404 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[May 12, 1894. 



ANGLING NOTES. 



The Thomson Mills Fishway. 



I have received the following letter from Mr. W. 

 Hubert Rogers, inventor and builder of two of the Hud- 

 son River fishways: 



"I was very glad to read your defense of the present 

 location of the fishway at Thomson's Mills, in Forest and 

 Stream of this week. You have taken the right ground 

 in the matter. 



"I was with my fa,ther when the location was made, 

 and also superintended the construction of the fishway. 

 The driftwood problem was thoroughly considered, and 

 with ordinary care it seemed all trouble of this kind would 

 be averted. 



•'I incline to your opinion, that the fa.ult lies in the re- 

 building of the upper end destroyed by the washing away 

 of the bulkhead or feeder wall of the mill. 



"At a small expense this trouble can be remedied with- 

 out moving the fishway; while to move It would entail a 

 considerable expenditure of money and ruin its useful- 

 ness. There is no place on the dam so favorable to all the 

 conditions of a successful fishway as the present location, 

 and I earnestly hope that before the question of moving 

 it is seriously considered, an effort, at least, may be made 

 to keep the mill refuse from about the entrance, and that 

 otherwise due care may be given it. If that be done the 

 people above will have no cause to complain. 



"It has occurred to me that possibly in rebuilding the 

 wrecked portion of the mill, changes may have been 

 made whereby the refuse may be dumped or fall directly 

 at the head of the fishway. It seems not improbable to 

 me, knowing the place as I do. Even so, to move the 

 structure would be a mistake when the remedy is so 

 easy." 



Ouananiche in the Hudson. 



Last week I read a paper in the hall of the Young 

 Men's Christian Association, where the Mohican Rod and 

 Gun Club had been invited, upon the necessity of build- 

 ing fishways in the Upper Hudson before the river could 

 become a self-sustaining salmon stream, and in the paper 

 described the salmon, its habits, appearance, etc. The 

 next day a gentleman, Mr. John Sherman, called npon 

 me and said that after listening to my paper he was con- 

 vinced that I had solved the identity of two strange fish 

 caught in the "Big Bay" of the Hudson, a few miles above 

 Glens Falls. He related the circumstances of the capture 

 thus: Two young men who have always lived on the river 

 and are perfectly familiar with the fish native to it, were 

 fishing in Big Bay some days before the date of his visit 

 to me and caught two fish such as they had never before 

 seen. They weighed when dressed 4J and S^lbs. respec- 

 tively, and undoubtedly belonged to the salmon family; 

 and from my description he would pronounce them sea 

 salmon, except that he could not reconcile the size of the 

 captured fish with my statement that as smolts the young 

 salmon go to sea weighing 2 or 3oz., after which the fish 

 could not return to Big Bay because of the obstructions in 

 the stream. I told him that I could clear up the mystery 

 for him without assuming, as he did, that two sea-going 

 salmon had for some unknown reason remained in fresh 

 water until they reached the weights given of the cap- 

 tured fish. Clendon Brook, a trout stream in which sea 

 salmon fry had been planted since 1884, flows into the 

 Hudson at the head of Big Bay, and the salmon fry have 

 done remarkably well in it for ten years. In 1887 I 

 planted in this brook 20,000 landlocked salmon by direc- 

 tion of Prof. Baird, who thought as the sea salmon did 

 so well there the fresh-water salmon might do as well. I 

 never had any faith in the ultimate success of the plant, 

 for the river does not furnish food or temperature of 

 water for the fresh-water salmon when they have out- 

 grown the brook. The fish Mr. Sherman reported to me 

 may have been grown from the plant of landlocked 

 salmon made in 1887; if so, it is the only result obtained 

 from the plant as far as I have been able to learn. 



Salmon Planting in the Hudson. 

 Four years ago, by direction of the U. S. Fish Commis- 

 sioner, I examined and mapped the trout streams in Sara- 

 toga county flowing into the Hudson River, preparatory 

 to the receipt of 20,000 yearling salmon, which were to be 

 sent to me for planting. As the yearlings began to die, 

 some of them, between Bucksport and Boston, the car 

 came only to Troy, where the survivors were put into the 

 river. I was so impressed with the fitness of Saratoga 

 county streams for salmon fry, that I suggested them to 

 Supt. Mather as the place for planting fry this year. All 

 the streams I examined are trout streams, and all come 

 together in a fair sized brook which flows into the Snook- 

 Kill, and which in turn emptied into the Hudson below 

 Fort Edward, so the salmon find no obstructions between 

 the place of planting and the sea, except such as are 

 covered with fishways. Accordingly the entire plant this 

 year, a small one as compared with other years, of 55,000 

 iry and 180 yearlings, was made in the Saratoga county 

 streams. During the eleven years that I have assisted in 

 planting salmon fry in the Hudson I have not seen a 

 better, stronger lot than those of this year. The fry were 

 twenty-two hours on the road between the hatchery of 

 Cold Spring Harbor and the place of planting, and when 

 I took the temperature of the water 1 found it 51 degrees 

 in the can and 50 degrees in the brook. 



