I)EC, 2, 1893.J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



47B 



Reminiscences. 



It happened on the Ohio River steamer Mary Housten, 

 between Cincinnati and the Coney Island of the West. 

 The boat was jammed with shooters and their families, 

 and a jolly crowd it was with the hundreds of sportsmen 

 on board bound for the Coney Island shoot entertaining 

 those present with reminiscences. The best was that of 

 ill-. Andy Huber, of the West End Rabbit Shooting Club 

 of this city, who has a very badly crippled hand and which 

 by the way may be termed the 'moral of the story related. 

 Some fifteen or twenty of us were bunched together hav- 

 ing a jolly time on the lower deck. Huber was talking. 

 "Veil, poys," said he, "you fellers talk apout sport, I 

 don't pelieve you ever knowed what dead game sport vas. 

 Now, I tell you. Apout twenty-five years ago. when I 

 first come to dis gouutry, dere vas a feller over the river, 

 now where Fort Thomas is apout, what fought he could 

 shoot rabbits better than anybody. Veil, anyway, we 

 went out shooting, both of us. The first rabbit what got 

 up he killed just so good as I or you could. Al and I 

 fought my name vas Dennis, and I vas scared right 

 there. Veil, we shot along till apout 10 o'clock, I having 

 six and him three. We vas going along, he apout fifty 

 yards back of me, when I t'hought 'I'll fool tbat duck,' 

 like the fellers here say, yon know. First thing you know 

 I vas away from him, a little to his right, and over a little 

 hUl. I said now is my chance. I took one of my best 

 looking dead rabbits, got behind a bush what was there 

 and made him wiggl'^' with my hand, just like he was 

 playing, you know, when Peter Hans come along, and 

 dat fool shot, and here's my hand to prove it. I yelled 

 like an Indian, but it cost liini anyhow $-i for the trinks, 

 and we laughed at that feller for years." Wick. 



How Long was tliat "First Close Season?" 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



If that reward for errors in the Brief holds good for all 

 game seasons mentioned I take it that it must apply to 

 the statement about the duration of the "first close 

 season," which was the time during which Noah and the 

 animals were sailing around in the Ark. The Brief 

 prints this, with delightful indefiniteness, as "the year 

 or more." Now I always supposed that Noah was shut 

 up in the Ark for forty days. If I am right. you may 

 send me the reward. Hartford. 



[If "Hartford" will look at the record he will fiad that 

 Noah was in the Ark much longer than forty days, and 

 if "Hai'tford" or any one else will tell us exactly how 

 long that first close season lasted he shall have a copy of 

 the Brief v^ith the compliments of the publishers.] 



Florida Quail. 



Tallah ASSEE.Fla.— In traveling over the country around 

 Tallahassee I have noticed that the quail are even more 

 numerous and in better condition than they were last 

 year; and as one sportsman scored his 3,000 long before 

 the end of the season you will be able to have some idea 

 of their number. The country north of Tallahassee is well 

 stocked with quail, but the ducks are not coming in as 

 soon as usual. The country south of the town and on the 

 Gulf coast is as well stocked as any sportsman could wish. 

 Turkeys are numerous; deer fair; bear scattering, and 

 geese and ducks coming in thick. Hunting parties are 

 going out continually, and all report good luck consider- 

 ing the dry weather. The hunting laws of the State have 

 caused the game to be very abundant and residents are 

 well disposed to strangers. G. A. L. 



Of all Fools an Old Fool. 



When we were returning from a canoe trip my friend 

 B,, to punish me for not taking a gun, took pains to call 

 my attention to eveiy fiock of ducks and geese passing in 

 easy range, until his "mark," "here and there," or "be 

 ready for this and that" became exasperating. Near 

 home and turning a sharp bend in the river we came 

 upon a flock of black ducks, and when my friend called 

 my attention to them I drew my revolver and fired two 

 shots in quick succession. "Way too high," sings out B. 

 "Crack," answers the revolver, and "give it to them 

 again," says B., "you knocked one's head off." There 

 was something on me, and somebody's decoy is minus its 

 head, please don't sue for damage* Mux. 



Ferrets and Ferreting. 



COMPTON, Que. — I cannot agree w^ith your correspond- 

 ent, W. H. W. , under the heading of "Ferrets and Fer- 

 reting," in your issue of Nov, 18, as the title only brings 

 to my mind the many happy days I spent on the old sod 

 with ferrets. I think that there is not much advantage 

 taken of a rabbit when he is bolted by ferrets, as I kno%v 

 from personal experience that he is extremely hard shoot- 

 ing, and no poor shot can shoot such a rabbit, but 

 W. H. W. in his letter might mean with nets; in that 

 case I agree with him, as that is as bad as poaching. 



