274 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[March 31, 1894. 



article in a French publication of recent date. The author 

 of the article i9 Mr. J. Kuustler, and Mr. Charles G. At- 

 kins of the U, S. Fish Commission has just sent me a 

 translation made by his assistant, Mr. Charles Cecil 

 Jocylen. The author relates that by a system of feeding 

 rainbow trout hare, in France, been brought to maturity 

 and ripe ova have been taken from them, when they were 

 less than twelve months old. 



It is not unusual to hear that some of our native brook 

 trout breed when they are yearlings, but in such a case 

 "yearlings" is a conventional expression. Trout do breed 

 the year after they are born , but they are born in the 

 month of January, perhaps, and spawn in a year from the 

 following October or November. Or they may actually 

 be two years old, as I will show. 



These are facts: In Pennsylvania trout begin to spawn 

 Oct. 10 and they may be hatched in forty-five days, so 

 they may be born Nov. 25, and as the sac may be ab- 

 sorbed in thirty days they may be feeding before Jan. 1, 

 and yet as they are turned out the following spring or 

 summer as fry, it is customary to call them yearlings the 

 succeeding year, when by a strict accounting it may be 

 twenty-four months between the time of breaking the 

 egg and spawning of the "yearlings," 



But the results obtained by Mr. Kunstler fade into ob- 

 scurity alongside of the claim made by an European cor- 

 respondent of mine. By his system of feeding he claims 

 that he can raise trout in ten months to one and two kilo- 

 grams (21- to 4|lbs.) and salmon in the same length of 

 time to two and four kilogramms 4f to 8£lbs.). That is 

 in ten months from birth he produces grilse or salmon. I 

 have for more than a year been investigating this reported 

 miraculous growth, but so far have obtained nothing to 

 publish. 



As to Mr. Mowat's final query, Why is it not reasonable 

 that a race of large salmon should produce larger smolts 

 than a race of small salmon? I planted a large number of 

 lake trout fry from a race of large lake trout in a lake 

 containing only a race of small lake trout, and the aver- 

 age size of the trout and the maximum size of individuals 

 have increased in this lake. Much of the increase is 

 doubtless owing to the fresh blood, but the introduction of 

 a race of larger fish must play its part. Some years ago it 

 was given out from one of the New York State hatcheries 

 that lake trout reached a length of 13^in. when three years 

 old. I have always assumed that this measurement was 

 obtained from the young of Lake Ontario trout, as I under- 

 stood at the time that the eggs at the hatchery came from 

 that lake. On the other hand, Mr. Frank Clark, at North- 

 ville, Mich., gives the length of a lake trout three years 

 and three months old at lO^in., presumably the fish being 

 descended from Lake Michigan trout. 



Analogous Testimony. 



It is perhaps curious that 1 had written to this point 

 when the mail brought me a letter from Mr. Charles G. 

 Atkins concerning a subject in no way related to what I 

 have been writing about, but in which he incidentally 

 touches upon the subject of smolts in illustrating another 

 matter. This is the extract: "So far as my own experi- 

 ence goes (I own that it is not quite sufficient to settle the 

 matter) salmon are not quite so rapid growers during their 

 two first years as trout, but this is in water that rarely 

 rises to the temperature of 70° F., and possibly in water 

 above 70° the salmon would grow faster. 



' 'Now, a salmon passes the first one or two years of its 

 life in the river. I mean, of course, when at liberty under 

 natural conditions, and during that whole period (I have 

 reason to conclude that in our river it is two years) it only 

 attains a length of 6 to 8in. If it comes back as a grilse, 

 it then weighs, at the age of say three years, only 3 or 

 41bs. A salmon weighing S ^-lbs. would surely be an 

 adult, and could not be less than four years old." 



Conclusions derived from observations made on a river 

 stocked with salmon, the stream never before having 

 contained them, are more reliable than observations 

 made on a salmon river with no fixed point to start from 

 and no means of tracing individual smolt or Salmon, 

 and no way of separating one individual from another. 

 It is from data obtained on a stocked stream that leads 

 me to believe that smolts go to sea when two years old 

 and return as salmon when four years old; and as no 

 grilse have been taken, so far as can be learned, it is 

 assumed that grilse do not enter the stream. I am in 

 hopes to try still further experiments with salmon fry 

 the present year. 



Mr. Atkins having had charge of the salmon breeding 

 works of the United States Fish Commission since its 

 organization, I know of no man in this country more 

 competent to speak of the habits of the fish than he, and 

 the little that I have been able to observe confirms his 

 views. A. N. Cheney. 



BOSTON FISHING LINES. 



