140 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



C^L-ua. 18, 1892. 



CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 



[By a Staff Correspondentl 



'Chioago, HI., Aug. 10, — Mr, Addison Gumbert is one 

 of the all-stars aggregation with which Capt, Anson 

 defends the baseball honor of the city of Chicago, it 

 being the specific duty of Mr. Addison Gumbert to cause 

 the ball to assume unexpected curves, gyrations and 

 deviations from its natural alignment. To master this 

 intricate subj^^ct requires long and patient study, and 

 leaves little time for anything else. Some people 

 can never learn it at all, and many have not learned 

 who think they have, and who draw salaries upon 

 that suioposition. lb was hardly to be expected, there- 

 fore, that Mr. Garabert, being a great pitcher, would be 

 also a great fisherman. It was too much to ask of one 

 man. Yet Mr. Gambert accepted the invitation of some 

 of the Mak-saw-ba boys to come down to the club and 

 have a little fishing. This ttxrned out to mean night 

 fishing from a scow moored out in a bayou. It did not 

 take Mr. Addison Gumbert long to prove the truth of his 

 Bta.temeut that he had never caught a fish in all his life 

 before. That was evident when he had his first bite, the 

 result of which was a i\b, rock bass. This unfortunate 

 fish Mr. Gumbert promptly elevated high in the air, 

 where, the line being somewhat shorter than the rod, it 

 dangled for some moments, in spite of Mr. Gumbert's 

 sincere efforts to establish more intimate relations. 



"What'm I going to do about it, boys?" asked Mr. 

 Gumbprt, as he looked longingly up at the fish. 



A Fbice— "Looks like you'd have to climb up the 

 pole." 



Mr. Gumbert did not like the idea of climbing so inse- 

 cure a support, and spent some moments in deep thought. 

 At length he hit upon a key to the situation. He reasoned 

 that as, in the original relative positions of the fish and 

 rod, the former had been in the water and the latter out, 

 it would, in order to establish the proper status, be neces- 

 sary to reverse the original positions; in which case, of 

 course, the rod would be in the water. With a bright, 

 glad smile upon his face, IVIr. Addison Gumbert poked 

 his rod into the water, and was pleased to observe that as 

 the rod went deeper and deeper down into the bayou, the 

 fish approached nearer and nearer to his waiting hand. 

 At length he djopped everything, and allowing the fish 

 to fall upon the bottom of the boat, sprang bodily upon 

 it, and grasped it with both hands, calling aloud as he did 

 so, "Judgment and "How's that?" 



Mr. Addison Gumbert's young life had been so taken 

 up with spherical trigonometry and allied lines of research 

 that he had never learned that a rock bass has plenty of 

 stickers on its back. This interesting fact he now dis- 

 covered very rapidly and to his entire satisfaction. The 

 next morning Mr. Addison Gambert realized that his en- 

 thusiasm had given him a pair of hands which looked as 

 though he had bearded a lion in his den, or gone against 

 a corn sheUer. Strange to say — and I say this the more 

 to show the excellence of angling as a specific for all 

 complaints, and so to lay a basis for this story — Mr. Addi- 

 son Gumbert on the day after he had bearded the rock 

 bass in his lair, went back to town and pitched such 

 classic and refintd ball that he shut out the opposing nine 

 with only two hits, and so won a game for Chicago, 

 something which had not occurred before for many 

 moons. Mr. Addison Gumbert was heard to remark that 

 the roughening up of the bark upon his fingers gave him 

 better control of the ball. Thus doth the great and 

 rational sport of angling appeal to all sorts and conditions 

 of men. 



THE BASS FISHING. 



Along the Kankakee River the bass are now biting in 

 great style, and the boys at Mak-saw-ba are enjoying the 

 fun. Your uncle Joseph Cird and Billy Mussey and Mr. 

 L. R. Brown and Mr. John Hubbard, and about everybody 

 else who has gone out fishing can attest to this. Mr. Card 

 caught 28 bass one day, 24 the next and 15 another day. 

