Deo. 16, 1893.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



528 



plicity and neatness of this tackle. But its failiire to kill 

 will surely disappoint many, many times, when wind and 

 weather are most propitious and the locality known to be 

 a good one. I long puzzled over this, and tried all man- 

 ner of changes, but the nickel and red combination re- 

 mained unsuccessful. In some waters it was better than 

 others, however, and I wondered why. 

 ■ A few seasons ago I fell in with an old angler, a hermit, 

 who had devoted much time to fishmg, and particularly 

 to fishing for pickerel. His cabin was on the shore of a 

 small lake, well shut in by high wooded banks, and wild 

 enough to be but little frequented. It was at his invita- 

 tion that I bunked in the cabin during my stay, and on 

 the first night he told me more of pickerel ways and 

 pickerel lures than I had ever imagined a human being 

 could learn. 



In the first place, he said, a man must realize that the 

 fish most numerous in a pond will, as a rule, be food for 

 the pickerel. According to what those are the lure must 

 vary in different locality. He always used a spoon, he 

 said, but made it himself, and the line and sinkers as 

 well, though this latter for a casual fisherman would be 

 impractical. Tlie chief trouble with the market spoons 

 was tlieir undeviating sameness in coloring and shape, 

 and their unscientific construction. Long research had 

 taught Lim much as to the effectiveness and results of 

 different tones and tints in spoons. On a lake where 

 yellow perch breed plentifully they are apt to kill off the 

 other young fry and baitfish, and their own young in con- 

 sequence become the prey of the pickerel. In such water 

 an all copper spoon will be always attractive and wiU be 

 reliable if rightly made. Sunfish in other lakes are the 

 only food and here solid brass spoons are the only kind 

 to use. In still other localities the common "shiners" 

 swarm, and because of their feebleness and tender flesh 

 are highly prized by the pickerel. Here you will use a 

 spoon of German silver — with no red anywhere about it. 

 The beauty of these devices is at once seen. The reddish 

 metallic luster of copper suggests the ruddy fins and 

 scales of the perch aa no red paint can, and it is a steady 

 flash not intermittent, red and white like the painted 

 traps. The brass takes off well the lighter gold of the 

 roach or sunfish, and the silver is a perfect substitute for 

 the glittering shiner. 



All of these spoons were small, not over an inch and 

 a quarter in l- ngth by thrfe-quarters wide, and of an 

 even regular shield-like shape. The hooks, a grapijle of 



SHIELD SHAPE AND KIDNEY SHAPE. 



them soldered together, must hang on a short shank so 

 that the end of the spoon just plays over the points of 

 the hooks without catching. This remedies a striking 

 defect in the store spoons w hen the distance between the 

 spoon and the barbs invariably allows cross-coming fish 

 to bite and fling off before being struck. Then, too, the 

 even shape maki'S the spinning perfectly regular, the 

 effect being that of a shining, but not of a wobbling 

 object, as the other kidney-shaped ones appear. The 

 hanging on a spindle must give a perfectly free swing 

 and the revolutions wiU be fiilly twice as quick as those 

 of the old-fashioned kind. 



The line should be dark-colored, grayish if possible, heavy 

 as curtain cord and braided. You will see many out troll- 

 ing with 200ft. of it trading behind the boat and even 

 then their spoon has not sunken well. These human rope 

 yralks do not reaUze the miles of cord they handle, pulling 

 in every time, grass clogs the spoon or it fowls. And 

 these long strungout clumsy manufactured spoons will 

 catch in the pickerel-grass twice more than old "Tom's" 

 do; let your line be of only 40ft. length, 35 is enough, and 

 on it place three heavy buckshot for sinkers. One 6ft. 

