JAN. 19, 1895. 
49 
the stationary habit of the bass at night to faulty eye- 
sight. I knew that the fish came on to the bars and 
shoals at night to feed, and supposed that when gorged 
they remained till morning. In the same lake it was 
customary ^ to catch bass on the shoals in the evening, 
waiting for them to come on, long after dark. Then, 
too, bass are often taken on very^dark nights. I recall 
that one night on Schroon Lake when returning from 
fishing to the hotel it was so dark that the boatman was 
rather feeling his way, so to speak, when my fishing 
companion startled me by an exclamation that made me 
think for a moment that he was going overboard. His 
line and flies in some way became loose from the reel 
bar where the stretcher fly was fastened, and unknown 
to him was dragging in the water behind the boat, 
when one of the flies was taken by a black bass. It was 
so dark that we could scarcely see one another in the 
boat. Every one who has fished much for black bass can 
doubtless furnish instances of the fish taking bait or fly 
at night when it has been dark as Erebus, and on 
moonlight nights often feed in a way to spoil sport on 
the day following. It is more than likely that evidence 
similar to that which I have related may be forthcoming 
as to the stationary habits of the fish at night, and it 
will be of interest to hear further from Dr. Hinde on 
the subject. 
Spawning of Trout. 
Following Dr. Hinde's note about black bass is a note on 
the New Hampshire trout season signed ' ' Columbia, ' ' 
and from it the reader must infer that the writer favors 
closing the open season for brook trout about the first of 
August (I assume April 15 to be an error), because trout 
have been found to contain spawn in July. One would 
think that "Columbia's" thirty-one years' experience 
as a trout fisherman would have taught him more about 
the spawning of trout than he admits in his article. If 
the open season for trout fishing is to conform to the 
time when trout are found without spawn in some stage 
of its development, and there is no fishing allowed 
through the ice, the anglers of New Hampshire might 
well hang up their rods for good. 
It does not follow because trout are found during the 
summer months with undeveloped mustard seed eggs 
that they have any idea of depositing ripe spawn before 
the regular time in October and November. Prof. Goode 
says: "The spawning season (for brook trout) begins in 
New England in October, and continues from three to 
six months, and during this period the fish should be 
protected by stringent laws. " 
Livingstone Stone, one of the best fish culturists in 
the country, is a New Hampshire man, and for years 
maintained trout ponds at Charlestown, N. H., and he 
records that the earliest spawning of trout in that State is 
on Oct. 12. In New York State some trout spawn as 
late as the month of March. Last June I saw a Sunapee 
trout opened at Sunapee Lake, N. H. , and it contained 
such spawn as to cause two gentlemen who were with 
me to comment upon it, and yet that spawn would not 
have been ripe until November, for these trout or saib- 
ling do not begin to spawn until after the brook trout. 
Ripe brook trout eggs vary greatly in size, but if any 
one whose conscientious scruples about catching trout in 
August will get a pea 3-16 inches in diameter, or an 
"A" shot, and put it in his vest pocket and then get 
some less sensitive angler to catch a few trout in August 
and compare the spawn of trout as developed in August 
with the pea or shot it will be found how unripe 
August spawn is, for the pea of this size given is about 
the average size of ripe trout eggs. As to eating these 
slimy, half -fed, ill-conditioned trout in April, that is a 
mere matter of taste. Most people, I think, will prefer 
the fat, clean, well favored trout of August, even if they 
have partly developed spawn, for at that time they are 
in the best condition. The fact that the eggs are partly 
developed should carry no weight, for the eggs are also 
partly developed in June, the difference being only in 
degree. Shad, are at their best for the table just before 
spawning, but who eats shad just after spawning? 
If there be any well founded objection to August fish- 
ing, and I doubt it, it does not arise from the fact that 
the trout will spawn from two to three months later, 
but from the fact that at that time the streams may be low 
and that the trout congregate at spring holes where they 
may be, and are slaughtered by those who exercise no 
good judgment in fishing. 
There is no hard and fast rule about the time at which 
trout spawn in different waters, but trout spawn earlier 
in running water than in ponds. I have seen trout 
gathering about spawning beds in the Cupsuptic River 
in Maine from the 5th to the 15th of September, while 
at Paxmachenee Lake, seven miles away, the trout 
were just beginning to come up out of the deep water on 
the 19th of September the same year. In water with low 
temperature they spawn earlier than in water with 
higher temperature. Some years ago, for the purpose of 
putting this subject before a legislative committee, 
I obtained some information from the hatchery super- 
intendents in New York. Mr. Mather wrote from Long 
Island: "Brook trout begin to spawn on Long Island 
in November. Last year we took the first eggs the last 
day of October — two small fish. The length of the 
breeding season is from Nov. 10 to 30, although some 
fish struggled along till January." 
