May 39, 1890.J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



371 



The gates were shut down at about 10 o'clock, and after 

 that the water fell five feet in a few minutes. As had 

 been predicted, numbers of fi3b had runup with the high 

 water, and these now began to bite freely. We caught 

 about one hundred, and then began 'o quit fishing and 

 go to fooling around. We took no bass, although we 

 tried frog and spoon very thoroughly. We saw bass in 

 the stream three or four times, but they refused the frog 

 even when it was drawn across their noses. They were 

 feeding on minnows. If we had had some good creek 

 minnows i L could have caught some bass, but we had 

 no way of taking minnows since we could catch none on 

 the hooks. On two different occasions bass bit at our 

 worm bait. I lost a good small-mouthed bass which bit 

 at the worm. The fly tied on the leader above the bait 

 got snagged on a timber, and although the bass snapped 

 the hook of the fly square off, he tore his jaw so badly 

 doing it that he finally flopped off, after we had him 

 fairly killed and were admiring him as he lay on top the 

 water. 



At dusk I fell to fishing the pool with a fly, using a 

 single coachman bass fly. I caught six croppies in four 

 minutes, and then they called me and made me come in 

 to supper, winch I did not want to do. It was too dark 

 when I got back to the water, but I believe one could 

 catch bass there with the fly in the evening. 



Now about the bass in this stream— for it is really and 

 truly a bass stream that we have discovered. Two yearc 

 ago the mill dam broke here and the pond was drained 

 dry except the creek bed. What a slaughter of fish was 

 there! Thousands and thousands of bass, many weigh- 

 ing as high as 71bs., died on the mud flats, and the Rtench 

 of the dead fish filled the air almost unbearably. For it 

 is true thai all this time, for no one knows just how many 

 years, these bass had been growing and multiplying in 

 this wild pond; and this pond here within 40 miles of 

 Chicago, unknown, so far as I can learn, to any Chicago 

 angler, was really a finer bass water than any to-day 

 lying within that distance of the city ! The country people 

 told us about the strings they used to catch, and every 

 one knows how crude are the methods of many of these 

 anglers. They told us, beyond all, of the tons of bass that 

 met their death on the dried up pond. There is no ques- 

 tion that they were full of large bass. Mr. Trowe told us 

 that a few anglers, from what city he did not know, had 

 told him that in all their travels they had found no such 

 bass fishing as there was in the old pond. 



A great many of these bass went down the stream when 

 the dam broke.' "Where are they now? They arp. either 

 [in the Little Calumet or Salt Creek. We saw a few of 

 them. We thought that there were a good many in the 

 pool, from the way the schools of minnows acted. I 

 ibelieve that in the summer, or even better in the fall, 

 these bass will fall back down the creek and afford 

 good fishing in the deep holes of the creek which lie for 

 six or eight miles below the dam . 



The purposes of our trip were pretty well vindicated, 

 "after all, for we did really discover some bass water, and 

 we added one more to the known localities lying close 

 about Chicago where a sportsman can go and have a 

 pleasant time quickly, cheaply and handily. We got 

 back much more readily than we got out. We spent the 

 second night with Mr. Trowe, reluctant to leave that 

 creamery; then, after a good breakfast, we loaded a Im- 

 pounds trout creel full of the best of our panfish, and 

 walked about a mile to Babcock, on the B. & 0. This is 

 a little milk station, and consists of only one house. The 

 city train came by at 7:30 A. M., and we were back at 

 work by a trifle after 9 A. M, You can leave at 4:30 P. 

 M., go down and fish a day, and be back at your desk the 

 following morning. You can live on cream and butter 

 sleep like a top, have the best sort of a time, catch any 

 quantity of small fish if you like, and some bass if you 

 know how. What more do you want? You must want 

 to go a thousand miles and spend $500 and lose a month 

 from business and a year from Christian grace. Some 

 folks do. 



Detroit, Mich., May 20. — The bass have not yet begun 

 to run on the St. Clair Flats above here to any extent. 

 They are reported to be biting on the main lake below, 

 about Pelee Island. Every one here complains of the cold 

 and backward spring. E. Houoh. 



PENNSYLVANIA ANGLING. 