A movement is on foot to get the Maine Central Rail- 

 road to put on a night train from Portland, Me. , to Farm 

 ington, and for the Sandy River and the Phillips & 

 Rangeley roads to put on a connecting train. The propo- 

 sition is to have the night train leave Portland for Farni- 

 ington immediately on the arrival of the train over the 

 Boston & Maine which leaves Boston at 7 P. M. This 

 train would land the Boston or New York sportsmen at 

 Rangeley in season for breakfast, and then down the lakes 

 in the morning. Such an arrangement would greatly 

 convenience a majority of sportsmen in Boston, wlio are 

 desirous of reaching some hunting or fishing grounds by 

 night trains. The want of time keeps more of the 

 busy sportsmen at home than any other cause, 

 and if the Rangeleys could be reached by one 

 night's ride from Boston, it should increase the 

 travel in that direction. Mr. L. Dana Chapman, with 

 Dame, Stoddard & Kendall, has already taken consider- 

 able interest in the scheme and has mentioned it to many 

 sportsmen, and finds the plan to meet with their most 

 hearty approval. The plan would put the Rangeleys on a 

 par with Moosehead, which lake may be reached by the 

 usual summer trains in one night from Boston, By 

 means of such a train over the Maine Central, New York 

 sportsmen could leave that city at noon and be landed at 

 rxangeley the next morning. The scheme is to be laid 

 belore the General Passenger and Ticket Agent of the 

 Maine Central, Mr. Fred Boothby, at once. 



The ice left the Penobscot River on Thursday of last 

 week, the earliest, say the Maine papers, since 1851 — other 

 papers say since 1818. The celebrated salmon pool at 

 Bangor is clear of ice and the salmon fishermen will now 



try the fish every day. But the chances are not favorable 

 for a run of salmon for some time vet, though the ex- 

 tremely early departure of the ice would indicate an 

 early run of salmon. 



Boston fishermen are fitting out for April 1, the opening 

 day of the trout season in Massachusetts. The members 

 of the Monument Club are getting their lines ready, and 

 many of them will visit their preserves in the vicinity of 

 Bourne on the opening day. They will take some large 

 trout, no doubt, as in former seasons. By the way, it is 

 darkly hinted that Mr. Walter L. Gilbert's preserve is 

 sometimes drawn upon a few days in advance, and that 

 some good-sized cultivated trout are let go in the pre- 

 served waters along the Cape, in order that the owners of 

 the preserved streams may have the supreme pleasure of 

 catching the big trout. One thing is sure, and that is that 

 there is little fishing on the Cape and the Sonth Shore 

 nowadays, except in the protected waters. The country 

 boy, with his pin hook, his alder rod and his wriggling 

 worm, stands but little chance, except that he steals the 

 fish. Great is wealth and weak is rusticity! 



Capt. Fred C. Baker, of Rangeley, reports the ice very 

 thick and strong in the Rangeleys, with a good deal of 

 snow ice over it. This, he believes, will cause the ice to 

 be slow about going out. On the other hand, Billy Soule, 

 one of the best known guides and camp keepers at the 

 Rangeleys, thinks that the ice will go out before May 5. 



The Gilbert trout bill had not passed its final stages in 

 the Massachusetts Legislature on Saturday, and there was 

 then some hope that it might be defeated after all, 

 though but little is being done to hinder its passage. 

 The defenders of a good trout law have got tired, and 

 there is danger that the Gilbert bill may go through 

 from a sheer lack of interest on the part of those who 

 have formerly labored nobly in its defeat. Special. 



THE FLY-CASTING TOURNAMENT. 



San Francisco, March 14. — Editor Forest and Stream: 

 At a meeting of the committee on fly-casting tourna- 

 ment, held Tuesday evening, March 13, it was decided 

 to make the style of casting in event No. 5 (lure casting) 

 double-handed instead of single-handed, as at first pro- 

 posed. 



The merchandise prizes already donated are one Leon- 

 ard rod, one Bristol steel rod, reels, lines, flies, etc. 



The height of the platform will probably be raised to 

 18in. above the surface of the water instead of 1ft. as orig- 

 inally proposed. In all other respects the rules will re- 

 main unchanged. 



The tournament will be held in the Midwinter Fair- 

 grounds. Director-General Young has offered to make a 

 lake suitable for the purpose of the tournament somewhere 

 in the Recreation grounds, and has also offered a handsome 

 trophy to be presented to the one making the highest 

 average in events 1, 2, 3 and 4 (fly-casting), both of which 

 offers the committee has accepted. 



A candidate for the trophy must enter in all the fly- 

 casting events, viz., 1, 2, 3 and 4. 



