June 6, 1896.] 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
467 
The greater number of applications for fish of various 
kinds are carefully examined by the Commission, and 
those for private waters are thrown out. If appli- 
cants describe waters that are unsuitable for the fish 
asked for, their applications are also thrown out or filled 
with fish suitable for the water in question. The Com- 
mission has issued a circular, a copy of which is sent to 
each person applying for fish, describing the proper way 
to handle and care for fry until they are deposited. 
At the time the table from which I have quoted, show- 
ing the number of fish applied for, was made up, 1,136,- 
075 black bass were asked for. This is a fish, as every one 
here knows, that is not yet hatched artificially, and the 
State can supply them only by netting waters in one part 
of the State to supply waters in another, or by purchase 
from waters without the State. Last year with an ex- 
penditure of $500 the Commission purchased and caught 
for distribution 1,810 adult black bass and 18,300 finger- 
lings about 2in. long, a greater number than ever before 
distributed by the State in one year. The law of the 
State opens the black bass fishing on May 30; and as black 
bass spawn all through the month of June and the brood 
of young bass require the care of the parent fish for Borne 
time after they are hatched, it seems like wasting at the 
bung and filling at the spigot to expect the Commission 
to keep up the supply of black bass with the few that 
they can buy. In fact I have suggested to the Commis- 
sioners, informally, that until the close time is changed 
to cover the breeding season it might be wise to distribute 
no black bass whatever, for no commission can perform 
the impossible, and 18,000 2in. bass— less than one 5lbs. 
bass would rear if all eggs and fry survived — will go but 
a very little way toward supplying the waste of a whole 
month of fishing during the breeding season. 
Another law that the Commission has to contend with 
to keep up the supply of one of the most important of food 
gshes is the shad law. Before the construction of the 
Erie Canal in 1825, which necessitated building a dam 
across the Hudson River at Troy, shad ran up the Hudson 
to Baker's Falls at Sandy Hill, fifty miles above Troy, and 
furnished food to a community to which shad is now a 
comparative rarity. In that day many a farmer came to 
the river below Baker's Falls and camped until he had 
secured and salted down a supply of shad for the winter. 
The Troy dam checked the upward migration of the shad 
from the time it was built until this day, but good catches 
of shad were made just below the dam up to within, say, 
ten or fifteen years ago. Within a few days just passed I 
have questioned the net fishermen who have applied to the 
Commission for license to net the river at or near Albany 
for herring, and they tell me it would not pay them to set 
a net for shad. The present shad law relating to the 
Hudson provides an open season between March 14 and 
June 15 for netting shad, "but said nets shall not be 
drawn "nor fish taken therefrom between sunset on Satur- 
day night and sunrise on Monday morning, unless by 
reason of the inclemency of the weather said nets cannot 
be drawn prior to sunset on Saturday night, in which case 
it shall be lawful to take fish therefrom as soon as the 
weather will permit." With this law in force the Com- 
mission has been unable to secure a sufficient number of 
ripe shad at Catskill to keep up the supply of this species 
of fish in the river without assistance from the U. S. Fish 
Commission. It was thought advisable by the Commis- 
sion to amend this section of the law at the session of 
the Legislature during the past winter, and a bill was in- 
troduced which required that shad nets be taken up at 
sunset Friday night and not fished until sunrise Monday, 
and it also provided that nets should not be operated by 
boats propelled by steam. This amendment was for the 
purpose of opening the river a sufficient time each week 
to enable a sufficient number of breeding shad to reach 
their spawning grounds and keep up the stock in case aid 
from outside sources should fail. The steamboat clause 
was for the purpose of putting all the fishermen on the 
same footing. This bill passed the Senate, but was de- 
feated in the Assembly. 
In 1895 unusual efforts were made by this Commission 
to obtain shad eggs in the Hudson, and 3,087,000 fry were 
hatched and planted, and 4,900,000 contributed to the 
Hudson by the U. S. Fish Commission. From 1883 to 
1895, both years inclusive, the State planted in the Hudson 
33,522,500 shad fry, and during the same period the IT. S. 
