April 23, 1891.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



271 



Since writing: the trout fishing notes, I have learned 

 that Dr. E. M. Srantor and Charles Ballard, of this city, 

 have been on a successful trip to Wyoming county, 

 and caught about forty nice trout, but owing to county law 

 were unable to bring them home. Osceola. 



OiiEASiNa Game.— Windsor, N. C— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: I read in Forest and Streaivi of April 9 what 

 "Old Man" says about creasing an elk, which reminds 

 me of a circumstance I have heard my father relate. He 

 was a very successful deer hunter. His manner of himt- 

 ing was to ride thi-ough the forest with two trained deer 

 dog?; when they showed signs of game ho would cock 

 both barrels of his gun, and when the deer got up he was 

 quite sure to kill it before it could get out of range. Bat 

 on this occasion the game was an old and wise buck 

 which got up and off before a shot could reach him; and, 

 therefore, the only way to kill him was to put spurs and 

 head him at a runway, Avhich my father did Just in time 

 to shoot him down. Dismounting, he at once proceeded 

 to cut the old fellow's throat, but just as the knife was 

 about to enter the neck the buck became vei-y lively and 

 began to rise; but father held on, and with the assistance 

 of the dogs (which arrived by this time) succeeded in cut- 

 ting his throat. On examination it was learned that only 

 one shot had hit the deer, and this had cut the skin just 

 back of the horns. — Cashier. 



Grouse Chokers.— -'Coll" Richardson, one of the 

 Square Pond grouse "chokers," was fined $20 and costs 

 by the Tolland county Superior Court yesterday for snar- 

 ing two partridges in September last— before the law was 

 oi?. It will be remembered that Richardson was cap- 

 tured in the act of taking partridges from his snares by 

 one of Detective W. 0. Fielding's men, who was in the 

 employ of the Connecticut Association of Farmers and 

 Sportsmen for the Protection of Game and Fish of this 

 city. President A. C. Collins prosecuted Richardson at 

 the Justice Court at Ellington, and Attorney Charter, of 

 Rockville, appeared for the defendant. Justice Leonard 

 imposed a fine of $15 and costs and Richardson ajDpealed 

 to the Superior Court, with the result as above stated. 

 Rather than pay his fine Richardson went to jail. It 

 would be well for all persons to obey the game and fish 

 laws. — Hartford, (Conn.) Times, April 16. 



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

 Teri-itories and British Provinces are given in the Book of 

 the Game Laxos. 



SHEDDING TEETH IN SALMON. 



AN interesting observation of Mr. Dennistoun on the 

 loss of teeth in the Atlantic salmon while in fresh 

 water was brought to our attention by Mr. Clarence M. 

 Roof in connection with the following letter; 

 Editor Forest and Stream: 



Mr. Alexander Dennistoun, the former jjresident of 

 the Labrador Company, and probably one of the most 

 expert and experienced salmon fishermen of the present 

 day, sends me from Edinburgh the inclosed article in re- 

 lation to the Labrador salmon, which must be of great 

 interest to all anglers. The writer, one of the lessees of 

 the Romaine, to which he refers, was a guest of Mr. 

 Dennistoun's at the Mingan at the time spoken of in the 

 accompanying article. The score of the Romaine alluded 

 to was made by the other lessee, Mr. Chas. Fitch, presi- 

 dent of the Waltham Watch Co., Newton, Mass. 



It may be of interest to add that in the pool above the 

 falls on"the Romaine there has been for several years 

 during the season a salmon that the Indians say is "as 

 big as a canoe.'' He used to roll"about everyday in the 

 most aggravating manner and show his immense proj^or- 

 tions above water, but could not be induced to take a fly. 

 One day, however, whUe Mr. Fitch was getting out his 

 line preparatory to making the cast from the rock above 

 what is known as the "Ladies' Pool," he hooked the fish 

 above mentioned, which jumped entirely out of the 

 water, showing his immense size, scarcely the length of 

 the rod from Mr. Fitch; this unexpected turn of affairs so 

 excited Mr. Fitch that he failed to take his thumb ofi" the 

 line, and the result was that the leader snapped and the 

 fish was gone. The whole thing transpired in a few 

 seconds. There is no doubt that this salmon would have 

 weighed 601bs. Only a salmon fisherman can appreciate 

 Mr. Fitch's feelings as he sat upon the rock thoroughly 

 exhausted. The fish in the score alluded to by Mr. IDeii- 

 nistoun average 13 to 25lbs. and the largest one taken 

 was 881bs. Clarence M. Rooe. 



