May 22, 1890.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



351 



studied a while— Squire was sharp, he was— and finally 

 said, "I'll give you ten dollars." 



Well, I way surprised, for I thought his offer was a 

 big one, but I didn't let on that I thought so, for I knowed. 

 he was good in a bargain and wouldn't offer morn it 

 was worth, so I told him I would think about it. After 

 he left Sally and I took supper off the rabbit I had shot, 

 and then sat down and looked at the picture till we got 

 tired a lookin'. She said, laughin', that if it wasn't 

 worth so much she might cook it for breakfast. 



"Well, I went to bed, and rabbits and dollars danced in 

 my head all night. The first thing in the morning I sat 

 it up and looked at it, and couldn't hardly get off to 

 work. I was a. mighty hot day. When I came home at 

 night there was an awful smell in the house. 



"What on airth smells so, Sally!" says I. 



"I don't know," says she; "I've smelt something all the 

 afternoon , and have hunted high and low. It must be a 

 dead rat somewhere." 



•'Well," says I, "we've got to find out what it is, fur I 

 won't eat any supper till we do." 



So we looked and looked, but it was no use. After a 

 while my wife says, "Maybe something has got behind 

 the pictur', let me see." 



So she went to it as it sat on the floor face to the wall, 

 and would you believe me, it was the pictur' of that 

 rabbit that had spiled, and wus all fly-blown. But 

 wusn't I sick! I nevsr heerd of any pictur' painted so 

 nateral as to spile in that way. Now if that painter had 

 painted the rabbit settin' up as if he wus alive and not 

 hung him up by the heels as dead as a door nail, you 

 wouldn't see Ben Stokes here with his breeches patched, 

 but walkin' down Broadway withJJay Gould and the Van- 

 derbilts. Talk about your Angelus — pshaw! it can't tech 

 that rabbit pictur' fur nateral appearance. 



West Virginia. N. D. Eltixg. 



\m m\d Jftiw Risking. 



FISHING IN THE HOMOSASSA. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Possibly a few notes by the way in regard to fishing on 

 the Gulf coast of Florida will not be inopportune at this 

 time. If so, I will endeavor to give you a fair idea of 

 what has been done and what is being done at two of the 

 most notable fishing localities in this State, namely, 

 Homosassa River and Sarasota Bay. Although I have 

 cast a line in a good many Florida waters, this has been 

 my first attempt in the waters named, and as both are 

 perhaps less known to the fish-catching fraternity than 

 they deserve to be, a word or two in regard to their 

 special cbarteristics will not prove uninteresting to the 

 readers of Forest and Stream. 



Homosassa was, until reached by railway, so inacces- 

 sible that none but ardent anglers ventured there, and of 

 them only a comparative few. The river, which is a 

 short one — being only nine miles in length — has long- 

 been noted for the number and variety of its fish pro- 

 ducts, and notably for the many that take the fly. Dr. 

 Ferber I believe first drew sportsmen's attention to the 

 fact, and who if I remember rightly communicated his 

 knowledge and experience to Forest and Stream several 

 years ago, has furnished me with a full list of the fly- 

 taking fish, or at least those taken by himself with that 

 lure in the Homosassa. The list is as follows: 1, channel 

 bass (spotted bass, redfish); 2, sea trout {Cynosum earo- 

 linensis); 3, black bass (large-mouthed); 4, mangrove 

 snapper; 5, golden roach; 6, sunfish; 7, bream (two 

 varieties): 8, needlefish; 9, skipjack; 10, cavalli. In 

 Sarasota Bay, Bowley's Creek and Homosassa River: 

 11, bluefish; 12, Spanish mackerel; 13, black grouper; 

 14, razor-back; 15, rovalli. (Dr. Trowbridge, in Bowley's 

 Creek a small tarpon, 1^ pounds, on the fly.) 



