426 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[May 19, 1894, 



MAINE FISHING WATERS. 



Boston, May 11.— TJie trout fishiDg season is on in good 

 earnest, and Boston fishermen are having some good luck 

 in the Maine waters. Thus far the water in the Maine 

 trout lakes is most remarkably low, especially in those 

 lakes where there is a flowage for the purpose of running 

 the mills below. The water was drawn off last winter as 

 usual, and the snow melted away without tilling the 

 lakes. Since then the weather has been unusually dry, 

 and the result is very little water in the lakes. Moosehead 

 is reported very low. Some good catches of trout are 

 being made there. At the Eangeieys the fishing is re- 

 ported to be excellent; the result of the remarkably low 

 water. Mr. J. R. Marble, of the Rangeley Lake House, 

 writes the following account of the catches of his guests 

 for a couple of days: May 5, Dr. E. M. Whitney, of 

 New Bedford, Mass., with Rufus Crosby as guide, took a 

 trout weighing 3 Lbs, ; 7 trout of If to2Jlbs., and 2 trout 

 of lib. each. Willard Nye, of the same town, with Geo. 

 D. Huntoon as guide, took a trout of 21bs. weight and 6 

 trout of from lib. to Iffba. A. E. Mann and Gilbert Tol- 

 man, of Boston, with Dan Haines as guide, took 2 trout 

 of 2£lbs. and 9 trout averaging over 1+lbs. May 7, the 

 same gentleman took a trout of 4+lbs. and -9 averaging 

 If lbs. The same day, J. M. Tompkins, of Brooklyn, N. Y., 

 ' made a score of 2 trout of 3lbs. weight, 1 of 2il'bs. and 1 

 of 21bs., besides 7 trout of about 1+lbs. each. A large 

 number of trout have also been taken of smaller size and 

 returned to the water. S. H. Jones, of Lowell, Mai 

 caught the first 2 trout of the season at the South Arm; 

 1 weighing 7 lbs. and the other of 7^1bs. This he thinks 

 is a good beginning. The water in Richardson Lake was 

 unaccountably low at that time, and has continued so up 

 to the time of this writing. 



The beautiful camps of the Oquos?oc Angling Associa- 

 tion at Indian Rock, head of Mooselucmaguntic Lake, are 

 to be better occupied this year than last, when the World's 

 Fair drew many of the association members away. A 

 happy fishing party is to start for that location on Tues- 

 day, May 15. The party is made up of C. S. Roberts and 

 wife, E. S. Pickard and daughter, H. B. Sprague and 

 wife of Lynn, Mass., J. W. Daniels and wife of Provi- 

 dence, Mrs. H. H. Roelofs of Philadelphia and Jas. B. 

 Field of Boston. Mr. Pickard is one of the older members 

 of the Oquossoc Angling Association, and has done much 

 to keep up the interest in the association. He if a great 

 lover of fishing, and thoroughly in love with the country. 

 On Monday, May 21, the above party is to be followed by 

 another of the association's members and friends. This 

 second party is to be made up of Mr. H. H. Roelofs of 

 Philadelphia, James A. Williamson of Wyoming, N. J., 

 Dr. Appleton of Philadelphia and four friends. 



The Stevens party started for Camp Vive Vale, Nar- 

 rows of Richardson Lake, on Saturday. The party is not 

 a large one this year, being composed only of Mr. C. P. 

 Stevens and his nephew Frank H. Stevens. Mr. E. J. 

 Shattuck, who has generally been a member of this party, 

 will make his fishing trip this season to a new location 

 on the line of the Bangor & Aroostook R. R. Mr. Stevens 

 has been putting his camp in fine shape the past season. 

 He has built a brick fireplace among other improvements, 

 with a new guide-house, besides as fine a landing as there 

 is on the lake. A noted party left Boston for the Upper 

 Dam on Friday. It may be termed the insurance party 

 from the fact that some of the leaders are prominent in 

 that business. Mr. B. G. Akerman, of Brooklyn, N. Y., 

 with Mrs. Akerman, head the list. They have visited the 

 same location, usually the Upper Dam, for a number of 

 years. This year they take their son Charlie with them. 

 Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Hayes, of Boston, with Carl Hayes, 

 their son, are also of the insurance party. Mr. and Mrs. 

 Watkins, of New York, are in the party, as the v have 

 been for several years. Mr. George L. Wakefield, of 

 Wakefield, Mass., is also of the party this year; he is a 

 young man and will thoroughly enjoy the trip and the 

 fishing with the other boys of the party. All the ladies 

 of this party are experts with the trout rod and the 

 Forest and Stream may hope for a good record of their 

 catches hereafter. Mr. Partridge, of Boston, also well 

 known in the insurance business, will follow the partv 

 later. 



Brook fishing in Maine is reported very poor indeed. 

 The brooks are most remarkably low for the time of the 

 year. There has been very little rain in May, thus far, 

 and April was an extremely dry one. A rise of water is 

 needed to make brook fishing worth anything. The 

 lakes also continue remarkably low. So dry is the 

 weather, prominent lumber-land owners greatly fear 

 forest fires; and campers and fishermen should use the 

 greatest caution. A fisherman to whose carelessness 

 could be traced the destruction of a tract of beautiful 

 Maine forests, would have something to be sorry for the 

 rest of his days. SPECIAL. 



ANGLING NOTES. 



Senator W. P. Frye, of Maine, is not expected at his 

 camps on Mooselucmaguntic this season till the tariff de- 

 bate and adjustment in Congress is completed. Doubtless 

 it will be hard for his Honor to be thus confined to legis- 

 lation, and possibly he may yet "steal silently away." 

 Gen. F. D. Sewall, of Bath, and chief of one of the 

 divisions of the revenue department at Washington, will 

 doubtless be at the Senator's camps in season. Mr. Samuel 

 Hano, of Newton, Mass., has gone, with his wife, to his 

 new camps at Quimby Pond, in Rangeley. Mr. Harry 

 Dutton, of Boston, has started for his splendid camps at 

 Pleasant Island, Cupsuptic Lake. 



Fish Commissioner Brackett, of Winchester, Mass., has 

 just shipped 30,000 young brook trout to Sutton. The 

 Winchester hatcheries have recently placed a large num- 

 ber of young trout in Lake Quinsigamond, at Worcester. 

 Hereafter a large number of eggs will be taken to Win- 

 chester for propagation, and the brooks and ponds in the 

 northern part of the State will be drawn upon for these 

 eggs. The defeat of the Gilbert trout bill has given the 

 propagators of trout extra courage. The last heard of 

 that measure was the prompt refusal of the Senate to pass 

 it over the Governor's veto. 



Ex-Governor Russell and party is expected to leave for 

 Birch Lodge, head of Richardson Lake, soon. The party 

 will also doubtless visit the splendid fishing lodge at B 

 Pond, built a year or two ago by the Hon. John E 

 Thayer, who was a member of the ex-Governor's staff 

 during a couple of his terms of office. Both the Gover- 

 nor and Mr. Thayer are real sportsmen and fond of the 

 woods and waters. Mr. Bayard Thayer, the owner of 

 Birch Lodge, has been in Japan for a [year, but report 

 says that he will be back in season for a stay at Birch 

 Lodge, this year. 



The Maine people are growing to love the sport on their 

 own lakes and streams more and more. More prominent 

 Maine citizens go afishing every year. A recent letter 

 from Farmmgton says that a party of legal notables left 

 that town for Rangeley on the 11th. In the party were 

 Senator J. C. Holman, Clerk of Courts E. E. Richards 

 ex-Sheriff Alonzo Sylvester, ex-Deputy Sheriff Nelson 

 ^^N?^ 1 * 0 ? J " J?" & Hun ter of the Chronicle, President 

 G. W. Wheeler, Dr. E. C. Merrill and Frank E. McLeary, 

 Senator Holman's camps will be their objective point 

 ana they are to stay for eight or ten days' fishing, q ' 



L|ve Fish In Sealed Jars. 



