S30 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[May 21, 1891. 



Instantly I was ou the alert. Honl-f honk! honlc! 

 They were just above the tops of the trees a little to the 

 right, and coming on a line that would bring them directly 

 over me. 



Just as they left the last line of trees and got over the 

 wheattield I aimed at the center of the flock and let go 

 both barrels. Although f till 60yds. high the heavy shot 

 took effect and two fine birds came tumbling down. One 

 of them had only got a shot through the wing, and it led 

 me a lively chase" tlirough the field and into the wood till 

 I stopped him with a charge of No. 4 shot. 



I waited about two hours longer in that place for more 

 geese or ducks, but none came near enough for a shot. 

 As the rain had increased and I felt chilly, I gathered up 

 my game, saxted for the railroad and reached the station 

 in time to take the train for home. That was the most 

 successful day's shooting at ducks and geese I have ever 

 had east of the Mississippi. T. E. M. 



THE WISCONSIN FLIGHT. 



MILWAUKEE, May 11.— There has been a tremen- 

 dous flight of migratory ducks this spring — the 

 heaviest in fact for many years. The mild weather of 

 the past two weeks, however, has thinned them out so 

 that but few are left, even the •"third issue," as Dr. Yorke 

 in his articles on duck shooting would say, has taken its 

 way northward. An observant shooter upon any of our 

 principal lakes this spring would have noted a wonder- 

 ful display of fii-earms and blinds. From the city sports- 

 man clad in cordmoys and armed with a Diamond Daly 

 Ejector down to the gaunt denims-covered rustic with 

 his old rusty queensarm aU were there. 



Two weeks ago on^ morning at sunrise I was on board 

 of a swift speed lag vestibuled St. Paul train, and as the road 

 wound along close to the shores of one of our most popular 

 duck shooting resorts it was quite a sight to see the blinds 

 scattered broadcast through every bay on each individual 

 point, and even some little distance back in the marshes. 

 One hunter's idea was evidently to construct a blind 

 which the callow bluebiU would mistake for a small 

 island and to this engi he had carried out oak boughs 

 with the leaves clinging to them in suflicient quantities 

 to have concealed a good-sized schooner. A little further 

 on and we passed a flock of decoys in i>osition, close to 

 which in his blind sat a shooter clad in shooting coat, 

 but wearing \ipon his head a black derby. Why will 

 people never learn to use common sense when they go 

 out to shoot ducks? 



Jacksnipe and plover have not paid us their respects 

 this spring as yet, and we can hardly look for them 

 now, as the water has fallen away, leaving the marshes 

 nearly dry. 



Doves are very abundant, and yesterday I was very 

 agreeably surprised to run against a wild pigeon. The 

 bird was so tame, and moreover being a male, I conjec- 

 tured a second bird migh be found in the vicinity; but 

 although I looked carefully through the thick grove of 

 poplar's I was unable to find any nest. Greenhead. 



A Maine Game Region.— ^di/ or Forest and Stream: 

 "G. H. E." in the cutTent issue inquires for best moose 

 and deer shooting in Maine. I recommend headwaters 

 of the Aroostook. A party from Boston was there one 

 month last stmimer and saw 27 moose and over 70 deer. 

 Of course one cannot expect game so plentiful in open 

 season, but it is a pointer. Wm. Atkins has lately built 

 camps at Third Z\Iunsungan Lake for entertainment of 

 sportsmen. I do not know his address, but presume it is 

 Ox Bow Plantation, as that is the nearest post office. 

 This region has always been the slaughter pen of skin- 

 hunters, lumbermen and settlers, and the amount of 

 game still there proves it is a natural moose preserve. — 

 Hunter. . 



The Martiiv's Point Club Shares.— Norfolk, Va., May 

 16. — Editor Forest and Stream: I thank ycvi for the men- 

 tion of the Martin's Point Club in your valuable paper, 

 but I see your people failed to correct the mistake made 

 in the copy of the circular as to price of shares. I shall 

 thank you very much to say in your next issue that the 

 shares of the club are $500, instead of $5. — ^J. B. White. 