From Mr. Dennistoun's article, which was published in 

 the London Field, March 21, 1891, under the title of 

 "Labrador Salmon Problems," we make the following 

 extracts: 



"During my annual salmon fishing excursion last sum- 

 mer to the rivers on the Labrador coast flowing into the 

 Gulf of St. Lawrence, a discovery was made by me which 

 seems to be an important contribution to the natux'al his- 

 tory of salmon frequenting these waters. Notwithstand- 

 ing my having made some twenty fishing excursions to 

 these magnificent rivers, landing on an average not less 

 than five clean fish for every day's fishing during these 

 years, I only last summer accidentally learned a very in- 

 teresting fact, which I record for the information of all 

 who are interested in the subject. 



"In the first week of last July we left the river Mingan, 

 my fishing headquarters for the season, to examine and 

 explore a small river named Tnpitagan, and to test its 

 fly-fishing capabilities. 



"The Government lessee of the net fishing for salmon 

 in the tidal waters near the mouth of the river was a very 

 intelligent French-Canadian, named Girard, who came to 

 my tent near his house to have his usual chat about fish- 

 ing matters. During our discussion as to the fact whether 

 salmon which had once entered the fresh water of the 

 river often returned to the salt water again before making 

 their final ascent to their spawning grounds, he asserts 

 that such was undoubtedly the case; that he had com- 

 pletely proved the correctness of this statement, judging 

 not only by the color and general appearance of the fish, 

 but by a more efficient test. He stated that, as soon as 



they entered fresh water they began to lose their teeth, 

 and when they had been some time in it, they had lost all 

 of them. He "said, if he had fifty salmon handed to him 

 in a dark room, some from the river and some from the 

 sea, he could easily separate them into two lots — those 

 without teeth from the river, and those with teeth from 

 the sea, and that the color and general look of the fish, 

 when examined by daylight, would confirm his selection. 



"Having caught with the fly more than 2,000 salmon 

 on that coast; having previously known or met most of 

 the gentlemen who for the last twenty years had iished 

 various rivers of that territory ; having come in contact 

 with many lessees for net-fishing salmon, and read most 

 of the books on the natural history of this fish, without 

 hearing or reading any statement to this effect, I thought 

 the man was chaffing me, and probably intimated as 

 much to him. He then good-naturedly called one of his 

 children from the adjacent house, and told them to bring 

 from his salmon storehouse the two fish they had that 

 morning taken from his nets. This was done, and when 

 examined, one, bright as silver, evidently from the sea, 

 had a formidable mouth full of sharp teeth; the other, 

 which had lost much of its brightness, and had all the 

 signs of having been in the river, had scarcely a tooth in 

 its head — a few quite loose old teeth being aU that were 

 visible. My next question to him was naturally, 'How 

 did you make this discovery ?' His answer was curious, 

 showing in how simple a manner such problems are often 

 found out. His statement was this: 



" 'One Satm-day afternoon, some three years ago, I 

 went to tie up my nets for the weekly close time, and 

 found in them two salmon, just such as are lying there 

 before us. I gave one of them to my ten-year-old girl, 

 who had accompanied me, to carry the fish home. Pi-es- 

 ently she remarked, "Dad, this fish has no teeth !" This 

 led me to examine it carefully; it was evidently, by the 

 color, a fish that had been some time in the river, and it 

 was toothless. Since that time I have carefully examined 

 all fish caught in my nets, and found the result always 

 the same.' 



"The following day we left that river for the mouth of 

 the St. John, and after a delay of two days ascended it 

 in canoes some twenty rniles to its noted pools, We had 

 at this time twenty-four hours of welcome heavy rain, 

 which raised the river 2ft., and brought down the tem- 

 perature of the w^ater, giving us a splendid chance for the 

 next ten days, dming which my nephew and self landed 

 160 fish, and hooked and lost some forty or fifty additional 

 ones. All these were most carefully examined, with the 

 result that nearly all were quite toothless. A few of them, 

 evidently later from the sea, had some straggling loose 

 teeth. These pools we fished were between twenty-five 

 and thirty miles from the sea, and salmon had begun to 

 reach them five or six weeks before the date of our visit. 

 Some of those we caught had therefore been a long time 

 out of the sea. We then returned to the Mingan River, 

 and caught some forty more fish. A careful examination 

 of them gave the sameresult as on the St. John. Before 

 leaving Mingan for the Tupitagan we had caught there 

 some fifty fisli, in addition to some half a dozen kelts, 

 but being then ignorant of the toothless problem, the 

 mouths of none of them were examined, and as we were 

 at that latter season unable to obtgin any kelts, could get 

 no evidence as to the regrowth of their teeth. 



