Oct. 9, 1890.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



231 



bed of shell marl two or three acres in extent. 

 A former tenant of the farm had discovered the ex- 

 istence of this valuable manurial deposit, and used it to 

 its full extent to increase the fertility of his fields. When 

 the supply was exhausted the dam which was raised to 

 exclude the water of the creek was removed, and the 

 water of the next and successive floods filled the excava- 

 tion, carrying with it a number of its finny inhabitants. 

 The fish finding themselves in a more favorable position, 

 in deep still water with plenty of nutritious food accessi- 

 ble, rapidly increased in size and massiveness of propor- 

 tion, while the necessity for crushing the shells of the 

 mollusks, in order to make their flesh available for 

 digestion, caused the modification of their stomachs, from 

 which they derive their name: though the expression, "a 

 gizzard like a fowl," is a manifest, though perhaps a not 

 unnatural exaggeration. 



I should like to be informed by some of your numerous 

 angline correspondents, whether the American speckled 

 trout (Salmo fontinalix) is subject to a similar modifica- 

 tion under similar conditions. I. T. BELL, Sc. D. 



MAINE TROUT, ANGLERS AND GUIDES. 



^l^HE Maine trouting seasou has closed, and the record 

 1- has been a truly brilli-mt one. The number of trout 

 taken at most of the better-known resorts has been larger 

 than on previous seasons, while concerning the new-found 

 resorts the sportsmen are loud in praises. The size of the 

 trout taken has averaged well with other seasons, though 

 not quite as large specimens as the largest on record have 

 been taken. One trout of over 10'bs. was taken at the 

 Narrows, Richardson Lake, in May, and a trout of over 

 91bs. was taken at the upper dam in September. It is 

 claimed that this trout rose to the fly and was handsomely 

 hooked and landed. He is reported to have taken the 

 brown-hackle, though the cast contained the silver-doctor 

 and Parmacheene-belle besides. The record of smaller 

 trout is very good. But the very late fishing Avas gener- 

 ally a failure. The weather was very fine on the last days 

 of September, but only a few trout were taken, though 

 previous to the fine weather and during the cold days of 

 about the 20th to the 22d, the fishing was excellent. 

 Early in September the fishing was also all that could be 

 desired. It is suggested by experienced guides that the 

 trout went to the spawning beds early. On the first day 

 of October, the beginning of the close season, rods and 

 lines were cheerfully put away, and the camps and fish- 

 ing resorts were quickly deserted. Even the guides gave 

 up the contest. It is gratifying to be able to say that the 

 trout law in Maine is very cheerfully obeyed, at least so 

 far as eeasing to fish on the end of September is con- 

 cerned. Guides are generally on the watch for poachers, 

 and they, many of them, especially about the Rangeley 

 and Moosehead Lakes, refuse to work for people who de- 

 sire to fish after the beginning of October. A single case 

 is reported from Richardson Lake, where a 61b. trout was 

 seen on the evening of Sept. 30. on the spawning bed. 

 The guide of the gentleman who saw it tried hard to in- 

 duce the fish to rise to the fly on that day, but the next 

 day he would take no hint that the big trout would 

 be acceptable, and finally declined point blank to try to 

 get the fish. 



At the Rangeley Dam there is a sight to behold. The 

 water is swarming with great trout, and a landlocked 

 salmon that will weigh 8 to lOlbs. is seen among the 

 trout. These trout are on the spawning beds or on the 

 way there. In their course up the stream they are 

 stopped by the dam. The Union Water Power Co. is 

 obliged by law to provide a fishway for this fish to as- 

 cend into Rangeley Lake above. But this they have 

 never done. The people owning cabins and hotels on the 

 lake above complain bitterly of this neglect, alleging that 

 they are deprived of good fishing in their lake, for the 

 reason that the great trout cannot get up there, though 

 their course down in the high waters of spring is unob- 

 structed. Complaint has been made to the Fish and Game 

 Commissioners, and these officers have suggested, that 

 the Union Water Power Co. must put in fish ways, not 

 only at this dam, but also at the Upper Dam below. That 

 company declares that if they are forced to build these 

 fishways they will open the gates of the Rangeley Dam 

 altogether, since they care nothing for the flowage of 

 Rangeley Lake. They threaten to open the gates, thus 

 complying with the law concerning a fishway. But this 

 threat has alarmed the residents about the lake. The 

 shores will be ruined by drawing off 8ft. of its waters. 