Indians and Utah Gams. — Panguitch, Utah, May 5. — 

 I have carefully looked up the matter of the destruction 

 of deer by Indians and find that matters are just as bad 

 as I stated in my communication to Forest and Stream, 

 and in some cases worse. I have the testimony of all the 

 settlers for miles about this point.— Shoshone. 



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

 Territories and British Provinces are given in the Book of 

 the Game Laios. 



SOME MORE TARPON RECORDS. 



LAST week we recorded the capture of a 20oll». tarpon 

 by Mrs. Geo. T. Stagg, of Frankfort, Ky. Another 

 fair angler who has coped successfully with this big game 

 is Mrs. Chas. G. Cox, of Milwaukee, Wis. In a recent 

 issue of the Sentinel of that city we find a report by Mr. 

 Cox of his very successful fishing trip to Florida. Tarpon 

 fishing, he says, *'is a somewhat monotonous business, 

 for it may take months before you ever have a rise or a 

 bite, as we call it here, and much less a fish. The mullet 

 is used for bait, which is cast as in bass fishing, and then 

 allowed to drop to the ground and rest there. The lower 

 jaw of the tarpon projects, and he is therefore compelled 

 to stand on his head if he wants to take the bait. The 

 cold winter this year accounts for the small number of 

 tarpons which were taken out of the water. Even in 

 April we had cold 'northers' which so chilled the water 

 that the fish would not come into Charlotte Harbor. All 

 this we knew while we were at St. James. Of Wisconsin 

 people there we met Senator Vilas, and Col. Knight, of 

 Ashland. No indeed, we didn't talk politics, but we 

 managed to swap fish lies. Col. Knight is just as good 

 in this line as Bert Smith, for instance, or Louis Auer. 

 We stopped at the St. James Hotel, which is conducted 

 by Northern peojile. It is well conducted and reasonable 

 prices are charged for very good accommodations. While 

 there we heard that at Fort Myers they were taking 



some tarpon and we went there. The fore is on the 

 Caloosahatchee River, and is the only remnant of the 

 Seminole war, during which it was buUt. We arrived 

 there April 13, and started fishing at once. That date I 

 shall always consider a red-letter day in my fishing ex- 

 perience. 



"The river is nearly two miles wide, and affords plenty 

 of room to play the fish, and being a landlocked bay, it is 

 the safest fishing groimd, there being no danger from 

 sudden squalls. There were about ten boats there, all 

 anchored safely. In some of them were ladies, accom- 

 panied by their friends and guides. Shortly after our 

 arrival a school of tarpon came in and the music began 

 in earnest. Mrs. Cox was at first very nervous and ex- 

 cited, but before long she proved herself a fisherman of 

 no small i)roportions. When we began the chumming — 

 the throwing out of small pieces of_ bait around the boat 

 so as to attract the attention of the fish — quantities of 

 catfish and sharks made their appearance. One of the 

 latter species took the bait at her hook and then her ner- 

 vousness began to assert itself. The shark weighed about 

 sixty pounds and fought hard, but she landed him safely. 

 From that moment her nervousness was gone, and I may 

 tell you, confidentially, of course, that I was very proud 

 of my by far better half. 



"These preliminaries over, we had a 'go' at the fish for 

 whose sake we had traveled all the way to Florida, Inside 

 of twenty minutes w-e had three rises in our boat. My 

 line was spun out, when I suddenly felt the fish at it. 

