June 29, 1898.1 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



868 



Several pike-perch were caught, one of which weighed 

 4^1bs. , and was caught and landed by Jack. This was 

 th6_ fish he tried to make me believe weighed 61bs. When 

 we'reached the house I went in to wash up, leaving Jack 

 and Tom to take the fish from the stringer and bring the 

 big one in to weigh it. They soon came in and announced 

 61bs. as the exact weight. I protested that it could not 

 be; but there were the scales and the fish, and the scales 

 would not lie. I looked closely at the fish and the scales; 

 the fish did not seem to be stuffed, and the scales ap- 

 peared all right, I looked at Jack and a slight twitch of 

 the end of his moustache and a jerk of the shoidder, as 

 he tried to restrain his laughter, gave the thing away. 

 He had put a l^lb. bar of lead in the fish, and had done 

 it so skillfully that only a knife thrust into the fish would 

 show the lead. After the laugli over this had subsided 

 we went to bed to dream of the bass we did not get. 



In the morning we took our lunch, and put in the 

 whole day fishing all the likely bass haunts in Lake 

 Melissa, going clear to the foot of the lake, to the bridge 

 over the outlet, but no bass did we strike. While at the 

 outlet Tom broke both tips to his rod, and laying aside 

 the wreckage went into the woods and returned with a 



Eole that was a wonder for knots and crooks. We greeted 

 im and his pole with shouts of derision, but he heeded 

 us not. On our way back we dropped anchor now and 

 then and fished for pike-perch. When we landed we had 

 twenty-nine of these fish to carry home, and thus came to 

 an end our outing after bass. We were not in it at all. 

 The bass were and stayed in. The next day Tom brought 

 us home two tanned and sunburned, unshaven and dis- 

 reputable looking fellows, yet hapjsy withal, and we 

 immediately commenced planning to get away again as 

 soon as possible. Mtron Cooley. 



Detroit City, Minn. 



BOSTON ANGLING 'RECORDS. 



Boston, June 24. — ^More fishermen are retm-ning from 

 their spring trips than departing at the present time, and 



fenerally it is admitted that the fishing has been poor, 

 he number of trout taken at the noted Maine resorts is 

 not up to that of a year ago, and certainly the size runs 

 smaller. All this is true in spite of the reports of "big 

 catches"' in the Maine papers, whose only object it is to 

 draw sportsmen. They record only the" successes, never 

 mentioning the many sportsmen and tourists who scarcely 

 see a trout during a long and very expensive trip. 



Mpssrs. Samuel and N. S. Wax, of Temple Place, Boston, 

 have been on a fishing trip to Lake Mooselucmaguntic. 

 They had good luck, and are pleased with the region. A 

 couple of railroad men, Mr. J. F. Jordan, freight agent 

 of the Wabash, and ]\Ir. W. S. Condell, New England 

 agent of the Union Pacific, have just returned from the 

 Rangeleys. They stopped at the Mountain View House 

 some days. They took some small trout, but no large 

 ones. Messrs. T. L. and O. H. Barber, of South Framing- 

 ham, are about starting for a fishing trip to the Rangeley 

 Waters. A gentleman from the city of Eome, where he 

 has been living for the past 27 years, called at Appleton & 

 Baasett's the other day and purchased a couple of trouting 

 outfits, one for himself and one for his son. The son is 

 17 years of age, and yet this is his first visit to America. 

 They will go to Bar Harbor for a short stay, and then 

 they propose to try their new outfits in some of the waters 

 of North Franklin county, Maine. Gen. G. H. Harmon, 

 of New Haven, Conn., for many years a visitor to his 

 beautiful camps. Lake Point Cottage, Rangeley Lake, has 

 been spending a few weeks there, as usual in the spring. 

 He is reported to have found fair fishing, but hot that of 

 years gone by. 