Transplanting Pike-Perch. 



In 1880, Mr. Myron O. Brown, proprietor of the Saga- 

 more Hotel, at Bolton, Lake George, procured at his own 

 expense from Lake Champlain, ninety pike-perch, weigh- 

 ing from one-half to 21bs. each, and planted them in Lake 

 George. Not long after a dead fish of this plant, prob- 

 ably, was found floating on the water. With this excep- 

 tion nothing was seen of the fish until last year one was 

 reported to have been caught near Green Island. Mr. 

 Brown has long considered his pike-perch planting a 

 failure, but I have maintained that they have remained 

 in the lake, for they have water, food, spawning grounds, 

 everything to their liking; but they never have been 

 fished for systematically in waters where they would be 

 likely to be found. Few, comparatively, know of the 

 plant, but with so many people fishing for black bass in 

 the lake each season, it is strange that not a pike-perch 

 has been caught, so far as known. 



Now Mr. Brown tells me that during the last days of 

 April pike-perch were seen by scores, if not by hundreds 

 spawning around the shores of Green Island. First, the 

 captain of his steam yacht saw the dorsal fin of a' fish 



sticking out of water near the shore, and supposed it to be 

 a pike, Esox hieius, commonly called a pickerel, but a 

 closer examination developed a fish with two dorsal fins. 

 Alec Taylor, one of the best fishermen on the lake, then 

 made an examination and found pike-perch in pairs and 

 groups of four, five and six, all along the shore, some of 

 these fish estimated to weigh 10 and 12lbs. each. So far 

 the shores of Green Island only have been examined, but 

 it shows conclusively that another excellent game and 

 food fish has been added to the list of fishes inhabiting 

 the waters of Lake George. From the number of spawn- 

 ing fish seen about Green Island one must admit that this 

 lake is well stocked with pike-perch, and probably efforts 

 will be made to catch them this season, and their haunts 

 wdl be located. 



This reminds me that except in the Susquehanna River 

 there is no close season provided by the general game law 

 for pike-perch in the State of New York. 



Ouananiche and Saibling at Sunapee. 



The ice went out of Sunapee Lake, N. H., on April 20, 

 and Commissioner Wentworth writes that on the next 

 day the fish, salmon, trout and saibling, were breaking 

 water in every direction. On the 23d 17 salmon and 

 saibling were taken at one point. Commissioner Went 

 worth and Mr. Alonzo Cheney, who is in charge of the 

 Sunapee hatchery, agree in saying the fishing is far better 

 this year than in many years before. Saibling of 4 and 

 51bs. have been taken, and Mr. Cheney caught one salmon 

 of only 2+lbs, , which is a rarity, as they are not generally 

 caught under about 51bs. Up to the 29th it is claimed, so 

 Commissioner Wentworth writes, that more salmon trout 

 and saibling were caught on our noted fishing ground 

 than were caught altogether last season on the same 

 ground. The one objection to Sunapee Lake as a fishing 

 resort in former years has been the lack of comfortable 

 quarters, boats and guides. As will be seen in an adver- 

 tisement in Forest and Stream, this has been remedied, 

 and Soo-nipi Lodge offers every convenience for the 

 angler and his family. 



Lake Trout Are Up. 



After four weeks of speculation as to whether the lake 

 trout would be at the surface of the water or the bottom 

 of the lake when it became legal to fish for them, on May 

 1 fishermen who have been complaining because the ice 

 went out of Lake George a month earlier than usual and 

 a month before the close season for lake trout fishing 

 expired, have had an opportunity to set all doubt at rest 

 on this subject and have discovered that all the kicking 

 against circumstances has been wasted energy. 



Tuesday, May 1, was a perfect day for fishing, and 

 fishermen and lake trout met on the surface at Lake 

 George, and when the sun went down there was a tale to 

 tell, worth the telling where big scores are in order! 

 Here are some of the catches: Justice C. S. Enches and 

 Deputy Sheriff Earl B. Smitn, of Glens Falls, fished near 

 the Sagamore, at Bolton, and caught fifteen trout weigh- 

 ing 921bs. They fished only the first day of the season, 

 returning home at night. Mr. Smith told me that from 

 the Sagamore dock he counted thirty rowboats and three 

 steam launches in sight at one time, the occupants all 

 trolling for trout. The most of this catch was taken at 

 the surface without any sinker on the lines. The boats 

 from Bolton caught over 5001bs. of trout the first day. 