Mr. Green wrote from the Caledonia station in the 
western part of the, State : "Trout spawn in Caledonia 
about October 15. Spawned the first trout to-day (Oct. 
15) at 2.20 p. m. " 
Mr. Roberts wrote from his station in the Adiron- 
dacks : ' ' Trout came on quite heavy about the 1st of 
October. I took one female September 21, but this is 
quite rare, and I got no more until October 11. They 
usually spawn early in October. ' ' 
On two different years a female trout was found in the 
ponds of the Plymouth hatchery in New Hampshire in 
August with ripe spawn, but there were no ripe males 
and the spawning was considered one of those rare and 
unaccountable things we hear of occasionally. There 
has been a heap of nonsense written about the close 
season for trout fishing because immature spawn has 
been found in trout in the summer months, but for all 
that trout do not spawn before the early days of October, 
and the season can be kept open, I firmly believe, with 
profit until the 1st or 15th of September. 
Spawning of Land-Locked Salmon. 
The spawning of trout reminds me of another matter 
Which I find noted in my notebook. Affew years ago a 
New Hampshire Fish Commissioner, now dead, put in 
circulation a statement that land-locked salmon did not 
spawn until they reached a weight of about five pounds. 
Last year a female land-locked salmon of less than two 
pounds' weight spawned at the Plymouth hatchery in 
New Hampshire. I have taken male salmon smolts o 
less than three ounces in weight with ripe milt 
Shrimps. 
Mi-. George E. Winton, Bridgeport, Conn., writes: 
"I write you for information. We have a stream 
stocked with trout, and we are informed that there is a 
fresh water shrimp cultivated for feeding trout and if 
put into a stream will increase to an extent that will 
supply food for the fish. Can you give us any informa- 
tion on the subject or refer us to some one who can?" 
Fresh water shrimp are not cultivated, but they are 
found in abundance in some streams. They multiply 
rapidly and are excellent trout food, and it is such crusta- 
ceous food that gives the trout the rich red flesh that 
some trout possess. Write to James Annin, Jr., Cale- 
' donia. N. Y., whose advertisement will be found in this 
journal and he will supply the shrimp for $2 per thou- 
sand. I may add that last season, when a younger 
brother asked me where to get some trout to stock a 
tank, I told him and advised him to get shrimps for. 
food at the same time. Afterwards he found a stream 
near where he lives in which shrimp could be collected 
half a bushel at a time. The fresh water shrimp is not 
unlike the salt water shrimp in appearance, but it is 
much smaller. A N. Cheney. 
THE MEGANTIC BANQUET. 
If that good fellow Shakespeare had attended the 
eighth annual banquet of the Megantic Fish and Game 
Club in Boston last Thursday night he might have been 
inclined to re-edit some of his ^previously expressed 
opinions and admit with one of the speakers that there 
is no bond like sport to make the whole world kin. He 
would not have needed Chairman Prescott's assurance 
that the accidents of birth or wealth were not necessary 
qualifications for recognition there, for he would have 
seen the backwoodsmen, Rob Phillips and Jack Boyle, 
as honored guests as Governors and Senators, and he 
would have realized that the only qualifications expected 
were good sportsmanship and good fellowship. It was 
pleasant to see how all artificial bounds went down be- 
fore those hearty sportsmen, the bond of age among 
them. The old veterans of the club forgot their years 
and dignity and for the time being ate and drank and 
talked and sang with all the ardor and dash of youth- 
even if the songs were of a light and frothy order and 
dealt with "Daisy Bell" and the "Bowery. " And all 
the new recruits held their own with the veterans— for 
it was nothing if not equality— and even guyed them 
and interjected gags (not jags) in the best considered 
parts of their speeches. But the veterans were boys for 
the moment and accepted all the freshness and irrever- 
ence of their juniors good humoredly and returned it in 
like coin, and often with a decided advantage to their 
side of the argument. 
