Deo. 31, 1891.3 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



471 



and recreation. Eecreation signifies refreshment of the 

 strength and spirits after toil; literally re-creation. But 

 when the birds have souglit summer climes: when the 

 ripplinga of the brook become the roarings of the torrent: 

 when the balm-laden air becomes the chilh'jig breath of 

 winter, and the whispering zei^hyrs become the shrieks 

 of the storm king as he howls down the dark, tempest- 

 ridden cafion. then how quickly these elysian summer 

 dreams yanish and bow realistic our hurried trip hack to 

 the comforts of the reviled city. Even in the lovely 

 wilds the sun does not always shine. Happiness mid 

 pleasure and comfort, adversity and distress and altlic- 

 tion are our earthly portion, and go hand in hand with 

 n8 through life whether we live in the city or in the 

 forest. 



I look at my watch, it is 4 o'clock, and Billy and I 

 hm-ry off to the creek, leaving my wife and the girls to 

 gatlier wild flowers and ferns. Everything was new to 

 us and I felt like inveatigating, but Billy couldn't see the 

 necessity ol' a nv- trijis of discovery, when we could get 

 all the troul: we wanted without rtinning our legs oit': so 

 we put in tlie time close to camp and partially over that 

 portion of the creek already fished by me in the morning. 

 What sport I The fingerlings were thrown back, and we 

 went to camp early with creels well filled. 



Mr. Hall and his family were over to spend the even- 

 ing. Hall had gathered night wood for our camp and 

 had a roaring fire, without which the mountain air made 

 'it almost uncomfortably cool. S. H, Obeenb. 



POBTLAND. Oregon. 



THE KINGFISHERS. 



C\ENTKAL f.AKE, Mich., Dec. H). -Editor Forest and 

 > Stream: 1 am very much obliged to '-Yon W.'" for 

 his interesting note on the "Deri-yfield Beef" matters. It 

 is the old story. A fellow thinks that he has learned all 

 about something or other, and writes thereanent to the 

 PoEEST AND STREAM. Then along comes some other cor- 

 respondent — it may be from Maine, or, quite ss likely, 

 from the Sandwich Islands or Manitoba— and the fellow 

 afore nu^ntioned learns a good deal more than he has been 

 able to teach. As old "Guzman,'' of Chicago, used to say 

 iu similar cases, -'Thus it is — to-day we sparkle and to- 

 morrow' die." 



With your correspondent I join in the hope that some 

 of us old fellows, wlio have long been acquainted with 

 eacli other tlxrough the medium of our favorite paper, 

 may meet and shake hands at the coming World's Fair in 

 Chicago. We ought to give the biggest kind of a "pot- 

 Jatch'' in honor of such an event. Still, it will not be like 

 swapping yarns wliile dodging the smoke of an old- 

 fashioned camp-fire. 



"Von W." wants to see "Kingfisher," He ougpht to have 

 seen him, as 1 did last summer, "on bis native heatli," or, 

 more accurately, standing in the bow of the old "iron 

 clad" (canvas) canoe, with the fcaming waters swirling 

 j)a8t, and the light of battle on his countenance, and 

 shining all over his tennis shirt, and his corduroj^ trousers, 

 and his canvas shoes. 



"Anathema, maranatba," or words to that effect, ca.me 

 from his lijis, as with one hand he smote the deer -flies 

 which buzzed about his head, and with the other inveigled 

 the trout to their destruction. 



"I'm not much of a fly caster," observed the old Trojan, 

 as i;be little bamboo waved and the line floated out some 

 oOft. down the river, but — "snap," there you are my 

 beauty. Whu-r, smack— "Dang these deer-flies, anyhow:" 

 a,nd a large trottt was shortly added to the glittering col- 

 lectiori which lay in the bottom of the canoe until he could 

 find time to otherwise dispose of them. "Kingfisher," 

 said I, "I am somehow reminded of the late Captain Simon 

 Suggs, of the Tallapoosa Volimteers, and of his incident- 

 ally cursing a bank director." "Yes." said Suggs, "I told 

 him I'd see him as fur into the t'other place as a pigeon 

 could fly in a fortnight. I gin him thunder an' lightnin' 

 stewed down to a strong pison, I tell you. I cussed hira 

 up one side an' down t'other, twellthar wa,rn"tthe bigness 

 of your thumb-nail that warn't properly cussed." 



