Nov. 13, 1891.1 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



888 



BASS IN THE ADIRONDACKS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The article entitled "Shall the Adirondacka be Stocked 

 With Bass?" was read by me when it was published with 

 sadness. I reflected upon what, from time to time, has 

 come to my knowledge re&pfctingthe waning of excellent 

 trout fishing that once existed in the Adii'ondacks. 

 Gentlemen, eportsmen, who killed two, three and ten 

 times the numbsr of trout possible for use in camp; 

 guides who caught all the big trout, through the ice, in 

 early spring for market, continuing through May and 

 June the nefarious practice of killing and carrying out all 

 they could stagger under, to sell; the lumberman who now, 

 through impatience, "dynamite the ice" in the spring, 

 that the channel for floating logs may be more readily 

 cleared— those are the three chief agencies of the " waning" 

 spoken of. Further material for sad reflection arises 

 when the subject of bettering the fishing in the Adiron- 

 dacka comes lip in combined thoughts of'tbe guide— van- 

 dal — who threatens the introduction of pickerel into the 

 headwaters of the Beaver River because Dr. Webh inter- 

 feres with his predatory proclivities, and he who cut nets 

 set by Mr. Marks — Fulton Chain Hatchery — for the ex- 

 termination, in a measm-e, of catlish or bullheads. 



You ask for information on the subject of introducing 

 black bass in the Adirondack waters. My information 

 can but amount to an opinion. I should think that it 

 would be well to introduce black bass into the waters of 

 the Adirondacks where pickerel already exist, but not 

 with the idea that the bass will exterminate the pickerel. 



Your letter to me implies that bass were introduced 

 into some of the waters at Blooming Grove Park with 

 the result of exterminating the pickerel, Sach was not 

 the case. There were obtained from Oreeuwood Lake 

 and the St. Lawrence River, large and small mouth bass 

 •with the idea that they might improve the bass fishing 

 in Lake Giles where, in previous years, had been placed 

 many thousands of small-mouth "bass, taken from Lake 

 Laura on High Knob, without obtaining the desired re- 

 sults. The experiment of placing large-mouth bass in Giles 

 has resulted in improvement to some extent in taking 

 bass. I should .judge that the pickerel are as numerous 

 as before. At best the lake is not a bass lake; it is fed by 

 springs entirely and is deep. And my opininion is that 

 all such cold deep waters will not result in good sport 

 fishing for bass. Such waters are well adapted for land- 

 locked salmon and trout. For example, Lake Giles after 

 three years stocking with adult brook trout, has afforded 

 aiore sport than dm-ing the previous ten years. It has 

 been my fortune to be cognizant of matters at Blooming 

 Grove Park for thirteen years. It now has become the 

 practice of our management to retain for two years about 

 5,000 brook trout for the purpose of obtaining spawn and 

 stocking, then to release them in Giles, where there are 

 pickerel, bass, lake trout and landlocked salmon, perch, 

 bullheads, eels, sunfish and shiners. It is quite a com- 

 mon occurrence for members to bring in trout, bass and 

 pickerel as the result of one excursion around the lake. 



As regards information for the Commissioners, I would 

 refer them to the result of stocking with bass the 

 Raquette River section of the Adirondacks. 



Spencer. M, Nash, 



THE CASTALiA TROUT. 



C^fflCAGO,Ill., Oct. 6.— Last April I visited the famous 

 J Castalia trout stream of Ohio, and wrote about it. 

 Mr. Milton P, Peirce made comment on my article. He 

 seemed to think that my statements as to the origin of 

 the Castalia trout were wrong. I thought them right. 

 Now I know they were right, and have proof for it. This 

 comes through the courtesy of Judge Emery D. Potter, 

 of Toledo, O,, a member of the Ohio State Fish Commis- 

 sion, to whom I wrote last summer for' further informa- 

 tion. Under date of July 10 Judge Potter wrote me as 

 follows: 



"I am averse to entering into any controversy with Mr. 

