272 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Apeil 33, 1891. 



FISHING IN EAGLE LAKE, TEXAS. 



EEADEE, haTe you never been met with the cheery 

 i "Hello! where are you going?" from a friend when 

 rigged out with basket, rod, etc.? Well, I have. Just 

 two weeks ago, while waiting for a delayed train, I was 

 approached by my friend and brother sportsman, Dan 

 H., who asked .the above question, to which I replied, 

 "Fishing, you chump. Can't you see?" 

 "What do you expect to catch?" 

 "Fish," I answered; "want to go?" 

 "Betcher life. How much time have I got to gpt 

 ready?" 



"Jtist 50 minutes: the train is 40 minutes late, so run 

 home, pack uj), and come on." So off rushed Dan, and 

 in about half an hour he came into the Grand Central 

 Depot, puffing and blowing like a porpoise, and then 

 found out that, between his haste and anxiety to reach 

 the depot in time he had forgotten his flies. 



"Well, I will be blankety blank! Dam a fool anyhow," 

 exclaimed Dan, and was only comforted when I opened 

 my heart and basket and "whacked up" with him. 



"Where do we go?" He had not thought until that late 

 moment to ask my destination. "Eagle Lake," I replied, 

 "and put me down as a disciple of Annanias if we fail to 

 make a good catch of bass and croppies. R. (Little Lord 

 Fauntleroy) joins us at jNew Philadelphia." 



"Are you sure?" asked Dan. "Sure," I replied, 



"Bully," quoted Dan, "then we catch fish to-morrow, 

 for R. is a real live mascot." 



Just then the delayed train came thimdering in and 

 the welcome "All aboard" from the conductor, caused 

 our hearts to leap with pleasure and soon we were being 

 hurried through the darkness toward our haven of sport, 

 the reed-lined and lily-padded waters of Eagle Lake. 



Dan and I were both fast asleep when we pulled into 

 jSTew Philadelphia, but were soon awakened by Little 

 LordF,, who came tearing through the coach, banging 

 his fish basket against the heads of several of the uncon- 

 scious occupants of the car. 



We reached Eagle Lake station about daylight, where 

 we were met by P. H. Bunn, the veteran guardian of the 

 lake, with a team, and were soon bowling over the broad 

 IDrairie at a hvely rate and reached the lake about 6 

 o'clock A. M. 



Reader, is there anything that so stirs the feelings of a 

 sportsman, or fills his soul with greater delight, than to 

 stand beneath the spreading branches of a gi-eat live oak, 

 his brow fanned by a gentle spring morning's breeze, 

 ladened with the fragrance of Avild flowers and prairie 

 grasses, listening to the singing of the meadow lark, the 

 bark of the festive fox squirrel and last, but not least, 

 gazing with longing eyes on the placid surface of a grand 

 expanse of water that fairly teems with bass, white perch 

 and bream? I guess not. 



After a breakfast of corn cakes, bacon and black coffee 

 we hurriedly jointed our rods and prepared for sport. 



Now for a toss to see who shall secure the services of 

 Mr. Bunn. E., with his usual luck, won and announced 

 his success by a demoniac yell. So off we pushed our 

 boats, R. and Bunn in the first and Dan and I in another. 

 They go directly across while Dan and I pull lustily up 

 the lake to a place known in these waters as the "deep 

 hole," I acting as guide, as this was Dan'a first trip to 

 Eagle Lake. 



I seat Dan in the bow of the boat, rod well in hand, 

 and as soon as we near the edge of the lilies quietly say, 

 "Now, Dan, play your fly close to the Kly pads," which 

 he does, and at the second cast a heavy splash and he has 

 one hooked. Lord! How he pulls, rushing hither and 

 thither, leaping high in the air in his vain endeavor to 

 loose the cruel hook. Dan, all excitement, plays him 

 carefully and the beauty soon lies gasping in the bottom 

 of the boat. 



"Five pounds if an ounce," shouts Dan. 



"Naw," I reply, "about three." 



"Betcher the drinks," he replied. 



"Done." Scales are then produced and the fish weighs 

 3flbs. 



"Must be something the matter with those scales," says 

 Dan, who passed the bottle and we proceed to liquidate. 



Soon the fun grows fast and furious and in about three 

 hours we have 11 fine bass to our credit, ranging from 1| 

 to oilbs. each. The bass now cease to feed so we con- 

 clude to try for white perch (or croppie) and pull for a 

 tall bunch of reeds about a half mile away. 



