AN. 16, 1890.1 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



B17 



other cities was made up a congenial list of kindred 

 Spirits. The president is Col. Geo. W. Hooker, a genial 

 yet dignified gentleman, whose popularity in Vermont 

 and wide acquaintance in other States, and especially 

 among politicians, is said to have given rise to the story 

 which a certain resident of Vermont tells. The story is 

 that once upon being introduced to a prominent citizen 

 of a Western community, as a gentleman from Vermont, 

 the aforesaid Western citizen remarked: "Vermont, oh 

 yes, that's where Col. Hooker lives." The vice-president 

 is Lieut. -Gov. Levi K. Fuller, of the Estey Organ Co. 

 The directors are Geo. S. Dowley, the well-known banker: 

 E. S. Bowen, a prominent physician; J. L. Martin, a lead- 

 ing lawyer of the State; Chas. B. Hopkins, a New Hamp- 

 shire paper manufacturer; J. B. Eeynolds, a shoe manu- 

 facturer of Orange. Mass.; F. L. Houghton, of Boston, 

 and W. S. Moore, treasurer, and C. H. Pratt, secretary. 

 Both the last named gentlemen are of Brattlehoro, which 

 is the shire town of the county in which the club's 

 property is situated, and a most beautiful village it is, 

 too. v : 



To reach Lake Marlborough one must pass through 

 Brattleboro, but no admirers of nature will ever regret 

 the time spent here. It is a place of unsurpassed natural 

 beauty, celebrated the country over as such, and for 

 generations has been famous in song and story. Allu- 

 sions to it are scattered thick through American litera- 

 ture. Its charms have always made it a favorite sum- 

 mer resort. It is in the southeast corner of the State, on 

 the Connecticut River, and on one of the prominent lines 

 of railroads connecting New England and the city of 

 New York with Quebec, Montreal and the West. "Situ- 

 ated in the heart of New England and built on a succes- 

 sion of natural terraces, with an environment of green 

 hills, the town is certainly one of the most beautiful be- 

 tween Long Island Sound and the Canadian frontier. It 

 is not at all surprising that the pilgrims from the Massa- 

 chusetts colony made their first settlement in Vermont 

 near the site of the village of Brattleboro as early as 1724. 

 The wonder is that they did not come here at a much 

 earlier date. There are scores of pleasant drives in the 

 vicinity, and new trips may be enjoyed for weeks over 

 roads winding along the banks of the Connecticut and 

 its tributaries and through groves and over hilltops, each 

 drive having distinctive features of interest and beauty. 

 The village thoroughfares are lined with spreading trees, 

 which form continuous arches of green overhead. The 

 homes of the people show tidy and tasteful sm-roundings, 

 trim hedges, velvety lawns and beds of flowers seen on 

 every hand. A stroll through the winding avenues of 

 the place discloses as lovely landscapes as can be seen in 

 any English country lane or hamlet. Now and then, 

 through parted boughs, vistas of placid water courses 

 and valleys green are observed by the stroller. The hotel 

 accommodations are very good. 



Leaving Brattleboro by one of its most beautiful drives 

 in an hour's time, during which all traces of human hab- 

 itation are left behind, the road through the woods lead- 

 ing to the club's property is reached. Two miles and a 

 half from the highway, through the woods, the club pur- 

 chased a strip of land two rods wide and built and fenced 

 in a sustantial roadway to its possessions. Here are sev- 

 eral hundred acres of land to which the club holds the 

 title, including the land beneath the lake and a strip 

 many rods wide around it, and a thirty-acre piot most 

 favorably situated on which stand the buildings of the 

 club. This land was purchased of the descendants, in 

 some instances, of the original grantees, who received 

 their titles from Lord Marlborough, to whom belonged 

 this whole section in the time of King George. Passing 

 out of the long drive through the woods and on to a 

 slight rise, the lake in all its beauty flashes suddenly into 

 view in a most charming vista. Surrounded by wooded 

 uplands reaching down to the clean gravelly shores, it 

 lies before the visitor a veritable fisherman's paradise. 