Fred. V. Wether all. 



Beaufort Wildfowl. 



Beaufort, N. C.,Nov. 24. — Ducks are more numerous 

 here this season than for any time in five years. Geese, 

 too, are plentiful, and the hunting promises to be first 

 class. Decoys and batteries can be had at any time. The 

 climate is fine. A sailboat (Capt. Smith) meets all trains 

 at Morehead City, which is two miles across the sound 

 from this place. M. P. Robinson. 



Montana Game. 



Billings, Mont,, Nov. 15.— Chicken law goes in effect 

 to-da3^ Have been quite plenty. Deer fairly good, but 

 have had no snow yet here. Friend cauie in yesterday 

 with three, the result of four days' hunting forty miles 

 above here. Hope to have a trial at them myself soon. 



J. W. 



Adirondack: Deer Season. 



We went to the West Canada Lakes Sept. 25, 1892 (tak- 

 ing in the last days of hounding). The party who killed 

 the doe went out about one week or so before we went in. 

 The doe was in milk; but it is often seen later than that, 

 one of our party killed a doe this year that was in milk in 

 October. T. A. B. 



On the Grouse Moors. 



BowDON, Eng. — I have just returned from the moor : 

 had two days' grouse driving ; five guns killed seventy- 

 five brace fiVst day ; and ninety -three brace second day. 

 Plenty of birds and very strong on the wing. R. N. 



The Musky ■ Odor of Venison. 



De Beque, Colo., Nov. 20— Will not some one of 

 your readers kindly give me a recipe for removing the 

 strong, musky odor from venison killed in running time. 



C. A. C. 



ANGLING NOTES. 



About Avoca. 



AvocA, N. C, Nov. 10. — ^I was in Chicago the whole 

 s>jnmer and could not rebuUd hotel to my notion and 

 enjoy Chicago at the same time, therefore I concluded to 

 give'the birds and turkeys a partial rest and let them re- 

 cover from the terrible winter of 1893-3, Tiie turkeys 

 are in abundance and birds and deer moderately plentiful. 

 Sdme of our old friends are constantly inquiring, and a 

 few beginning to put in an appearance anyway. Myself 

 and three sisters own an old style Southern plantation 

 house, and we are caring for such sportsmen as will come. 



W. R. Capehart. 



liouisiana Ducks. 



New Orleans, Nov. 20.— Mr. E. J. Trenchard, one of 

 New Orleans' leading sportsmen, returned alter a very 

 successful day's hunt at Boutee station, having killed 79 

 mallards and one black duck. His hunt was the 

 result of a morning shoot. The grounds are thirty miles 

 from this city. Ducks are very numerous all over the 

 State. Anodeac. 



New Brunswick Deer Increasing. 



Dorchester, N. B.— Our new game act is being fairly 

 •well enforced and with very favorable results. The pro- 

 tection to deer is having a marked efl'e'ct in the increase 

 n the numbers to be foimd in our Province to-day, E, 



Fishing- for Jack Salmon. 



A CORRESPONDENT wishes information about the manner 

 of fishing for what he is pleased to call "'pickerel or jack 

 salmon." Some of the questions he puts are tliese: What 

 size of hook should be used? With minnows for bait do 

 you use a sinker, if so what size and how far from the 

 hook? When using frogs for bait where do you hook the 

 frog, and what size should the frog be? 



In the first place the fish in question is neither a 

 pickerel nor a salmon; and furthermore it is not related 

 to either of the fish named. The fish is properly a pike- 

 perch, although it is sometimes called a wall-eyed pike. 

 In spite of the fact that the word pike occurs in each of 

 the common names given, the fish really belongs to the 

 family of perches, in various waters it is called green 

 and yellow pike, glass-eye, salmon, jack, dory, okow and 

 hornfish. It has a smaller relative, very like it in appear- 

 ance, which inhabits similar waters, and wliich is called 

 Sanger, sand pike, pickerel or pickering. Never before 

 have I heard of the pike-perch by the names pickerel or 

 jack salmon in the same waters, though each is common 

 enough in waters widely separated. 



But starting with the fact that the fish is a pike-perch, I 

 will answer the questions at the beginning of this note as 

 best I can. Nothing is said of the size to which the fish 

 grow in the waters where the correspondent proposes to 

 fish, but it is safe to say that hooks No. 1 to No. 1-0 will 

 answer. I have frequently caught pike-perch on hooks of 

 these sizes wdien fishing for black bass, and caught them, 

 tjo, on hooks with single gut, although it would be 

 advisable to use hooks on fine gimp if one was to fish 

 specially for pike-perch, as it would in many cases pre- 

 vent the cutting of the gut by the teeth of the fish, for 

 the pike-perch has teeth closer set than the true pike, and 

 mo>re of them. In fact the pike is about the only fish that 

 will drive the pike-perch. 



