Apbil 16, 1891.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



2B1 



it with fish and snakes, the 'gatoi* being particularly fond 

 of the latter. C. iiuuched it; with the pole to make it 

 come out, but it seized the pole in its teeth and shook it. 

 "I think if I was alone he would come out, but he is a 

 little bashful before strangers," said the naturalist, and 

 we left. 



The next year when I visited the region Mr. C. liad 

 moved away to some wilder and more con,u;enial spot, 

 where he would have fewer neighbors, and my host at 

 the Inlet told me of the fate of the alligator. After 0. 

 left some mischievous boys at Daytona borrowed a mule 

 with plow harness and took him to the creek where the 

 alligator lived. They xjunched him till he got angry and 

 then dropped the plow chain on his nose. The 'gator 

 seized it at once, as is the habit of the beast, and held 

 onto it, bulldog fashion, while the boys started the mule, 

 a powerful animal, which di-agged the alligator f rom^the 

 hole. Now there is nothing which a mule fears more 

 than an alligator, whose miisky odor will set him crazy. 

 "When the mule smelt this he looked round and seeing 

 the beast at his heels he tore away homeward at full 

 speed, dragging the 'gator after him — and, of course, the 

 faster he ran the faster he was pursued. Up the narrow 

 road he dashed, the 'gator bounding behind him, striking 

 against trees and slumps at every jump, so that before 

 the mule got to his stable the poor alligator was dead 

 enough. As to the mule, his nerves were so shaken that 

 lie never could be got down the river road again. He 

 smelled alligators in every breeze and was a ruined mule. 



S. C. C. 



The ftjll texts of the game fish laws of all the States, 

 Territories and British Provinces are given in the Boole of 

 the Game Laws. 



NEW ENGLAND TROUT WATERS. 



THE returns from early trout fishermen are not yet 

 very flattering. The number who tried the streams 

 of the Old Bay State on Fast Day, April 2, was good, but 

 the water was high and the day was cold. Some of the 

 Arlington boys tried the brook, and the result was six 

 trout to about a dozen men and boys. They will try 

 again as soon as the water is lower and the weather is 

 warmer. At Waltham the boys of the club went up to 

 the camp, but the brooks were very high. Indeed, the 

 water was so high that it was not easy to find the brooks 

 at all, especially where they flowed through the mead- 

 ows, the best positions for trout in fine weather and at 

 low water. Some waded the overflowed meadows, with 

 rubber boots, and two trout were taken. This set those 

 on shore crazy and all went in wading, but the two trout 

 a,lready taken were the entire resxilt of the day's fishing. 

 The same streams will be tried when the water is lower. 

 On the Cape the anglers had better luck, but after all 

 the sport was not quite up to expectations. Sea trout gen- 

 erally did not come to the bait or fly. It was evidently 

 too early. 



Reports from the Maine lakes are rather more favorable 

 for an early movement of the ice than at first, though the 

 weather is still very cold, and the last storm, which was 

 a heavy rain in New York and Boston , was snow in Maine, 

 and indeed the same in the western part^of Massachu- 

 setts. Capt, Fred 0. Barker gave me a very pleasant call the 

 other day. He was out from Rangeley hy the new route. 

 That is, he came out on snowshoes six miles to Redding- 

 ton, and from that point by the new Phillips and Range- 

 ley Railroad to Phillips. ""He is of the opinion that the 

 new railroad will soon be in operation to Rangeley, and 

 the manager of the road, Mr. Rich, has been in Boston, 

 and says that the completion of the road will be pushed 

 to the utmost, and he hopes to have it running to Range- 

 ley by the first of June. Capt. Barker is of the opinion 

 that the ice is going out of the Rangeley Lakes early, and 

 in this opinion he is agreed with by Mr, Bowley, of the 

 Mountain View, and other men of long exijerience in that 

 region. Billy Soule, of the Capsuptic, has also been in 

 Boston of late, as well as J. A. French, of the Upper 

 Dam, and they agree that the ice is to leave the lakes 

 early. The recent rainstorm in that region raised the 

 lakes, which had previously been very low, and broke off 

 the ice at the shores with, considerable commotion. The 

 rain also took the snow oft" the ice, and now it is more 

 exposed to the direct rays of the sun. This will tend to 

 melt it rapidly if the weather is warm enough. The body 

 of snow is still very great in the backwoods of Maine, 

 and the waters promise to be very high, a condition favor- 

 able to a good run of trout when the water does begin to 

 subside. The best trout seasons in that State have usu- 

 ally followed the deepest winter snows that have caused 

 lirolonged high waters in the spring. 



