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FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Fes. 6, 1890. 



TROUT IN MEXICO. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



After several years' absence in Mexico it will now be 

 permitted me to again receive my favorite paper regu- 

 larly, and I wish to ask of you or your readers if genuine 

 trout are found in any part of our sister republic. 



I may as well state where my investigations have ex- 

 tended and in what streams of the Sierre Madre failure 

 attended my efforts. 



First in order was the headwaters of the San Pedro, a 

 tributary of the Gila, and rising on Mexican territory and 

 passing into Arizona, some thirty miles south of Tomb- 

 stone. This was prior to the present occupancy of the 

 country with cattle, and the stream was then clear and 

 bright and well stocked with beaver, and I caught trout 

 of course, "Gila trout." a white-fleshed bony mongrel, 

 neither sucker nor shad. 



Some forty miles south rises the Sonora River, and in 

 the Ajos Mountains to the east was found a beautiful 

 mountain stream, a highwater tributary of the San 

 Pedro, and while they both contain fish, none of them 

 <~ould with propriety be called trout. 



Near the corner of New Mexico and Arizona the San 

 Bernardino rises on American territory, receiving several 

 tributaries of clear cold water before joining the Bavispe, 

 one of the main tributaries of the Yaqui. Repeated trials 

 of these waters, as well as other head streams of the 

 Yaqui, in western Chihuahua, never resulted in any- 

 thing more satisfactory than the Gila trout of doubtful 

 pedigree, which, while rising well to the fly or grass- 

 hoppers, was not in reality as palatable as catfish caught 

 in this same San Bernardino in its upper waters, where 

 the banks appear to be a variety of moss and rushes, the 

 evaporation from which is so great that the water of the 

 stream appears as cold as ice-water. 



In western Chihuahua I have tested the mountain 

 streams forming the headwaters of the rivers flowing 

 into the lagunas Guzman and Sta. Maria and also of the 

 rivers Coucho and Mayo, the latter a stream of the 

 western slope. 



In Durango I passed several months on the Santiago 

 and S.ta. Catarina, head streams of the river Nazos, find- 

 ing fish of any kind veiy scarce, none of them to be 

 classed as trout. 



Passing the continental divide the heads of the Rio de 

 las Vueltas are found; bright, rapid mountain streams, 

 with deep, dark pools, shaded by forests of pine and 

 fabled with stories of trout: but the fish are not there, and 

 disappointment again awaited me, 



In this practically unknown country, where a white 

 man is such a curiosity as to draw a crowd at every ranch 

 or hacienda, and abounding in never-failing streams of 

 pure cold water, a fish diet is nearly unknown on account 

 of scarcity; yet nearly every stream on the gravelly shal- 

 lows will be found to have, at short distances apart, small 

 dams of rock and boulders, between which the impounded 

 fish are chased down and caught by hand after slight 

 rises in the streams. These dams occur at places many 

 leagues distant from habitations, but generally near some 

 trail, and cannot with propriety be considered the work 

 of Lieut. Schwatka's Zunis or cliff-dwellers, although not 

 out of the district he describes as then place of residence. 



In a word, for grand scenery of mountain and forest, 

 for hunting deer, bear and turkey, for delightful climate 

 and temperature cool and bracing, no place will compare 

 with the Sierra Madre of Chihuahua and Durango; but 

 the fishing rod can properly be omitted from the outfit. 



J. V. B. 



[Prof. E. D. Cope, of the University of Pennsylvania, 

 Philadelphia, Pa., is authority for the record of the occur- 

 rence of a black spotted trout in streams of the Sierra 

 Madre, Mexico, at an elevation between 8,000 and 9,000ft.. 

 in the southern part of Chihuahua, near the boundaries 

 of Durango and Cinaboa. The species, he says, resembles 

 the red- throated trout (Salmo purpuratits). Young speci- 

 mens were obtained by Professor Lupton. It is a pity if 

 this trout cannot be readily found, for it is the most 

 southerly of all the species of the world, and has been 

 very briefly described.] 



THE TARPUM ON THE TABLE. 



A WEST VIRGINIA correspondent inquires about the 

 edible qualities of the tarpum. There is great 

 diversity of opinion. Silas Stearns, who formerly lived 

 at Pensacola, was informed that it is palatable and well- 

 flavored. Other persons have pronounced it about equal 

 to sole leather. Not having eaten it, we do not know its 

 qualities, but have no doubt that the statement of Mr. 