A natural supposition would be that with such a lot of 

 fly-taking fish in the river, the general tendency would 

 be in the direction of that kind of fishing, or that still- 

 fishing would assert its claim to recognition; but, with a 

 few exceptions, such is not the case. A year or two since 

 what is known as the "phantom minnow," a most mur- 

 derous device for taking fish, was introduced, and since 

 then it appears to have largely superseded all others, 

 with the exception of the spoon or spinner, for which the 

 large-mouthed black bass that abound in some of the 

 tributaries of the Homosassa display a marked prefer- 

 ence. Channel bass, sea trout, cavalli and a few others 

 of the less notable varieties, are rarely fished for except 

 with the phantorn minnow, a style of angling, if it may 

 be so called, popular with a great many of the visitors, 

 becausejio great amount of skill is required to make cap- 

 tures. The fish unfortunate enough to make a strike for 

 the phantom minnow must have extraordinary good luck 

 if it succeeds in escaping. I have seen each of the three 

 gangs of hooks fastened in various parts of the body of 

 the same fish, thereby rendering it almost helpless, and 

 its landing made to depend not upon skill, but upon the 

 physical ability of the fisherman and the strength of his 

 tackle. So completely are the fish sometimes fastened 

 that from ten to fifteen minutes are required to release the 

 hooks, and that is frequently possible only by cruelly cut- 

 ting the captive. The lure referred to has nothing to 

 commend it to the favorable consideration of fishermen 

 save the simple fact that if a fish is inveigled, its capture 

 is next thing to a dead certainty. 



The use of this phantom lure of course implies trolling, 

 which, from the peculiarities of the river, must be done 

 by rowing, and unless you have a guide who is familiar 

 with the habits and habitats of the fish to be trolled for, 

 your experience will be as unsatisfactory as was mine 

 when, from necessity, I was compelled to accept the ser- 

 vices of a guide who knew little or nothing of the river, 

 or sit on the hotel porch and nurse my wrath. The up- 

 shot of that day's fishing was a beggarly account of some 

 half dozen small and inferior fish, while those who were 

 more fortunate in the matter of guides came in with 

 creditable catches. One gentleman on the day preced- 

 ing took with a trolling spoon eighty-six black bass, 

 which ranged in weight from 6^1bs. down to Ulbs. He 

 made his catch in what is known as Price Creek, a sort 

 of tributary of the Homosassa, a couple of miles in length 

 and varying from fifty to seventy-five yards in width; 

 with a few deep places in which, at times, still-fishing is 

 said to be very fine. That catch was intended to beat 

 any former record, and in that respect was a success. It 

 was made with a steel rod armed with a tarpurn reel; 



the gentleman effecting it, on being asked how he man- 

 aged to land so many active fish in so short a time— about 

 five hours— remarked that he "just yanked them in." 

 Up to that time he was the champion in the black bass 

 department. Whether his record was subsequently beaten 

 I have not learned. It was not during my stay. I tried 

 trolling and still-fishing in the same creek three days 

 thereafter, my companion, a lady, succeeding in getting 

 only a single strike, which resulted in the severing of her 

 line and the loss of her spoon. For my part. I was forced 

 to content myself with a single heavy strike, which com- 

 pletely demoralized my phantom minnow. 



On that special occasion I could not plead ignorant 

 guidance, for I had for my boatman the most experienced 

 fisherman on the river, and every advantage was taken 

 of his experience. The other boats came in with better 

 showing, but none of an unusual character. It was what 

 was called an "off day," which was in some degree com- 

 forting to me. 



Better success attended the two other days I devoted 

 to fishing. Our boat came in with a fair share of spoils, 

 though they were all made with the troll. Still- fishing 

 again proving abortive, we took some fine channel bass, 

 a number of good-sized cavalli and sea trout, together 

 with a garfish some 4 or 5ft. in length, which was cap- 

 tured by my companion. These garfish are ugly things 

 to handle, and as the river literally abounds with them, 

 and they take the troll readily, they are sources of much 

 annoyance. 



During our stay of five days only two small sheepshead 

 were brought in. Various theories accounting for their 

 remarkable scarcity were offered, but none that were ac- 

 cepted as generally satisfactory. The time was, and not 

 very long since either, when sheepshead were the most 

 plentiful fish in the Homosassa, and in point of size out- 

 ranked all others taken in Florida waters. The largest 

 weighed 221bs. and others of less, but still unusual weights 

 have been taken there. Of late years, however, sheeps- 

 head in the Homosassa appear to have diminished in size 

 as well as numbers, though at times they are said to be 

 very plentiful. A long talk with Dr. Ferber, whom I 

 subsequently met at Sarasota, satisfied me that the fish 

 products of that river had materially decreased, a fact 

 which he attributes largely to net-fishing, though I saw 

 none of it. Fifteen years ago the Homosassa literally 

 swarmed with fish. This is attested by the evidence of 

 such true sportsmen as Dr. Ferber, Dr. Trowbridge, Jos. 

