July 31, 1890.1 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



33 



both of whom have grown warm from sitting in the city 

 Fire Department so long, will cool oft this week at 

 Brown's Lake, near Burlington, Wis. They have been 

 taking any quantity of white bass, silver bass, croppies, 

 perch, etc., there, with some black bass, though they do 

 not enthuse over the prospect for the latter at Brown's 

 Lake. The Fox River, from Burlington on down, is a 

 screaming black bass water. E, Hough. 



THE NEW IOWA FISH LAW. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



It maybe of interest to many readers of Forest and 

 Stream to know that we have a new fish law in Iowa. The 

 new law went into efteet April 4. The following is a syn- 

 opsis: 



Section 1 repeals all other acts. 



Sec. 2. It shall be unlawful for any person to take from any of 

 the waters of the State any fish in. any maimer except by hook and 

 line: except thai, it shall be lawful for any person to take minnows 

 for bait with a seine thai, does not exceed five, yards in length. 

 Also that it shall be lawful to take buffalo and suckers by spear- 

 ing between the first day of November and the first day of March 

 following. The word minnows as used herein does not include or 

 .applv to young bass, pike, croppies, trout, salmon, or fry of any 

 cane: fish, either native or foreign, and all such fish, either vonng 

 or adult, so taken shall ho immediately returned to (he waters 

 from whence taken. * * ■* 



Sec 3. It shall he unlawful for auy person to catch or take from 

 any of the waters of the State any salmon or trout between the 

 1st day of November and the 1st day of April following, or anv 

 hass, pike, croppies or any other game fish between the 1st day of 

 November and the 15th day of May following in each year, in auy 

 mariner whatsoever. 



See. I. No person shall seU nor have fish with intent to sell, 

 which have been caught unlawfully. 



See. 5. Any person found guilty of a violation of the precodiug 

 .sections, of this act, shall, upon conviction before any justice of 

 the peace, mayor of any incorporator! town or city, or any court 

 of record within the county in which such offense is committed, 

 he fined not less than fen nor more than fifty dollars and stand 

 committed until such fine and costs are paid . 



Sec. (i. No person shall, do any act that shall hinder the passage 

 of fish up, down or through a water way. 



Sec. 7. No person shall place in any of the waters of the State 

 any lime, ashes, or medicated bait, or shoot any gun, or use any 

 dynamite, gun cotton, giant powder or other explosive, or any 

 electrical machine or device with the. intent thereby to kill, 

 injure, poison, stupify or catch fish. 



Sec. 8. Any person found guilty of a violation of section 6 or 7 

 of Ibis act shall, upon conviction before anv justice of the peace, 

 mayor of any incorporated town or city, or anv court of record in 

 the county in which such offense is committed, be lined not less 

 than twenty-five dollars, nor more than one hundred dollars, and 

 stand committed until such Line is paid. And anv seine, net. trap 

 or other device used in violation of section 6 or 7 of this act may 

 be seized and destroyed by order of the court before whom such 

 action mav he brought. 



Sec. 9. In case of violation, person filing the information shall 

 have in some cases $5 and in some $10 for filing the same. 



I consider the law a good one down to Sec. 9, and here 

 it is lame. This seems to be the only provision our State 

 makes for the enforcement of her game and fish laws, 

 and instead of helping to enforce them it is a stumbling- 

 block preventing them being enforced. First, "what is 

 everybody's business is nobody's business." If a man 

 attempts to enforce it every one in the community will 

 say he did it for the paltry five or ten dollars. This will 

 keep the better class of law-abiding citizens from having 

 anything to do with it. 



Third, the vagabond class, who might enter complaint 

 for the small money consideration , in nine cases opt of 

 ten dare not do it, for the reason that they have probably 

 broken the same law hundreds of times themselves, and 

 they are afraid of retaliation. I have seen the practical 

 workings of this class of laws fifteen years, and know 

 the above to be facts. Our game and fish laws are a dead 

 letter unless we have some different means of enforcing 

 them. William H. Steele. 