At 7 o'clock nearly 150 members and guests had assem- 
bled in the reception rooms of the Vendome. This was 
a large gathering considering the fact that one of the 
worst storms of the winter was raging outside, and 
showed the stuff the Megantic men are made of. Rain 
and snow had fallen till the streets were flooded, and if 
the rain had lasted a little longer canoes and setting- 
poles would have been necessary to reach the hotel. But 
as it was, only one man stayed away on account of the 
mixed up state of the elements, at least only one gave 
that excuse for staying away. , _ 
The long dining hall was decorated at one end with 
the arms of the commonwealth of Massachusetts and the 
national colors, while at intervals along the walls were 
placed the mounted heads to moose, caribou and deer, 
loaned by members of the club for the occasion. But 
the chief object of interest was the carcase of Dr.Bisnop's 
moose which lay in state at one end of the room. This 
moose was a grand old fellow, nearly black, and looked 
all the larger for being beneath a tessellated ceiling 
instead of the roof of his native evergreens He weighed 
over 1,000 pounds, but had rather disappointing horns 
for such a big fellow. Particular interest attached to 
him, however, on account of his fighting qualities, and 
the way he met his death was told by the doctor. 
Before the feast of reason came the pleasant task of 
reducing the compound equation of the menu to simple 
terms, and in this the assembled hunters were highly 
successful. That there are diversities in the gift of 
eloquence most people will admit, but as far as could be 
observed there was no such diversity in the. appetites of 
those present, and from the haunch of the lordly moose 
down through the gamut of corribasset caribou and 
Crosby Camp venison to the cubs of black bear— juicy 
little innocents as they were— nothing was slignted. 
These pieces de resistance are mentioned especially as 
coming from the Megantic Club preserve. It is a ques- 
tion whether any other game club in existence could 
duplicate that menu. 
It took 250. square miles of woods and rivers to make 
it in this case, and the select minority of preserves that 
boast such game are not apt to get it all at once. Their 
moose and caribou and bear and deer will not time their 
deaths so conveniently to the date of the club banquet 
that they may be punctually there. Generally they have 
other engagements. 
Beside the big game on the menu there was the usual 
assortment of lesser varieties to fill up little unsuspected 
vacancies in the physiology of the guests, and though 
the equation was an elaborate one the guests had no 
difficulty in solving it. This done they settled back 
comfortably in their chairs, and as the smoke of their 
cigars arose, awaited the second installment of the feast. 
President Alexander Taylor, Jr., of Mamaroneck, N. Y., 
was not present, and the part of the toastmaster devolved 
on one of the club's vice-presidents, Mi-. Walter C. 
IPiGscofcti 
Mr. Prescott opened with a few well chosen remarks 
He said the objects of the club were the propagation and 
protection of fish and game, and the sport of its mem- 
bers. In all these objects the club had been highly 
successful. As a result of protection they have to-day 
more game than ever before, and more fish than they 
ever dreamed of. The club has always been a factor for 
good, both in Franklin County, Maine, and in Quebec 
province Canada. It has not looked selfishly solely for 
its own interests, but has had the interests of the settlers 
included in their territory always in mind, and has bene- 
fitted all the neighboring hamlets by its existence. Mr. 
Prescott incidentally mentioned that! the extent of this 
benefit last year was upwards of $14,000. He stated 
that the club had on its roll 281 members, but that he 
should not be satisfied till he had seen the full comple- 
ment of 300 reached and a waiting list besides in oraer 
that the lukewarm members might be weeded out and 
the club still further strengthened. 
xhe chairman then introduced General Dalton, who 
filled the gap "occasioned by the absence of Governor 
Greenhalge, who at the last moment had been called 
away by telegram. General Dalton welcomed the out 
of town guests of the club, and his remarks were the 
occasion for hearty cheers for some of the woodsmen 
present. 
Jommander Henry T. Lyons of the Charlestown Navy 
Yard — hero of Samoa and ex-captain of the Nipsic — was 
present as an honored guest. Toastmaster Prescott in 
introducing him generously forbore to make capital by 
punning on his name, but he would not have been far 
out of the way if he had presented him as one of the 
club's lions. The commander w~as heartily cheered and 
his name was frequently upon the lips of subsequent 
speakers. 
His remarks were chiefly relative to the country m 
the neighborhood of the River Platte, which^he said was 
the finest country for small game he had seen in two 
trips around the world. He said that while there in the 
Yantic his navigator shot 3, 642 birds of which he kept 
record. These included five kinds of duck, three kinds 
of partridge or ruffled grouse besides English snipe, 
wood pigeons, doves, swans and marsh birds. With 
reference to Samoa, Commander Lyons said that there 
was very little game there but a great deal of trouble. 