 Jrom the spoon, another 14 or 1.5ft. from that, in the 

 middle and the third 6ft. from the boat end. Cut on the 

 bank a short pole of a thumb's thickness, not over 3 or 3|^f t. 

 long, and fasten your line well to one end. Select light 

 bouyantwood always, and then when you suddenly strike 

 a bad snag, you can at once let it go overboard and your 



gole will float the line till you can back up and puU loose, 

 iigged thus your spoon will play about 4ft. deep and then 

 the pickerel bite. Bigger fish lie deeper. For them use 

 twice as heavy weight and play about 10ft. down. Such 

 fish seldom frequent the shallows even to feed and will 

 not rise for to bite. 



Never strike with the pole; just hold it motionless near 

 the surface and braced firmly. Let the rowing be gentle, 

 even and slow, and make no motions in the boat. Every 

 movement there is plainly shown by the spoon in its vi- 

 brations and tends to alarm the fish. When one strikes, 

 the spring of the pole will hook him firmly and you will 

 fling the short pole into the bottom of the boat and land 

 your fish. No kinks nor snarls to bother you, for your 

 line is short, and no losing a valuable spoon every time 

 you hook a sunken log. On the lake where old Tom bved, 

 we used only the copper, for it was a yellow perch ground 

 and the spoons I noticed for another thing were, before 

 use, pohshed, even the hooks themselves brightened and 

 scoured. Our catches there and the unusual luck that 

 has followed me since with my home-made tackle, con- 

 vinces me that if others will try these ideas they will enjoy 

 some rare sport on the lakes and jionds this season. 



Hakry Peescott Beach. 



The Little Star Gazer. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In your issue of Dec. § Mr. James Hyatt notes the fact 

 that in my "Adirondack Fishes," published as an extract 

 from the Report of the Adirondack Survey in 1883, I in- 

 sert the Uranidea on the authority of Dr. C. Hart Mer- 

 riam. I c-nsidered the authority sufficient, as Dr. 

 Merriam had more experience in that region than I, but 

 a year or so later Mr. A. R. Fuller sent me a pint jar of 

 them taken from a stream emptying into Meacham Lake, 

 near his hotel. There are nine species of this little fish, 

 according to Jordan (JIanual of the Vertebratas), ranging 

 from Canada to Georgia, and wdl. no doubt, be found in 

 most small, cool, stony brooks. They are plenty in the 

 streams flowing into the Genessee River, south of Roches- 

 ter, but I have not met them on Long Island. 



Fred JIather. 



Cold Sphiso Hahbor, N. Y. 



THE ONONDAGA ANGLERS' YEAR. 



The annual report of the Anglers' Association of Onon- 

 daga Cou.ity was presented to the Supervisors this after- 

 noon as follows : 



To the Honoi-aUe Board of Supervisors of Onondaga 

 County: 



"We have the honor to present this annual report of 

 the Anglers' Association of Onondaga County: 



"The active work of Game Protector Jackson this year 

 did not commence untU March 28. It was not deemed 

 necessary to incur the expense during the winter months, 

 but since the Legislature, at its last session, amended the 

 game laws (secti n 136), allowing the use of fyke nets of 

 not less than If in. bars, in Seneca River between the first 

 day of October and the first day of May to catch bullheads, 

 catfish, sunfish, suckers and eels, it will be necessary dur- 

 ing the time which this legalized netting may be allowed, 

 to keep a protector on duty most of the tmie during the 

 winter months, so that no fish are caught and killed, 

 otiier than those named: also that illegal fyke nets of 

 less than Ifin. bar are not used in the Seneca River. 

 Some concerted action should be taken, to the end that 

 this amendment to the game laws shall be repealed, to 

 the next session of the Legislature. It is impossible to 

 prevent illegal fishing and the killing of game fish if nets 

 are allowed to be used at any time. 



"The following amount of fish fiy, obtained from the 

 State hatcheries have been put in the streams and lakes 

 of the county during the year: 100,000 pike in Seneca 

 River, 100,000 pike in TuUy Lake, 100.000 muskallonge in 

 Tully Lake, .50,000 muskallonge in Oneida Lake, 50,000 

 muskallonge in Onondaga Lake, 25,000 California trout in 

 Onondaga Creek, 50,000 muskallonge in Otisco Lake, 8 

 cans black bass in Tully Lake 6 to 12in. long. This was 

 done under the action of the association at a cost of $70.99 

 for the distribution only, which was paid from the county 

 appropriation. 