Forest City, Iowa. • 



BIG-MOUTH AND SMALL-MOUTH. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I think the majority of anglers are yet revelling in the 

 good things of last week's "Bass Number." At least I 

 will vouch for one verv small portion of a shadow of 

 Walton. 



I have read with interest the very positive and con- 

 flicting opinions of your correspondents, "T. H. B." and 

 "Kingfisher," regarding the large-mouthed bass, and 

 while perhaps the former states the best case, to my mind 

 the latter offers the most convincing evidence. 



As far as my own personal experience goes I must side 

 with "Kingfisher." I have angled in a great many diff- 

 erent waters in the New England and Middle States and 

 have yet to hook an average large-mouth with anywhere 

 near the game quality of the average small-mouth. This 

 may be the state of affairs in this section only, and I do 

 not doubt but that in some waters the conditions may be 

 so different from ours as. to cause big difference in the 

 fighting qualities of this fish. Why then is not this a 

 solution to this much discussed question? That the large- 

 mouth bass of this section are sluggish compared to the 

 small-mouth variety my experience leads me to affirm, 

 and the experience of my brother anglers will go as 

 proof. That in other sections the one variety is just as 

 much of a fighter as the other I am not at all prepared to 

 discuss, and hence with a qualification as to location 

 would have no reason to question the correctness of the 

 several authorities quoted by "T. H. B." 



Atjbant, n. y. Split Bamboo. 



Fish Preservatives.— Boston, July 20.— I notice an 

 article by "Kit Clarke" in the number of July 17, about 

 "Preservaline." Some four or five years since I spent my 

 vacation at Kennebago Lake, Franklin county, Maine. 

 I received while there a box of "Rex Magnus." There 

 were plenty of trout there and we always had some in 

 the "car," which was moored out in the lake in front of 

 the cabin. I followed the directions on the canister 

 strictly. I took just two dozen trout, not one of them 

 less than half a pound, and soaked them in the solution, 

 one pound of "Rex Magnus" to four gallons of water, for 

 about two hours. 1 then packed them in a box w T ith bog 

 moss and started, home the same day (a journey of forty- 

 eight hours by buckboard, stage and rail). I opened the 

 box immediately after my arrival, and the fish were just 

 as handsome as when taken from the water. The eyes, 

 spots and gills were in perfect condition and the flesh 

 hard. I distributed the fish around, keeping a couple for 

 myself, which were cooked the next morning for break- 

 fast, and there was no more taste to the in than there is 

 to a sugar pine chip. The powder undoubtedly preserved 

 them, but destroyed the flavor thoroughly. All the par- 

 ties to whom I bad given then: had the same experience, 

 and I got the "grand guy." I wonder if Mr. Clarke's ex- 

 perience was similar. —Parson, 



Mudfish or Lawyer.— Weedsport, N. Y. — Editor For- 

 est and Stream.: Inclosed please find photograph of a fish 

 taken from the Seneca River, near this place. As no one 

 here has any knowledge of the species, how he .came 

 here, etc., except that he is known as the "lawyer," I 

 write you for something definite in the matter. The fish 

 is Kim. long and weighs lilbs. , color on back dark green- 

 ish tinge, light on belly, scales small and set very tight, 

 almost impossible to remove them. When first taken 

 the back shows diagonal checks, and is quite handsome. 

 The head in shape resembles that of the bullhead, and 

 has a row of sharp teeth on both jaws. Will live a long 

 time out of water, and weighs from 1 to lOlbs. This fish 

 is very gamy and will fight every second after being 

 hooked, and go out of the water like the black bass. He 

 appeared five or six years ago. and last year a number 

 were taken. This year he is numerous.— D. V. M. [The 

 lawyer is described in ichthyological works under the 

 name of Amia calva. It is better known as the mudfish, 

 but has many other common names, most of which are 

 quite local in their application. Dogfish is one of its 

 well known names; grindlo fish or John A. G-rindle are 

 Mississippi terms for thi? species. Sometimes the "Girin- 

 dle" is omitted and the fish figures simply as "John A." 

