Nov. 17, 1894.] 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
427 
"I thought the creel, getting a little inconvenient, would 
better be laid aside, so I left it under one of the willows 
in the shade. The next time I undertook to put a trout 
in the accustomed hole it would not go in, and I opened 
the cover and was surprised to find the creel quite full. 
Three more trout and it was packed so that it would not 
hold another ounce. I had weighed the creel full of fish 
more than once, and was ready to swear to 151bs. of trout. 
I had been stepping up and down from the boulder 
scarcely three-quarters of an hour and had lost but one 
fish. * * * I took out six more, threw them up the 
beach and let our host take them off. * * * When we 
reached home the catch was counted by him and he re- 
perted twenty-five trout, weighing just SOlbs. I took off 
the brown-hen that had served me so well; she was some- 
what ragged, but I marked and put her carefully away as 
a mementOe" 
Brother Newberry reminded me of that morning, and 
the difference between my day and his. I could not re- 
sist the desire to hunt up the old brown-hen, and when I 
looked upon the remains I felt an irresistible temptation 
to repeat a part of my old story, trusting that it might not 
prove uninteresting. I wish my brother to transfer his 
"respect for the rainbow trout" to our native denizens of 
the stream. Lewis B. France. 
Denver, Col. 
THE BIG PIKE-PERCH. 
"Oh I'm the boss fisherman; I've caught the biggest 
wall-eyed pike." Thus Jack taunted me and exulted all 
the day long. It was a very hot day too, and he had 
awakened me early in the morning with, "Come get up. 
Let's go a-fishing. Get out or I'll pull you out." "Of 
course you want to go fishing now, you feel so big since 
you caught that big pike-perch yesterday." "Who 
would'nt feel big. You never caught a 4-pound wall- 
eyed pike in your life." 
It was true I never had, and only the day before Jack 
had caught one. We had been out all day but the wind 
blew so that we had no success. At last, tired with beat- 
ing about in the wind we ran in behind a point of reeds, 
and as we lay there, Jack put a fresh minnow on his 
hook and made a cast far out into deep water. He 
allowed the bait to settle down pretty well, then com- 
menced to reel in and immediately was fast to the big fish. 
It gave him a battle royal before he tired it out and I 
dipped it up in the net. Jack exulted all the way home 
and all of the evening, and here he was, rejoicing and 
with another trip planned before I was out of bed. 
We went down into Lake Sally and then made a por- 
tage over into Fox Lake. Here we fished without any 
great success until a little after noon, when Jack hooked 
and, after a long and desperate fight, landed an lllbs. 
pike, or pickerel as they are usually called here, then he 
added to his war song: "Oh I am the boss fisherman; 
yesterday I caught a 41bs. pike-perch and now I have an 
lllbs. pike, whoopee." I was very much subdued by all 
this but recovered somewhat as I hooked and landed a 
couple of small-mouth bass weighing about l^lbs. each. 
My rising spirits were soon checked as Jack caught a 
double, which when landed proved to be almost exact 
duplicates of the two I caught. 
"Two doubles! Hurrah!" he said. "Did you imagine 
that you were going to get ahead of me, old man?" 
I feebly answered that I had never entertained such a 
thought. 
"You hadn't better," he cheerfully responded. 
I caught one more bass, then he one more, when we 
concluded that we had better start for home as it was an 
eight-mile row with two portages to make. We made 
the portages into Lake Sally and started for the lock 
when we saw the tug coming with three empty barges in 
tow. 
"I say," Jack exclaimed, "let's hook on behind that 
tow and go around in Melissa and stay all night at Mol- 
lie's (Mollie is Jack's sister) and fish in Melissa to-morrow." 
"That's just the thing," I replied. 
"And we'll have Mollie bake the big 11-pounder for 
dinner to-morrow," he said. 
We pulled out to meet the tug. Running up close to 
the last barge in the tow I threw our anchor aboard, the 
long anchor rope serving as towline, and away we went, 
across Lake Sally, down the river and into Lake Melissa, 
only we did not get towed all the way. In turning a 
bend in the river the barges swung far to one side and 
our boat, obeying the law of bodies in motion that makes 
it so interesting to the tail boy in the game called ' 'crack- 
ing the whip," went around further than the barges, the 
tow-line took a loop around a stake that stuck up a foot 
or so from the water, and there we were. Fortunately 
we did not capsize. The tug went puffing on, and as soon 
as we righted ourselves we rowed on, and just as the sun 
was setting reached our destination and were warmly 
welcomed and a supper quickly prepared. 