 The club buildings, keeper's house, stables, hatcheries, 

 rearing ponds, etc., are tastefully arranged upon the 

 thirty-acre plot, which is on the north side of the lake. 

 No marshes or low lands surround it. The breeding of 

 trout has already begun on a very considerable scale, and 

 100,000 of the strongest and liveliest yearlings that it has 

 been our privilege to examine are already sporting them- 

 selves in the rearing ponds. Fifty thousand landlocked 

 safinon of the same age are occupants of another of the 

 rearing ponds. 



The club house will be a model in its appointments, and 

 will be kept ready for members at all times during the 

 season. A telephone brings instant communication with 

 Brattleboro and the telegraph stations. So, while located 

 miles away from the town and to all intents as far away 

 in the woods as one would be by a long journey to Maine, 

 the fisherman can at all times maintain communication 

 with his friends or business. 



Six artificial ponds for rearing purpose have been built 

 and others are in process of construction. These are 

 abuudantly supplied with running water from springs. 

 The hatchery which has been in process of erection the 

 past season has just been completed, and is a model in 

 its way. It is said by experts to be as fine as any in the 

 United States. The club has been fortunate in securing 

 the services of Loren W, Green, a nephew of the famous 

 Seth Green, for twelve years superintendent of the IT. S. 

 hatchery in California, to aid them in preparing the de- 

 signs for the building and its interior fittings. The build- 

 ing has a hatching capacity of two and a half million 

 eggs, and is convenient to the lake and the keeper's 

 lodge, and about sixty rods from the club house site. 

 The great feature is the peculiarly fine water, not alone 

 for the hatchery, but the lake itself is a grand body of 

 the purest spring water. It is believed that the club is 

 especially favored in this respect, for with pure cold 

 spring water the problem of successful rearing of trout 

 is a comparatively simple one when in the hands of ex- 

 perienced persons. The building which contains the 

 hatchery troughs, filters, feed boxes, etc., is of tasteful 

 design and neat appearance, and is of ample dimensions 

 and two stories high. The water supply enters the filter- 

 ing tank in the top of the building, and is very abundant. 

 Flowing from the filtering tank, which has a capacity of 

 ten barrels, it passes into the feed box on the second floor 

 and thence into the hatching troughs, which aggregate 

 120ft. in length. These troughs are of best pine, I8in. 

 broad and Oin. deep, thoroughly coated with asphalt. 

 The whole system, presenting the appearance of a terrace 

 of troughs, extending the entire width of the building. 



The hatching trays which set into the troughs are Sin. 

 deep, ma de of wire eight meshes to the inch and thoroughly 



coated with asphalt paint, while about the top is a rim of 

 wood, conveniently arranged to lift the tray to permit of 

 a careful examination of the spawn, for the removal of 

 dead eggs or other purposes. These trays are set in the 

 trough so as to be entirely submerged and the spawn will 

 receive the constant action of flowing water, without 

 being washed away. Rearing boxes to receive the fry 

 are provided in suitable numbers for the capacity of the 

 hatchery. The hatchery has recently received from 

 various sources about lOOjOOO trout and 40,000 land locked 

 salmon spawn. These with other large additions, soon 

 expected to arrive, are under the care of Mr. Green, who 

 expresses himself as greatly pleased witli the location 

 and the possibilities of the club. It is doubtless true that 

 there is much in the future of the club. With the 150.000 

 already in its rearing ponds, the 100 two-year-old breeders 

 and the 25(1,000 spawn now being hatched, it has a very 

 encouraging outlook. 



Though purely a sportsman's affair, this club is in the 

 hands of men whose business ability is quite equal to 

 their enthusiasm, and who will accomplish their ends 

 and make their grounds the favorite resort of true sports- 

 men. E. S. B, 

 Bk attleroro, Vt.. January, 1890. 