Mr. D. H. Blanchard received a telegram Friday from 

 his man at his salmon preserve, the northeast branch of 

 the St. Marguerite, saying that several salmon had been 

 seen in the river, and that one or two had been taken 

 below his preserve. It is suggested that these salmon 

 may have been taken by Mr. Walter M. Brackett, whose 

 pools axe just below Mr. Blanchard's preserve. The above 

 is about the first news that Mr. Blanchard has had of 

 salmon in his river this spring. He is expecting to get 

 away early this week. His daughter will accompany 

 him. Mr. Rollin Jones will also be his guest a part of the 

 time, and not Mr. E. Rollins Morse, as I erroneously had 

 it last week. Mr. Richard O. Harding, secretary of the 

 Massachusetts Fish and Game Protective Association, is 

 much pleased to be able to start with Mr. Blanchard, to 

 spend a weU-earned vacation of a couple of weeks, in- 

 stead of being obliged to wait till later in the season, as 

 he feared that he should be obliged to do. Mr. Blanchard 

 is determined that "Dick" shall take a salmon this year. 

 Mr. Harding is fortimate to be able to spend his vacation 

 on a salmon river, the guest of a sportsman as whole- 

 aoided and true as Mr. Blanchard. 



For the sportsmen who cannot get away for long and 

 distant trips to the trout and salmon waters there is cod- 

 fishing and mackerel fishing left, and some of the Boston 

 sportsmen try to improve it. Mr. W. S. Hill, son-in-law 

 of the late John P. Squire, and one of the most active men 

 in that celebrated pork-packing firm, with liis brother-in- 

 law, Mr. Cook, another of the firm's active men, have 

 just been trymg codfishing. Time did not permit Mr. 

 Hill to take a trip to Moosehead Lake with Mrs. Hill, as 

 he is very fond of doing, hence the codfishing trip was 

 planned. Accordingly Mr. and Mrs. Hill and Mr. and 

 Mrs. Cook went by train, a week ago Friday, to Ports- 

 mouth, N. H, From that point they went out to the Isle 

 of Shoals, some ten or twelve miles, by steamer. But oh, 

 the weather was rough! Mai de mer stared them in the 

 face, and the courage of the ladies was gone. The next 

 morning the gentlemen went out in a tugboat for cod- 

 fishing. The water was even more rough than the even- 

 ing previous. The tug was all under water part of the 

 time, then on the crest of a wave, in a manner that was 

 not reassuring to the landsmen. The spray flew in tor- 

 rents and it was only rubber garments that prevented 

 their being wet to the skin. Mr. Hill was not seriously 

 sick, though occasionally feeling the premonitions. But 

 he could not help comparing such fishing to trolling from 

 a canoe on Moosehead Lake. They caught codfish. Mr, 

 Hill says that the "fun is like puUing in any sort of a 

 weight that might be hitched to one's fine." The codfish 

 looks a httle surprised at being thus rudely raised by the 

 mouth from twenty or tliirty fathoms of water, but it 



and enjoyed a pleasant sa.il. But the ladies had had no 

 fishing, and the gentlemen — well, they had fished and 

 been churned till they were satisfied. 



Mr. A. H. Proctor, well known in the leather trade as 

 one of the house of Thomas E. Proctor, and his friend, 

 Mr. A. F. Breed, also of the leather trade, have recently 

 returned from a very enjoyable fishing excursion to The 

 Birches, on Mooselucmaguntic Lake. They got their share 

 of fair-sized trout, but no very large ones. 



A letter from the Upper Dam, Rangeley Lakes, says 

 that there has recently been a full quota of fishermen at 

 the noted resort. One day there were over 30 registered. 

 Mr, and Mrs. W. B. French, of Boston, with Mi-, and 

 Mrs. J. S. Doane and Mr. E, K. Grant, were in the num- 

 ber. Mr. FrencJi is a brother of Mr. .J. A. French, pro- 

 prietor of the Upper Dam Camps. The party had excel- 

 lent sport, with an abundance of trout of good size on 

 the fly. Mr. Grant took the largest, weighing 4|lbs. 



In the sudden death of Mr. F. B. Daniels, of Boston, 

 which took place a week ago, sportsmen lose a warm 

 friend. Mr. Daniels was the senior partner of the firm of 

 Daniels & Smith, in the clothing trade, where he was 

 veiy favorably known. He was, during many years of 

 his life, a prominent member of the Oquossoc Angling 

 Association, the well known club house of which is at In- 

 dian Rock, Me. He was for some years president of the 

 association I believe. 



