Nov. 28, 1889.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



S69 



like to ask those parties if they ever examined one of 

 those common legal documents known as a warranty 

 deed; and if so did they feast their eyes on this clause: 

 ' To have and to hold said granted premises with all the 

 privileges and appurtenances thereto belonging to the 

 said grantees and his (or her) heirs, and assigns to hiui (ot- 

 her) and his only proper use and benefit forever." 



As the laws now stand in this State, any person hold- 

 ing deeds of real estate can prohibit shooting and fishing 

 on his property; but the law does not prohibit him from 

 leasing the right to shoot or fish to any persons that he 

 may choose. 



In this State it is lawful to shoot, woodcock, ruffed 

 grouse, partridges or quail from the first day of Septem- 

 ber to the first of January: but in order to do the shoot- 

 ing legally the shooter must either own the land that he 

 shoots on or have the permission of the owner, 



It is quite easy for the observing person to see where 

 the cry of illegality originates. It is not with the back- 

 woodsman, but the business men of the cities, who in 

 summer come up into the country with the regulation 

 fishing outfit and a carefully prepared package which is 

 not unwrapped until the fishing ground is reached and 

 the gaudy flies prove a failure. Then the magazine is 

 opened, showing several small dynamite cartridges, which 

 enables the otherwise unsuccessful angler to return to 

 the hotel with a full basket: and after a couple of weeks 

 of such villainous work, he is ready to go into the wilder- 

 ness and contribute his mite toward making notorious 

 lawbreakers. 



Why will business men resort to such means when, 

 with the same amount of money, and often much less, 

 they could become members of some club where legal 

 and honorable sport with the rod and gun would he as- 

 sured, and not only that, but how much better would he 

 feel to be able to look his friends squarely in the face and 

 tell them how and where he lawfully shot his deer or 

 caught his trout: and last but not least the guide that he 

 now hires to break the law could be emplo} ed on the 

 preserve at least a portion of the year, and thus become 

 a, game preserver and a useful citizen. R, S. F. 



NKW HiUtrSHTRE. 



WABAN LAKE FISHING. 



r |"VHE lake about which I write is situated near Welles- 

 L ley, Mass., and is well known to every one who has 

 seen Wellesley College. It was on a misty and unprom- 

 ising morning last August that I went fishing in Waban, 

 accompanied by my three neighbors, who may be called 

 for the purpose of this reminiscence Thomas, Richard 

 and Henry. We rose very early and seined a pailful of 

 live minuows in School House Pond. Minnows have 

 been introduced here and have multiplied wonderfully. 

 Before 6 o'clock we were on the ground and ready for 

 sp irt. Richard and I carried common fishing poles, 

 while Thomas and Henry were equipped with light fly- 

 rods. I regret to say that in this instance the poles beat 

 the fly-rods more than two to one, and we had the bulk 

 of the fun on our side. We took a boat supplied with an 

 anchor at each end and rowed out to a depth of 10 or 15ft., 

 just near the edge of a shoal. This shoal is a long way 

 off from the shore and makes off gradually for a great 

 distance, when the water deepens all at once to about 

 35ffc. On the shoal was a luxuriant growth of lilypads. 

 The ground is a favorite one and has often furnished us 

 with excellent fishing. 



When we were ready to begin our trials, Richard said 

 to Thomas as he looked at his little fly -rod, "Humph! 

 what do you expect to catch with that thing?" "I want 

 you to understand, young man, there ain't any fish in 

 this pond big enough to break this rod," and he pro- 

 ceeded to put on a live bait with the air of a conquering 

 crusader. Scarcely had the bait sunk in the water, when 

 Thomas became aware of a tremendous bite and com- 

 menced reeling in vigorously, when — snap! went his tip, 

 and he was obliged to haul hand over hand, finally dis- 

 covering that he had fastened to' a huge eel. We all 

 laughed as a matter of course. When the eel neared our 

 boat Thomas exclaimed, "What ami going to do with 

 this thing?" The "thing," however, answered his ques- 

 tion very promptly by parting the line along with its 

 owner's company. "Go down below." shouted Thomas, 

 "and tell them what we're doing up here, but don't send 

 any mure of your kind." Then said Henry: "Just wait 

 till I get something on and I'll show you how the thing- 

 is done," I will relate to you presently how he kept his 

 word. 