"At the Mingan Post of the Hudson's Bay Company 

 there was an opportunity of examining a number of the 

 hunters of the Montagnois Indian tribe, who all confirmed 

 the statement that salmon lose their teeth soon after 

 entering fresh water. When cross-questioned on the 

 subject they answered, 'It is just the same as deer lose 

 their horns, bears, martens and other animals their fur, 

 and lobsters change their shells every year.' It seems 

 almost incredible that this fact, of which we obtained 

 such ample evidence, and which a slight amount of ob- 

 servation would have easily detected, has been over- 

 looked by so many exj^erienced professional and amatetir 

 fishermen. I have conversed with many of both classes 

 on the coast, and since my return, but none were aware 

 of this peculiarity. This in the case of fly-fishermen 

 may in some measure be accounted for, when a fish has 

 been gaffed or landed by a net they leave the detaching 

 of the hook to the gatTer, and therefore do not see the 

 mouth of the fish. 



"It is to be hoped that during the coming fishing sea- 

 son in Canada and elsewhere this iDroblem will be thor- 

 oughly investigated and reported on, especially in the 

 case of kelts. What may be the case of salmon in the 

 rivers of Great Britain others must demonstrate, but if 

 found to correspond in any measure with those of the 

 rivers of Labrador the fact may have a most important 

 bearing on the much-argued question, 'Do salmon feed 

 in fresh water?' The mouths of the toothless salmon we 

 caught could have no holding power over small fish — 

 one's hand could be rubbed hard along both upper and 

 lower jaw without the least obstruction, while salmon, if 

 caught in or just out of salt water, would in like circum- 

 stances cut the hand severly." 



In the above description Mr. Dennistoim has apparently 

 brought out an exceptional condition of the teeth in 

 breeding salmon, and the subject deserves careful and 

 continued investigation. It has long been known that 

 salmon a.nd charr frequently Shed their teeth and as often 

 renew them by others which appear from below or on 

 one side of the deciduous teeth. The number is much 

 reduced as old age comes on, and, especially in sea-going 

 species like the Labrador salmon, the tooth-bearing sur- 

 face shrinks rapidly in extent. Males in the breeding 

 season have the jaws greatly produced and bent: the 

 teeth of the intermaxillary bone become much enlarged, 

 so that they are fully four times the size of the corre- 

 sponding teeth in females. There is, however, usually 

 no serious loss of teeth during the spawning period. Dr. 

 Gilnther's description of a male Irish salmon in full 

 breeding condition, and measuring 3ft. in length, con- 

 tains the following remarks as to the teeth : "The denti- 

 tion of the jaws and of the palatine bones almost perfect, 

 the teeth of the intermaxillary being stronger than those 

 of the mandible, which again are larger than the maxil- 

 lary and palatine teeth ; the series of intermaxillary teeth 

 does not extend across the forepart of the snout, the inter- 

 maxillary bones themselves being separated by a deep 

 notch. Of the vomerine teeth three only of the anterior 

 ones are left; they form a triangle; most of the teeth of 

 the tongue are lost." Breeding males of the Penobscot 

 salmon agree with the above description and males of all 

 the Pacific salmon show the same characters. As we 

 have remarked, therefore, the peculiar condition of Lab- 



rador salmon is worthy of further study, and will no 

 doubt have the attention of anglers who may visit the 

 region. 



NEW ENGLAND TROUT WATERS. 



THE run of salmon in the celebrated pool at Bangor 

 has not yet been of any considerable proportions. 

 Following the first one caught, already mentionefl in the 

 Forest and Stream, only a few have been taken. In 

 one day, Saturday, April 11, six fish were hooked, but 

 only one was landed. The trouble seemed to be with the 

 tackle in use, or with the inexperience of the fishermen 

 who were fortunate enough to get the rises. In one case, 

 where the salmon was hooked and secured, the fish came 

 out of the water to the casting of one gentleman, and 

 would evidently have risen again to the same cast, but 

 another fisherman near by put an end to the hopes of the 

 owner cf the cast. The fisherman above evidently saw 

 what was going on and ordered his guide to paddle him 

 across the pool. Either intentionally, or otherwise, the 

 guide allowed the boat to drift slightly down the stream, 

 with the cast of flies of the fisherman trailing in the pool. 

 The salmon rose to these flies, was hooked and landed. 

 It is explained by those who have been there this spring, 

 that the fishing ground has changed, or appears to have 

 changed, in that the best fishing has been on the Bangor 

 side, whereas on former seasons it has been on the other 

 side, where the shore is controlled by the club, 



Moosehead Lake sportsmen are preparing for a good 

 season with the brook trout in those celebrated waters. 

