Feb. 23, 1895. 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
149 
Drake that now, writing by artificial light, I can scarcely 
distinguish one from the other, but on that day the trout 
made no mistake. English anglers will say that during 
the May fly season they often cast an artificial May fly 
(and they make them over there to deceive the very- 
elect) to no purpose, while the trout are rising all about 
to the natural fly. This, however, is a question of move- 
ment, not of color, but trout know more than they are 
sometimes credited with knowing. 
A. N. Cheney. 
TROUT THAT RISE AT NIGHT. 
* Editor Forest and Stream:— I have been considera- 
bly puzzled over a matter which I would like to bring 
before the readers of Forest and Stream, in the hope that 
some of them, out of a more abundant experience than 
my own, may be able to solve the problem. 
3 Several times in 1898 and 1894, while deer hunting I 
camped near a certain small lake in the Adirondacks, and 
on different occasions attempted to vary the bill of far- 
with trout, which I supposed must be found in this pict 
uresque sheet of water. All the conditions seemed favor- 
able. A clear, cold stream ran into the lake from a pont 
above where small trout were plenty, and in the outlet 1 
took many small fish; but repeated casts with bait and 
all sorts of flies, failed to bring a rise from the lake it- 
self. I paddled all over it, and tried a score of different 
places, patiently practicing every form of allurement 
that I knew of ; but always with the same result. Others, 
I know, had met with a similar experience; and yet there 
was a tradition that some, when within the shadowy 
depths of that "gem of the woods," great trout were 
lying waiting for some past master of the gentle art to 
hale them forth. Evidently I was not that man, and as I 
had never seen a large fish break the surface of this 
water, although I had been on its bosom at daylight and 
at dusk, I began to think that its lily pads sheltered no 
fish of any size, and that for some inscrutable reason this 
promising spot had been omitted in the original stocking 
of the Adirondack lakes. 
■ But I am now inclined to think differently, or at least 
to suspend judgment for the present. Late last August 
while in camp at this spot, having failed of securing a 
daylight shot I donned the jack, and my wife and I spent 
a considerable portion of the night on the lake. We 
neither saw nor heard any deer, but we did hear some- 
thing else which has prompted me to pen this article. 
About eleven o'clock fish of some sort, and good big fish, 
too, began to rise all around us, and they kept it up until 
we left the lake at three o'clock A. M. Such a splashing 
I never heard, and I can truly say that it would have, 
and may have, prevented our hearing a deer come down 
to the water at any great distance from us. Now, what 
I would like to know is this, do trout ever rise at night in 
waters where they do not appear or take the fly by day? 
And, if so, what possible explanation can there be for this 
unusual proceeding? If it had been possible I would 
have remained over another night, and endeavored to set- 
tle this question myself, and I mean to do so yet; but I 
would very much like to know if others have noticed the 
same phenomenon, and satisfied themselves regarding it. 
I would also like to be informed as to whether it is a 
common thing for trout thus to indulge in late suppers 
and what sort of flies best suit their peculiar taste. 
Arthur F. Eioe. 
ICE FISHING TIP-UPS. 
ft* In response to an inquiry we reprint some of the ice- 
fishing tip-ups that have been described in these columns. 
F. H. K. describes a tip-up and reel (Fig. 1). The tip-up 
is made of either pine or white wood, 20 inches long and. 
1-4 inch thick. Iron or brass wire, 3-52 of an inch is 
used. The balls weigh 15 to the pound. The dra iving 
shows the tip-up when set and when sprung. 
T. F. G. describes a tip-up (Fig. 2). Take a piece of 
any tough, elastic wood, 3 feet long, 1 inch wide by 1-4 
inch thick at one end, and 3-4 inch wide by 1-4 inch at 
the top. Make a small hole through the top, and make a 
saw cut in top and bottom, 1 inch in depth, to wind the 
fine on when it is not in use. Put the butt end in a cut 
made in the ice with an ax, stand the stick upright, 
then pack around the butt with snow and ice to hold the 
stick firmly. Tie a strip of black cloth on one end of the 
line. Put one end of the line through the hole at the top 
of the stick, the other end of the line with the cloth at 
the bottom. When the cloth is at the top it denotes a 
pickerel at the other end of the line. 
jA. F. describes a tip-up (Fig. 3). which he claims is 
good in all kinds of weather. When through fishing, the 
line can be readily detached from the hooked end of the 
wire. To set the tip-up, find the depth of water with the 
sounding-lead. The loop on the line is then adjusted, so 
as to suspend the bait at the right distance from the bot- 
tom. 
Poke o' Moonshine recommends the following (Figs. 4, 
5, 6, and 7) : Place a round stick across the hole flat on 
the ice. Then take a stick with a crotch in it, one limb 
6 inches long, the other 12. Attach the line to the 
longer one. and place the crotch over the round stick, the 
long butt lying on the ice. A dark rag is tied to the end 
of it. When the line is pulled the crotched stick will stand 
upright. Arnerieus mentions two of the same me- 
chanical principle but different in construction. 