The date of the anglers' convention has been fixed for 

 Friday, May 5, at 8 o'clock P. M., to be held in Festival 

 Hall, "at the Fair grounds. 



It is proposed to give a "fish dinner" on Saturday even- 

 ing, May 6, at a cost not to exceed $2 per pla,te, to which 

 dinner all anglers and their friends will be invited; further 

 notice of same will be given hereafter. 



Copies of the rules and events will soon be printed and 

 forwarded, together with blank applications for entries 

 to all anglers in the State whose names are known to the 

 committee. 



All who anticipate entering the tournament should, 

 however, immediately forward name and address to Wal- 

 ter D. Mansfield, No. 3 Pine street, San Francisco. 



The above is a complete record of the business done at 

 our meeting on the 13th. W. D. Mansfield, 



Secretary of Committee. 



Florida East Coast. 



Palm Beach, Fla., March 16. — We are enjoying superb 

 fishing here at present, some fine catches having been 

 made. Last week Mr. J. B. Rilley, of New Haven, and 

 myself caught during the forenoon 33 fish that weighed 

 268lbs., the largest two weighing 331bs.; they were the 

 gamy kingfish. During our fishing we used a sponge 

 R-lass to see in deep water, and could see perfectly plain 

 50ft. deep and watch the thousands of great fish moving 

 about feeding. It was great sport to see them take our 

 bait and after they were hooked to watch their maneu- 

 vers to get away. Occasionally we would see a great 

 shark and then it was a question to get our hooks in the 

 boat before they got hold to cut them off. We had to 

 look out for the jewfish, monstrous great fellows, weigh- 

 ing from 200 to 4001bs. Our boat was too small to tackle 

 such fish. Yesterday one was hooked and landed here 

 that weighed 2161bs. 



Several sharks have been caught; one was landed here 

 a few days ago that was 9ft. long. 



The finest black bass fishing I have ever had is also to 

 be enjoyed by going but a short distance from the hotel, 

 to one of the fresh-water lakes, that is one of the many 

 that form the great everglade country. The bass seem 

 to be waiting to be caught, and the largest kind; I have 

 not caught any larger than 7lbs., it was not my fault, but 

 the fault of my light tackle. One wants to be equipped 

 with plenty of good stout fishing tackle to land the big 

 ones of these lakes; they are caught here weighing as 

 high as 201bs. N. W. 



New Jersey Trout. 



ASBUEY Park, N. J., March 19. — The very warm weather 

 prevailing has sent some of the most enthusiastic anglers 

 to the brookside during the past week, and some very good 

 catches of trout are reported. Personally I have seen 

 none of the big strings, but have seen enough to know 

 that they are not all fake stories. The law, which permits 

 taking trout March 1, is regarded by most anglers as 

 wrong, and was repealed last week in our Legislature, 

 making the date April 1, but it has not yet received the 

 Governor's signature. Owing to the unofficial character 

 of our Senate, the legality of the bill is questionable, and 

 doubtless will receive but small attention from the frater- 

 nity. Striped bass are beginning to move in our locality. 

 Last Friday six were taken at one haul in a herring net. 

 In Manasquan River, so far, none have been taken with 

 rod and reel. But this week will witness the effort made 

 if weather holds good. Leonard Hulit. 



MASSACHUSETTS TROUT LAW. 



AN OUTLINE OP LEGISLATION FOR THE PROTECTION OP 

 TROUT, WITH SOME OBJECTIONS TO THE GILBERT BILL. 



As early as 1822 (Acts and Resolves, Chapter 21) a law 

 was passed prohibiting the catching of trout in "any 

 rivers, streams or ponds within the Commoxiwealth, by 

 day or by night, in any other way or manner than by 

 hook and lines." Penalty, fifty cents for each fish illegally 

 taken. 



In the year 1849 (Chapter 36) the first close season on 

 trout fishing was established. It applied to "Mashpee 

 River" and the "District of Mashpee," from Sept. 15 to 

 April 1. Penalty, fifty cents for each fish had in posses- 

 sion, knowing the same to have been taken illegally. 



As early as the year 1856 three commissioners were 

 appointed to investigate and report to the next general 

 court upon the artificial propagation of fish and the 

 expediency of introducing the same into the Common- 

 wealth. 



In 1866 the taking of trout within the Commonwealth 

 from Sept. 20 to March 20 was prohibited. Penalty, one 

 dollar for each fish unlawfully taken. 



In the same year (1866) two commissioners were 

 appointed on the fisheries in the Merrimac and Connecti- 

 cut rivers. 



This was the origin of the State Board of Commis- 

 sioners on Inland Fisheries and Game. 