Mr. W. W. Sias, of the wholesale clothing firm of Minor, 

 Beal & Co., and a brother of the most genial Charhe Sias, 

 of the coffee firm of Chase, Sanborn & Co., is on a fishing- 

 trip to some well known brooks in New Hampslure. He 

 has been a little "under the weather" of late, and has 

 taken this trip for just the good that he knows it will do 

 him. With his brother Charles and two or three other 

 gentlemen, Mr, W. W. Sias has control of a couple of the 

 best trout brooks in Connecticut. The brooks are in the 

 town of Windham, and the gentlemen control some nine 

 miles of fishing on them. They have nothing to advertise or 

 for sale on these brooks, but it is learned from other sources 

 that sportsmen who have been so fortunate as to get an 

 invitation to fish there have got beautiful creels of trout 

 in a little more than a day's time from Boston. Mr. 

 Charlie Sias, though a great lover of the sport, has been 

 somewhat hindered in his fishing this season by matters 

 at the Columbian Exposition at Chicago. It may interest 

 sportsmen to know, when they take a cup of coffee at 

 that most interesting exhibition, and see in the bottom of 

 the cup the name of "Chase, Sanborn & Co." that the idea 

 of the name in the cup originated with Mr. Sias, the firm 

 having the contract for furnishing all of the coffee served 

 at the Fail-. They may reflect over that cup that Charlie 

 Sias is a trout and salmon fisherman, and that Mrs. 

 Charlie is a lover of the sport as well as a devotee of the 

 camera, and that both are patrons of the Forest and 

 Stream. Special. 



THE ONONDAGAS AT THREE RIVERS. 



never, apparently, enters his doltish liead to make any 

 fight for life. It is the verdict of Mr. HiU tlmt "I would 

 rather catch one ^Ib. trout with a fly than a401bs. codfish." 

 Sunday they embarked on the Portland steamer for home 



The Anglers' Association at Onondaga held their first 

 annual outing at Three Rivers yesterday. It was a joUy 

 party of piscators and their friends, wives and best girls, 

 that made their appearance at the Packet Dock at 8 o'clock 

 and stepped on board the steamer William B. Kirk that 

 had been furnished by the genial president of the associ- 

 ation, Gen. Dwight H. Bruce. The sweet strains of As- 

 trello's full orchestra kept the company in a happy mood 

 as they were borne to the place where the waters meet. 

 On board were all the latest fishing devices that human in- 

 genuity has contrived. Enticing bait, sharp and sure-catch 

 hooks at the end of fine linen lines, fastened to nimble 

 spUt-bamboo fishing rods, were plentiful enough to snatch 

 above water all the finny population for a considerable 

 area about Three Rivers Point. All that the Onondaga 

 piscators wanted was an opportunity to get on the water 

 and juggle with the fish and meet with sufficient success 

 to capture one of the valuable prizes awaiting to be 

 awarded. With this ambition and hope in view there was 

 a hot scramble for the shore when the steamer Kirk 

 struck land at the pleasant resort. No immigrants ever 

 sought Castle Garden with more energy than did the fish 

 deceivers of Onondaga. With proverbial hunger they 

 made for shady places immediately, striving to get their 

 luncheon out of sight and then affiliate with whatever fish 

 that might feel disposed to make their acquaintance. Din- 

 ner out of the way, and the fun began. 



The prize fishing began at 13:30 o'clock and lasted imtil 

 5:30 in the afternoon. FuUy twenty-five people, with 

 tackle in hand, rented boats and stood about the judges at 

 the appointed hour. As the roll was called by Judge Geo. 

 W, Wood, the resonant voices of contestants re-echoed 

 across the river. When that had ceased and the condi- 

 tions governing the contest had been announced, the prize 

 fishing excursion grew warm. All piled into the boats, 

 and, bracing themselves, put their hands to the oars 

 awaiting the signal. Simultaneously with the bursting of 

 a giant firecracker, the anglei-s were off and a score of 

 boats darted in all directions, making away for the abodes 

 of the fish. Whether the fish knew of the plans of the 

 anglers or had not sharpened their appetites for the bait 

 offered them is not known and never will be. At any 

 rate, they would not bite. Some attribute their indiffer- 

 ence to the location of the moon: some alleged a conspir- 

 acy among the finny tribe; while others were unanimous 

 that they would not bite and could not be bribed to bite. 

