July 22, 1893.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



68 



that he was watching a suspicious acting individual who 

 had a bag that looked i as if it might contain a net, and 

 stuck the end of the wood reel on which his line was 

 wound in a crack in the bridge floor, while his baited 

 hook remained in the water. He returned to his fishing 

 just as there was a splash in the water and a sharp noise 

 of wood strikiag wood on the bridge. The splash was 

 made by a big fish jumping in the creek below the bridge 

 with his hook in its jaw, and the other noise was the 

 wood reel striking the rail of the bridge as it went 

 overboard into the water below. Tlie next moment the 

 fish headed down the creek, dragging tlie float, line 

 and wood reel behind. Mr. Canfield watched the 

 rapidly disappearing float and reel, while Mr. 

 Hitchcock ran around by the road to the nearest 

 house on the bay for a boat at least a quarter of a 

 mile distant. As quickly as possible a boat was procured 

 and he rowed back to the place where the fish was sup- 

 posed to be. About eighty rods out in the bay he dis- 

 covered his float as it occasionally bobbed' to the surface, 

 and he chased it until he was tired. Once he got an oar 

 under the hne but the fish was olf like a flash before he 

 could get the line in his hand. At last quite by chance 

 be saw his wood reel fast in the weeds, and with his oar 

 secured it and pulled in the hne, only to find the fish gone 

 with a good portion of the line, including the cork iioat. 

 Mr. Hitchcock was about to retui-n the boat to the landing 

 'and give up the search, when Mr. Canfield, who was still 

 on the bridge, called to him that he could see his lost float 

 rjoming up the creek, and undoubtedly the fish was tow- 

 int: it. Mr. Hitchcock as quickly as possible rowed up 

 die creek until he saw a piece of his line trailing on the 

 txjttom, and fishing it up he found the fish on and played 

 n nd killed it in almost the same place where it was first 

 ' ked, or rather hooked itself. That night when the 

 l inen returned home, the pike that was caught, 

 j)ed and recaptured, weighed 81bs. 2oz. 



How to Make a Fishingr Wind. 



1 was fishing at Stmapee Lake.last month, and day after 

 la V the wind came from the east, which is not considered 

 t good point for the vdnd to come from. Dr. Quackenbos 

 (las on one of his boat houses a carved and gilded Sunapee 

 ^ail)ling (and it is an excellent representation of the fish 

 ioo), for a weather vane. One morning the doctor stepped 

 Jilt on the veranda before breakfast and looked at the 

 -;ilded fish which was pointing due east — away from the 

 lake, A colored servant, -John, was passing and the doc- 

 aid: "John, can you not make that fish look just the 

 r way, out over the lake, for we have got to have a 

 ■ wind." A few moments later John was seen coming 

 ae beach with a rake in his hand, and the doctor 

 1 him where he had been. He said, ' 'Up on the 

 house to turn the fish around with the rake handle 

 v;> it will point over the lake." A. N, Cheney. 



CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 



[Prom a Staff Correspondent] 

 Fishing at the Trap, 



It would have surprised the first inventor of an arti- 

 ficial target if he could have seen with a prophetic eye 

 |lie development which the sport of shooting at the trap 

 was destined to attain. At first no one thought well of 

 shooting at anything but five wild birds. At present no 

 one goes fishing for anything but live wild fish, and there 

 is no actual measure of skill in the art of angling except 

 as that may be determined in the highly artificial and 

 Qone too interesting, casting tournament with bait or fly- 

 rods. It would be a great thing, would it not, if some 

 one would invent a way of fishing at the trap? 



Well, some one has done it. He is a Chicago man, and 

 his name is James Munn. Mr. Munn is also the inventor 

 of a weedless hook which has found favor. He is an em- 

 ployee in the County Clerk's oflice here, is an ardent 

 fisherman and of a highly inventive turn of mind. This 

 last invention of his is something unique, and shows weU 

 liow much thought and care are expended in matters of 

 m.odern sportsmanship, and to what perfection, albeit an 

 artificial one, our sportsmanship has attained. Shooting 

 at the trap is now recognized, admitted, acknowledged, 

 and no further discussion exists in regard to it. ShaU we 

 presently reach a time when fishing at the trap shall have 

 attained the same status? Mr. Munn thinks so, or at any 

 rate claims that he will furnish fishing where there are 

 QO fish, make possible an accm-ate test of skill at angling, 

 and furnish the dry sport of tournament casting with an 

 additional and vital zest. 



