Dec. S, 1889.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



891 



POND FISHING IN CONNECTICUT. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



We have a number of ponds, reservoirs and lakes in 

 this locality, in which bass, yellow perch, pickerel, bull- 

 pout or bullheads, sunfish and fish of other kinds abound. 

 The bullpout is thought by many superior eating to the. 

 trout, and I am surprised at the number to be found; they 

 spawn in May and immense numbers are taken in that 

 month. I have caught them of one pound weighty and a 

 few are taken of greater size. Bass and perch are taken 

 mostly at this time in the season with live bait, although 

 I took two bass and a number of perch last week with 

 worms, but I find large perch can only be taken with live 

 bait. I have taken some quite large. Very few, how- 

 ever, acquire a weight of over two pounds. I use what 

 we call shiners — not the minnow — of which few are to 

 be found except in the Connecticut River and the coves 

 that put up from the same. The shiners also make good 

 bait for pickerel, as do tadpoles and small frogs. A land- 

 locked salmon was taken m one of our ponds this week 

 which weighed 7Hbs.; the pond is celebrated for pickerel 

 and perch, but this is the first salmon that I have known 

 caught there. Several have been taken in a lake not a 

 great distance from the pond. In fishing from the shore 

 I find considerable difficulty in preventing the shiner 

 breaking from the hook, being a very tender fish. I have 

 used small roach or, as you call them, sunfish; but perch 

 will not take them as readily as the shiner. Carp are 

 being introduced in some of our waters, but I do not value 

 the fish highly; yet they multiply very fast, and may 

 prove a valuable food fish. Trout in this State run small. 

 Many streams are posted and fishing forbidden, but in 

 most cases from purely selfish motives. I am in favor of 

 proper laws to preserve fish and game, but I also am in 

 favor of cheap fish for the people, and hope to see many 

 more waters stocked with fish, and proper laws enforced 

 to prevent taking them out of season. There should, 

 however, be no favored few to have all the benefits. 



Manchester Green, Conn. W. H. E. 



ANGLING NOTES. 



FISH, flesh and fowl show a peculiar fondness for cer- 

 tain colors, particularly for bright red. M«ny a 

 woman has discovered to her sorrow, tl^at her red gown 

 has brought her in entirely too prominent notice when 

 passing near cattle, and a turkey will gobble himself into 

 a fit over a red shawl. It is a well-known fact to hunters 

 that antelope show a strange curiosity for this color and 

 are often coaxed to their death by the waving of a bit of 

 red rag, while ever boy knows that a small piece of red 

 flannel is the best bait in the world for bullfrogs. 



When we come to fish, most varieties that are taken by 

 artificial lures, show that same fondness for bright colors, 

 and red seems more attractive than any other. The 

 majority of artificial flies have red in their composition; 

 for instance the Abbey, Montreal, royal-coachman, griz- 

 zly-king, professor, red-hackle, red-spinner, Howard, 

 soldier, scarlet-ibis, and many others too numerous to 

 mention, In fact this color is so attractive to chub, 

 pickerel, perch and rock bass, that anglers often have to 

 use flies dressed with more sober colors, when fishing 

 for better fish. The trout and bass that are found in the 

 wilder districts, seem to have this fondness for red more 

 fully developed— or perhaps in much fished waters they 

 become better educated and more refined in their tastes. 



Black bass have a great weakness for black and yellow, 

 Professor Mayer's "Lord Baltimore" and W. Holberton's 

 "Lottie" are instances of this. In the early part of the 

 season these two flies will kill more black bass than all 

 the others, and are the most deadly flies that the angler 

 can use. 



A strange fact is the partiality that Maine trout seem to 

 show for the ' 'Jenny Lind" Q.y. a combination of bright 

 red, yellow and blue — as unlike any natural fly as one 

 can possibly imagine. Bluefish and Spanish mackerel 

 are attracted by red squid, and striped bass, shad and 

 weakfish are often taken on bright colored flies. In 

 waters where pollock abound, the principal lure used is 

 a big red and white fly. 