 Had it not been for the prizes in prospect and the love of 

 angling, the contestants would have qtut the business 

 long before they did. As it was, they stuck to their fish- 

 ing and firmly hung to their poles until 5 o'clock, when a 

 bomb at the dock summoned them back. At the end of a 

 half hour another bomb was exploded, and the contest 

 was over and aU had landed. It was an easy matter to 

 land the fish, for in nearly every case they were few and 

 far between. 



The amusing part of the day came at this time when 

 the fish was spread before the judges. Each one laughed 

 at his friend's luck. As an exemplification of his skill, 

 Charles Mowry, of the association, waved aloft on a stick 

 two dried herrings, insisting that they should be counted, 

 but Gen. Bruce, the referee, ruled him out. however, and 

 the judges, Amos Padgham, Louis E. Morgan, Fred De- 

 vine and John Buss, began their work. H. F. Robbins, 

 Charles H. Mowry and M. Weidman acted as scorers. It 

 took but httle time for the officei-s to finish their work. 

 Fish of a certain variety and length scored a certain num- 

 ber of points, and when the results were reached it was 

 found that H. E. Robbins liad the most number of points 

 and secured fii-st prize. He scored 124^, and won a vase 

 donated by S. P. Pierce, Sons & Co, W. K. Squire had 



his choice between a special prize and second prize on his 

 score of 85^. He took the second prize, a Quackenbush 

 rifle donated by W. A. Abel & Co. I. U. Doust scored 74 

 and captured the thu-d prize, a landing net donated by H. 

 E. Robbins. The fourth prize was taken by W. H. Sickles, 

 who scored 73 points and won one of Wood's best lance- 

 wood rods, donated by that firm, A pair of walking boots 

 donated by Frank C. Hewlett formed the fifth prize, and 

 was taken by John Buss, who scored 57 J points. M. 

 Weidman scored 31|- points and will smoke a box of 

 cigars donated by Justin Seubert as his sixth prize. W. 

 Everson won two prizes and chose, as an earning of his 

 25 points, the seventh prize, a lot of trolling bait donated 

 by the Enterprise Manufacturing Company. Mrs. Frank 

 Diel earned 19f points, took eighth prize, and got one-half 

 barrel of flour donated by E. F. Hotaling, of Baldwins- 

 ville. Mrs. H. E. Robbins scored 17 points and took a 

 hammock donated by Harry Kennedy as ninth prize. O. 

 H. Mowry earned 16^ points and will wear a paii- of slip- 

 pers donated by Brand, Bauer & Molyneux in which to 

 think of the tenth j)rize he won. The eleventh prize was 

 captured by F. C. Brower, who scored 8^ points and won 

 a fisliing hat donated by Stevens & Adams. 



Of the special prizes George Sutter, the oarsman rowing 

 the party making the greatest score, won a fine multiply- 

 ing reel and sflk line donated by John H. Mann & Co. 



The largest small-mouth bass caught by a gentleman 

 was captured by W. K. Squires. W. Everson caught the 

 largest pike, while H. B. Robbins exhibited the largest 

 bass caught with a fly. 



Of those who fished Prof. C. H. McOormick made the 

 best record, catching 4 black bass, 8 rock bass, 1 pickerel 

 and 2 big chubs. He did not compete for a prize. 



B. A. Molyneux caught the largest black bass of the 

 gentlemen, and Mrs. Molyneux of the ladies. 



Several prizes were left unawarded on account of the 

 choice between two that many made. They will be com- 

 peted for at some future contest that may take place this 

 season. 



On the journey home a special meeting of the Anglers " 

 was held in the cabin of the boat and President Bruce, in 

 a neat little speech, presented Archimedes Russell with 

 what he regarded as an appropriate boobj^ prize. The 

 latter amid much laughter rephed in a manner that elicited 

 great humor and good feehng. A vote of thanks was ex- 

 tended to President Bruce for his generosity in furnishing 

 the steamer, and it met unanimous applause. 