These fish, I notice, in Texas waters' have different 

 habits in difi:erent localities. For instance, in the lakes 

 of the Brazos and Colorado bottom lands, white perch 

 are found only in pairs, while in the lakes that border the 

 San Jacinto and Trinity rivers they are found in schools, 

 in very deep water, and most always at the extreme end 

 of a fallen tree top, and when found can be taken in large 

 numbers. They grow large, are frequently caught as 

 high as 2lbs. in weight, and afford rare sport. 



Soon we reach the reeds, drop anchor and proceed to 

 fish. I open the ball by landing a fine specimen of crop- 

 pie, above fib. in weight. Then Dan's float sinks grace- 

 fully beneath the placid waters, he strikes, and evidently 

 has a large fish. Dan grows excited, cries "Another 

 bass!" and nearly swamps the boat in his wild endeavor 

 to land his fish, which he does after a hard fight, but alas! 

 no game and beauteous bass meets his gaze, but the de- 

 detested grindell (or fresh-water shark), the greatest 

 enemy of game fish that inhabits our waters. "What is 

 it, Irish?" addressing me. I solemnly inform him that he 

 has caught a cypress trout, one of our rarest fish that 

 swims, and this being the lirst specimen that he has ever 

 seen, of course he believes me and places him gently on 

 the string. 



We now pull up stakes and make for another spot about 

 a quarter of a mile away, much to the disgust of Dan, 

 who did not then know it would have been folly to stay 

 where we were. Soon we cast anchor and once again try 

 with more success. This time we catch bream, croppie 

 and goggle-eyes; moving from reed to reed, picking out 

 one or two here and there, until we show a magnificent 

 string of 15 croppie, 9 bream and about a dozen goggle- 

 eyed perch. 



After counting our catch Dan took the rear of the boat, 

 standing on the seat, intently fishing, while I was busy 

 with the anchor, when one of the most amusing (to me) 

 accidents occurred I have ever witnessed. All at once I 

 heard a splash, so light that I thought Dan had a strike. 

 Glancing hurriedly around, to my horror no Dan was in 

 sight. "Good Lord!" I exclaimed, "he has fallen over- 

 boardJ" I tore frantically at the anchor and pulled the 

 boat gxound to where the wg-ter wais disturbed. 



Now Dan wears glasses, and the first thing I saw when 

 he arose was the glasses. He fairly churned the water in 

 his wild effort to reach the side of the boat. He climbed 

 in the boat, and found that as he fell overboard he broke 

 his rod, lost his spectacles as he reached the edge of the 

 boat, and split his pants. Hokey, how he cussed. The 

 whole thing was so ludricous that I fairly roared with 

 laughter; but when Dan said, "Just think. Broke my 

 rod, lost my glasses, and busted my breeches all at the 

 same time; who ever heard of such cussed luck?" I 

 laughed until the tears rolled down my cheeks. But not 

 until B. and R, came in was his cup of sorrow filled. He 

 had put on Bunn's Sunday vest, Dan is 4ft. and Bunn is 

 G; of course E. and B. laughed and called him Santa 

 Clans, and when their merriment subsided Dan 

 triumphantly produced his string of fish. R. picked up 

 the grinnell and exclaimed, "Dogfish!". Dan dropped 

 the fish and started for me, but I proved too swift. All 

 jokes were then declared off, and we proceeded to count the 

 catch of B. and Little Lord F., and found that then- take 

 exceeded ours: showing 15 bass, 19 croppie, 23 bream and 

 6 goggle-eyed perch. Our total catch was about 581bs. 



Eagle Lake is situated in Colorado county, on the Colo- 

 rado River, and is about li miles from a station of the 

 same name. It can be reached from almost any point in 

 Texas by either the Southern Pacific or the San Antonio 

 & Arkansas Pass Railways. The lake is 4^ miles in length 

 and from A to 1^^ miles in width, and is entirely surrounded 

 by large magnificent liveoaks. It abounds with fish of all 

 kinds, and it is not an infrequent occurrence to catch 

 from 40 to 50 bass a day, to say nothing of croppie and 

 several varieties of perch. 



During the winter months ducks and geese can be 

 found on and in the vicinity of the lake by the thousands. 

 Quail, jacksnipe and squirrels are plentiful, with deer 

 further down in the bottom. Verily this is a sportsman's 

 paradise. 



Families from all parts of Texas visit this lake, bringing 

 their own tents, etc., remaining from one to three weeks, 

 renting a boat, which costs only 50 cents per day, or §].oO 

 including the services of Mi-. Bunn, who has a cabin on 

 the lake and is untiring in behalf of visitors. 



At 7 P. M. we board the east-boimd train and reach 

 Houston at midnight, healthier and happier for our one 

 day's outing. J. C. W. 



Houston, Texas. 



