614 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[June 30, 1898. 



NEW ENGLAND ANGLERS. 



The Salmon Anglers" Petition. 

 Me, D. H. Blanchard, well known to the readers of 

 the Forest and Stream through his efforts to secure 

 hetter protection for the salmon in Canadian waters, feels 

 much encouraged from late reports. He finds that the 

 Minister is very much in earnest in regard to strictly 

 enforcing the regulations as they now exist. It is also 

 pretty certain that some of the worst nets may be abol- 

 ished altogether, since they are entirely contrary to the 

 regulations. The work done by Mr. Blanchard is yet to 

 be fruitful of greater rewards. The Minister of Fisheries 

 is determined to watch the results of better enforced 

 regulations, and the chances are that still more stringent 

 regulations may be made. Attention has been called to 

 the matter by the celebrated Salmon Anglers' Petition in 

 a manner that could not have been done by any other 

 means. It may safely be regarded as but the first step, 

 and a very powerful one, in the direction of a good work. 

 Mr. Blanchard left Boston last Tuesday for his salmon 

 preserves on the St. Marguerite, where he will spend 

 several weeks enjoying the salmon fishing he has so 

 richly earned. He is accompanied by his daughter, Mr. 

 E 'chard O. Harding, the faithful secretary of the Massa- 

 chusetts Fish and Game Protective Association, also goes 

 with him as a guest. Mr. Harding is with Geo. B. Ap- 

 pleton & Co., and in that position he has rendered Mr. 

 Blanchard a great deal of assistance in getting up the 

 Salmon Anglers' Petition. It was to that house in fact 

 that the most of the correspondence was directed, since 

 it was a central point, and Mr. Blanchard in his modesty 

 did not desire to receive it personally. This work has 

 brought Mr. Harding and Mr. Blanchard into very close 

 relations of friendship, and now they have gone to try 

 the salmon together. The only drawback they have met 

 so far as heard from, was a delay in Quebec for some days 

 by the breaking down of a steamer. 



Boston Anglers in Maine. 



A party of sportsmen left Boston Saturday, June 18, 

 for Camp Stewart, Richardson Lake. They were not 

 going direct to camp, however, for they are members of 

 the Taylor Club, then under an invitation to visit Poland 

 Springs, to remain over the Sabbath. On Monday they 

 were to proceed to camp. The names of the party are C. 

 S. Robertson, auditor of the city of Somerville, J. F. 

 Wellington, John Viall and James S. Murphy. Thev are 

 enthusiasts in fly-fishing, and they make their trip late 

 in the season in oi-der to enjoy that sport to the best ad- 

 vantage. They are to be absent about a couple of weeks. 



The Kineo Fishing Club returned to Boston on Friday 

 from its annual fishing trip to Moosehead. The Forest 

 and Stream has already had an account of the departure 

 of the club. As usual they found a plenty of trout — a 

 plenty because the members are all reasonable anglers, 

 and are satisfied with a few trout caught on the fly. It 

 ia probable that there are as many experts in fly-casting 

 in that organization as can be found in any other club 

 that visits the Maine waters. The club has lately adopted 

 as its ensign an enormous fish that was sent them from 

 Japan bv the Rev. George L. Perrin, formerly a well- 

 known Boston clergyman, now a missionary in Japan. 

 The fish is of unique design, made of silk, sixteen feet 

 long. It is open at head and tail, and designed to float 

 in the breeze at the top of a flagstaff, where it attracts a 

 good deal of attention. In the absence of the commodore 

 of the club, Mr. J. B. Thomas, of the Standard Sugar 

 Refinery, who has lately sailed for Europe, the duties of 

 manager devolved upon Mr. J. R. Hunnewell, vice-com- 

 modore. The larder was taken care of by Mr. J. F. 

 Nickerson, the secretary of the club. This club is com- 

 posed of down-town merchants, the party this year being 

 made up of John P. Woodbury and" wife, John F. Nick- 

 erson and wife, Frank W. Wise and wife. John Wood- 

 bury and wife, W. S. Hills and wife, E. R. Hunnewell 

 and J. M. Quhnby. 



The headquarters of the club were, aB usual, at the 

 Kineo House, where Mr. Dennen did all in his power to 

 make the visit of the club an enjoyable one. From the 

 Kineo House the club made its fishing trips with a steamer, 

 with canoes and guides on board. The ladies enjoyed 

 the excursions very much. Not the usual amount of 

 trouble was experienced from black flies. Anglers are 

 hoping that these pests are growing beautifully less sea- 

 son by season. As usual, Mr. Nickerson heads the list 

 with the largest brook trout, one weighing 44lbs. The 

 total catch of the club from ten days' fishing was slightlv 

 over 400 trout. 



Enchanted Pond. 