 Stearns can be fully established. Perhajis the chief 

 reason for the absence of the tarpum from the average 

 market is to be found in the dread which the fishermen 

 have of the frantic rushes of this fish when surrounded 

 by a net. But whether good to eat or not, the tarpum 

 will always be one of the magnificent trophies of the 

 angler's skill: its beauty and wild love of liberty will 

 sustain its place in the front rank of game fishes. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In reference to the edible qualities of the tarpon I. may 

 say that it is thought by some to be first-rate and by 

 others worthless, showing how taste may be a mere mat- 

 ter of opinion. Personally, I do not admire the tarpon 

 for food, though it is a fair table fish. Its flesh is pinkish, 

 and resembles the color of young veal. To me it lacks 

 flavor, and while "filling" is not particularly desirable. 

 Perhaps this is owing to the fact that there are scores of 

 better-flavored fishes in the same waters. If I had no 

 other fish, tarpon would "fill the bill" pretty well. 



The natives of Florida prefer the mullet, sheepshead, 

 red fish, salt water trout, groupers and snappers to the 

 tarpon as a food-fish, and so do I. On the whole, it may 

 be said to be "fair to middling" in edible qualities. 



Cincinnati, Ohio. ~ J. A. HenshaLL. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



It seems odd to myself that I caunot answer with pre- 

 cision "whether the tarpon is a good edible fish or not." 

 He is certainly an edible fish, but I have difficulty in 

 assigning him his proper place and grade of excellence. 



One reason is that the fish is a prize, and nearly every 

 specimen captured finds its way to the taxidermist to be 

 shipped North, and very few are spared for the table. 

 My recollection is that John Smith told me that last sea- 

 son he prepared for mounting and expressed forty two 

 fish, which would account for nearly the whole catch at 

 St. James, 



I remember eating tarpon steaks twice. The first time 

 was by invitation of Mr. W. H.Wood, at Punta Rassa, 

 in 1887. and the collops were cut from a full-grown fish 

 of 1361bs., taken (in my presence) the day before. My 

 recollection is that, notwithstanding inferior cookery, 

 the flesh was rich and savory, dark colored, and more 

 like venison than fish. It was not flaky, as most fish 

 tissue is, but solid, like flesh. It would take precedence 

 where drum or sturgeon are liked, but w^ould be passed 

 by where iewfish or grouper could be obtained— not to 

 mention shad, pompano or Spanish mackerel. It was on 

 the bill of fare at St. James at least once last winter, and 

 I tried it, but don't recall my impressions. 



Dr. Kenworthy says the flesh of tarpon reminds him 

 of spring chicken. Beyond the impression that it is more 

 like flesh than fish, my recollection does not support, his. 

 I am certain, however, that it is more agreeable to the 

 palate than many of the staple fish of our Northern waters. 



F. S, J. C. 



A NORTH CAROLINA BLACK BASS POND 



TO master the mysteries of fly-fishing has long been 

 one of my ambitions, but after elaborate prepara- 

 tion and no little experimental trial in casting I am 

 almost disposed to confess, as Mr. Webster did of dancing, 

 that I have not the capacity to acquire it. One consola- 

 tion, however, is that my breed of black bass have such 

 a partiality for the roach and other small fry that they 

 hardly deign to notice the most killing fly. That Nestor 

 of the rod, General Hampton, after giving them an 

 honest trial with the last, fell back on the old-fashioned 

 pre-Adamite live bait with better success, declaring that 

 the bass of my pond need educating in that line no less 

 than I do myself. Still I manage to kill occasionally a 

 four or five-pounder with the illusive lure. With "the 

 inelegant antique minnow, however, my luck is usually 

 all that could be desired, the catch sometimes amounting 

 to 20 or 301bs. in two or three hours of an afternoon. 

 And, ye gods and little fishes, what sport it is, even the 

 old style! 



I do not yet, however, despair entirely of the higher 

 branches of" this most captivating of all sports. All who 

 have seen it say that I have the finest pond for its size, 

 about sixty acres, that they ever dropped a line in. It is 

 fed by thousands of little sriringlets, all within a mile of 

 the dam, is always clear and has a flow of about 2,000 

 gallons a minute. It ranges in depth from 4 to 10ft. 

 The chief difficulty is with aquatic plants, which are 

 conducive to the development of the young fish, but 

 interfere materially with the pleasure of the angler. 

 "No rose without its thorn." 



When I put in 365 bass, large and small-mouthed, some 

 eight or nine years ago, the pond contained quantities of 

 perch, pike and cat; but all except the last seem to have 

 mysteriously disappeared since the coming of age of that 

 fish, which, according to Genio Scott, I believe, is for his 

 inches and ounces the king of fish. In fact they have 

 been taken here with good-sized mud turtles in their 

 stomachs. Even the pike or jack, which I have known 

 to reach about 2ft. in length, rarely show themselves 

 now, leaving one in doubt as to what has become of 

 them, 



Of all the finny tribe, give me the small-mouth black 

 bass, not only for the fun of catching, but the satisfaction 

 also of eating. W. I. Green. 



