a piece, with no extra charge in case of sickness, and the 

 next morning at 7 o'clock we were at the wharf. Find- 

 ing the little boat waiting for us we were, soon snugly 

 stowed on hoard and moving out to sea. The fisherman 

 occupied a seat near the bow, where he could manage 

 the oars. I was assigned to the stern, while my lord and 

 master was situated directly in front of me with his back 

 toward me. This. I think, was a scheme on his part that 

 I might be convenient to hold his head in case of sick- 

 ness. Oar genial landlady had kindly provided us a 

 basket of lunch, consisting of pie, cake and ham sand- 

 wiches, and I had supplied grapes, plums and peaches, 

 so we were not afraid of going hungry. Our fisherman 

 had provided a can of mussel worms for catching smelts, 

 which we were obliged to have for bait before we ven- 

 tured outside the bay; and we rowed to the smelt grounds 

 firBt. This is an immense field of seaweed situated about 

 one mile from the wharf and within the bay of Monterey. 



We were not long in getting our tackle in shape, and 

 were soon trolling for the little shiners. Of course I had 

 to call upon my husband to bait my hook, as it was en- 

 tirely out of the question for me to take one of those 

 wriggling little worms in my fingers; and of course he 

 growled (as husbands always do but lovers never) all the 

 time while doing it, but he looked sorry when I carried 

 off all the honors by landing four beautiful little fish, 

 while he never had a bite, and as our fisherman assured 

 us that these would be sufficient for our day's fishing, we 

 took in our lines and started seaward. 



The water within the bay was as smooth as a woodland 

 lake, and a heavy fog prevailed, so that our range of 

 vision was decidedly limited, and had the peculiar effect 

 of making a small fisherman's boat containing a solitary 

 fisherman appear almost as large as an ocean steamer. 

 Our basket of lunch was now brought into requisition, 

 and we enjoyed a sumptuous repast, which we thought 

 might be a fortification against the sickness of the sea. 



Two miles from the wharf we passed the fog horn, 

 which was somewhat of a curiosity to us, as we had 

 never seen one of the kind before. It is of boiler iron 

 and funnel-shaped, with the small end upward and the 

 large end resting upon the water, being so arrangad that 

 the action of the waves forces a current of air upward 

 through it, and blows the immense whistle which is se- 

 cured at the top. The anchor which holds it in place is 

 said to weigh 4,0001bs. The mournful moan of the whis- 

 tle had a melancholy sound, which made us almost feel 

 that it was a lonely living thing grieving, like many a 

 human being, for a companionship never to be found. 

 Alone it stands two miles from the wharf, and performs 

 its noble duty of guiding vessels as they come and go, I 

 may be foolish, but I never can recall our visit to the old 

 fog horn without a feeling of sadness; for in comparison 

 with human life, it seems to me if all were to give vent 

 to their feelings when buffeted by the cruel waves of 

 life, we would not be compelled to go out to sea to find 

 fog horns, but we would find them standing as lonely 

 sentinels all OA 7 er our land. 



As we proceded the waves grew larger, and our little 

 boat rose and fell with all the ease and grace of a little 

 bird. This was my first trip in a small boat, and I was 

 perfectly delighted; the sensation was grand, and it 

 seemed 'to me I could sit there and rock forever. But 

 ere long we reached rock bottom and our boat was 

 anchored and we went to work. This time I was inde- 

 pendent, for our smelts were dressed and cut into con- 

 venient pieces for bait and I could feed my own hooks. 

 Our lines were 100ft. long and had three large hooks. We 

 dropped them 90ft. down, when the sinkers told us we 

 had reached bottom', and we had but a short time to 

 wait, for a decidedly jerky message from below pro- 

 claimed "a bite." We hauled up our lines simultaneously 

 and landed a couple of beautiful red rock-cod in the boat. 

 Then we had a lively time for a few hours, our fish 

 weighing from 31bs. to olbs. Fishing at a depth of 90ft. 

 is not all play, for when hauling up a fish of even 31bs. or 

 4lbs. one is sure he has a whale on his hook. We fre- 

 quently found fish on two of our hooks when we pulled 

 them up. It was such hard work for me to pull them 

 through 90ft. of water that I concluded to bold my hooks 

 about 40ft. down and see what the result would be, and 

 I was dumb with astonishment when I captured an im- 

 mense bluefish. After that I caught nearly all blues. 