 The male, with a roundish black spot surrounded by a 

 pale orange color at the root of the tail, is styled spotted 

 grindle. Bowfin and brindle fish are other names for this 

 high- spirited but utterly worthless relic of the old ganoid 

 or bony-scaled fishes. The fish has a very wide range, ex- 

 tending from the Great Lakes to Texas and from New 

 York to Florida. It is a lover of sluggish waters and is 

 capable of living out of water for half a. day at a time. 

 Its air bladder being lung-like enables i t to breathe air as 

 long as the gills are kept moistened. As a food fish the 

 lawyer is a flat failure, and nothing but its game quali- 

 ties recommend it to the notice of the angler. J 



The Ideal Fisherman.— Rochester, July 25.— Inclosed 

 please find a clipping which may interest our mutunl 

 friend, "Kingfisher," whose article by the bye was ex- 

 ceedingly interesting. I can relate a similar experience 

 with a barbless hook, but it was a pickerel this time, — 

 Genesee. [The inclosure is from the Albany Journal, 

 and reads: "Years ago he was thought to be the man 

 who was the laziest fellow of the town, good for nothing 

 else but fishing. Later on it was the man who knew 

 where the fish were, and, regardless of means, managed 

 to secure a large number of them. Then came a period 

 when one having; quite a variety of tackle, enabling him 

 to put on an endless number of lines from his boat, there- 

 by being always reasonably sure of success, was looked 

 upon as the angler of the period. Following this the 

 number of lines decreased to a long, heavy one, with a 

 large reel and heavy rod. Then did the times change 

 and all the material grow lighter and lighter. Through 

 all these periods, however, with the varying kinds of 

 tackle used, the true angler, by the judgment of the 

 people, must show catches large in numbers. But the 

 true angler of the present day has divested himself of 

 every trait inherent to the past, and now he stands 

 simply on the merit of skill. His rod, reel and lines are 

 of the lightest possible weight, he does not care a rap for 

 numbers in his catch — only weighty — and if he can suc- 

 cessfully bring to creel a 2-J^lbs, trout or a 51bs. bass his 

 angling friends know that all the science of his art had 

 to be used to successfully capture the big fellow and save 

 his tackle."] _____ 



The Otsego Bass.— Governor De Witt Clinton, of New 

 York, is credited with the publication of a description of 

 the Otsego bass in the Medical and, Philosophical Regis- 

 ter, about 1815. We have not seen the first edition of 

 the volume in which this account is to be found, and the 

 reprint does not contain the article; but a separate 

 pamphlet on this bass, which is really a whitefish, was 

 printed at New^ York in 1822. In this paper Clinton in- 

 cidentally mentions the "white pike of the Susquehanna 

 River," which we believe to be the wall-eyed pike of out- 

 day. Great are the mysteries of common names of fishes. 

 In 1842 Dr. De Kay called the wall-eyed pike the yellow 

 pike-perch, and recorded;the additional names, glass-eye, 

 American sandre, okow or horn-fish, salmon of the Ohio, 

 pike of the Lake, common pike, pickerel, picketing and 

 yellow pike. The name pickerel was ascribed to this fish 

 in streams and inland lakes of the western parts of New 

 York, as it is now in the region of the Great Lakes. Mis- 

 led by this account and others of a similar character, we 

 supposed the pickerel of Lake George to be the wall-eyed 

 pike, until Mr. Presbrey sent us a head of a specimen 

 which he caught in that lake last year, and which proved 

 to belong to the common pike {Esox lueius). So much 

 for the confusion of common names, in framing which 

 the rules of priority are seldom or never considered. 



Charleston, 111., July 17. — Angling has not been very 

 good for the past three weeks: the weather has been too 

 hot. On the 5th inst. Francis M. Parker, Edward Chil- 

 ton and Thomas Threlkeld, at theEmbarras River, caught 

 ten black bass and four channel catfish. _ On 6th inst. 