 M. P. Peirce, a man I never saw, nor heard of till within 

 the last year or two. But as his statements to which you 

 allude have been dignified by a column or more in the 

 FoEEST A?JD Stream, a publication of acknowledged 

 authority among sportsmen and scientists, I propose to 

 dispel some of .his theories and statements, that the public 

 may not be led astray by letting them pass uncontra- 

 dicted. To do this efl'ectually it will require some little 

 time to procure the data necessary to establish my posi- 

 tion. When completed I will submit my paper to you to 

 be used at your discretion.— Emery D. Potter." 



On July 29 Judge Potter wrote again: "I have just 

 returned from Sandusky and Castalia. I found half a 

 dozen farmers who have lived on the banks of Cold 

 Creek (Castalia) from thirty-five to fifty years, and who 

 have fished in that stream up to the time John Hoyt in- 

 troduced the trout into it, and they all declare that no 

 trout were ever seen or caught there up to that time. 

 The only fish taken was what they call 'horned dace.' 

 I have been familiar with this stream for over half a 

 century, and know from personal observation that there 

 was never a trout in it till John Hoyt put it there. I 

 am promised letters from the gentlemen interviewed to 

 establish the transplanting theory, I will soon send you 

 proofs.— Emery D, Potter." 



Later on, at my request, Judge Potter kindly embodied 

 the main facts of his position on this matter in a single 

 statement, which he has just sent on to me. Nobody 

 ever had any real question as to the fact that these trout 

 were planted. Any question as to their origin was 

 absurd, and after the following simple arrangement of 

 the facts, by an authority like Judge Potter, who in 

 interest of fact and truth purely has given his time to 

 this matter, any such question would no longer be enter- 

 tainable in any form. Judge Potter's final letter, for 

 which Forest and S ieeam will thank him. is as follows: 



"Ohio State Fish and Game Commission.— Some 

 years ago John Hoyt built a dam across Castalia Greek, 

 in Sandusky county, on his own ground, raising quite a 

 large pond. The citizens of Castalia Village, believing it 

 injurious to health, prosecuted the dam and pond as a 

 nuisance. The trial was finally ended in the Supreme 

 Court of Ohio in Hoyt's favor. "The litigation was a long 

 one. Chemists were employed to analyze the water of 

 this spring or creek, and among others the water of 

 Avon Spring, New YorK. The results of both were iden- 

 tical. 



"Finding trout at Avon, Hoyt built a hatchery at his 

 pond, introduced trout spawn, hatching a considerable 

 jtmniber ; these he placed in the stream below his mill, 



where they prospered and where they are to-day in great 

 abundance. I have lived within forty miles of Castalia 

 for fifty-six years, have often visited that neighborhood 

 on fishing expeditions, and never saw or heard of the 

 trout there vmtil within the last ten or twelve years. I 

 have recently visited the stream from the spring where it 

 rises to the lake, and inquired of old farmers whose 

 lands were watered by it, many of them having lived 

 there for over fifty years, and they all tell the R«me 

 story, that there was never a trout there till John Hoyt 

 put them there. The only native fish were chubs and 

 small mud fish. 



About four miles from Castalia is RockweH's Spring, 

 with sufficient water at the outlet to run a large grist 

 mill. Trout from Castalia were introduced there a dozen 

 years ago, the waters have been leased by a number of 

 gentlemen from Bellevue, O., who now find good sport 

 there. 



"I have fished in every available fishing ground in 

 Ohio, and I know that the only stream in the State where 

 brook trout were found (natives) was the west branch of 

 the Chagrin River in Granger county, where Dr. Gar- 

 lick and I have captured many a good string, and from 

 whence we took many dozens to supply the Doctor's 

 hatchery near Cleveland. I can vouch for tl^e fact that 

 neither Dr.s. Garlick or Ackly ever saw Castalia Spring, 

 and if they told Mr. Peirce that they got trout from there 

 they wer« guying him. It is very strange that as many 

 years as I knew Dr. Garlick, and the days we have spent 

 together in fishing and in his experimental hatchery at 

 Cleveland, where I spent two years, that I should never 

 have heard him mention the name of Castalia or MUton 

 P. Peirce.— Emery D. Potter." 



This settles that. E. HouOH. 



ADIRONDACK FISHING RIGHTS. 



AT the r? quest of people interested in knowing whether 

 - the public has a right or can be prosecuted success- 

 fully for fishing in the Fulton Chain waters, Attorney L. 