TEXAS BASS IN CHRISTMAS WEEK. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I have a son at Cornell who is rather an enthusiastic 

 hunter and fisher, and almost every letter he writes he 

 asks if I have been hunting any, and then he wants a full 

 account of the whole matter, and so I have concluded 

 that if I have to give him the account I might as well 

 tell your readers about it too, which can easily be done 

 by manifolding my account and sending you one copy to 

 be used or consigned to the waste basket as to you may 

 seem best. 



It is not often even in this genial clime that thoughts 

 of a fishing trip attack one here during Christmas week. 

 The disease seems to require spring weather to fully de- 

 velop it. and bring out the attendant symptoms, of rod 

 and reel, fish basket and lunch basket, and the inevitable 

 discussions about place, time and preparation. But so it 

 is this year: we have now (Dec. 29) roses in bloom, and 

 on Christmas morning I picked and sent a large bouquet 

 to a friend in New York State; and for weeks we have 

 no fires, and have slept with our windows open; and so 

 the piscatorial fever has begun already to attack some of 

 our citizens, being as yet, however, rather sporadic than 

 epidemic. 



Only a few days ago I heard that a friend had been 

 down to Black's Bayou, about fifteen miles below our 

 city, and had caught twelve fine black bass, besides perch, 

 and then and there I resolved to spend at least one day of 

 Christmas week in the same way. He had caught one 

 bass, which after it was cleaned, weighed 41bs. ; and I 

 thought some such luck might happen to me, or some one 

 of the party that went with me, should I be able to get 

 up a party. Then too, late in the fall I had bought a new 

 outfit, which I had never used, including a new multiply- 

 ing reel and oil silk line that I thought would hold any 

 thing, and a lot of long-shanked gutted Carlisle hooks, 

 sharp as a needle, and I wanted to try them, and feel a 

 large bass at the end of my lOoz. rod, and thwart his 

 frantic efforts to escape, and at last land him safe and 

 sound. 



I had never been to Black's Bayou, but I could find it, 

 so after a bank meeting of our National Bank I proposed 

 to the president that we should strike out .early Friday 

 morning for Black Bayou and see what we could do in 

 the way of capturing the bass, agreeing with him that if 

 he would see to getting the bait I would get the team, 

 and we would try to get off by daylight. 



This being settled, I met Ed. L., the genial and enthus- 

 iastic fisherman, home from Eagle Pass for the holidays, 

 and suggested that he should join the list for the mor- 

 row, to which he made reply, "If I can just get Bill D. 

 to go. I will." To stimulate his imagination I told him 

 with embellishment of the fishermen, covered with the 

 glory of the 51bs. bass, and then I thought I had fixed my 

 hook into him and would surely drag him. too, to the 

 fishing grounds, for I knew that the Right Honorable W. 

 L. D. was as fond of fishing as he was of going to the 

 Legislature, and as fond of Ed L. as he was of fishing, 

 and that he had a buckboard and a handsome mare equal 

 to her 2.40. So I concluded that we would have a nice 

 party, and went home to prepare rod and gun, for 

 sometimes there are fine mallards to be had on the ponds 

 on the way. 



My old pointer Dash watched all the preparations with 

 interest, and I am certain if I had gone to the barn and 

 put my gun and tackle in my buckboard that there he 

 would have camped for the night, to be on hand for the 

 early start in the morning. It was not in the programme, 

 how r ever, that he should go, as we were not going hunt- 

 ing, but fishing, and he has a strong desire to assist in 

 the fishing business, and more than once I have had him 

 jump in the pool I was fishing in to explore it to see if 

 he could catch any fish or help in any way; and notwith- 

 standing my scoldings, I have no doubt that he has often 

 thought that he had helped me very much. 



