April 7, 1893.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



827 



ing a trout; Doctor G. had fared as badly, but had been 

 more lucky the day before, having caught six trout that 

 weighed 51bs. Jim and I packed a box of our largest 

 trout to take out, as we decided to go out at the first op- 

 portunity. 



Next; morning I set out with Doctor G. I walked out 

 over the roughest and rode over the smoothest of the 

 road, and when I walked I had to carry the box of fish, 

 as the Doctor was too much occupied in driving and keep- 

 ing his seat to watch it or hold it on. We arrived at 

 Number Four in good time for dinner. Mr. Fenton said 

 he had been thinking since I went in that 1 "must be the 

 fellow that wrote notes to the Forest and Stream occa- 

 sionally." This I admitted. He then said, "I suppose 

 you will write up this trip?" I said yes, and asked him 

 if there had been any good catches there lately, also if he 

 had seen many deer. He told me of these catches: Six 

 trout weighing 8-Jlbs., by "Sid" Breeze of Oneida, N. Y., 

 and seven by another party, weight 151bs. One of this 

 catch tipped "the beam at 2|lbs. , being the best catch of 

 the season. I also heard that one of the boarders had 

 seen three deer from his window one morning, and two 

 the next ; he told Mr. Fenton he must change his room or 

 he would break the law, the temptation was so great. 



Shortly after dinner our journey was continued, the 

 only incident worthy of note being that a hawk sat on the 

 telephone wire and allowed us to drive by it without 

 being disturbed. Some one in a rig following us shied a 

 stone at it. This caused it to fly on past us, when it 

 again alighted on the wire and once more allowed us to 

 pass without being disturbed; but when the other team 

 came along it flew away although no stone was shied this 

 time. This seemed to show reasoning power in distin- 

 guishing a friend from an enemy, reasoning from a pre- 

 vious acquaintance. 



We arrived in Lowville about 4:30, and Doctor G. kindly 

 carried me to my hotel, where ended one of the pleasant- 

 est outings of my lifetime. 



Jim came out the next day with Mr. Reed, and they 

 told the bovs what I had neglected to, which was very 

 little. 



The two boys we had seen at Stillwater came out the 

 day after Jim did, and brought sixteen trout, weighing 

 171bs., their catch of the day previous off and near the 

 mouth of Wolf Creek, proving one of the boys at least to 

 be a chip of the old block— Wallace B. The other block 

 I do not know well enough to speak with authority of. 



These papers may reach the eyes of some of those 

 named therein. If so, I wish them to know that although 

 many miles may part us, I am thinking of them at this 

 moment, and that we may meet again as anglers is the 

 wish of one of the guild. Osceola. 



CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 



[From a Staff Correspondent.'] 



CHICAGO, 111., April 2.— Mr. C. B. Dicks, known as 

 "Chief" Dicks, was one of the party of duck shooters 

 who went up to Fox Lake this week. Mr. Dicks went 

 out on Wednesday with Geo. Drury for pusher, and 

 headed for Grass Lake. At the mouth of the channel, 

 just beyond Crabapple Island, where the Fox River de- 

 bouches through the heavy wild rice into Fox Lake 

 proper, they saw a bit of stick bobbing about in the water, 

 and in a moment knew it marked an escaped fish, which 

 had carried off line and stick together. Mr. Dicks leaned 

 over, caught the line, and sought to lift the fish into the 

 boat. It wouldn't lift, but made a rush which caused 

 him to drop the line. Presently the floating stick ap- 

 peared again, and to make things short, they followed it 

 up until in the shallow water in the wild rice and reeds 

 they saw that the fish was a large mascallonge, Drury 

 leaned over, watched his chance, got his hands in the 

 gills of the fish and pulled it into the boat, of course 

 lacerating his hand badly in the operation. It may well 

 be supposed, that the duck hunt was forgotten, and the 

 two made back at once with their capture. The fish was 

 a magnificent specimen of the genuine mascallonge, very 

 light in general color, and of exceptionally great girth. 

 It weighed 3411bs., and was exactly 4ft. in length. 



It appearing that this fish was full of spawn, it was 

 opened very skillfully last night in the presence of a num- 

 ber of us by Prof. R. A. Turtle, our taxidermist. Two im- 

 mense bodies of roe, over 2ft. long and weighing proba- 

 bly 31bs. or over, were taken from the fish. It seems a 

 pity that a fish so rare in these lower waters should be 

 killed at this season. This fish might have reproduced 

 thousands and thousands. 



This is commentary on ice fishing. This great mascal- 

 longe, full of spawn, was the victim of a set line which it 

 had carried away. The short stick which had held the 

 line it had either broken or doubled down through the 

 hole in the ice. The damage done this March to game 

 fish full of spawn has been incalculable. The cold 

 weather has given the ice fishers a harvest, and they have 

 harvested countless millions with their thousands. 