 W. Fiske, of Boonville. has looked up the law in the case 

 and gives facts and points below which will also apply to 

 other similar sections of the Adirondacks. He ha^ pre- 

 pared a brief which is reported in the Boonville Herald 

 as follows: 



//( the Matter of tlie RinM of the Public to Fish, etc., in the FuUvii 

 Clmin of Lakes. 



r-iKNEUAL Statemest.— It Is asked whether indiviclnalri of the 

 getibral public can be prosecutf^H for trespass for using fov navi- 

 gaiion, or for fishing in i,he Fnltou (Jhaiii of hikes" ;so caih^.ri), 

 which are a part of the forest preaerye, in the oppn season, bv 

 owners who hnve oigaiiized private parks under tlje sta tute. 



The Fulton Chain of lakes consists of a series of inloud lakes 

 numbering from 1 to H, tlu'ough which runs one branch of the 

 Moose Ri^er and all of them are navigable during the whole venr 

 except when frozen over, The State has built dams on outJei-, of 

 the riiflferent lakes to raise the waters thereof foritseanal s,vsiem; 

 has built a flsh hatchery on said river to stock said lakes with 

 trout fry, and for over twenty years has every year stocked said 

 lakes with fry from said hatcherv or from others which it owns; 

 has also put the territory in which said lakps lie under the control 

 of its fish and game wardens, and made rules and regulations for 

 control of the same. 



The public has used these lakes for navigation and flshinjiC pur- 

 poses from before and since 1S40. The statute under which the 

 ri^ht to exclude the public in so callpri private parks whs passed 

 by the lesislatnre ot this State in 1879 (see rdiap. fl34, thereof). 

 This act repealed alt other acts inconsistent with it (see sec. 10 

 thereof). 



The sections of the said statute, givinar the right to organize 

 private parks may be found in sections; 27 and 28 thereof as now 

 amended. 



Section 27 of said act among other things says: "Anv owner 

 having the exclusive right to shoot or hunt l,hereon, or fish therein, 

 desiring to lay out, devote, etc., shall publish three months, etc, 

 and post notice, and having so done, said territory becomes ex- 

 clusive, etc." 



The constitution of this State (see Section 3 of Article I) says: 

 That the people of the State in their riglit of sovereignty are 

 deemed to possess the original, and ultimate property in, and to 

 all lands within the jurisdiction of the State, 



The letters patent for the land conveyed in Herkimer and 

 Hamilton counties, convey by lots, as they are numbered and no 

 specific grant has ever been made of these lakes or that under the 

 waters of the lakes. 



The Law of this State.— The Court of Appeals of this State 

 has settled the law in reference to what waters of the State are 

 navigable therein, and as those lakes come wi'hin the definition, 

 they must be deemed to he subject to the law prevailing, and 

 riparian owners take their grants from the State with the im- 

 plied easements and servitudes, that followed a grant by common 

 taw. 



(a.) Navigable waters in this State are such as are capable of 

 being used to float in boats or rafts or >^ven in their natural state 

 the products of our forests and fields to market, and it is not 

 essential that this use will continue thr' Ugh the year, nor at all 

 seasons, nor that they are navigable against the '-urrent. 35 N.Y.. 

 454, 8: 6 Cow, 518. 556; 19 N. Y.. 523; 92 N. Y , 40.3; 110 Id. !?380; 12 

 How. U. S.. 464, opinion of Judge Tanev Kent's, com., .549. 



.Judge Johnson vs. Schofleld, 8 Barb. 239, says "The common law 

 of England from utter want rf fitness has never been adopted in 

 this State in reference to our inland waters, etc., or if adopted 

 has bpen modified to fit the condition of the country," 



(b) The title to land under navigable waters is in thp State. 1 

 How. pr. N. 8, 510. 514: 7 Wend. 571; 26 Id. 404; 4 Hill 369; 47 How. 

 398; 23 N. Y., 500; 41 Hun, 458; 19 N. Y., ,533, 



A State grant of land upon a river or navigable lake confers no 

 right upon which the riparian owner can claim the land under 

 the water. (37 Hun, 375 ; 110 N. Y.. 380 ; 51 Sup. R., 482). 



