Skpt. 23, 1893.1 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



2BS 



THE VIVIPAROUS PERCH. 



One of the most interesting fish brought from Cali- 

 fornia by the U. S. Fish Commission and now living in 

 its aquarimn at the World's Fair, is a species that brings 

 forth its young alive. This characteristic is shared in 

 common with most sharks, stingrays, sawfish, some of the 

 family of kiUifishes, the rosefish, the eel-pout and others. 



The family of viviparous perches, or surf-fishes, in- 

 cludes about twenty species, one of which inhabits 

 Japanese waters and the rest are fomid in California. 

 All but one of the species live in the sea; the exception is 

 the river perch of the Sacramento and San Joaquin. 

 Common names applied to these fish are: Perch, pogy or 

 potgeei spafada; moharra, minny and surf-fish, most of 

 ■tt^mch otigitiated In a fancied or real resemblance to 

 other and very different species. 



The geogl-aphical range of the family extends from 

 dettos Island to southeastern Alaska, the center of 

 abundance being on the coast of California. The largest 

 member of the family reaches a length of 18in. and the 

 smallest seldom exceeds Sin^ Nearly all are used as food, 

 altiiough, as a rule, the flesh is inferior in quality. 



There is great variety in the colors of the various 

 species; some are plain and others brilliant. Their food 

 consists of sea weeds, crustaceans and small fish. In the 

 aquarium the young and old are fed on chopped clams, 

 which they take freely. 



Concerning their reproduction Dr. Jordan writes: 

 "Impregnation probably takes place in the fall. In 

 January most of the species have the young half-grown 

 as to length, and when the parent fish is caught the 

 young readily slip out from the ovary. From January to 

 June the fish-stalls where these fishes are sold are littered 

 with these fo3tal fish. 

 Little is known of the 

 place of spawning, but 

 I suppose that the young 

 are simply extruded in 

 the watej- just Outside 

 the breakers and left to 

 shift for themselves. 



* * Dr. Blake 

 thinks that the fleshy 

 thickening on the anal 

 fin of the male is to give 

 the female something 

 to hold to with the 

 ventral fins, and that 

 the two sexes approach 

 each other, ventral sur- 

 faces together, and with 

 their heads in opposite 

 directions." 



Dr. John A. Ryder 

 has informed me that 

 the eggs are few in 

 iminber, minute, and 

 rather widely separated 

 from one another in 

 the folds of the uterus. 

 The young are not nu- 

 merous; in the species 

 tlhistrated by the artist, 

 one of the females gave 

 birth to nine and the 

 other to eight only. 

 Some of the larger fish 

 produce about twenty. 



Five specimens were 

 brought to Chicago 

 from Monterey, June 

 30, and two of tliese 

 spavmed on July 9. 

 Nine were born be- 

 tween 3 and 5:30 P. M. 

 and on the next morn- 

 ing the school num- 

 bered 17. The larger 

 female was scarcely 



Sin. long. One of her young was prematurely born dead 

 and could not be shaken off until seventeen hours after 

 spawning begun. The mother died, probably as a result 

 of this abnormality. 



Two of the young were born at one time. T!ie tail 

 makes its appearance first. The female swims around the 

 tank and occasionally makes a quick jerking move- 

 ment by which the young is forced out to a distance of 

 nearly 1ft. The young swim at once and school together 

 a day or two and then begin to scatter in. all directions to 

 pick up food. They are about 1+in. long at birth and 

 resemble the i^arent very closely in color and form. 

 Their movements are quick and they have the character- 

 istic lifting motion of the adults. The species lives in the 

 famous sea anemone tank apart from other fishes; it is 

 the "shiner" or "sparada" of the fishermen, the Microme- 

 trm aggregatus of the books. T. H. B. 



trate for poaching upon these self -same preserves some 

 two years ago. This conviction was made upon informa- 

 tion laid by the present president of the club, who at that 

 time was in sole possession of the tract in question. 



"WHiiiiAM Seaton, 

 Sec'y of the Triton Fish and Game Club. 



ANGLING NOTES. 



State and Supervisors' Fish Laws. 

 One of the staff of one of the leading New York news- 

 papers has written an article which was printed in his 

 paper two Simdays ago about "some things that hunters 

 and fishermen will like to know." The letter is dated at 

 Schroon Lake, N. Y.. and with some excellent illustra- 

 tions fills nearly a page of the newspaper. The writer of 

 the article is a gentleman who has traveled extensively 

 and written comprehensively, clearly and well upon 

 many subjects, from international comphcations, political 

 upheavals, manners, customs and conditions of sister re- 

 publics, to notable murder trials. That such a master of 

 the pen should devote time to writing of shooting and 

 fishing for one of the daily papei's is one of the signs of 

 the growth of these healthful recreations, for any one who 

 reads can see that the daily journals are devoting more 

 and more space to fishing and field shooting, and if there 

 was not a demand for such information it would not be 

 given. The article I refer to is one of the best that I have 

 read, for often this class of articles shows too plainly the 

 'prentice band to be thoroughly enjoyed by sportsmen. 

