Oct. 16, 1890.] 



FOREST AND STREAM, 



281 



marbles, and still showing the scratches where they were 

 ground along between the upper millstone of the glacier 

 and the nether of the mountain's breast. 



One and a half miles northwest, and about 500ft. 

 higher, lies another small lake, nearly circular in shape 

 and three-fourths of a mile in diameter. This little sheet 

 of water was unnamed until the year 1886, when my 

 friend B. and myself agreed to call it Lake Nanon, in re- 

 membrance of B.'s little seven-year-old daughter. Nation 

 it is, therefore, and B, and I congratulate ourselves that 

 it was still left to us to name one lake in this world of 

 ours before they were all used up— even if ours is a little 

 one. 



The scenery is wild and awe-inspiring, and were it not 

 for the deep blue waters of the lake, that lend a softness 

 to the view, would b-> stern and forbidding in the extreme. 



The waters of the two lower lakes are filled with a* fine 

 trout as were ever caught by fishermen. Animal life is 

 not plentiful. Of small birds there are a few chippies and 

 two or three others of the sparrow tribe, which I never 

 identified; some few robins and chickadees, blue grouse 

 and mountain quail. Among the four-footed animals 

 there are chipmunks, pine squirrels, marmots, wood- 

 chucks, porcupines, and now arid then a fisher and mink. 

 There are also large numbers of the little chief hare 

 (Lagomys prineeps), colonized in an extensive talus at 

 the foot of some great cliffs, 800ft. above the lake. But 

 of these, anon. 



No deer or bear are ever seen, so that the hunter for 

 large game must choose other grounds. Neither are 

 there any rattlesnakes, which pleaseth well the scribe. 

 Among birds I forgot to mention in my list Clarke's crow 

 (Corvns columbiana), two or three species of woodpecker, 

 nighthawks and bank swallows. I believe the foregoing 

 constitute the fauna of the region. 



The fishing is very uncertain. Now and then a glorious 

 day's sport repays the angler who posse- es his soul in 

 patience. And again, days may elapse when not a fish 

 can be caught. This is owing to the situation of the 

 basin in which the lakes lie. Almost upon the summit 

 of the range, and with an east and west direction, the 

 winds have tremendous power, and for days at a time 

 the water is too rough for fishing. For this reason the 

 spot will never' be a favorite to the man who goes solely 

 for fish. But to the lover of nature it is a feast of fat 

 things. I have seen the fishing so good that nearly every 

 cast brought a return of a trout to every fly on the leader; 

 and again, the most persistent casting would not raise a 

 fish for dtfys together. For be it known to the reader, 

 that both B. and myself are almost cranks on the fly 

 question, and it is only when starvation stares U3 in the 

 face that we resort to other methods. 



On a lovely July evening in the summer of '89, B. and 

 I were just debating the question of a return to camp. 

 We had been fishing for a couple of hours with fair suc- 

 cess, and, as the sun had just dipped behind the summit, 

 we thought it late enough for supper. The trout had not 

 been rising for the last half hour, and I had reeled up my 

 line and given the boatman orders for a return, when B. 

 had a splendid rise and hooked a 3 pounder. I watched 

 the fignt, which was a sharp one, and as the struggle 

 ended and the net encompassed the exhausted fish, I let 

 out my line for another cast. In two or three efforts I 

 had it out, and in another iustant was fast to a fine trout. 

 He broke water once, but it was getting too dark to see 

 his size fairly; but I did not think him at all extraordin- 

 ary. At this same instant there was a tremendous tug at 

 my line, so sudden and so fierce that I was satisfied an- 

 other trout had hooked himself — and a fine one, too. I 

 announced the fact to B., but both he and the boatman 

 said it was but one trout, but a large one. It has always 

 been the invariable custom of B. and me to fish out of the 

 same boat, he occupying the bow and I the stern, and 

 when one is fast to a large trout the other reels up until 

 the circus is over. W ell. my trout started, and toe weight 

 upon the rod was irre istible. The reel screamed like a 

 mad thing, and I viewed with dismay the rapidly dimin- 

 ishing bulk of the line upon the spindle. I gave him the 

 butt, but to no purpose, and I yelled to the boatman to 

 row for dear life. As he swung the boat around to obey 

 me, the last turns of the line seemed going, and I could 

 see the metal showing through the coils on the spindle. 

