Jcne 2, 1898.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



523 



FISH AND FISHING IN OHIO. 



LA paper read before the. American Fisheries Society]. 



For 200 miles within the boundary lines of Ohio the 

 blue waters of Lake Erie dash against rocky cliffs, 

 mingie with tributary rivers or peacefully roll over long 

 stretches of white sandy beach. This great open expanse 

 in early days abounded' in food fishes. The choicest were 

 only selected of the now twenty species eagerly sought 

 after. The few inhabitants found the supply more than 

 sufficient for their needs; and indeed it seemed practica- 

 bly inexhaustible. But as the population increased and 

 industries became diversified, men gradually came to 

 take fish to meet the demand of those living at a distance 

 from the water, making what had hitherto been an occa- 

 sional occupation, a regular means of livelihood — an in- 

 dustry. Here began the unequal struggle between the 

 inhabitants of the land and water in which was foreseen 

 the inevitable result of the virtual extinction of the 

 weaker creatures. In addition to what then seemed to 

 be wise legislation for the protection of fish, the science 

 of fishculture came to the relief, and it was then seen 

 that man was to be used as an instrument to prevent the 

 extinction of the species of food fishes in our inland 

 waters. In the fall of 1875 the first governmental efforts 

 were made to hatch whitefish. The parent fish were 

 first obtained, the eggs extracted and fertilized, and it is 

 a fact that almost every egg was safely hatched and the 

 young deposited in the waters of Lake Erie. From that 

 date to the present time the State, through its efficient 

 Commission, has deposited in Lake Erie 400,000.000 of 

 young whitefish. Since the spring of 1880 upward of 

 200,000,000 of pickerel have been hatched by the Com- 

 mission, and deposited in Ohio waters suitable for 

 them; and from the last official report, dated May 

 16, 1892, out of four hundred quarts of pickerel spawn 

 sixty per cent, was hatched. Not only do people living: 

 along the lake shore find almost daily supply of food 

 fishes for consumption in a fresh state, but by proper 

 methods of preparation and preservation the product of 

 the lake is fitted for long continued keeping and trans- 

 portation to distant markets where fishing is difficult, 

 impracticable or impossible. With able legislation and 

 increased assistance of the Fish Commissioners the sup- 

 ply of food fishes does not equal the demand, and the 

 fisherman's cry, from shore to shore, is the scarcity of 

 favorite fishes, and each year the perfected net appliances 

 increase. Closer and closer are the spawning grounds 

 limited, deeper and longer are the gill-nets and smaller 

 the meshes until whitefish the size of herring are taken 

 from the deepest waters. Back in the seventies sturgeon 

 were so plentiful and useless that hundreds were daily 

 thrown out of the nets back into the water. To-day 

 nearly every part of the fish is utilized and the net fisher- 

 man is fortunate who captures four or five in his daily 

 catch. Again the fisbculturist is heard from and he in- 

 troduces methods of artificial hatching, and it is esti- 

 mated that 80 per cent, of the young sturgeon released 

 in the waters live to take care of themselves — so hardy 

 and capable of self-defense and self-supporting are the 

 fry. I have the pleasure of personally knowing many 

 of Ohio's foremost fishculturists who have spent years 

 in propagating fish, studying and becoming familiar with 

 the habits and devising ways and means to check the 

 rapid decrease and to replenish depleted waters. Many 

 of the commercial fishermen appreciate and recognize 

 their efforts, and while the fishermen are gradually 

 covering, with killing nets, nearly all the territory where 

 fish visit— for scarcity of fish means more twine — they 

 cheerfully suggested plans and ideas to aid those who are 

 so deeply interested in preserving our food fishes. 



The following notes of interest I have gleaned from 

 wholesale fishermen along the various lake ports. Of 

 whitefish, ten out' of sixteen fishermen believed that 

 twelve per cent, of the fish deposited in the lake by the 

 Commission were captured with gill nets before they 

 reached lib. in weight in the deep water off the 

 Pennsylvania shore. Twenty per cent, lived to maturity, 

 and this could be increased fifteen per cent, more if the 

 young fish were treated like we raise little pigs — deposited 

 in pens in suitable water around the islands until old 

 enough to take care of themselves. In 1857, on the south 

 shore of the lake, during almost every strong northeastern 

 gale the spawn of whitefish was cast up on the beach in 

 such immense quantities it was often strewn to the depth 

 of 2 or 3in., several feet wide, for miles along the shore. 

