Feb. 17, 1894.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



141 



ANGLING NOTES. 



Salmon for Lake George. 

 Mr. S. G. Worth, acting -assistant of the TJ. S. Fish 

 Commissioner, in charge of the Division of Fishculture, 

 wites me that the first shipment of yearling landlocked 

 salmon for Lake George will consist of from 10,000 to 

 15,000 fish, and it will be made during the month of Sep- 

 tember, and will come from the Green Lake Station in 

 Maine. This is the first authentic statement that has 

 been made upon this particular subject. The FOREST AND 

 Stream note about the planting of the salmon has been 

 copied into a number of New York newspapers, with 

 various additions and amendments not authorized by the 

 announcement of the fact which I made solely in Forest 

 and Stream. 



I have not said that the planting would consist of "6,000 

 fish annually," as the papers have it, for I did not know 

 nntil I received Mr. Worth's letter what the shipments 

 would amount to annually, although I would have guessed 

 nearer to the truth than 6,000 had I been asked to do so. 



Thus far I have selected three streams in which to plant 

 the salmon, and they are East Brook, at the head of the 

 lake, near Caldwell village; Harris's or Edmond's Brook 

 on the west shore, five miles from Caldwell, and Indian 

 Brook, on the west shore, two miles from Bolton. They 

 are natural trout streams, have no mills on them, and 

 there are no obstructions to prevent the salmon from 

 returning to them for spawning when the time arrives for 

 them to do so. 



Habits of Landlocked Salmon in Maine. 



Any one who has been interested in investigating the 

 habits of landlocked salmon will know that the fish of 

 Grand Lake (Maine) ran down into Grand Lake Stream 

 to spawn, and that in other waters they went into the in- 

 flowing streams for the same purpose. I asked Mr. Chas. 

 G. Atkins, in charge of the TJ. S. Fish Commission salmon 

 breeding works in Maine, and probably the best authority 

 we have upon the habits of the salmon, if the down- 

 stream spawning fish perpetuated the habit in their 

 young, and he has just sent me a most interesting reply 

 containing new information, from which I quote as fol- 

 lows: "I had charge for some years of the fishcultural 

 work at Grand Lake Stream on the Schoodic Lakes in 

 this State (Maine). We worked only with landlocked 

 salmon. It was the established habit of" the whole race 

 of the salmon of Grand Lake to run down into Grand 

 Lake Stream to spawn. There was a good stream at the 

 head of the lake, presenting good facilities for spawning, 

 and there is sufficient evidence that at a former time it 

 had its brood of fish, but it is not established whether 

 these were salmon that went up from Grand Lake or 

 down from Junior Lake. In my time it was rarely visited 

 by spawning fish. 



"As to the persistence or non-persistence of this down- 

 ward habit in the descendants of these salmon in new 

 homes, I regret to say that I can tell you nothing definite. 

 In this State the Commissioners have disseminated another 

 race of landlocked salmon, those of the Sebago waters, 

 from spawn gathered from up-running fish, and it 

 happens that the most of the lakes where landlocked 

 salmon have been introduced have received stocks from 

 both races. 



"I delayed my reply that I might put your question to 

 Mr. Stanley, of the Maine Fish Commission, whether 

 there were any cases in which the Schoodic fish had alone 

 been used, that would solve this problem. He was here 

 the other day and we discussed the matter briefly, but he 

 could not give me such an instance. 



"Perhaps, now, the experience of New Hampshire will 

 afford the necessary data. I think, though I am not sure, 

 that their landlocked salmon were derived wholly from 

 the Schoodic (down-running) race. 



"Mr. Stanley tells me that the landlocked salmon of the 

 Sebago waters, that is of Sebago Lake, have within recent 

 years taken up the habit of running down as well as up. 

 Perhaps, rather, resumed an original habit after a lapse 

 of many years. 



"Probably you are familiar with the result of the intro- 

 duction of landlocked salmon into Woodhull Lake, in your 

 State." 



I have already referred to Woodhull Lake in these notes. 

 There the salmon went down stream and disappeared, as 

 I believe, for lack of suitable food. I am more and more 

 convinced that salmon can be held in a lake of suitable 

 water, provided there is an abundance of suitable food for 

 them, no matter which way they go to spawn. Of course, 

 if they rundown to spawn many of the young will escape, 

 and it is desirable to plant fish that run up for this pur- 

 pose; but food— smelts or frost fish (the round whitefish)— 

 is the main thing to insure success in stocking new waters. 

 Mr. Atkins's letter throws new light on the habits of the 

 landlocked salmon and is a valuable contribution on the 

 subject. 



"Dynamite Fishing." 

 With uplifted hands I protest against the use of the term 

 "dynamite fishing" in some of the newspapers of the day. 