Mr. C. A. Overman, of Salisbury, N. C, writes: "I have 

 heard that putting minnows in a jug hermetically sealed 

 will preserve them alive on a trip of three days to a week 

 and when taken out they will be lively for bait. Wili 

 you kindly inform me if this is so, and the process for 

 packing them in jars, and if any chemicals are put into 

 the jars." 



Fishermen in this country and in England have recorded 

 that bait fish have been carried by them in the manner 

 indicated in the query, in bottles and jugs three-fourths 

 filled with water and then sealed. No chemicals are used 

 in the water. In Forest and Stream, Dec. 2, 1893, page 

 476, under heading, "Transporting Fish Fry in Hermetic- 

 ally Sealed Bottles," I quoted from an official report of the 

 New South Wales Commissioners to the World's Fair, 

 describing how trout fry, and brook and brown trout 4in 

 long, perch and carp, have been transported in sealed 

 bottles or jars by the authorities in that country. I would 

 refer Mr. Overman to this article, as it bears the official 

 stamp of the Commissioners to verify a method of trans- 

 porting fish that has been questioned. This method of 

 transporting fish fry in sealed bottles proved so successful 

 that it superseded the old method of transportation in 

 open cans. It is related that fish have been carried in t hat 

 manner a distance requiring more than three days to 

 cover. It is obvious that the temperature of the water in 

 the bottles must not be allowed to go above the point that 

 would kill the fish in open cans. 



Bright Rod Mountings. Fine Gut. 

 Mr. H. B., of Worcester, England, writing from New 

 York City, asks: "Can you kindly inform me of any 

 means to dull the excessive brilliancy of nickel-plated 

 goods? I have a rod the fittings of which are nickel- 

 plated, also a reel, fully plated; both of these on a sunny 

 day throw several flashes of light at a time, which frighten 

 the fish considerably. I should also like to know why it 

 is that in this country, where they excel in the making of 

 rods, reels and lines, it is almost impossible to obtain fine 

 (i. e. , thin) gut? In England we have to be content with 

 a Castle Connell 17s. 6d. rod, or a £1 Is. Ogden, or others 

 of like price, and a reel costing about 5s. , but our tackle 

 must be of the best quality, and fine. Our casts are made 

 of fine drawn gut. The undrawn gut is stronger, but is 

 very difficult to procure in good long lengths, and round, 

 which is most essential. These casts are sufficiently 

 strong to land a 81bs. trout. Most of our flies are tied on 

 eyed hooks, the best hooks being 'Pennell'a turned down 

 eye upturned shank,' which are attached to the cast by 

 what is known as the 'jam knot.' With the flies tied on 

 gut, all fishermen knot the end fly to the cast; this neces- 

 sitates breaking the gut to change the fly, but this can be 

 done two or three times before the gut becomes as short 

 as that on the average fly over here, after which it can 

 be looped and used as a drop fly. 'Fine and far off is our 

 maxim.'" 



In the first place we are not so particular over here about 

 flashing rod mountings as the fishermen are in England, 

 and so use bright reels, ferules, efc; and really I think 

 fish are not, as a rule, in a position to know the difference. 

 That reflections from the bright metal of rods and reels 

 frighten fish, I put down in the same class as that anti- 

 quated idea that one must lower the tip of the rod when 

 a hooked fish jumps at the end of a long line, and still we 

 stick to it, some of us, as if it were the gospel of the 

 Christian religion. Nine hundred and ninety-nine times out 

 of a thousand a jumping fish has slack line when it jumps 

 (by slack line I mean that the strain is not directly on the 

 rod; either the current makes a sag in the line or the fish 

 rushing from deep water produces the same result), and 

 if he has not, the slack given by the lowered tip could not 

 be transmitted to the fish before the fish has made the 

 jump and is back in the water. I know that this will be 

 received as r^nk heresy, but so far as I have been able to 

 test it I have found it true. 