Whatever the lure used for pike-perch, a sinker -is re- 

 quired. As a rule they are bottom leeders, but have been 

 known to take a fly on a shotted leader. The pike-perch 

 is one of the few fishes that one does not always know 

 where to fish for; they are here to-day and gone to-mor- 

 row. They appear to be fresh-water rovers, except at 

 spawning time. For ordinary fishing put a sinker on the 

 upper part of the snood, be it gut or gimp, which will 

 bring the sinker six or seven inches above the hook. In 

 still water with minnow bait a couple of split double B 

 shot is all-sufficient, or even one if the minnow is not.too 

 large. The object is to caiTy the minnow near to the 

 bottom and keep it there, and the sinker that does this is 

 sufficient. 



In hooking the minnow pass the hook through the skin 

 under the back fin; a minnow so hooked will roam more 

 than one hooked through the lips, a method used in cast- 

 ing and drawing, which is not necessary in pike-perch 

 fishing. If frogs are used for bait get the small green 

 frog about the size of a silver half-dollar. Pass the hook 

 through the skin of the frog at the end of the spine 

 where the hindlegs join, or pass the hook through the 

 flesh of one leg. It requires more weight to keep a frog 

 down than it does a minnow, and even then the frog, 

 after being some time on the hook, will fill with air, be- 

 come bloated, and come to the surface if it is not taken in 

 hand and the air gently squeezed out of it, and many 

 times, even then, it is better to put a fresh frog on the 

 hook. I have spoken of the foregoing as tlie ordinary 

 method of fishing for pike- perch. 



There is another way, out of the ordinary, and I believe 

 it never has been told in print untfl it was told to me. 

 Lake Cham plain is quite famous for its pike-perch, where, 

 by the way, they are called Champlain pike. This style 

 of fishing is practiced in water 20 to 40ft. deep, generally 

 in the inlet rivers, and the outfit consists of a rod about 

 2ft. long, with a three-ring tip or a funnel top. Just 

 above the hand-grasp is a wire cleat, in place of a reel, on 

 which the line is wound. Sufficient line is unwound from 

 the cleat, say 3 or 4ft. , and the end passed through the rod 

 tip. To the end of the line is fastened a lead sinker about 

 the size of a mans middle finger, and if the current is 

 strong the sinker mu.st be heavier, heavy enough in any 

 event to take the line promptly to the bottom. Below the 

 sinker is a piece of fish line, perhaps 2ft. long, terminating 

 in a gimp-snooded hook about iNo. 1^. The hook is baited 



with a dozen or so of earth worms, putting the hook 

 the middle of each worm and leaving the ends to form a 

 wrisgling mass. 



To operate this curious outfit the lead is lowered to the 

 bottom from a boat, and the boat is rowed up and down 

 and across the current, while the fisherman with the 

 cleated stick exercises himself to keep the lead on or very 

 near the bottom as the boat moves, which drags the mass 

 of worms 2ft. after the lead. This style of fishing has 

 procured large strings of pike-perch when other methods 

 failed, and there was a determined efi'ort to keep the mat- 

 ter secret, but a friend told me of it. without a pledge of 

 secrecy, and now it has found a place in Forest and 

 Stream, where all good things find a place sooner or later. 

 The Lake Champlain proper pike-perch have lately been 

 taken with exactly the same tackle used in deep trolling 

 for lake trout. This is an excellent method in big waters, 

 for you are sure to find the fish by keeping at it, and 1 

 have already said the pike-perch is here to-day and there 

 to-morrow. 



Transporting Fish Alive. 

 Another correspondent wishes to know the best way to 

 transport black bass alive over a country road a distance 

 of from five to fifteen miles. The least amount of water 

 that would be required for half a dozen fish from 6in. in 

 length to 21bs. in weight, and if it would be a good plan 

 to blow air into the water through a hose while trans- 

 porting the fish. 



To answer the correspondent intelligently I should 

 know the season of the year when the bass are to be trans- 

 ported, and If little and big fish are in one can at the 

 same time, and if it is an experiment to see how little 

 water may be needed to get the fish from one w^ater to 

 the other, or merely the least approximate quantity that 

 would be used ordinarily. If it is only a trial a few bass 

 can be taken in w'et cloths if the cloths are kept wet and 

 cool, but I assume that this is not the case. It is not a 

 parallel case exactly, but a can that will transpert safely 

 40,000 shad fry will only transport safely 5,000 trout fry, 

 and this will show the difficulty of calculating for 6in, 

 bass and 21bs. bass in the same can. Fish and fish fry that 

 may be transported safely under certain conditions will 

 be partly or wholly lost if transportation is attempted 

 under other conditions. 