 They have a syndicate flavor or guide-book aroma that 

 may pass current with the tyro, but are not relished by the 

 veteran, although after all they serve a purpose. The 



"Driven Out by Black Flies." 



Quebec, Sept. 9. — Editor Forest and Streavi: Under 

 the above caption a letter signed "Silver Doctor" appeared 

 in your issue of the M inst., complaining of the flies and 

 scarcity of fish in the preserves of the Triton Club. 



Although nothing can be easier than to write in a dif- 

 ferent strain upon these subjects, such is not my desire, 

 which is simply to ask "Silver Doctor" to kindly declare 

 his identity; because, upon examining the record of the 

 visits made by the members and guests to the waters of 

 the above club, I fail to find any which can possibly be 

 taken as fiUing the description he gives of his own. 



I know of only one party of three, and this not in 

 August but in the first part of July, and as these three 

 gentlemen, both personally and since by letter, have ex- 

 pressed in warm terms the gratification they derived 

 from their visit, it is fair to presume that "Silver Doctor" 

 cannot be one of this trio. So also, as a'l those who were 

 there at the time of this reputed visit, have equally ex- 

 pressed their great satisfaction with tueir trip. I am again 

 at a loss to see upon what data "Silver Doctor" has con- 

 structed his complaint. 



It seems evident that "Silver Doctor" cannot be either 

 a member or a guest of the Triton Club, but I should 

 regret to think that he had either manufactured the 

 whole thing for reasons best known to himself, or that he 

 is a gentleman poacher, hke one of those who, "with his 

 bri'Mjer." was convicted and fined before a Quebec magis- 



THE VIVIPAROUS PERCH (ificrometrus aggregatus-). 



Schroon Lake article is written on the spot and is of a 

 character separate and apart from the syndicate breed, 

 which is all the more reason why the writer should not 

 lead his readers astray, even by implication, con- 

 cerning the fish laws. One of the illustrations is "Pyra- 

 mid Lake, Chock Full of Bass," and in the text I 

 find this: "Off the road a mile or two is a pond called 

 Pyramid Lake, just about l,nOOft. above sea level, where 

 bass fishing is really fine. Aug'ust, of course, is not a 

 good month for any sort of fishing. September is better, 

 but May and June are best. It is no exaggeration to say 

 that Pyramid Lake is chock full of black bass, noble fel- 

 lows, too, fuU of fight and audacitj\" Why "August, of 

 course, is not" a great a month for black bass fishing, the 

 man who wrote the information will have to tell if he 

 knows, for I do not know; and as some of the best black 

 bass fishing I ever had was in August, I have always 

 supfjosed it was a fairly good month for catching this fish. 

 But that is not the point, the month of May is a close 

 month for black bass in Nmv York, and June should be. 

 Bass may bite best in the month of May, but it is illegal 

 to catch them, so why suggest it? That is a State law, 

 and the supervisors of Warren county have made it filegal 

 to catch bass "in the waters of Schroon River or the 

 streams, lakes or ponds tributary thereto in Warren 

 county" before July 1. If the State will not protect the 

 black' bass through the month of June when they are 

 spawning, the supervisors must do it or the bass will go. 

 The same writer in the same article says: "Woods and 

 mountains, and water, where with hound or salt-lick or 

 flaring jack the noblest child of the forest can be hunted." 

 Salt-licks are specifically forbidden by law in New York, 

 and to use one to kill a deer will cost the user, if caught, 

 $100. and other expenses; and it is a misdemeanor as well. 

 Such advice would not be ad mitted in the cohmins of a 

 first-class technical jom-nal like Forest and Stream, for 

 those who supervise the copy know the laws — it is in a 

 measure part of their business; but the daily journals 

 seem not to care whether they get a man in jail or not by 

 following the suggestions in their fLshing and shooting 

 articles, and the best article in the English language, if it 

 leads a man a-foul of the law, would not be jack-high in 

 a jtistice court, compared with a less learned article by 

 one who knows exactly what he is writing about. If 

 there is any moral to this it is — go to the sporting journals 

 for information concerning sport, and to the daily news- 

 papers for information about the movement of the 



crops, and other matters peculiarly within their pro- 

 vince. 



Pharaoh Lake. 

 One of the illustrations in this same article bears the 

 title, "Pharaoh Lake, where the Big Trout Bite," and this 

 is the reference to it in the text: "There is a noble moun- 

 tain near Schroon — Mount Pharaoh — ^under the brow of 

 which, far up in the air, and in a basin formed by the pre- 

 cipitous sides of the mountain, is a small but very deep 

 pond, where big trout are to be had in about 85 to 90ft. of ' 

 water. They are to be caught by trolling with a gang 

 hook freighted with about half a pound of sinkers. You 

 feel as if you were pulling a ton, anyhow, when your line 

 is out, and when a ISlbs. fish fastens himself on it and 

 starts off for the cold springs at the veriest bottom, it is 

 well enough to have a care that he doesn't carry the lucky 

 fishermen with him." 