We were soon on confidential terms with the fish life 

 of the lake and drew up a handsome score of yellow perch, 

 eels, hornpout and pickerel; but the great bass for which 

 this locality iE famous gave us a severe letting alone. 

 Even a few chafin, or dace, which my friend Dr. Bean 

 tells me are known also as fall fish (Semotilus bullaris). 

 took the live minnow as readily as the perch and other 

 fishes. I have occasionally caught chafin before with 

 live bait, once with a small frog while fishing for black 

 bass. The perch were very fine, some of the big ones 

 weighed fully a pound and were very bright orange ia 

 color. The small perch, on the other hand, were green 

 or bluish. 



But while we were contentedly caring for our growing 

 ereel , trouble was brewing for Henry of the fly-rod. It 

 was announced to me by a rush and a great splash, fol- 

 lowed by a deluge of water over my back, and I soon 

 perceived that it was caused by a monster black bass 

 hooked by Henry, who thereupon proceeded to show us 

 "how the thing is done." Almost instantly his rod bent 

 double. The reel clicked and sung. Great was the ex- 

 citement of Henry. We kindly volunteered to help him, 

 but "this is all right," said he, "just leave it with me," 

 and we subsided. The bass jumped out of water several 

 times and shook his head to get rid of the hook. After a 

 while he was brought so near to the boat that Richard 

 tried to lift him in with his hands. The frightened bass 

 rushed away and Henry, in trying to keep a strain on 

 the line, got it fouled in the reel. He then attempted to 

 clear it and unshipped the reel, dropping it into the 

 water, and the line ran out as the bass frantically sped 

 away. Henry with great difficulty recovered the line 

 and "began hauling in again hand over hand. The bass 

 sulked along to within 10 or 12ft. of the boat, just near 

 enough to show us his enormous size, and then, with a 

 mighty breach out of the water, parted the line. Henry 

 stood up with the broken line in his hand, gazing sadly 

 into the vacancy caused by the disappearance of the fish, 

 and deliberately remarked, "Well, I'll be teetotally blank 

 blanked, " and this was the way the thing was done. As 



Henry had the instincts of one of "the finest" and soared 

 above us common mortals, we didn't bubble over with 

 sympathy for his misplaced confidence and cruel disap- 

 pointment. With Thomas and Heury honors were now 

 easy, and as for theplebians with the poles, they had no 

 mishaps, most of the fish and the cream of the fun. 

 Washington, P. C. S. F. DENTON. 



AQUARIA NOTES. 



Occasional Observations of the Fishes in the Aquaria, of the I'. S. 

 Fish Commission. 



MIMICRY IN FISHES. 



r r , HERE is an interesting little fish — the Antenna-rim — 

 JL which is a favorite subject for popular illustrated arti- 

 cles; but very few persons have enjoyed the opportunity of 

 observing it in the aquarium, and but little is generally 

 known of it beyond the mere fact of its living and build- 

 ing its nest in the floating Sargassum or Gulf weed. 

 Occasional specimens have been taken by the steamer 

 Albatross and transferred to the Wood's Holl Aquaria, 

 where, by reason of their curious form and coloration, 

 they have been sources of great interest to naturalists as 

 well as general visitors. Tho Sargassum is one of the 

 commonest of seaweeds, and may be known when found 

 dry on the sea beach by the little round balls (not blad- 

 ders) in the axils of the leaves. When alive the plant is 

 of mixed shades of yellow and brown, generally speckled 

 with white, this being caused by the calcareous deposits 

 of low form of life. The fish is of the same colors so 

 mottled as to make it difficult to distinguish from the 

 plant when hiding in it. The fish is also of very curious 

 and un-fishlike shape (to the popular notion), and is cov- 

 ered with tufts of leaflike appearance which add to the 

 similarity. But the oddest characteristic of the fish is 

 the modification of the pectoral fins into handlike or- 

 gans, which are used like hands aHd by means of which 

 it climbs about on the Sargassum, back downward, with 

 all the agility of a monkey. It is one of the oddest crea- 

 tures imaginable. 