The trip was highly satisfactory, ana a record of having 

 a good outing was made, even if the anghng record was 

 not smashed. — Syramse Courier, June 21. 



ANGLING NOTES. 



Deer's Fat for Fly Lines. 



Rubbing the fly line with "red deer's fat" is an English 

 practice, and one that is not, j)erhaps, widely known on 

 this side of the water, but it is a good one nevertheless. 

 The fine, rubbed with deer's fat, floats better, audit seems 

 at least to lay out better on the water, and then there is 

 a feel to it that the unrubbed line does not have. The fat 

 is used on enameled lines as well as on other "dressed" 

 lines. I had a high grade tapered, enameled line, on 

 which the dressing was a httle too hard, and in casting 

 the dressing broke in various places, making it a jointed 

 line. I rubbed this with deer's f&t every time I used it, 

 and it improved it greatly. I got an undressed, braided 

 silk line from England, such as is used for spinning in. 

 Nottragham casting, and I have just rubbed it with deer's 

 fat, and I shall give it a trial in a few days. It is conven- 

 ient to have a piece of deer's fat iu the tackle box, and to 

 use it pass the line over it until it is well covered with the 

 tallow, and afterward rub the line well between the 

 fingers. I have enough of deer's tallow so that I can 

 furnish half a dozen anglers, the first to apply at tins 

 ofiice, with a smaU box of it. 



Hudson River Salmon. 



Mr. Robert C. Lowry made the second attempt last 

 week to tempt a salmon to rise 'to his fly in the Hudson 

 below MechanicviUe, and he writes jne from Montreal, 

 where he went from MechanicviUe: "I gave the salmon 

 a thorough trial and not a rise. Neither did I see a sal- 

 mon break water or jumping. I saw one fish, a fine one 

 of about SOlbs., near the middle of the stone wall opposite 

 one of the pits of the pulp mill. He was not quietly lying 

 there, but was evidently excited and kept moving about. 

 The Troy dam broke Monday morning at 2 o'clock, and I 

 think that salmon had just arrived from Troy and did 

 not understand the wheel pit nor the foul white water 

 that he encountered. In the afternoon I got a pah- of 

 horses and wagon and took the boat down the river to the 

 foot of the rapids, two and one-half miles below the 

 town. I never saw finer water for salmon, but fished it 

 faithfully without any results whatever. The water was 

 very warm, 72", and salmon won't touch the fly unless 

 the water is cold, say not over 60°. I have just been teU- 

 ing my friend, Mr. Ramsey, of Montreal, about it. He 

 is an old fisherman and he says that salmon never take 

 the fly at such a long distance from the sea, thirty or 

 forty miles is the limit." 



And yet nearly a dozen salmon have been killed at 

 MechanicviUe on spoon and "deer hair bob" since they 

 first arrived there a few years ago. 



As to the MechanicviUe fishway, about which I have 

 written once or twice lately, Mr. A, C. Johnson writes 

 me: "One day last week the paper company was obUged 

 to draw the water from the canal [it is the wall of this 

 canal, built to supply the miU wheels with water, that Mr. 

 Lowry mentions, and the fishway is built on its outer 

 side, the upper end passing through the waU], and as 

 that shut it off from the fishway I went into it. The fish- 

 way was alive with sUver eels. In many of the pockets I 

 found smaU black bass, I should think twenty -five in all 

 from 3 to Sin. long. The fishway is so fiUed with drift- 

 wood that only smaU fish can get through it. I removed 

 aU the drift that I could in the short time that the water 

 was out, but there is a half day's work for some one yet 

 before the fishway will be clear so that salmon can go up.'' 

 A. N, Cheney." 



"Tommy," said the visitor, "have you read the hooks in 

 your .Sunday school library?" "Some of them," he replied 

 rather doubtfully. "Can you tell me what happened to the 

 boy who went fishing on Sunday?" "Yes, he caught three 

 catfish aud an eel." "How do you know that?" "Cos I was 

 him."— RTosMTigton Star 



