476 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Dec. 2, 1893. 



to another by using a short piece of rubber hose. Any or 

 all of these means will aerate the water. To "work" the 

 cans is to use ice, siphon or syringe to reduce temperature 

 and aerate the water, and to "work" the cans is attended 

 with better results than to attempt to introduce fresh 

 ■water. 



Transporting Fish Fry In Hermetically Sealed 

 Bottles. 



At the very time that this question of transporting 

 black bass came before me I was about to make a note of 

 another way of transporting hsh. Readers of FOEEST 

 AND STREA3I will recall a discussion a few years ago about 

 caiTying bait fish in fruit jars that had been sealed. This 

 matter came up at a meeting of the American Fisheries 

 Society in Washington two years ago. after the reading 

 of a paper hy Mr. W. P. Seal upon "Transportation of 

 Live Fishes." The discussion which followed the reading 

 of the paper is not printed in the proceedings of the so- 

 ciety, as it should be, but I distinctly recall that Mr. Worth 

 said that he had made some experiments in this direction, 

 and that bait fish in sealed jars lived little if any longer 

 than those in open jars, the claim having been made that 

 hermetically sealed fish would live longer. 



In the History of the Fisheries of New South Wales, 

 by Lindsay G. Thompson, Chief Inspector of New South 

 Wales, published by authority of the New South Wales 

 Commissioners for" the World's Columbian Exposition. 

 I find this very interesting statemeiit: "About two years 

 since the writer made the experiment of traveling trout 

 fry to the several streams assigned to them in jars about 

 three parts filled with water and hermetically sealed. 

 This mode of transmission proved so successful that at 

 Sydney it has quite superseded the old method of for- 

 warding in open jars. Fry can be sent in the jars for any 

 reasonable distance. After determiuing by actual experi- 

 ment that it would exist so imprisoned for seventy-two 

 hours, the method was still further tested by shipping to 

 Wellington, New Zealand, some fry of the oru. which 

 originally had been sent thence and hatched out in New 

 South Wales. The attempt proved successful, and in like 

 manner the experiment was repeated between Welling- 

 ton and Sydney. 



In the appendix to the history from which I have 

 already quoted, is a paper upon "Fresh Water Fish Ac- 

 climatisation," by John Gale, Queanbeyan. Mr. Gale 

 relates how he distributed a lot of "American brown trout 

 and English spotted trout." The descriptive terms, brown 

 and spotted, have evidently been reversed in some way, 

 but the fish were from three to five inches in length — 

 " strong, vigorous fish." The trout were placed in cans 

 of six gallons each, 150 in each can, and all were deliv- 

 ered at their various destinations witiiout loss, except one 

 portion which was lost by taking water from a brackish 

 stream. "As an experimeat we also brought four trout, 

 three perch, and three carp, in hermetically sealed jars, 

 and the result was successful, only one trout — a little fel- 

 low sick from the start — succumbed. The distance from 

 Ballarat to Queanbeyan is about 350 miles, and the fish 

 were thirty hours in transit. Bibbenluke is another hun- 

 dred miles, and Braid wood thirty-four miles; so that our 

 efforts, so far as placing the fish in the waters of tlieir 

 respective destinations, were highly successful." 



Something for Fry Men to Think About. 



Three rivers in which 60, 40 and 60 of tliese little trout, 

 respectively, were planted, became thoroughly stocked 

 ■with them, furnishing fishing in a few years that is now 

 •unsurpassed. The second year after planting hundreds of 

 little trout were netted in one river as an experiment. 

 Mr. Gale concludes his paper by recommending to the de- 

 partment that instead of planting trout fry that they be 

 kept in ponds until a year old and then distributed. 



A. N, Cheney, 



FLY-FISHING FOR POLLOCK. 



Halifax, Nova Scotia.— In your issue of Nov. 4 "The 

 General" wishes to hear from some one on fly-fishing for 

 pollock. He says catching them on a light rod with bait 

 "is great sport"; but let him take out his fly-rod and tackle, 

 and follow my directions, and he will vote it even a greater 

 success. 