THE LUMP FISH. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



A salt-water fish obtained from the Philadelphia markets 

 has been upon exhibition for several days without being 

 named. I send you a rough description from a casual 

 glance with the desire that it may he lucid enough for 

 the purpose. 



It is 16in. in length, 7in. in width or depth, for three- 

 fourths of its length very heavy in structure, the tail and 

 fins being small in proportion to the apparent weight, 

 6ibs. In cross- section (transverse) it is triangular or tre- 

 foil, the base being 4in. In color it is a glossy blue black, 

 the fins being darker in color, a small area on the stomach 

 being a dirty white, rapidly shading into the prevailing 



color. The uijper surface is apparently without scales 

 except two or three longitudinal rows on each side far 

 apart of triangular scales or warts touching each other. 

 The heavy upper portion upon which is the dorsal fin is 

 of jelly-like consistency. The head is not defined; that 

 end is rectangular and flat on the end, with a transverse 

 mouth opening 2^in. long near the bottom, with the eyes 

 set near the front on the sides. There are apparently no 

 gill covers. 



It is evidently a bottom feeder and an odd looking crea- 

 ture as it lay upon its stomach, having about as much 

 shape as a wooden jack plane. We would be pleased if 

 you can name it and give its habitat. J . M. T. 



[We think the fish is the lump fish of oiu- East Coast 

 {Cyclo])terus lumpus). This species is figured on plate 70 

 of the "Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United 

 States," and its natural history is well set forth by Dr. 

 Goode in the accompanying text. The lump fish is a 

 very common inhabitant of New England seas and north 

 to Greenland, occurring also in the eastern Atlantic in 

 large numbers. It ranges south to Chesapeake Bay, but 

 is comparatively rare in the southern portion of its range.] 



Rooky Mountain Geayling.— Salt Lake City, Utah, 

 March 39. — Please send me a cut and description of the 

 grayling, as some of our local anglers think that in some 

 of the waters of Idaho, whither we occasionally take a 

 trip, they have found the same, and I wish to have the 

 means of identifying it. — T. J. S. [In Idaho and the 

 Rocky Mountain region of some other W estern States two 

 fishes are known under the common name of grayling. 

 One of these is a true grayling (Thyrnalliis tricolor), the 

 other is a small whitefish (Coregonus williamsoni). The 

 grayling may be easily distinguished from the whitefish 

 by the presence of distinct teeth in the jaws and by its 

 very long dorsal fin, which contains about twenty rays. 

 The whitefish has no teeth in the jaws and the dorsal fin 

 is short, containing about twelve or fourteen rays. The 

 whitefish again is plain silvery in color, while the gray- 

 ling has the sides pmrplish gray with numerous black 

 spots. The dorsal fin is beautifully marked with blackish 

 and rose-colored streaks, besides rows of dusky green and 

 rose-colored spots. The belly fins are also variegated 

 with rose-colored lines crossing diagonally over a dusky 

 ground. There is no difficulty about distinguishing the 

 two fish with specimens at hand for comparison. The 

 very small toothbss mouth of the whitefish alone would 

 distinguish it readily from the comparatively large 

 mouth and tooth-beajing |aws of the grafting. 



ANGLING NOTES. 



THE anglers of the Tuxedo Club are having fine sport 

 with the brook trout they turned out last winter. 

 Their fish run larger than usual this spring and are in 

 fine condition. The catches average fib. each, but so far 

 none have been killed over 1+lbs. It is comparatively 

 easy to catch the limit in any of the private club waters 

 at the beginning of the season, but after the trout has 

 been fished over for a month or six weeks they seem to 

 become educated and very shy; then the real sport begins 

 and only those fishermen who are good anglers can hope 

 to fill their creels. 



Many persons will be disappointed to learn that the 

 best part of the east and west branches of Broadheads 

 Creek, at Henryville, have been taken up by a club of 

 anglers. Every year free waters are getting more diffi- 

 cult to find and trout fishing, like all luxuries, must be 

 paid for. 



A Canadian fly-fisherman gives us the following inter- 

 esting occurrence which happened to him last summer 

 in one of the lakes back of Quebec. He was casting with 

 a light rod along shore, when he struck what seemed to 

 be a heavy fish. After a long fight he found that he had 

 on two trout instead of one. In landing the upper one 

 the bottom fish tore loose and took the tail fly and part 

 of the leader with him. The one he saved weighed a 

 trifle over 31b3. and was a very handsome specimen; the 

 lower one he only got a glimpse of, but he saw enough to 

 convince him that it was a much larger fish. The next 

 morning he went bright and early to the same spot and 

 soon was so fortunate as to hook "that identical trout with 

 the fly and leader still fast. It weighed 31bs. 7oz, During 

 that day he killed among many others twelve speckled 

 trout that weighed SOlbs., none of which were wasted. 



