April 13, 1893.J • 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



321 



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gua with an umbrella, which killed him instantly.' 

 Beware the mnbrella. 



Nice Story. 



The daily i>apei-s also tell xis this week of a Cliicago mad 

 dog which, when pursued, "simk its teeth into a plank 

 and was unable to cxti-icate itself until a policeman shot 

 it." This is a nice story, but I fear savors of the hoop 

 snake sort of literature. 



Jacksnipe. 



The jacksnipe are now up all over the coxmtiy. From 

 Slielby, on the Kankakee, I hear of Von Lengerke's 

 bag of thirteen early in the week, and from the Goose 

 Pond coimtiy, near Warsaw, Ind., l uote Mv. Chas. Doug- 

 lass's score of thirty-four one morning. Mr. J. P. Roberts, 

 of Roberts' summer hotel at Neenah, AVis,, has gone to 

 Lemont and Summit, on the Alton road, after snipe. In- 

 deed nearly all its snipe shooters are out to-day, and early 

 nest week we shall hear of many bags. The thermome- 

 ter stood 85° two days this week, a most unheard of 

 thing. The birds came in on the full moon and with the 

 warm wave. 



Tarpon on the Fly. 



Mr. Roberts was near Enterprise, Fla., on his Southern 

 trip this winter. He had good quail shooting there, bag- 

 ging forty-six one day. He reports seeing numbers of 

 young tarpon, not over 3ft., long, rising and taking flies 

 much as trout do, and often springing cle^r of the water. 



A Husky Gobbler, 



Dr. Rogers, of New Albany, Miss. , .so favorably remem- 

 bered by all who attend the Southern field trials there, is 

 ')ne of the most prominent sportsmen of his section and a 

 ■attling field shot. Recently Dr. Rogers was blown up in 

 I sawmill accident, but it is hard to down a good man, 

 ind he has now recovered, though the sawmill is in ruins, 

 v'n a letter to Mr. Waters, of this office, under date of 

 A.prU 7, Dr. Rogers says: 



"I fired my first since my mjury on yesterday morning, 

 and succeeded in bringing to bag a Meleagris gallopavo, 

 oommonly known in tlaese parts as a 'gobbler.' He was a 

 dandy, 251bs., with a beard lOin. long. How is that? I 

 send you his beard, as I know your contact with the world 

 Jias made j^ou cynical." 



An.y true sportsman would risk a boiler explosion to kdl 

 a turkey hke that. 



Heavy Run of Bass. 



The spring run of bass at Momence, on the Kankakee, is 

 heavier than for years. The natives are spearing them in 

 outrageous fashion. Dr. E. H. Sammons and Mr. G. P. 

 Anderson report this to me, and so has Mr. Kinney, of 

 iMomence. The local men are afraid to act. 



Winter Sport. 



Mr. H. R. Wooda,!!, of Norfolk, Neb., writes as follows: 



"I want to spend the winter months next winter in the 

 South where I can get good snipe and duck shooting, and 

 as I have never been South I thought perhaps you could 

 give me the deshed information. I have lieen a reader 

 of FOBEST AND STREAM for years. It is the finest sports- 

 man's journal j)rinted iu America." 



Houston, Tex., has fine snipe grounds near by and 

 there is good maUard shooting along the Trinity River. 

 The Big Thicket of the Sabine offers a vaiiety of game. 

 Beeville, Tex., some distance further west, is in a grand 

 game ooxmtry. Abbey ville and New Iberia, La., are 

 splendid points for a winter trip. E. HouaH. 



175 MoxROE Street, Cliicago. 



New Hampshire Trout. 



Charlestown, N. H.— Our Legislature has adjourned 

 sim die, aud as soon as I can get a copy of their acts and 

 resolves I will send you one for the j&oofc of tlm Oaiiie_ 

 Laws. Mr. Neal, the business agent of the Concord 

 Monitor, has just been here and tehs me that the oi^en 

 season for trout has been restored to May 1, as it should 

 be. This puts us iu accord with Maine and Vermont, on 

 either side of us, and is early enough for this latitude. 