I once lost 60,000 trout and salmon fry during a night 

 run of 200 miles on the fast mail. I had BOOlbs. of ice, 

 more than enough for ordinary purposes, but the cans 

 were meant for 3,000 fry each, and I had 5,000 in each. I 

 knew when I started that I had too many in each can, 

 but I had to take them as they had absorbed the sac and 

 there was nothing to feed them, and there were no more 

 cans of any size. Again I received 50,000 sea salmon fry. 

 They had been on the cars all night and the ice had given 

 out and they were "sick." I iced them, put the cans in a 

 wagon and drove rapidly for six miles over a rough road 

 and planted a fair lot of fry, much recovered from their 

 railway journey. Still, again, by direction of the U. S, 

 Fish Commission, I took a carload of California yearling 

 salmon for planting in New England, The last previous 

 trip of the same car there had been a loss of about 8,000 

 yearling Atlantic salmon, and I had doubts about the re- 

 sult. The car was on an Eastern "flyer," and as we 

 reached the station at which we were to stop we began to 

 take the salmon from the tanks where water had been 

 pumped by the steam pump in the car, and put them in 

 transportation cans. I noticed that several cans were 

 crowded and that the salmon were coming up for air. 

 Hastily they were iced and "worked" with syringes, but 

 still thej'- came to the top and turned on then- sides. As 

 quickly as possible I got these cans into one of the wagons 

 and took my seatby the driver to make the trip of three anda 

 half miles, the next longest being one and a quarter miles 

 from the station. I told the driver to pick out the rough- 

 est part of the road and let his horses run if the wagon 

 would stand it. At the stream I had two dead fish, and 

 all told the loss was less than tinrty, chiefly fish caught in 

 the gratings of the tanks under the car. The next trip 

 the car made there was a loss of 8,000 yearling landlocked 

 salmon. 



There is a right season and a wrong season to transport 

 most fishes, and the wrong season is during the hot 

 months. Black bass are a spring spawning fish, and in 

 the North hibernate during the cold winter months, but 

 they are transported best in the spring before the weather 

 becomes hot, or in the fall after it becomes cool. The 

 best black bass for transporting are those weighing from 

 1 to lib. each, and fry should not be used except in case 

 of necessity. The larger fish can be handled more easily 

 and safely,- and they will become spawning fish sooner in 

 the new waters. In the spring or fall fifteen ^Vlb. bass or 

 ten lib. bass may be transported safely the distance 

 stated by the correspondent in a common milk can hold- 

 ing ten gaUons of water. This is not the limit, for a 

 greater number of fish have been safely transported a 

 longer distance in containers of this size, but what I have 

 given is a safe number. 



Some years ago 660 black bass averaging one and one- 

 half pounds each, were transported a distance of about 

 300 miles and were on the road thirty hours. The time 

 was June, and many of the fish — some as heavy as 2ilbs. 

 — were females heavy with spawn. There was a loss 

 of only ten per cent, of the fish, and the water allowed 

 them was four gallons per fish, for the entire trip. To 

 show what may be done — a few days ago I saw two men 

 on the Delaware & Hudson R. R. with a lot of bait fish, 

 that they were taking from the Mohawk River to Lake 

 Champlain. The fish were white chubs, which means 

 the fall fish, and they had in their can over 800 fish, and 

 at Saratoga had not lost a fish. They were ordinary bait 

 fish, some larger and some smaller than a man's middle 

 finger. The water had not been changed since they 

 started, four hours before, and they did not propose to 

 change it until they reached their destination, several 

 hours later. In summer the same can would not have 

 transported safely the same distance 200 of the same fish. 



In transporting any Jish it is better to use the water you 

 start with than to atieinpt to procure fresh water on the 

 journey. In all probability the fish are accustomed to the 

 water they are started on their journey in, and to replace 

 it is buying a pig in a bag. If necessary keep the tem- 

 perature down with ice; if necessary to freshen the water 

 in the can or container, do so, if it has a wide mouth, by 

 taking out water in a dipper or other vessel and pouring it 

 . back from a height above the can. A transportation 

 syringe is used for the same purpose, but for a- single jour- 

 ney a make-shift will serve the same purpose. If there 

 are two or more cans the water may be siphoned from one 