I called on Mr. Munn, and after some talk induced him 

 to show me one of his traps. He brought out a box about 

 13 inches long, and 4 by 6 inches in end section. It was 

 innocent looking enough, and was indeed quite bare on 

 its outside, except that across the open top of the end 

 jection a flat piece of metal extended from side to side, 

 raised about an inch above the wood. 



"This is my trap," t-aid Mr. Munn. "At tfie determined 

 distance, say 30 yards, I bury this box in the water, stand- 

 ing it the long way up. This flat piece of metal that you 

 see here will then be just at the surface of the water. It 

 will be invisible to the caster where he stands, as indeed 

 the whole top wiU be. He can't see a thing. It's all just 

 smooth water as when you're out fishing. If the casting 

 Is in a competition for accuracy, the position of the trap 

 can be indicated by a Utile flag. In any case, the trap 

 itself is concealed entirely, 



"Now, here is my black bass," and Mr. Munn pro- 

 iuced a nice bass just 12 inches long, made of tin, and 

 luite reaUstic. "You see, I put this bass into the trap, 

 aU down. He stands on his tail, head up. waiting for a 

 Tog. You have noticed that bass come out of water 

 lead first, and as if shot up by a spring ? WeU, there is 

 i spring in rhe bottom of this trap, which you can't see. 

 When I put the bass down in the trap, I set the spring, 

 [t is just exactly the principle of the Jack-in-the-box, 

 which we used to see when we were boys. 



"Two things remain to be done. We must make the 

 baas strike at the frog and we must make him take hold 

 of it. You are laugMng. Well, just wait. 



'•You observe that this bass does not open his mouth. 

 Do you see these two steel wire jaws, one on each side 

 of his head'; We have to make believe these are his jaws, 

 only they have square-pointed hooks on the end of them, 

 and they open sidewise, instead of up and down, as the 

 bass mouth really does. 



We put the bass down in the box, which sets the pro- 

 pelling spring. Then we pull his jaws apart, one on 

 each side of the trap, six inches wide say. We catch 



each jaw in a trigger, the spring of the jaws holding the 

 trigger in place. The trigger, you will see, is governed 

 by this fiat piece of metal which crosses the end of the 

 trap, but which never covers up the aperture of the trap 

 where the bass has to come out. This piece of metal I 

 call the trip. 



"The ti-ip, as I have said, is just at the surface of the 

 water. If you pull on the trip you spring the trigger, 

 which releases the jaws. You also at the same instant 

 loosen the propelling spring at the bottom of the ti-ap. 

 Now then, supposing you are casting a frog. You know 

 you must cast over or beyond the trap — bass, I mean — 

 and that you must be accurate to within six inches. You 

 make your cast. Your frog goes 10ft. beyond this little 

 flat bar, or trip, but your line passes across the top of 

 the trip, and when you begin to reel in, your hook, or 

 frog, catches on this trip, which is level with the surface 

 of the water. At the first pull off goes the tiigger. Up 

 jumps Mr. Bass out of the box, three feet high, and look- 

 ing as much like a bass as if he were alive. As he goes 

 up his two wire jaws spring together, the hooks on the 

 ends of them crossing and clamping on the line in such 

 a way that it is impossible to pull a hook or even a sinker 

 through them. You now have had your rise and your 

 fish has been hooked. The trap wiU do this every time 

 you cast a line across this horizontal trip. 



"But this is not all. It is only half the fun in striking 

 a fish. You've got to play him. You think there is no 

 play in a tin fish? There is where you are mistaken. 



