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FOREST AND STREAM. 



[April 24, 1890, 



WHITEF1SH TAKE THE HOOK. 



THE capture during the last two months in Otsego 

 Lake, through the ice, with hook and line of at least 

 1,000 Otsego bass (Coregonus albus) is an experience so 

 extraordinary that I propose in this paper to give a cir- 

 cumstantial account of it, In order, however, to make it 

 orderly and symmetrical, some preliminary statements 

 previously published in part, must here be made: 



As the Otsego bass has rarely been taken except with 

 the seine or gill-net, and as all netting of every descrip- 

 tion has been lately prohibited by our Board of Super- 

 visors, it becomes a question of grave moment whether 

 this very delicious fish can be taken freely with hook and 

 line, and we have, therefore, undertaken to investigate 

 it thoroughly. The following opinions of the most intel- 

 ligent and experienced anglers and fishculturists of the 

 United States, must, we are confident, be read with lively 

 interest, especially as they all agree, in direct opposition 

 to the popular belief, that the Coregonus albus can be 

 certainly and freely taken with hook and line. 



Seth Green says: "The Otsego bass (Coregonus albus) 

 can be taken with small minnows or red angle worms. 

 I think if your tackle is very fine and you do not twitch 

 when they bite, they will swallow the bait. Put five or 

 ten hooks (O'Shaugnessy 8s, forged) on fine snell, and 

 loop them five feet apart, with small sinker at the end. 

 Bait some with small minnows (one inch or so in length) 

 and some with worms. Cast out as far as you can from 

 the boat, and let it lie half or three-quarters of an hour on 

 the bottom, feeling now and then to see if you have one on. 

 The best way is to let them hook themselves. The angle 

 worm, if used for bait, should be strung on the hook with 

 both ends left dangling. "When I had the whitefish bites 

 in your lake, I had a salmon trout rig on the same line, 

 and when I felt the bite, made the same hard stroke that 

 I would for the salmon trout and tore the hook out. A 

 light stroke must be made and the fish handled very 

 carefully." 



Charles Carpenter, Kelley's Island. Ohio, says: "Many 

 years ago when whitefish were much more abundant than 

 now in the lake, seeing large schools of them, I tried va- 

 rious baits and succeeded in catching a few with cock- 

 roaches drawn rapidly through the water. Many more 

 were taken by the hook sticking in their gills or sides 

 outside of the mouth. Some further account of this ex- 

 periment will be found in the first Ohio Commissioners' 

 Report, pages 33-4." 



The lamented Dr. Theodatus G-arlick says: "I was once 

 storm-bound at Copper Harbor, Lake Superior, and tried 

 bottom fishing at night, baiting with small pieces of fresh 

 beef, and caught several large whitefish. A friend of 

 mine, seeing me take these fish on board, soon rigged a 

 line with baited hook, and he caught several also. "We 

 were fishing from a steamer, with hand lines, in water 

 about 25ft. deep. 



"I cut the bait quite small, and handled the fish very 

 carefully, lifting them on board with a landing net. I 

 also caught a few with rod and fly at the Sault Ste. Marie, 

 in the rapidly running water at and about the locks of 

 the canal company there. But I think in deep water the 

 fly would be of no use, I have no doubt you could take 

 the Otsego bass or whitefish in your lake as I took them 

 at Copper Harbor. I would use several kinds of bait, 

 putting on my line several small hooks and letting it lie 

 on the bottom. These fish bite very gently, with no dash, 

 like the trout or other game fish. You will barely feel a 

 slight movement of the line in your fingers. Then with 

 a light strike you bring them slowly to the surface, and 

 take them out with a landing net. I presume they will 

 take a bait as well in the day time as at night. I wish I 

 could see the so-called Otsego bass. That fish has always 

 been a mystery to me. Of course, it is not a bass. It is 

 strange how long a name will stick to a fish, no matter 

 how improper it may be. You will never get a hybrid 

 from that fish and the black bass, but you may with the 

 whitefish." 



Hon. Emery D. Potter, State Fish Commissioner of 

 Ohio, and one of the most successful practical anglers in 

 this country, says: "I have seen a great many whitefish 

 taken at Sault Ste. Marie of Lake Superior with a hook 

 baited with a June or soldier fly. I saw a man take eleven 

 in one hour in that way just before sunset. The fishing- 

 was done in a deep, still pool, adjoining the rapids, the 

 bait resting on the bottom, where the whitefish invari- 

 ably feed. On opening I have found the stomach 

 crammed full of these flies and their larva?. 



"When taken from their spawning grounds in Novem- 

 ber there is no organic matter perceptible in their stom- 

 achs; nothing but perhaps a teaspoonful of a yellowish 

 gastric liquid. It is very certain that at no time do they 

 consume a very large quantity of food, but what they do 

 eat is of the most nutritious kind, for they are always fat 

 and plump. 