Fish Commission contributed to the Hudson 54,511,000 
shad fry from other rivers, or 20,988,500 more than the 
State was able to supply from the river itself. With these 
figures, taken from the reports of this Commission and 
furnished to me by Commissioner Brice from the books 
of the U. S. Fish Commission, as a basis, one Can imagine 
what the condition of the shad fishing in the Hudson 
would have become had it not been for contributions of 
fry from the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers. This 
year the shad work of this Commission is not completed, 
but the U. S. Fish Commission has already contributed to 
the Hudson 3,000,000 shad fry from the Susquehanna and 
2,000,000 from the Delaware. 
Contributions of shad fry from other rivers doubtless do 
more than aid to keep up the supply of fish in the Hud 
son, as the fresh blood must invigorate and improve the 
stock. 
Since 1882 the greatest number of shad fry the State 
has been able to plant in the river from egg3 obtained 
from the shad of the river was in 1889, when 6.000,000 
were planted. The next best seasons were 1887, 1888 and 
1895, when something over 3,000,000 were planted each 
year. In 1891 the United States contributed 9,348 000 fry 
and six other years from 4,200,000 up to 7,414,000 an- 
nually. 
As to the importance of the shad fisheries of the Hudson 
and the value of the product, the Commission caused an 
investigation to be made last year covering all the fishing 
stations from Sandy Hook to Castleton, nine miles below 
Albany. It was found that 3,471 nets were operated, and 
1,155,610 shad were taken during the season of 1895. New 
Jersey is credited with 1,666 nets, operated at eleven sta- 
tions, and taking 417,829 shad. New York is credited with 
1,805 nets, operated at sixty-seven stations, and taking 
737,781 fish. The greatest number of nets at a single station 
is 703, at Alpine, N. J., taking 94,100 shad. Fort Lee, N. 
J., operates 337 nets, taking 114,300 shad. The greatest 
number of nets operated from New York stations was 
306 at Sine Sing, taking 16,400 shad, and 313 at Nyack, 
taking 3,853. The nets gradually peter out up stream, 
until Castleton, with one net, is credited with 500 shad. 
At Catskill, where the work of this Commission is carried 
on, six nets were operated, taking 5,000 shad. 
fc To get at the weight and value of the shad catch in the 
Hudson, I asked ex-Commissioner Blackford to give me 
the average figures of fish received at Fulton Market. He 
wrote me: 
"Regarding the Hudson River shad, I would say that 
100 buck shad will weigh 3081bs., and 100 roe shad will 
weigh 4121bs. This, you see, will make their average a 
little over 3£lbs. The proportion of bucks to roe shad this 
season has been 60 per cent, roe shad to 40 per cent, buck 
shad. The average price for the entire season has been 
20 cents for roe shad and 10 cents for buck shad. The 
lowest price they have sold for on any one day was 10 
cents for roe shad and 5 cents for bucks. For quality and 
size, the Hudson River shad has been good— rather better 
than for the last two or three years." 
With these figures as a basis, I find that the catch of 
shad in the Hudson River in 1895 weighed 4,044 635lbs., 
and that 693,366 roe shad brought $138,673.20, and 462,244 
buck shad brought $46,224.40, or a total for the entire 
catch of $184,897.60. 
The mascalonge work at Chautauqua Lake is in progress 
at this time, and probably 3,000,000 f ry of this species will 
be planted by the State. The mascalonge of Chautauqua 
Lake, while structurally like the St. Lawrence River fish, 
is differently marked, and wholly lacks the round brown 
spots of the latter. The Chautauqua fish is blotched or 
banded on the sides with rich brown on a light ground. 