 Wilcox, Henry C. Ford and others with whom I have 

 conversed on the subject. There are still a good many 

 fish taken in it, but unless the statements of those who 

 fished it fifteen years ago are exaggerations the numbers 

 of to-day will not compare with those of earlier days. 



There have always been and still are tarpum in the 

 Homosassa. A number have been seen this winter, but 

 as far as I could learn none have been captured, though 

 several fishermen have baited and cast for them. A 

 gentleman named Hunt, who took half a dozen cavalli 

 with the fly, tried tarpum fishing, but without success, 

 though he' succeeded in taking a 7ft. alligator with a 

 putrid mud hen. 



The most notable catch during our stay, as far as size 

 was concerned, was a channel bass weighing 331bs. The 

 captor was a Mr. Hunt, of Brooklyn, who landed it with 

 a light rod in the Gulf near the mouth of the river. He 

 was naturally very proud of his achievement, celebrating 

 it by having the big fish converted into chowder, and in- 

 viting all the guests to partake, forgetting that a channel 

 bass of such size would naturally be coarse in flesh and 

 strong withal. 



In conclusion, whether the cold weather affected fish- 

 ing in the Homosassa, or whether their comparative 

 scarcity was due to some other cause not stated, are 

 points I do not feel competent to settle and shall there- 

 fore not discuss. I would like to give the fishing there 

 another trial, and with some more sportsmanlike lure 

 than a "phantom minnow." A. M. S. 



Sailasota, Florida, March 24. 



PUNTA RASSA TARPON RECORD. 



THE COLOR OF TROUT. 



I HAVE caught trout from Lake Megantic, in Quebec, 

 to Georgian Bay. I have seen them in every color of 

 water from sky blue to sea brown and coffee color. I 

 have taken them on the swift Megantic, the still swifter 

 Windsor and in the dark brown- colored waters of Red 

 Chalk Lake, one of a group near the Lake of Bays in 

 Muskoka Territory, The first difference in color I ever 

 noted in trout was on Windsor River. There you can 

 hook the goldenflesh, the whiteflesh and the still deeper 

 flesh -colored trout, as rich in color as any salmon. The 

 whiteflesh in that stream is much paler on the surface 

 than the goldflesh, and the salmon-colored flesh variety is 

 almost a black-brown on the surface. In Windsor River 

 he is small, and in the course of my travels I traced him 

 to a dark stream that comes from an alder bog with 

 springs of cold water that bubble up in many places and 

 find their way into the river. Red Chalk Lake, so called, 

 is one of two; the other is Clear Chalk Lake, and the 

 waters in the latter very much resemble those of Lake 

 Huron. It has no inlet above its surface, and in many 

 places you can see to a depth of 20 to 30 or more feet. 

 Clear Lake has in it speckled trout of the real silver- 

 bellied, golden-meated variety: they weigh from i to 

 2*lbs., and are capital fighters. It also has a grayling 

 that weighs up to 4 and albs., and his meat is of the "same 

 color, but a little lighter; his back is gray, his belly is like 

 polished silver, and he is the gamiest fish of his inches I 

 ever hooked; the best pan fish in my humble opinion that 

 ever came from the hands of a beneficent Providence. 

 He takes a fly with all the vim of a speckled trout. He 

 will take bait, and rises to the troll in a form to gladden the 

 heart of any hungry fishlrman. He spawns in May and 

 November fbut while this is a true description of these 

 two species of the trout in Clear Lake, it would not apply 

 to Red Chalk Lake at all. Then the color of the grayling 

 is darker outside by many shades and the same inside, 

 while the change of color in the speckled trout is simply 

 wonderful. I have never, so far, caught a silver-belly of 

 either species in this lake, but I have caught dark seal 

 brown speckled trout, and the spots were about the color 

 of carmine, while the meat inside is as red as any salmon. 