At six the next morning behold the t wo solitary fisher- 

 men, as they loom up through a fog dense enough to be 

 cut with a knife, and by the struggling watery light of 

 the street lamps are seen wending their way down the 

 dim lane, which melts into obscurity a few yards away, 

 and hardly resembles a street in that dense fog. They 

 travel, however, at a lively gait, for they have a good 

 horse, and soon are out in the open country, cutting their 

 way through the fog almost as a steamer plows her way 

 through the briny deep, with the spray of the morning 

 settling on beard and hats and clothing, until they drip 

 with moisture. We reach the fishing ground about half- 

 past eight, and land in a bayou from 4 to 10ft. deep, about 

 half a mile long and narrowing at each end to a thread, 

 but for the most of the distance 25 or 30yds. wide. We 

 prepared our rods and threw in, but for some time we 

 didn't get a nibble, and there was about that time one 

 huge disgusted banker in that crowd of two. By and 

 by, however, as your correspondent went further down, 

 and industriously coaxed the denizens with wriggling 

 earthworms (our fish have the most supreme contempt 

 for flies and artificial follies of the educated fish of 

 Northern waters), I had fine strikes, and hooked what I 

 was sure was a 51b. fish. Then we tried conclusions with 

 each other a while, he to eecape, I to land him; and at 

 last, after be had exhausted himself, I towed him to the 



shore and lifted him out, a fine game clear water blue 

 catfish, of about 51b. weight. These fish are considered 

 very fine table fish; and muoh encouraged. I baited and 

 threw in again, and was rewarded by several perch, then 

 a black bass of a pound, then another fine blue cat which 

 weighed about 81bs. and tried my tackle and skill, and 

 that I was not able to land at all, but had to call in the 

 help of a darky, who was watching me play him. He 

 went down to the water's edge, and after he was com- 

 pletely fagged, hooked his finger in his gills and so landed 

 it. My banker friend, however, was still in the suds. 

 He hadn't had a nibble. 



About this time I heard a "hello" from the hillside, 

 and looking back there were my Eagle Pass and Legis- 

 lative friend and the fine mare bearing down upon the 

 live-oak tree that spread its green arms over our buggy, 

 and very soon they were ready for the fray. I continued 

 to have fair success, and caught several tine t>ass with 

 small perch hooked in the tail and thro wn in alive. If 

 there is anything a bass likes it is one of those little yel- 

 low fellows, just large enough to slip easily into his huge 

 mouth. Ed. L. and Hon. D. took the other side of the 

 bayou, and then the fun increased. L. is a fine fisher- 

 man , learned in all the varieties, and knows the habits of 

 all the finny tribe, and has angled all the way from 

 Mexico to Montana (I had almost said Maine), and he gen- 

 erally can give any man odds and get more fish than any 

 body. My partner had retired for a time with a head- 

 ache, and sought relief from it by taking a short nap in 

 the shade of our live-oak, so that for a while I held the 

 fort alone on the east side, while L. and D. took the west 

 side. I know they had the best of it in position, because 

 Ed. bragged, when the day's fishing was over and we 

 had assembled to eat a 3 o'clock dinner, that he was not 

 sunburned as much as P. was, which was true, a6 he had 

 his back to it and I my face. After Mr. E. had had his 

 nap, I exchanged rods and tackle with him, that he 

 might try mine, and he -sat down at a place where the 

 perch were biting finely, and from that time on the way 

 he laid them out was a caution to little fishes. The air 

 was white with shiners, not the smallest one would he 

 fail to secure, and from him from thenceforward I 

 secured all my bait in live minnows. Representative D. 

 was capturing the small fry on the other side too, and L. 

 was running two lines, catching perch and bait with one 

 and bass with the other. Once he had to call to D. to 

 help him land one, having struck a fine bass with his 

 perch hook, and fearing a loss should he try to land him 

 without assistance. Every now and then I would hail 

 him with a triumphant "Got him again, Ed. Look here,'' 

 and I would hold up a fine bass. "Here is his match," 

 he would reply after a struggle with his catch, holding 

 up his fish to view on the other bank. 