 Dr. Dickerson, of Philadelphia, who is the owner of Ram 

 Island, in the middle of the lake, where he has cottages 

 and buildings to the amount of some $30,000, is greatly 

 alarmed, and is reported as trying to buy the right of 

 flowage of the lake, together with the dam. If he buys 

 this right he will doubtless open the gates during the 

 spawning season of the trout and close them during the 

 summer season. 



The coming of the railroad to Rangeley — promised for 

 another season— has caused a boom in real estate on the 

 borders of the lake of the same name, and on these shores 

 are to be seen sign boards advertising "cottage lots for 

 sale." 



The Franklin County Fish and Game Association is 

 pvospering, as it richly deserves to prosper, and it is try- 

 ing to do a good work, that of restocking the Rangeley 

 waters in a manner that the State is too penurious to do. 

 Uncle Jerry Ellis is employed to watch the dam and 

 Rangeley stream below to prevent poachers from stealing 

 the noble trout that are there. This stream is perpetually 

 closed, as one of the trout breeding places of these waters. 

 His modest cabin stands by the dam. He is very polite 

 and kind to people who desire to see the great trout, but 

 woe be to the poacher who attempts to steal one, either 

 by night or by day. Uncle Jerry is armed, and they say 

 he is a good shot. On the walls of his cabin is the modest 

 collection box of the Franklin County Fish and Game 

 Association, and all moneys dropped in are for the pur- 

 pose of fish propagation. One of the best features of 

 this work is the fact that all the guides are members of 

 the Association, and they are all of them interested in 

 the protection and propagation of fish. They have come 

 to understand that a big trout is worth far more to them 

 when taken by one of their patrons than when stolen off 

 the spawning beds by a worthless poacher. I know that 

 this sentiment prevails, for one of these guides, Mr. 

 Martin L. Fuller, gave me the fact". He asked me in a 

 very nice manner to become a member of the association, 

 which I gladly did, and was in other ways very polite to 



me. He explained how glad his brethren were at the 

 change in affairs, and how they hoped for better fishing 

 | and better patronage at their end of the lakes. This is 

 l just as it should be. The guides are generally sensible 

 fellows: in fact full of plain common sense. Would that 

 the sentiment in regard to the game laws was half as 

 good. But, alas! it is not. The State has treated thes« 

 • same guides, as well as the sportsmen they work for, 

 shabbily, and they feel it. What has been the result? I 

 will answer in another letter to Forest and Stream, and 

 I shall tell a story that is a shame. Special. 



OHIO ANGLING. 



DAYTON, O., Oct. 1.— Fish are almost without pro- 

 tection. There is a State law requiring fishways 

 constructed over the dams, yet the State dams are not 

 even provided with means for fish to ascend the streams 

 to spawn. t The streams may be fished at any time of 

 the year with rod and line, and seines, nets and traps are 

 again coming into use. Parties at Miamisburg, ten miles 

 down the Miami River, have an 80yds. seine that they use 

 at pleasure, after night of course. This seine is long 

 enough to reach across the river and recently in one 

 sweep two tubs of bass were caught below Carrollton 

 Dam. Another night the party caught three barrels of 

 carp and left their seine hidden in the center of a field 

 for two weeks before taking it home. 



Though fall fishing has begun the waters are not in de- 

 sired condition and minnows have been scarce. A num- 

 ber of trot lines have been set, but not many channel 

 catfish or bass taken. All the streams are full of carp, 

 and fears are expressed that feeding like suckers, as they 

 do, the carp will eat all the spawn of bass and other 

 game fish. Brown. 