Fatfittevit.t.e, N. C. 



HEAVY BASS CASTING. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Woidd not the following proposition relating to the 

 "Heavy Bass Casting" class'at the fly-casting tournament 

 be one that the National Rod and Reel Association should 

 be asked to consider? By printing it, however, the views 

 of others could soon be ascertained, and in this manner 

 the needed reform would possibly be more quickly inau- 

 gurated. 



Bass fishing in the surf is now so much more general 

 than in the days when Cuttyhunk and the neighboring 

 islands were at their height," that the National Rod and 

 Reel Association should recognize the change that has 

 taken place and act a little more in accordance when 

 making the rules for the heavy casting class at the next 

 tournament. I would suggest that by increasing the 

 limit of weight of sinker to 3ioz. (the one mostly in use 

 in the vicinity of New York) the entries would be in- 

 creased and an opportunity thus be given to those who 

 heretofore have stayed out. Now, anyone who from cir- 

 cumstances is obliged to use a heavier weight in casting 

 than 2|oz, is placed at a great disadvantage — he must 

 procure special tackle and then become well used to the 

 handling of it before he can hope to compete with those 

 to whom the lighter sinker is not a novelty. And how 

 few there are who would care to go to the trouble of 

 training just for the sake of casting at a tournament. 



If this does not find favor in the eyes of the gentlemen 

 of the N. R. & R. A., then let them call the present class 

 "Cuttyhunk style," or whatever else they please, but 

 don't call it a bass-casting class when the greater num- 

 ber of would-be participants are debarred by the rules 

 from participating upon an equitable basis. 



Perhaps some of your many readers will give their 

 views also, and thus help along a much-needed reform. 



Big Reel. 



East Orange, New Jersey. 



FISHES OF CORTEZ BANKS. 



WE are indebted to Professor and Mrs. C. H. Eigen- 

 niann, of San Diego, California, for a copy of their 

 report on the fishes of Cortez Banks, in which they de- 

 scribe eight new species of fishes, two of them represent 

 ing new genera. The additions to the known fauna of 

 the region were numerous and interesting, among them 

 our own hammer-head shark and the common remora, or 

 shark's pilot. Other well known Eastern fishes included 

 in this report are the spined dogfish, the blue shark, the 

 swordfish, the chub or thimble-eye mackerel, the Spanish 

 mackerel, the long-finned albicore or tunny and the scad 

 (Traehurus picturatus), called "horse mackerel" in Cali- 

 fornia. Thus nearly 18 per cent, of the fishes collected 

 exist on Cortez Banks in common with Atlantic waters 

 and will serve to make the Eastern collector feel that he 

 is among old acquaintances. 



Two examples of the gigantic jewfish, each weighing 

 about SOOlbs. , were in the catch, and they were feeding 

 on " whitefish," which is entirely different from the fa- 



miliar food fish of the Great Lakes and nearlv related to 

 the " mysteriously disappeared" tile-fish. 



Nearly one-third of the 5ii species collected are beauti- 

 fully colored fish as of the genus Sebastichthys, which is 

 very near to our rose-fish or Norway haddock, of New 

 England waters. 



The remora was always found attached to the hammer- 

 head shark. 



The Cortez Banks are situated about 100 miles from San 

 Diego, and public interest in the locality has been greatly 

 stimulated by the recent investigations. 



WELL-STOCKED MICHIGAN STREAMS. 



THE other day genial Charlie Morgan of Fremont, 

 Mich., who is a natural sportsman and knows 

 trout from A to Z, called me into his back room to show 

 me a canvas boat he was building. It is lift, long, 34ft. 

 beam, and so light that it may be carried anywhere by 

 one man. He says he thinks of putting a handle in the 

 center and using it for an umbrella while fishing on a 

 hot day. It is to be used on a fishing trip next May. His 

 plan is to cruise down the White River, leaving the boat 

 at the mouth of each tributary, while he fishes it. He 

 invited me to go with him ; "it is needless to say that I 

 then and there accepted. The White River trout are 

 noted for their size andgame qualities, and it will certainly 

 be a most enjoyable trip. When the time conies. I shall 

 be happy to make known the results to readers of Forest 

 and Stream. Whatever may be the future fate of game 

 in our part of Michigan, fish are steadily increasing, and 

 owing to the State fish hatchery at Paris, nearly '"every 

 stream in Muskegon, Oceana/ Newaygo. Mecosta and 

 Montcalm counties are well- stocked with speckled beau- 

 ties. No matter what the sentiment of the people in 

 general is, there is always some one man in the com- 

 munity who believes in protecting fish and game, ami is 

 willing to provoke a little enmity by enforcing the law. 