 That fishing, an honorable pastime, should be dragged in 

 the mire by being coupled, with a hyphen, to dynamite is 

 utterly wrong, and inexcusable. Dynamite murder, and 

 that in the first degree, is the only term which correctly 

 expresses the act of killing fish with this explosive. Those 

 who use this and kindred explosives should get the law 

 "sled-length," and without benefit of clergy. Last sum- 

 mer a dynamite outrage was committed in the Mohawk 

 River by which a large number of fish, large and small, 

 were killed. The chief actor, the man who exploded the 

 dynamite, was arrested and bailed for appearance in 

 court. He ran away, forfeiting his bail, and his bonds- 

 man pursued him and he was re-arrested, pleaded guilty 

 to the crime, and was fined fifty dollars and fifty days in 

 the penitentiary; and yet the papers called the act which 

 landed the man in prison, "dynamite fishing," showing 

 that they did not distinguish between a crime and a 

 harmless, healthy recreation. If there is a more dastardly 

 way of breaking the fish laws than by using dynamite to 

 kill fish I do not know it. 



Habits of Landlocked Salmon in Sunapee Lake. 



Upon receipt of Mr. Atkins's letter, from which I have 

 quoted, referring to landlocked salmon in New Hamp- 

 shire, I sought information upon the subject, as he sug- 

 gested, from Prof. John D. Quackenbos, who was, for- 

 tunately, visiting me at the time. Probably no one is 

 better acquainted with the history of the landlocked sal- 

 mon in Sunapee Lake than Professor Quackenbos, who 



has made his summer home on its shores for a quarter 

 of a century, and Sunapee is the most celebrated of the 

 New Hampshire lakes tha,t have been planted with this 

 fish. 



What follows is the reply that Professor Quackenbos 

 makes to my queries, and it furnishes further valuable 

 information regarding the habits of the landlocked 

 salmon: "First, there have been so many introductions 

 of landlocked salmon into Sunapee Lake that no living 

 man can say where the eggs and fry all came from. The 

 plants began in 1867. Whether the early fry were land- 

 locked salmon or not I do not know. But I do know 

 that the same early plants produced salmon in New- 

 found Lake. So you may draw your own inferences. 



"Second — Landlocked salmon in Sunapee were never 

 known to go down stream into the Sugar River to spawn. 

 They go down when they can in the spring, and it is in 

 spring and early summer that salmon have been speared 

 in the Sugar River. This may be because of the difficul- 

 ties attending descent and the filthy condition of the 

 river below the dam. We now keep the screen in place 

 (such being the law that dam owners are bound to respect) 

 and fish of large size cannot possibly run down if the 

 screen is in repair. 



"Third — From the very earliest periods of observation, 

 that is, from the seventies, landlocked salmon have 

 swarmed to the mouths of the inflowing brooks in Sep- 

 tember and attempted to force their way up these small 

 streams to spawn. I have seen them come in such schools 

 to the Pike Brook that in default of room in the holding 

 tanks (where the fish are kept until they are 'ripe') we 

 have carried 61bs. specimens up the beach and restored 

 them to the water. I have known the run to be so great 

 that the Commissioners were compelled to take up their 

 nets and retire; the salmon gilled so fast they could not 

 be removed by the force at the hatchery rapidly enough 

 to save their lives. 



"I have often sat on my piazza and the piazza of the 

 State camp in September and watched monster salmon 

 throw themselves out of the water on the sandbars in 

 front of my brooks, and as soon as it was dark they would 

 rush into the shallow water and fling themselves over into 

 the deep estuary with a splashing that thrilled one to the 

 very boot heels, and then when daylight came again we 

 would find them preparing their beds on sandy or pebbly 

 shallows far up the brook. 



"At Chandler ville, where a great feeder with all the 

 drainage of Sunapee Mountain enters the lake through a 

 long, black estuary, salmon have for years been taken in 

 the fall, sometimes in the State nets, sometimes by the 

 poacher's spear and me3h. Even where there is little 

 more than a rudimentary channel, the salmon find it, and 

 their instinct seems to tell them that wherever there is a 

 sand beach there ought to be a brook (and there once was 

 in every case), and back and forth they wander, seeking 

 the cool waters that have long since ceased to flow. 

 Under such circumstances we have netted them for the 

 hatchery. 



"The ouananiche of Sunapee are no down-running race; 

 they are climbers from away back, and if the natural 

 conditions permitted they would follow the streams with 

 their silvery brides to the very summits of the mountains, 

 and spend their honeymoons in water-hollowed basins 

 blazing with the reflection of the autumnal forest." It 

 will be remembered when reading the two contributions 

 upon the habits of the landlocked salmon, here given, 

 that Mr. Atkins speaks of the fish in its original habitat, 

 and Prof. Quackenbos of the planted fish and their 

 descendants. 



Varnish for Rod Whippings. 