 Otto Weiss and Francis M. Parker, in the Ambraw River, 

 three miles east of the city, the temperature up to 92° at 

 2 P. M. , took four bass and five channel catfish. On 11th 

 inst. Frank Parker, in the Embarras River at the mouth 

 of Polecat Creek, caught six bass and four channel cat- 

 fish. The largest bass and largest catfish weighed 21bs. 

 each. On the 10th Thomas Threlkeld, in the Embarras 

 River, took six black bass and two catfish. On the 12th, 

 Otto Weiss, at the Embarras River, three miles east of 

 here, creeled two black bass. The largest weighed 21bs., 

 and was the hardest fighter Mr. Weiss ever caught for 

 the size. On June 1 Francis M. Parker caught twenty- 

 eight channel catfish; it was the best day's angling of his 

 life.— J. B. D. 



A Horse Mackerel of large size (5601bs.) found its way 

 into Gloucester, Mass., Harbor July 14, and was captured 

 off Pavilion beach. It attracted a great deal of notice 

 while on exhibition at one of the fish markets. A trap 

 near Rockport, Cape Ann, has taken a score of these 

 monsters in a single season. Young ones are not found in 

 our waters. The species breeds in the Mediterranean, 

 where it is an important food fish. 



A Large Salmon. — The heaviest salmon that has been 

 taken in British waters for years was captured this sea- 

 son at the mouth of the River Esk, near Montrose. In 

 1883 the British Museum secured a specimen weighing 

 more than SOlbs. in the Billingsgate market, London, 



Brook Trout in Pike County.— Hon. Henry C. Ford, 

 of Philadelphia, informs us that the take of brook trout 

 in Pennsylvania this year is the largest for twenty years. 

 The headwaters of Broadhead's Creek contain plenty of 

 trout. Henry ville and Canadensis are the chief starting 

 points for the fishing. The Tobyhanna, rising in Pocomo 

 Mountain and running into the upper Lehigh, has the 

 biggest brook trout in the State; it has long reaches of 

 still water in which large trout live. Mr. C. W. Walton, 

 of Philadelphia, is thoroughly familiar with the Toby- 

 hanna and its inhabitants. Last year he had a creel of 

 18 trout from that stream running from lib. to 3^lbs., and 

 also one of Sflbs. which was taken by another angler. 

 A 61b. brook trout was caught in the Tobyhanna at one 

 time. Numerous trout weighing from ±| to 21bs. have 

 been captured in Pike county. There the season lasts 

 from to May 1 Aug. 1, while in other parts of the State 

 the time is from April 15 to July 15. The streams are 

 very low on account of the dry weather. At such times 

 the trout gather in deep pools and will not rise readily to 

 a fly. The clear water is a hindrance to successful fish- 

 ing. Under these circumstances tbe poacher with bis 

 nets gets in his deadly work; but public sentiment in 

 Pike county is in favor of enforcing the law, and poach- 

 ers carry on their nefarious business at their own peril. 



Minnesota Notes.— Detroit City, Minn., July 17.— This 

 lias been the best season we have had for a long time. 

 The catches of bass and pike have been unusually large, 

 and this in spite of the netting that is so largely practiced 

 in nearly all the lakes. A sturgeon was caught in De- 

 troit Lake in the early summer, the first one ever taken. 

 Length 6ft. 8in., weight UKilbs. The first trout was taken 

 from a brook that flows into Detroit Lake this spring, and 

 two men went from here and fished the stream and were 

 rewarded by six or eight fingerlings. These trout were 

 placed in here five or six years ago, and it is a shame that 

 they are not left alone, the Park Region Game and Fish 

 Protective Association was organized here last spring. 

 Soon after its organization one man was arrested for 

 using a net in Floyd Lake and fined, but nothing more 

 has been done, yet it is said that nets and dynamite are 

 being used. "I've caught lots of bass this year," said Mr. 

 C. W. Dix to me the other day , "even I on my little Betha- 

 bararod." "How many?" I asked. "Over two hundred," 

 he replied. The other day at Island Lake a man said to 

 me, "I have not got many fish this year; have only sent 

 off four ton. Last year I sent off many more." "How 

 were these fish caught? ' The answer to this will ex- 

 plain why so many of our lakes are being drained of 

 the fish.— Myron Cooley. 