A CIRCULAR has been issued by the Pennsylvania 

 Fish Protective Association calling attention to the 

 important changes in the State law relative to fishing, 

 which were approved about a year ago. The use of nets 

 of all kinds is everywhere and at all times prohibited ex- 

 cept for the capture of shad, herring and sturgeon. Fish 

 baskets and all other fixed appliances for taking fish are 

 unlawful and may be destroyed by any Commissioner, 

 warden, deputy warden, sheriff, deputy sheriff, constable, 

 policeman or any special officer of the Commonwealth, 

 and any of these representatives of the State may arrest 

 violators of the law and bring them before any Justice of 

 the peace, magistrate or other legally constituted author- 

 ity. The penalty for v Lolating the laws is a fine of $600, 

 or six months' imprisonment, or both, and the prosecutor 

 is'to receive one-half of the fine. Rock bass (Ambloplites 

 rupestris) and wall-eyed pike, or Susquehanna salmon 

 (SUzostedion vitreum) cannot be lawfully caught or killed 

 within two years from the date of the passage of the act, 

 May 22, 1889, under a penalty of $10 for every fish of 

 these kinds caught or had in possession. 



On Wednesday, May 21, Wissabickon Creek was 

 opened for fishing on Wednesdays and Saturdays there- 

 after. Black bass, however, cannot be taken until May 

 31, the limit of the close season. Between May 1 and 

 Sept. 1 carp cannot be lawfully caught. Rainbow trout 

 and sunfish are the only game fishes available for the 

 angler until May ol , and in addition to these, catfish and 

 eels may be captured. 



Schuylkill River and its tributaries have been thor- 

 oughly stocked with fry of the wall-eyed pike, nearly 

 'J.000 ,000 having been deposited in these streams May 15 

 and 16. Coal dirt is a very serious source of pollution in 

 the Schuylkill and forces innumerable black bass and 

 carp out of this river and into the Delaware. On this 

 account the Tulpehocken, Perkiomen, Manatawny and 

 Pigeon creek received two-thirds of all the fry deposited 

 and the main river only 800,000. The wall-eyed pike was 

 known as a resident of the Susquehanna River under the 

 names Oswego bass, yellow bass, Susquehanna salmon, 

 etc. At one time the fish was believed to have come by 

 introduction from Oswego Lake. In the writer's opinion 



the species is an old inhabitant and probably native to 

 the stream. The white pike mentioned by DeWitt Clin- 

 ton in his description of the Otsego bass appears to have 

 been the wall-eyed pike of the present day. 



THE BARRACUDA OF CALIFORNIA. 



READERS of Forest and Stream will recall a graphic 

 account of barracuda fishing by J. C. Van Hook 

 in our columns Oct. 31, 1889. We are now able to sup- 

 plement this article by some notes on the life history of 

 the fish, recently published by Dr. C. H. Eigenmann. Ac- 

 cording to Dr. Eigenmann the barracuda (Sphyrcena ar- 

 genlea) is one of the most import-ant food fishes of Cali- 

 fornia. In summer it frequents the entire coast, but 

 seems to be most common southward. In winter it leaves 

 the California coast almost bodily and is found in Lower 

 California. At San Diego, in January, 1890, the species 

 was not seen. In February, after a few days of espe- 

 cially fine weather, a few were taken on several occa- 

 sions. In March, 1889, few were caught until the 27th, 

 when they were abundant and continued so, except at 

 intervals, during the summer. The spawning season is in 

 July. The adults seldom enter San Diego Bay, but the 

 young, measuring about a foot in length, come into it in 

 large schools in spring, and great numbers are destroyed 

 by seines or Chinese bag-nets. The troll, consisting of a 

 piece of bone to which is lashed a hook holding a piece 

 of white rag, is the only implement used in this fishing. 

 The lines are dragged behind a boat resembling a Co- 

 lumbia River salmon boat, and in light winds the catch 

 is always small. The largest take in one day was 1,100, 

 by two men. The average catch is about 40 to a boat. 

 The average weight of the fish varies from 6 to 121bs., 

 and length from 2^ to 4ft. The barracuda is a surface 

 feeder and subsists principally on the anchovy (Stolepho- 

 rus ringeus). 



WATER LIFE. 



Occasional Observations on the Fishes in the Aquaria of the U. S. 

 Fish Commission. 



CARNIVOROUS FISHES IN CAPTIVITY. 



THE confining of carnivorous fish of different species 

 and of varying sizes in one aquarium is at times 

 unavoidable from want of room. Two large-mouthed 

 black bass (one about 10 and the other 12in. long), w T ere 

 from this necessity kept with a number of fish of other 

 species, such as white bass, crappie, red-eye perch or 

 rock bass, sunfish, etc. From time to time individuals of 

 the group were found in the mornings dead, often with- 

 out outward evidence of injury, and sometimes badly 

 bitten, but always having been in good condition the 

 previous evening. 



The black bass were transferred to brackish water oc- 

 casionally, to rid them of fungus, and it was remembered 

 afterward that on these occasions the mortality ceased. 