As to flashing rods and rod mountings, there are various 

 reasons why I believe fish are not affected by them, and 

 the chief of them is that the fish do not see the reflections 

 on the water. In fly-fishing few anglers think of casting 

 a fly under a glaring sun when the surface of the water is 

 like a mirror, unruffled, and our streams are not like the 

 clear, placid, unsheltered chalk streams of England. In 

 fly-fishing and in bait-fishing, in stream fishing and' lake 

 fishing, we think we must have a ripple on the surface of 

 the water, and that late afternoon and evening are the 

 best parts of the day to fish. In fly-fishing the fly is cast 

 under these conditions, sufficiently far away and in a di- 

 rection not to alarm the fish by any movement of the 

 angler. Instinctively an angler avoids casting a shadow 

 on the surface of a shallow stream, and doubtless this 

 caution operates against flashes of light from therodmetal, 

 for light and shadow are caused by the same agent. 



In bait-fishing the same conditions, distance and agi- 

 tated water, obtain to the same end. 



Admitting that our unsophisticated trout will shy at a 

 shadow and buck-jump at a flash from a reel, anglers 

 have been taught from the time they were suckling babes 

 that fish must not have cause to do either, and they con- 

 duct themselves accordingly from habit, but I am being 

 led away from a direct answer to the question. 



The very best way of treating reels and bright rod- 

 mountings to dim their lustre, so that no flashes of light 

 will come from them, for I assume that the desire is to do 

 it well while about it, is that which ia fully described by 

 Mr. Henry P.Wells in "Fly-Rods and Fly-Tackle." First 

 get a glass jar with a wide mouth and a glass stopper and 

 the mouth must be wide enough to admit of reel-plate 

 and the jar deep enough to take a rod ferrule, and in it 

 put a pound of commercial nitric acid; into this put a ten 

 cent silver piece and leave the jar in a warm place with 

 the stopper loose until the silver is dissolved. Then add a 



piece of copper wire the size of an ordinary knitting 

 needle and four inches long, and when it is dissolved the 

 solution is ready for use. 



Clean all oil from the metal with ammonia or soap 

 strong with lye; rinse and dry. Fasten the metal to be 

 colored to a piece of copper wire and the wire to a poker 

 and dip the metal below the surface of the solution; with- 

 draw it at once and heat in the flame of an alcohol lamp. 

 Watch the piece carefully. It will first turn green, then 

 a black speck or two will appear on the surface and this 

 will quickly spread until the whole surface is a dull, dead 

 black, when the piece should be removed from the heat. 

 The change takes place at the temperature at which tin- 

 man's solder melts, and hotter than this no soldered fer- 

 rule should be heated, lest it anneal and lose its stiffness. 



It may be cooled at once in water or allowed to cool 

 naturally. In the first case scrub with a brush while the 

 metal is wet and in the second scrub with a brush with 

 the metal dry, which gives the best results. After being 

 scrubbed and rubbed with a dry cloth to remove any re- 

 maining crock the metal will be a beautiful soft dead 

 black. The expense will not be more than fifty cents. 



This is the finish that I have seen on rods made by 

 Forrest & Son, of Kelso, Scotland, and by Malloch of 

 Perth. I now have one of Malloch's rods and the mount- 

 ings are as black as when I got it, five or six years ago. 



Why English anglers have to be content with the rods 

 mentioned by the correspondent is not clear. Ogden 

 makes wood rods up to £2 and £3 each. Foster, Hardy 

 and Little and others make split-bamboo rods from £4 to 

 £5, and even more, and Leonard and other American 

 split-bamboo rods are sold on the other side. 



T here are several reasons why we in this country do 

 nou'get any considerable quantity of fine undrawn gut in 

 long lengths. One is that the English dealers, as a rule, 

 have the first whack at it and buy up the most of it. It 

 can be procured in this country if one goes to the right 

 place for it. I now have some leaders of this kind of 

 gut as fine and as perfect in every way (made in this 

 country), and equal to the fine undrawn gun leaders tied 

 by Mrs. Bulmer in London, who, I think, cannot be 

 excelled in this respect by any one in the world. Another 

 reason is that for the average fishing in this country 

 such leaders are not required any more than we require 

 the fine drawn gut leaders so much used in England. 