 At last he got headway upon the boat and the strain 

 lessened, so that I had a chance to reel up. By this time 

 it was getting dark, and I was in a "concatenation of cir- 

 cumstances,'' so to speak. There were no more mad 

 rushes, but with all my efforts I could not bring the fish 

 out of the depths of the lake, lie would bore down to 

 the bottom, which fortunately was free of brush at that 

 part; and strain as I would, I could not raise him. It be- 

 came pitch dark at last and I could not see the line, and 

 could only tell by the feeling the situation of the 

 fish, I dreaded his getting under the boat and smashing 

 the tip, and told B. to cut the line if he could reach it 

 and let the brute go. He flatly refused, and I was glad 

 of it, as I suggested it more because he was getting cold 

 and hungry than from fear of my rod. Time passed, 

 and still I had never succeeded in reeling up the obsti- 

 nate creature to within 30ft. of the boat. Then B. began 

 to burn matches to help me out, and as the night was per- 

 fectly calm it helped me in the fight. I hooked the fish 

 about 7:30 P. M. and at 9 succeeded for the first time in 

 getting a glance at the trout. T had a fair view by match- 

 light, and saw that it was a good trout and thoroughly 

 exhausted, but still there was that terrible tug and strain 

 at the line. Then I knew there was another fish on my 

 tail fly, and a monster. The fight went on in this man- 

 ner for another half hour, and my arms were almost 

 paralyzed with the strain. At last a gleam of two white 

 bellies showed at the boatside, and B. , with one dexterous 

 scoop, netted both fish and landed them safely in the 

 boat. Then didn't the mountains ring with our united 

 shout of triumph? I sank back upon the seat t horoughly 

 exhausted after the long and anxious strain, and B. began 

 to examine the catch. ''Why, great Scott, Arefar!" said 

 he, "these are not such very large trout. There must 

 hav^ been another, and you lost him." 



"Well," I replied, "I am glad he's gone, and good luck 

 go with him; for he hast left me hungry and tired." 



Again did B. utter an exclamation, and the cat was out 

 of the bag. In searching for the flies to unhook them, 

 he found the tail fly embedded in the larger fish, just 

 behind the adipose fin. No wonder the brute pulled; and 

 I have a strong feeling of pride to this day to think I 

 saved these trout under such adverse circumstances. On 

 our arrival at camp B. weighed the trout The smaller 



one weighed 2£l bs. and the larger one 3flbs.— so he said— 

 but I declared they weighed a ton— while in the water. 



If any of my readers have ever hooked a large trout 

 by the tail, he will understand the task that my little rod 

 accomplished that evening; and if they never did, let me 

 give them a word of advice. Never do it just at dusk, 

 and with your favorite rod. If you do, you will have an 

 anxious quarter of an hour. Had it not been for the 

 efforts of the smaller fish, partially counteracting those 

 of the larger, I would have lost my leader or smashed 

 the rod. Areear. 

 Auburn, California. 



[TO BE CONTINUED.] 



A NIGHT AT THE HERRING FISHERY. 



BERWICK BAY is an irregular indentation on the 

 east const of Great Britain. Its general form is 

 that of an elliptic-il segment h.tving a cord extending 

 from Holy Island Head in England to St. Abb's Head in 

 Scotland, a distance of about twenty miles, by a width of 

 nine miles at the central part where it receives the River 

 Tweed. Lying for the most, part on a shallow bottom, it 

 is much frequented by herring and oth^r fish for the pur- 

 pose Of depositing their spawn. This fact, joined to the 

 advantages of regular communication with the markets 

 of the world by water carriage, and free access to the 

 interior of the country by the railways, which run west, 

 north and south, and the rapid diffusion of intelligence 

 by the telegraph, renders Berwick harbor a place of ren- 

 dezvous during the herring season, i. e., from July till 

 September, not only for the fishermen of th • vicinity, but 

 even of others from such remote points as C lithnes-t in 

 the extreme south of Scotland, and from Penzance near 

 the southwest extremity of England, and intermediate 

 ports. 



