376 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[May 38, 1891. 



ANGLING NOTES. 



TWO speckled trout were caught in fykes last week in 

 the Hudson River at Sing Sing. One weighed 8oz. 

 and the other l2oz. This_is the first time that trout have 

 been taken in the lower Hudson as far as I have heard. 

 Striped baas have been taken in large numbers much to 

 the disgust of the Sing Sing anglers. It seems a pity that 

 so many people should be deprived of their favorite" sport 

 by a fewnet fisherman. Over l,5001bs. were taken in one 

 haul on the flats ofP the mouth of the Croton River and 

 only fetched 5 cents a pound. 



The largest speckled trout taken at the South Side 

 Sportsmen's Club this season was killed by Mr. S. W. 

 Milbank, weight 3Ibs. 2oz. One good angler, who fishes 

 for size only, reports that he killed eight trout from 13 to 

 14in. long and two of 15in. They were caught on the 

 Buskill, a famous^etream for large trout. 



Owing to the rapid changes in the weather, the fly-flsh- 

 ing has been very uncertain. I visited the Blooming 

 Grove Park Association last week. Heavy northeasterly 

 rains, followed by freezing weather put a stop to all fly- 

 fishing. The night I arrived there was a magnificent 

 show of trout running from ^Ib. to lllba. in the ice box, 

 taken the day before in Lake Giles, most of them on the 

 Parmachenee belle. The Association have improved their 

 club house very much by enlarging the dining room and 

 adding a number of bedrooms. Everything is very com- 

 fortable and in tip top order. The hatchery makes a fine 

 showing and the fry look well. They will turn out a 

 nvmiber of landlocked salmon next season. 



Hundreds of anglers are looking forward to Memorial 

 Day, the opening of the black bass season. What the re- 

 sult will be or how the changeable weather will influence 

 the bass, no one can tell. The probabilities are that bass 

 will be late spawning this season and consequently not 

 in as good condition as usual. Greenwood Lake and 

 Hopatcong guides are making great preparations and ex- 

 pect a crowd from New York and adjoining cities. To 

 secure choice of boatmen it will be well to go early the 

 afternoon before, and when possible take bait along and 

 have everything ready for an early start on the morning 

 of the 30th. 



The veteran angler is amazed at the reports of the 

 catches made on some of the streams this season. He says 

 to himself, "How much the fishing has improved this 

 spring,-' and immediately starts for the promising 

 locality, but to his disgust finds, on his arrival, that he 

 ought to have been there the week before or next week 

 or any other time but the present. It seems too bad that 

 people camiot confine themselves to facts in reporting 

 catches and not lead the confiding brother angler astray. 



Mr. El. Mott in truth laments the fact that he cannot 

 get something for nothing and vents his spite on the un- 

 fortunate angler who likes to fish with decent tackle in- 

 stead of a bamboo pole and "worms." He has pi'obably 

 been ti-espassing on other people's property and got 

 "fired off." But the cold hard fact remains that trout 

 fishing is a luxury nowadays that must be paid for, 

 either by traveling far enough to get beyond the reach 

 of the grasping farmer who asks a small toll for the 

 privilege of fishing or by paying dues to some good club, 

 and the quicker he recognizes this fact the better. 



Scaelet-Ibis, 



THE NEW HAMPSHIRE TROUT SEASON. 



OHARLESTOWN, N. H., May 2S.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: Your correspondent "B.," from Nashua, 

 writes a very good letter from "his point of view," but 

 the trouble is that the range of his vision from that point 

 is far too limited and only incloses a strip of land twenty 

 miles wide on the southern edge of the State. Now, the 

 State of New Hampshire stretches over three degree^ of 

 latitude to J;he north of Nashua, and, as "B." admits, the 

 waters in the upper part of the State are covered with ice 

 April 15. I have caught trout all over New Hampshire 

 for more than fifty years, probably before "B " was 

 born, and I have fished the length and the breadth of it, 

 and I know that for the average of the State and on 

 average seasons May 15 would be amply early to open the 

 season. 



Now and then, as last year, we have a remarkably early 

 spring, and one of the best baskets of trout I ever caught 

 I got on April 23, 1841, in this town. In the early '703 I 

 have found May 23 early enough in the brooks between 

 Manchester and Nashua. 



The men who forestall the opening on the first of 

 May will do the same thing on April 15, and the trout 

 are not worth catching until the warm spring rains have 

 filled the brooks and given them something to eat and 

 some life to seize the bait. 



I have been out three times with poor success so far, 

 and the only decent catch I have heard of was taken in 

 the warm rain of the 15th inst. Your correspondent "B." 

 admits that the Fish Commissioners who ought to know, 

 and do know, were bitterly opposed to the change, and I 

 have reason to believe that it was quietly worked 

 through the Legislature before they knew anything 

 about it, as it was known that they would oppose such a 

 purely local measure. 