"You will see that this bass is ballasted with cork until 

 it has just about the specific gravity of water. After the 

 bass jumj)s out of the box and grabs the line he Ues still 

 a while, as any bass will do, swallowing the bait. You 

 wait till he has had about time to swallow your frog and 

 then you strike him — see? Ahal do you see his fins work? 

 The fact is the wire jaws are attached to springs inside 

 the bass which work the tail and fins. My model is not 

 yet quite complete in thisj but both tail and fins will work 

 and this will give the bass motion and resistance in the 

 water. You can have quite a lot of fun playing a tin bass 

 if it is only the right kind of a tin bass. 



"AU these motions I claim for my trapped bass. It will 

 do these things every time. I am not quite ready to show 

 the thing in complete operation, but hope soon to be, and 

 believe it to be perfectly practical." 



The rough working model shown me by Mr. Munn con- 

 vinced me thoroughly of the possibflity and practicability 

 of everything he claimed. The traj) will work for either 

 bait or fly-casting. It is the intention to have several of 

 the traps, set at intervals, as a "battery" in casting tour- 

 naments, and the Chicago Fly-Casting Club may use the 

 trap at their tournaments this summer. If so, the public 

 may have the chance of seeing in operation one of the 

 most unique ideas ever known in sportsmanship. But 

 angling at the trap, and professional fish shots — shades of 

 good anglers, what are we coming to! 



Mr. Munn told me that he did not yet have his trap 

 ready for a club market, indeed not entirely completed in 

 aU its details, and added that several newspaper men were 

 waiting to write it up when he got it finished. Perhaps 

 this description may be of assistance to the other papers 

 in their subsequent handUng of what is really a very in- 

 teresting bit of news. Mr. Munn has done something new 

 under the sun, and I wish and beheve that he may make 

 a success out of his invention. 



Alas! Santa Ana. 



Mr. O. H. Hampton, well-known as a Forest and 

 Stream correspondent, is a traveling man. Under recent 

 date he writes me from MayviUe, Wis., near by 

 Kekoskee, and says: 



"Santa Ana is dead. The bullhead habit was the cause 

 of his xmtimely departure. He had grown so fond of 

 them that he would eat nothing else, and when the supply 

 gave out he would eat nothing else, and starved himself 

 to death." 



As the above was written from the hostlery of mine 

 host D. Puis, proprietor of the American House (wonder 

 why he calls it the American House?), there is every 

 reason to beheve it is correct, because Mr. Puis knew 

 Santa Ana weU. Alas! poor Santa Ana, that noble horse! 

 His death is a disgrace to the citizens of MayvUle and 

 Kekoskee. Unthmking men, was it then impossible, in 

 the past winter of plenty, when buUlieads were well nigh 

 copious as of yore, to lay up a store which would sustain 

 Santa Ana until another season of plenty? By such un- 

 reasoning want of care are nations ruined, homes de- 

 stroyed and cities brought into premature decay. Without 

 Santa Ana, MayviUe is doomed. It is anathema Mary- 

 anntha, in the words of the prophet. ^Und ach! dot 

 Santy Anny. It is a tausend pities. 



Tarpon and Salmon. 



The other day I met at the Forest axd Streasi ex- 

 hibit at the World's Fair a young gentleman who seemed 

 much interested in the big tarpon. He mentioned that 

 he was from England and was on a long trip of pleasure 

 m this country, his card declaring him to be "Henry 

 Craven, Smedley Lodge, Manchester." 



"I should think a tarpon would make an ugly fight," 

 said he, "though I don't fancy the sort of tackle it seems 

 one must use for them. They are heavier than any 

 salmon, to be sure, but I can't see how they can be much 

 hvelier. It's grand sport, salmon fishing. Last year I 

 kUled a salmon, up in Scotland, that weighed oOlbs. It 

 was a great fight. And, do you know, in Scotland one is 

 not aUowed to use a gaff in landing a salmon. The 

 opinion is that too many fish get away in an injured 

 condition when the gaff is in use. We have to land our 

 fish there in a vast landing net. 