The next morning we started across the lake for Rocky 
Point, a noted bass haunt. By the time we reached the 
point the sun was shining down very hot. "Not much 
use trying to fish," growled Jack. We did try, however, 
and caught several pike-perch and now and then a large- 
mouth bass. 
Suddenly my rod bent and the line began to go off the 
reel very fast. I checked it a little, and the little rod bent 
nearly double, 
"What are you hooked to?" asked Jack. 
"I don't know. It is not a bass or pickerel. It acts 
like one of those big mascallonge we used to catch." 
"By the great horn spoon!" exclaimed Jack, as the fish 
came in sight, "It's the biggest wall-eyed pike I ever saw. 
Don't you let him get away." 
It was the largest pike-perch I had ever seen, and he 
was a fighter to the very last. At length, with a whoop 
of triumph, Jack got the net under the fish, and then it 
was ours. It was a beauty, In color it equaled any of 
the so-called golden pike that I have ever seen, and it 
weighed 61bs. good and strong two hours later. 
"Who is the boss fisherman now?" I asked Jack. 
"Oh, well, you seem to have come out ahead, but I am 
going to catch a bigger one or else swear that I caught 
' that one, and you dare not say I didn't." 
We caught several more fish but no large ones, 21bs. 
seeming to be about the average. We went back in time 
for dinner— at noon. The pickerel was baked in fine 
style and we did ample justice to it. Many of the people 
in the cottages around the lake came to see the big pike- 
perch. Every one said it was the largest pike-peach ever 
caught in the lake with hook and line. 
After dinner we started on our long row home. As we 
made the portage at the lock Jack said : "Right here was 
where I first saw you. You and Stephens were caught in 
a shower while making the portage, and had turned your 
boat up against a stump and were sitting under it, snug 
and dry, eating bananas and oranges. Do you remember 
it?" I did remember it distinctty, and the further fact 
that we caught no fish that day, as the rain continued all 
the afternoon. Myron Cooley. 
Detroit City, Minn. 
ANGLING NOTES. 
The Leap of the Salmon. 
A few years ago I had occasion to say something 
about the leaping powers of the Atlantic salmon, and 
what I said was criticised by a well known angling author- 
ity. I mentioned that it was reported that salmon in 
Norwegian rivers had jumped up and over an obstruction 
16ft. high. My friend and critic contended that salmon 
could not jump to exceed 6ft. I then brought forward 
evidence from a number of anglers, fishing inspectors, 
fish commissioners, etc. in this country and in Europe to 
show that salmon had made leaps ranging from 10 to 16ft. 
and still my critic was not convinced. 
Under date of Oct. 23, 1894, Prof. A. Landmaxk, Inspec- 
tor of Fresh Water Fisheries for Norway, writes me from 
Christiania about his experiments in marking salmon and 
sea trout for the purpose of observing their migrations, 
and he has this to say about the leap of the salmon: 
"Concerning the height that salmon can jump under 
favorable circumstances there is in one place in Norway 
undeniable evidence that salmon sometimes have made 
a perfectly clear jump of 16ft. (perpendicular height). 
As to the details of these jumps I refer you to page 3 of 
my pamphlet on ' 'Salmon Passes", a copy of which I send 
you by book post. No doubt a jump of the said height is 
quite unusual; but having myself examined the spot, 
where the occurrence had taken place, and heard the 
evidence of persons who have themselves witnessed it, I 
cannot doubt the fact." The pamphlet mentioned has 
not yet been received, and later I may have something to 
say about the details it contains of jumping salmon. 
Habits of Landlocked Salmon. 
A New York morning newspaper mentions my name 
in connection with the planting of yearling landlocked 
salmon in the tributaries of Lake Champlain for the TJ. S. 
Fish Commission, and it gives some further information 
in these words: 
. "It is the desire of the U. S. Fish Commissioner to hold 
the salmon in the streams until maturity, when they 
could go down to the lake to spawn, and need not return 
to the rivers. In the selection of rearing waters, there- 
fore, this element was not considered important, and the 
range of choice was wider." 
Where the paper got such information I do not know — 
certainly not from me, although I was charged with the 
selection of the streams in which to plant the fish. 