Another queer kind of fish is the batfish, and it is 

 another remarkable example of mimicry. In coloring 

 and markings it is so exact an imitation of coral that it 

 would be almost impossible to distinguish between it and 

 a mass of Astrangia if it were resting upon it. In color 

 it changes from dark to light , and vice versa, very quickly. 

 Its manner of eating is quite curious. It has a proboscis- 

 like extension of the mouth which it shoots out suddenly 

 and seizes its food. Should it take hold of a worm at 

 one end there would be no further movement of the mouth ; 

 in fact, the fish would appear as if chiseled out of stone: 

 but the worm would glide rapidly into the orifice, which 

 would fit closely around it, evidently pulled by some 

 power within. The head of the batfish is crested or 

 tufted and looks very much like that of a cockatoo. Its 

 pectoral fins have the appearance of forelegs and the 

 ventrals that of hindlegs (what would be the knee joints 

 bending back in both cases), and it walks about exactly 

 like a quadruped. These fins are also used in swimming. 



Some spring swellfish or burfish were brought from the 

 Gulf of Mexico by the steamer Fish Hawk last spring. 

 They are very odd-looking creatures, covered with hard 

 spines, which, when the fish swells into a round ball by 

 filling itself either with water or air, which it does as a 

 protection against enemies, give it much the general ap- 

 pearance of a giant horse-chestnut in the bur, except in 

 color. It is said by some of the scientific corps of the 

 Albatross that they have seen the burfish rise to the sur- 

 face of the sea, and filling themselves with air go sailing 

 off before the wind like toy balloons, undoubtedly by 

 that means escaping enemies. It was not known fcr 

 some time what food would suit them, as they did not 

 seem to have a relish for dead food. They did not appear 

 to enjoy earth worms as most fishes do. One day, how- 

 ever, they were given some fresh-water snails, which 

 they ate with avidity, crunching the snails and extract- 

 ing the meat with evident enjoyment. This giving the 

 clue they are now fed on small salt-water mussels and 

 snails, varying with marine worms and oysters, and oc- 

 casionally' beef, of which they eat sparingly, but for 

 which they are apparently acquiring a taste. 



Wm. P. Seal. 



East Indian Game Fish. — A controversy has recently 

 appeared iu the Calcutta Fishing Gazelle as to what is 

 the largest mahseer caught in India on the rod and line, 

 and it appears that a fish weighing lOSlbs.. caught by the 

 late General Sir Herbert Macpherson in the Ganges near 

 Hardwar, takes the palm among fish caught fairly on rod 

 and line, and not on a night-line or bank runner or any 

 similar contrivance. Mr. Sanderson, in his book, " Thir- 

 teen Years Among the Wild Beasts of India." records the 

 capture of one weighing loOibs., but this was on a 400yds. 

 night-line. There is also a record of an 82-pound er caught 

 at Torbela. some years back, by an officer of the Rifle 

 Brigade, and also of 74, 73, 62 and 61-pomiders, caught 

 all fairly on rod and fine: but according to our contrib- 

 utor " Shikaree," the general run of mahseer taken in 

 the Gauges and Ramgunga rivers range from 8 to 251 bs. 



Restigouche Salmon Culture.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: We are pleased to bear this season has resulted 

 favorably for the spawning salmon on the famed Resti- 

 gouche, We are also pleased to learn that over 8,000,000 

 salmon ova have been laid down in the hatchery there, 

 double the quantity of any previous year. We under- 

 stand the river needs all the assistance possible to supple- 

 ment its stock, owing to the enormous number of nets 

 and the loose manner in which the regulations are car- 

 ried out. It is to be hoped the river will have the whole 

 proceeds of the hatchery, and that the general Govern- 

 ment, which owns the hatchery, will keep the eggs at 

 home and let every tub stand on its own bottom.— Scar. 