Let me give you one ^age from my own experience. 

 Leaving the landing stage one alternoon in a light boat, 

 having a good man at the oars, and equipped with a lOi- 

 f oot lancewood rod, an oiled silk medium line and one fly 

 on a 3-foot leader at the end of it, we rowed to a narrow 

 channel where I knew the pollock were generally to be 

 found feeding. Getting my tackle together, we watched 

 till we saw one break water some 800yds. away. Rowing 

 rapidly to the spot, I made a cast, and almost immediately 

 there was a gleam of silver and a fine fish was away witli 

 a great rush, making the line fau-ly hum. Three^ more 

 similar rushes, and we had him in the landing net. 

 Again I thi-ew out my line, and again a fish. Now the 

 school is gone, and we have to watch till another breaks 

 ■water, and away we go again after the school. When we 

 got back to our landing place there were 99 as fine pollock, 

 ranging from -Jib. to l^lbs., as you could wish to see! 

 We were gone just three hours. Pretty good, was it notV 



The fish go in schools; and to fish in this way a calm day 

 is essential. However, should there be any ripple on the 

 water, by rowing about and casting or traiUng the fine as 

 for lake trout, one can often make a good catch. 



They take the fly beautifully, often jumping right out of 

 the water, coming down on top of the fly; and so shai-ply 

 do they bite that a miss is almost never made by any one 

 who can handle a rod. After they are once hooked' they 

 never break water; and afiiord as much sport every bit as 

 either a trout or bass of an equal size. 



A word as to flies. They are not very particular as long 

 as you give them a fight one; however, Parmacheene- 

 belle is, I find, the best, and closely following are Jenny- 

 Lind, gold-ibis, silver-doctor and red-coachman. Only 

 one should be used, as the fish are so numerous and bite 

 so sharply, that if you use more, as I once did, you wiU 

 have trouble. I put f om- flies on a 6-foot leader, immedi- 

 ately hooked fom- fish, and almost as soon lost four fish, 

 one leader and four flies, and all the fun I had out of it 

 was watching the poor fish about four feet below the sur- 

 face, all pulling away as hard as possible and in opposite 

 directions. So, "General," use one fly only. Fhes tied 

 on No. 1 Sproat hooks are the best. , 



Should any one try this plan, I am sure they will say it 

 is fine sport; and any more particulars any reader may 

 wish I wlU be more than pleased to f m-nish from my past 

 experience with pollock. Micma_c. 



THE VERMONT LEAGUE. 



The third annual gathering of the Vermont Fish and 

 Game League was held at Van Ness House, BurUngton, 

 Nov. 17. The programme for the day called for a con- 

 gress of the sportsmen of Vermont, to be convened at 2 

 P. M. 



The meeting was attended by sportsmen from various 

 parts of the State, regardless of membership in the League. 

 Its object was to have an informal talk on subjects 

 kindred to the aiuis of the League and the work of the 

 State Fish and Game Commissions. The meeting was an 

 experiment, it being the first one of its kind, and although 

 the attendance in the afternoon did not at any time ex- 

 ceed thirty men, it was a pronounced success. Commis- 

 sioner Titcomb presided, and Richard Rathburn of the 

 United States Fish Commission was present and answered 

 many practical questions. The following topics were 

 discussed with much interest : The decrease of fish in 

 Vermont waters and some of the causes ; how to best in- 

 crease the supply of fish and game ; the introduction of 

 new varieties of game ; statutory limit as to length of 

 fish— whether best form of protection; the protection 

 of game. Three professional seine fishermen from Lake 

 Champlain were present and contributed much informa- 

 tion with reference to the decrease of fish in the lake. 