 Mr. Brown caught 16 bass one day— a good many for a 

 broken rod. Mr. Mussey has of late been averaging ten 

 or a dozen bass daily and is living at the club. Nearly 

 all these bass are big-mouths. It will be thirty days yet 

 before the smaU-mouths begin to bite much, and through 

 October there will be no big-mouths of consequence 

 taken, though the small -mouths will then be biting 

 ravenuously. I have never yet found any one who could 

 explain the movements of the bass in this part of the 

 Kankakee River. 



The fact is that, for some reason or other, the bass 

 have begun to bite all over this part of the country. In 

 Fox Lake, Channel Lake, Lake Marie and all the chain 

 of that country, heavy strings of bass are being taken 

 daily by the casters. Lower down the system, in Pista- 

 qua Bay, the fishing is also good. Here Mr. C. Blomgren 

 caught a 61b, pickerel yesterday, to the height of his de- 

 light, since be rarely aspires higher than sunfish or 

 bullheads, while his brother, Mr. Oscar Blomgren, accu- 

 mulated a vast number of bullheads, dogfish, wall-eyed 

 pike and cropnies, and also took several bass. Still lower 

 down, in the Fox River, below McHenry, the bass have 

 been biting well this week in spite of the hot weather, 

 which is still at the frizzling point. At this point Mr. 

 Charles Antoine, of Von Lengerke & Antoine, had some 

 sport with minnow, deep fishing, day before yesterday. 

 Unfortunatelf, Mr. Antoine has not been in good health 

 for some time, and he came back yesterday with a bad 

 fever. Not that there is any malaria along the Fox, for 

 ■this is not the case. 



The Fox River is now very low, at the opposite extreme 

 of what it has been all spring and summer. The bass are 

 now in the deep holes, which must be sought out among 

 the overgrowth, and fisbed by still-fishing, if the best re- 

 sults are to be expected, as the fish do not rise much. 

 Minnow, crawfi-h or helgramite they may take, but they 

 will bite very gingeily and slow. Dragon fly might be 

 good, and I verily believe that angle worms would be as 

 good a bait now for small-mouths as anything. 



Further north along the Fox, up Mukwanago way, the 

 bass fishing should be good now. Bdly Farmer brought 

 down a 51bs, bass from Eagle Lake, near Mukwanago 

 yesterday, and also a number of brook trout from one of 

 the streams near there. 



Messrs. Fred Taylor and "W. H. Haskell start next week 

 for Johnson's ranch on the Little Oconto, via Ellis 

 Junction, after more trout. 



Spaldings show this season two mounted fish, a 2AIb8. 

 brook trout caught in Gogebic Lake by Mr. 0. Lester, and 

 a 84^lb3. mascallonge caught in the State Line waters by 

 Mr. Liver more, Mr. Lester and Mr, Armour are now at 



Manitou Springs, Col., and will try for trout in that 

 neighborhood. 



Mr, Lott, late of England, now in employ of Montgom- 

 ery Ward & Co. , has a quantity of fine English fishing 

 tackle along with him, which several of us have taken 

 much interest in examining. He has a ten guineas sal- 

 mon rod, supposably a fine one, but a dreadful tool to an 

 American eye. A.greenheart fly-rod of the lot, also a 

 high class article, felt as though it would pitch a fly, but 

 the rod was ten-ibly large and heavy. Even a pickerel 

 rod, intended for a light one, must have weighed over a 

 pound, we thought. All the rods seemed carefully and 

 honestly made, but no one in this region could pick out a 

 use for any one of them, and they appeared unspeakably 

 clumsy to all accustomed to the fine class American rods. 

 There were also two salmon reels and a trout reel in the 

 collection, made of high polished wood, plain clicks, with 

 no reel bars whatever, very simply made, though heavy 

 and awkward looking, bearing evident marks of fine 

 workmanship. These wooden reels ran as delicately 

 almost as our casting reels, and were very interesting 

 ppeciraens. We were told that these were the best of the 

 Eaglisb goods of the sort. The impression was that Eng- 

 lish tackle makers are good at their station, but only in 

 the infancy of angling ideas. The American implements 

 of like nature are far and away superior in elegance, and 

 of type altogether different from those here noted. 