It is singular to add that a few days before this event 

 this same George Drury found a dead mascallonge that 

 had come ashore on the lake, apparently dead two or 

 three days. This fish weighed 421 bs., and Drury has pre- 

 served its skeleton. It had doubtless gorged a bait on an 

 ice-line and broken away to die, though I do not hear 

 this mentioned. 



It is remarkable that all the mascallonge taken in Fox 

 Lake within the past ten years have been caught under 

 strange circumstances. The instances I have given 

 earlier. It may be remembered that a boy caught a 

 large mascallonge on a minnow hook one morning, at 

 the boat landing, in front of Clark & Neltnor's old place. 

 Col. O. Lippincott's stories of a great fish which often of 

 late seasons has destroyed his tackle may now be fully 

 credited. There may be yet other mascallonge in these 

 near-by waters, though they have not of late years been 

 supposed or sought for by anglers. Fox Lake is only 

 fifty miles north of Chicago. The regular 'lunge country 

 these days is three times that far to the north. 



Mr. A, F. Young, of Escanaba. Michigan North Penin- 

 sula, an old, old grizzled veteran of that country, who 

 has lived there since the time the Indians were the only 

 inhabitants, came into my office this week, and we had a 

 mighty plea.sa,nt talk. Mr. Young is a fly-caster, and 

 told me much of the trout fishing in the Escanaba, and 

 also in Lake Superior for the big brook trout of the lake. 

 He tells me that the only way these fish can be taken in 

 the shallow water along the shores of the big lake is by a 

 long, clean cast, 80 or 90ft. 

 "Ah, you young fellows, you boys, can't do that," said 



he. "It takes casters such as Seth Green and Rube Wood 

 were. You will have to come to us old ones for that." 



Mr. Young tells me he has only three or four varieties 

 of flies in his book. He thinks most of the Parmachene 

 belle for Lake Superior shore fishing. The trout fishing 

 in the Escanaba, he says, is good, though requiring a boat 

 for much of it. Trout over a pound are not at all rare in 

 that water. The best fishing is about twelve miles above 

 Escanaba. I am sure a river with so pretty a name ought 

 to have trout in it, and plenty. Mr. Young has spent the 

 winter in Chicago, but soon goes back home. "I must 

 be there for a little of the early minnow fishing," said 

 he. 



In regard to the raid on the nets at English Lake, I have 

 the following from Mr. Borders, the attorney who aided 

 in directing the work: 



Winamac, lad., March 28.— Mr. Buck came down this morning 

 and reports over one hundred nets taken out of the lake and river 

 on last Friday and Saturday. Nearly all were gill-nets, and 

 nearly all were the property of two men. The nets have been sent 

 to the justices and by them Will at once be turned over to the 

 sheriffs of Starke and LaPorte counties, and Col. Dennis will see 

 that the proper steps are taken to have them put where they will 

 not take any more fish. The raid was a great one. Allow me to 

 congratulate you on the man you sent to locate the nets, he is a 

 success. Yours truly, B. Borders. 



P. S. — Buck has probably done all the good he can now, and may 

 be recalled at any time. IC we need him as a witness we will 

 notify you. He has gone back to English Lake to-day and awaits 

 orders from the committee. 



Mr. Borders has since sent for Warden Buck as a wit- 

 ness, and I infer the cases are called. Auge, the man 

 who owned most of the nets, is showing fight. His 

 lawyer is the prosecuting attorney of the county. I hear 

 the cases are brought in justices courts after all and not 

 in the circuit courts. We can only hope success. 



These netters threaten to purchase new nets and go 

 back to work. I hope they will. We will have their 

 nets inside of thirty days. Auge threatens to shoot 

 Buck. I hope he will try to, and sort of 'low Buck '11 get 

 him if he does. There are threats from certain parties 

 that they are going to burn down English Lake club 

 house. I hope they will try to, and I further 'low that if 

 they do they will wish they hadn't. Meantime Mr. Ab- 

 ner" Price, of that club, and president of the Kankakee 

 Association, will put in force the very practical measure 

 of bonding a few of those fellows to keep the peace about 

 $3 000 worth each. 



The sharper and hotter this fight is the better. The 

 issue ought to be joined promptly and fearlessly. The 

 harder we go at these men the sooner they will quit their 

 work and conform to the law. Show timidity and they 

 will fight. Fight, and they will show timidity, A short 

 fight is all that is needed, for the netters will stop when 

 they see it is a fight, and not a long-distance talking 

 match. 



A meeting of committees of the Chicago Fly-Casting 

 Club was held yesterday afternoon. The executive com- 

 mittee transacted some business preliminary to the annual 

 meeting to be held April 11. The committee on rules 

 governing competitions after prolonged discussion agreed 

 on the following: 



Rule 1. The unit of measurement of the Chicago Fly- 

 Casting Club shall be a rod not less than 9 nor more than 

 lOfffc, in length. 