The local boats used in this fishery are open yawls, 

 from 20 to 35 tons, lugger rigged and carrying two masts, 

 manned generally by four men and a boy. The nets used 

 are gill-nets, made of light but strong twine, and as well 

 as the sails are tanned in a decoction of oak bark. A 

 single net i- GOyds. long and about 10yds. deep when ex- 

 tended; from twenty to thirty of these nets fastened to- 

 gether longitudinally used then to make a "fleet," the 

 extent of which would be from 1.200yds. to 1,800yds., i-ay 

 a mile in length, but the size of the noats and the number 

 of nets have nearly doubled since the time of which I 

 write (45 years ago), a fleet of nets no v reaching a length 

 of over two miles. The nets are suspended in the water 

 by buoys composed of inflated bladder*?, tarred and 

 painted black, attached to the Lop rope by "tows," strong 

 cords of some 12ft. lonsr, tied so as to bo easily removed 

 or re-attached. The buoys are placed some 6yds. apart, 

 and in the interval the top rope has corks attached to 

 prevent it sagging with the weight of the net. The bot- 

 tom is kept down by several strands of stout cordage, 

 which is much more pliable and easily handled than a 

 solid rope of the same weight. The nets are generally 

 set so as to have from 6 to 9ft. of water above the top 

 rope, and the bottom about 40ft. from the surface. 



In the month of August, 1S43, I accepted the kind in- 

 vitation of Mr. James Watson, fisherman and pilot, to 

 accompany him to the herring fishing. So one fine even- 

 ing I boarded the Jenny, about 8 o'clock, and sailed for 

 the fishing ground, which we reached after an hour and 

 a halfs pleasant sail before a li tht westerly breeze. By 

 9:30 we arrived at our destination, when the yard was 

 lowered to within six feet from the gunwale, and at 9:45 

 the first buoy was thrown over the stern. By 10:30 the 

 last buoy went overboard, the hawser was made fast to 

 the stem and to the top rope of the net, for the boat to 

 ride by, and the lantern lighted and hoisted to the mast- 

 head, when we sat down to smoke and to discuss the 

 probabilities of the "catch," the outlook for prices, etc. 

 About 10:30 our skipper, in order to ascertain whether the 

 fish were there or not, took a stone from the ballat-t and 

 threw it overboard; as it splashed in the water numerous 

 flashps and streaks of light shot out, radiating from the 

 spot where it fell, showing both that we were among the 

 herring and that they were swimming near the surface. 

 On this Watson remarked that he wished that they had 

 shortened "tows" to thirty inches or two feet, and pre 

 dieted that the miin part of the catch would be in tbe 

 upper half of the net. The watch was then set, and the 

 rest of the crew turned in for a snooze. 1 found a anug 

 berth in the he of thesail, between two of its folds, where 

 I lay, "rocked in the cradle of the deep," until the fresh 

 sea air and the gentle rhythmical motion of the boat lulled 

 me to sleep. 



At 3 o'clock in the morning the word was passed for all 

 hands to take in the net. The boat was put about, the 

 hawser cast off from the stem and brought round to the 

 stern, the top rope was then hauled in, and the net began 

 to come in over the port quarter, the crew meanwhile dis- 

 posing themselves in line so as to carry the net forward 

 and lay it down in regular folds, while the skipper took 

 his place in the sternsheet to lay the buoys and their 

 "tows" in order, so as not to tangle in shaking the nets. 

 Not more than a couple of fathoms had been drawn in 

 when the herring began to show themselves, and soon 

 came aboard pretty fast, and mostly at the top of the net 

 as our skipper had predicted. vt the same time other 

 fish came to claim their share of the spoils of the ocean. 