Lake Mahopac Bass.— Mr. Daniel Bradley, of this 

 city, caught a 5£lbs. small-mouth black bass in Lake 

 Mahopac, Putnam county, N. Y., last week. This fish is 

 said to be high-hook for those waters this year. 



THE CLUBS OF THE ST. CLAIR FLATS. 



VII.— THE DELTA CLTJB— THE CANADIAN CLUB. 



r pHE constant passage of the big lake boats up and 

 A down the narrow ship channel keeps up more or 

 less wash along the planked face of the "made land," 

 and when one of the great steamers plows by there is a 

 cro?s sea that has swamped many and many a careless 

 rowboat on the channel. Even a small steam yacht 

 sends quite a spiteful series of waves along the docks, as 

 I noticed when Mr. Boy dell came to pick me up in his 

 little steamer. We tied the duckboat up behind the 

 yacht, and there it stood, half out of water on the surge 

 thrown up by the screw. These little yachts steam along 

 very rapidly, and make the best craft for a cruise around 

 the Flats. They are not the safest thing in the world. 

 One went over and I believe drowned one or two persons 

 lately on the Flats. These shallow waters have their 

 fatalities and are not devoid of a certain romantic inter- 

 est of their own . 



Above the Peninsula Club is the little green cottage of 

 Mr. C. P. Collins, and then the Gibson cottage, and then 

 the Hoff cottage, and then the Riverside Hotel, GOxfOft., 

 two stories and comfortable. Then there is the Duggan 

 cottasre, and the Jas. Wilkie cottage, of Detroit, and the 

 Jas. Higgins cottage, of Detroit, and the cottage of Geo. 

 Smith, of New York, and then another cottage and two 

 cabins belonging to Capt. Freeman, and then the cottage 

 of M. Louis Benaur. I give these names and their order 

 chiefly from memory, but they are substantially correct. 

 Next is the Bishop cottage, and then the Fred. Opper, 

 Peter King, A. Kate and Krdp cottages strung along, and 

 just beyond is the old cottage of M. Jules Soulier, and 

 then you have the modest structure of 



THE DELTA CLUB. 



There was nobody at home but the hired girl when I 

 called at the Deltadub, but I had a very pleasant visit 

 with her, and had time to cast a glance over the rather 

 compact little premises. The Delta Club is a ''thirteen 

 club," having just 13 members. The house is small, 

 with only six bedrooms, but everything is neat and handy. 

 There are only six or eight boats. The only yacht, the 

 Dream, belongs to Mr. H. H. Taylor, of the DetroifrScrew 

 Works. "You want to see Mr. Taylor, if you're after fish 

 stories," said the handmaiden naively, "He's a great one 

 to talk." 



I did see Mr. Taylor later, and a very cheerful and 

 obliging gentleman' he proved himself. From him it was 

 learned that the Delta Club was organized five years ago, 

 for the purposes of a quiet fishing and boating lodge. It 

 ia made up of people who are all friends and intimates, 

 and who delight in a pleasant summer day among the 

 channels. The membership will probably not increase 

 much, as the club is well satisfied now. The members 

 are all conscientious sportsmen, but anglers rather than 

 shooters, but observers of the law in every case. There 

 were three men in this club formerly who used to spear 

 bass. These men are now„ out. The dates of the Delta 

 Club are, opening day June 1, closing day Oct. 1. This is a 

 sort of nice little family club. It was named from its 

 location on the "delta" of the St, Clair River. The Rush- 

 mere Club fancied this name before it chose its present 

 name, and tried to buy the copyright from the Delta folks, 

 but the little 'im said it got there first and must have the 

 name. 