In 1869 the laws were "amended and enlarged," and 

 the close time continued as before (Sept. 20 to March 20). 



In 1874 (Chapter 186) the law of 1869 was repealed and 

 a stronger enactment passed, as follows: 



"Whoever takes or catches any trout, landlocked 

 salmon or lake trout within the limits of this Common- 

 wealth, or buys, sells or has in possession the same, taken 

 within said limits between the twentieth day of August 

 and the twentieth day of March in each year, or takes or 

 catches any trout, landlocked salmon or lake trout with 

 any net or salmon-pot, at any season of the year, shall 

 forfeit for each fish so caught a sum of not less than five 

 nor more than twenty dollars." 



The friends of trout protection found in their attempt 

 to punish offenders, that the phrase "taken within the 

 limits of this Commonwealth" was a loop-hole by which 

 dishonest dealers were able to escape conviction, as it was 

 impossible to prove where the fish were taken. 



They sought to improve the law of 1874, and in their 

 efforts were ably assisted by ex-Governor George D. Rob- 

 inson, then a senator from the second Hampden District. 

 He caused the law as it came from the House in the year 

 1876 to be amended and vastly improved in effectiveness. 

 The iron- clad statute of that year was largely the product 

 of his brain. Under that law the penalty was raised to 

 ten dollars for each fish illegally "taken or had in posses- 

 sion." 



The law declared also that "In all prosecutions under 

 this act, the possession of any trout during the time 

 included between the dates stated above shall be prima 

 facie evidence to convict under this act." 



The law was further strengthened by the addition of 

 section two, making it the duty of selectmen, police 

 officers and constables to cause the "provisions of this act 

 to be enforced in their respective cities and towns." 



Under this law it was possible for the friends of protec- 

 tion to secure convictions. A great stumbling-block had 

 been removed in striking out the phrase "taken within 

 the limits of this Commonwealth." By his work in con- 

 nection with this bill, Governor Robinson won the grateful 

 regard of every true sportsman acquainted with the facts. 



All previous laws had been in some degree experimental, 

 with an evident disposition on the part of lawmakers to 

 give added strength to each new enactment. Penalties 

 were increased. The close season extended. There had 

 come to be greater certainty of conviction. This was the 

 culmination of enlightened public sentiment. 



The law was enacted in obedience to public opinion in 

 regard to the protection of food fishes. 



The same sentiment manifested itself in more stringent 

 laws for the protection of smelts and lobsters. 



The year 1880 was marked by a retrograde step — allow- 

 ing trOut not taken in any of the waters of Massachusetts 

 to be sold or had in possession. But thanks to the intelli- 

 gence of the legislators of 18S4, it became unlawful for 

 ' 'any person to take, sell, offer, or expose for sale or to 

 have in possession a trout * * * between the first day 

 of Sep-tember and the first day of April. The weakness 

 of ths law of 1880 was removed. 



■The close season has continued to the present time 

 (Sept. 1 to April 1). 



Under the law of 1874 the prosecution were forced to 

 show that trout illegally sold were "taken within the 

 limits of this Commonwealth." This proved an insur- 

 mountable obstacle in attempts to secure convictions under 

 the law. 



So under the law of 1880, when it was lawful to have in 

 possession or sell trout "not taken in the waters of this 

 Commonwealth," all the trout to be found then came 

 from outside the State. This was a loophole by which 

 avaricious dealers were enabled to escape the penalties of 

 the law. 



It cost the friends of protection large expenditures of 

 time and money to test the laws of 1874 and 1880, and they 

 are not anxious to be compelled to test such an enactment 

 as the Gilbert law, against which the first objection is that 

 it contains an avenue of escape for those who for any rea 

 son wish to engage in the illegal capture or sale of trout. 



Under that bill the prosecution must show that trout 

 illegally held, or offered for sale, are not artificially raised. 



The external appearance of such trout is not different 

 from that of wild trout. The difficulty in the case is ap- 

 parent. As under the law of 1880 all the trout to be found 

 were taken without "the limits of this Commonwealth," 

 so under this bill all the trout will be "artificially raised " 

 trout. 



By one stroke the passage of that law will undo the 

 work of more than a quarter of a century. 



The Boston market will become the dumping ground 

 for the poachers of all New England and the British 

 Provinces. 



It may be urged that the Commissioners are to provide 

 means of discrimination. The difficulties in their way are 

 too great. They cannot circumvent the cunning of poach- 

 ers and law-breakers. 



In that regard, the framing of the bill is a device for 

 concealing the "true inwardness" of the bill under the 

 cloak of the Commissioners' indorsement. It has even 

 been reported that the Commissioners are not opposed to 