(c) Hemlock Lake, an inland lake with general charncteristics 

 like these, washy the Court of Appeals in 92 jSI, Y., 468, declared 

 navigable water, and Judge Ruger, in delivering the opinion of 

 the court, says : " Among other rights which pertain to sove- 

 reignty is that of using, regulating and controlling for special 

 purposes the waters of navigable lakes, whether salt or fresh, 

 and the rights and interests of the public, such as fishing, etc., are 

 preserved in all navigable waters, and inalienable attributes of 

 sovereignty. 



CoNCLtrsiOK.— It will be seen from the above that these lakes 

 are navigable waters : that the title to the land under them has 

 never been conveyed by the State; that riparian owners never have 

 had any right in them ; that the public have freely used them for 

 navigation and fishing purposes for over fifty years. 



That the State, by virtue of its inalienable rights therein, have 

 made them available to the public and for their benefit in stock- 

 ing them with fish. 



That the so-called owners of the so-called private parka have 

 never had any excluaive use of them for any ptu-pose. 



Hence it follows that they cannot prosecute successfully any 

 action for trespass for fishing in or navigating any portion of said 

 lakes, even though within the territorial limits of their so-called 

 grants. 



Curiosities Among Fishes.— Mr. E. Titus, Jr., has re- 

 ported an unusual appearance of large weakfish at West- 

 port, Mass., during the fall of 1891. Mr. W. H. Wood, 

 while trolling for bluefish in the vicinity, took many fish 

 of this species (known there as squeteague), weighing 

 from 7 to 91bs. Weakfish have been uncommon in those 

 waters of late years. Mr. Titns has noted also a red drum 

 taken at Anglesea, N. J,, Oct, 31, in which the upper cor- 

 ner of the tail fin is prolonged into a narrow lobe. We 

 are always glad to record notes on the habits, distribution 

 and variations of fishes, and hope to hear from other 

 students of these interesting subjects. 



The Velvet Thais of the Monon Route between Chicago and 

 Oincinnati oilers the best and most luxurious service obtainable 

 . between those points.— .^du. 



LAMPREYS. 



CHARLESTOWN, N. H., Nov. 1.— Editor Forest and 

 Streami: A recent correspondent of Forest and 

 Stream asks^ about the edibility of lamprey eels, or 

 "lamper eels," as they are commonly called in New Eng- 

 land. You had better refer him to ray friend Fish Com- 

 missioner Eiddle, of New Hampshire, for an answer. 



The lamprey has always been considered a great deli- 

 cacy by the dwellers on the banks of the Merrimac, and 

 fifty years ago, before the Lawrence dam was built, 

 they were taken in great numbers all the way up the 

 river. There were a set of semi-amphibious old fellows 

 living about Pawtucket Falls, who cut ice in the winter 

 and caught shad and salmon in the summer, and in the 

 late sjiring, jirst before these fish made their appearance, 

 were always on the lookout at the falls with their long 

 gaffs for the eels— precursors of the fish. I have seen 

 many a one "snaked out" (a very fitting expression in 

 this case) just below the Lowell dam in May, Thousands 

 of them were taken at the falls at Amoskeag, or Man- 

 chester, as it is now, and when some forty years ago the 

 centennial of the settlement of that town was celebrated, 

 a poem was read by the late William Stark, a grandson 

 of the old general of Revolutionary fame, of which I can 

 recall but two or three lines, as follows: 



"When all their hope for future years, 

 For the present world and the world to oom.e, 

 Was a st ring of eels and a jug of rum." 



Thus commemorating the prominent tastes of the early 

 settlers, 



The Lawrence dam, 25ft. perpendicular height of solid 

 granite, stopped the eels until the flshway was built by 

 the State of Massachusetts twenty years ago, since which 

 time the eels have resumed their migrations, and the fish- 

 w.ay is at times full of them. 