 The rod we held between our knees, the right thumb on 

 the line on the reel, and with the left we supported the 

 rod above the reel. The line slackened up again, but 

 suddenly a huge fish jumped out of the water, shook his 

 head, whipped the water with his tail, and then coolly 

 spit my bait out. A moment later I saw my wife steady 

 herself for a fight with a fish on her line, but the same 

 thing occurred. The tarpon jumped out of the water and 

 dropped the mullet. Nothing daunted we tried again, and 

 I soon felt another bite. This time the monster was so 

 exasperated that when he came to the surface he leaped 

 so high that my line parted at the first jerk, a'' hough my 

 tackle was exceedingly strong. When my li e was run 

 out again 1 immediately hooked another tarpcj, and this 

 time he stayed. Then the battle began. Capt. Randall, 

 our guide, puUed up the anchor and grasped the oars, so 

 as to be ready for any emergency. The fight lasted nearly 

 an hour. Every now and anon the fish would jump out 

 of the water, or rush at our boat and then fly away again. 

 We had to u?e the oars repeatedly to keep up with him, 

 and he towed us around for more than three miles. The 

 performance was watched with greedy eyes by those in 

 the other boats, none of whom were so lucky as to have 

 a rise. Most of them used very strong poles which would 

 hardly bend, while ours were the usual ones which w-e 

 have here for bass fishing. We were fishing for pleasure 

 only, and the other gentlemen more for the sake of a 

 record. Thus I gave my fish all the time and space he 

 wanted. When we finally landed him he lay flat on his 

 side and never moved. Other tarpon have been caught 

 in far shorter time, but they were killed by means of the 

 big poles to which they were hooked. My fish weighed 

 lOSlbs. and measured 6ft. There was a Mr. Hempstead 

 near us who hooked one which towed his boat for several 

 miles, and, as near as we could time him, he was about 

 two hours at it. T. A. Snider, of catsup fame, and G, A. 

 Cormack hooked a fish, and it was a glorious sight to 

 observe the magnificent fish as they leaped out of the 

 water darting hither and thither with lightning-like 

 speed and fighting for their lives. 



"The tarpon is called the silver king and he richly 

 merits the name, for when he shoots out of his native 

 element trying to escape from his merciless enemies he 

 looks as though his coat was of burnished silver when- 

 ever the rays of the sun fall on it. There were nine of 

 them caught on that day, 



"The day following my wife had a strike early in the 

 day, and after fifty -two minutes of hard work she man- 

 aged to land her game unassisted. She finally pulled 

 him alongside the boat and the guide gaffed him. He 

 weighed lOOlbs. even and measured aft. 6in. There was 

 considerable interest displayed by the people in the other 

 boats, for this was the first time this year that a lady had 

 hooked a tarpon and handled him herself, which Mrs. 

 Cox did in sight of the other boats. He took our boat 

 about a mile away from the other boats before she con- 

 quered him, I was exceedingly axnious she should take 

 him, and being afraid she would lose her strength, I 

 offered to assist her. But you should have heard her. 

 'If yoxx do not leave me alone, Charles, I shall get a 

 divorce from you,' I had to let her have her own way. 

 She never once faltered, but remained cool throughout, 

 behaving better than many a man would have done. 



"Om" fishing tackle became the admiration of all the 

 people down there. I caught my fish opposite the coun- 

 try residence of inventor Edison, The scenery around 

 there is magnificent. Is there any danger connected 

 with tarpon fishing? I think there is, at least a man must 

 be very careful. The tarpon is wonderfully strong, and 

 often makes straightway for the boat in which he knows 

 his captors are. There are many instances on record 

 where one has jumped right into a boat. I heard of an 

 instance where one of them came to the surface right 

 under the boat with such force as to break the bottom. 

 Its two occupants were , thrown into the water, but were 

 rescued. 



"We caught many vai'ieties of fish. The prettiest — the 

 fish with the most fight in him — is the Spanish mackerel. 

 Next comes the jackfish, They furnish genuine sport. 

 Then there is the grouper, and the mangrove snapper, 

 which resembles our small-mouthed bass. The redfish, 

 or channel fish, is also a beautiful creature. The most 

 peculiar one, however, is the stingray, of which species 

 we were fortunate enough to hook a number," 



The following is a record of the tarpon caught with 

 rod and reel at Fort Myers during one week : 



April Ft. 