 Cleveland, Ohio, S. S. McC. 



To Salmon Anglers.— T. J. Conroy. 65 Fulton street, N. Y., 

 has a lot of fine salmon rods, assorted kinds, which he will sell at 

 a sacrifice until stock is reduced, pon't miss the opportunity,— 



Feb. 



3. 

 18. 

 20. 



March 13. 

 H. 



19. 



30. 

 21. 



May 



21. 



2(1. 

 27. 

 28. 

 29. 



31. 



8, 



9. 



14. 



16. 

 17. 



18. 

 19. 



24. 



29. 



30. 

 1. 



3. 



4. 



07 

 09 

 11 

 07 



8* 

 If* 



02 



02 

 09 



<m 



01 



03 

 0B 



THIS list comprises the fish recorded at the 

 House, Punta Rassa, Florida, for the season 

 to May 8: 



Length. 



Date. Ft. In. 



Jan. 20. R. B. Duyckinck 6 04 



22. D. Duyckinck 5 10 



D. Duyckinck 6 05 



27. D. Duyckinck 6 02 



C. H. Colt 5 mi£ 



G. A. Cormack 5 09 



W. W. Jacobus 5 04 



D. Duyckinck 6 10 



Thos. J. Falls 5 08^ 



Thos. J. Falls 0 0o]4 



Thos. J. Falls 5 02 ' 



Thos. J. Falls 6 03 



Thos. J. Falls 5 



Thos. J. Falls 5 



Thos. J. Falls 5 



Thos. E. Tripler 5 



Thos. J. Falls 5 



Thos. E. Tripler 5 



Daniel D. Wylie 5 



Thos. J. Falls 6 



Thos. E. Tripler 4 



Thos. E. Tripler 5 ~ 



Thos. J. Falls •. 4 07)4 



Thos. E. Tripler . . 6 07y> 



J.W.Yale 5 04 



Thos. J. Falls 6 01 



Thos. J. Falls 0 01^ 



Geo. A. Frost 5 09 



Thos. J. Falls 6 00^ 



Wm. E. Thorne 5 09 



J. B. McFerran 5 OH 



Thos. B. Asten 5 



Thos. B. Asten 5 



Thos. B. Asten 6 



Thos. J. Falls 6 



Thos. J. Falls 3 



April 2. Thos. J.Falls 6 r . 



3. Thos. J. Falls 6 06^ 



Thos. J. Falls 6 05J4 



4. Daniel D. Wylio 6 04 



Thos. J. Falls 6 05 



5. Thos. J. Falls fi 02M 



Thos. J. Falls 5 11 



H. B. Simpson 5 02 



7. Wm. E. Thorne 6 03 



Thos. J. Falls 5 05 



Thos. B. Asten 5 05 



Thos. J. Falls 5 11 



Thos. J. Falls 6 



Thos. J. Falls 6 



Thos. J. Falls 6 



Frank L. Anthony 4 



Frank L. Anthony 5 



Frank L. Anthony 5 



Frank L. Anthony 6 



Thos. B. Asten 6 



Thos. B. Asxen 5 



Frank L. Anthony 5 



Frank L. Anthony 5 



L. Henry Q 



Frank L. Anthony 5 



Thos. B. Asten 6 



15. R. K. Myagtt 5 



R. K. Mygatt 6 



R. K. Mygatt 5 



Tnos. J. Falls 5 



Frank L. Anthony 5 



Wm. E. Thorne 6 00 



Thos. B. Asten 5 02 



Thos. B. Asten 6 04 



Thos. J. Falls 6 08 



Tbos. J. Falls 6 03) 