 It is reported that the ice is liable to go out early. The 

 water is tinusually high, and the ice is broken from the 

 shores, indications that are supposed to suggest an early 

 breaking up. But this is by no means positive evidence 

 that the ice wiU go out early. For after all the ice has to 

 thaw and become thin enough and weak enough for the 

 wind to break it up, since it is but the work of a few hours 

 for one of those great Maine lakes to clear of ice. It 

 gradually grows thinner and weaker till it is weak enough 

 to rise on top of the waves, or rather to be moved by the 

 wind, starting at the shore. An old hermit, who formerly 

 spent his winters at the South Arm of Richardson Lake, 

 once explained the matter of the going out of the ice to 

 some ladies in these words: "I was here when she all 

 went to smash," He said this with a vacant stare up the 

 lake. Then he added, "I looked up the lake and she was 

 all solid. The next time I looked up she had all gone to 

 smash !" 



The latest indications and suggestions do not point 

 toward the clearing of the Rangeley Lakes previous to the 

 10th of May. Last year these lakes cleared on the 8th and 

 9th, at the same time Moosehead cleared. The Rangeleys 

 cleared in 1889, on the 29th of April , which was about the 

 earliest on record. The average is about the 13th. It is 

 announced that the railroad from Phillips to Rangeley 

 will be completed by the first of Jtme. This wnll be too 

 late to catch the best of the travel this spring. It is now 

 completed to within seven miles of Rangeley, but the im- 

 finished part is through a wilderness, and the road will 

 not be of any use to the public till completed. 



A fronting party of three went from Boston up into 

 Barre, Mass., last week and returned with a creel of some 

 70 trout. They found many of the streams still very high 

 from the effects of rain and snow water. One of the 

 larger, and about the best stream, they did not fish at all 

 by reason of high water. The tackle people mention a 

 good trade with the fishermen, getting their outfits ready 

 for the Maine waters. It will be legal to fish the streams 

 there on May 1, in fact, any water's, but the lakes are not 

 likely to be open, as mentioned atjove. Portland, Saco 

 and Biddef ord sportsmen are getting ready for the land- 

 locked salmon fishing in Sebago, as soon as the ice leaves. 

 They are expecting a good run. Special. 



At the last business meeting of the Loon Club of Mpnr 

 son, which is an organization of local sportsmen, letters 

 were received from O. A. Denner, of Kineo, and other 

 gentlemen who had been elected honorary members. 



Among them was one who has in former years often 

 enjoyed the pleasure of angling in many of the numer- 

 ous lakes and ponds in Monson and vicinity. 



It is unnecessary to add that this pleasant missive from 

 Maine's honored citizen and one of the nation's great 

 statesmen was highly appreciated by the members of 

 this club. It is as follows: "Bangor, April 10. — E. R. 

 Haynes, Esq.: I have your notice informing fte that the 

 Loon Club had elected me an honorary member thereof. 

 The club will please accept my thanks for the compli- 

 ment. I shall endeavor to meet the club at some time 

 during the coming reason. Very truly yours, Hannibal 

 Hamlin." 



As it is an autograph letter entire it wiU be framed and 

 hung in the club house. 



Every indication is that the ice will be out of the lakes 

 and ponds earlier by several days than usual, J. F, S, 



MONSON, Me. 



ICE FISHING FOR PIKE. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I have read with pleasure the articles on the pike in 

 your issues of the 3d and 9th inst. Your correspondent 

 is misinformed when he places a fish weighing 16 or 171b?. 

 as being upward of 4ft. in length. I inclose a photograph 

 (flash light) of a part of a day's luck in fishing through 

 the ice; the catch was made by a friend and myself on 

 Feb. 23 last. The three large fish weighed 22, 2]^ and 

 IBlbs., being weighed immediately after capture. The 

 one bass (bigmouth) shown weighed 4^1b?. The rule 

 standing between the two large pike is 4ft. in length, the 

 rounds of the ladder are 1ft. apart. The tails of the fish 

 became somewhat broken by freezing. We use a differ- 

 ent method in jireparing the lines and hooks here in 

 Kalamazoo from that used anywhere else in the country; 

 our hooks are different, we fasten the bait dift'erently, we 

 coil the lines so they wfll sm-ely run out — in fact, we are 

 successful always in the capture of the pike. B. O. B. 



Kalamazoo, Mictu 



[The authority for the length and weight of the large 

 piRe of Late George is named in the article on the "Pike 

 Family," in our issue of April 2. As the pike spawns in 

 winter, perhaps some of the big ones referred to were 

 gravid females, and consequently much heavier than 

 usual for their length. The ratio of length to weight, 

 however, is a variable quantity.] 