 He says that a number of acts of various kinds were 

 passed, some good and some bad. Among them was one 

 for the estahlShment of three new Sta,te hatchery houses 

 for trout, making ten in all for New llampshire, viz., 

 Sunapee Lake, Newfound Lake, Plymouth, Laconia, 

 Keene, Conway, Colebrook. Meredith, New Durham and 

 Manchester. Pretty well for a small State, and it shows 

 that trout culture in New Hampshire is not such an utter 

 failure as a certain "ancient mariner" is wont to pro- 

 nounce it. Beside the well known success in Smiapee, 

 Newfound and Squam, Mr. Neal tells me that the "win- 

 ninish" which I took up to Connecticut Lakes a dozen 

 years ago, of which trip I wrote you an account at the 

 time, have thriven finely, and that many were taken last 

 season in Fh'st Lake, some reaching 6 or 8lbs. in weight. 

 This is encouraging, and Commissioner Hodge jjut in more 

 last year, and will also stock the lakes with landlocked 

 smelt for food for the Salinonidce. In addition to these 

 fish the brooks of the State liave been well I'eplenished 

 with the fontirudis, and if we can preserve our forests v.^e 

 can preserve our fishing. I have great fears, however, for 

 the next year or two, that the ova on the beds have been 

 destroyed by the terrible freeze we have had this winter, 

 when all the shallow brooks were frozen solid to the bottom. 

 I can corroborate yom- other correspondents about catch- 

 ing fresh- water mussels on the hook. I have done it my- 

 self in C!onnecticut River when a boy. Von W. 



P. S. — Did I ever congratulate you on yotu- new head- 

 ing? It is a great imj)rovement, and the various designs 

 ^ suggested by your corps were all capital, particularly Mr. 

 Lacy's. 



Trout in Connecticut Small Streams. 



Hartford, Conn,, April 7. — Trout in this section are, as 

 some rascal said about Jianging, "played out" of the small 

 streams. The last [wo summers have been exceedingly 

 dry, reducing the streams and either preventing the trout 

 goiug to the heails of streams to spawn and raise their 

 young, or forcuig them into the Connecticut Ri^ er to find 

 sutircient water in which to five. In taxor of tlie latter 

 theory I Jiiight say, I engaged a man to bring me some 

 alewives this morning from a net he had set in the river 

 over night, and when he came he had with tlie other fish 

 a ti'out weighing lloz. he had caught in Ms net. I went 

 out Aprd 1 and got but 9 small trout in a stream where I 

 should have got at least two dozen. I have ordered some 

 trout fry for the streams, and if I never live to catch 

 them, I hope some good fellow may. A. 



PENNSYLVANIA ASSOCIATION. 



Philadelphia. — A large attendance marked the occa- 

 sion of the monthly meeting of the Pennsylvania Fish 

 Pi'otective Association on the evening of April 8, at their 

 rooms, 1028 Arch street, Philadelphia. 



The successful manner in which the entei'tainment com- 

 mittee conducted the reception to the Pennsylva,nia Com- 

 .missioners of Fisheries and reunion of the Association 

 elicited a vote of thanks from the Association. 



The membership committee reported having formulated 

 an address, sta,ting the claims of the Associa,tion to public 

 sympathy and support in tlie following circular. 



A resolution of thanks was read from the Pennsylvania 

 Fish Commissioners for courtesy extended them by the 

 Association in placing its i-ooms at their disposal for the 

 purpose of its meeting, March 24. 



A biU authorizing the placing of a dam in the Delaware 

 River below Easton had been passed bj^ the New Jersey 

 Legislature, and upon the fact being learned that a simi- 

 lar bni was before the Legislature of this State there were 

 many and prolonged expressions of condemnation upon 

 the passage of such a measm-e. After long and arduous 

 labor the FLsh Commission had entirely freed the river 

 from obstructions, and it should be the duty of all citizens 

 interested in the pubhc good .to protest against obstructing 

 such a great supplying source of food fish as the Delaware 

 River. Such being the sense of the Association, a com- 

 mittee was appointed to draw up a resolution embodying 

 the fact, to be sent to the Legislature. 