One of the party of Boston sportsmen to visit Enchanted 

 Pond, mention of which visit has already been made in 

 the Forest and Stream, writes of that visit as follows: 



"Saturday, May 21, a party consisting of the following 

 gentlemen, Jesse A. Dill, L. Frank Hinckley, F. A. Mer- 

 rill, J. H. Powers, A. V. Peabody and H. A. Skinner, 

 started for Enchanted Pond, situated in the northern part 

 of Maine. We left Boston at 9 A. M., reached Oakland, 

 on the Maine Central Railroad, at 4:10 in the afternoon, 

 where we waited forty minutes. Thence we proceeded 

 by the Somerset Railroad to Bingham, where we arrived 

 at 6:20. This completed the railroad part of our journey. 

 The night was very stormy and we retired early, after'a 

 good supper at Washburn's Hotel. Breakfast was served 

 at 6 o'clock the next morning, and we were soon on our 

 journey, by means of a three-seated mountain wagon, 

 About noon we reached that town in the wilderness 

 known as The Forks of the Kennebec. Dinner at The 

 Forks, we pushed on to Pat Murphy's at West Forks, 

 which famous hostelry we reached at about 4 o'clock in 

 the afternoon. Here we remained over night. Murphy 

 is a noted character in the hotel line, well known to 

 everybody who travels that section. Fat, jolly and 

 always full of kindness and fun, he is a favorite with all 

 who know him. 



"But Monday morning the rain was falling in torrents 

 and we were obliged to stop with Murphy another day, a 

 task not so bad, though we were going a- fishing, con- 

 sidering that it was Murphy and his house. Tuesday 

 morning Murphy hitched up a couple of buckboards for 

 us and we started on a drive of nine miles over a road 

 rough and rocky, through a genuine ancient forest of 

 black growth trees. It took us till 2 in the afternoon to 

 reach the shores of the pond, so bad was the road. Here 

 we met Mr. Forsythe, who has charge of the camps. He \ 



is a veteran of the civil war, and a leader in the Grand 

 Army. The camps are two miles below, and we were 

 taken down in Mr. Forsythe's boat. Well may this body 

 of water be called Enchanted. The scenery is truly 

 grand. The water has been sounded to a depth, we were 

 told, of 365ft. in several places. The vowl lies between 

 ledges on either side anywhere from 100 to 600ft. high. 

 It looks as though in some past age this mountain region 

 had been cleft by an earthquake shock or some volcanic 

 disturbance and a deep basin had been left for this lake. 

 At the outlet is a natural dam with the sides from 50 to 

 60ft. high, and here the lumbermen have put in a gate, 

 forming a sluiceway for the purpose of driving logs in 

 the stream below. 



"At last we were comfortably housed at Enchanted 

 Pond, and full of 'great expectations' concerning the 

 trout we should take and also take to friends at home. 

 But alas, we were doomed to disappointment. We 

 caught a few stray fair-sized trout around the shores of 

 the pond, but nothing equaling former experiences. 

 Some of these we caught after dark, and this, we were 

 told, was one of the peculiarities of the lake. Whether 

 this feeding of the trout in the dark is due to the deep 

 and dark water, those skilled in trout science have not 

 yet made plain to us. 



"It seems the pond abounds in handsome trout about 

 the middle of June. We being early and the season 

 somewhat late, we came sadly near being left. 



"Two of our party, Messrs. Peabody and Powers, made 

 an excursion to a brook above camp to view a beavers' 

 dam, where beavers are said to exist at the present time. 

 We saw only signs, however. On Thursday morning we 

 left camp for good, and proceeded at once to Murphy's. 

 After dinner, at 12 o'clock, we started for Jackman, 24 

 miles away, on the Canada Road. The ecenery along 

 this road, Benedict Arnold's route to Quebec, is wild in 

 the extreme. But most of the beauties of the ride were 

 lost to the party, with the exception of Peabody, who is 

 an enthusiast on the subject. Tired and hungry, we were 

 more interested in reaching Jackman and a good supper. 

 We reached the Newton House, Jackman, at about 8 

 o'clock P. M., thoroughly tired and disgusted with the 

 rain. 



"The next morning Mr. Hinckley, with the writer, left 

 the rest of the party at Jackman, to follow a day or two 

 later. We took the 4 A. M. train on the Canadian Pacific 

 for Greenville, Moosehead Lake, and thence to Bangor, 

 where we caught the 12:45 train for Boston. We reached 

 home safely, and feeling well paid for the trip, but still 

 we are too tired to have the least desire for such another 

 excursion till a little later another season. The cost of 

 the trip was small compared with other routes in the same 

 State, the round trip to Bingham and return to Boston 

 being only $11, while the cost of board at Enchanted 

 Pond is only $1 per day. They tell us that deer and cari- 

 bou are very plenty in the fall, and judging by the 

 'signs' we are inclined to believe them. Small game is 

 also reported to be abundant. — P." Special. 