Had the writer of the quoted paragraph been to Pharaoh 

 Lake and fished in it, I am satisfied that he would have 

 written something entirely different, for he then would 

 ha.ve been able to give facts instead of patching up infor- 

 mation that must have filtered through several hands be- 

 fore it got to him. This same writer says in the beginning 

 of his article: "People who give advice are especially 

 glib on the subject of the books one should read and the 

 places one should visit on his summer vacation. It is odd 

 with what assurance and carelessness these peculiarly 

 delicate questions are handled." I assume that he means 

 in the daily newspapers. As to Pharaoh Lake, there are 

 no trout in it except speckled trout, and they average from 

 i to fib. in weight. Four years ago "Cash" Ross, who 

 lives in the house at the lower end of the lake in summer 

 and until the close of the shooting season, caught a trout 

 from the lak-' that weighed olbs. The lake is 110ft. deep, 



and it is about 1,300ft. 

 above sea level, or about 

 400ft. higher than 

 Schroon Lake. This is a 

 description that I set 

 down in my notebook 

 one day while I was 

 fishing in the lake : ' 'On 

 the northwest is Pha- 

 raoh Mountain, about 

 1,700ft. Next is Blue- 

 beard, sloping down to 

 the lake's shore; east of 

 north is Tread way 

 Mountain; on the west 

 Thunderbolt; south, Mt. 

 Stevenson; southeast, a 

 grand old mountain 

 nearly as high as the 

 others, which is known 

 only as Big HiU." As 

 to the fashion of fishing 

 in Pharaoh, it was so 

 often said that the trout 

 would not take a fly on 

 its surface that many 

 people came to believe 

 it; but they will, as Day- 

 ton Ball, of Albany, has 

 abundantly proved dur- 

 ing more than one 

 spring when the fish 

 were at the surface. 

 Another belief was that 

 the trout would not bite 

 during the day, and ao 

 fires were built on the 

 shores at night to at- 

 tract the fish , and large 

 scores were made in 

 this way. The truth is, 

 that the trout of Pha- 

 raoh are very like the 

 trout of other motm- 

 tain lakes. The most 

 common way of fish- 

 I iug for them in summer is to bait a buoy and fish in 

 thirty to forty feet of water with hooks baited with earth 

 worms or pieces of sunfish such as are used to bait the buoy. 

 A few years ago Alec Taylor, a professional fisherman of 

 Bolton,'on Lake George, went to Pharaoh and ti'olled a gang 

 after the manner practiced in Lake G-eorge for lake trout. 

 There was, however, this difference. Very fine tacMty 

 was used, and a smaU sinker was put on to sink the gang 

 from 10 to 35 ft. below the surface. Except brook trout 

 there are no fish in the lake but sunfish, suckers, bull- 

 heads and minnows. The trotit when first taken are the 

 most beautiful in coloring that I know. When I first 

 went to Pharaoh I was told that it was useless to fish be- 

 fore 7 o'clock in the morning in summer, but I went out 

 at daylight and had good fishing, by which I mean that 

 I caught as good trout, and as many, as during the day. 

 I was at this lake two years ago, and two days before I 

 an-ived there had been a terrible storm. Cassius A. Ross 

 or "Cash" Ross, for short, was sitting inside his door 

 during the height of the storm, when a panther suddenly 

 appeared in the clearing before his door, near his calf pen. 

 The animal with two or three leaps disappeared back of 

 the house before Ross could get a rifle from the rack. 

 Pharaoh Lake is one of the comparatively near-by places, 

 where there is good trout fishing and deer shooting, that 

 the city sportsman overlooks to go further into the woods. 

 Itisi-eached by the D. & H. C. Co.'s railway to Saratoga, 

 and from there by the Adirondack railway to Riverside 

 station. Stage to Chestertown and private team to Pha- 

 raoh by the way of Brant Lake. One can leave Albany 

 in the morning and reach the lake in the afternoon. 



A. N. Cheney. 



Worms for Montana Trout. 



One of the best known residents of Cinnabar, Montana, 

 is old Mr. Smith, a most enthusiastic fisherman. The 

 soil of the region is very dry and alkaline and contains 

 no earth worms. 



Ml-. Smith haa a theory that the old fashioned worm 

 would prove a killing bait for the red-throated trout of 

 the country, and he asked Mr. G. H. Lambson to bring 

 him a jar of worms from the East on one of his trips 

 with the Fish Commission car. 



In August, 1890, Mr. Lambson was able to comply with 

 the angler's request and the worms were safely landed at 

 Cinnabar. The bait proved all that was expected of it 

 and great was the delight of Mr. Smith. T. H, B, 