Trout fishing is not yet at its full height, though there 

 was a good send off on Fast Day, April 2. But since that 

 time the weather has been cool, and the streams have 

 not been in favorable condition. In the mountain 

 streams the water has quickly run down, and some of 

 them have actually been fished at low water, though the 

 time was early in April. A warm rain is needed to start 

 the fishing in good shape. The best creels noted are 

 those mentioned by Mr. John Fottler, who is authority 

 on fish and game matters in Massachusetts. He says 

 that from a pond in Norfolk county an angler took 

 seventeen trout with a fly on Fast Day, an occurrence 

 most unusual for so early in the season. Other fisher- 

 men were generally more successful with the "garden- 

 hackle," a ground fly not altogether unknown to the 

 early fishermen in this region. Two other sportsmen 

 killed thirty-four trout on the same day, one of which 

 weighed 21b8., a very extraordinary size for this part of 

 the country. The others of the creel were all the way 

 from 2oz. up to lib. 



Trap Hole Brook, which runs from North Sharon to 

 East Walpole, was thoroughly fished on April 1, and also 

 on Fast Day, The fishermen did fairly Aveil. The water 

 was low, though the meadow brooks were full of snow 

 water. But it was plain that the hillside brooks had run 

 down early. The trout were small that were taken from 

 this brook. President E. A. Samuels, of the Fish and 

 Game Protective Association, has been absent a couple 

 of days fishing at Wareham River. He was accompanied 

 by H. H. Kioaball and Dr. J. T. Stetson. They had good 

 sport, though not as lai'ge trout as they expected. 



About the ice leaving the Maine lakes, the wise ones 



have changed their views somewhat. Only ISin. of snow 

 fell in the mountain regions of Maine during the storm 

 of a week ago, which storm was all rain on the sea coast. 

 This has been followed by very cold weather for April, 

 and now some of the guides who prophesied an early 

 departure of the ice at first, say that May 15 is early 

 enough to expect the ice to leave the Rangeleys, while it 

 may depart from Moosehead a few days earlier. It is ex- 

 pected that fishing at Moosehead will be good this year. 

 Spotted trout are protected by statute from the ice fisher- 

 men, but the togue may be taken. It is a popular theory 

 with the lovers of brook trout fishing at Moosehead that 

 the togue should be all fished out, even if it were necessary 

 to pay a premium to have them taken by the ice fisher- 

 men. But the Commissioners realize the impracticability 

 of such action, even if it were thoroughly established that 

 the togue destroy the small brook trout. Special. 



EASTERN FISH IN CALIFORNIA. 



THE current report of the Fish Commission gives a 

 gratifying record of the successful introduction of 

 Eastern fishes into the waters of the Pacific coast. The 

 first black bass taken to California were carried by Seth 

 Green, at the ex])ense of a sportsmen's club, who placed 

 them in Temescal Lake, near Oakland. Mr. B. B. Red- 

 ding obtained the second lot for the California Fish Com- 

 mission and planted them in the Crystal Springs reser- 

 voir, near San Mateo. In California the black bass will 

 devour even the sticklebacks, which are avoided by most 

 other fish because of their sharp si)ines. Russian' River 

 is said to be well stocked with black basa and it is pi-o- 

 posed to iiitroduce the species into numerous lakes and 

 sti-eams, except those which are now salmon rivers. 



The introduction of striped bass into California began 

 in 18T4, when 150 young fish, from 1 to Hin. long, were 

 taken over. In 1882 another shipment of this species, 

 including fish ranging from 5 to 9in. in length, was 

 brought from the Shrewsbury River, at Red Bank, N. J., 

 and deposited in Suisun Bay, at Army Point. A number 

 of these fish have been taken from year to year until, in 

 1889, several weighing over 201bs, each were caught, and 

 in the winter of 1890 an example of Solbs. was captured. 

 In the spring of 1890 Mr. "Woodbury found that thousands 

 of young striped bass were offered for sale in the markets 

 of San Francisco. He immediately secured the passage 

 of an ordinance by the board of supervisors prohibiting 

 the catching of striped bass under Slbs. weight, but not 

 before from 3,000 to 4,000 young of the fish had been 

 sold. From this it is evident that the striped bass has be- 

 come acclimated in California and only needs pi'otection 

 to provide the people with a valuable food fish. 



The Eastern brook trout was first introduced from New 

 Hampshire in 1876, They were hatched at the first Cali- 

 fornia hatchery . at Berkeley. Their introduction and 

 hatching was continued for several years and many huir- 

 dreds of thousands were planted in' the streams of Ala- 

 meda, Marin, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara and 

 Monterey counties, also in the high Sierra Mountains, 

 above the falls of the Yosemite "Valley, on the headwaters 

 of the Yuba and North Fork of the American River, 

 Prosser Creek (a branch of the Truckee) and in Cold Creek 

 at Sisson, a small branch of the upper waters of the Sacra- 

 mento. In all those short coast streams, which become 

 narrow and diminish in volume as the summer advances, 

 they have not reproduced, but in all the high Sierra 

 streams where they were planted they can now be found 

 quite plentifully. A number of them were caught during 

 the past summer in Blackwood Creek near the Tahoe. 