And so we fished the length of the stream, until I began 

 to feel that my inner man was remonstrating vigorously 

 for replenishment, and even bass fishing had to yield to 

 the more pressing demand. So we sought the shadow of 

 the green-leafed live-oak, and baskets being unpacked, 

 and ale opened, we began the most welcome task of satis- 

 fying a sharp appetite. L. and D. were a little slow in 

 getting in from the other side, and before they arrived all 

 that delicious cabbage and pickles put up by Mrs. B. and 

 brought by the banker, had gone, gone, gone; with not a 

 fragment to tell the tale. But with the Kentucky 

 sausages and ham that D. was bragging on (sent him as 

 a Christmas present all the way from "Kaintuk"), the 

 second relief fared well. 



When we compared strings B. and myself had ten fine 

 bass, and the two catfish. D. and L. had ten bass and 

 some fine perch. We had also a lot of perch, etc. Caught 

 the largest bass, and I caught one the most of any of them ; 

 I caught nine, L. eight, D. two, B. one. 



"That fish," said L., holding up the large bass he had 

 caught, reflectively, "that fish will weigh about 41bs. 

 "And this," I said, holding up my largest, "will weigh 

 2$lbs." Then it was agreed that we should not clean 

 these two, but weigh them at a neighbor's house on the 

 way home; but the "rest of the large fish we cleaned, that 

 they might keep well. L.'s fish did weigh 4lbs. and mine 

 31bs. upon the scales, and the rest we caught would have 

 averaged, we estimated, nearly 21bs. 



The beginning of the end of this pleasant outing came 

 when at our respective homes we sat down the next morn- 

 ing to a breakfast of nicely fried bass, but for me. at 

 least, the culmination was at noon, when I sat down to 

 that three-pound bass, nicely baked, with a mustard dress- 

 ing and fresh lettuce, and the et ceteras of a dinner. If 

 you have never tried it, all I have to say is just try it 

 once and you will never fail to have your largest bass 

 stuffed and baked for dinner. Texas. 



Victoria, Texas, Dec. 29. 



North Carolina Angling. — Fly-fishing is a thing en- 

 tirely unknown in this section, although we have in our 

 waters "rock" and "welchmen." the former of which, I 

 believe, is known among anglers as "striped bass" and 

 the latter as "black bass." We likewise have perch, both 

 white and speckled. These fish may be found in almost 

 every one of our rivers. Hook and line fishing around 

 Nag's Head is at times unsurpassed anywhere in this 

 country. This is the name given to that portiou of the 

 narrow strip lying between the ocean and Roanoke 

 Sound. There you may find sheepshead, white perch, 

 logfish, spots, rock and others,\ while at the inlet, only a 

 few miles from the hotel, you can get very fine bluefish 

 trolling. About two miles to the north of the hotel the 

 beach "widens. At Nag's Head it is only about half a 

 mile wide; two miles to the northward it is more than a 

 mile wide. At this point, about midway between the 

 Sound and the ocean, is a small fresh-water lake with no 

 outlet, that abounds with all kinds of fresh-water fish. 

 In this lake those who frequent Nag's Head in the sum- 

 mer do most of their fishing. The lake is about two miles 

 in circumference, is beautifully situated, and one never 

 fails to enjoy a day's fishing on it. — W. J. G. (Elizabeth 

 City, N. G). 



Our Florida Number,— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 Your Florida number is by all odds the best of its kind 

 yet issued by any sportsman's paper, and from an angler's 

 point of view leaves nothing to be desired. In all de- 

 partments it forcibly shows to what perfection a periodi- 

 cal of its class can be brought, when by the quality of its 

 reading matter so many contributors of actual experi- 

 ence can be attracted to its columns.— Big Reel (East 

 Orange. N, J.). 