E. HODGH. 



FISHING NEAR SYRACUSE. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



According to promise, I send you a list of the fishing 

 grounds in the vicinity of Syracuse which give us gooc 

 fishing at our doors. Most any of them can be reached in 

 twenty minutes, the furthest will not take over two hours' 

 i-ide. From Syracuse, by R. W. & O. R. R., to Brewerton 

 15 miles. On Oneida liiver and foot of Oneida Lake^ 

 Good bass, pike perch and pickerel fishing. From Bre sver- 

 ton to Caughdenoy, 6 miles; to Oak Orchard, 8 miles; 

 good riffs all along the river and fine bass fishing. Brewer- 

 ton to Oneida Lake, one mile; Conatantia, 8 miles; South 

 Bay, 5 miles; Shocketon's, 13 miles; along the shores 

 both sides the lake, and around Frenchman and Durham's 

 and all the other islands are fine bass and pike fishing, 

 Opposite Shockelton Points there are two bars or shoals,, 

 about 5 miles long and one-half mile wide, where I think 

 the finest bass and pike fishing can be had in the State. 

 This week catches of black bass have been made as many 

 as 88, twenty of them weighed 501bs. Pike fishing in the 

 grass this week, 30 to 50 fish per boat, some as large as 

 6lbs. 



By Phoenix & Syracuse R. R.: Syracuse to Liverpool, 

 5 miles, to Onondaga Lake; good bass, pickerel and pike 

 fishing. To Three Rivers, 8 mile8;Phoeaix, Oswego River, 

 15 miles; to Hinmanville, 19 miles: Fulton, 26 miles; at 

 the above place all along the river are fine riffs and the 

 best of bass fishing. Large catches have been made on 

 flies this last week. 



By Syracuse, Oswego & N. Y. R, R.: Pleasant Beach, 

 Onondaga Lake, 4 miles; Maple Bay, Onondaga Lake, 5 

 miles; good bass, pike, pickerel and perch fishing at these 

 points. Syracuse to Baldwinsville, 11 miles, Seneca 

 River, the best of bass fishing directly in the village; 

 below 4 miles, at Red Banks, one-quarter mile from the 

 hotel. At B. I have known 55 bass taken in an after- 

 noon, some weighing as much as 4*lbs. Above Baldwins- 

 ville, 10 miles, is Jack's Riffe, which are close to Cross 

 Lake, anglers will find the best of bass and pickerel fish- 

 ing; some pickerel weigh 15 to 20. bs. Good hotels and 

 oarsmen at Bildwinsville. I know no better place for an 

 outing and good fishing than this point. 



The next station on this road is Fulton, twenty-four 

 miles, Odwego Riv6r and Lake Como. This lake is 

 noted for large-sized large-mouth bass and pickerel. At 

 the next station, Minetto, on Oswego River, there are 

 ten miles of fine bass fishing grounds. This is the favor- 

 ite grounds of Judge G. N. Kennedy, who is one of the 

 most expert bass anglers in central New York. Oswego 

 is thirty-eight miles, where there is tine fishing on the 

 river and close to many good angling resorts on Lake 

 Ontario. 



By New York Central & Hudson River from Syra- 

 cuse, first station, Memphis, ten miles; then two miles 

 by carriage to Jack's Riffs, Seneca River; Jordan, eigh- 

 teen miles; two miles to Cross Lake and Seneca River; 

 Port Byron, eighteen miles, one mile to river. 



Montezuma, twenty-one miles, two miles to river; Sa- 

 vannah, twenty-four miles, two miles to river. All the 

 above places have the finest of bass, pike and pickerel 

 fishing, and are favorite places with Syracuse anglers. 

 Some have cottages built there especially for fishing and 

 shootine; among them are Senator Nichols and Hon. 