"The total amount paid this year to Protector Jackson 

 and assistants for salari es and expenses to Dec. 1, 1893, is 

 $756,87. Of this amount $433.81 was paid from the funds 

 of the association, and |323 06 was paid fi-oni the amount 

 of $500 apprnpriated by your honorable hoard for the pro- 

 tection of fish and game pursuant to Sec. ii74, Chap. 31 

 of the General Laws approved May 5, 1893, subject to ex- 

 penditm-e by the District Attorney in his discretion. The 

 uuexpended balance of this appropriation is $105.95. 



"It has hFen our aim to administer the funds of the as- 

 sociation and of tiie county in such manner as to obtain 

 the greatest possible etficiency, with the least possible 

 outlay of money, to protect the public waters of this 

 county from the depredators who, without such protec- 

 tion, would soon deplete the waters of its food fish which 

 add so greatly to the economy, comfort and enjoyment of 

 the people. 



"The importance of increasing the quantity and cheap- 

 ening the price of fish food increases as the years go by. 

 Fish protection is for the benefit of the raapses, not the 

 few, and it would seem to be a duty which oflicial repre- 

 sentatives of the people owe to its people to provide them 

 with an abundance of fish at the smallest cost, whether 

 obtained in the markets or as the proper result of days 

 spent in life-giving recreation. 



"The thanks of tlie yieople of this county are extended 

 to your honorable Board for the assistance you have 

 given the cause of protecting the public waters. 



"This association has a membership of 305, of which 

 number 61 joined the present year. All of the revenus 

 are strictly applied to the protection and propagation of 

 food fish in the waters of Onondaga county. 



"The efficiency of the work done during the year can- 

 not be estimated solelj^ by the number of nets, etc., cap- 

 tured, or of parties arrested and convicted for illegal 

 fishing. The fact that a game protector is constantly on 

 patrol of the waters deters many parties from illegal 

 fishing. 



"We respectfully petition your honorable Board to ap- 

 appropriate the same sum of "money as last year, promis- 

 ing that our efforts shall be devoted to an economical ad- 

 ministration of the same. 



"Annexed hereto is the detailed report of the work 

 done by the Protector for the year ending Dec. 1, 1893. 



D. H. Bruce, President. 



George B. Wood, 



Amos Padgham, [-c ±- ... 

 M. J. FiiENCH, ^Executive Committee. 



William Everson, J 



Syhactjsk, Dec. 5. 



Addressing the Board after the reading of the report, 

 Gen. Bruce said that the gi-eat object in view was the 

 cheapening of fish food by increasing the possibilities of 

 supply. The Anglers' Asssociation had only one paid 

 officer; the reward of its members generally was in the 

 feeling of having done something for the public good. 

 As a result of the appropriation made last year, and in 

 recognition of the enterprise shown, the. Fish Commis- 

 sioners of the State, tlie General was authorized to say, 

 had determined to establish a hatchery somewhere on the 

 northern shore of Oneida Lake, and "the consequent ad- 

 vantages could not be too highly estimated. What had 

 already been done had made the lake an especially good 

 fishing ground this year, more fish having been taken 

 from it with hook and fine than in any five years previous. 

 Gen. Bruce concluded with an earnest appeal for the 

 renewal of the appropriation. 



The Breaking' Strain of Gut. 



We are often asked by tackle dealers, and have also 

 had several letters from anglers, asking us to give them 

 the breaking strain of gut of different thicknesses. The 

 names given below are weU known in the trade. The gut 

 tested was perfectly dry, and of course would stand a 

 much greater pull if soaked ki water for a short time. 



91bs. 



SALMON GUT. 



Sizes 2^ \ 



Strain 151bs. 121 ds. lOibs. 



LAKE AND TROnT GTJT. 



Padron. Regular. Fiua. Refiaa. Ix Drawn. 3x Drawn. 