"The crustaceans found in greatest abundance in the 

 deep waters of the great "Western lakes are their princi- 

 pal food. The cyclops are the most numerous, and I 

 presume they are found in equal numbers in Otsego Lake. 

 They are microscopic entomostracans, and it is estimated 

 that a cubic inch will contain over ten million of them. 

 There has also been found in their stomachs a small 

 shelly mollusk that abounds in deep lake waters. The 

 ordinary shrimp is too large a bait, and in my opinion 

 would prove a failure. 



"The soldier fly, the June fly, or a small cockroach 

 would be my bait for all Coregoni. If they got anything 

 larger in their mouths it would be an accident. "With 

 these I would fish in the deepest waters, with my bait on 

 or within 4 to 6in. of the bottom. A friend told me that 

 he had taken them near Kelly's Island, in Lake Erie, with 

 a small cockroach, but with no other bait. They are 

 gregarious fish, going in herds like the buffalo on the 

 prairies, inhabiting the deep, cold water in summer and 

 in cold weather approaching the shore, where the water 

 is colder than in the deeper parts of the lake. Do not try 

 to take the Otsego bass with a grub, snail, crab or shrimp, 

 for you will certainly lose your labor. 



"The one taken with a shiner in your (Otsego) lake (a 

 splendid specimen weighing 71bs.) must have been 

 afflicted with a terrible disease of the brain or stomach. 

 I would have been afraid to eat him. At the Sault Ste. 

 Marie I have often seen these fish brought in by the half- 

 breeds, who said they took them with the 'soger fly.' It 

 is a very common thing, known to boys, who are said to 

 take a great many in that way in water from 20 to 30ft. 

 deep. It was here, too, that siting on the bank near by 

 with a friend, we saw a man haul them in, baiting with 

 a June fly. This June or soldier fly is very soft and deli- 



cate, and may \, & compressed into a small compass, being 

 almost as delicate as when in the larvae, on which the 

 whitefish feeds. The common house fly might do, but it 

 would be a pity to exterminate him for the sake of a few 

 fish." 



Dr. E. Sterling, Cleveland, Ohio, says, "Once when fish- 

 ing for brook trout in the Sault Ste. Marie I hooked a 

 large whitefish under the chin. He got away, but before 

 I lost him I just made up my mind that I had lost the 

 gamiest fish that I ever had on a hook. They talk about 

 fly-fishing for shad on the Connecticut— bosh! The time 

 will come when fishing for the Coregonus albus of the 

 upper lakes will be the greatest sport of them all. For 

 whitefish use a very small hook. Bait it with wheat- 

 flour dough mixed "half with cotton or flax to make it 

 adhere to the hook. Then go where the whitefish are 

 feeding and you will catch a boatload, for there never 

 was a fish that ate but what will bite." 



So much by way of introduction. 



The fishing for Otsego bass in our lake has all been 

 done within a quarter of a mile of the village in water 

 from ten to forty feet deep. The fishermen's huts, some 

 fifteen or twenty in all, and about six feet square, are 

 darkened so as to enable the occupants to see more clearly 

 into the water below. 



The tackle used is extremely light, the hooks, which 

 are quite small and two or three in number, being at- 

 tached about a foot apart to the main line with a bit of 

 ordinary gut. The baits in vogue are of many sorts — 

 bread crumbs, bits of beef or angleworm, the common 

 house fly, small cockroaches or other bugs, and pellets of 

 wheat flour mixed with cotton or flax, but chiefly, most 

 successfully and most unaccountably, a tiny bright 

 shiner, either living or dead, or a small portion of it. 



Two lines are generally used, one with the bait lying 

 on the bottom and the other with the baits kept moving 

 in plain sight near the surface, where the fish are dis- 

 tinctly seen. And, singularly enough, it is in this last 

 way that probably nine-tenths of all the catches have 

 been made. 



Like the brook trout, the Otsego bass is exceedingly 

 muscular and moves with great celerity. Looking down 

 over the shoulder of one of the fishermen, I saw myself 

 in less than fifteen minutes, at least 15 fish of from 1 to 

 31bs. each, darting sportively back and forth about the 

 bait, when suddenly, as in a wanton mood, one would 

 seize it. The next moment he was lying on the bottom 

 of the shanty. 



The fish average about lib. each, occasionally reaching 

 3, but being tender-mouthed and very bard fighters, the 

 larger ones tear out and escape after being hooked. 