 The statutory limit as to length of fish was perhaps more 

 freely discussed than any other. Commissioner Titcomb 

 suggested a plan to do away with the so-called " six inch 

 law" as follows: Empower the Commissioners with au- 

 thority to close up all the small tributary streams in 

 which the trout do not grow over six inches before they 

 work down into deeper waters. Post these streams and 

 pubhsh a fist of them in the State papers, county by 

 county. Have a heavy fine for the mere act of fishing in 

 waters so posted, and allow free fishing regardless of size 

 in the main streams. It was generally believed that such 

 a law could be better enforced than the present six inch 

 law, although the latter is quite generally observed by 

 the market fishermen. 



At 7 P. M. the board of management assembled, with 

 Gen. W. W. Henry in the chair. Some recommendations 

 for action at the annual meeting were made, and at 7:30 

 the annual meeting was called, Vice-President Henry still 

 in the chair. The treasurer's report was read and adopted. 

 Thirty-four new members were voted in. Dr. T. H. Bean 

 and Richard Rathburn, members of the U. S. Fish Com- 

 mission, were elected honorary members. The member- 

 ship fee was reduced from $5 to $3 and the annual assess- 

 ment from .$3 to $2. The committee reported this list of 

 ofiicers, who were elected: President, H. R. Dorr, Rut- 

 land; Secretary, .J. W. Titcomb, St. Johnsbury: Treasurer, 

 A. W. Ferrin, Montpelier; Vice-Presidents, C. M. Wilds, 

 Middlebury; E. C. Smith. St. Albans; J. G. McCuUough, 

 Bennington; W. S. Webb, Shelburne;F. D. Proctor, Proc- 

 tor; Jas. W. Brock, Montpelier; Ei-astus Baldwin, Wells 

 River. Executive Committee — Addison coiuity, D. A. 

 Bisbee, Bristol; Bennington, W. H. Bradford, Benning- 

 ton; Caledonia, James Ritchie, St.Johnsbury; Chittenden, 

 Wm. W. Henry, Burlington; Essex, Nathan Hobson, 

 Island Pond: Franklin, F. J. Hawley. Swanton; Grand 

 Isle, N. W. Fisk, Isle La Motte; Lam'oille, E. L. Noyes, 

 secretary, Hyde Park; Orange, W. S. Curtis, West Ran- 

 dolph; Orleans, li. S. Haskell, Derby Line; Rutland, C. A. 

 Gale, Rutland; Washington, C. C. Warren, Waterbury; 

 Windham, F. W. Childs, Brattleboro; Windsor, C. i'\ 

 Chapman, Woodstock. Auditors, A. B. Noyes, E, W. 

 Raymond, J. H. Mclntire. Membership Committee U 

 A. Woodbury, H. R. Dorr, J. W. Titcomb. 



On motion, a committee was appointed by the chair, 

 consisting of the presidentjand the secretary of the League 

 and one member from each county, to be known as the 

 legislative committee; it being understood that this com- 

 mittee will be called to order at any time by the president 

 or secretary of the League, or simply on the request of two 

 members of the committee. The committee is: Addison, 

 W. K. Peake; Bennington, M. S. Colhum; Caledonia, E.' 

 A, Silsby; Chittenden, Fred H. Wells; Essex, Kathau 

 Hobson; Franklin, Chas. C. Gilmore; Grand Isle, N, VV. 

 Fisk; Lamoille, C. S. Page; Orange, J. B. Peckett, Jr.-; 

 Orleans, W. W. Miles; Rutland, S. E. Burnham; Washing- 

 ton,. Geo. W. Wijjg; Windham, Julius J. Estey; Windsor, 

 Wm. S. Dewey. 



On motion, the president appointed a committee of five 

 for the introduction of new game into our State, as fol- 

 lows: N. P. Li'.ach, Highgate; W. Y. W. Ripley, Rutland: 

 W. Seward Webb, Shelburne; Jerome M. Celot, Middle- 

 bury; B. R. Seyrnonr. Burlington. 