He modestly concluded by affirming that they had done 
very little that men fighting for their lives would not 
have done. 
The newly elected president of the Massachusetts I ish 
and Game Protective Association, Mr. P. C. Clark, 
remarked that as a fisherman he felt that his lines had 
fallen in pleasant places. He was glad to be there, and 
glad that the interests of all present were identical in 
the matter of game protection. He cited the advances 
protection had made in Maine, New Jersey and Minne- 
sota, and mentioned some of the problems still to be 
solved. Mr. Clark said further that after the grass and 
green thingsihad been created right at the very start of 
things the Infinite mind thought of, fish and game as a 
measure to make the world pleasant. Bearing this in 
mind when he killed his three thousandth coot some 
years ago he put on it this inscription with all due 
reverence : ' ' Oh, all ye fowls of the air, praise ye the 
Lord!" . ' 
When he came to his four thousandth, however, as he 
did last September, Mr. Clark was obliged to go to 
Shakespeare for an inscription. He said he could find 
nothing more fitting than the quotation about Hamlet's 
uncle : "He did murder most f owl. " 
Dr. C. H. Gerrish of Exeter, N. H., a well known 
wing shot, was the next speaker. He took as his sub- 
ject "The Ideal Sportsman, " and a very pretty portrait 
he painted. 
He began by taking up cudgels with those who did 
not believe in the sportsman's truthulness. He acknowl- 
edged the melancholy fact that there were such, and 
asked why it was that no one would believe a man who 
stated he had killed two different things with the same 
shot. The doctor knew this to be a fact from personal 
experience, for he had once killed a mink and an eel at 
the same time. He was on his way home from a shoot- 
ing trip, and seeing a commotion in the water, of a 
brook that ran near the road he was following, slipped 
a couple of shells in his gun and ran down to see what 
the trouble was. He saw the mink, and when he shot 
it found that he had also killed a large eel that had 
caught on to the mink and was trying to swallow it. 
The first man he met asked what luck he had had. 
" Well, " said the doctor, "I got fifteen birds and a 
mink and an eel. ' ' The man turned on his heel and I 
walked away without saying a word. The next man he 
met asked the same question. "Fifteen birds," said 
the doctor, and then remembering the other item in his 
bag, added, "and I killed a mink and eel with one 
shot. ' ' 
"Well, that's too bad, "said his friend. 'By the 
way, what brand did you say you are taking now?" 
The doctor said that not ' ' every man who gets his 
gun off' ' is a sportsman. He must be a gentleman. He 
must also be a temperate man, and take the good things 
of life just as he loads his shells— with moderation. 
One of his crisp aphorisms was : " We hate the man who 
shoots just after us and never misses anything. ' ' 
During the intermission that followed the Beth 
Huron Male Quartette entertained the assemblage with 
some well rendered selections. Secretary Robinson read 
letters of regret from a number of invited guests or 
members who were prevented from attending the ban- 
quet. Among these were letters from Roger Waicott, 
Edw. II. Ciu-tis, Wm. E. Barrett, ex-Speaker of the 
House and Congressman-elect, A. C. Gould, editor of 
Shooting and Fishing, ex- Governor Russell, A G. 
Bouthby, general passenger agent of the Maine Central 
^Railway; L. H. Trotter of Philadelphia, who put his 
regrets into verse ; the editor of the Maine Sportsman, 
W. Y. Wentworth, A. G. Mills, president of the Adiron- 
dack League Club, Fred C Barker, Camp Bemis, N. G. 
Shaw, the lumber king ; Hon. Hy. Elmer, Canadian 
•counsel ; W. W. Brown, Hon. A. H Stroud, Hon. E. 
L. Pillsbury and others. 
President Marsh of the Inglewood Fish and Game Cor- 
poration of New Brunswick, was the next speaker. He 
spoke of the bounds that separated Canada and the United 
States, raised by politics, and allegiance to different 
governments, but said that when sportsmen grasped 
hands these bounds were wiped out of existence. His 
speech was a prose poem and received some hearty 
cheers. 
Captain William H. Jackson was a introduced as one 
•of the "live oak timbers" of the Massachusetts Rifle 
Association. He told a whimsical story of his trip to 