South Shore says that a cheap and good tip-up is made 
as follows: Take an oak strip, 6 feet long, 1 3-8 wide, 3-8 
thick. Bore 3-4 inch holes at every 22 inches. The strips 
will make three traps. Saw so as to hive half of the 
hole on the ends of each trap. Next saw off a strip 3-8 
inch wide, two-thirds of the length of the strip, sawing 
off the strip on an angle so that it will turn only one 
way. Saw in a slit at the lower end for the flag and a 
short slit at the upper end for the line. Fasten on the 
flag with small tacks. A washer or burr between the 
strap and the main piece will make it much better. If 
properly made and set up at an angle of 45 degrees, South 
Shore claims that it can be seen further than any trap 
that he ever saw. 
Ned describes a tip-up which he says is much used at 
the headwaters of Lake Champlain. Take four pieces of 
1-2 inch spruce or. pine board (spruce is the better, being 
stiffer) about 12 inches long. In the center, on one of 
the edges, cut a square notch 1-8 inch wide and deep. 
Take another piece of board, 1-2 inch square and 2 feet 
FIG. 7. 
long, and put into the notch tojformja cross. Fasten 
with a small brad. The cross-piece is placed two-thirds 
the distance from one end. Fasten the line to the short 
end, and place over the hole. A pull on the line will tip 
it up. Make also a common reel 16 inches long, out of a 
common board 2 inches wide by 1-2 thick. After at- 
taching the line, place across the hole, leaving some slack 
loose on the ice. Then get a timber twig about 2 feet 
long, and stick it up beside the hole. Make a loop in 
the line, and hang it over the end of the twig in the loop. 
Attach a piece of colored cloth, and when the fish bites 
he will pull the signal off the twig. There being plenty 
of slack line, the fish has small chance to escape. 
FIG. 4. 
FIG. 6. 
AMERICAN FISH IN BELGIUM. 
The rainbow trout has become acclimated in the ponds 
of Baron Longchamps, near Waremme, Belgium. The 
baron has also some American catfish, which were ob- 
tained through the Central Society for the Protection of 
River Fisheries three years ago. 
The fish are hardy, and have made considerable growth. 
There are two kinds of catfish in Belgium — the common 
horn pout or bullhead and the fork-tailed species. The 
former has reproduced readily, but the other has not 
been observed to spawn at all. Many of the young bull- 
heads may be seen in the Antwerp Aquarium. 
The Semois River has been successfully stocked with 
the large-mouthed black bass. On April 13, 1893, one 
hundred of the fish, measuring about 1 3-5 inches in 
length, were planted at a place called "The Neck." A 
fisherman, during several days fishing in the summer of 
1894, took six bass by means of a dip-net in that part of 
the river, situated below the "Forge Rouselle" and below 
the point of deposit. 
The fish averaged a little more than seven ounces in 
weight, showing a fairly good increase. On July 16, 1894, 
another fisherman had the good luck to catch on a hook 
baited with a worm, a black bass weighing nearly seven 
and one-half ounces. 
Amateur fishermen, who have tasted the black bass, 
confirm what has already been said of that excellent fish 
— that its flesh is very firm and of a very delicate flavor. 
Unfortunately the Semois contains trout alsu, the 
California rainbow having been introduced in its waters, 
and the battle for existence must be fought in Belgium, 
as it is now waging in certain parts of our own country, 
and with the odds in favor of the bass. The rainbow is 
increasing, and is being distributed far and near on the 
continent of Europe. It is now one of the commonest 
sights in the aquaria at Amsterdam, Antwerp, and Paris, 
but rather less common than our brook trout (f ontinalis) , 
which has also been introduced. T. H. B. 
Winter Fishing on Tidewater. 
Newbern, N. C, Feb. 15.— The temperature for the 
10th instant was 21 deg., lowest; 11th, 19 deg.; 12th, 12 
deg.; 13th, 17 deg.; 14th, 1 deg. Its effects have been 
peculiar here. In the first place, it has given our fish 
packers an unlimited supply of ice at the cost of harvest- 
ing it from the rivers. Some gatherers have made three 
or four dollars a day at the work, being paid by the boat 
load. Another Godsend to the poor has been the en- 
hanced price of fish, and the facility with which the de- 
mand was met, fish appearing in great schools so be- 
numbed with cold that they could be caught and lif ted 
from the water with the hands. Thousands upou thou- 
sands of trout (weakfish), weighing from twelve to eigh- 
teen pounds, are found floating on the surface of New 
River and other estuaries, and are gathered up by every 
sort of device. Not only fishermen, but all who can get 
boats are out with rakes, pitchforks, dip-nets, oyster- 
tongs, and small sieves. One boy, fourteen years old, 
earned .$24 cash in two hours. One man caught three 
thousand in five hours, and sold them to the fish packers 
for 8240. They bring ten cents per pound in Newbern, 
Not only weakfish, but mullet, herring, shad, and other 
varieties of fish are caught. The crew of the Steamer 
Louise picked up 1,200 great trout on her trip from Jack- 
sonville to Wilmington last Monday. Business is almost 
suspended along New River. The Parmlee Eccleston 
Lumber Mfils, which have been running day and 
night gangs of one hundred and fifty hands, have shut 
down, because all the hands have gone fishing. 