Dii-ectly following the annual meeting came the annual 

 dinner. Just sixty-six sportsmen witli their friends as- 

 sembled in the dining-room to enjoy tlie mt-uu invpared 

 hy mine bust Clark, manager of the Van Ness. Among 

 the various dislies named on the menu appeared the shad 

 and wall-eyed pike of Lake Champlain and black ducks 

 from the preserve of the Swanton Gun Club, with the 

 cumplimeuts of which they were presented. Among 

 those in attt-ndance were Congressman W, W. Grout, of 

 St. Johnsbury: Col. A. P. Childs and Wm. E. Hawks, of 

 Bennington; Geo. Atkins, of Montpelier; Gen, W. W. 

 Henry, Col. U. A. Woodbury, B. R. Seymour, Fred. H. 



the 

 Col. 



, , - _ wanton ; 



Hon. Nelson Fisk, of Isle La Motte; Dr. C. A, Gales, of 

 Rutland; State's Attorney John B. Peckett, of Bradford; 

 E. W. Raymond, of Post Mills, representing the Ompom- 

 panoosuc Valley Fish and Game Club; Dr. W. S. Curtis 

 and John F. Mead, of West liandolph. 



H. R. Dorr, the president of the League, being pre- 

 vented from attendance by sickness. General William W. 

 Henry acted iis toastmaster and in his happy faculty for 

 telling stories contributed much toward the pleasure of 

 the occasion. Toasts were responded to by H. S. Peck, 

 who in the absence of Mayor Hazleton, v.'elcomed the 

 sportsmen to Burlington. Mr. Richard Rathburn, repre- 

 sentative of the v. S. Fish Commission and member of 

 the joint commission to adjust differences on the Great 

 Lakes as between the United States and Canada, re- 

 sponded for the U. S. Fish Commissioner 



J. W. Titcomb, State Fish and Game Commissioner 

 and secretary of the League, responded for the Commis- 

 sion: 



Permit me to nay that I believe the future prosperity of Vermont 

 will be largely enhanced by, if It does not dtepend entirely upon, two 

 essentials — namely, a careful attention to oui- roads and the protec- 

 tion of our forests, streams and ponds. The former essential, 1 am 

 pleased to remark, is Ln good hands— a State road iea^-ue recently 

 organized; the latter is the subject which claims our attention to-nii?ht. 

 The protection of our forests and streams in its liberal sense may be 



interpreted as the protection of the forests with a proper care for their 

 wild inhabitants, and the improvement of our waters bv stocking them, 

 and wholesome laws for the protection of their inhabitants from anni- 

 hilation. 



In our forests the deer are increasing: raridly and promise jjood sport 

 m the future under proper restrictions. Our game birds have not de- 

 creased much in the past few years, but the market-hunters appear to 

 be on the increase, which indicates that, some law restrictmg the sale 

 of game in the markets may be essential. New species of birds should 

 he introduced. The Enghsh phea;-ants. introduced by our esteemed 

 member, Dr. Webb, appear to have ali eady obtained a foothold. A 

 flock of quad introduced last summer survived tlie extreme cold of 

 last winter. While no practical method of increasing: our game by 

 artificial propaf^ation has been discovered, the art of raising fish arti- 

 ficially should put Dame Nature to shame. It is a curious fact that 

 Dame Nature is quite as wasteful in sowing the seeds of fish life as in 

 spreading the seeds of vegetalion. Take, for example, the common 

 maple. Its seeds are blown to the four winds of heaven, hut few of 

 them come to maturity. The same wa.ste in varying proportions 

 occurs to the naturally deposiied spawn of the various food and game 

 fishes. 



While it is estimated that only 2 or 3 per cent, of spawn naturally 

 deposited becomes the mature fish, 90 per cent, can he hatched out as 

 fry and the larger proportion reared until flngerlings or larger. 

 Under these conditions it is no longer a question as to' whether our 

 streams can be restocked, provided the water is kept free from mill 

 wash or other deleterious substances. 