 The general complaint, although reluctantly admitted, is 

 t hat the meshes of the rapidly increasing gill nets are too 

 small, they are destroying whitefish weighing less than 

 lib, , while the leaders of the pound nets are increasing to 

 such an alarming extent as to seriously interfere with 

 navigation, let alone keeping back the fish en route to 

 their spawning grounds. All fishermen agree that the 

 natural spawning grounds of the lake are at the mouth of 

 the Detroit River. Whitefish, pickerel, bass, saugers, 

 sturgeon and other food fishes pay annual visits to this 

 point; the pickerel depositing their eggs as they pass up the 

 river, paying no attention to hatching or caring for their 

 young. Sturgeon are caught while rolling around their 

 spawning bed*, or guarding'their young. The bed of the 

 river and following the channel far into the lakes is lit- 

 erally alive with suckers of all sizes and kinds. There is 

 no spot on the chain of lakes equal to this clear, rapid 

 river for small-mouthed black bass and other game fish 

 to spawn and thrive. The flavor of fish caught in this 

 magnificent body of water is world known. It is also an 

 admitted fact, and well known by the writer, that the 

 channel in Sandusky Bay, winding', as it does, through a 

 broad expanse of shallow water, is the best protected 

 body of water along the lake shore, and while other bays 

 and tributary rivers formerly abounded with the beauti- 

 ful white bass and are now almost extinct, this channel 

 leading up the Sandusky River is alive with this clean- 

 looking fish from June until late in the fall; and further 

 inland, among the bends and narrow channels lined with 

 blooming lilies, can be found in great numbers the finest 

 large-mouthed black bass grounds in the world. Re- 

 ferring to pickerel, bass and other food species the ma- 

 jority of fishermen agree that all channels leading to and 

 from the lake through the bays and rivers proper should 

 be kept clear of nets, particularly in the spawning sea- 

 sons, for eventually the net fishermen must be actually 

 benefited by allowing a large number of fish to cast 

 their spawn in waters above the roving egg-destroying 

 marauders, for as the country with its drainage toward 

 the lake is bsing tilled to an extent beyond belief the 

 creeks and rivers rise so rapidly and so high that fish are 



found in great quantities in ditches miles inland from 

 the lake. 



While the general public believe that unless some de- 

 cided and effective measures are adopted to enable a 

 large number of fish to safely reach their spawning 

 grounds, there is great danger of extermination of our 

 lake food fishes : and while many of our commercial fish- 

 ermen oppose protective legislation mainly because they 

 object to any laws which shall limit their ability to take 

 all the fish possible from a given water area in a given 

 time, the thoughtful fishermen express a willingness to 

 co-operate with legislative enactments looking to thor- 

 ough preservation of fish. My attention has been fre- 

 quently called to the fact that there is no legislation on 

 the statute books of Ohio which offers any protection to 

 the game and food fish of Lake Erie during the spawning- 

 season. Any attempt at such legislation is met by the 

 organized opposition of the men who wrongfully imag- 

 ine that their private interests are thereby attacked, and 

 who have been able thus far to prevent the passage of 

 many measures that would have materially benefitted 

 them in the end. On the other hand, most men do not 

 care to expend time and money in urging a species of 

 legislation from which they are to reap only an indirect 

 and remote advantage. Neither for the same reason do 

 they incline to aid in securing a thorough and impartial 

 enforcement of such laws as already exist. Many believe 

 in restriction as to the seasons and methods of taking 

 fish, but they are unwilling to act as either prosecutors 

 or witnesses' when such laws are violated. In this con- 

 nection I might add that in all legislative action taken, 

 whether by national or State governments, care should be 

 taken to properly define what constitutes the waters of 

 the lakes and inland waters. One of the most prolific 

 causes of misunderstanding as to the meaning of various 

 laws now passed has been the claim made by some that 

 the waters of the lake extended up the rivers as far as 

 tide water: it will thus be seen that the efforts to protect 

 the rivers are paralyzed by having their mouths filled 

 with nets. Another trouble is the lack of uniformity of 

 the laws in adjoining States, thus in Ohio some of our 

 best streams are fully protected against destructive net 

 fishing, while their mouths, emptying into the lake in an 

 adjoining State, are completely blockaded with nets, the 

 nets even extending from either shore across the chan- 

 nels. Uniformity would give a clearer comprehension 

 as to the meaning of the law in both States. 



Another serious difficulty in the enforcement of exist- 

 ing laws is that the officials to whom such enforcement 

 is committed are left without fixed adequate compensa- 

 tion for their services. An Ohio fish warden receives no 

 remuneration, and even his time and labor in securing 

 an arrest and prosecution are wholly unremunerated un- 

 less he secures a conviction. We need most of all to 

 educate the people into a broader and fuller appreciation 

 not alone of the rights of others but of their own interests. 