 Wm, Kirk; the latter has leased several thousand acres 

 of land for duck and snipe shooting. This was a favor- 

 ite resort for a number of New York gentlemen years 

 ago. 



By this railroad it is easy to reach Sodus Bay , Little 

 Sodus Bay, and other points on Lake Ontario; but its 

 patronage is mostly from citizens of Rochester, 



New York Central & Auburn Road, Syracuse to Skan- 

 eateles, eighteen miles; Skaneateles Lake has fine lake 

 trout, bass and perch fishing. 



To Auburn, 26 miles, 2 miles to Owasoo Lake; fine trout, 

 bass and perch fishing. 



To Cayuga Lake, 37 miles; fine bass, pickerel and some 

 lake trout fishing. All of the above lakes are fine resorts 

 for the summer. 



Seneca Lake, 52 miles, Canandaigua Lake, 74 miles; 

 both of these lakes afford good fishing, but the writer has 

 never visited them for angling. All other places I recom- 

 mend from personal experience. 



Syracuse & Binghamton Railroad. — Fan- fishing at 

 TuUy Lakes, 18 miles. 



Otisco Lake, 20 miles' drive; good bass and pickerel 

 fishing. 



Oneida Lake to South Bay, 18 miles' drive; Shockelton 

 Point, 16 miles; Lakeport, 18 miles; the above places on 

 Oneida Lake are favorite drives for the anglers of Syra- 

 cuse when the weather is right. At South Bay last Sun- 

 day there were at least seventy-five carriages.. 



At any of the fishing grounds I have mentioned fair 

 accommodations, oarsmen and boats can be had. It is 

 early yet for large catches of black bass on Oneida Lake. 

 Any information I can furnish the anglers will be fur- 

 nished with pleasure by writing me at Syracuse. 



Henbt Loftie. 



ANGLING NOTES. 



A New Trout. 



Dr David S. Jordan writes me that in a few days L 

 will send to the National Museum at Washington a d> 

 scription of the golden trout from Kern River or M 

 Whitney Creek, and he has decided to give it the name - 

 this mountain, from the side of which the specimens we 

 taken. The golden trout has no relation to the Californ; 

 trout, irideus, but is an offshoot of the myhiss, formerl 

 c?^\\ed purpxiratus, and has smaller scales than any troi 

 yet on record, excepting the charrs. Mention of tl. 

 golden trout was made in Forest amd Stream of June 3 

 last. 



"What Is a Peeper?" 

 This is a question that has been asked thousands c 

 times I presume, and I do not know but it has bee 

 answered in a thousand different ways. Every filsherma 

 has heard the peeper, but not every fipherman can te 

 what it is that does the peeping. There is a belief abroa 

 in the land that a peeper is a very mysterious animal, an 

 one evening several years ago when the peepers war 

 doing some of their best work a sister asked me, "Wlui 

 is a peeper, anyway?" Truth compelled me to say that 

 did not know exactly, but I thought it was part bullfros 

 part treetoad, part lizard, part cricket and a strain of bni 

 pup to give it staying powers. I was immediately "aft 

 upon" by the entire family and I then determined to fiu 

 out about the peeper. Not long after I was at Col 

 Spring Harbor station of the New York Fish Commissior 

 and one evening while sitting on the verandah of Mi 

 Mather's house, the peepers themselves reminded 

 of my resolve. I asked Mr. Mather if the peept 

 was not a small frog, and he said it was and that h 

 could and would catch one. Going down to the margi 

 of one of the ponds he returned with a small browi 

 frog not much larger than a copper cent. I put th 

 little fellow in a tin box with wet moss and gave hii 

 considerable attention during the evening, but not 

 peep did I hear from him. When I came away I brougli 

 a lot of fish fry, but I put the peeper in my bag. A 

 Albany I had to change the fish cans from one statio 

 to another and left the bag hanging in the express ca 

 of the New York Central. I sent back for the bag an 

 it was forwarded to me, but when it arrived I wa 

 again away from home, and the bag was not opene' 

 for a week or more from the time the peeper and bo 

 were placed in it. The day that I returned I took tin 

 peeper, still in the box, to my sister, and that eveniuj 

 it was heard to peep and was taken to a near-by pon( 

 and liberated. Whether or not the peeper grows inti 

 a big frog I cannot say; but the one I brought home waj 

 just right so far as size is concerned for black bass bait, \ 

 pretty little brown frog. A, N. Cheney, i 



The Gap Fitted Him. 