I believe that no other commission has attempted to culti- 
vate the mascalonge artificially. A number of experi- 
ments were made in this work before the hatching of 
mascalonge was successful. The eggs were tried in the 
hatching jar and in shad boxes in running water, but 
finally the eggs were placed in boxes with double screens 
top and bottom to prevent the eggs being eaten by min- 
nows and other fish, and the boxes were sunk in the lake 
in still water. 
It is difficult to obtain all the eggs from a fish at one 
handling, but 265,000 eggs have been taken at one time 
from a female of 32lbs. Only one mascalonge was killed 
last year of all tha.t were handled. After milting the eggs 
separate in three-quarters of an hour, and about 97 per 
cent, of impregnated eggs are hatched. With water at 
55° Fahr. the fry hatch in about fifteen days, and it re- 
quires about the same length of time to absorb the um- 
bilical sac. The fry of the mascalonge when first hatched 
are very helpless, and apparently a prey to every living 
thing. 
This Commission is giving considerable thought to the 
question of providing fnod for fishes in wild waters, as it 
believes that many failures to stock lakes and streams are 
directly chargeable to a lack of proper food for the planted 
fish. This subject is treated at some length in the annual 
report of the Commission now in the hands of the printer. 
The steelhead trout mentioned in this paper are the first 
to be brought to New York, and they will be planted in 
one of the large lakes in northern New York and in Long 
Island streams flowing into the sea. The Scotch sea trout 
are the first to be brought to this country and will not be 
distributed at present. 
The total output of fish of all kinds will be considerably 
larger this year when all the work is finished than last 
year, when under the old Fishery Commission and the 
new Fisheries, Game and Forest Commission combined a 
grand total of 196,247,840 were planted. 
OUANAN1CHE AND TROUT. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Some splendid specimens of the famous northern game 
fish that occupies so much space in the June number of 
Harper's Magazine have been brought here by anglers 
within the last few days and displayed in the windows of 
the fishing tackle shops. Very beautiful indeed is the 
sheen of these first bright silvery spring salmon from the 
fresh water of Lake St. John. Large catches have been 
made at the mouth of the Metabetchouan for a fortnight 
past, but mostly with bait, Now, however, the ouananiche 
is taking the fly freely, both there and in the mouth of 
the Ouiatchouan, and within the last day or two in the 
body of the lake itself, principally along the Roberval 
Bhore. Here the sport is exceedingly good, and likely to 
remain so for several days, and perhaps a fortnight to 
come, for not until the waters fall to a certain level — and 
they are now exceedingly high — will the fish move out 
into the rapids of La Grande Decharge. Meanwhile dur- 
ing their sojourn in the great lake it is somewhat melan- 
choly to contemplate the numbers of these magnificent 
specimens of Salmo ouananiche that find a sepulcher be- 
hind the wolfish jaws of the monster pike of this great 
inland sea, or within the disgustingly distended paunches 
of the villainous Lota amerieana or Lota maculosa, fresh- 
water burbot or ling, as he is described in the new work 
on "The Ouananiche and its Canadian Environment." 
Some of the earliest American anglers to visit their 
Canadian preserves are already commencing to return. 
Messrs. J. P. Warner and F. N. Benham, of Bridgeport, 
arrived here last night on their way home from the Meta- 
betchouan Fish and Game Club's preserve, where they 
enjoyed their usual good sport. They would probably 
have had better fly-fishing could they have remained a 
few days later; but as it was necessary for them to leave 
they will revisit their preserve about the end of August. 
During the present week there has been a large accession 
to the number of members and guests at the club house 
and on the waters of the Metabetchouan Club at Kiski- 
sink. Among others now there are Messrs. Samuel Dodd, 
Walter Hubbard, Geo. A. Fay, W. B. Hall, W. B. Ives, 
CP. Bradley, Frank Stevenson, Jr., Frank S. Fay, Wm. 
P. Morgan and Geo. H. Wilcox, of Meriden, Conn. ; S. A. 
Burns, A. J. Cable, N. M. Bsach and Wm. C. Bryant, of 
Bridgeport, Conn. ; J. E. Palmer, of Middletan, Conn. ; C. 