 Recently they were transferred to brackish water, and 

 after some time white perch were put in with them. The 

 next morning about a dozen of the perch were dead and 

 the remainder gave evidence of rough usage. The bass 

 were immediately transferred to fresh water, and the 

 next morning a white bass about Sin. long was dead, and 

 another about the same size injured. All the small fish 

 were then removed. Two days later a fine red-eye, 8£in. 

 long, in the best condition, and evidently a male from 

 the development of deep purple margins on the ventral 

 and anal fins, evidently nuptial coloration, and which it 

 was thought could hold its own with the black bass, was 

 found dead, badly lacerated, and giving evidence of 

 having been swallowed and again ejected. The larger 

 black bass was also evidently a male, as it nau developed 

 creamy margins to the ventral and anal fins which were 

 undoubtedly sexual characteristics. The smaller black 

 bass has its lower jaw broken. The bone has never re- 

 united, and at every movement of the mouth the broken 

 ends of the jaw, now covered with skin, wobble up and 

 down without much regard for one another, and appar- 

 ently without suffering to the fish, and at all events it 

 does not prevent it from bossing and worrying to death 

 everything else about it that it cannot swallow. 



It is very evident that many deaths of fishes wholly 

 unexpected and apparently without cause, are due to the 

 voracity or pugnacity of individuals, the manifestations 

 of which are often not apparent throughout the day, 

 when under observation. It may sometimes be due to 

 an ungratified desire for fish food and at others to sexual 

 rivalry. These savage characteristics are, at all events, 

 more marked during the breeding season. All of these 

 fish were with difficulty carried through the winter, pre- 

 served from the effects of the cold and the ravages of 

 parasites, only to kill one another when they began to 

 feel comfortable. 



THE EGGS AND YOUNG OF THE TOADFISH. 



The eggs of the toadfLh are generally attached to the 

 under side of a stone not resting on the bottom. They 

 are about as large as a small pea or a buckshot. When 

 the young are hatched they still remain attached to the 

 stone, by the sac, for some time, one or both (it is prob- 

 ably not known which) of the parents remaining near to 

 protect them. They present an amusing sight, looking as 

 though glued to the stone, with the head and tail free 

 and wriggling about, as if learning to swim. Sometimes 

 a hollow vessel or drain-tile, which has been lost or 

 thrown overboard, will be fished up at Woods Holl with 

 a lot of the eggs or young attached and will be put into 

 an aquarium, where they are a novel sight. 



THE OYSTER CRAB. 



At a late meeting of the Philadelphia Academy of 

 Natural Sciences Dr. Benjamin Sharp stated that the 

 commensal crab of the oyster (Pinno theres) could not 

 support life independently if separated from its host. On 

 reading this it was remembered that on Nov. 1, 1889, 

 quite a number of these crabs were brought to the Cen- 

 tral Station aquaria by a Mr. Rau, a Washington dealer 

 in oysters, who very kindly saves what interesting things 

 he may encounter in his oyster heaps. They were all at the 

 time full of eggs. It appears that it is only the female 

 crab which lives in the oyster, the male hanging around 

 outside. These female crabs were placed in three hatch- 

 ing jars holding about one gallon of water each, and 

 having a little seaweed ( Ulva). No attention has since 

 been paid to them, but it was apparent from time to time 

 that they were decreasing in number. In two of the jars 

 there were crabs of a small species common on the oyster 

 beds, but with hard shells. In these jars all the oyster 



crabs have disappeared, but in the third there is still one 

 specimen that has lived from Nov. 1, 1889, to May 20, 

 1890, almost seven months, and is now in fine plump con- 

 condition. The only food available for it during this 

 period was some minute vegetable organisms, which are 

 so abundant in the water as to render it opaque and the 

 other crate. It is as white as when it came from the 

 oyster, and if it had fed on the green organisms it would 

 most likely be tinted by them. Can it be possible that it 

 has devoured the others? Those in the other jars were 

 devoured no doubt by the hard crabs. Wm. P. Seal. 



THE NORTH WOODS. 



^VTORTBERN NEW YORK, May 18.— The weather has 

 ±y been very cold and wet, causing very high water, 

 which has been a drawback to good fishing. The water 

 at Albany Lake is over 2ft. higher than is usual at this 

 season, and a party just returned from there do not agree 

 very well on the size of the catch, from which I am led 

 to believe that it was quite small, especially as one of the 

 party remarked to me that "it was rather a long trip to 

 take just to see the scenery at this season of the year." 



Something like ten days ago two gentlemen from Low- 

 ville returned from a trip to Woods Lake, which was 

 very successful, they bringing out about 401bs. of trout 

 that would average nearly a pound. I picked one at 

 random from the basket, and the scales showed that it 

 weighed l£lbs. 



B. B. Miller, of Lowville, who is at Seventh Lake, Ful- 

 ton Chain, caught a brook trout last week weighing over 

 31bs., and sent it out to his family. 