1 trolled for lake trout at the surface for more than 

 twenty years before I saw one jump above the surface, 

 and put it on record over and over that they did not 

 jump, although they come up and make a "boil" at the 

 surface that is unmistakable. One May morning I saw 

 two big trout jump, fair and square, above the surface 

 within an hour. Mr. Smith says that on May 1 of this 

 year trout were frequently seen jumping above the sur- 

 face. A New York angler was out early at Caldwell, the 

 head of the lake, where little fishing is done at this season, 

 but he caught six trout, one of lOlbs. , and went south on 

 the 11 A. M. train. 



Mr. George N Finch, Sheriff of Washington county; 

 Supervisor N. E. Baker, of Salem, and Deputy Sheriff 

 Morrison, of Sandy Hill, fished on Tuesday and part of 

 Wednesday with the result that they caught 27 trout, the 

 largest l4jlbs. They were caught south and east of Dome 

 Island. Mr. Finch told me that every trout but one was 

 taken at the surface with unleaded lines. 



Hon. D. P. McQueen and Hon. A. J. Quackenbush, of 

 Schenectady; J. H. Madden, E. F. Dean and J. G. McKee, 

 of Glens Falls, fishing the same length of time as the 

 Finch party and in the same portion of the lake, caught 

 124lbs. of trout. The largest one dressed 10 'lbs. , and there 

 were 24 fish in the string, and all were caught at the sur- 

 face. From this it may be inferred that the lake trout are 

 "up" and it is a good time to go a-fishing with reasonable 

 certainty of success. 



After the Rain. 



In notes last week I said that it was raining at the tim e 

 I was writing, a rain that promised to improve the stream 

 fishing in northern New York. Well, we have not yet had 

 rain enough nor has it been warm enough to thoroughly 

 thaw the trout out. I went out May 2 just to see if trout 

 would rise to the fly. At the head of a little stream there 

 was once a pond and a pool still remains, and in it an 8in. 

 trout rose to a Marston's-fancy, then two more scarcely 

 6in. long rose to the same fly. I went down me little 

 stream and by borrowing a worm from my companion, 

 Mr.W. E. Baldwin, of the Mohican Club, I caught a 12in. 

 trout. It should have weighed a pound but I do not 

 think it weighed ten ounces. Lean and lank, it was in 

 no condition to be eaten; nor was it active. Of twenty 

 odd trout hooked only one was in good condition, and ex- 

 cept the three that rose to the fly the trout were in the 

 deep holes — not one on the rapids. For two weeks the 

 brooks have been fished daily for these half -fed trout that 

 have not recovered from the semi-torpor of winter. The 

 streams are low, no food has washed into them, and the 

 insect food is not yet hatched out in the water, although 

 the insects of the air are on the wing occasionally. 



I am more than ever convinced that trout fishing in the 

 streams of northern New York should not open legally 

 before the middle of May. I would not give a brass 

 farthing for such fishing as I had, and yet I had a good 

 time. The meadows were covered with violets, and on 

 low ground I picked cowslips and stuck them in my hat 

 and in the button hole of my fishing coat. I sat under a 

 leafless tree in the sun and smoked more than one cigar, 

 and finally stretched myself on the scant turf and felt 



creeping things trying to crawl down my neck and up 

 my sleeves. I got my feet wet and my legs too, and I 

 came home tired and hungry, with a burned face, and 

 although I did not have a blessed trout, I knew I had been 

 a-fishing. and that night I slept as well as though I had 

 caught lOlbs., and far better than I would had I killed 

 one 5in. trout. A. N. Cheney. 



FISHING COMMENCED IN CANADA. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



As foretold in these columns a week or two ago, the 

 angling season in Canada has commenced unusually 

 early this year, more than a fortnight, in fact, earlier 

 than usual. For the first time in many years the ice had 

 altogether left Lake Beaufort prior to May 1, and a num- 

 ber of fine trout have already fallen victims to the angler's 

 delusions in this gem of Canadian waters. 



Tne ice left Lake St. John yesterday (Wednesday) 

 morning, some sixteen days earlier than usual. The 

 water is exceedingly high, having risen some 23ft. 

 within the last fifteen or twenty days. The bait-fishing 

 for ouananiche must now be good at Pointe Bleue and 

 along the Roberval shore of Lake St. John, and the 

 "little salmon" of the Montagnais Indians always rises 

 readily to the fly from about the second day after the dis- 

 appearance of the ice both in the mouths of the Ouiat- 

 chouan and Metabetchouan rivers. A number of Quebec 

 anglers are leaving for these fishing grounds in the early 

 part of next week and no doubt some heavy catches will 

 be reported by the time that these lines appear in print. 