R. Forrest, of Hartford, and Frank L. Palmer, of New 
London, Conn. Dr. Heber Bishop, accompanied by Mr. 
J. Warner and other New England anglers, leave for 
Kiskisink by this evening's train. Mr. Arthur Beebe, 
of Syracuse, leaves at the same time for the Triton 
Tract. Over fifty Syracusians are Tritons, and among 
those of them who have lately gone up to their preserves, 
all since the date of my last letter, are Messrs. D. R. Mc- 
Carthy, C. W. Andrews, W. S. Andrews, D. E. Petit, A. 
E. Fowler, H. E. Wannamaker, C. H. Mowry, G. F. Greg- 
ory, Wm. B. Kirk, M. C. Pierce, W. H. Brown, L. C. 
Smith, Geo. P. Larrabee, Fred Barnes and Stewart Mur- 
ray. The other anglers at present upon this tract are C. 
H. Brandon, of Nashville, Tenn. ; E. E Darling, of Troy, 
N. Y.; J. R. Judson, of Arlington, Vt. , and Henry Schnei- 
der and W. M. Peckham, of Troy, N. Y. These Tritons 
have recently erected a magnificent club house on Lac ft 
la Croix, a lake expansion of the Batisean River, and 
close by it a railway station has been established for their 
exclusive upe. Their club house is to cost, when complet- 
ed, some $8,000. It has a frontage of 104ft., an average 
depth of 35ft., and no less than thirty bedrooms. The in- 
terior is of natural spruce, with oil and varnish finish, 
There is an ingle nook in the building, and several rooms 
with large, open, ornamental fireplaces for log fires. Some 
of the members are also erecting private camps on vari- 
ous sites throughout the tract. 
Messrs. Geo. E. Hart, of Waterhury, and Wallace Dur- 
and, of Newark, have timed themselves to be here (on 
their way to the Nomantum Club waters) on the 27th, and 
the Messrs. McCormick, of Florida, passed through Que- 
bec to-day. All these parties have arranged to fish for 
ouananiche after their spring trout fishing. 
Dr. Morris, of New York, will be at Lake St. John in 
the second week of June, and so will Dr. Webb and party . 
Mr. W. K. Vanderbilt and party will spend a few weeks 
upon the Metapedia after the 1st of June. Their head- 
quarters will be at the Restigouche Salmon Club. 
Very large catches of trout — some of them exceeding 
5lbs. in weight — have been made this week in Lake Ed- 
ward, on the waters of the Tourilli Club, and also in the 
Laurentide and Stadacona groups of lakes. 
E. T. D. Chambebs. 
Qckbbc, May 23. 
From far above the Grand Falls of the Hamilton River 
and from the waters of its Ashuanipi branch, in the 
interior of Labrador, came the skin of a fish that unfolds 
a novel and interesting story to anglers and ichthyol- 
ogists alike. In its adipose fin the fish whose skin this 
was wore the badge of royalty among fishes— the evi- 
dence of kinship to the kingly family of the salmon. In 
its shapely heauty and brilliancy of coloring, from the 
deep bluish green of its back, through the various shades 
of its silvery sides, to the pure white of its under surface, 
and in the number and disposition of its fin rays, it 
scarcely differed from a grilse of equal size. But its 
habitat was above a cataract having a sheer fall of 300 Ft., 
so that this fish could not possibly have been a salmon 
from the sea. The large number and the distinctness of 
the xx marks upon its sides, the large size of the eye and 
of the dark spots upon the gill covers, and the strength 
and thickness of that portion of the body adjoining the 
caudal fin, all stamp it a ouananiche, or fresh-water sal- 
mon of non-anadromouB habits. Prior to the discovery 
of this fish in several of the large streams of the extreme 
northern and eastern river basins of Labrador, by Mr. A. 