 Dogfish (a small species of shark), cod, hake and polf ck 

 hurried to plunder the nets. The dogfish swam quietly 

 up and bit off the herring close behind the eiUs, leaving 

 the heads sticking in the meshes, while the cod and other 

 sorts either tore the fish out entirely or stripped off the 

 flesh, leaving the head and backbone in the net. 



As soon as tne morning twilight rendered objects dimly 

 visible the gulls made their appearance, floating along on 

 noiseless wing, gray and ghostly, like the spirits of the 

 birds of a former world, now soaring aloft and now cir- 

 cling down to the water to pick up a fish or fragment of 

 a fish which had dropped from the net or had escaped 

 from the mouths of the fish of prey. I took up my gun 

 and knocked down two of the largest, but as we were 

 hauling up to windward they Hooted, off to sea and could 

 not be retrieved, so that I dnsistedfrom such unprofitable 

 slaughter. A-* soon as the upward rays of the rising sun 

 began to fringe the clouds with gold the solan geese be- 

 gan to come along in companies of five or six, generally 

 two old ones in their white plumage and black wing-tips 

 and three or four young ones in their gray coats, sweep- 

 ing along in vigorous flight, with their long necks and 

 massive heads stretched out straight in front (whence 



heir local name of "poker-necks"), -and keeping at an 



altitude of some twenty feet. Suddenly one of them 

 makes a wheel, and. checking his flight for a second, 

 plunges head foremost, throwing up a shower of spray as 

 he disappears beneath the surface, whence he shortly 

 emerges with a fish across his bill, which he throws up in 

 the air and receives head foremost, when a single gulp 

 puts it out of sight. 



While I, the only idler on board, was making these ob- 

 servations, the work of hauling in the nets went merrily 

 on, and at half-past 5 o'clock the last of the buoys came 

 on board. The foresail was hoisted, the sheet 'brought 

 aft and made fast, the skipper took the helm, and after a 

 pleasant sail with a five knot breeze about two points 

 abaft the beam, during which the crew pushed on the 

 work of shaking the nets clear of the fi h and passing 

 thf m over the main boom, which was h-dd m the crotch for 

 that purpose, we made the river mouth, and gliding along 

 by the Iegh of the pier we reached the dock just as the 

 last of the nets was cleared of its fi-h. The fruit of the 

 night's labor was seventeen barrels of herrings, worth at 

 the morning's price of 18 shillings per barrel, £15.6 ster- 

 ling, or $75. 



Bidding adieu to the kind skipper and his crew, and 

 taking wi'h me a dozen of the spirklingand luscious fish 

 with which he presented me, I went home to breakfast 

 after passing through one of the most interesting and 

 instructive adventures it has been my lot to enjoy. 



• J/T. B. 



ANGLING NOTES. 



SOME of the paoers are urging the authorities to add 

 . to our supply of food fish by increased artificial 

 hatching and restocking. This of course is an excellent 

 plan in its way. but why not do soar thing toward get- 

 ting the immense supply of fish we have into the markets- 

 at a lower price? This reason fish have gone a begging 

 along the c >ast, even withm a p ew miles of the city, at 2 

 cents per lb. , while in the markets the retail consumer 

 had to pay from 10 to 15 cent-'. And rather than break 

 the price agreed upon thousands of pounds of fish have 

 been wasted. It is awfully provoking to see fish sell- 

 ing so cheap when one happens to be down on the 

 heach, and a few days after have tolisten to the long rig- 

 marole of the fish dealer in m-irket, who is trying to 

 excuse the advance of six to eight hundred per cent. 



As to the streams and ponds that the State stocks so 

 liberally, increased protection is needed rather than in- 

 creased stocking. The wise law respecting fingerlings 

 under 6in. should be enforced, and a reasonable limit put 

 on the day's catch. Though the better way to regulate 

 that would be to limit the size of troutto 7in." instead of 6. 