8lbs. ribs. 51bs. <llbs. 31bs lib. 



S. Allcock & Co. 



Summer Homes. 



A BEADTiFtTLLY illustrated book: list of over 3,000 sumuier hotels 

 and boarding houses in Catstili Mountains and central New York. 

 Send six cents in stamps to H. B. Jagoe, Gen'l Eastern Passenger 

 Agent, West Shore R. R., 363 Broadway, New York, or free upon 

 application.— .4dt>. 



Note on Spawning Conditions of Sturgeon. 



By Bashpord Dean, Columbia College, New York. 



Of the breeding habits of the sturgeon (A^cipenser sturio) 

 little has been recorded either by praciical flshculturists or 

 by students of embryology. In the following preliminary 

 paper a few notes are given as to the movements of the fish 

 during spawning and as to the natural conditions under 

 which the eggs are deposited and hatched. 



Along the eastern coast of the United States a rich sturgeon 

 fishery has been becoming very generally depleted. And in 

 view mainly of cultural needs an experimental .study— during 

 the spring of 1893— was carried on by the writer in behalf of 

 the Governmental Commission of Fisheries. The station 

 cho.sen for the experiments was in the region of the mouth of 

 the. Delaware at Delaware City, a point -specially favorable, 

 as the work of Prof. Ryder* in 1S88 had demonstrated. 



During the writer's visit about 50 fish were brought in 

 daily to the wharves of the fishermen, and during the 

 spawning time there was abundant material for cultural 

 studies. 



As to the mode of occurrence in this locality of the adult 

 fish a few notes might be given. They are usually taken as 

 they pass up the river in "schools." These "schools" or 

 "runs," as the gill-netters state, comprise as many as 30 or 

 40 individuals; they occur at brief intervals, are usual at the 

 beginning of the tides and as frequent by day as by night. 

 During the season of well-marked "runs" the earlier fish are 

 of unripe o%'aries ("cow fish"), valuable, therefore,, in the 

 making of cnviare; these, acconlingly, might well be ex- 

 pected to pass further up the river to .spaw"n. From a few 

 days to a fortnight later occur spawning fishes ("runners"), 

 a "run" that is surprisingly brief, often at a particular point 

 not longer than one or two days A great number of spawn- 

 ing fish is then usually to be taken. The fishermen maintain 

 that these spawning days occur regularly each year and at 

 nearly corresponding times; and it is of interest to record 

 that the writer, three months before his visit, was told by 

 Mr. Reuben Anderson of Delaware City the exact day when 

 ripe fish were to be taken. Thereafter, although "runners" 

 are brought in intermittently, it has proven most difficult to 

 secure at the same time the snawning males and females. 

 The later fishes are in the majority of cases spent ("slunk- 

 er.s"). The breeding habits of the sturgeon have been ob- 

 served in a locality a few miles below Delaware City. Here, 

 when formerly very abundant, the fish were known to come 

 into shallows noted for swift-running current and clean, 

 shelly bottom, and would be seen depositing their eggs. 

 This would occur, according to fishermen, about the be- 

 ginning of May and continue for three or four days. The 

 spawning fish is said to have been attended by several 

 "bucks" (males) and frequently pressed on its side as the 

 eggs were extruded. This testimony appears trustworthy, 

 as the males are clearly to be distinguished bv their smaller 

 size; and the fishes' white abdomen might rea lily be con- 

 spicuous. This habit is the more probable sinee spent fishes, 

 in every case as far as the writer is awfire, are ahraided, 

 often severely scratched, on the ventral side. On these 

 grounds the eggs were repeatedly found, sometimes glued to 

 submerged twigs, often to stones and shells, in patches, 

 sometimes string-like, but never in masses. Recently, how- 

 ever, no spawning in shallows appears to have been observed. 