 When they quit biting fast enough for us in one place we 

 would row to another and try it again; and while the 



Spaniard was hauling in his anchor, rowing to another 

 field and anchoring again, we were busy with our lunch, 

 so as to lose no time. 



We had the finest fishing day we ever had in our lives, 

 until at 12 o'clock the sea began to roll, the wind to rise 

 and the white caps to snap around us. Then our fisher- 

 man declared his immediate intention of hoisting sail and 

 skipping out for shore. My heart sank within me, and 

 I begged him to wait until I caught just one more; but, 

 man-like, he insisted upon leaving at once, and my line 

 had to be wound up; nevertheless it was the last one 

 pulled in. My hands were swollen and red from the 

 salt water and the sharp lines, but I had not noticed 

 them before. We were so inteut on fishing that neither 

 of us were a particle seasick, and we finished up our 

 lunch, fruit and all, on our homeward voyage. We 

 marched up to our hotel feeling so proud with all the 

 beautiful fish we both could carry in a handle basket be- 

 tween us. But, O ! the cruelty of the guests. They one 

 and all shouted: "Wherc'd you buy 'em." 



During our stay at Santa Cruz we made four more 

 voyages and had a delightful time and no seasickness, 

 but after the first trip we were always at the wharf at 

 five o'clock instead of at seven, as the little boats are 

 compelled to return on account of the roughness of the 

 sea at twelve o'clock, and often much earlier. One day a 

 large sea lion swam near us for a long time and every 

 few moments he woidd thrust his head up out of the 

 water and blow. We supposed he was out on a fishing 

 trip too, and came to the surface for the purpose of get- 

 ting air. Sometimes he would throw his body broadside 

 on top of the water, but he took great care to maintain a 

 respectful distance from our boat. 



One morning upon our arrival at the wharf a stranger 

 approached us and introduced himself as Mr. H. from S. 

 C. ; and at the same time he informed us that he had ob- 

 tained per mission from our boatman to become one of our 

 party for the day, and with our consent he would be 

 pleased to accompany us. My husband, who by the way 

 is of an extremely sociable disposition, without hesitancy 

 told the gentleman that we would certainly be delighted 

 to have his company; but fearing that he might get sea- 

 sick and therefore spoil our fishing by compelling us to 

 return, requested him to pledge his word and honor that 

 he would not be sick. To this he graciously consented 

 and smilingly informed me that my fears were ground- 

 less, as he "never was sick." He also stated that on the 

 day previous he had ventured out to sea in company 

 with three ladies, and unfortunately they became so sick 

 he was obliged to return without his fish, and his reasons 

 for wishing to accompany us were, that he had ascer- 

 tained from the boatman that we were never sick and 

 that we always returned with a beautiful lot of fish . 



He was a fine-looking man, strong and robust in ap- 

 pearance and his portly figure was charmingly set off by 

 a genial smiling countenance, and his conversational 

 qualities were simply enchanting. We were forthwith 

 enraptured with his interesting discourse and silently 

 congratulated ourselves upon our good fortune in the ac- 

 quisition of so charming a companion. He Avas assigned 

 a seat in the bow of the boat, directly facing the rest of 

 U3, and we were soon skimming over the placid waters of 

 the Bay of Monterey and laughing at the witty sayings 

 of our entertaining friend. 



As usual, we rowed directly to the smelt grounds, 

 where we soon captured a beautiful basket of the pretty 

 little fish, our Mr. H. proving himself to be a capital 

 angler; and I trembled in anticipation of his carrying off 

 the honors of the day's sport. Upon our departure for 

 the ocean our lunch basket was produced, and everybody 

 partook heartily of sandwiches, cold coffee and fruit, ex- 

 cept Mr. H., who daintly minced one luscious little 

 peach, and could not be prevailed upon to indulge in 

 more substantial viands. We were soon rocking beauti- 

 fully upon the heaving bosom of the grand old ocean, 

 when suddenly all was still within our little boat; the 

 melodious tones of our entertaining friend had ceased, 

 and only the splash of the oars in the hands of our boat- 

 man broke the painful stillness. 



Evidently there was something wrong in the bow. 