In the Muskoka news of the city papers there recenti 

 appeared a paragraph stating that Miss Blachford ] 

 Toronto had caught a 9J lb. trout in Lake Rosseau. H 

 tails of the capture have just come to hand, and the orj 

 questionable part of the story is the small weight giv 

 the fish. 



It appears that the young lady was rowing a smi 

 boat, in which her little brother was seated. The ' 

 had a trolling rig out, but had caught nothing, 

 suddenly felt a tremendous strain on the line, and thin 

 ing the spoon was fast on the bottom asked his sister 

 stop the boat. As soon as the young lady ceased rowin 

 the boat began to move in the opposite direction. Seei^ 

 that they had hooked a fish the anglers pulled on the lin 

 They could not get the fish near the boat, however, f 

 they tried to tow the fish to the shore. After 'great 

 ertions they succeeded in getting to land, the boy haviBj* 

 lost his cap overboard in the struggle. On reaching to 

 boat house the pair hauled on the line, but as soon as ti 

 fish got near the shore the line broke and the fish 

 refuge under the wharf. A landing net was procur| 

 and the fish was dipped out, when it was found that tfl 

 boy's cap was on the trout's head. The cap, it is supposed] 

 had prevented the fish from escaping after the line brokej 

 It is not stated in what manner the fish appropriated the 

 boy's cap, but the story is vouched for by a number cA 

 church members. — Toronto World. 



A Dynamiter in Hard Luck. 



Portland, Ore. — This news note in a recent Oregonia'a 

 contains a salutary warning— if only trout dynamiter^ 

 were newspaper readers: 



AreWe Hutclieson, of Newcastle, met with an accident whilt^ 

 iisbiiig at the south end of Lake WtiBbington yesterday. A stip 

 of Riant Bowder, with wWch ho had been killing trout, exoloda 

 prematurely. His right band was blown entirely off. He wa 

 alone and had to walk three miles to Newcastle, where his aift 

 was amputated. His hat was blown to pieces and his clothiM 

 torn to shreds. 



I am thankful to say that the mode of fishing me 

 tioned is not the most popular in this country, despite ofl 

 reputation for wildness and wooliness — for the brethra 

 all know that we have Judge Greene and his dog Mike 1 

 keep up the standard of sportsmanlike angling — not < . 

 mention W. A, Storey, who thinks it cruel sport, but cati 

 kill 95 per cent, live pigeons without a pang of remorse, 



MULTKOJIAH. 



Pike Perch in the Connecticut River. 



Charlestown, N, H,, Aug, 14. — I can announce on the 

 authority of one of my friends, the arrival of pike perch 

 in the Connecticut River, opj)osite this village, as he in- 

 forms me that he has caught two small ones of one half 

 sound or so. The progenitors of these fish were, I believe, 

 wrought from Lake Massawippi, in Canada, about sixteen 

 yeax'S ago, by my old friend and colleague on the Fish 

 Commission, the late Albina H. Powers, of Grantham, 

 who with some of his friends had been on a fishing trip 

 to Canada. Tliey brought back some of these fish alive, 

 and placed them in some of the upper feeders of thei 

 Connecticut, I think the Passumpsic, and they have been 

 taken for some years at Wells River, where the Passump- 

 sic joins the Connecticut, but I have not heard of them 

 so far down the river as this before. Von W. 



The Book of the Game Laws has a ll fish and game Uvioa 

 of United States and Canada. Price 50 cents. 