 The egg,s that are occasionally taken are attached in stringy 

 patches to sunken nets or water-soaked brush fragments 

 from the region of the river's channel. The channel region 

 seems accordingly be.st adapted for trials in artificial propa- 

 gation, and this influence the results of the writer seem 

 strongly to emphasize. In one experiment, for example, 

 where a half dozen hatching boxes containing eggs similarly 

 conditioned were arrayed from river margin near the mark 

 of low water out to near the channel, the eggs of marginal 

 water.s speedily died, while those of deep water in large part 

 90 9.5^) were safely hatched. 



The arrangement of the eggs in their layers, moreover, was 

 found a condition necessary for aeration. This mode unfor- 

 tunately is not easily attained. The eggs soon after fertiliza- 

 tion become viscid, and unless speedy cure be given, will 

 shortly glue together in a dense jelly-like mass. Of this the 

 inner and poorly aerated eggs speedily die, and their disin- 

 tegration appears to cause the destruction of all. It is clear 

 therefore, that in the disposition of the adhesive eggs upon 

 the hatchery trays the greatest promptness is required. As 

 a detail of this process the eggs were found to be most con- 

 veniently spread when under water; a mass of eggs placed 

 upon the submerged tray a few minutes after fertilization is 

 readily to be rolled out in a single layer, and may thus be 

 held till attached (about twenty minutes later). In the ex- 

 periments of the writer the most favorable material for tray 

 bottom proved to be a coarse mosquito netting. On this a 

 single layer of eggs was ea.sily arranged, the meshes of the 

 netting proving sufficiently large to allow eggs to enter and 

 become favorably attached, but not large enough to allow 

 the eggs to pass through; a well prepared tray bottom thus 

 received on either side the best conditions for aeration. 

 Floating hatching boxes with bottom and ends of fine metal 

 gauze were found to give satisfactory results. Space was 

 economized by making the box a deep one, placing the hatch- 

 ing trays almost vertically, allowing four or five to a box. If 

 the trays be slightly inclined downward against the direc- 

 tion of the current they are naturally less apt to suft'er from 

 deposits of silt. Under natural conditions the hatching of 

 eggs took place (water temperature 60° to 73° F.) between 92 

 and 100 hours. 



* Prof. John A. Ryder, U. S. F. C. Bulletin, 1888. 



Spawning of Rainbow Trout. 



Cold Spring Haubok, N. Y.— In issue of Dec. 9 this ques- 

 tion is raised. Not only can Mr. H. Stewart, of North Caro- 

 lina, cro.ss the rainbow with the fontinalis, as far as the 

 simultaneous spawning is concerned, but I could do it on 

 Long Island if 1 wished. On Dec. 7 of the present year I 

 took ecrgs from brook, brown and rainbow trout and could 

 have crossed them if so desired. Outside of the knowledge 

 that this can be done there seems to be no reason for bastard- 

 iziiig fish unless when there is a lack of males of the species 

 which is spawning. Just how far hybrid fishes are fertile is 

 not known, and it seems that there must be a barrier some- 

 where, as in the case of other animals. I have seen trout 

 labeled "one-sixteenth" of one species, but confess to being 

 skeptical about it. Such crossings would require more care- 

 ful isolation than is possible in the State establishments in 

 the outdoor ponds where screens of wire cloth is all that 

 separates the ponds, and surely the eye could not detect the 

 proportions of blood in such a fish. 



That the rainbow trout has changed its habit of spawning 

 when brought East is sure, and as all animals modify their 

 habits in a changed climate or die out, this is not surprising. 



Fred Mather. 



A NEW-SUBSCRIBER OFFER. 



A bona fide new subscriber sending ua $5 will receive for that sum 

 the FoKssT AND Stkkam one year (price U) and a set of Zimmerman's 

 famous "Ducking Scenes" (advertised on another page, price 85)— a 

 59 value for $5. 



This offer is to neio subscribers only. It does not apply to renetoals 

 For 53 a bona fide new subscriber for six months will receive the 

 foRKST AND Stream during that time and a copy of Dr. Van Fleet's 

 iiandsome work, "Bird Portraits for the Young" (the price of wMoll 

 ism. 