The able paper upon the work accomplished by the 

 Pennsylvania Fish Commission, compiled by its president, 

 Mr. Henry C. Ford, and read before the Association, was 

 ordered to be ]printed and sent to all counties of the State, 

 it being deemed of great importance in an educational 

 view a,nd would aid in strengthening the work of the 

 Commission. M. G. Sellers, Secretary. 



A CURIOUS TROUT POND. 



In the plantation of Ehottsville, not far from Monson, 

 Me., there is a little sheet of water called Davis Pond. 

 Although this ipoiid has long been well known to the in- 

 habitants of that region, it was Utit until the fall of 1889 

 that trout were discovered in its waters. Up to that time 

 it was supposed to afford a home only to minnows, bream 

 and other hmnble fishes. 



But at the time referred to a lumbering camp was bruit 

 in the vicinity, and one of the crew, a man by no means 

 co]isj)icuous for his veracity, reported that he had seen 

 enormous trout on a spawning bed in Davis Pond. He 

 was not believed, however, until he produced tangible 

 evidence in the shape of a five-pound speckled trout. 

 Tlierefore, with om- consent the honest lumbermen pro- 

 ceeded to lay waste that spawning bed Avith set line and 

 snare and spear, untd the natural game protectors of that 

 region, Henry Lane and the Davis boys, put an injunction 

 on these unlawful proceedings by threatening in-osecution 

 and worse if any more trout were taken out of season. 



No more was heard of the big trout untd the next sum- 

 mer, when persistent fishing showed that there was a 

 time between sunset and dark when these monsters of 

 Davis Pond would take a fly; and at this time of day 

 many were captm-ed. 



The largest one ever weighed tiioped the beam at 6ilbs., 

 but (it was always so) others yet larger were lost. Charles 

 Davis says he lost a 10-pounder for sure, and Charles has 

 good judgment and tries to be truthful. At all events, 

 the (>i-pounder was a nice fish, and many others ranging 

 from 4:lbs. to 61bs. liaA^e at different times been taken from 

 this pond. 



The fishing was good in 1890, fair m 1891, and in 1893 

 only very few hirge trout were taken. But since the dis- 

 coverj- of the large trout, and the capture of many of 

 them, small trout have made their appearance in the 

 pond, and now a day's fishing there will yield a fau* 

 catch of half-pounders, with perhaps no very large ones. 

 What is the explanation of this? Were these large and 

 old trout cannibals? F. S. Buneter. 



Manchbstbk, N. H. 



Creel Straps. 



I HAVE just received the catalogue of a weU-known 

 tackle dealer in London — and I may say I am j>leased to 

 get it annually, for I generaUy find something new in it — 

 and as I turned over the leaves of the book my eye caught 

 the figure of a man with a fish basket or creel on his hip, 

 suspended by straps not of the customary pattern. Under 

 the figm-e was the legend, "Farlow's improved basket and 

 girth." The sight of the "improved gu*th" reminded me 

 of what a relative of mine said to a good old doctor of 

 divinity of this State. This relative, a judge, attended 

 the doctor's church and they were good friends and 

 neighbors, and meeting on the cars one Monday morning 

 as one was starting for court and the other to 'attend an 

 assembly of some sort, the judge said, "Doctor, that 

 was an excellent sermon you gave us yesterday morn- 

 ing, an excellent sermon. I thought it was very good 

 the first time I heard it." The good doctor laughed 

 as he rephed, "Judge, you have an excellent mem- 

 ory, an excellent memory. I have always thought 

 your memory was very good, and now I know 

 it." So with the improved basket strap, I might 

 say I have always thought it was excellent, for it was in- 

 vented by my dear old friend Judge Fitz James Fitch, as 

 near as memory serves me, some thirty years ago. I 

 think he was fishing at the time in the Catskdls with Dr. 