Clackamas River Salmon Angling. — Portland, Ore. 

 — I have not seen any mention in your columns of the 

 remarkable sport which was had on the Clackamas River 

 last spring, fishing for salmon with a fly. The fish ran 

 from 10 to 861bs.. and it was not unusual to catch twenty 

 per day to the rod. As the river is only two hours' drive 

 from this city.the sport was enjoyed by a great many. — B. 



Mr. F. C. Gilchrist, a son of Chas. Gilchrist, of Port 

 Hope, Ont. , has been appointed Fishery Inspector for the 

 Northwest Territories. If he does as well for that coun- 

 try as his energetic father has done for Rice Lake, the 

 fishing interests will be well cared for. 



Saw t Mills, Tanneries, Mine Water and Fish.— Cat- 

 awissa, Pa. — Our trout streams are rapidly becoming 

 nothing but pleasant memories. A number of small 

 mountain brooks around here contain a few trout, but 

 Fishing Creek is the only good trout stream. During the 

 past few years several large saw mills and a tannery 

 have been erected at the headwaters, and I fear it is but 

 a question of a few years more until the trout will dis- 

 appear from that stream also. The Susquehanna River, 

 which was once one of the best fishing streams in this 

 country, is fast being depopulated by tho mine water, 

 and Catawissa Creek, which fifteen years ago abounded 

 with trout, pike, white chubs, etc., now contains no ani- 

 mal life— not a frog, not a snake, not even a turtle. All 

 this was caused by mine water. It makes me mad every 

 time I take a walk along the creek to think that such a 

 beautiful stream should be so desolate. — C. E. R. 



The Castalia Club, of Toledo, O., last winter added 

 to its territory sixty-four acres of meadow land on the 

 Castalia Creek, and made a new stream, which winds 

 through the tract, making sixty zigzags, and at con- 

 venient spots spanned by rustic bridges. At a recent 

 meeting of the members at then pretty cottage, a number 

 of trout were transplanted from the old stream to the 

 new; and some of the pools and bends and eddies were 

 given names in honor of the club anglers, as follows: 

 "Bias's Bend," after Capt. G. W. Bills: "Oswald's Pool," 

 after Col. John W. Oswald; "Hasbrook's Annex," after a 

 member from Cleveland; "Waite's Dam," after John 

 Waite; "Brown's Hole," after Clarence Brown; "Spen- 

 cer's Stretch," after Joe Spencer; "Reed's Eddy," after I. 

 N, Reed. 



Menhaden.— Wood's Holl, Mass.— In my letter last 

 week where it read that there had not been seen . south 

 of Cape Cod any menhaden, it should have been no young 

 menhaden seen south of Cape Cod, for there were schools 

 of old ones. — Vinal N. Edwards. 



Snake Caught on a Hook. — A gentleman of Welles- 

 ley, Mass., while fishing for pickerel one day with live 

 frogs for bait caught a water snake. 



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

 Mfrs., 34 Commercial st. Boston, or lfl9 Fulton si.. N. Y.—Atfv. 



ILLINOIS FISH COMMISSION. 



THE report of the Board of Illinois Fish Commissioners 

 for the period from Oct. 1, 1886, to Sept. 30, 1888. has 

 recently been published in a very attractive and instructive 

 form. We have already called attention to the method of 

 stocking streams inaugurated by this Commission several 

 years ago, and now adopted for the more extensive regions 

 covered by the operations of the TJ. S. Fish Commission. 