In common with everybody else, the Delta people were 

 invited by Mr. McQueen, the modest Canadian who thinks 

 he has the Flats by the tail, go to speak, to contribute to 

 his Herse Island f nnd. He has been cheerfully referred 

 to Pluto. Mr. Taylor says McQueen originally bought a 

 strip along a fence of the island, in width forty feet, 

 "more or less." Mr. McQueen interprets that to mean 

 "more." He quit claims for anything you will give him. 

 Mr. Muir, keeper of the Canada Club, paid him $30 for 

 400ft.. and he promised to pay that back if he could 

 not show title. He struck Joe Bedore, the old fisher and 

 hunter, one of the quaintest characters of the Flats, and 

 as quick as Joe learned what McQueen wauted, there was 

 music in the air. McQueen couldn't get away quick 

 enough. - 



Mr. Taylor is an ardent and successful angler, and from 

 him were gathered some interesting details about the 

 fish and fishing of the Flats. 



"I don't think the bass fishing is what it once was, 

 said he, "although big runs are still made. On the 4th 



and 5th days of October, 1889, I caught 70 black bass, 

 running 3 or 41bs. in weight for the most part. So far as 

 I heard, this was about the best catch of 1889 made among 

 my friends. One day in August, 1888, 1 caught 105 white 

 bass. We don't care, much for the big-mouths, or mud 

 bass. By casting with a frog among the rushes, I sup- 

 pose a man could catch two bushels a day of them in the 

 summer time. When the perch are running, there is no 

 limit to the fun, such as that is. I have known a man to 

 fill a bushel basket to the brim in a couple of hours. 



"We fish bass by casting with the minnow chiefly, the 

 fishing being done usually in from 4 or f> to 11 or 12£t. of 

 water. We don't favor the spoon much, and the man 

 who would use a "deep spoon' or "bottom troller" would 

 be tabooed, in our club at least. 



"A 'bottom troller' is made in this way: A heavy 

 sinker of lead, about 21bs. in weigh I , is the foundation of 

 it. The current is often very swift and it takes a heavy 

 sinker. This chunk of lead bobs and thumps along, 

 right on the bottom all the time. Above this sinker is a 

 heavy whe, a couple of feet long, with a sort of hinge in 

 its top, to which is joine* a second length of wire, at 

 whose top the line is made fast. At each of these hinges 

 there is made fast, bj a swivel joint, or rather a looped 

 hinge, the leg of a long triangle of heavy wire. This 

 triangle is thus forced to play in any direction, and it can 

 be spun around and around the wire that connects the 

 sinker to the line. The legs of the triangle are of stiff 

 wire, and its apex is bent into a loop, into which is tied 

 what may be called the trolling Hue proper. This troll- 

 ing line is only about 10ft. , and at I he end of it is a spoon. 

 Of course you can see that the f-poon plays along behind 

 the bumper, only a little way above the bottom, and right 

 along where the bass lie. It works very smoothly and 

 freely as the boat is pulled along, and it has been found 

 to be an exceedingly deadly lure for small-mouthed bass. 

 Sportsmen will not use it. Market fishers and fish hogs do. 



"I suppose you know what a 'chug' is? That is a French 

 fisherman device, and although very rough it is very 

 killing. A 'chug' is, roughly speaking, a sort of block of 

 wood, weighted with lead and bristling with hooks. It 

 has a long handle, and is jerked forward and upward 

 along near the bottom. It is thought that the fjsh follow 

 it in its movements; at any rate, a great many of them 

 are struck by the hooks and thus yanked into the boat. 

 I do not know that this is especially destructive to bass, 

 hut it is one of the methods of the French fishers. When 

 they bring in fish you will always hear them asked 

 whether they got them with the 'chug' or the spear. 



"Another contrivance akin to the 'chug' is the 'lead 

 minnow.' This is made of an alloy of tin and lead, and is 

 always kept very bright. It is shaped roughly like a fish 

 and has two or three hooks projecting from i ?. It is so 

 hung on the line that when jerked up sharply it darts a 

 little at an angle. It being "bright the fish dart at it, and 

 when one is felt to touch it a sharp jerk on the line 

 usually snags him. 