 Fessenden N. Otis, of New York city, and that the inven- 

 tion of the creel strap came about through a make-shift 

 to relieve a sore shoulder caused by a heavy basket of 

 trout. The ordinary strap goes over the right shoulder, 

 and it used to be the fashion to have a cloth loop and but- 

 ton on that shoulder to hold the basket strap in place, 

 and even then the basket would swing out of place. The 

 strap invented by Judge Fitch is webbing for the shoulder, 

 say iiwo feet long, the ends of the web being gathered 

 and sewed into two rings. Below the rings are leather 

 sti-aps, one of them with a buckle, the leather straps to 

 go througli the holes in the basket and are then buckled 

 together. Also in the rings the ends of a waist belt of 

 webbing are sewed. The web to which the basket is sus- 

 pended is placed on the left shoulder, and then the waist 

 belt is buckled or snapped to together, and the basket is 

 in place to stay just wliere you put it. One who has 

 never used this combination strap will be surpi'ised to 

 find what an imin'ovement it is over the old kind. 



A. N. Che^jey. 



Bass in Clackamas Rivei*. 



Portland, Ore., March 18. — Editor Forest and Stream: 

 There is a desire on the pai-t of the majority of the mem- 

 bers of the Midtnomah Rod and Gun Club of this city to 

 introduce the black bass (large and small-mouth) into the 

 waters of the Willamette River near this city, and at a 

 point about the mouth of the Clackamas River. Before 

 making any positive move in the matter we would like to 

 hear impartial views from your readers as regards the 

 advisability of introducing black bass into a stream inhab- 

 ited by trout, also as to the depth of water they inhabit, 

 and such other information as wiU aid us in arriving at a 

 decision in the matter. The main object is to obtain a 

 game and food fish that wiU admit of us enjoying a day's 

 outing within an hour's trip of the city. 



D. L. Williams. 



[We desire to have the opinion of our readers on this 

 important subject, and we expect to find that there is 

 great divei-sity of judgment as to the advisabihty of intro- 

 ducing black bass into trout waters. The only successful 

 instance of the kind known to us is found in Sunapee 

 Lake, New Hampshire, a large body of water receiving 

 tributaries in which trout spawn, and even in Sunapee 

 there is a difference of opinion as to the wisdom of plant- 

 ing black bass._ 



The basses ai-e among the most predaceous of fresh- water 

 fishes. They fear nothing, and devour even their own 

 young in large numbers. A 4in. bass wiU eat his brethren 

 of 3tin. at the rate of two or three daily when on the 

 feed. The Clackamas with its gTeat schools of young 

 salmon and ti'out would suit the bass wonderfully well, 

 but the result to be expected would be the extermination 

 of the weaker fish. 



We do not advise the introduction of black bass in the 

 Clackamas. It would be far better to plant them in lakes 

 or ponds and streams which contain none of the salmon 

 family, or, if necessary, to construct artificial ponds and 

 rear the large-mouthed kind for the benefit of angling. 

 This is practicable and involves no risk of destroying the 

 noblest of the fresh-water fishes. Ponds can be built 

 without much expense, and the rearing of the fish is not 

 a costly imdertaking. This subject has been very fully 

 discussed in recent repoi'ts of the Fish Commissioners of 

 Maine and New Hampshire.] 



A Gamy Weakfish. 



That chunky little white bass out in White Lake, 

 Mich. , may have had a good time towing that $26 rig 

 down to the outlet three miles and a half, as related in the 

 April 6 issue; but the weakfish, of which a gentleman of 

 the Teutonic persuasion told me over on Bedloe's Island 

 last fall could give him long odds, both on time and dis- 

 tance and still beat him out of sight. 