Taking a hasty look in that direction I was somewhat 

 surprised to see that the ruddy countenance of Mr. H. 

 had assumed a vivid whiteness, his lips were closely com- 

 pressed and his eyes were religiously intent upon some 

 imaginary object of the most profound interest, which 

 was evidently supposed to be located in the extreme bot- 

 tom of the boat and in close proximity to his toes. My 

 suspicions were slightly aroused , and I could not resist 

 the temptation to give my husband a vigorous pinch and 

 nod. my head toward the' disconsolate-looking figure for- 

 ward. In reply he gave me a knowing smile; and we at 

 once engaged in a lively conversation upon the beauty 

 and grandeur of the sea. dwelling at length upon the 

 delightful sensation of the motion of our boat as it danced 

 over the waves, one minute resting upon the brow of a 

 mountain, the next plunging into the valley below. In 

 vain we expatiated upon the pleasures of salt-water fish- 

 ing, in vain attempted to engage our once social friend in 

 conversation; but alas! no response from the bow! Pres- 

 ently a happy thought possessed me, and reaching the 

 basket of fruit I passed it forward, saying, "Mr. H.. will 

 you have a peach?" A mournful shake of the head and 

 a faintly-murmured "Thanks" were my only reward; 

 but some mirthful glances were exchanged between the 

 boatman and ourselves as we quietly watched the de- 

 velopment of proceedings forward. 



Presently rousing himself from his meditations, and 



giving me a beseeching glance, he exclaimed, "Mrs. , 



what are you going to do with me if I get seasick ft 



"Throw you overboard, of course," I replied, "for 

 breaking your promise. We came out here .to fish, and 

 we must have them at whatever cost." 



Before I ceased speaking there was a hasty movement 

 forward, a hat was precipitated into the bottom of the 

 boat, the portly form of Mr. H. lay at full length across 

 the bow, and his head was dangling overboard. This 

 was proof positive; there could be no mistake this time. 

 I did not smile, but laughed outright in malicious delight 

 at the thought that this was one instance in which a lord 

 of creation was getting his pay as he went along for 

 breaking his promise to a woman, and I mentally prayed 

 that there might more cases develop. The peach, we 

 supposed, went overboard, but Mr. H., after a severe 

 spell of coughing and strangling, once more bore himself 

 erect, and wiping the briny surf from bis eyes exclaimed, 



"Hang that peach. Mrs. , that was your fault." I 



took no affront at this, but, on the contrary, felt thankful 



that the "woman in the case" was at hand to bear the 

 blame for the suffering lord. 



Well, we reached the fishing grounds at last, and all 

 went bravely to work. Even Mr. H., who declared him- 

 self "all right" after the delivering up of the peach, 

 succeeded in pulling in two or three beautiful rock cod, 

 when all at once he was prostrated again with his head 

 overboard. We went on with our fishing, thinking his 

 case was not serious, but that he had probably concluded 

 to go down after the lost peach. We caught all the fish 

 we could carry home, had a fine time, and I laughed my- 

 self nearly sick at the persistence of Mr. H. in his peri- 

 odical endeavors to recover the poor little peach. Just as 

 we were thinking of going home the sea became rough 

 and the whitecaps commenced snapping about us, even 

 dashing into the boat; yet I begged to be allowed time to 

 catch just one more " blue." Mr. H. gave me a wither- 

 ing look and began winding in his line, saying, " Well, 

 I am not going to fish any more; but if you'want to take 

 a boat ride, Madam, go ahead. I prefer to enjoy the 

 scenery." But the tears trickled down my nose with 

 laughter when I saw him take one hasty survey of the 

 " scenery," then, with more haste than grace, throw 

 himself full length across the bow again. With a. great 

 deal of laughing and joking at the expense of Mr. H. 

 we reached the wharf safely about noon, a much jollier 

 as well as wetter party than when we set out in the morn- 

 ing. When we landed my husband engaged the services 

 of our fisherman for the following day. and of course we 

 gave Mr. H. a pressing invitation to accompany us, I 

 holding out as a special inducement a promise to bring 

 more peaches. But we could not prevail upon him to go. 

 He said he didn't believe he liked to fish as well as he 

 used to. 



One little incident which amused me very much while 

 out at sea, and also reminded me of the saying that "hu- 

 man nature is pretty much the same the world over," 

 was the way in which we signalled a passing fisherman. 