' 'I see you have here in the building the skin of a brook 

 trout that weighed 91bs. or better. It is a very handsome 

 fish. What would you say to a brook trout that weighed 

 401b3.? There was one taken of that weight in Wales. It 

 was a monster. You may see we have some fishing in 

 a way in the old country, but it is no such vast a region 

 as this. Last year I took some of your black bass in New 

 England, and hked the sport very much. A mascallonge 

 I have never kiUed, but I judge from the mounted speci- 

 mens I see here it must be a fighter, and as I am now not 

 so far from the mascaUonge countrr, I should be de- 

 Ughted to have a go with one, if possible." 



Wants a Rough Trfp. 



Mr. H. Ashbrook, of St. Louis, Mo., writes: "Where 

 can I find good bass fishing in northern Wisconsin or 

 Michigan, in lakes that have not been fished too much? 



It does not matter how much of a wilderness I get into 

 or how rough the country is. If the readers of your 

 valuable paper would write me, some who are thoroughly 

 posted, I would thank them." 



If Mr. Ashbrook wiU go to Trout Lake via Woodruff', 

 Wis. , cross the lake and portage a mile and a half over to 

 Rice Lake, he will find pleasant camping grounds and be 

 at hand to Crooked Lake, Boulder Lake and the Maui- 

 towish River. EspeciaUy in the river he will find all the 

 bass fishing he likes, and can take all the wall-eyes he 

 wants, and very likely have fine muscallonge fishing. 

 These are as good waters as lie in Wisconsin, but if they 

 are too easy, guides can be obtained at Trout Lake who 

 will take the adventurous hundreds of miles over the 

 inner waterways and lose him to his heart's content. Mr. 

 W. H. HaskeU, of this city, Mr. J. C. Cooper, Mr. J. M. 

 Clark or any of many others to whom I can forward mail, 

 wUl no doubt be glad to teU about that country to any one 

 who wants a pleasant trip there. E. Houqh. 



909 SacuRiTY BixiLDiNG, Chicago. 



ONEIDA LAKE. 



Oneida Lake is situated northwest of Syracuse, the out- 

 let being 12 miles distant. It is some 30 miles long and 

 5 mUes wide, and shaUow in depth. Many streams empty 

 into it, the principal one being Fish Creek, which has its 

 head on the margin of the Wilderness. The feeding 

 grounds are everywhere, and the feed abundant. It is an 

 admitted fact that, to say the least, there are no better 

 breeding waters in New York State. 



This lake is connected by rivers and streams with a vast 

 area of water. Cayuga, Seneca and Onondaga lakes are 

 the most important bodies of water connected with it, 

 except Lake Ontai'io, into which the Oswego River 

 empties. The Cayuga and Seneca flow through the 

 Seneca River via Montezuma and Baldwinsville to its 

 junction north of Sj^racuse with the Oneida River through 

 which Oneida Lake, twelve miles away, discharges its 

 water. At the place of this junction of the Seneca and 

 Oneida rivers the Oswego River begins and the place takes 

 the name of Three Rivers, although the Oswego is but a 

 continuance of the Seneca, the Oneida coming in from 

 the east at a right angle. 



To show thfi fertility of Oneida Lake, I am able to pre- 

 sent a few facts given to me by Hon. H. B. Johnson, 

 Commissioner of Public Works of Syracuse. For many 

 years he was a dealer in fish at Brewerton, where the out- 

 let of the lake is, and the record of his transactions is 

 still preserved by Mm. He bought the greater part of the 

 product of the numerous nets for some fifteen years before 

 laws prohibiting netting were passed. Here is a statement 

 for four months in 1878, which, Mr. Johnson says, is a f ah* 

 average of the business for fifteen years: 



Pounds of Pounds of 



sunflsh pike, pickerel 



Months. Barrels. and perch. and bass. 



August 417 55,198 28,321 



September 527 66,912 38,488 



October 578 73,433 41,470 



November 511 70,107 33,0<)3 



The largest shipment made by him in one day was 98 

 barrels, 19,1201bs. In the winter of 1876-77 he shipped 84 

 tons of pike which were caught through the ice. 