New River is an estuary three miles wide, and is re- 
ceiving much attention at present. Government is mak- 
ing expensive improvements. Sportsmen are buying 
club sites. Fishing interests are being reinstated, and 
old fields lesuscitated. Thomas A. Mclntyre, Esq., of 
the New York Produce Exchange, has spent $100,000 on 
the Glencoe Stock Farm. The Wilmington, Newbern, 
and New York railroads has built docks 650 feet long, 
and warehouses for river traffic with tramways running 
to the main line; docks at two points. Steamboats con- 
nect at Jacksonville with the railroad. This is the most 
picturesque river in the whole tide water- region, with 
high bluffs and wooded points of land and re-entering 
creeks. One of the most beautiful of these is Wallace 
Creek, opposite Mclntyre 's place. There is a most de- 
sirable property there, with 800 acres of arable land and 
timbers, and an old-time mansion with many outbuild- 
ings for sale at $10,000. In old times the seining privilege 
of this estate alone used to earn this sum every spring. 
Shad fishing has already begun, and the season for 
herring and shad will continue until the middle of May. 
The freezing weather has driven large numbers of 
ducks and other wild fowl to the open waters around 
Wilmington. One gunner in one morning bagged thirty- 
seven brace of mallard near the city. The woods around 
the town are said to be fairly alive with robins, and the 
boys are having fine sport with them. 
Charles Hallock. 
Florida Black Bass. 
On the first day of May, '94, I joined a hunting party 
at the little phosphate town of Arcadia, on the South 
Florida Railroad, in Southwest Florida. Our destination 
was Scooter Lake, on the big Kissimee prairie. The 
first camp was made about twenty miles out, near a 
clump of cabbage palmetto trees, that grew on the banks 
of a small lake. While the boys were pitching tent and 
making preparations for the night, I rigged up some of 
the fishing tackle, I always have in my bunting- clothes. 
I fastened a cork, just extracted from a beer bottle, about 
three feet from the hook, baited with a piece of bacon, 
and twirling it around my head, threw it alar out on the 
bosom of the little clear water lake. Hardly had the 
bait settled down ere the bobber went out of sight, and I 
felt a tug at the line. I couldn't play him very well stand- 
ing on shore with a hand line, so just hauled him in by 
main strength and aAvkardness. It was a big-mouth, 
black bass, m fine form, weighing, perhaps, three pounds. 
I caught seven inside of fifteen minutes, ranging from 
two to four pounds. Soon a portion of them were frying 
on the pan. We had fish for supper and fish for break- 
fast, all that four men and three dogs could eat. With 
a rod, reel, and boat on any of these South Florida lakes, 
the sport is unending. Nearly every one who goes to 
Florida to angle, does so on the coast. But I prefer the 
fresh water lakes, and the shade of an overhanging tree. 
Walter. H. Light. 
Revolvers in Florida. 
Indianapolis, Ind., Editor Forest and Stream:— The 
recent articles by Mr. Harmsworth in the Forest and 
Stream were very interesting, and especially so to those 
who have been in the localities which he mentioned, and 
can therefore assent to such, portions of his experience as 
agrees with their own. I must criticize, however, his ad- 
vice to his brother Englishmen to carry a revolver for 
protection in Florida, and think that such advice is not 
warranted by his own experience, and seems a poor re- 
turn for such courtesies as were received by him while in 
that State. From my own experience of several winters 
of fishing in Florida at various points on the Gulf and 
Atlantic coasts, I do not consider it at all necessary to 
carry a revolver, excepting possibly as a part of a fishing 
outfit and for use only for firing at a mark, or for some 
shark that has taken bait and. hook intended for some 
other fish. While I was at Cedar Keys several years 
ago, a man was killed in a quarrel in a saloon; and while 
I was at Lake Worth in November last, a colored man 
was shot while drunk and trying to force his way into a 
house in West Palm Beach; but the ordinary traveler, 
attending to his own business of sight-seeing, fishing, or 
hunting, has no connection with saloon quarrels or 
drunken burglars, and is as safe from insult or attack in 
Florida, as in any Northern city, or any city in England. 
D. L. Whittier. 