8. R. B. DuycKinck..6 



9. R. B. Duyckmok. e 

 9. Philip Schuyler... .6 

 9. R. A. Cline 5 



10. S.I. Middle' on.... 5 



10. S. I. Middletoii....5 



11. G. A. Cormack 5 



11. S. I.Middleton....5 

 11. S.L Middleton....fl 



11. R. A. Cllne ."i 



13. G. A. Oormaeli ... 5 

 13. G. A, Cormaek ...6 

 13. G, A. Cormack.... r 

 13. W.H.Beemer... ,6 



12.5 

 91 



Lbs. April Fhln. 



12Ti^ 13. D. B. Hemstead...6 7 



130 13. P. .T.VanC'rtlandtS ti 



133 13. P. J.TanC'rtlandio 9 96 



85 13. F. Farnsworth..-.4 8 60 



103 13. T. A. Snider 6 4 11(5 



89 13. C. G. Cos 6 0 108 



116 U. W. H. Beemer 6 B 144 



1,S8 14. Dr. Grime,'* 6 6 140 



138 14. Mrs. C. G. Cox 5 6 100 



98 14. G. A. Cormack.... 6 8 135 



114 14. T. ,1. Falls 6 9 126 



125 14. T. J. FaUK. 6 6 115 



149 14, P. J.VaHCo'rtl'ndtS T 95 

 103 



ANGLING NOTES. 



E. DEAN SAGE, the well-known salmon fisherman 

 of Albany, has tried the salmon with thefly in the 

 upper Hudson, but so far without success. He" thinks 

 that under the present law respecting the pools, that is, 

 forbidding fishing within 80 rods of the fish way, there is 

 little chance of taking salmon on the fly, as the waters 

 that are thus protected are about the only ones where fly- 

 fishing is likely to prove successful. Last season a local 

 angler got two rises to the fly but caught none. Many 

 salmon have been taken in nets and sold in towns along 

 the river contrary to law. At Bangor the salmon fishing 

 has been almost a total failm-e. Many blame the pulp 

 mills above Bangor, but probably the t;rue cause is the 

 weirs and nets which stretch from bank to bank, practi- 

 cally closing the river against the salmon. It seems ab- 

 surd that aU the efforts of the Fish Commission, and all 

 the expenditure of money should go for naught, just 

 because a few netters might vote the wrong way, if 

 offended. 



The announcement in the papers of the new raikoad to 

 cut through the Adirondacks seems to have brought out 

 no comments, but to have been taken as a matter of course, 

 no one appears to oppose it and probably it would make 

 no difference if they did. It will bring money to the 

 hotel keepers as well as the owners of the road, and the 

 destruction of the woods is of no account. Great is the 

 power of money. 



The man in charge of the South Side Club Hatchery, 

 on Long Island, caught a small eel the other night that 

 had 42 trout fry inside of it. This proves how small a 

 chance trout fry have in unprotected waters. A fine 

 specimen of the rainbow salmon was taken at the club a 

 few days ago weighing Slbs. 4oz. 



Rei)orts from the various trout streams are now much 

 more encouraging and some fine baskets of fish have been 

 taken lately, A httle rain will help matters very much 

 and those fortunate anglers who can get away during the 

 next two weeks will be well repaid, particularly if they 

 reach the ground after a little wet weather. 



The first weakfish of the season so far as we have heard, 

 were taken on May 10 and 11 by Mr. Ned Sheldon. 



The New York Association have given Murello and the 

 Hotel Brunswick until May 20 to settle the suits brought 

 against them by the Association, after which the matter 

 will be taken into court. The offer to compromise was 

 refused. The State warden, Dr. Kidd, has commenced a 

 suit also against the first named restaurant for serving 

 quail out of season. 