"Just so," said Kingfisher. "Kelpie, just let her drop 

 about thirty-one inches lower, there's a swirl under that 

 bush that ought to be seen to," 



It was accordingly "seen to," secundum artent; but 

 Kinghsher writes me that he hopes to find time to give 

 your readers some account of our last summer's outing, 

 and far be it from me to attempt to forestall him in this 

 laudable intention. I promised to let you know if I had 

 any luck on that trip, but it has hitherto been impracti- 

 cable to write as I desired. I may say that, as to fish, I 

 caught more than I could eat, which is something; and as 

 to the camp— that, indeed, was luck, rich and rare. 

 Many camps have I seen, but never one as near perfec- 

 tion as that of last sunamer on Carp Lake. 



These being my sentiments, you needn't expect me 

 even to hint how it was that "Snakeroot" nearly dislocated 

 his wrist in showing us how to hook a blue-gill; how 

 Kinfisher worked four days and nights to circumvent a 

 big trout in Ballyhoo Brook; how he kissed the bea,uty 

 when at last he held it in his hand; how Snakeroot and 

 Kelpie went fossilizing, and smashed rocks until the 

 camp was so piled with them that it appeared necessary 

 to move the tents, and Snakeroot slung Latin jawbreak- 

 ers at the club until "Old Frigid" managed to 'stash him 

 with a piece of tourmaline, which the President irrever- 

 ently termed a "stink-stone," while threatening to lock 

 up every hammer and hatchet in the camp unless this 

 rook-piling business was stopped— on these and many 

 other recollections of that camp I am silent as the grave. 

 Kingfisher is one of the most tireless and unselfish fel- 

 lows I ever knew; looks out day and night for the com- 

 fort and pleasure of those in camp, and if in the night 

 the canvas flaps or a boat is heard to pound, he is out in- 

 stanter, probably en chemise (rubber boots don't count), if 

 tJie case is urgent, and shortly all is order. 



We had a most complete outfit— camp equiimge, fishing 

 rods and tacide of all sorts, and here I will remark that a 

 Hortou steel rod (jointed), which I carried and used for 

 the most part on that trip, won golden opinions. I dis- 

 like the telescopi('. fly-rod (I never tried the telescopic bass 

 rod?), but in the small hollow tips a Gf line does not work 

 well. I like the action of these x'ods, however, and bought 

 last summer a jointed one, which has proved very satis- 

 factory. Mine was a No. 11 bass rod, lOoz. with reversi- 

 ble butt. I mention these facts only because I think they 

 may be of interest to anglers. 



Yes, we all voted it the pleasantest camp we had ever 

 si^^a.. and much of good did it do pie; but for me the best 



day of all was that on which Old Hickory and I poled the 

 "ironclad" up Cedar Run; and when at last, wearied with 

 the labors of tlie day, we approached the la,nding, and 

 the stately form of the President, surmounted by that old 

 "sunflower'" hat, loomed in the fading twilight against 

 the ruddy glow of the camp-fire, while his genial voice 

 announced to us that by a special dispensation our supper 

 had just been made ready for demolition, the happiness 

 of the day was complete. Kelpie 



ANGLING NOTES. 



WHILE up in Orange cotmty week before last, ruifed 

 grouse shooting, I was surprised to find how low 

 the streams were. The anglers in that section of the 

 country are very much afraid that the trout spawn will 

 be seriously injured, as in many places the spawning 

 beds are Ijai'ely covered with "water. Similar report.'* 

 have been received from other parts of the country, 

 particularly Connecticut. 



Judge Bookstaver paid a visit to Newfoundland last 

 snnimer, and while there tried the trout and salmon. 

 His stay was short but he took a run over to the 

 Salmonier and killed four salmon in that magnificent 

 river. The trout fishing he pronounced excellent but the 

 black flies ajid mosquitoes were rather a drawback to 

 the sport. 