 About four years ago a few were placed in a small lake on 

 the mountain side back of McKinney's place on Lake 

 Tahoe. Last year Mr. McKinney stated that a number 

 of these trout had been caught in the little lake, one of 

 them weighing 31bg. He said they were fierce fighters 

 and had a delicious flavor. In the winter of 1869 and 

 1890 100,000 Eastern brook trout eggs, obtained from Mr. 

 Livingston Stone, of Charlestown, N. H., were hatched 

 at Sisson and yielded 80,000 fry, which were planted in 

 small tributaries of the Upper McCloud, in Deer Creek, 

 and in various tributaries of the Klamath and Sacramento 

 rivers. 



ANGLING NOTES. 



'"pHE following opinion handed down by the Supreme 

 JL Court of Fairfield county, Conn., January term, 

 1891, is of interest to all sportsmen, particularly those 

 who lease lands for the purpose of controlling the' fishing 

 and shooting rights. 



The Potatuck Club, at Newton, Conn., leased the Cold 

 Spring Stream and adjoining land from John B. Peck 

 and had it posted. A man by the name of Geo. H. Tur- 

 ner was prosecutor on complaint of a grand juror, for 

 having entered the grounds of said club without permis- 

 sion for the purpose of fishing. The Justice Court before 

 which the case was first tried found him guilty and im- 

 posed a fine. Turner appealed to the Criminal Court of 

 Common Pleas, the case was given to a jury and the de- 

 fendant was again found guilty. He then appealed to 

 the Sujjreme Comt of Errors, claiming that as the suit 

 was not brought by the owner of the property, and the 

 posted signs were not signed by the owner, the verdict 

 was wrong and he should not have been convicted. 



The court held that Turner's evidence as above stated 

 must be ruled out, as it had nothing to do with the case. 

 The authority of a grand juror to prosecute for a crime 

 committed is fixed by law, and cannot be controlled by 

 the wishes of any person who may have been aft'ected by 

 the crime. Neither did the question of putting in fry or 

 of signboards have anything to do with it. it was proven 

 that the defendant committed a trespass and he must 

 suffer the penalty. Tiie court rendered a lengthy opinion, 

 quoting many authorities, and sustained the decision of 

 the lower courts, holding that there was no error in the 

 judgment appealed from, in which opinion all the judges 

 concurred. 



Striped bass are still being taken off Sing Sing in large 

 numbers, one caught the other day weighed 461bs. The 

 smelt tried to ascend the Croton River in immense num- 

 bers, but the river was practically closed by the fykes, 

 so much so in fact that the smelt left in disgust and went 

 up a stream at Peekskill, where they had never appeared 

 before in any quantity. Here they did not know how to 

 handle them and only a few were caught in dip nets. 

 The people of Sing Sing are now afraid that as they did 

 not have a chance to spawn, there will be none next 

 season. 



A number of salmon have been killed in the f ykea in 

 the Hudson River, three of which were brought in at 

 Sing Sing. 



The .anglers at Smithtown, Long Island, had excellent 

 luck on the opening day. The largest troirt so far re- 

 ported weighed 31bs, 2oz. , and was caught by James L. 

 Livingston, who brought in 16 trout that weighed dressed 

 151bs. 2 oz, , and he returned by the afternoon train to the 

 city. The next largest caught the first day weighed 2^ 

 pounds. But all the trout brortght in were large and in 

 fine condition. These fish were all taken in public 

 waters. 



The striped bass that are now being caught in the Hud- 

 son River between Tari-ytown and Sing Sing are in re- 

 markably fine condition. Some say that they are follow- 

 ing up the smelt, while others insist that they do not feed 

 at all at this season of the year. It seems strange that 

 they should be so fat if they do not take any nourishment. 

 Can any one throw any light on this subject? If they 

 are feeding on the smelt they certainly ought to take 

 the hook. 



The New Adirondack Hotel League proposes to join 

 the army of supporters of game laws; this will be a good 

 thing and a radical change of base. If the hotels in the 

 North Woods would only stop buying game and fish, in 

 season and out, it wottld be much better for their guests. 