Nomini Creek Notes.— Washington, D. C— Our 4th 

 of July, 1890, outing was to Nomini Creek, Virginia. 

 This creek is in Westmoreland county and flows into the 

 Potomac River near its mouth. It furnishes good salt- 

 water fishing and sailing. We spent two days here and 

 found fish plentiful, but at present of small size. The 

 fish average much better later in the season. Croakers, 

 striped bass, spots, catfish and eels were abundant. The. 

 striped bass run from ^lb. to lib. in weight. We had no 

 intention of fishing in salt water when we went to Mt. 

 Holly. Our destination was a small lake, three-quarters 

 of a mi le long by one- quarter of a mile wide, at Montrose, 

 six miles distant from Mt. Holly P. O. (Nomini Creek). 

 This body of fresh water is well stocked with large- 

 mouthed black bass, and our hopes ran high for a good 

 time with that fine fish: but we were disappointed . as the 

 water was very muddy and could not be fished. Nomini 

 Creek and vicinitv is one of the good fishing places along 

 the Potomac. W. W. Palmer, Plain View Hotel, Mt. 

 Holly P. O., Va,, took us in charge and proved himself a 

 first-class host. Hotel accommodations and boats are to 

 be had at very reasonable rates. Reached from Wash- 

 ington by steamboat tri-weekly. — D. G. Mohler. 



Striped Bass in Upper Delaware River.— On July 

 23 I caught in the Delaware River, opposite Milf ord, Pa. , 

 a striped sea bass weighing 2ilbs. Several other similar 

 cases have been reported along the river. Can you ex- 

 plain their presence so far from their natural home?— R. 

 L B. [By reference to an account of black bass fishing 

 in the upper Delaware, published in this number of 

 Forest and Stream, you will learn that the striped bass 

 are in pursuit of young fish, notably the shad, which is 

 now migrating seaward. It is a matter of frequent oc- 

 currence for this species to ascend streams almost to their 

 sources.] 



Great Egg Harbor Bay* Fishing.— Somers Point, N. 

 J., July 20. — Fishing is not very good at present, and has 

 not been this season. There are some weakfish, flounders 

 and kingfish, but not very many. Sea bass are in the 

 bay in great numbers, but they are very small. There 

 are more bluefish on the coast than I ever knew before, 

 and mossbunkers, or menhaden, are also plentiful. 

 Sheepshead are absent from these waters and have been 

 for three seasons. I have seen several kinds of fish that 

 were not in the collection made by Dr. Bean in the sum- 

 mer of 1887.— B. E. S. 



Mr. Henry Loptie, manager of the Syracuse Bamboo 

 Furniture Co.. sent to the Forest and Stream the other 

 day two plump muscalonge, which had been taken by 

 Mr. Chas. Gilchrist, the wild rice man, at Rice Lake, On- 

 tario. They were two of six taken in two hours and a 

 half on Mr. Lottie's glittering gang trolling bait. Cana- 

 dian muscalonge appear to have taken a shine to this 

 lure; and Mr. Loftie claims for it not only that it is an 

 attractive bait, but that it also has the merit of hooking 

 big fish and letting the no-accounts go. 



Columbus Anglers. — Columbus, O. — I am inclined to 

 think that Columbus has more expert anglers than any 

 othercity in the country, in proportion to her population. 

 One small party recently took a brief trip to northern 

 Michigan, and caught and brought home over 2001 bs. of 

 fine, large brook trout. They go to the same region every 

 season and always feel well repaid for their trips. They 

 avoid the so-called "stocked" streams, preferring those 

 stocked by nature. — M. P. P. 



Wisconsin.— Coolidge, July 24.— Muskallonge fishing is 

 excellent. I was out three days last week and got four 

 that weighed over 20lbs., the largest weighing 28£lbs.; 

 and smaller muskallonge, pike and bass are in abund- 

 ance.— H. F. H, 