 We shall succeed in this work when we rnake the general 

 public comprehend that in protecting the rights of others 

 in the fish of our open waters we are in reality preserving 

 our own. Relative to interior fish and fishing the subject 

 is one of such vast interest that it would require another 

 paper much longer than this to do it justice. It is gener- 

 ally believed that the laws are better observed than along 

 the lake shore: that game fish are increasing and the 

 people are in sympathy with the Commission and appre- 

 ciate their labors. With the Ohio State fish car, the 

 Buckeye, the Commission has deposited some twelve 

 thousand black bass, weighing from a half to three 

 pounds in the rivers and creeks throughout the State. 



I could hardly close without a word about our rod and 

 line fishermen. There seems to be implanted in the nature 

 of every Buckeye angler the love of outdoor sport ; they 

 recognize fishing as the keenest of en joyments. While it 

 is the common destiny of mankind to labor from the 

 cradle to the grave, toil and hardship are brightened by 

 and often endured for the prospect of angling, with its 

 anticipated hopes, fears and pleasures. I can say from a 

 personal experience that the desire to kill and destroy is 

 more a potent motive, with our rod fishermen, than a 

 neccessity. It is a conceded fact that Ohio contains more 

 truthful anglers than any State in the Union, the city of 

 Toledo leading. I will relate an incident narrated re- 

 cently to me by that venerable fisherman, Hon. Emery 

 D. Potter, illustrating the pleasure of fishing with hook 

 and line in Ohio, under favorable circumstances. ' Among 

 the many pleasant incidents of hook and line fishing," 

 said the judge, "and one of the most successful afternoon 

 outings I ever experienced, was in the year 1863, with 

 Dr. Theodatus Garlick, of Cleveland, Ohio. The doctor 

 was a great hunter and frequented the marshes at the 

 bead of Lake Erie. One afternoon when hunting was 

 poor I persuaded him to accompany me in a boat to try 

 his luck at fishing. He accepted and we anchored in one 

 of the many guts around Clard Island, and began casting 

 for black bass. We fished thirty minutes and succeeded 

 in landing thirty-two bass, the largest weighing four, the 

 smallest two pounds. A fair afternoon's fishing. In reply 

 to my question, to the doctor, the next day 'to go a-fish- 

 ing,' he looked very serious andsaid, 'Well, judge, having 

 no use for the fish I am honestly ashamed to fish for the 

 fun of it.' " John E. Gunckel. 



Toledo, Ohio. 



The Pole Pounding System. 



In some parts of the South the people have a novel way 

 of decimating what they deem a pest. The black red- 

 headed woodpecker, in their opinion, does material dam- 

 age to certain trees, and the following is the inexpensive 

 method they adopt for his destruction: A pole is lashed 

 to a tree or stuck into the ground for the pecker to alight 

 on. When he does so a sharp blow is given the pole at 

 the foot with a club or ax upon the side on which the 

 bird is. He drops stone dead.— N. D. E. 



The Natchaug- Fishing Lines. 



The Natchaug Silk Co., of Willimantic, Conn., sent us 

 last week, with the copy for their page advertisement, 

 sample cards of their braided silk fines, and opportunity 

 was afforded on Decoration Day to test one of the No. 1 .'. 

 size. It proved to be light, freely running and of aston- 

 ishing strength. The Natchaug lines are manifestly in- 

 tended to hold game fighters, and the fisherman who is 

 equipped with one of them will have the advantage of 

 confidence in his tackle, which is half the battle in a 

 storm at sea or in a tussle with a trout. 



A TRIP FOR ADIRONDACK TROUT, 



Three fishers took the 9:15 train from the Grand Cen- 

 tral on Friday night, May 13, bound for Lowville. They 

 partook of a breakfast there and started for Oswegatchie 

 Lake, twenty-two miles distant, in a buckboard that 

 made its five knots an hour despite the cadaverous mud 

 holes and vociferous thank-you-mams that graced each 

 rod of the road. The lake is a pretty sheet of water with 

 its as yet deeply wooded banks and curving outlines, and 

 it was a pleasure to be pulled about its shores that first 

 afternoon dropping ailine in the favorite holes pointed 

 out. 



Saturday, Sunday and even Monday passed away, and 

 with the cold, rainy days and nights we found it difficult 

 to catch enough trout to keep the frying pan going, and 

 so a council was held and we determined to move on the 

 enemy. Early Tuesday morning, the sun looking down 

 auspiciously, the three guides, loaded with blankets and 

 grub of various sorts, led the way, and we followed 

 along the eight-mile frail to the branch. Now in books 

 sixty-pounds packs and trails, twisting through the leafy 

 forests that are heavy with the fragrance of flower and 

 branch, and light with the sun chasing shadows and the 

 trill of birds, sound manly or poetical, but in fact the 

 one idea is — get there. We asked of our guides, "How 

 far have we come?" till they grew weary of that question, 

 so we thoughtfully changed it to "How far have we to 

 go?" and suggested various inviting places as suitable for 

 campers. They carried us on, though, by stories of trout 

 of ever increasing size and voracity, and then came the last 

 mile. Now if I were a writter of essays, my first would 

 have as its title, The Last Mile,*' and I should describe 

 in burning letters what a thrill those words mean to the 

 weary tramp; how he is buoyed up and pushes his heavy 

 feet on with something like vigor, and approaches eaeh 

 turn or rise with the firm conviction that at last he will 

 see the long looked for cabin. I should then — no, I 

 wouldn't, for the words describing his every recurring 

 dissapointments would be too burning for ordinary 

 paper. 