The speaker then gave a resume of the work done at 

 the State hatchery at Roxbury under the immediate 

 supervision of C. C.Warren. The capacity of the hatchery 

 is now 3,000,000 fry, with the possibility of rearing 250,000 

 fingerlings. From the estimates of the U. S. Fish Com- 

 mission 100 fingerUngs are equal to 1,000 or more fry. 

 But of course there is always a loss in rearing f rotn frv to 

 fingerlings. They have in stock at the iiatcherv about 

 22,000 trout in all; 2,000 larger trout, 2,000 averaging 6ia. 

 long, one year old last spring, and about 18,000 which are 

 being reared from eggs which hatched last spring. 



Col. Clark F. Rowell, of Keene, N. H., ex-president of 

 the Cheshire County Fish and Game League, and travel- 

 ing passenger agent of the Fitchburg road, responded for 

 the Granite State sportsmen, and said in substance: 



The cost of the New Hampshire hatcheries in the aggregate 

 amounted to about $4,000, while this year it will be nearly $8,000. The 

 annual income in that State from the summer visitors, sportsmen and 

 pleasure seekers, is, carefully estimated, $6,000,000. Mr. Rowell said 

 that his State was sometimes called the "Switzerland of America,'' 

 and that they were trying to make her such in fact as well as in name. 

 "And remember, geni lemen of Vermont," said he, "you are neighbors,, 

 so you too may cultivate this same desire to be a great summer re- 

 sort; you have every qualirication, with this beautiful Lake Cham- 

 plain before you, one of the finest bodies of water in the world. And 

 I predict in time her shores will be thickly populated, her islands 

 beautified and her historic places made into national parks. I sin- 

 cerely believe the water in New Hampshire or Vermont is worth more 

 per acre than tlie land, and will soon pay a much larger revenue." He 

 advised stocking the streams and lakes with trout, and where now 

 hundreds are placed put thousands and Vermont will soon ha rivaling 

 New Hampshire for the title "Switzerland of America." 



Congressman Grout said that there was no place on the 

 continent better for the trout than the waters of Vorrnonf. 

 She has large natural facilities for furnishing fish of the 

 small species. He thought Congress would sustam the 

 hatchery at St. Johnsbury by liberal appropriations. In 

 a few years there ought not to be a town in the State 

 wherein there will not be summer boarders, 



J. B. Peckett, Jr., of Bradford: Dr. D. A. Bisbee, of 

 Bristol; Dr. C. A. Gale, of Rutland; Hon. Nelson W. Fisk, 

 of Isle La Motte; A. P. Childs, of Bennington, and Col. 

 C. C. Gilmore, of Swanton, also spoke. Gen. W. Y. W. 

 Ripley, of l?.utland, and a veteran sportsman, sent a let- 

 ter, wliich read: 



I take it that the object of your association is not only to preserve 

 the fish and game of the State, but to make it more abundant. The 

 first question that sugcesis itself is, is there a necessity? aud if so, 

 why? That such necessity exists is afparenl to all. To the second 

 question, "why:''' the answer is easy. It is hecaiisL- the rate of de- 

 struction has been, and is yet greater than iho rate of increase: unless 

 you can increase the rate of production or decrease the rate of de- 

 Ptruci ion, your fish and game are doomed to total extinction. Can 

 you increase the rate of production? In some lines this is possible to 

 a certain extent. You have now in successful operation a State 

 hatchery fur tlie proi'agation of fish, and the general Government ia 

 building another- Great hopes are founded on these enterprises; but 

 in the nature of things it must be years before any marked results 

 can be obtained, and in the meantime your native stock is steadily de- 

 creasing. 



I speak now not of favored localities, hut of the State at large; and 

 not of a period of a single year, but of a number of years. It is true 

 tliat s'jine years are better than others, for trouc. for example. A 

 good breeding season, free froni heavy rainfalls which create floods to 

 wash away the spawning beds, is likely to make the fishing better in 

 the third year thereafter. Favoraule weather during the fishing sea- 

 son also increases the catch f ir thutyear; but taking a period of five 

 consecutive years, most people will admit that there is a steady falling 

 oif in the supply both of fish and of game. 