A KENTUCKY FISH PRESERVE. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Our impounding water works reservoir was completed 

 fifteen months ago. It covers forty-three acres, with 

 greatest depth of 17ft., is fed by a small creek and num- 

 ber of springs, and the water runs about nine months in 

 the year. A galvanized wire screen, -Jin. mesh, across 

 the 60ft. overflow, prevents the fish from going below: 

 luxuriant meadow lands surround the lake. The minnow 

 food supply is almost unlimited; large numbers were 

 caught in the lake above when the valves in the outlet 

 pipes were closed. With each rain and rise of the creek 

 many come up and are stopped by the dam; the keeper 

 catches these with a small minnow seine and puts them 

 in the lake— as many as twenty -five gallons sometimes; 

 the natui'al increase in the creek above the lake is large. 

 No grass or moss is allowed to grow or remain in the 

 lake, but covering an old creek bed there are several 

 natural beds of gravel and it is being constantly washed 

 in. _ During the construction of the dam I had abundant 

 hiding places built along a bluff at one side of the lake. 

 When the valves were closed I commenced to stock the 

 lake with a view to having fishing throughout the sea- 

 son. Many suntish (Lepomis gibbosus) were caught in 

 the creek above the dam, but no other varieties except 

 minnows. 



The following varieties were put in last year, being 

 chiefly fingerlings, with a few large fish of each variety: 

 3,000 yellow perch, 520 black bass (both large and small- 

 mouthed), 8,000 crappie (both Pomoxys sparoides and P. 

 annularis), 24 striped bass, 100 redbreast {Lepomis auri- 

 tus), 800 bream (Lejmnis poUidus) and 400 red-eye (Am- 

 Uqplites rupestris). The excess of crappie and yellow 

 perch was due to the fact that I could get those and 

 could not the others. This being my first experience in 

 stocking with fish, I would be pleased to receive sugges- 

 tions from any one familiar with the subject as to the 

 best management, what kinds, if any, should be added; 

 what varieties should be increased; what varieties will 

 prey on the young of| others, and on all other points ger- 

 mane to the subject. I would think that such informa- 

 tion would be useful and entertaining to many readers 

 of Forest 'and Stream. Should any brother angler 

 come this way I would be pleased to have him stop and 

 "go afishing" with me. 



In conclusion, why don't you give us each week, at 

 least, one specimen from the amateur photographic 

 contest? C. S. P. 



[In our opinion the black bass, crappie, red-eye and 

 striped bass are the best of the fish in your list. Bream, 

 red- breast and yellow perch are inferior, and all of them 

 are destroyers of eggs and young fish. You will prob- 

 ably find it necessary to make a rearing pond or ponds 

 for your bass in order to keep a good stock in the reser- 

 voir, and from the rearing pond you should remove even 

 the adult bass as soon as the young have learned to 

 forage for themselves. The bass is the most voracious 

 of all the species named, but its young fall an easy prey 

 to perch, bream and red-breast. If your lake becomes 

 overstocked with shiners (or minnows) the bass may 

 refuse to take live bait. On general principles our 

 advice is: Increase the number of bass and striped bass; 

 the crappies will soon multiply beyond expectation if the 

 conditions are favorable for their development, which is 

 highly probable. 1 



FISHERY ABUSES ON THE DELAWARE. 



IN his address published in your issue of April 7, Mr. 

 Ford, President of the Pennsylvania Fish Commission, 

 states that every fish weir has been removed from the 

 Delaware and the river is patrolled by fish wardens con- 

 stantly. He says, also, that the shad production has in- 

 creased from $80,000 in 1881 to nearly $700,000 in 1890, 

 as a result of propagating the spawning fish and enforc- 

 ing the laws. He further states that uniform laws have 

 been secured by New Jersey and Pennsylvania for pre- 

 venting illegal fishing. 



It is true that the fish baskets have been removed, but 

 the deadly set-cord (outline) is still in operation from 

 the time shad fishing closes, and even earlier. From 

 Trenton to Easton, and further up, the river is full of 

 them. Each line is provided with from 40 to 100 hooks, 

 which are kept baited all night and part of the day, and 

 their destruction of black bass and striped bass is simplv 

 enormous. 



The temporary dams across the river at Bull's Island, 

 Lambertville and Scudder's Falls, above Trenton, are 

 greater destroyers of shad than the fish baskets. When 

 the river is low in the summer and fall, these dams are 

 put in to supply the feeder at Bull's Island and to raise 

 the water at Lambertville for the ferry, or to maintain 

 the water for the Trenton water power. The young 8had 

 or rockfish, which go down the river in the fall, are 

 forced into the feeder to be killed in the gratings in front 

 of the mills or pass on through never to return. As 

 many young shad are killed every year in the Trenton 

 water power as the Fish Commission put in the river. 