Streams were selected free from all obstructions in the 
shape of dams and insurmountable falls so the salmon 
could enter them from the lake for the purpose of spawn- 
ing, for it is in the streams that they spawn, not in the 
lake. It is true, as the late Prof. Baird pointed out when 
he was U. S. Fish Commissioner, that if the salmon 
planted in a lake were cut off from the streams for 
any reason, they would select sand bars or gravel beds 
where springs bubbled from the bottom and there deposit 
their spawn. Landlocked salmon do not come to matur- 
ity in the streams where they are born or planted. They 
are but a few ounces in weight when they run down into 
the lake from the streams, and they come to maturity in 
the lake and return to the streams to spawn. 
I think the bulk of the landlocked salmon remain in 
the stream until they are two years old, although some 
may run down at eighteen months. I have seen them in 
planted streams the second summer and autumn, and 
could not discover that any were missing from the plant 
to account for some having run down at a year of age. 
In selecting rearing waters for landlocked salmon every 
possible element must be considered to insure success; the 
failure to consider one may be fatal, and until one seeks 
for such waters he may be blissfully ignorant of how few 
there are of streams now suitable for planting with these 
fish. For instance, in Lake Champlain are streams flow- 
ing which were once the home of the sea salmon, and in 
which the sea salmon have been planted within recent 
years, and they have done well, too, but their streams are 
wholly unsuited in their present condition for landlocked 
salmon. Fish ways in some of the streams would fit them 
for salmon of both kinds, sea and landlocked, if I may be 
allowed to separate them, but until fish ways are built over 
the dams in them they are useless for planting. It is a 
great pity that fishways are not built in two of the 
streams near Plattsburgb, for they have demonstrated 
that sea salmon will again thrive in them and afford fish- 
ing and food. I say again thrive in them, for both were 
once salmon streams within this century. 
A Retraction. 
I am always careful about every statement I make in 
these columns, that it shall be correct in fact, but I am 
but human and liable to errors, and now I am wrong 
about one statement, and the only manly way is to 
acknowledge it. 
In Forest and Stream Oct. 13, under the head of 
"Amateur View of It," I said: "I am reliably informed 
that one man has caught from his steam launch this year 
nearly one ton of lake trout, and his guide has sold most 
of the catch." 
A friend and hotel keeper on the lake in question tells 
me that I am "off on this statement," for he paid the 
guide only $300 for his fish, and I promised to correct it. 
I find by figuring the market price of lake trout that my 
friend got only l,3331bs. of trout for his $200, and I must 
admit that l,3331bs. is not "nearly one ton." But my 
friend did not open his hotel until the very last of June, 
and the trouc fishing opened May 1, and in May more 
trout are caught per man or steam launch than during 
any other month, and the guide I referred to was steadily 
selling trout miles away from my friend's hotel long be- 
fore the last of June, so I think from this later evidence 
he has furnished that I should have said one guide has 
sold considerably over one ton of lake trout, and this will 
allow the owner of the launch to have a few fish for his 
own eating. Thanks for calling my attention to the 
' 'error." 
Salmon in the Adirondacks. 
Superintendent John G. Roberts, of the Adirondack 
station of the New York Fish Commission, writes me that 
he recently caught some landlocked salmon in a seine for 
hatching purposes and two of the fish weighed 71bs. each. 
One was a male and the other a female full of spawn. 
Those fish have grown from a lot of salmon fry planted in 
1887, and while the growth is good it is not up to that 
which I reported from Pleasant Pond, N. H. , which was 
remarkable. 
Will Salmon Take the Fly? 
A gentleman writes to me from the University Club, 
New York city, as follows: 
"Having read in a recent issue of Forest and Stream 
your interesting article on Pleasant Pond, N. H. , I write 
to inquire if the landlocked salmon you refer to in the 
paper mentioned are likely to be taken with the fly. As 
the salmon in other lakes in New Hampshire and Maine 
can be taken only with live bait or a spoon, I suppose it 
is only reasonable to conjecture that such will be the case 
in Pleasant Point. However, I should like to have your 
opinion on the subject in some issue of the Forest and 
Stream. 
What the landlocked salmon may do in the way of tak- 
ing the artificial fly in Pleasant Pond, when the season 
opens next May, is purely guess work, except as we reason 
by analogy, for up to this time they have not had fly or 
bait offered to them. It is reasonable to suppose that 
what the landlocked salmon have done they will keep on 
doing, and in Sunapee Lake, which furnished the stock 
for Pleasant Pond, landlocked salmon have taken the fly 
when it has been offered, but as near as I can learn the fly 
has rarely been presented to the fish for their acceptance. 