Two gentlemen from TJtica who had been stopping 

 with "Jim" Dunbar at Stillwater, reported a good catch 

 below the dam, and had 201 bs. with them to show for it 

 when they stopped at Lowville on their way home. 



A party from Watertown who came out last week from 

 Smith's Lake reported a good catch. 



A guide who went to Big Salmon Lake had 301bs. for 

 sale in Lowville last Wednesday. 



I am included in a party which expects to spend two 

 days on the Salmon River the latter part of this week, 

 providing the weather moderates, and we expect great 

 sport. 



I have made several trips to ponds and streams without 

 noteworthy success, except in the entire lack of it. 



My advice to those about starting for the North Woods 

 on a fishing trip, is to chew the bit until the last of this 

 month, then start with all the extra vim you have stored 

 up meanwhile. 



Possibly these are the last notes I shall pen from this 

 region in some time, as I expect to remove to Syracuse 

 in the near future, but I hope to be able to visit this 

 region about twice a year and enjoy the opportunities it 

 affords the sportsman. Osceola. 



Henrik Dahl, of Aalesund, Norway, was a reader 

 and follower of Darwin. Wishing to apply his theory 

 of the limit of adaptability of a species to its en- 

 vironment, he procured a herring from a neighboring 

 fjord and carried it home in a tub of sea water. He re- 

 newed the water daily for some time, and gradually re- 

 ducpd the quantity, with so little inconvenience to the 

 herring that he concluded that the fish might, in time, 

 learn to breathe air undiluted with water, like the cat 

 and the man. It turned out as he expected, and the 

 water was finally turned out of the tub of the herring, 

 never to be replaced even for bathing. Henrik next re- 

 moved the fish from its tub and placed it on the ground, 

 where it flopped about very awkwardly at first, but soon 

 learned to move freely and rapidly. In a little while the 

 herring was able to follow its master without difficulty, 

 and then it became his constant companion about the 

 streets of the city. On a certain unfortunate day Henrik 

 had occasion to cross a dilapidated bridge which spanned 

 an arm of the harbor. The herring coming gracefully 

 along, heedless of danger, now and again springing at 

 the ephemera, for which it had acquired an especial 

 fondness, missed its footing, slipped through a crack into 

 the water beneath and was drowned. 



Curious Facts About Fishes — Mr. Geo. H. H. Moore 

 has called our attention to the fact that shad have been 

 abundant at and near the mouths of many of our North- 

 ern rivers, but scarce in the upper waters. This may be 

 largely due to the great increase in the number of traps 

 and pounds in the bays and at the mouths of the streams, 

 but there is no doubt that other causes have helped to 

 produce this result. The number of large shad is re- 

 markable ; the Delaware furnished one weighing 13ilbs. , 

 and at Saybrook, on the Connecticut, Mr. Dickinson took 

 a specimen three feet long that weighed ll^lbs., said to 

 be the largest one ever caught in the river. It is not an 

 unusual thing to find 131b. shad in the rivers of Califor- 

 nia, but we have not until this year heard of such enor- 

 mous ones in the Eastern streams. Mr. Moore informs 

 us, also, that yellow perch have been caught in the dirty 

 water of the harbor of Baltimore. Perhaps they are 

 forced into brackish water by polution of their favorite 

 haunts. 



A Lazy Machine. — No matter how lazy, by nature, a 

 fisherman may be, if only he is ingenious— to use a popu- 

 lar technical phrase he gets there all the same. The 

 latest device of the lazy anglers is pictured on the mem- 

 bership card of the Caledonia Fishing Club. It pictures 

 a 3001bs. fisherman lying prone on the bank and above 

 him a contrivance, which looks like an artificial target 

 trap. In this is secured the rod, with line out, and one of 

 the fisherman's boots, When a fish take the bait, the rod 

 releases a spring, which brings the toe of the boot in 

 violent contact with the recumbent fisherman, who is 

 then expected to wake up and hustle to save his fish. 



A Baker's Dozen.— Charlestown, N. H., May 19. — Too 

 cold and too much water for good trout fishing yet; but 

 many have been taken. I got a baker's dozen May 1, from 

 6in. to 9in. long, with at least a dozen fishermen ahead of 

 me on the brook. They began at 4 A. M., so report says. 

 I did not go until noon. — Von W. 



St. John, N. B.— The first salmon of the season was 

 taken on Monday, May 12. 



Forest anu Stream, Box 2,833, N. Y. city, has dos«riptive illus- 

 trated circulars of W . B. LeffiugwelTs hook, "Wild Fowl Shoot- 

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

 nounced hy "Nanlt." "Gloan," "Dick Swiveller." "Syblllene" and 

 other competent authorities to he the beet treatise on the BubJecfc 

 extant. 