We came at last, however, to the camp, and found it 

 comprised two shanties, one of which, made of logs, was 

 fairly tight. It harbored too much dampness and too 

 many smells, however, so we turned it over to the guides 

 and took possession of the other one, which was an open 

 bark shanty. After getting our things in fair shape we 

 turned our attention to the river, which ran within fifty 

 feet of us. It was a beautiful stream, some forty feet 

 wide, changing ever from fall to pool, from riffle to still 

 water, and withal had a very fishy look. 



A few casts showed us all that our eight-mile tramp 

 was to bear fruit of the speckled kind and much of It, 

 for the trout, many of whom saw man for the first time, 

 gazed at us with open-mouthed astonishment, and so all 

 we had to do was drop in a hook t and yank. We caught 

 enough for supper, which was eaten by the firelight, and 

 then prepared for sleep. Our bed was comfortable with 

 its boughs, and we were a tired-out lot, but our one 

 blanket apiece grew thinner as the darkness settled down, 

 and despite the fire, a few feet away, we suffered exceed- 

 ingly from the cold. For my part I passed more of the 

 night seated by the glowing logs and thinking than I did 

 in dreaming of the big fish to be caught to-morrow. 



Dawn came and slowly melted the inch of ice in our 

 wash pail, and a hearty breakfast dispelled the yawns 

 from the sleepy ones, and then followed a day entirely 

 devoted to trout. We had to work for them, and the big 

 ones were not in every hole, at least they did not come 

 out of every hole, but we caught enough and were 

 happy. 



What else did we do during our week? Well, we saw 

 four deer, about a dozen porcupines, a partridge sitting 

 on a nest of six eggs and allowing us to come within six 

 feet of her (what strange things we see when we haven't 

 a camera), another one drumming on a log, a brook trout 

 weighing -Ubs. 2oz. but not caught by one of us, and a 

 thousand and one other things that will give us some- 

 thing to dream of and laugh over for six months to come. 



F'LIN. 



New York May 25. 



Barbs on Chinese Pish Hooks. 



The Chinese produce clumsy imitations of English 

 hooks, but their own hooks are peculiar, having except- 

 ionally small beards, not on the back of the point, but on 

 the side. This is of great importance, for the beard which 

 is commonly Tised and which is on the inner side or back 

 of the point, has two disadvantages: in the first place, it 

 is as unfavorably located as possible for the rapid entering 

 of the hook, which therefore frequently does not catch; 

 and in the second place it is inclined to come out of itself, 

 for when it enters a hollow space is created between the 

 beard and the lower bend of the.hook, which is prevented 

 from closing up by the portions of the hook which sur- 

 round it on three sides. Whenever the person holding 

 the line momentarily ceases to pull, the hook gets a 

 chance to slip back, and the beard but too readily finds 

 the necessary space to glide out of the wound without 

 catching anywhere, especially when the parts where the 

 hook has entered are lean and possess but little elasticity, 

 as in the. case Avith the pike. But if the beard is placed 

 more or less on the side of the point, this offers the im- 

 portant advantage that the beard does not hinder the en- 

 tering of the point; the hollow space referred to above 

 will also be created, but it isnot, as in the common hooks, 

 between the beard and the bend of the hook, but on the 

 side of the latter, and is consequently less inclined to 

 close up immediately. The point of the beard, moreover, 

 does not lie right over the center of the hollow space, but 

 close to its edge. Even if the hook should slip back the 

 beard will always keep close to the edge of the wound, 

 and will, in most cases, fasten itself somewhere, thus 

 pi eventing the hook from slipping out entirely. Placing 

 the beard at the side of the point, therefore, offers two 

 decided advantages without having a single disadvantage, 

 and it is really surprising that manufacturers have not 

 given more attention to this matter.— R. Christensen in 

 Bulletin U. S. Fish Commission. 



The First Restigouche Salmon. 



Metapedia., May 23. — The first bright salmon of the 

 season in the Restigouche River was caught to-day, May 

 23. The fish was killed by Gus Aylett on Grog Island 

 pool, and weighed 341bs, He used a silver-doctor fly, - 

 M. A . 