Mr. Theodore Gordon of Sava^anah, Gra., one of the 

 most acomplished fly-fishermen in the country, has 

 turned his attention to dressing salmon flies for his own 

 use. The specimens which he recently sent me were 

 certainly wonderfully well tied, not only for an amateur 

 but even for a professional, Mr. Archibald Mitchell will 

 have to look to his latirels. There is no prettier acout- 

 plishment than fly- tying, but it re<[uires a deal of 

 patience and perseverance to become even moderately 

 expert, and when it comes to salmon flies, with their 

 mixed wings and delicate feelers and crests, it is doubly 

 difficult. When on long fishing trip it helps pass away 

 many a rainy day, and is often very useful, particularly 

 if the angler is anxious to try copies of natmal insects. 



Of late quite a number of fly-fishermen h:i\v gm-n 

 their attention to the floating flies and dry flv-fitihiiig. 

 this style of angling is very successful on the ot'iei side 

 for brown trout, but it is a question whether u woi k> 

 well here or not. There are undoubtedly times. j>arlicu- 

 larly on much fished streams, where a delicate midge 

 dropped light as a thistle down on the surface of a stdl 

 pool will kill trout when the average fly will not but as 

 a rule these delicate little flies vrill not answer lor the 

 rapid swirling waters of our trout streams or tne deep 

 dark Canadian or Maine lakes. In short, in our country 

 where there are so many dift'erent styles of Hv-fishing 

 necessary, it take considerable experience an<] ;i vs-ell 

 stocked book to meet all the re(|Uiremeuts of the dift'erent 

 sections. In the West tlie black- spot ted trout require 

 rather large flie.s on stout gut and heavy leaders — the 

 waters are of te}i swift and rough and the fish large. On 

 the Nipegon flies are used dressed on No. 1 t) sproats and 

 even larger. In Main(^ tlie big trout love to lie in deep 

 water and prefer a ParmacVi enee-belle or silver-doctor (jn 

 a No. 2 or 3 hook; and again on the much fished slire^ms 

 of Long Island it often requii'es a midge on a drawn gut 

 leader to kill a decent fish. One thing is very certain, 

 that the more trout are fished for, the more particular 

 they become, and every season the dealers find that the 

 sales of light leaders and small flies are on the increase. 



Scarlet-Ibis. 



ONONDAGA ANGLERS' ASSOCIATION. 



QYRACUSE. F. Y., Dec. 21.— Editor Forest and 

 KJ Stream: The members of the Anglers' Association 

 had a large meeting. Our private protector gave in his 

 report, which was very satisfactory to the members. We 

 are some in debt and many of the members contributed 

 their little mite to help pay up. Mr. Skinner, the veteran 

 spoon maker, contributed one dozen spoons, which were 

 sold at auction at the meeting, and brought abotit .1i;aO 

 for the benefit of the association. Chas. Mowry, of the 

 Sporting Goods Gazette, acted as auctioneer and made a 

 good one (but Charlie is no talker). All the members 

 were glad to see Mr. Skinner, who gave us a description 

 of the work on the River St, Lawrence. AVith such good 

 fishing as we have had in our vicinity (the best we have 

 ever had), every member was anxious to continue the 

 good work. One of our members has contribtited a 

 wa^on and boat to the protectors to help them in their 

 work, as they have trouble in getting boats. There 

 should be a law that should enable a game protector to 

 take any livery boat by paying regular rental of same. 



Since our meeting last week our Mr. Hawn and Jack- 

 son have taken thirteen nets and made three arrests. 



The night of the meeting the jjoachers thought it would 

 be a good night to put in their nets, as they knew the 

 protectors would be at the meeting. Well, they got 

 fooled, as Hawn and Jackson started after the meeting 

 closed and took seven nets and three poachers on Onon- 

 daga Lake. The nets were burned in front of the Court 

 House the next evening. 



Some of our Supervisors were trying to help the netters 

 take whitefish in nets during a certain period here, but 

 when they came to know all the facts and the injury it 

 would be to protection, this bill was tabled. 