 The benefit they derive from having a supply of trout and 

 venison on their tables does not compensate for the skin- 

 ning of the woods and waters by the loafers that hang 

 around these places. These men resort to all sorts of un- 

 lawful methods, and even visit private grounds at night 

 to jack deer and set line ponds, and are getting to be an 

 intolerable nuisance in the Adii-ondack region. Too lazy 

 to earn a living legitimately, they resort to any method 

 to get money for rum, even to stealing baggage from the 

 visitors if poaching fails. The next question is, will the 

 members of this League take any steps to prevent their 

 guests breaking the law? It is a common occurrence now 

 for visitors to go out after deer before Aug. 10. 



Scablet-Ibis, 



THE SILVER PIKE. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The article of "T. H, B." in last number of your paper 

 on the pike family is very interesting, but he does not 

 seem to make any distinction, only between pike and mas- 

 calonge. Now there is through Michigan and Georgian 

 Bay country a fish commonly called the silver pike; it is 

 brighter colored than the common grass pike and easily 

 distinguishable from it or the mascalonge, I have had 

 the three together, and from my own observation, as well 

 as that of others who have seen them, there is about as 

 much difference between the grass pike and silver pike as 

 between the silver pi lie and the mascalonge — that is, iu 

 looks; for eating qualities I prefer the silver pike to either. 

 While the grass pike has that muddy, soapy taste and 

 the mascallonge its peculiar twang something like the 

 large-mouthed bass, the silver pike has that peculiar 

 flavor of the salmon family which is so delicious. The 

 common grass pike in color is green all over with green 

 fhis and green back and sides; the silver pike is generally 

 a bright silver color with reddish fins, streaked with 

 black, and a red dotted line when the fish is fresh caught 

 lengthwise along its side; the mascalonge has the same 

 dotted red line only more pronounced, blood red fins and 

 large round spots on its sides. I sent a mascalonge to Mr. 

 Clarke, of the U. S, Pish Commission, last year, and he 

 pronounced it the true Eso.v nobilior. I had quite an 

 experience with one of those silver pike last season fish- 

 ing on a small lake back of here. My companions having 

 gone to look for some bait, and a Frenchman happening to 

 come along that I knew, I asked him to paddle me up the 

 lake and I would get him some fish to take home; he 

 kindly consented to do so. I took my rod, an 8oz. lance- 

 wood and got ready, having first secured 4 live minnows. 

 We paddled up the lake and I caught four good sized pike 

 of both kinds and had one minnow left. I laid my rod 

 carefully across the boat and putting on my last minnow 

 I threw it over so as to clear the boat, keswash! biz! went 

 the reel, the water flew into my face and I nearly upset 

 the boat, it was so sudden. Getting hold of my rod and 

 taking in the slack, I struck and had him fast. My 

 Frenchman by this time having got speech says to me: 

 ' Giminy Mr.' B. that fellow was watching you put the 

 bait on." He must have taken the bait one foot or more 

 above the water. Having got him under control, I played 

 him hard, forcing the fight all the time. He made one fly 

 in the air and then settled down to steady runs and turns. 

 Coming on to the boat he turned suddenly, and coming 

 to the surface he must have slid fifteen feet like a bird, 

 alighting on the water, "Giminy," says the Frenchman, 

 "he's got his skates on," He was a plucky fellow, but he 

 was two well hooked under the tongue and had to suc- 

 cumb. I landed him and he tipped the scales at T^lbs. 

 This made 17 1 had caught that day, the largest one lllbs. 

 I mention this simply to show the game qualities of the 

 silver pike. They will almost invariably break water 

 when hooked and I have never seen the grass pike do 

 anything but bore in the weeds and mud. The only place 

 that we get mascalonge is off and in the mouths of rivers 

 running into Lake Huron. I have never seen or caught 

 one in any of our inland lakes, H. B. 



A LPENA, Mi c h . 



California Trodt at Oswego.— A correspondent 

 sends us this report from the Oswego, N. Y,, Times, of 

 April 11, and having seen the fish pronounces them 

 beauties; "About five years ago a quantity of California 

 rainbow trout fry were deposited in the Oswego River 

 here. Last year.a few were taken out, which indicated 

 that the fish were breeding. Yesterday Mr. L, Reiker 

 took out two handsome trout at the high dam, which 

 weighed together about 2|lbs, These fish must have 

 passed up through the fishways, and have reached a size 

 which indicates that these game fish will thrive well in 

 these waters," 



Cazenovia, N. Y,, April 11.— Trout fishing opened here 

 April 1, but only one small catch thus far. The weather 

 has been cold and raw. Smith and Cruttenden, the vet- 

 eran anglers, have their "wums" dug and packed in saw- 

 dust ready for use, and only wait for a day or two of 

 sunshine to visit their old haunts and catch some upon 

 whom they have a claim.— W. H. C. 