The State of New Hampshire has transplanted several 

 colonies to the river above Manchester, and they have 

 made their appearance at the fishery there. They are 

 rather rich food, like all eels, bub those who like them 

 think them the choicest of dainties, 



I had a call last week from my friend E, S. .Brewer, 

 the president of the Amabelish Club, and we talked about 

 the winninish, which he says is different from the land- 

 locked salmon of Maine, and which he says is called 

 wannanish, which accounts for the outlandish spelling 

 of some of your correspondents. He says they left the 

 t|uestiou of name and spelling to various parties in 

 Quebec, among them an old Indian, who all spelt it 

 ''ouannaniche," but I told him that was no authority^ 

 The Indian language was merely vocal and had no alpha- 

 bet, and the French, who had no "w" in theirs, just 

 mixed up two or three vowels to meet the sound, aa in 

 their word of assent, "oui," and pronounced "we." 



I believe the word should be written according to 

 English rendering of the Indian sound, I don't know 

 what the French have to do about it. The fish does not 

 live in the French ijossessions. Speaking of French, in 

 Forest and Streaju a week ago, I saw an article on the 

 fish of the McKenzie River, which read, "This inconmi 

 (toothless) fish," etc. Now, inconnu does not mea,n 

 toothless, as would appear on reading the article, but if? 

 only the French for "unknown." Perhaps the writer 

 did not mean to convey that impression, but it reads 

 like it. Von W. 



A Highland Gillie. — Donald MacPherson was a very 

 quiet man, but he knew how many beans made five. He 

 was acting as boatman and gillie to a gentleman not very 

 long ago on a Highland loch, and the latter, with a view 

 to spur him to his best efforts as well as to keep things 

 square, said, on beginning to fish : "Now, Donald, we'll 

 have a dram for every half-dozen fish." "I'll not be 

 mindin' whatever." was Donald's reply. This arrange- 

 ment was duly carried out to their mutual satisfaction. 

 Some days later the same gentleman went to fish on the 

 same loch, and Donald was again his boatman. After 

 lauduig several fish Donald looked up and insinuatingly 

 remarked: "I'll be thinkin' that's a half dozen?'" "No, 

 only five," returned the gentlemen, "Six, to be sirrely," 

 repeated the of her. And the catch being coimted, six it 

 was, and as Donald expected, the flask was produced. 

 The fishing continued and again Donald suggested: 

 "That'll be another six," "No, Donald, only five this 

 time. I counted them," Without further words Donald 

 opened the basket, and, sure enough, a dozen beauties 

 lay therein. The fisher was astonished, as he had counted 

 his catch, the more carefully for being wrong the first 

 time. Bat seeing's believing, and, much to Donald's 

 satisfaction, the flask was produced. The next time, 

 however, the gentleman counted most carefully— one, 

 two, three, four, five — then turning, to his amazement — 

 and, I may add, amusement— he caught Donald in the 

 act of taking: a fish from his pocket. The worthy Gael 

 had, in anticipation of the same arrangement as the first 

 day, provided himself with a number of fish as a means 

 to hasten the dcr&vas.— Montreal Star. 



"Bass Eats Bass,"— Colonel Richard Bright had a 

 remarkable experience at Woodmont on the Potomac 

 while fishing for black bass about the end of October. 

 He was casting with minnows of moderate size and was 

 slowly reeling in a small bass when a hungry 8-pounder 

 shot out from his concealment and bolted the hooked 

 fish bodily. The Colonel became aware of the augmented 

 strain on the reel and by careful management landed his 

 double prize. The small bass went into the maw of his 

 big cannibal brother smoothly enough, but his sharp spines 

 stuck in the throat of his captor and made epcape impos- 

 sible. The two bass were presented to the National Mu- 

 seum, where they are preserved just as they came from 

 the Potomac, the tail of the small one projecting from 

 the mouth of the larger. The weight of the two is S-Jlbs. 

 "Necessity knows no law," and hunger recognizes no 

 relationship. 



St. John River Whitefish.— A whitefish resembling 

 in a general way the common form of the Great Lakes 

 has been found in St. John River, New Brunswick, by 

 Mr, Philip Cox, who is endeavoring to get some examples 

 to send to the National Museum for identification. 



Nahes and Portbatts of Birds, by Gurdon Trumbull. A 

 hook particularly interesting to gunners, for by its use they can 

 identify without question all the American game birds which 

 they may kill, Clflfch, 330 fiaffes, price For ealebyPoB^iST 