"Another form of the 'lead minnow' is a sort of bright 

 lead squid, with two or three hooks triangled at the bot- 

 tom of it. It is bobbed up and down in the deep water, 

 and snags tho fish that run over it to watch it in fish 

 curiosity. These last two devices are especially killing 

 on the wall-eyed pike. The Frenchmen know how to use 

 them. I need not say that the members of the Delta 

 Club do not. We just clo good, plain fishing, mostly 

 with the short rod and the minrtow. You may say that 

 the Delta Club is perfectly happy and comfortable, that 

 it has lots of fun, and that it don't want any fun that isn't 

 gentlemanly and sportsmanlike, beyond a question." 



This is a nice little club, and if there were a thousand 

 like it, and a mdlion men like Mr. Taylor, the world 

 would be a bit better off.. Following is the membership 

 of Delta Club: Pres., Mr. H. G. Smith; Sec'y-Treas., Mr. 

 W. S. Ostler. Members: Messrs. Andrew Cooley, H. H. 

 Tavlor. Clarence M. Burton. John C. Goodrich, John 

 Kay, Chas. H. Burton, R. A. Parker, Geo. Thrall, H. M. 

 Utley, Dr. J. A. Post. All these are all solid business 

 men. Mr. Utley is city librarian of Detroit, Dr. Post is 

 secretary of the Detroit Association of Charities, Mr. 

 Thrall is Mr. Taylor's associate in the Detroit screw 

 works, etc. 



But meantime our narrow tongue of land is still curv- 

 ing on up along the ship channel, and we have still a few 

 more choice cottages and one or two celebrities to men- 

 tion. Reference has been made to Joe Bedore. Joe runs 

 the best and most practical duck shooting box on the 

 Flats in all probability, and gets a great deal of the "fish 

 supper trade" of the Detroit boats. He is a popular old 

 character, pretty well understood, but pretty well liked. 

 In sheer oddity he is one of the most delightful features 

 of the Flats; and he who leaves that region without see- 

 ing Joe Bedore has missed half his trip. Joe is a man of 

 fifty or sixty years of age. He is about as broad as he is 

 long and good-natured clear through. His dress consists 

 of a hat, a shirt, a pair of overalls and a pair of boots. 

 His speech is hard for an American to understand, being 

 a mixture of French patois and broken English. Joe is 

 an outgrowth of the" Flats. Did we say he was sixty 

 years old. He is older. He has been there ever since 

 the Flats were, and what he does not know about them 

 never began to happen. Doubtless he is as good a guide 

 as any that can be had in the region. He has quite a 

 good little sportsmen's hotel, well supplied with boats, 

 decoys, etc. His dock is just across the waterway from 

 the Delta Club. Just across the channel from his house 

 Joe will point out to you a green tree or two on the other 

 bank, and tell you that he lived there for years a7ad had 

 built him up a home there with his wife and children, 

 when the Canada Club came along and evicted him. For 

 that act he hates the Canada Club with all the hatred of 

 a natural-born squatter. He says they have no regard 

 for game laws and shoot with perfect disregard of every- 

 thing, but selfish pleasure. 



Joe's reputation on the Flats is hardly that which Ctesar 

 desired for his wife, but I vow I couldn't talk with the 

 good-natured old fellow and believe him as bad as they 

 try to make him out. Joe admits that he has bought 

 speared bass of the Indians, at one time eight barrels 

 speared in one day, which he sent to Detroit market; but 

 he says he did no more than the rich club men do right 

 along, and he deprecates all such work, for he knows the 

 fish supply is decreasing. This he ascribes to spearing 

 and netting. He says there are no pound-nets near the 

 St. Clail River now, but that these nets have cleaned out 

 the fish very much. Once he could catch quantities of 

 mascallonge, but now that fish is rarely seen, except now 

 and then a small one taken in a net. 