 The character of our streams is different from those in 

 England. There they have grass and weeds to contend 

 with, here we have in our wilder streams roots, snags 

 and debris that would smash the finer gut. Of course 

 in the limits of this note I cannot go into the differences 

 in detail, but for a final reason I quote from one of the 

 last Englisn exchanges in regard to this very kind of gut: 

 "This year, in addition to the gossamer drawn casts we 

 have extra fine whole gut tapered gut casts. A few years 

 ago it was almost impossible to get such casts at any 

 price." 



Eyed hooks are slowly coming into use in th's country. 

 Hall's turn-up eyed hook, and Cholmondeley-Pennell's turn- 

 down eyed hook, both find favor, although I think the lat- 

 ter, in Pennell-Limeriek, the better shape. When Mr. Pen- 

 nell first designed the improvement on his old square bend, 

 straight-point hook, he sent me samples, and I wrote an 

 article about "them, illustrating the hook and the jam 

 knot. What the correspondent means by "upturned 

 shank" for Pennell-Limeriek, I fail to comprehend, unless 

 it is the "loop-eye" in which the wire is returned up the 

 shank after forming the eye, whichj-enders fraying of the 

 gut impossible. These hooks, however, are made only in 

 salmon and grilse sizes. I believe that the Pennell-Lim- 

 eriek is the best fly-hook made, but for bait- fishing, or flies 

 smaller than No. 5, new scale, or No. 10, Redditch scale, 

 the points should be kerb'd instead of straight. What is 

 better still for bait-fishing is the Pennell-Sneck hook, and 

 this also is made with kerb'd or straight point. 



I think the methods of England and this country are as 

 much alike as conditions and circumstances will permit, 

 and we fish ' 'fine and far off" when such fishing is neces- 

 sary, at other times just fish to get them. 



From the Adirondacks. 



I have a tender place in my memory for the "Seven 

 Chain Lakes," partly in Essex county and partly in Ham- 

 ilton county, New York, for my earliest Adirondack fish- 

 ing was done in these lakes in lfc59, when it was more of 

 a task to get there than it is in these days of strain cars 

 and mail coaches. When my friend, Mr. Charles H. 

 Wilson, came to see me just before starting for Harvey 

 Bonney's, on the third lake of the chain, I asked him to 

 write me about the fishing, and this is his letter: 



"Bonnet's, May 6. — I write you as per promise of the 

 doings of our party since coming here. So far we have 

 found plenty of trout, and with but two exceptions of the 

 speckled variety. The weather has been delightful, and 

 the leaves, prompted by .an occasional shower, are making 

 their appearance. The ice went out of the lakes the 19th 

 of April, as against May 10 last year. Our success may be 

 shown by the following statement: May 2—21 trout, 

 13lbs. (largest Hlbs. May 3— 10 trout, 6lbs. May 4—29 

 trout, 161bs. May 5—41 trout, 2Slbs. (largest lflbs.). 



"On the 4th and 5th the fly-fishing was satisfactory, not- 

 withstanding the largest trout caught was taken on a 

 minnow. I had the pleasure of killing one on a black- 

 gnat that weighed lib. 6oz. Yesterday Messrs. Wright 

 and Viles had the good fortune to see a water spout cross- 

 ing the Seventh Lake. They describe it as being about 

 10ft. high, and at the base about the size of an ordinary 

 water pail, increasing in size as it went up until about' as 

 large as its height, and then dissolving into spray, very 

 much like the single pipe fountain in Union Square. 



"I took a little trip down Chain Lake stream, and in 

 nearly all the set backs I saw an immense number of 

 small trout about lin. in length. This stream is the 

 spawning ground of a great number of trout from the 

 First Lake, as you are well aware. 



"I think we have struck this place at its best, or nearly 

 so at least, and while I am not getting as many trout as 

 the rest of the party, I am getting what I am really here 

 for — health and rest." 



To reach Chain Lakes, go up the Adirondacks R. R. 

 from Saratoga Springs, to' North Creek, then take stage to 

 Indian River and walk in to Bonney's nine miles, with a 

 horse to pack in the duffle. -A. N. Cheney. 



The Forest and Stream is put to press each-week on Tues- 

 day. Correspondence intended for publication should reach 

 w« at the latest by Monday, and as much earlier as practicable, 