When the statutes were last revised in, 1879, the sec- 

 tions relating to fish and game were placed in the hands 

 of the Fish and Game Commissioners, and they went 

 through them thoroughly, and strack out a mass of local 

 enactments and codified the whole law, just as you have 

 been trying to do in New York. They then at the re- 

 quest of some Nashua anglers fixed the opening date at 

 April 1. 



Four yeai's' experience showed this to be ridiculous, 

 and the Legislature changed it to May 1. Vermont has 

 tried the same thing and changed from April 1 to May 1 

 last winter. 



By the present law, our brooks are now open to anglers 

 on the borders of Maine and Vermont, or three-quarters 

 of the way round the State, two weeks earlier than they 

 can fish at home, and we have the same trouble that 

 Vermont has been having from "pirates" from New 

 Hampshire. 



"B." admits that the older anglers were opposed to the 

 change, and as one of them. I shall oppose it until it is 

 revised, and this will be done next session, if the major- 

 ity of the anglers of the State are kept posted on the 

 mafcter. 



The essential virtue in game laws is their uniformity 

 under equal conditions, and when northern New England 

 is fixed on May 1 and northern New York the same, it is 

 absurd, if not criminal, to run a great wedge through 

 the middle of it, clear up to Canada, opening the season 

 two weeks earlier to suit the notions of a few boys on 

 the border of Massachusetts. Von W. 



A DAY ON THE POTOMAC. 



HEARING great reports of this spring's bass fisliing at 

 Weverton, Point of Rocks and neighboring points, 

 a party of five left Washington city at 4:40 A.M., May 6, 

 for Weverton, on the Potomac. It seems as if from the 

 start our fishing excursion was destined to be a failure. 

 We rode to the Metropolitan Junction in an engine so as 

 to catch our train. It was the Treasury train and did not 

 come into the depot, so we had to hoard it while getting 

 water. 



Our train would not stop at Weverton so we had to get 

 off at Washington Junction. As the train we had left 

 was a little late we hoped to make close connection with 

 the next train. But in this we were disappointed, for 

 the train was two or three hours late on account of a 

 wreck. These circumstances were not calculated to ele- 

 vate the spirits of a fisherman. Besides the weather was 

 bitterly cold. We all had on overcoats but they did little 

 good. Had we not gotten thus far we would not have 

 kept on our journey. At last our train whistled, pulled 

 into the depot and we boarded it. We arrived at our des- 

 tination, sleepy, cold and in very bad spirits. The boat- 

 men were waiting for us. We got in the boats and 

 pushed out into the river, expecting to catch nothing but 

 colds. We had gotten but a short distance up the river 

 when it began to snow a little; this soon stopped but the 

 temperature began to fall and with it our spirits. After 

 many unsuccessful casts one of our party in boat No. 2 

 got a strike and landed— not a bass but a sunfish. There 

 are many rocks in the river here. There were no more 

 strikes for an hour or more, then a bass was reeled iu. 

 No further success till the afternoon. 



About noon we went ashore, built a large fire, thawed 

 ourselves out, and ate dinner with a relish. Boat No. 

 1 caught one bass, which weighed Iflbs. This was the 

 largest we caught during the day. The evening was 

 nearly a repetition of the morning. Boat No. 1 landed 

 three more bass, and No. 2 one bass and two sunfish. 

 The reward of getting up at 2 o'clock in the morning, 

 being delayed twice by trains, catching colds and nearly 

 freezing, was six black bass and three sunfish. We had 

 fished from Weverton to Knoxville. At Knoxville we 

 wentashore, then to the depot. After feasting on sardines, 

 crackers and milk we leaned back in our chairs, talked 

 and tried to sleep away the two or three hom-s we had to 

 wait for the next train for Washington. 



The bass would not notice a spoon, and all the fish were 

 caught with live minnows. 



Very many bass were caught in the river near these 

 points during the latter part of April and the first of 

 May. One gentleman caught 90 bass in three days about 

 the first of the month. People living on the river say the 

 fishing has been unusually good this year. 



The scenery here repays one for his trip, but the day 

 was such a one that man could hardly contemplate the 

 beauty of nature. Gablani) Lisle. 



ANGLING IN CANADA. 