 I notice everywhere an increasing desire to give the trout 

 a chance. On the Cedar Creek near Muskegon, a stream 

 that is fished to death in season, I caught 18 trout that 

 weighed 121bs. in half a day's fishing last Junen—ot many 

 fingerlings in that basket. Mai . 



Gran d Haven, Mich'gan, 



Large Carp. — Herr von Behr, president of the 

 Deutsche Fischerei-Verein , calls our attention to the fact 

 that the large carp noticed in Forest and Stream Nov. 

 7, 1889, page 312, is a pigmy compared with some 

 others described in one of the circulars of the Verein 

 relating to giant carp. This circular gives the par- 

 ticulars concerning the capture of a female carp weigh- 

 ing 551 bs. and measuring about 34ft, in length and 

 nearly 3ft. in greatest circumference. The age of this 

 fish was fifteen years. A male of the same age, taken 

 from the same pond, weighed 421bs. This was nearly 3ft. 

 7in. long and 28in. in circumference. These giants were 

 found in the domain of the Grand Duke of Oldenburg, in 

 Northern Germany. Mr. Hessel mentions them in his 

 pamphlet on the carp, page 874, and refers, also, to some 

 examples of much larger size, for example, the in- 

 dividuals of 6'7, 78 and 901bs. We cannot yet compete 

 with Germany in the size of our carp, but the probability 

 is that before we have been as long in the business as our 

 German associates we shall carry off the palm for giants 

 in this species as we have in many other directions; at 

 all events we shall try to do so. 



Schroon Lake Ttout.— Glens Falls, N. Y., Jan. 31.— 

 I notice that a correspondent in Forest and Stream 

 asks for the record of the largest lake trout taken from 

 Salmon Lake, N. Y. Seven or eight years ago a trout, 

 iiamai/eiish , was taken from Schroon Lake and sent to a 

 merchant in this village who hung it in front of his store. 

 An item in a local paper called attention to it as being 

 the largest lake trout ever caught in Schroon Lake, and 

 the weight was given as 281bs. I went to the store to see 

 the fish (at the time it was illegal to have trout in posses- 

 sion), but some one had notified the merchant of the law 

 and I was not permitted to see the trout. I advised Game 

 Protector Burnett to arrest the merchant and prove 

 "possession" by those who had seen the trout at the 

 store. The merchant pleaded guilty and was fined $1.0. 

 In the court room the merchant, now dead, informed me 

 that the weight published was correct, and I never have 

 had reason to doubt it. The trout was sent by a customer 

 of the merchant's and was exhibited in entire ignorance 

 of the law providing a close season for trout. — A. N. 

 Cheisey. 



Furlough Lake.— Kingston, N. Y., Jan. 26.— George 

 Gould has purchased Furlough Lake, in the Catskills, 

 from ex-Congressman Cornell, for $6,000. The grounds 

 and lake consist of 600 acres, 35 of which are under 

 water. It is considered one of the best trout-fishing 

 places in the mountains. 



The Way of Nature, — Some papers die n natural 

 death and others are harassed to death. 



Fishing in Florida Waters— Anglers who intend visiting 

 Florida this coming winter will And it to their advantage to in- 

 spect the superior tackle for taipon and other fishes, manufac- 

 tured by Thomas J. Conroy, 65 Fulton street, NewYork.— A<lv. 



The Kosmic Rod, advertised in another column by A. G. Spald- 

 ing & Bi op. , combines several important, points in its struotuie 

 which makes it a valuable addition to an augler's kit. The very 

 best bamboo only is used, and the ferrules are made absolutely 

 waterproof and are fitted without cutting the bamboo. Angler? 

 should see this rod before completing their outfit. -AOr. 



A Man with a Shotgun said to a Bird: 'It is all nonsense, 

 you know, about shooting being a cruel sport. I put my 

 skill against your cunning— that is all there is of it. It is 

 ti fair game." "True," said the Bird, but I don't want to 

 play." "Why not?" inquired the Man with a Shotgun 

 "The game." the Bird replied, "is fair as you say: the 

 chances are about even: but consider the stake! 1 ami in it 

 for you. but what is there in it for me?" Not being pre- 

 pared with an answer to the question the Man with a Shot- 

 gun sagaciously removed the propounded— Sail Francisco 

 Examiner. 



Smith— You look all tired out, old man. What's the 

 matter f Brown— Matter enough ! I've been trying to lose 

 a dog I don't want for a week. Confound it, here be comes 

 now! — Lawrence 'American, 