We believe it is generally understood that salmon do 

 not rise to flies in tide water, but from the following 

 statement made by a very excellent Canadian angler, we 

 are forced to believe that there are exceptions to this 

 rule. This gentleman states that he tried to kill salmon 

 on the St. Croix River, New Brunswick, in tide water for 

 several seasons, with no more success than a feeble rise 

 or two, until one day he managed to get fast to a fine 

 salmon in a tide-water pool. The fish was only on the 

 hook for a moment when he lost him. As there were a 

 number of persons in plain sight, he concluded to let the 

 matter drop, as he did not wish the fact to become pub- 

 lic. The next morning early he was again at the pool, 

 and in a very little while got fast to a salmon. There 

 was a mill near by, from which he could easily be seen; 

 so he dropped down stream a few hundred yards and 

 landed his fish safely behind a clump of pines,' and was 

 back to his house in time for breakfast. Since then he 

 has obtained a lease of that part of the river and killed 

 many a good salmon there. 



At Newborn, North Carolina, they are having splendid 

 fishing. The weakfish are being taken by hook and line 

 by the thousands. We are surprised that more anglers 

 do not visit this place. The big-mouth bass will take the 

 spinner yet. They call the bass chub there. There is good 

 shooting there too; see note in our Came Bag and Gun 

 column. 



"Come off the perch," said the fisherman, as he removed 

 the scales from a snecimen of the finny tribe.— Kearney 

 (Neb.) Enterprise. 



If only for the sake of wood for base ball bats, the Ameri- 

 can forests ought to be preserved.— Philadelphia Times, 



— request. The book is pro- 

 nounced by "Nanit," "Gloan," "Dick Swiveller," "Sybillene" and 

 other competent authorities to he the best treatise on the subject 

 ■ m 1 1 



VON BEHR TROUT. 



(Salmo fario.) 



IN 1883 the U. S. Fish Commission began a systematic im- 

 portation from Europe of a species of river trout into 

 waters of the Eastern United States in which none of this 

 group are indigenous. This was not the first attempt to 

 acclimatize the species, but the work by the Government was 

 inaugurated in that year, and was brought about chiefly 

 through the successful experiments and favorable reports of 

 Messrs. Frank N. Clark and Fred Mather. One of the com- 

 mon names heretofore associated with the fish in question 

 is "brown trout," an English name of limited application. 

 The German translation, "brauu trout," came here with 

 some of the shipments received from Von Behr, and was 

 restored to its original English and passed around with the 

 distribution of eggs and fry in the United States. The 

 Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, Col. Marshall McDon- 

 ald, now proposes to give to this trout a name which is in- 

 tended to perpetuate in America the memory of the man 

 to whom we are much indebted for this valuable addition to 

 our list of noble fishes. He recalls to mind the generous 

 recognition by the Deutsche Fischerei Verein of the priceless 

 services of our first Commissioner of Fisheries, Professor 

 Spencer F. Baird, "the foremost fishculturist of the world," 

 and takes pleasure in sending forth the new acquisition 

 under the name of the old friend and suppoi-ter of fishcul- 

 ture in the United States — Herr von Behr. 



In England the species has many names, none of them dis- 

 tinctive and only one of them known on the continent of 

 Europe. The name of most general application is simplv 

 "trout." Another name of wide range is "brook trout." 

 Sweden has the species in stony brooks as "stone trout." 

 Germany uses the terms "gold trout," "white trout" and 

 "black trout " If we desire to use a name which is really 

 well distributed in countries wherein Salmo fario is in- 

 digenous we must call it "brook trout." We already have, 

 however, a widely known brook trout in our Salveliv us 

 fontinalis. 



A name then for Salmo fario in the United States seems 

 to he necessary, and we hope that all the people who delight 

 in the species, will associate with it the name of Von Behr, 

 to whose kind offices the Government is indebted for its op 

 portunity to distribute it over a wide range of territory. It 

 will not be difficult to introduce this new name, as all the 

 eggs and fry of the species sent out in future from the Gov- 

 ernment establishments will be shipped as Von Behr trout 

 (Salmo fario). 