A law should also be parsed forbidding people to fish 

 with more than one rod or line at a time. Not long ago 

 we went down to a noted Long Island trout stream to 

 indulge in a little trout fishing; to our disgu-t we found 

 the banks of the stream lined with rods planted in the 

 ground, while the owners sat on the gras3 plrying cards 

 and drinking beer. When one of the rods showed that a 

 fish was on the owner would rush for it, land the fish, 

 rebait it, and return to his game. 



Then there is the set-line nuisance so generally indulged 

 in. After dark, when the streams and ponds are deserted 

 by the patient angler, the innocent countryman sallies 

 forth with his long set-line equipped with a few hundred 

 hooks and well biited. This is put out where it will do 

 the most good and either left until early dawn or over- 

 hauled every few hours while the party, well supplied 

 with applejack, make a night of it before a blazing fire 

 on the shore. The patient angler wonders next day why 

 he has such poor luck when he knows the waters have 

 been so thoroughly stocked. 



If it is not the set line it is the spear or net or giant 

 powder cartridge. Once in a while we hear of an arrest, 

 but owing to the difficulty of getting evidence it is com- 



Earatively rare, though we are glad to hear the Oneida 

 ,ake netters have again come to grief. Last week they 

 had some $2,000 worth of nets destroyed. 



Mr. Geo. B. Taylor, of the New York Times,, has de- 

 vised a rig for striped ba.ss which he uses in trolling 

 around Hell Gate, and which he says works splendidly. 

 It is composed of the usual worm gang with a bit of 

 scarlet-ibis feather above the hook. A few inches above 

 that a mottled pearl spoon revolves. SCABLET-Ibis. 



CHANNEL B^SS OF ANGLESEA. 



PHILADELPHIA, Pa., Oct. 13— In response to the 

 invitation of your paper inviting communications 

 on the subject to which its pages are devoted, I send you 

 a brief account of an outing enjoyed by myself and two 

 friends, angling for channel ba^s or red drum. We left 

 Philadelphia for Anylesea, Cape May county, N, J., on 

 Saiurday, Oct. 4, in the 4 P. M. train, arriving about 6:30 

 o'clock. We went direct to the Blakemore Cottage, 

 where we were received and entertained in the usual 

 royal manner by our hostess, Mrs. Blakemore. We fi.-hed 

 on Monday and" Tuesday, each day on the last half of the 

 ebb and first half of the flood tide. On Monday we had 

 the wind from the east and on Tuesday from the north- 

 west. Sailing out of Hereford Inlet we fished on the 

 outer edge of the bar, and 14 miles from the shore. Bait, 

 menhaden. 



Our party consisted of Cyrus S. Detre, of Philadelphia, 

 William Brumaker, of Trenton, N. J., and the writer. 

 The following is our score: 



H. W. Quick, 3 channel bass, weight 321bs., 27 i ?lbs. and 

 33£lbs. ; total 931 bs. 



C, S.Detre, 2 channel bass, weight 31 lbs. and 39jlbs.; 

 total 60i-lhs. 



Wm. Brumaker, 1 channel bass, weight 371bs. 



Grand total, 6 channel briss, weight 200Jihs. 



While fishing for the above we also caught a number 

 of bluefish. aggregating in weight 96lbs., and running 

 from 3 to 81bs. each, also a number of fluke, aggregating 

 in weight 1 a7 1 b ,, running from 2 to 7 bs, each.' 



All the ab ve were caught with rod and reel. Mr. 

 Detre u>ed a plarp bamboulOoz. rod, Mr. Brumaker same 

 kind of rod, while the writer, who is partial to a more flexi- 

 ble rod, us-d on this occasion a snakewood rod. We had 

 an enjoyable and succesful trip. Harry W. Quick. 



Lake Superior. — Escanaba, Mich.— I had excellent 

 trout fishing at Lake Superior. Cught only one trout 

 of lets than lilbs.,the others running from that up to 

 3fibs, weight. 