In this exciting sport (for the Otsego bass is not only 

 one of the gamiest, but the most delicious of all fresh- 

 water fish) success seems to depend very much upon a 

 certain "knack" or "sleight of hand," as in casting the 

 fly for foniinalis. In the same hut, for example, one of 

 its occupants took in two hours twenty-two fish, as 

 against the other's four. In another case, two young 

 men, well known to me, and sitting in the same boat, 

 actually captured before 3 o'clock P. M., seventy-four 

 fish, weighing some 601bs. — one of them taking twenty 

 only, against the other's fifty-four. Various other catches 

 of from five, ten or fifteen, to forty and fifty odd fish are 

 reliably reported, and one clever lad is said to have taken 

 a hundred and two in a single day. Being considered a 

 great delicacy, they command readily twenty and twenty- 

 five cents per pound. But as the lake is literally filled 

 with the fish, and the supply of silver minnows upon 

 which they seem chiefly to subsist, absolutely inexhaust- 

 ible, these rates must soon be greatly reduced. 



In view of the above facts it cannot be denied that our 

 people have made a grand discovery — that Otsego Lake 

 has taken an entirely new departure, with good hope of 

 becoming, in the immediate future, one of the most re- 

 markable and attractive fishing grounds in the whole 

 country. 



Upon the toothsome qualities of the Otsego bass, 

 already so celebrated, it would seem hardly worth while 

 to dilate, but allow me to quote from an old friend — a 

 connoisseur — to whom a few of these fish were lately 

 sent. He says, "To the best of my knowledge and belief 

 I ha ve never tasted so delicate and delicious a mess of 

 fish as we had yesterday since I had the pleasure of eat- 

 ing Otsego bass with v ou at Coopertown (long years ago). 

 I have carefully considered the question whether they 

 were really better than the best Spanish mackerel, and 

 have concluded that they were a little better. This is 

 the highest praise that I can give them, for of all fish in 

 the sea the Spanish mackerel is, I think, the best." 



In closing this paper it may be safely stated: First — 

 That the Coregonus albus is not, as generally supposed, 

 an exclusively bottom feeder, but quite the contrary. 

 "Within a day^or two, however, and since the ice left the 

 lake, some fine specimens have been taken on the bottom, 

 with angleworms, in 60ft. of water. 



Second — That these fish bite equally well by day or 

 night. 



Third— That it is a good plan to bait the buoy with 

 either live shiners or dead fish finely minced. 



Fourth — That the bass devour other fish besides the 

 lake shiner. In one case, well authenticated, ten or 

 twelve tiny rock bass were found in the maw wholly un- 

 digested. 



Fifth— That Judge Potters theory of "lunacy" is either 

 utterly exploded, or else our lake is more lumbered up 

 with "lunatics" than the county poorhouse ever was in 

 days gone by. Worst of all, the people themselves are 

 "crazy" to eat up the "lunatics." We are not indeed with- 

 out hope that the Judge himself may one day or other 

 swallow some of them, and that without even making a 

 wry face. 



Sixth— That the extermination of the common house 

 fly, a calamity the bare possibility of which he so lugu- 

 briously deplores, may perhaps be averted by means of 

 extensive "artificial propagation" of that dainty little in- 

 sect in the Toledo hatchery. Elihu Phinnet. 



G'OOPEKSTOWN, N. Y. 



[We have not changed the name of the Otsego Lake 

 bass, or whitefish, in Mr. Phinney's interesting communi- 

 cation because it is quoted so frequently as Coregonus 

 albus. The current name in the books of to-day of course 

 is Coregonus clupeiformis.'] 



Forest and Stream, Box 3,833, N. Y. city, has descriptive illus- 

 trated circulars of W. B. Leffingwell's book, "Wild Fowl Shoot- 

 ing," which will he mailed free on request. The book is pro- 

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

 other competent authorities to be the best treatise on the subject 

 extant. 



ANGLING NOTES. 



SEVERAL striped bass have been taken during the 

 past week on hook and line. One was caught in 

 the Hudson Biver weighing 101b3.. and Mr. Edwin Bur- 

 field, trolling near Robbins Reef, killed one that weighed 

 451bs. So it may be said that the striped bass season is 

 fairly open. 



Commodore Gregory writes from Quebec that they 

 still have sleighing there, and the ice in the lakes has not 

 yet broken up. He thinks that it will be some weeks 

 before anglers will be able to cast a fly with any chance 

 of success. 



From St. Stephen, N. B., we hear that salmon have ap- 

 peared in the St. Croix River, though none have yet been 

 killed with rod and line. A lad found one the other day 

 stranded in a hole at low tide and carried off his lblbs. 

 prize in great glee. It is reported, however, that the first 

 salmon of the season has been killed at Bangor, Me. 



Notwithstanding the work going on at Massepequa 

 Pond and the stream above, about 200 trout were killed 

 there on the opening day. It is wonderful how difficult 

 it is to exterminate trout by fair fishing, the fish seem to 

 hold their own under the most adverse circumstances, 

 and if given half a chance, increase rapidly. 