NEW HAMPSHIRE WOODS AND WATERS. 



CHARLESTOWN. N. H.. Dec. 3.—EdMor Forest and 

 Stream: 1 fully sympathize with your correspondent, 

 Mr. C. H. Ames, in his "Protest." in Forest and Stream 

 for Nov. 21, but I am happy to be able to say that so far as 

 the waters of New Hampshire are concerned, the invasion 

 of undesirable "scaly immigrants" is pretty well stopped. 

 During the years from 1809-75 the Chairman of the Fish 

 Commission was the late Dr. Fletcher, of Concord, who was 

 a "black bass maniac," and who devoted his chief energies 

 to introducing this fish from Lake Cbamplain, where he 

 was very fond of takiug them in a legitimate manner, by 

 hook and line. He placed bass in many of the lakes in the 

 lower end of the State, among others in Winriepesaukee 

 and Suuapee, both natural trout waters, but Winnepe- 

 sankee being the home of the namaycush, while Sunapee 

 had none of them, but was supplied with the genuine Sal- 

 velinus. 



Dr, Quackenbos thinks the bass have not done anv harm 

 in Sunapee, but I am inclined to the. opinion that our later 

 efforts to restore the trout would have been more successful 

 if the bass bad not been there. I have little doubt as to the 

 ability of the namaycush to take care of himself if he is 

 not speared on the spawning beds, as was the common 

 custom in Wimiepesaukee. 



In 1875, a political change in the State government put in 

 a board of Democratic commissioners, who followed up the 

 introduction of bass, but very wisely only placed them in 

 such ponds as had always been inhabited by perch and 

 pickerel, with therr colleagues in the shape of sunfish and 

 pond shiners. 



In 1876. the State turned over again politically, and a new 

 board or commissioners was apnointed, two of whom, 

 Messrs. Webber and Powers, were old and enthusiastic trout 

 anglers, and under their regime a new policy was inaug- 

 urated. The introduction of bass into any possible trout 

 waters was immediately stopped and all requests to place 

 them in such waters refused. 



The first hatching house in the State was built at Ply- 

 mouth, primarily and ostensibly for the purpose of hatching 

 and restoring the migrator j salmon to the Merrimac River, 

 but provided at the outset with breeding ponds for trout, 

 and a stock of breeders laid iu from the neighboring streams. 



In 1877, with the aid of Com. Brackett, of Massachusetts, 

 the first "winninish" were procured and placed in Sunapee 

 and Squam lakes. In 1878 the aid of Prof. Baird and Com- 

 missioner Atkins was secured, and since then the introduc- 

 tion of these fish has been regular, until now we are getting 

 a good supply for ourselves from Sunapee and New Found 

 lakes. Of the introduction of the Loch Leven trout into 

 Sunapee, by Dr. Quackenbos, the public are already in- 

 formed, as well as of the plant of German saibling, given by 

 the U. S. Fish Commission, in New Found Lake, and the 

 introduction from the same source of Lake Superior trout 

 and whitefish in Lake Winnepesaukea. 



A few years since the writer was informed by Commis- 

 sioner Stilwell, of Maine, that a certain Massachusetts man, 

 a writer of "guide books" to the Maine waters, had re- 

 quested him to put black bass into the Rangeley or Andros- 

 coggin lakes, and on Mr. Stilwell's refusal had threatened 

 to put them in any way in Lake Umbagog, at the lower end 

 of the chain, which reaches into New Hampshire. 



The matter was at once reported to the New Hampshire 

 Legislature, who immediately passed an act prohibiting the 

 introduction of pike or pickerel into any waters of the State 

 now containing trout, or of black bass into any waters, with- 

 out the permission of the Fish Commissioners, under a penalty 

 of $100 for each offense. Since then I have not heard of the 

 matter again, and I think Mr. Ames may feel sure, that the 

 influx of these coarse fish has been stooped in New Hamp- 

 shire. 



The present Board of Commissioners, Messrs. Riddle. 