Three of us, strangers to each other, were wbilingaway 

 the afternoon in sweet communion, for the bass left our 

 blood-worms severely alone, and it came the turn of the 

 joUy-faced son of Germany to speak. Said he: 



"I had a yoonk vrent vot vos shoost marriet, unt v o 

 day he goes by Brincess Pay mit a new rot rmt a new reel 

 unt efery dings new. Veil, so soon he vos get rigged oop 

 unt he lay hees rot agross te boat so he hghd hees pipe, he 

 gits sooch a shtrike vot dakes dot rot unt eferydings m te 

 vorter unt he don'd see it some more. Veil, den he vos 

 so mad he say no more he goes vishing; but he goes home 

 by his vife und he tells her: 'I vos tone. No more I goes 

 vishing. Do-morrow vos Sunday. Veil, vere you vant 

 go? Verefer you say you vant go, ve go by dot blace.' 



"Unt she say: 'VeU, ve go by Gooney's Islant.' So tey 

 go by Gooney's Islant, unt he say: 'Veil, vot you vant 

 do?' unt she say dey dakes leedle shvim. Den dey goes in 

 der vorter unt she vos goot schvimmer unt she schvims 

 righd out. Boody soons he hear her say: Gome kervick 

 mit dot boats! Somedings vos got me!' unt he schvims 

 out unt vetch her in. 



"Den she say somedings vos aU dangled oop mit her 

 veet, imt dey vind vishline dere. Bulls oop dot vishliue 

 imt owid gomes pig veakfish! 



"'Hi yah!' she say, 'dot's my vish. I getch me dot 

 vishl' 



" 'Holt on,' he say, 've see vot ish on oder end of dees 

 line.' 



"Bulls leedle more, unt oop gomes hees f ery same rot 

 vot he lose by Brincess Pay yesterday! 'Py chimineddy,' 

 he say, 'dot's lay vish! I getch me dot vish by Brincess 

 Pay yesterday!' 



"Unt sure enough, fon Brincess Pay Saturday, aU de 

 vile by Gooney's Islant Sunday." O. 



Jersey City, N. J. 



The Onondaga Anglers. 



The regular monthly meeting of the Onondaga Anglers' 

 Association last evening indicated a renewal of interest in 

 the organization. Gen. D. H. Bruce, the recently elected 

 president, was present and made an interesting talk on the 

 prospects of the season. A considerable number of appU- 

 cations for membership were received and will be acted 

 upon at the next meeting. The committee appointed to 

 take charge ef the piize contest for securing new members 

 reported that four prizes had been obtained. First prize, a 

 spht-bamboo rod donated by Fred Devine of Utica; second 

 prize, an antomatic reel, given by the White & Ross Man- 

 ufacturing Co. of Clean; third prize, a waterproof silk 

 line, donated by the United States Net and Twine Com- 

 pany of New York, and the foiirth prize, a set of troUing 

 spoons, given by the Enterprise Manuf actming Company 

 of Akron, O. The secretarj^ was instructed to extend the 

 thanks of the association to the donors. It was decided 

 that the meetings of the association should in the future 

 be held on the first Monday evening in the month instead 

 of the fii-st Thursday evening as heretofore. Congratula- 

 tions of the association were extended to Dr. Kidd upon 

 his success in pushing the celebrated Delmonico case to a 

 successful conclusion. J. N. Babcock was selected to 

 represent the club at the meeting of the executive com- 

 mittee of the State organization which meets at the Yates 

 next Thursday. — Syracuse {N. Y) Herald. 



Ai'oostook Salmon. 



Caribou, Me., AprU 2.— I send you to-day a snap shot 

 of a salmon jumping at the dam on the Aroostook River 

 in this village, Salmon were cprite plenty here, but did 

 not rise to the fly very well, only three being taken, two 

 grilse and one salmon lOllbs., which I had the good luck 

 to land after three-quarters of an hour's stnaggle. Good 

 judges say the Aroostook River is one of the best natural 

 salmon rivers in the country, L. 