These figures show the value of Oneida Lake for breed- 

 ing pm-poses. They are verified too, if verification were 

 necessary, by the rapid increase since netting was aliiioat 

 entirely stopped within the last two years. Nobody now 

 living ever knew such exceUent fishing as that lake now 

 affords. Mr. .Johnson, than whom none knows the lake 

 better, more inteUigently, says that "with the present 

 excellent protection continued and the help of a hatchery, 

 it can be made the most wonderful fish-producing water in 

 this country." For that matter nobody doubts this fact. 



At the request of Mr. Henry Loftie, who in conjunction 

 with others has personaUy spent a large amount of both 

 time and money in a successful effort to increase the fish 

 food supply throughout central New York, the Commis- 

 sioners of Fisheries yesterday visited the lake, a few 

 friends of Mr. Loftie accompanying him and them. All 

 were guests of Mr. Loftie who ijrovided for them sump- 

 tuously. With the aid of a steam, yacht Constantia was 

 visited, where a stream comes into the lake from the trout 

 region on the north. It was at once apparent to all that 

 it was not only a choice place for hatching pike and some 

 other kinds of fish, but that trout could also be produced 

 as weU as at almost any other hatchery in this country. 

 The desirability and practicability of a hatchery at this 

 point cannot be questioned. In no manner can the watere 

 of central New York, Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence 

 River be so weU aupphed with fish as from this lake. It 

 can be made a great and inexhaustible reservoir. 



Without committing themselves in relation to the es- 

 tablishment of a hatchery, the Commissioner conceded 

 that as the waters of central New York were so well 

 protected central New York was entitled to have 

 reqiiests made of the Commissioner well considered. An 

 order was given to Munroe Green on the spot to send 

 50,000 muskalonge to the lake in the belief that such fish 

 would flotu-ish in this water even better than in the St. 

 Lawrence. 



I append some particulars of the Commissioners' visit 

 and of their observations elsewhere, which, I assume, are 

 of general interest. D. H, HutiCK. 



Syracuse, July 15. 



Prom the Syruciiae Daily Journal, July ll„ 

 The Xew York State Fishery Commissioa arrived in Syracuse last 

 night in a private car on the Central-Hudson road and registered at 

 the Yates. The ComniiHsioners are: L. D. Huntington, New liochelle. 

 President; Edward P. Doyle, New York, Secretary and Engineer; VV. 

 H. Bowman, Rochester; A. S. Josline, Tottenville; I). G. Ilaclfney, 

 Fort Plain, and Robert Hamlit^jn, Greenwich. Mr. Haclcney is not 

 with the CbmmiBslon, but they are accompanied by Munroe Green, 

 brother of the late Seth Green, originator of the uatchery ay stem. 

 The Commissioners came liere as the guests of Henry Loftie and with 

 a view of examining the waters of Oneida Lake as U) their condition 

 for fish propagation. It has long been held that Oneida Lake is the 

 most favorable water in the State for a x^ike hatchery, and it is quite 

 likely that one will be established there. At 9 o'clock this morning 

 the Commissioners left the JYates and drove to South Bay, accom- 

 panied by Henry Loftie, R. w. Jones, Carroll E. Smith, Gen. L». il 

 Bruc« and J. X. Babcock. The party will return this evening. 



The Commissioners came here from Baranac Lake. They began 

 their tour of inspection la-st Friday, and their first work was the in 

 vestigation of the flshways on the Huflson River at M.echanicvUle and 

 Northumberland . These had been rerKirt«d to them as In such bad 

 condition ajs to interfere seriously with the passing of the salmon to 

 thfar spawning ground. These flshways were ordered repaired and 

 plans ma/le for extending the aprons lOft, further Into the river. 



While at Mechanic vQLe the Comioissionfirs were ctn^tixcfid that the 

 Hudson could be made in time a good .salmon streain, for they re- 

 ceived the InformaCion on good authority that three large-fcl/.ed saunon 

 had been taken with a fly at Chat place. This will be welcome news to 