 Hodge and Kimball, are working on the same lines and 

 with great success. They have established trout hatcheries 

 at Sunapee and New Found lakes, and propose to locate, an- 

 other one somewhere in the southwest section of the State, 

 possibly at Monadnock Lake, in Dublin. It is safe to say 

 that the whole attention of the New Hampshire Fish Com- 

 mission is devoted to the cultivation and extension of the 

 Salmonidai. 



There is another immigration question just now occupying 

 the public attention, on which I wish to say a word: and 

 that is the introduction of Scandinavian emigrants to culti- 

 vate the abandoned farms of New Hampshire! These, 

 I believe, are estimated at about 800, out of 32,000, 

 and I wish to suggest that a far more profitable 

 and available use of them is to restore their original 

 tenants, the forest trees! So far as I know them, and I 

 know many of them, they are out of the way "hill farms," 

 once covered with heavy forest, cleared 100 or 150 years ago, 



and furnishing a good living for a couple of generations, 

 from the soil left by the old forest and as sheep and cattle 

 pastures. Sheep husbandry has gone West, where the sheep 

 do not have to be. housed and fed for six months in the year, 

 and almost all our beef now comes from the same quarter. 

 The grandsons of the old farmers have followed the same 

 current, and many of my old comrades went with it; one 

 commanded a Wisconsin regiment and one a Michigan 

 brigade in the late war; and the schoolmates of my sons are 

 settling in Oregon and Washington. Providence never in- 

 tended New Hampshire for an agricultural region, although 

 her valleys will always pay for cultivation, and the sooner 

 we can re-forest her rugged hills the better. 



The State has already appointed a Forestry Commission, 

 to see what can be done to preserve the forests in the White 

 Mountain region, whose waters, flowing down the Merrimac 

 River, support with their power 150,000 people at Mauches- 

 ter,Lowefl and Lawrence, certainly a hundred foldmorethan 

 could ever get a living from her salmon fisheries could they 

 be restored. There are many thousand acres more, all 

 over the State, now unused and useless, which might well 

 be clothed with oak and chestnut, beech and birch, if some 

 one wouldtake the initiative and show the owners of the lands 

 how to plant them. Some of these deserted farms are being 

 successfully cultivated again by the sons of the Irish immi- 

 grants who came into the State to build her railroads forty 

 years ago, but there are many of them which would he far 

 more valuable could their original forest be restoi-ed, and 

 the sooner it is done the better. Von W. 



7he Menmh 



EASTERN COURSING MEET. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The inaugural meet of the Eastern Coursing Club will be 

 held on the farm of Mr. England, at Hicksville, Long Island, 

 Saturday, Dec. 7. The first bracewill be ordered in the slips 

 at 10 A. M. sharp. Trains leave Thirty-fourth street ferry 

 at 8:20 and 8-50 A. M. Time one hour. 



H. W. Huntington, Sec. 



The Eastern Coursing Club reports that evervthing is in 

 readiness for its meet next Saturday. The jacks are being 

 well cared for and are fit to run. The last consignment of 

 jacks was due at the preserve Dec. 1. Iu addition to the 

 thirty jacks, there is also a supply of wild Maine hares to be 

 used as a reserve. 



A unanimous vote of thanks has been tendered the Forest 

 and Stream for its liberal donation, thus materially aiding 

 the club to increase the value of its cash prizes. The win- 

 ner of second prize will have the privilege of substituting 

 the money prize for a handsome solid silver cup. The 

 members at a late meeting also adopted a vote of thanks to 

 Mr. H. L. Liebfried. of Garden City, Kas., for the eminent 

 services he bad rendered the club in trapping thirty strong 

 jacks and shipping them in first-class order. Mr. Liebfried, 

 seeing the club's dilemma, volunteered to trap the jacks, 

 and his true sportsmanlike character was shown in his not 

 taking advantage of its predicament, but simply charging 

 for actual expenses. It is, therefore, with pleasure that the 

 Eastern Coursing Club heartily recommends Mr. Liebfried 

 to any club or gentlemen desiring Kansas jacks trapped for 

 them. 