 The sloughs and holes along the Mississippi River are filled 

 with food fishes during times of high water, and the fish left 

 by the receding waters would perish if they were not re- 

 moved before the holes dry up. Men are employed in sein- 

 ing the fish and placing them in deep water near at hand or 

 forwarding them to some point for distribution by rail to 

 inland lakes and streams. A small steamboat was used to 

 move a 25ft. barge, which could be converted into a live box 

 capable of holding 4,500 to 6,500 fish, or as many as could be 

 tranported in one of the ears employed in the distribution. 

 Two of the cars belonging to the U. S. Fish Commission 

 were lent to the Illinois Commissioners with the men neces- 

 sary to handle them, and were in this service from July 15 

 to Oct. 5. A number of the railroads transported these cars 

 to nearly all parts of the State without charge, and thus 

 made possible a beneficent work which would not have been 

 accomplished otherwise. Black bass, croppies, wall-eyed 

 pike, pickerel, pike, white bass (Boceus clirysops), yellow- 

 bass (BoecAis intcrrupius), rock bass (AmMopUtes rupes- 

 Iris), ringed perch, spotted catfish, channel catfish, white 

 perch (Aplodinotus grunniens), sunfishes and buffalo were 

 among the species rescued and distributed. The increase of 

 native fish from this plan of action is notable. At Quiucy, 

 in ten days, over 10,000 fish were taken with rod and line- 

 In early spring fully 500 anglers could have been observed 

 daily about this city, and they were generally successful, 

 strings of 35 to 50 white bass and wall-eyed pike' of good size 

 being very common. F. K. Whittemore's pond of about 

 eight acres at Lanesville was stocked in 1882 and 1883 with 

 carp and native fish. In 1887, on account of the dry weather, 

 the pond had to be emptied of fish; but their number and 

 size were so great that the transfer was pronounced impos- 

 sible. Black bass of 3%lbs., croppies of l.U'lbs., and carp 

 weighing "lbs. were among the fish removed. This result 

 was obtained in a poud fed by tile and surface drainage. 



In the reservoir of the Illinois Central Railroad at Clinton, 

 which was stocked three to three and a half years, 2,000lbs. 

 of fish were taken out at one seine haul. This was a still- 

 water pond, and yet black bass were found weighing I 1 ;, lbs. 

 and carp of 143^'lbs. 



Twenty-six carloads of fish were safely deposited iu Illi- 

 nois streams during the time specified. 



The Commissioners engaged in a struggle to secure the 

 introduction of fishways over all obstructions in streams, 

 and with the timely and substantial help of the Fox River 

 Fish and Game Association, they have secured the enforce- 

 ment of the law regulating this matter. The Association 

 agreed to advance the funds necessary to build fishways 

 when dam owners refused to comply with the law, and re- 

 ceive reimbursement out of sums recovered by prosecution 

 of the offenders. Mr. Geo. B. Cole, a leading member of 

 the Association, visited every dam on Fox River and served 

 notices upon the parties interested. The result of such en- 

 ergetic measures if applied wherever obstructions exist can 

 be readily imagined. 



The fish laws do not provide sufficiently for their enforce- 

 ment and do not clearly define violation, nor specify what 

 kind of nets may be used. In prosecutions the burden of 

 proof rests with the State, and many offenders go free when 

 their guilt is plainly evident. 



Ten protective, organizations in various parts of the State 

 exert their influence in favor of law and increased distri- 

 bution. 



The Commissioners ask for a car for use in the transpor- 

 tation of fish throughout the State. 



The growth of carp in Illinois is remarkable. Mention is 

 made of a 3-year-old fisb, 38in. long and weighing 11 lbs. 

 The largest one noted was 36in. long and weighed 24)^lbs. 



The appendix contains a noteworthy report on the animals 

 of the Mississippi Bottoms near Quincy, by H. Garmau, 

 assistant in the State Laboratory of Natural History. Prof. 

 Forbes, the director of the laboratory, introduces the report 

 in the following words: 



"The investigation of which the present paper is intended 

 to set forth in a general way a few of the results, has for its 

 purpose an exhibit of the animal life of the waters of Illinois 

 as related to fishculture primarily, but also and finally to 

 nature at large. To this end studies have been carried for 