P. Low, of the Geological Survey of Canada, who 
brought this skin back with him to civilization upon his 
return from his overland trip of 1894-5 to Ungava Bay, 
the ouananiche was popularly supposed to be peculiar to 
Lake St. John and its tributary waters. Now its Cana- 
dian environment is known to include the whole Labrador 
peninsula, excepting perhaps that part of its westerly 
slope drained into Hudson Bay; and the angler who 
would find it, and fight it under the varying conditions 
in which it may be found, must traverse a vast region 
of mountain and lake and forest and stream as practical- 
ly unknown as the interior of Africa, save to the Mon- 
tagnais and Mascapee Indians, whose hunting-ground it is. 
The earliest spring fishing for ouananiche is to be had 
in Lake St. John. The railway ride of 190 miles thither 
from the city of Quebec carries the tourist through one 
of the most fascinating regions of Northern sport, and 
across the entire belt of the Laurentian Mountains, which 
thousands of years before Noah's ark grounded upon the 
summit of Mount Ararat, or the fiat had gone forth 
which first shed created light upon a world of chaos, 
lifted aloft their hoary heads, white with the snows of a 
thousand years. Most of the stoppages made along the 
greater part of this railway line are mainly for the 
accommodation of fishermen belonging to the different 
clubs of sportsmen, whose club-houses are sometimes the 
railway stations and the headquarters of private pre- 
serves, of 200 to 400 square miles each in extent. Ouan- 
aniche have been planted in some of these preserved 
waters, and brook trout abound everywhere. Marvelous 
stories are told of the monster fontinalis that inhabit the 
deep, cold waters of the lakes and streams of the Triton 
the Lake Edward, the Nomantum, the Metabetchouan 
and the Batisean systems. Five and six pound speci- 
mens are not rare in either of these, and occasionally 
eight-pounders are taken. The brilliancy of their color- 
ing has drawn from Kit Clarke the declaration that "God 
never made a more beautiful object." An English maga- 
zine -writer has said of the same fish, "Never have we 
seen such gorgeous and brilliant coloring in any finny 
creature, except perhaps in some of the quaint, tropical 
varieties from the Caribbean Sea, which are shown to the 
traveler by negro fishermen in Jamaica." 
In gameness this beautiful trout is excelled in its Cana- 
dian home by the ouananiche alone. From its lair be- 
neath some lilypad or under the shadow of an overhang- 
ing tree or rock, often within the margin of heavy rapids, 
where the floods clap their hands in frolicsome glee, the 
leopard of the brook has had his attention directed, by 
some peculiar motion of a somewhat remarkable fly at or 
near the surface of the water. At the moment the insect 
makes a dart, as if to escape alike his observation and his 
reach, it is seized by him with a rush which in velocity 
excels the motion of the cast as it is about to be drawn 
from the water. If essential to success, this mad rush is 
not unfrequently terminated by a leap into mid air and on 
to the apparently vanishing hook. He is a valiant foe, a 
stand-up fighter, as it were, who takes no surface lure by 
stealth, not even from below, but flings himself boldly 
into the contest, generally exposeB himself to full view 
quite early in the fight, and never loses an inch of ground, 
or water, or line, until compelled by sheer exhaustion, nor 
is finally conquered until he has employed the thousand 
and one devices of his plucky persistence, bold, brave, 
battling and finny finesse. Even when apparently quite 
exhausted, and drawn unresistingly on his side upon the 
top of the water to the very margin of the angler's canoe, 
the sight of the landing net inspires him with new life, 
and he must needs be a deft and experienced guide who 
is not often overmatched in the wild dash for life and 
liberty of a large trout's final struggle at the apparition of 
the net. This is the fontinalis of cold Northern waters 
as I know him and esteem him, and as thousands of Cana- 
dian and American anglers know and esteem him too. 
Many a time these trout ara taken in ibis Lake St. John 
country two or three at a cast. I have known of two 
being taken at a time where only one was hooked. 