In the enforced absence of Mr. Graham, the judging will 

 he by Dr. M. H. Cryer, of Philadelphia, who is an old hand 

 at conrsing and at home on the back of a horse. 



Mr. Peshall has c died our attention to Section 352, Chapter 

 IX. of Laws of 1881, and expresses the opinion that if the 

 Hempstead Coursing Cluh or the Eastern Coursing Club at- 

 tempt to hold a meeting, it is clearly the duty the of S. P. C. 

 A, to seize both rabbits and dogs, which, under the law, are 

 forfeited to the State. Chapter IX. relates to gambling and 

 Section 352 prohibits trials of speed between animals for a 

 stake, or wager, or bet. Strictly construed the law might 

 cover coursing with greyhounds, but we do not believe that 

 the statute was intended to apply to such friendly contests 

 between gentlemen who own dogs. 



If Section 352 forbids coursing, it must also forbid field 

 trials; if the greyhounds at Hicksville next Saturday shall 

 be forfeited, it will next be in order to prosecute the Robins 

 Island Club and to seize their pointers and setters. If the 

 S. F. P. C. A. shall be induced by Mr. Peshall to prosecute 

 th« coursing men and the field trial men under this law, 

 their recourse to a statute relating to gambling will virtu- 

 ally be an acknowledgment that they cannot reach coursing 

 and field trials by the cruelty to animals statutes. 



THE FOX HUNTS OF AMERICA. 



BEING engaged in a throughout systematic "documen- 

 tary historic account of fox hunting of America," from 

 time of the colonial trencher packs of Maryland, the North 

 Riding of York, Long Island, New Jersey, Virginia, Massa- 

 chusetts and Pennsylvania, to the present season, we there- 

 fore seek the assistance of your hunt to forward such data 

 under cover to 168 Willis avenue, New York city, or this 

 office. 



All items as follows, viz.: 



1. When your hunt was organized. 



2. A titll list of hunts since organization. 



3. Names of persons participating and distance covered. 



4. A list of its hounds (with names), from first hunt to 

 present time. 



5. A copy of its by-laws, etc., with full list of members 

 from inception. 



6. If convenient, a likeness of M. F. H. and whippers-in. 



7. A list of its hoi'ses, with name and breeding; if im- 

 ported or bred in the States; color, etc. 



With any and all information you may consider of im- 

 portance as to your hunt. 



To the masters and members of the following named 

 hunts, viz.: 



1. Queens County Hunt, Long Island, N. Y. 



2. Huntington Hunt, Long Island, N. Y. 



3. Union Pack Hunt, Long Island, N. Y. 



4. Richmond County Hunt Club, Staten Island, N. Y. 



5. Meadow Brook Hunt, Westbury, Long Island, N. Y. 



6. Roekaway Hunt, Long Island, N. Y. 



7. Livingston County Hunt, Wadsworth House Farm.N. Y. 



8. Genesee County Hunt, N. Y. 



9. Dutchess County Hunt, N. Y. 



10. Rose Tree Hunt Club, Chester county, Pa. 



11. Suffolk Park Hunt Club, Pennsylvania. 



12. Marshalton Hunt, Pennsylvania. 



13. Westchester Fox Hunt Club, Pennsylvania. 



14. Delaware Fox Hunt Club, Delaware. 



15. Clarksburg Fox Hunting Club, Maryland. 



16. Elk Ridge Fox Hunting^Club, Maryland. 



17. Annapolis Riding Hunt Club, Maryland. 



18. T. G. Tucker Hound and Hunt Club. 



19. Appleton Hound and Hunt Club, Station 1%, Ga. 



20. Essex County Hunt Club, Essex county, N. J. 



21. Washington, D. C, Hunt Club, Alexandria, Va., and 

 all private hunt clubs South. 



22. Westchester County Club Hunt, New York. 



23. Pelham Hunt Club, Westchester county, N. Y. 



24. Dragon Hunt Club, Delaware. 



N. B.— There are numerous private packs in the South, 

 and, mayhap, some hunt packs likewise, hence we invite 

 communication. Col. F. G. Skinner, 



William T, Evers, 



Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28. 