The lake trout fishermen are looking at their gangs and 

 making ready for their annual raid to tha Adirondacks 

 and Maine waters. The ice on Raquette Lake is reported 

 to be 2ft. thick and it will probably not break up before 

 the first or second week in May. Most of the veterans 

 arrange with their guides to keep them posted, and when 

 the long looked for telegram flashes the welcome news to 

 them that the ice has gone out, they are off. Last May 

 was unusually wet and cold and the water Avas too high 

 for good fishing; this season promises to be much better. 



Anglers and sportsmen should make the most of it 

 while there is any game or fish left in the old North 

 Woods, for in a very few seasons the new railroad will 

 cut the Adirondacks nearly through the center and spread 

 fire and destruction along its path. 



The New York Association for the Protection of Game, 

 at theu- April meeting, refused the offers of Morello and 

 the Hotel Brunswick to compromise the suits, and their 

 counsel was ordered to proceed against them as soon as 

 possible. Morello seems to have kept right on serving 

 quail. Game Warden Kidd has commenced a suit for ten 

 quail served to him and a party of friends a week or two 

 ago. 



Mr. Archibald Mitchell writes that four salmon were 

 taken at Bangor on Friday. Scarlet-Ibis. 



PENNSYLVANIA TROUT WATERS. 



MECHANICSBURG, Cumberland County, Pa., April 

 18. —The opening of the trout in Pennsylvania 

 was inaugurated in the Cumberland Valley by the banks 

 of the many trout streams being lined with hundreds of 

 noted fly-casters from this and adjoining States and a 

 full complement of the members of the local angling 

 brotherhood. 



For days before the open season the outlook for good 

 weather was discouraging, as March closed with a snow- 

 storm which beat the largent in the memory of the oldest 

 inhabitant. But the fifteenth opened with a sky and a 

 wind that gave joy to the heart of the angler as well as 

 many fine trout to his creel. Among the many streams 

 which vein this beautiful valley the famous "Big Spring" 

 at Newville is the most noted for the excellence of its 

 trout fishing. The well known fly-casters of the Eastern 

 and Middle States have ofttimes wet their lines in its 

 silvery stream, and year after year make pilgrimages to 

 its shore in quest of the speckled denizens which popu- 

 late its waters. 



This year they gathered in on the afternoon and eve- 

 ning of the 14th, and the evening was spent at the only 

 inn in the town talking of the troutin^ of "auld lang 

 syne." Long before dawn on the 15th the banks of the 

 stream were dotted with anglers, who faithfully whipped 

 the stream until the sun went down. On this stream the 

 catch numbered over 3,000 trout, the "stone fly" being 

 the taker, and those who came provided with this fly 

 were the most successful. Among those whom fortune 

 favored with good catches were IMr. E. S. Osgood, of New 

 York, who caught the famous 9lb. trout in the Rangeley 

 Lakes. This gentleman took a great many trout of large 

 size. Marbourgh Keedy, Esq., John U. Adams, editor of 

 the i\^eit's, and Dr. Murray, of Hagerstown, Md.; R. M. 

 Sturgeon, of the Telegram, H. W. McAlamy, of the 

 Evening Telegraph, Dr. Vallerchamp, Dr. Moffit, Alder- 

 man Fager and Mr. Lutz, of Harrisburg; Mr. Bech, of 

 York; Theo. Rakestraw and R. W. Short, of Mechanics- 

 burg, and Mr. Mell and Mr. Loy, of Newville. At Ship- 

 pen sburg the Dykeman ponds were fished hard, anglers 

 paying $1.00 per pound for the trout caught. The Letort 

 Run and the net work of brooks in the south mountain 

 out from Carlisle yielded many fine fish. Harry Noble 

 and the Messrs. Heckman were successful in these waters. 

 Many fine trout were taken also at the "Bonny Brook" 

 preserve near Mt. BLnlly. This preserve is owned by the 

 venerable Johnson Moore, who is the pioneer fly-caster of 

 the Cumberland valley. 



The stream near New Kingston was not fished hard, 

 but some big trout were taken by local anglers. Cohochen 

 Run was in fine condition, and "the fishermen who fished 

 it with worms got the big fish and a large number of 

 them. 



Trout Run, as in former years, was a favorite, and good 

 returns came from that water. Commissioner Levi 

 Hertzler took 16 that weighed over ISlbs., Major S. N. 

 Emminger took 13 fine fish, and John Uhrich took 16. 

 Hoge's Run was neglected by the anglers who formerly 

 fished it, and no returns are reported from it. 



Trindle Eun. showed up well^ and many excellent trpif 