A petition has been forwarded to the Commissioners 

 asking for the appointment of Harry Jackson on the 

 State force. With two such men in central New York, 

 we will have the best fishing grounds in the State. I do 

 not know where there is stich good bass fishing as we 

 have on our rivers, Oneida and Onondaga Lakes. I know 

 of several catches of bass from fifty-five to eighty taken 

 in one afternoon, also from fifty to ioO pike in one day's 

 fishing. 



There has been fishing for perch on our lakes xip to the 

 15th of December, and I do not doubt that there will be 

 many on the lake to-day, being so pleasant. There have 

 been catches of from twenty to seventy-live, and weigh- 

 ing from oue-lralf pound to one and a quarter. Just 

 think of it at this time of year seeing frorh twenty-five 

 to thirty boats fishing. We shall have great fishing next 

 season if tliis work is kept up. If any of the readers of 

 the Forest .k^d Stre Ai\t want to know anythmg pertain- 

 ing to om- fishing grounds, please refer them to me and 

 I will gladly direct them to right localities. 

 ' About two TOonths from now our factory will be re- 



moved to BaldwinsvUle, the citizens giving us land and 

 power. The main building is now completed; it is 50 X 

 lotift., four stories, and within 100ft. of this factoiy there 

 vs^ere caught in one afternoon's fishing fifty bass, weigh- 

 ing from to ii pounds each. There are a number of 

 New York gentlemen who visit Baldwinsville for bass 

 fishing every summer. It is only twenty minutes ride by 

 rail from Syracuse. Henry Lofiie. " 



ARTIFICIALLY REARED TROUT. 



AT the reunion of the Massachusetts Association, re- 

 ferred to in our columns Dec. 24, the sale of domes- 

 ticated trout during the close season was brought up for 

 discussion. 



Hon. H. F, Raymond, chairman of the legislative Com- 

 mittee on Fisheries and Game of the last House, said in 

 eft'ect that at the last session of the Legislature a petition 

 was presented asking that domestic raised trout be 

 allowed to be sold during the close season, when wild 

 trout were not. allowed to be taken. Mr. Raymond ex- 

 plained that the petition was introduced in the interest 

 of one or two parties interested in the sale of these fish, 

 who, although they were probably making a very hand- 

 some sum by soiling their products as the law is now, yet 

 wanted to derive more benefit by petitioning for a law 

 allowing them to pla.ce their fish on the market before 

 the open season, thereby giving a larger opening for 

 violations of the law, to take wikl trout out of season. 



Mr. Raymond said in conclusion that the Committee 

 reported the bill as inexpedient, the trotxt in Massachu- 

 setts having a hard enough time to protect themselves now 

 without having any more laws tending toward their ex- 

 termination. 



"Fishing Through the Ice."— Kalamazoo, Mich., Dec. 

 W).— Editor Forest and Stream: A myriad of the lovers 

 of the "gentle art" must be readers of the Forest and 

 Stream, for by the way the letters are pouring in regard- 

 ing "Fishing Through the Ice," as published in your 

 issue of Dec. 10, has placed me in a pretty fix indeed. I 

 can't tend to them all and will you kindly state that I 

 will mail as sample one line only with attachments com- 

 plete to any one person on receipt of twelve two-cent 

 stamps.— Ben (J. Bush. 



It la luivd iro)\ to .select <io oeceptal)l< G/ii/sfmUK prefuU. 

 f-tHnittiinii tliot uill 'Jill mil [ihtivtnc Fo) th' ^i>nit\,) icii 



dun i< ]>olliniii itKnr i,lcii\mi the ii n hfoi iiJiuJi <hal mth hii> 

 l<()(>i((i I'tjiti lb iiii"'!'- ds pint^d/ Kttddii '■ult'.fin fi 111 f/y/rtt 

 hnn It o J<t ii Ku ,int FoRE-^r \^ o Strfj-M s h ilhi\l-< niuJ 

 Kiddogm i/iiw th/ iidiinhmj pn i< Jm-., , a 'ivih /hik/c of s/hi 

 tiun (tnd ujrern man i/ HtnjijieMioiis ■winch at this senaon I>1 the 

 year arc ■mry iiiael/y. 