THE fishing season in Canada has opened very auspi- 

 ciously this spring. One of the most remarkable 

 catches so far this month occurred iu Lake St. Charles, 

 fourteen miles from Quebec, on the 10th inst, when a fine 

 specimen of the gray trout or togue, called by the French- 

 Canadians touladie, was killed by Mr. L. Welch on an 

 Boz.rod, after a fight of an horn- and a half. The monster 

 was 3oin. in length and weighed 17^1b3. Very rarely, in- 

 deed, except on certain conditions, does this sluggish 

 giant rise to the fiy. Its popular habitat in the vicinity 

 of Quebec is Lake St. Joseph, twenty miles distant from 

 Quebec by the Lake St. John Railway, where it is found 

 in great abundance and grows to a very large size. Here 

 it is often taken from 20 to BOlbs. in weight, usually by 

 deep-water trolling. The angling for red trout {Salvia 

 fontinalis) in Lake St. Joseph has been very good for the 

 past fortnight, the average run of the fish taken being 

 from 1 to 31bs. 



The annual spring migration northward of American 

 anglers commenced last week, and promises now to con- 

 tinue in steady streams. Dr. Porter, of Bridgeport, and 

 Miss Porter arrived here on Friday and left on Saturday 

 for the lake and river fishing in the Metabetchouan dis- 

 trict. They will shortly be followed by several other 

 members of the Metabetchouan Fishing and Game Club, 

 of which United States Senator J, H. Piatt is president. 

 Mr, Warren R. Briggs, architect, of Bridgeport, writes 

 that Senator Read and himself will be here, en route for 

 the same preserve, in the course of a day or two, accom- 

 panied by their wives. 



Two young Englishmen arrived from the old country 

 by the last mail steamship to fish Lake St. John and its 

 tributary waters. In the lake itself the angling is now 

 excellent, it being as yet too early in the season to fish for 

 ouananiche in the Grande Discharge. 



Mr. B. A. Scott, of Lake St. .John, has been having some 

 rare sport taking the wall-eyed pike that swarm the Peri- 

 bonca and the lake itself, and that at this season of the 

 year are particularly voracious. During the last few 

 days he has expressed to friends in this city several very 

 handsome specimens of the troller's skill, weighing 12 to 

 201bs. each. 



Ouananiche fishing has opened this season a little later 

 than usual, but from this time forth it will certainly im- 

 prove every day. American anglers will be glad to learn 

 that active measures have been adopted for the preserva- 

 tion of this beautiful game fish, Mr. H. J. Beemer, the 

 American railway man, to whose energy the opening up 

 of this magnificent country is mainly due, having leased 

 from the provincial government the exclusive fishing 

 rights of Lake St. John and its tributaries, embracing an 

 area of over 20,000 square miles. No charge is made to 

 anglers for fishing these waters, the protection of the fish 

 having been undertaken by Mr. Beemer in tlie interests 

 of the guests of his hotels. One of these latter, which is 

 situated at the terminus of the Quebec & Lake St. John 

 R. R., at Roberval, and overlooks Lake St. Johu.froux its 

 western shore, has accommodation for 300 guests. The 

 Island House, situated on one of the islands of the Grande 

 Diacharge, in the midat of the ouananiche fishing grounds, 



i has room for a hundred guests. .The distance between 

 I the two, in a straight line across the lake, is 25 miles and 

 this is covered in about an hour and a half by the new 

 steamer Mistassini, capable of accommodating nearly 400 

 uests. There are also two other steamers on Lake St. 

 ohn, the Peribonca and the Undine, the latter of which 

 may be chartered by private parties of tourists or anglers. 

 During the month of May, and the greater part of June, 

 there is but little fishing in the Grande Discharge, how- 

 ever, the best sport at present being had either along the 

 western shore of the lake, at Roberval, or in the Mistas- 

 sini and Peribonca rivers, which may be reached either 

 by steamer from Roberval or by canoes with Indian 

 guides, which may be obtained at Roberval, 



The salmon fishing season in Canadian streams will 

 open in the com'se of a few days. Mr. Hogan, proprietor 

 of the St. Lawrence Hall, Montreal, and other salmon 

 fishermen will leave Quebec for the rivers flowing into 

 the Gulf of St. Lawrence early next month. Lord Stan- 

 ley, of Preston, and family will probably again fish the 

 Oascapedia this season. E. T. D. Chajibers. 



Quebec, May 18. 



P. S. — By an unfortunate slip of either the pen or the 

 types, I was made to say in your issue of the 14th that 

 the ice left Lake St. John early in April. The error must 

 have been so apparent to those of your readers acquainted 

 with this country, that it is scarcely necessary for me to 

 ask them to read the word "April" as intended to be 

 "May."-E. T. D. C. 