 Some one had broken a hook, and we wanted to get one 

 if wo could, as we had no more in our boat. The fisher- 

 man was a Spaniard and could only speak in broken Eng- 

 lish. Our boatman, being of the same nationality, 

 attempted to attract his attention by calling to him ; but it 

 could not be done. He was utterly oblivious of the pres- 

 ence of any human being save himself. Finding his 

 lungs of no avail, our man took from his pocket a suspi- 

 cious looking flat bottle and commenced moving it above 

 his head. Seeing what he was about, we all concluded 

 to lend him our assistance; and Mr. H. grasped the water 

 bottle, I my bottle of cold coffee, and my husband pro- 

 duced one which I had not seen before, and which, I 

 presume, contained lemon juice as a remedy for seasick- 

 ness. Imitating the boatman, we waved them in the air. 

 It is wonderful how soon that Spaniard's attention was 

 secured. His little boat shot toward us with the rapidity 

 of a bird. He seemed very thirsty, and we secured the 

 coveted hook. 



We met Mr. H. again before we left Santa Cruz, and 

 he promised to meet us there next year, Providence per- 

 mitting, and also declared his intention of taking his 

 wife with him next time to hold his head. Marion. 



NOTES ON MASSACHUSETTS FISHES. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



You ask if I have caught any rare fishes this season. 

 I have taken four, which I think are new to the coast of 

 Massachusetts. One is the Nomeus gronovii. I took a 

 single individual while seining at G-ay Head, July 6, and 

 secured five others during the month at the surface 

 under the Portuguese men-o'-war in Vineyard Sound. I 

 believe ! saw fully 100 at different times this season 

 under similar circumstances. The Portuguese man-o'- 

 war was very abundaut; some days there were as many 

 as 100 in sight at one time in the Sound. The shores were 

 lined with them about the first of July. 



The second fish is the Larimus faseiatus, caught 

 Aug. 13. 



The third is the Seriola carolinensis, of which I ob- 

 tained an example 2ft. long at Wood's Holl, Aug. 16. 



The fourth addition is the thin silver gar (Tylosurus 

 Man's), seined at Quisset Harbor, Aug. 22. 



Young sea bass have been very scarce this season, only 

 sixteen specimens having been taken outside of the eel 

 pond. In the pond they are plentiful because I stocked 

 it with one jar of young fry hatched at the U. S. Fish 

 Commission station last spring. Young scup and tautog 

 were as abundant as in other years. Young bluefish 

 were scarce everywhere but in Quisset Harbor, where 

 they were plentiful. 



We have not caught a young pompano anywhere 

 during the season; this is the first time they have missed 

 coming in eighteen years. Not more than ten young 

 sea robins were seined, while in other years hundreds 

 were taken. The same is true about the sea bass; we 

 were accustomed to get from twenty to one hundred and 

 fifty at one draw of the seine. Only about twenty young 

 menhaden were caught; in some seasons I have seined 

 twenty barrels of them. Not a school of menhaden ha3 

 been seen this fall anywhere on the south side of Cape 

 Cod. I never knew anything of the kind before; they are 

 always plentiful here in the fall. 



One-year-old cod were caught in all the fish pounds 

 along the Vineyard shore last spring. This is a new 

 thing; the fish pound men told me it was the first time 

 they ever caught any small cod. From this it appears 

 that the young cod liberated here by the TJ. S. Fish Com- 

 mission are coming back toward home. Some of the 

 tautog fishermen have caught cod this fall weighing 

 about Jib; each. One was caught in the hole the other 

 day, the first one ever taken there. 



Do you say that the silver-bellied eel is the same species 

 as our common yellow and white-bellied eel ? We have 

 both kinds in the aquaria, and they seem to differ greatly. 

 The fin of the silver belly looks much deeper, the tail 

 more nearly square and the lateral line shows much more 

 distinctly. These all have nearly ripe eggs, while the 

 others have the ovaries scarcely enlarged. 



ViNAL N. Edwards. 



Wood's Holl, Mass., Oct. 28. 



[The query of Mr. Edwards as to the silver eel is 

 answered in another column,] 



Mr. Wm. C. Harris was last week charged with hav- 

 ing appropriated our review of the New York Fish Com- 

 mission report. We are advised on excellent authority 

 that Mr. Harris was not responsible for the omission of 

 ' credit. 