In May, after the ice goes out of Sunapee, and well into 
June, the landlocked salmon are at the surface of the 
water, but nearly every one fishes for them by casting a 
smelt bait or trolling a spoon, and as this suffices to take 
many fish, the fishermen are satisfied with their methods, 
and the fly is not cast for them, except on rare occasions. 
Sidney Bickford, the artist, while casting the fly (for 
trout, I think) near the shore of Soo-Nipi Park, hooked a 
salmon of lOlbs. Buck fever struck the angler when the 
fish leaped, but he managed to drag the salmon into 
shallow water, jump from his boat, haul the fish on shore 
and kill it. It is a matter of fact that the artist was so 
prostrated from excitement that he required the services 
of a nurse during the night which followed, so that is not 
a good way to fish if one is subject to fish fever. The 
late Prof. Trowbridge was casting a brown hackle in 
June for black bass, along the shore of Sunapee, and 
Prof. Quackenbos was rowing the boat. The latter tells 
me: "Almost the first cast Gen. Trowbridge made, within 
200ft. of the stove on which Prof. Campbell's supper was 
cooking; at Owl Nest, brought from the water a giant 
salmon which missed the fly and went down, with a great 
splash. It was the grandest rise I ever witnessed, and 
was twice repeated, but in vain. The trout flies were too 
small for that mouth which we both estimated belonged 
to a 10-pounder." 
Mr. W. L. Craig, of the New York Board of Health, 
struck a salmon supposed to weigh 71bs., but the fish took 
his fly, so the weight could not be confirmed. As late as 
July 11 a gentleman was casting his flies for black bass 
off of Owl Nest Point, when he hooked and killed two 
salmon of 4^ and 61bs. The fly in this case was a golden- 
doctor. William Young, the dramatic writer, says that 
the toodle-bug, small Rangeley Lake size, is a killing fly 
in Sunapee Lake for salmon and large trout. Ladies 
have not infrequently taken salmon in Sunapee with a 
small fluted spoon, No. 2. The wife of Prof. Dunning, of 
Columbia College, has taken a number in this way, as 
have the members of Prof. Quackenbos's family. Last 
season his young daughter Carrie hooked a 6-pounder 
and brought it to the net but not into it, and there the 
curtain drops on a pot-pourri of silver leaf, rattled girl, 
smashed leader and tangled landing net. 
From this and other similar evidence, I believe that 
landlocked salmon will take the fly when they are at the 
surface of the water next May and June if it is offered to 
them. It will be observed that most of the salmon taken 
with the fly in Sunapee Lake have been taken on trout 
or black bass flies while fishing for the fishes named, and 
so far as I know there has been no systematic effort made 
to take the salmon with the fly, and until such effort is 
intelligently made I shall feel that landlocked salman will 
rise to the fly early in the season in Pleasant Pond and 
other New England lakes which they inhabit. 
Hatchery Notes. 
I hear frequently about the hatching operations at 
Sunapee Lake and Pleasant Pond, and so far more salmon 
have been taken for breeding in Pleasant Pond than in 
the parent lake. In one of the last letters from the super- 
intendent he said that 130 large trout had been taken in 
the nets at Pleasant Pond, all of which confirms what I 
have said in these columns that there will be some extra 
fine fishing there next May when the close season of five 
years expires. At the hatchery on Sunapee Lake the men 
are taking eggs which they estimate will amount to a 
round million by the time they finish. The saibling run 
larger in average size than in any previous year, and the 
schools are very large in numbers on their mid-lake spawn- 
ing beds. 
The brook trout and salmon when hatched at this station 
are planted in two streams running into the lake. In 
October the superintendent reported that the young trout 
were working down stream into the lake, and at least 40 
had come down into a pool near the hatchery. Although 
he does not say so, I assume that these are yearling trout, 
that is, hatched a year ago last spring, for I saw a large 
number of these fish, with those of this year's hatching, 
when I examined the two streams in the summer. 
A. N. Cheney. 
Texas Tarpon. 
San Antonio, Tex., Nov. 6.— Messrs. W. M. Lewis, H. 
H. M.Wallis and D. K. Bull of Racine, Wis., accompanied 
by their wives, have been spending a few days on the 
coast at Rockport,. and have made the largest record ever 
known as tarpon fishers, capturing twelve tarpon in one 
day—Mr. Wallis five, Mr. Bull three, Mr. Lewis three. 
Now where are your Florida tarpon fishers that can down 
that? This is ample proof that Florida is not "in it" for 
tarpon. We are having splendid weather in Texas and 
lots of game this season. L. F. M. 