2. Such rod shall weigh not less than 6^ nor more 

 than 8£oz. 



3, All rods measuring more than lO^ft. shall be handi- 

 capped 3ft. for every 3in. they measure over 10|ft. 



4, All rods weighing over 84oz. shall be handicapped 

 5ft. for every ^oz. they weigh over 8-Joz. 



5, All rods measuring less than 9ft. shall be credited 

 3ft. for every 3in. they measureless than 9ft. 



6. All rods weighing less than 6^oz. shall be credited 

 3-Jft. for every |-oz. they weigh less than 6+oz. 



7. In competitive casting 10 minutes shall be allowed 

 each performer in which to complete his work. 



The above rules are subject to change. It is a difficult 

 matter enough to perfect a handicap which shall bring 

 into one class all sorts of casters and all classes of rods, 

 both wood and split. 



If there is any club or any individual in the East or 

 elsewhere who has a set of rules for tournament fly-cast- 

 ing I shall be deeply obliged if I may be put in the way 

 of obtaining a copy for the service of the young Chicago 

 club. E. Hough. 



CALIFORNIA FISHING. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Perhaps it may be of some interest to anglers in the 

 East to learn something of the California fishing grounds 

 and the best tackle to use. An Eastern angler would be 

 foolish to come to California for the sake of the fishing 

 alone, for the simple reason that he can find much better 

 sport nearer home: there are practically but two kinds of 

 fishing here, viz., trout at the mountains and sea fishing. 

 There are no other fresh- water fish but trout here worth 

 angling for. A few catfish, carp and other trash makes 

 up the list. The best fishing ground around Los Angeles 

 for trout is the San Gabriel Canon. Take Santa Fe route 

 to Azusa, thence up the canon by trail twelve to fifteen 

 miles. Azusa is about twenty miles from Los An- 

 geles. Other good fishing grounds are the Bear Val- 

 ley Lake and streams emptying into the lake; there 

 are also various trout streams in Ventura county within a 

 few hours of the city at Santa Monica Redond'o and San 

 Pedro, all within easy distance and cheap fare. There is 

 good fishing in the summer time for mackerel, croaker, 

 smelt, bonito, surf-fish, perch, yellow-fin, etc. At Cata- 

 lina Island, reached by a steamer from San Pedro tri- 

 weekly, elegant sport may be had trolling for yellow-tail, 

 bonito, Spanish mackerel, etc. The best time for both 

 fresh and sa.lt water fishing in this State is from May to 

 October. The b^st rig for trout is a simple bamboo rod, 

 8 to 9ft. long, a No. G silk line and sproat hooks No. 6. 

 The trout streams are so surrounded by bush and rocks 

 that it is almost impossible to cast a fly, and as the climb- 

 ing is often very difficult, a good rod stands a big chance 

 of being smashed, so I advise a cheap, light and single 

 rod. For salt-water fishing I should advise the angler to 

 bring his tackle from the East, as he cannot get a very 

 good assortment here and will have to pay higher for it. 

 Hooks No. 6-0, 1-0, 2 and 6 will be all the sizes required 

 for salt water. A good 9ft. striped bass rod and 200yds. 

 lo-thread Cuttyhunk and a first-class reel will about fill 

 the bill. Around San Francisco, Boulder Creek, Mark 

 West Creek and the Arroyo Honda are the nearest and 

 best, while anywhere in the vicinity of San Francisco 

 fairly good salt-water fishing may be had. But the best 



fishing on'the coast I have found to be in southern Cal- 

 ifornia. But alongside of Florida for fishing, California 

 simply ain't in it. For yellow fever and sickness, ditto. 

 At-hambka, Cal., March 31. C. B. WILLIS. 



SMALL-MOUTH, RED-EYE GRAY BASS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



A friend of mine from St. Paul was here the other day, 

 and in talking of fishing matters, said that north of St. 

 Paul on the Great Northern Road somewhere about 100 

 miles, in what is called the Alexander Lakes, is found a 

 bass that he calls the "small-mouthed, red-eyed gray 

 bass." This is a long name and the fish must be a good 

 one to bear it. What is the correct name for it? Do any 

 of the readers of Forest and Stream know anything 

 about it? My friend informed me that it was the gamiest 

 bass of them all and could give odds to the ordinary 

 small-mouthed bass; that it seemed to run in schools; 

 there would be quite an interval that you might be with- 

 out a strike and then when you took one fish you would 

 be apt to take several in quick succession; that they were 

 very gamy fighters, the minute they were struck would 

 come out of water as high as your head and repeat it 

 until conquered; in weight they ran from 21bs. up to 6lbs. 