Wisconsin Angling.— Milwaukee, May 23 —Trout fish- 

 ing seems to be the prevailing attraction for our local 

 sportsmen just now. Several parties have been away 

 north and west and all have returned with good catches, 

 although they do not explain precisely the method em- 

 ployed in taking the fish. As they were provided with 

 rods, flies innumerable and large creels, however, it is to 

 be presumed the fish were taken from their natural haunts 

 in a truly sportsmanlike manner. An early riser walking 

 along the shore of the bay may see dozens of fishermen, 

 old and young, fishing from the breakwater and pier, 

 assiduously watching their lines for the occasional bite 

 from herring or perch with which they are now and then 

 rewarded. There are a number of fishing clubs formed in 

 the Cream City, several of which own lake front prop- 

 erty on Okauchee and Nagowicka lakes. They are mak- 

 ing preparations for a busy season, and even now the 

 Saturday evening trains are all loaded with men and boys 

 with their rods and market baskets of provisions, all 

 anxious to get out into the country for a day. Of these 

 clubs we will write more later on. The C, M. & St. P. 

 Ry. will commence running its Sunday trains on the 24th 

 for the accommodation of tourists and fishermen who 

 cannot leave on Saturday. Oconomowoc, Giffords, Okau- 

 chee, Nasliotah. Nagowicka and Pewaukee all receive 

 their shai-e of visitors. Many are building summer houses 

 for their families on the lake front sites, and a more beau- 

 tiful locality than Waukesha county with its lakes innu- 

 merable and pleasant drives cannot well be imagined. — 

 Gkeenhead. 



Ft. Washington, Md., May 13.— A visit to the hatch- 

 ery of the U. S. Fish Commission at Fort Washington 

 apprised us of the fact that the shad season is about 

 closed there; only a single shad was caught during two 

 seine hauls in a cove which has fm-nished as many as 

 300 at a single haul in the height of a good season. The 

 output of eggs from the hatchery will be at least several 

 millions less than last year's yield owing to the sudden 

 and protracted spell of cold weather in the midst of the 

 run. It is reported that there is now near the mouth of 

 the Potomac an unusual number of shad, but whether 

 they will reach the upper river is very doubtful. There 

 was a poor showing all around for the seine to-day; the 

 contents embraced only a few alewives, several shad, a 

 couple of suckers, catfish, white ijerch, young striped 

 bass, a yellow perch, a carp and a moderate number of 

 sunfishes of two kinds. The captain of the seine, Har- 

 ron, says the water is too clear for fishing. The sunfishes 

 are beginning to glow with the bi'dUant hues of the 

 spawning season, and very soon their nests may be found 

 in the shallow water of the neighboring creeks. The 

 sluggish snapping turtle is lurking in the marshes when 

 not paying tribute to the Fish Commission larder, — ^B. 



MoNsoN Trout Waters.— Monson. Me., May 18.— On 

 May 15, F. C. Briggs, of Boston, who represents H. W. 

 Goodwin, 114 Milk street, Boston, went to South Pond, 

 in this town, and sj^ent the day with a guide. He took 

 sixty-seven spotted trout, many of them weighing upward 

 of lib., and was highly elated with the trout and the 

 fishing there. A'ery liberal catches have also been made 

 at Bear, the Doughty and other ponds here since the ice 

 went out. About seventy-five trout were taken by a 

 party of two gentlemen at Bear Pond during one day's 

 fishing last week.— J. F, C. 



The Book of the Gasie Laws is for sale by fishing 

 tackle and gun dealers generally. The compilation is 

 winning praise everywhere, and has already taken a 

 place among standard works of reference. From Port- 

 land, Ore., comes the note that the Oregon Fish and 

 Game Protection Association, of Portland, has made Mr. 

 Chas. B. Reynolds, editor of the Book of the Game Laws, 

 an honorary member, in recognition of the value of his 

 services to the cause iu having prepared the compen- 

 dium. 



Egypt Mills, Pa.— On the morning of May 6 cold 

 weather accompanied by a snow storm made the outlook 

 for fly-fishing very unpromising, but Mr. Ford and a 

 companion took 41 fair-sized trout during the day. On 

 the 9th the fish were rising freely in Tom's Creek, and 

 these gentlemen got 57 trout ranging from 7 to llin. 

 Mr. Ford remained in Pike county until the middle of the 

 month. No very large trout were taken, but there was 

 uniformity of size. No fish under 7in. was basketed and 

 the largest were 12in. The best day's fishing yielded 67 

 fish to three rods. Tlie unusual dryness of "the season 

 had so lowered the streams that the fishing was not up to 

 the usual mark. 



Decoration Day Anglers from New York will be 

 given half-fare rates on Decoration Day by the New York, 

 Ontario & Western Railway, whose notice to that effect 

 appesirs in this issue. The managers of that road are 

 making intelligent provision for fishermen. 