Thos. J. Falls 6 Ofii 



R. K. Mygatt 5 



R. K. Mygatt 6 



Thos. B. Asten 5 



Thos. J. Falls 5 



Thos. J. Falls 6 



Thos. J. Falls 6 



Thos. J. Falls 5 



Thos. J. Falls 6 



Thos. J. Falls 6 



Thos. J. Falls 6 



Thos. J. Falls 5 



24. . R. E. Mygatt 6 



Thos. J. Falls 4 



Thos. J. Falls 4 



Thos. J. Falls 5 



Thos. J. Falls, 5 



Thos. J. Falls 5 



Frank L. Anthony 6 



Frank L. Anthony 5 



Frank L. Anthony 5 



Frank L. Anthony 5 



Frank L. Anthony 6 



Thos. J. Falls 



Thos J. Falls 



Thos. J. Falls 6 



Thos. J. Falls 4 



Thos. J. Falls 6 05 



R. K. Mygatt 0 04 



Frank L. Anthony 6 07-% 



Frank L. Anthony 6 07% 



Thos. J. Falls 6 06*1 



Thos. J. Falls 6 0. ; % 



Thos J. Falls 3 00 



Thos J. Falls 5 01U 



Wm. E. Thorne 5 07J£ 



Frank L. Anthouy 5 08 



Frank L. Anthony 6 Oli^ 



Frank L. Anthony 5 10>£ 



Thos. J. Falls 6 06 



Thos. J. Falls 6 02% 



03 

 02^ 

 1L 

 01 



$6 



02 



00 



03 



03 



00 



06 



07 



02 



11 



04 



08 



11^ 



00 



07 

 00 

 01 



rm 



02% 

 00*4 

 11 



00M 



COM 



02% 



10 



08 



ma 



0H}4 

 07V* 

 05*4 



00 

 C9 



6 01*<$ 



02 

 08% 



Tarpon 

 of 1889 



Weight. 

 Lbs. 

 126W 

 100)1 

 134 

 103 

 83 

 113 

 79 



165*£ 

 85*$ 



13tf 

 60 



125 



101 



71 

 110 



65 

 137 



$>*t 



46 

 126 



65 

 105 

 100 



96 

 100 

 108*£ 



67K 3 



75 



05 

 135 

 100 



60 

 127 

 128 

 130 

 12t% 

 140 

 120 

 100 



79*6 

 146 



70 



88 

 101 

 141 

 116 

 123 



60 



74 



95 

 120 

 105 



75 



75 



61 

 116*6 



102 



58*6 

 116 



68 

 120 

 133 

 114 

 136 



70 



84 

 123 

 107 

 116 

 J 15 

 140 

 146 



94 



'60 a 



44 



81 



69 



63 

 128 



63 



93*6 



97 

 159 

 111 

 100 

 115 



55 

 150 



mn 



139 

 145 

 156 



50 



74 



{&£ 



82 



127)4 



146*£ 

 112 



Angling Notes. — Upward of twenty brook trout were 

 recently taken in the Brandywine, Pa., by an angler 

 familiar with the stream. A catch of twenty-nine silver 

 trout was .taken at Conshohocken, Pa., by Mr. Charles 

 Vogel about the middle of April. He found them ele- 

 gant game fish of fine edible qualities. Croppies were, 

 seen in small numbers in the Susquehanna and Tide Water 

 canal at Havre de Grace, Md., last year. Now they are 

 more plentiful; specimens lOin. long are not uncommon, 

 and everybody is delighted with the new fish. How it 

 got into the canal is a pleasant mystery. — George H, 

 Moore. 



Young Shad in Rivers. — We have recently stated that 

 small shad sometimes enter rivers in the spring and are 

 probably destroyed by fine-meshed seines used for the 

 capture of alew'ives, from which they are not readily dis- 

 tinguished. In our issue of May 1 we recorded a case of 

 this kind. Now we have learned, through the reports of 

 Mr. S. G. Worth to the Commissioner of Fisheries, that 

 young shad have been observed on three occasions re- 

 cently at Fort Washington, Maryland, in the Potomac 

 River. A specimen selected for preservation measured 

 only 5in. in length, yet it was caught in one of the seines 

 of the common pattern. 



Anglers' Association op the St. Lawrence River. 

 — W. H. Thompson, Secretary of the Anglers' Associa- 

 tion of the St. Lawrence River, organized a raid on the 

 netters in the river and succeeded in capturing twenty- 

 nine nets, four of which were large trap nets and one a 

 large seine. Hon. H. H. Warner, President of the Asso- 

 ciation, loaned his beautiful steam yaobt for the ooca* 

 pion, 