I do not think it is possible to increase the supply of game by any 

 artificial means; furred aud feathered game must stand or fall on its 

 own opportunities. And taking fish and lioth classes of game together 

 can see no better, aud certHliuly no more economical method of preser- 

 vation and increase than to allow each cla=s better opportunities and 

 more of them. 



First, as to fish. I shaU speak only of the trout, as I am not suffi- 

 ciently familiar with bass to give an intelligent opinion. I would ear- 

 nestly rfcoinineud increasing the limit of size from Gin. to 9in. Every 

 troui! should liave at least one opportunity to try to propagate his 

 species. The trout that is just under the legal limit of Oin. on the .Slst 

 of August, when the season closes, is practically, and in nine cases out 

 of ten eniii'el.v, worthless as a breeder. Most of them are immature 

 and incapable; those which are capable produce but few eggs, and th© 

 result is almost nothing. These same trout are of legal size next May, 

 when the season opens, and are legallj- killed, and have never had a 

 chance to try for themselves to do what we so much wish to see ac- 

 complished, namely, the restocking of our brooks. 



The trout of just under Oin, in length that is put back into the 

 water on the last day of the season is a mature fish of suitable age 

 and size to make its efforts of some avail during the saiuf season. 

 Neither is it any considerable hardship) to any one to make the limit 

 9in.; aud what there is of hardship would only last one or at most 

 two years, for the number of 9-inchers would theu be nearly equal to 

 the number of 6 inchers now and afford much more spurt to the 

 angler, to say nothing of the vastly greater value as food. I am 

 firmly of the opinion that no one enactment w^ould do so much for the 

 trout brooks of the State as such as one as I have suggested, '^ijt I 

 would go further, I would shorteu the open season at least Cne 

 month, making the open season commence on .June 1 and close ."^ug. 

 31, or commence May 1 and close July :il — it is not very material 

 which. But three months fishing is all the brooks of Vermont will 

 stand at the present time. 



I would also recommend a shorter season for birds. It is not possi- 

 ble to fix a limit of size or age for them, nor is it possible, so far'as it 

 is no ft- known, to incrnase the supply by artificial means; we must 

 depend upon the birds themselves and they will surely disappoint us 

 unless we give them a better chance. I would advise making the 

 open season on both woodcock and grouse (commonly called 

 partridges) commence on October 1 instead of on September 15 

 as now, and shortening the season by at least 15 days at the other end. 

 I know that many people will take exception to this, especially as to 

 woodcock. I have heard it said by sportsmen living near the north 

 line of the Stale, that their woodcock had all migrated beforeSept. 15 

 even. 1 thiuk this is a mistake; the birds have simply changed their 

 grounds; they have left the cold, wet swamps, finding themselves 

 more comfortable among the ferns and white birch saijUngs on warm, 

 sunny hillsides during the day, retmming to the lower grounds for 

 food at night. I have shot these birds every season, probably, for 40 

 years, and my record shows that the very best shooting has been the 

 last 10 days in October, and the very best bag I ever made in this State 

 was on Nov. 5, while I have kiUed ttiem. one bird, at least, as late aa 

 Dec. 5. My observation has been that they do not leave a locality till 

 the}" are forced to go by weather so cold as to make boring impossible 

 for them, or till they are driven out by over pursuit, and in luis last 

 case, that they will be found within a rode or two it the sportsman 

 knows where "to look for them and has a thoroughly good dug. 



Now, to conclude where I began The whole question is in a nut- 

 shefi; you must increase the supply or decrease the demand. If you 

 put water into a barrel through an inch pipe and di-aw it, with no stop 

 _ - ge, through a Sin. pipe, your barrel will soon be empty 