The writer once spent a whole season at Ralston, Pa., 

 on the beautiful Lycoming, which rippled right past the 

 door, and along which ran a railroad. Notwithstanding 

 the fact that this stream was fished every day bv scores 

 of fishermen from Philadelphia , W illiamsport and Elmira, 

 and by dozens of the guests of the two hotels, to say 

 nothing of being well poached by the miners, the supply 

 of trout never seemed to fail; the fishing on the last day 

 of the season seemed to be just as good as on the first. 

 This was probably due somewhat to the supply from the 

 smaller brooks which emptied into the main stream. In 

 those days the upper part of these side streams were rarely 

 fished, and they were alive with small trout. As these 

 increased in size they would descend to the deeper waters 

 of the main stream. Within the last few years the bark 

 peelers have invaded these beautiful hills. Sawmills 

 have spiling up on the side streams, and the beauties of 

 the Lycoming Valley have been destroyed forever. So 

 let no man be deluded into visiting Ralston for trout, for 

 the fishing is no more. 



The question is often asked, "Where can I go to get 

 some first-class trout fishing?" This is very hard to an- 

 swer with any certainty. Even those who have time and 

 money at their disposal find it difficult to discover, with- 

 out going a long distance. The surest fishing is to be had 

 at such clubs as the South Side Sportsmen's, Tuxedo, 

 Blooming Grove, Adirondack, Lauren tian, Megantic and 

 others. Here the trout hog has no chance. Killing fish 

 to feed the pigs or bury in the ground is unknown, and 

 the angler is sure of good quarters and good sport. It ia 

 an unfortunate fact, but it is so, and unless those who are 

 interested in fishing in public waters and those who live 

 near- by or on these streams enforce the 6-inch law and 

 frown on indiscriminate killing, 'it will remain a hard, 

 cold fact, that it does not pay to waste one's time and 

 money to visit free streams. 



CALIFORNIA CATFISH CATCHERS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



At a banquet given the National Grange in this city re- 

 cently, the Governor of Michigan, in response to a toast, 

 after saying all the good things he could think of in be- 

 half of his own State; boasting of her climate, mineral 

 resources and fish, wound up by saying that they could 

 tell the biggest f^sh stories in Michigan of any State in 

 the Union. 



Now it is evident that the honorable Governor of the 

 Wolverine State has but a limited acquaintance with 

 California sportsmen, for had he known some of our 

 Sacramento county sportsmen he would never have made 

 that statement. Sacramento sportsmen beat the world, 

 and we defy any county in these United States, as well 

 as the entire State of Michigan, to produce those who 

 dare compete with them. Why, among our county offi- 

 cials alone, to say nothing of ordinary mortals, may be 

 found some of the leading sportsmen of the entire Ameri- 

 can continent. Their thrilling accounts of adventures 

 by mountain and stream could not fail to convince the 

 most skeptical of their superior accomplisments. Of 

 course, like all true lovers of field sports, the majority 

 of them are noted for their extreme modesty in referring 

 to their own experiences, yet, manlike, each individual 

 is ever ready to relate some other fellow's exploits. 



The writer recently' had the good fortune to spend a 

 few days in the society of one of the before mentioned 

 gentlemen, who chancing to be of a communicative turn, 

 related some amusing incidents, which I trust may be of 

 interest to readers of Fobest and Stream. 



A member of our county board of education has been 

 universally accorded the championship in the angling 

 line. Every summer, with his family, he repairs to the 

 beautiful mountain streams of the Sierras, where he spends 

 a couple of months angling for speckled trout, and he in- 

 variably returns heavily laden with adventure. Some of 

 the little shiners captured by this gentleman last August 

 are said to have weighed 41bs., more or less. The largest 

 catfish ever taken from the waters of the Sacramento, 

 Mokalmus and Cosumnes rivers are also said to have been 

 brought forth upon the hook of this experienced angler. 



Not long since with a party of friends he was taking a 

 little recreation along the banks of the Mokalmus; he 

 had taken up a good location upon a pretty little green 

 tussock and was patiently awaiting a bite, when one of 

 his companions approached with the intention of looking 

 up a friendly log upon which to stand in order to throw 

 his hook further into the stream. Our official being 

 noted for his extreme politeness in connection with his 

 other accomplishments, immediately stepped upon a 

 neighboring tussock and courteously surrendered his 

 former firm footing to his friend. Now, it chanced that 

 this latter tuft was somewhat deceptive in appearance 

 and proved a very shaky foundation, and just as he 

 planted his feet upon its summit an immense catfish 

 swallowed his hook, gave a vigorous yank and started 

 for San Francisco. This event coming at this inoppor- 

 tune moment, proved too much for our friend's equilib- 

 ' rium, yet with the strength of a Hercules he hung to his 