 He told some great stories of the number of fish he had 

 taken, said that they would be a grand fish to stock arti- 

 ficial ponds or lakes, but the water must be pure, fed 

 from springs, gravelly bottoms, etc. 



Now, we are about'to stock two email lakes west of us, 

 and would like to get hold of some of these bass provided 

 they are to be had, and we would be glad to have some 

 information on the subject from any one that is posted. 



W. B. Mershon. 



[We cannot recognize this bass by means of its common 

 name, and would like to have a description of the fish or 

 an outline sketch showing the shape, number of spines 

 and soft rays in the fins and the number of scales through 

 which the lateral line passes. With these data we can 

 tell the name of the bass.] 



LANDLOCKED SALMON IN MAINE. 



BRIDGTON, Maine, anglers have been recently treated 

 to an edifying object lesson, illustrating the rapid 

 growth of landlocked salmon and the results of propaga- 

 tion. In the autumn of '85 a weir was put into Rogers 

 Brook, a tributary of Long Lake, and about 16,000 land- 

 lock eggs secured, the enterprise being maintained mainly 

 through contributions. The following April the young- 

 fry made their appearance and were a healthy lot. A 

 certain per cent, of the fry were deposited in a stream 

 tributary to Peabody Pond, in South Bridgton, a small 

 pond well stocked with "red spots," but containing no 

 salmon. Last week two Bridgton men, D. P. Chaplin 

 and J. F, Libby, while "ice fishing" there, caught a land- 

 lock weighing 121 bs. 2cz., not a bad growth for six years. 

 Landlocks have also been caught this spring by pickerel 

 fishermen from Anonymous Pond, Harrison, and from 

 Little Moose Pond in Water ford. No one suspected their 

 presence in the latter sheet of water. 



Landfbcked salmon fishing in Sebago Lake will doubt- 

 less open unusually early this spring. In February a 

 portion of the lake had not closed for the winter, and 

 there is every prospect of an early spring. Unless we 

 have heavy rains in April the lake will be extremely low, 

 there not being sufficient snow in the woods to cause any 

 material rise in the streams. The landlocks are increas- 

 ing rapidly in Sebago, and the fishing grounds extending 

 correspondingly. Large numbers of 1 and 21bs. fish are 

 now taken every spring, whereas six years ago a fish 

 weighing less than 4lbs. was an exception. It used. to be 

 thought there could be no Balmon caught in Sebago after 

 the ice had been two weeks out, but now some of the best 

 catches are reported in June. J. C. Mead. 



North Bridgton, Me. 



FLORIDA BLACK BASS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



As I have finished my visit here, I wish you would send 

 Foeest and Stream to my Chicago address. 



I have had some excellent black bass fishing in Lake 

 Monroe, several times getting fish weighing 6llbs. But 

 the largest bass caught in this State to my knowledge 

 have been caught in Lake Gleason, a small lake about 

 two miles from this village. Last year my manager 

 caught one weighing lO^lbs., and he saw one caught 

 12^1bs. Dr. Robinson, of Brooklyn, now at the Brook 

 House, is said to have caught one weighing 10|lbs. Is 

 that weight not very unusual ? Dr. Henshall says the ex- 

 treme weight of the black bass in this State is 91bs. I 

 found a viviparous minnow in a salt spring here. It is 

 not over 2^m. long and has twenty to thirtv young. 



E. M. Hale, M.D. 



Enterprise, Fla., March 27. 



[These are large bass, but Dr. Goode mentions a black 

 bass from the lake at Gainesville reported at 19ilbs., and 

 the Forest and Stream office has the head of a specimen 

 that weighed upward of 231bs.] 



A Mtjd Eel or Siren.— Edit or Forest and Stream: 

 While passing through one of our markets recently, my 

 attention was called to the above (creature or what?). I 

 was unable to give the owner any information relative to 

 this little stranger. It has the appearance of an eel, with 

 wing on either side of its head similar to a sea robin, and 

 immediately behind these are legs with claws, not unlike 

 those of a turtle. The mouth is underneath and formed 

 like that of the German carp. It has no eyes, simply 

 swellings where they should have been. In color it is 

 dark green, and has a tail much like that of an eel. Its 

 entire length is 20 in. and its general circumference is 4 

 to 5in. I believe he said it came from North or South 

 Carolina. Its appearance struck me as looking very 

 much like a puppy before it has its eyes open.— Sedge. 

 [This homely tailed batrachian has permanent external 

 gills as well as lungs. Eyes are present, but very small. 

 It inhabits lowland streams and swamps from northern 

 Indiana to North Carolina and southward, reaching a 

 a length of 3ft. The color is usually black, sometimes 

 dotted. Linnaeus called this animal a siren because of 

 the erroneous belief that it has a singing voice. The 

 negroes of the South consider the mud eel venomous. 

 The technical name of this ugly, but harmless, creature 

 is Siren lacertina,] 