FEEDING HABITS OP WHITEFISH. 



MdiUirr Forest and. Sireapi: 



I was much interested in the reading of an article in your 

 issue of the iOth inst. which referred to the feeding habits 

 of whittjflsh when coiiflned in ponds. The food of the white- 

 fish in its natural state has been a very interesting study 

 with me, and since I first came to this coimtry, nearly nine 

 year.^ past, I have examined the stomachs of over .300 white- 

 fish and rnore than that number of tullibee, but in none of 

 them did i find a trace of young fish, although in the .spring 

 I often found the spawn of the pickerel (<S'. ■viircum) and in 

 the fall the ova of both the whitefish and the tullibee. I 

 shall not, however, dwell upon the results of my researches 

 in this letter, but only wish to bring to your notice a pecu- 

 liar find of mine, which I had the good fortune to happen 

 upon on the 19th June last. On the east side of the Rocky 

 Mountains, at the head of the Watertou River, one of the 

 tributaries of the South Saskatchewan, there are three verv 

 beautiful lakes, locally called the Kootenai Lakes, the 

 water of which is deep, clear and cold, except iu the lower 

 and smaller lake, where it is shallow and in places weedy. 

 Here there are pike, but in the two larger and deeper lakes 

 these fish are not foimd; but instead there are lake trout and 

 whitefish (C clupeiformis). 



A Mr. Brown, who has lived on the edge of one of these 

 lakes for a number of years, set a gill net in about sixty feet 

 of water and next morning he took two lake trout and seven 

 whitefish, the latter averaging olbs. in weight. I very care- 

 fully examined the stomachs of the whitefish and was sur- 

 prised to find the walls of some unusually thick and hard 

 with the papillaj fully one-quarter to three-eighths of an 

 inch in length. One-third of the contents was made up of 

 a bright red pointed worm, one-quarter inch long and as 

 thick as a very coarse semng needle, and a worm of the same 

 length, but a trifle thicker and blunt at the ends, color 

 white: one-third of the larvaj of Phryganida', and the bal- 

 ance was composed of minute, and some larger, shells; many 

 of the latter were crushed by the time they got into the gut. 

 In the stomach of one whitefish was a young burbot (Lota 

 maculosa) l%in. in length and in a perfect state of preser- 

 vation, showing that it had been swallowed just before the 

 whitefish was caught and but a very short time before the 

 net was hauled. 



Can you or any of your readers inform me whether the 

 common sucker [C. coni/mei'soni) eats the fry of whitefish , 

 etc., after they begin to swim aboitt? I know that the sucker 

 eats quantities of the eggs of other fish in the various stages 

 of development, and even after they are hatched out, but 

 before the little chaps can do more than feebly wriggle. 



F. C. Gilchrist.. 



FoKT Q.u'AppEiiLE, Assinaboine, Dee. 18. 



[In Utah Lake among the worst enemies of trout eggs and 

 fry are the ubiquitous suckers. We think it probable, there- 

 fore, that the common form above mentioned, because of its 

 close relationship to some of the forms in Utah Lake, will 

 be found to destroy whitefish.] 



ALASKAN SALMON, according to Mr. Franklin Booth, 

 were later than usual in coming on the coast and the season 

 was, therefore, much prolonged. Up to the middle of 

 August the catch was very light, but the run continued at 

 Karluk until the beginning of November. Althotigh reliable 

 information is hard to obtain the yield must have been very 

 large. We have already referred to the commendable eti 

 terprise of one of the cannery firms in establishing at their 

 own expense a well-equipped hatcliery ,on Karluk Elver, 

 which has produced 5,000,000 red salmon fry in jtn firsi 

 season. There is probably no other hatchery m the ^ uitfd 

 States Avhieh has surpassed this record. 



BROOK TROUT EGGS to the number of l,.500,000, beside.'^ 

 two troughs of fry, were reported in the Allentown, Pa., 

 hatchery by Superintendent J. P. Creveling Dec. 1?!. The 

 outlook for a large distribution of young trout iu the 

 streams next spring is very encouraging. The good results 

 of wholesale stocking ar« nowhere more evident than in 

 Pernisylyania, 