 The end of next week and the whole of the week follow- 

 ing ought to see about the best of the spring fishing for 

 ouananiche in tlie westerly and southerly portions of 

 Lake St. John. Within less than a week of the time 

 that ouananiche fishing usually commences in the Ouiat- 

 chouan and Metabetchouan it ought this year to be at an 

 end. It usually lasts about three weeks, but much 

 depends upon the condition of the lake, for the fish leave 

 it and the mouths of its tributaries, or at all events cease 

 to rise in them when the water perceptibly lowers. This 

 is usually some twenty days after the departure of the 

 rise, after which the fish are found in great numbers in 

 the rapid waters of the Grand Discharge. This year, 

 therefore, the ouananiche fishing at the Grand Discharge, 

 which usually commences about June 12 to 15", ought to 

 be very good by the end of the present month. 



The hotels at Roberval and the Grand Discharge will 

 only open on June 1, but country board can be had at 

 Roberval at all times. Among other fishermen who 

 write me that they are coming up this way for ouananiche 

 this spring are Mr, Geo. Hart, superintendent of the 

 Waterbury Watch Company and party, and Mr. R. Plumb 

 of Detroit and a number of friends. Plenty of good sound 

 leaders and a fair supply of large trout flies and of salmon 

 flies tied on number 3 and number 4 hooks will be found 

 useful in ouananiche waters here, both throughout this 

 month and in the early part of June. Later on, the size 

 of the flies used must be reduced. 



A day or two ago I received a message, through a 

 mutual friend, from Mr. A. P. Low, the Canadian govern- 

 ment explorer, who was the first to thoroughly survey 

 Lake Mistassini, and who has now succeeded in doing 

 something else that was never accomplished before, that 

 is, to conduct an expedition through the interior of Lab- 

 rador from Lake St. John to Ungava. The letter, which 

 is full of interesting details of the perilous journey and of 

 the magnificent canyons of the Ungava River, etc., left 

 Hamilton Inlet, where the expedition wintered, on 

 December 5, and so occupied within a day or two of five 

 months in reaching Quebec. The explorers were to have 

 started last month on a new attempt to traverse the Lab- 

 rador peninsula, this time from east to west, or from the 

 Atlantic to Hudson Bay — a journey through a practically 

 unknown territory, and necessitating the crossing of 

 more than 20 degrees of longitude. E. T, D. Chambers, 



Quebec, May 3. 



A TEN-POUND WEAKFISH. 



Philadelphia, May 2. — Editor Forest and Stream: Mr. 

 William Cook, for several seasons a sojourner at Atlantic 

 City, N. J., in his own house, purposely erected by him 

 very close to the fishing waters of the place, is credibly 

 reported to have offered a premium of $10 for a lOlbs. 

 weakfish (squeteague) within the two seasons last past. 

 Mr. Cook died. I then took up and continued his offer of 

 a $10 premium for a lOlbs. weakfish. 



To-day I am in receipt of a remarkably fine specimen 

 of this fish sent by Mr. George Washington Watson 

 (known locally as "Wash" Watson, with whom I have 

 fished for a number of years at Atlantic City), which 

 weighed, on receipt, 91bs. 7oz. and measured 2ft. 7-£in. 

 from muzzle to tail end, and was 6|in. deep and 3jin. 

 thick and 17Jin. in extreme girth. What it weighed when 

 taken from the water I do not yet know, but I have no 

 doubt that it turned the scale at more than lOlbs. 



I have caught many of these fish, some of them weigh- 

 ing 8 to 9flbs., on a very thin sea grass line and a 9oz. 

 rod, but I have never seen one so large as this, and I have 

 never known of one of the same kind taken at this season 

 of the year. 



However, there are some things I do know. One of 

 these is, that the capture of this fish with light tackle 

 affords sport in autumn that but few anglers appreciate; 

 another is. that Capt. Watson, of the Chester Brown, 

 knows as much, if not more, than any other man on 

 Absecon Beach about the habits of this fish and how to 

 catch him. 



I expect to lose the sight of a ten- dollar bill through the 

 landing of this big weakfish! If I do, I shall count the 

 cost as cheap for the sight of such a beauty. 



I cannot close this without a reference to the statement 

 made at the Fisheries Conference, held last December in 

 your city, to the effect that weakfish do not bite on the 

 hook. As I have caught some thousands of them with 

 bait on hook, I feel that I must enter my humble protest 

 against such an assertion as one devoid of foundation in 

 fact and as utterly devoid of any foundation whatever. 

 It is well known — and it is thoroughly well known — that 

 weakfish take the bait; and when they take it, the angler 

 had. better lookout for his light tackle. If his terrific 

 darts and desperate pulls do not give the fellow at the 

 other end all he wa nts to do for some minutes, then he is a 

 different kind of a roe from that which I have tackled off 

 Absecon Beach for more than twenty years past. 



Alfred Hand. 