A correspondent asks how to treat silk thread wrappings 

 on a fish rod to prevent the silk from discoloring. First, 

 the silk must be waxed with white beeswax or the white 

 or colorless wax used by fly dressers, and made as follows: 

 2oz. of best white resin and Joz. of white beeswax should 

 simmer together on the fire for ten minutes, then add ioz. 

 of tallow and continue to simmer for fifteen minutes, 

 when the mixture should be poured into a basin of water 

 and when cool enough worked in the fingers until the wax 

 is white and pliable. 



That is the receipt given by Francis Francis, and one 

 that I have used for years. I find that it is not unlike the 

 wax that can be purchased of fly-makers in this country. 

 Pennell gives a different receipt: Burgundy pitch 120 

 grains, white resin 60 grains, tallow 20 grains. Powder 

 and mix pitch and resin, put into an oven and when 

 melted add the tallow and stir all together. When the 

 rod is wound with the silk, varnish with coach-body var- 

 nish called "wearing body," which is the best varnish for 

 the rod as well as the whippings. Use the varnish as it 

 comes from the maker; do not add a dryer or anything to 

 thin it. Many amateur rod makers use shellac varnish, 

 and if for any reason this should be preferred use the 

 bleached shellac, sometimes called white shellac, to make 

 the varnish. Treated in either of the ways mentioned 

 the silks usually employed in mending rods will not be 

 materially changed in color. Mr. Wells says in his book 

 "Fly-Rods and Fly-Tackle," that another method may be 

 used: Wet the silk with hot water, then cover it with 

 thin white glue. 



As rod-makers use coach-body varnish it may be 

 assumed that that is best, and I presume that any of the 

 dealers in tackle who advertise in the columns of Forest 

 and Stream will furnish the wax and the varnish. I 

 know that some dealers make a specialty of wax and var- 

 nish in small quantities for amateur work. 



A. N. Cheney. 



Boston and Maine. 



All the hotels and fishing camps in the Maine wilds are 

 preparing for a great season in 1894. There will be no 

 World's Fair to draw patronage from them, and generally 

 their proprietors believe that fishing is to be better than 

 ever. Generally the water has been low in the Maine 

 lakes and ponds, however, and it is low up to the present 

 time, a condition not favorable to the trout. Tom French 

 of Andover and of Richardson Lake steamboat fame, 

 writes me that he shall "be there" the coming summer, 

 with his steamers, whatever the other steamboat people 

 may do. He says that the water in Richardson Lake is 

 very low; has been very low all the fall and winter. He 

 fears thai if the drawing down of the Rangeley Lakes is 

 continued winter after winter, as has been the case for 

 several winters past, that the fishing will soon be ruined. 

 For several years after the raising of the Middle Dam by 

 the Union Water Power Company, which added 13ft. 



more of flowage to Richardson Lake, the company kept 

 that lake full of water all winter, or nearly so, and those 

 winters were followed by the best fishing ever known on 

 -that lake. For three or four years the reverse has been 

 the case. Special. 



The Joseph Dixon Crucible Company, of Jersey City, N. J., an- 

 nounce that they now hare ready a revised edition of their pamphlet 

 on graphite as a lubricant. A copy will be sent free of charge to any 

 one interested in the subject. — Adv. 



tgmhqultitre met <§wh groteftion. 



THE COAST FISHERY CONFERENCE. 



Proceedings of Conference Held to Consider 

 the Subject of the Exhaustion of 

 Coast Line Food Fishes. 



OFFICIAL REPORT BY SECRETARY E. P. DOYLE. 



(Concluded from. Page 122.) 

 At this point Mr. Githen asked Mr. Cochran: How many 

 bluefish were in Raritan Bay last summer? 

 Mr. Cochran— I may say none. 



Mr. Githen— What was the supply of bluefish in the sum- 

 mer previous? 

 Me. Cochran— Moderately fair. 



Mr. Githen— Right. The fishermen who usually catch 

 their bluefish off Seabright, this season a year ago really left 

 the ocean and went into the Bay and fished there almost 

 entirely for bluefish, and found them in large quantities. 

 Now how can you catch them in lanje quantities without the 

 assistance of pounds and weirs? Will you answer that ques- 

 tion? 



Mr. COCHRAN— I will answer the question generally. For 

 market purposes nets must be used. The gentleman will 

 please bear in mind that I confined my remarks to weakfish, 

 and said nothing about bluefish. If local supply is endan- 

 gered or destroyed by artificial causes there should be limita- 

 tion and restriction. 