Fyke nets also are still set with impunity; in Well's 

 Falls, below Lambertville, dozens of fykes are set as soon 

 as the fish commence their upward journey in the spring, 

 although there is a fish warden on each side of the river 

 at this place. 



The credit of increasing the shad does not all belong to 

 the Fish Commission, for circumstances over which they 

 had no control contributed to make the years from 1887 

 to 1890 successful shad years. These were wet years, 

 and the Delaware was high from September to December 

 of each year and no dams were built for a part of the 

 time at the above mentioned places, and even when they 

 were built the water was so high as to enable the fish to 

 go down the river. Doubtless we would have had the 

 old shad fishing in 1891 but for a new terror, which has 

 sprung up in the last few years. An unusually large run 

 started up in 1891 but was met by a volume of inky black 

 water, thick and heavy with coal dirt, or culm, and this 

 drove the small fish into the mouths of creeks and turned 

 the shad back; 1892 promises to be a repetition of 1891. 

 For the last two or three years every rise in the river 

 has been accompanied by a flood of coal dirt from the Le- 

 high, which if not stopped at once, combined with the 

 causes above mentioned, will soon undo all the work of 

 the Fish Commission, and practically end shad fishing in 

 the Delaware. 



Uniform laws have been secured to prevent illegal 

 fishing, yet fishermen use small-meshed nets in New 

 Jersey and not in Pennsylvania, and the size of the mesh 

 above Trenton is not up to the standard in most of the 

 nets used. Bunches of "jiffins" (small shad) may be 

 seen strung together for sale for little or nothing on the 

 fishing shores. As to the wardens, few if any of them 

 do their full duty, because there is nothing in it for them 

 if they do but the ill will and enmity of every set-cord, 

 fyke-net and illegal net fisherman on the river. If the 

 Fish Commission and the Fish Protective Association 

 will join hands these evils may be remedied to a great 

 extent and the beautiful Delaware will again become a 

 fisherman's paradise. Chubb. 



ANGLING NOTES, 



Canadian Salmon. 



Every one who has read Dr. T. H. Bean's excellent 

 report on the "Salmon and Salmon Rivers of Alaska," 

 the result of an investigation made in 1889 under author- 

 ity of Congress, will recall his graphic description of the 

 enormous waste of eggs and young salmon, and the de- 

 struction of trout by seiners who fish for the canneries, 

 and flagrant abuses generally calling for a rigid enforce- 

 ment of laws to protect the salmon and trout from utter 

 extinction in the waters of that far-away territory. Dr. 

 Bean's investigation of the matter is just now bearing 

 fruit in the form of a bill in Congress (Senate bill 3280) to 

 provide for the enforcement of the provisions of an act 

 of Congress for the protection of the salmon fisheries of 

 Alaska. During the discussion of the bill Senator Dolph 

 said: "It is true that the salmon fisheries of Alaska are 

 more valuable than the seal fisheries, and they are in 

 imminent danger of being destroyed. I saw last year 

 with my own eyes, dams built across and nets stretched 

 across the sinall inlets and fresh-water streams up which 

 the salmon are accustomed to go, which entirely pre- 

 vented them from reaching their spawning ground ; and 

 I saw thousands upon thousands of salmon that had 

 been taken by nets and other appliances and were not 

 canned, but thrown back dead, floating upon the waters 

 of the various inlets in Alaska." Thus Dr. Bean's report 

 was backed by a friend at court, and the bill was promptly 

 reported favorably. 



The Vermont Hatchery. 



The Congressional Record is sometimes rather dry, but 

 it may be called wet when it contains an item, as it did 

 June 16, stating that the Senate Committee on Fisheries 

 reported favorably a bill providing for a United States 

 fish hatching station in Vermont, and moved its refer- 

 ence to the Committee on Appropriations. This station 

 is to be a salmon and trout hatching station, and it is one 

 in which anglers will be particularly interested, for 

 salmon and trout cannot be propagated to increase the 

 food supply without at the same time providing more fish 

 to be captured for sport. 



That Lake Bomaseen " Bass," 

 1 presume that readers of Forest and Stream will 

 remember that a few years ago a fish was found on the 

 surface of Lake Bomaseen, or on the shore, dead and in 

 a more or less decomposed condition. After much dis- 

 cussion in the newspapers as to its identity, it was allowed 

 to fill a rather uncertain position in fish history as a 

 large-mouthed black ba*s of over 201bs. in weight. 

 Within the past year I have heard that the giant big- 

 mouth bass was nothing but a sheepshead or fresh-water 

 drum. Last evening Mr. Charles Pike, of the J. T. Buel 

 Trolling Spoon Co., confirmed what I had previously 