Is not the dobson a new bait for trout to take? A gen- 

 tleman reported that on cleaning some trout recently he 

 found two dobsons in the stomach of one of them, 



Scarlet-Ibis. 



OFF TO MAINE. 



STILL the fishermen are on the wing. One of the 

 nicest parties of the season left the Hub Saturday 

 morning for the Rangeleys. It was really two parties. 

 The Clapp party was one, and composed of Messrs. 

 Eugene H. Clapp. Geo. W. Wadsworth, C. E, Haskins 

 and Mr. Paine. With this party was united another of 

 Boston merchants. The two parties were united for the 

 sake of chartering a special directors' car to take them 

 from Boston to Farmington, Me. The latter party was 

 made up of F. H. Bowles, L. E. Pierce, Stearns R. Ellis, 

 M. J. Conant, E. U. Shumway, James C, Davis, a Mr. 

 Smith and two others. This party is to be quartered 

 with Billy Soule, in Camp Johnson, on Lake Cupsuptic. 

 Last year they went to Moosehead, but concluded to try 

 the Rangeleys this year. The Clapp party will be quar- 

 tered at the Mooselucmaguntic House, at Haines's Land- 

 ing, on the Mooselucmaguntic. 



Other parties are moving, as well as single individuals. 

 The number going a-fishing is very large. The Walton 

 party — unfortunately I have not the names — has already 

 started for Richardson Lake. This party goes every 

 year. If they get any big trout, as they are almost sure 

 to, the Forest and Stream shall know about it. 



The camp Stewart party will leave Boston on Friday, 

 the 23d, Six wiU probably make up the number this 

 spring. Three ladies will be in the party, with Charles 

 and Wilhe Cutting, of Andover, as guides. The ladies 

 names are Mrs, F. H. Mudge, Mrs, E. B. Cramme and 

 Mrs. W, K. Moody, The three gentlemen of the party 

 are Geo. T. Freeman, his friend Mr, Dodge and W. K. 

 Moody. Oscar W. Cutting will again officiate in the 

 capacity of cook. Oscar has a reputation for biscuit. 

 The ladies go into camp only on condition that he is cook. 



Senator W. P, Frye was to go into camp on the Moose- 

 lucmaguntic on the 15th but was delayed a few days. He 

 has quite a party with him. He visits his camps every 

 season and is an enthusiastic angling expert. 



Up to the present writing the water in the Maine lakes 

 has been very cold and trout have not been caught. It 

 is just as it always is. The trout do not bite, even at bait 

 and minnows, till the water begins to get warmer than 

 ice water. Such is the temperature of the water in those 

 lakes, so long as the woods are full of snow and the 

 streams are running high. Indeed, the Rangeleys were 

 not clear of ice till the 14th, and the same day the ice 

 entii'ely went out of Moosehead, Still the ice was out of 

 Richardson Lake on the 11th, so that the steamers went 

 up the lake, and the ice had begun to break up in Moose- 

 head three days before it finally went out. The spring is 

 a late one, and the early fishermen are disappointed. 

 Mr. Clough, of Lynn, of the Clough party, already noted 

 in the Forest and Stream, has been obliged to return 

 on account of sickness in his family. This party was one 

 of the first to be oft". Up to the day^Ir. Clough" came out 

 scarcely a ti'out had been taken, though one of the party 

 had secured a 6-lb, landlocked salmon. The fact is 

 slowly being demonstrated that the landlocked salmon 

 take the bait sooner in the Rangeleys than the trout. 

 Several have already been caught this year. 



Mr. C, P, Stevens, of Camp "V ive Vale, already men- 

 tioned as one of the first to be off, writes his nephew in 

 Boston that up to Friday, the loch, not a trout had been 

 taken. The weather was cold and the woods full of 

 snow. All of the brooks were then engaged in running- 

 little rivers of snow water down into the lakes. Mr, 