Mr. Githen— We cannot catch the bluefish in quantities 

 unless we have weirs or pounds or other nets. The remark 

 was made yesterday by me that the weakfish could not be 

 caught by hook. I did not mean to make any such state- 

 ment. My intention was to state that the weakfish off the 

 shore do not readily take the hook, and cannot be caught by 

 hook and line to supply the market. In fact they rarely take 

 the hook. Then it is conceded, gentlemen, that it is beyond 

 the possibility of the hook and line fishermen to supply the 

 market with bluefish and weakfish (caught by the hook and 

 line alone), and we must catch them in weirs or by these new 

 inventions. It has been stated here that there is a scarcity 

 of food fish, that there has been a depletion of fish in the 

 waters. There has been no such thing proven. Figures have 

 been produced here that would show that the increase of the 

 catch has been steadily going on, even though the means of 

 catching have been greatly advanced each year. On our own 

 coast we have evidence that 10,000, OOOlbs. have been caught 

 there. That they are not to be found in some of these little 

 bays and lagoons is no argument whatever that the ocean is 

 being depleted of fish. There is evidence here as an actual 

 fact that the State of New York is supplied with a tremend- 

 ous increase of fish. Is there any one to dispute this? And 

 at no increase of price, but at a decided decrease of price. 

 You say they are fishermen's figures. The books are open 

 and any one may verify these statements. 



Mr. Roosevelt — I think it is probably the fact that the 

 syndicate of fish dealers regulate the price of fish. 



Mr. Githen— The fishermen are not responsible for that. I 

 do not believe that any such syndicate exists. They may 

 regulate the price, but it fluctuates. In the month of Sep- 

 tember, 1892, we landed a catch of 35,000. We were the only 

 ones along that entire coast that happened to catch the fish. 

 We landed them in New York, and at the market at that 

 time they were in splendid shape. We got them on ice about 

 7 o'clock Sunday morning. The fish three days previous to 

 that were worth 1% to 2 cents a pound. On Monday there 

 was not, I believe, 5,0001bs. of fish outside of that market. 

 We put them all in one man's hands. The rest of the 

 market had to pay his price. About 11 o'clock on Monday 

 morning the thing was decidedly changed. What was the 

 cause? Down came a great big smack, and she was loaded 

 with bluefish, and down went the price. That does not show 

 any syndicate. In reference to a committee being appointed. 

 I would be only too glad to have a committee come and look 

 at ©ur books. In regard to having a Commission established 

 that is disinterested and is fair to us, or is prepared to legis- 

 late to save the fish, that will not be objected to on my part. 

 I am perfectly willing to do that and have always been open 

 to that. What are we going to do? We must not drift from 

 the facts that have been maintained and submitted at this 

 conference, and there is not a single man who has spoken 

 that has not substantiated the facts which have been offered 

 by the pound fishermen and the net fishermen, and facts 

 which are open to investigation— figures, prices, all that on 

 which depends the amount of fish to the number of pound 

 nets which are sent to Philadelphia and elsewhere. 



Mr. Robert B. Roosevelt offered the following resolu- 

 tion: 



First— That in the opinion of the Association for the Pro- 

 tection of Fish and Game the setting of pound nets in the 

 salt waters of this State should be prohibited between the 

 first day of November and the first day of June. 



8eco»d— In the opinion of this Association fishing with 

 nets or seines for menhaden in the waters of Long Island 

 and all salt waters over which the State has jurisdiction 

 should be prohibited. 



No action was taken on the resolution. 



Mr. Luther Maddocks (Me.) said: Allusion has been 

 made to the appointment of that Commission. I think I can 

 see the star of peace arising and the wisdom which permitted 

 this Commission of New York State, divinely inspired I 

 have no doubt, to call this meeting. I believe it is going to lead 

 to the solution of this question, which I have been interested 

 in, and my friend Church and others all our lifetime. Per- 

 haps I may not appear egotistical by saying that no man in 

 my community has had the opportunity to investigate the 

 fisheries that I have. I have been a member of the Fish 

 Commission under Mr. McDonald. I have no words of criti- 

 cism upon his policy. I was not a member as a business 

 matter, but I was appointed by him specially to investigate, 

 to find out where the menhaden spawn. In April, 1888, I 

 was sent to Florida, there to stop until I saw some evidence 

 of young fry on that coast. On April 2 I went to the mouth 

 of the St. J ames River, and as far as could be seen we could 

 see these young menhaden coming in as thick as rain upon 

 the water. I never saw such a body of fish in my life. They 

 could not have been over three months old. I followed that 

 class of fish, and the larger class of fish which followed them, 

 all the way to the State of Maine. 



Aside from being connected with the fish business of every 

 description from the whale down te the scup, I had a great 

 interest in the conclusion which I was to arrive it. I fol- 

 lowed those young fry along the coast up to Georgia, South 

 Carolina and North Carolina. After they arrived in North 

 Carolina I lost the run of those small fish. Those fish went 

 into the Chesapeake Bay. They filled the waters full. They 

 stayed there. I came along further north and as I came 



