Jth-t 3. 1897.] FOREST AND STREAM. 
certainly have done, as-I carefully examiiie the stomachs of 
all the fish I take, to study tlieir feeding habits, had the 
former practiced cannihalistic propensities. The food of 
both kinds of trout 1 find consists of newts, crawfish, tad- 
poles, mature frogs, and a great quantity of minute micro- 
scopic organisms, as diatoms chiefly, which exist in vast 
quantities on the submerged timber and the roots of water 
plants, as arrowheads, pond lilies and pussey willows. I 
have not yet found the trace of any fish in the stomachs. 
Of course a large quantity of flies, beetles and other insect 
food is gathered by the fish, the May fly (Ephemerid) is 
taken in large numbers during the very short season of 
their ovipositing in the late spring. 
There is no other kind of trout which resists capture more 
gamely than the rainbow. I have spent half an hour in 
bringing to the net a fish of lib., for as soon as the net is 
presented the fish darts oH like a flash for another fight, and 
does not give up until it is utterly exhausted. There have 
been several broken rods, and involuntary baths in the cold 
water from a slippery rock, by fights with the larger rain- 
bows in my stream of visitois. Only one thing detracts 
from its fine qualities, which is that its flesh is not equal in 
flavor and dryness to a fontinalia, but it is good enough 
when the appetite is whetted by a few miles walk home after 
a day's fishing. H. Stewart. 
P. S.— Our genial friend Kelpie, I regret to say, had very 
poor luck when here a few weeks ago. But he will do bet- 
ter next time he comes; the weather was too wet and cold 
for the fish. 
A DAY'S FISHING AT GOOEY GOFFRE. 
The driver left us at a point on the road about fifteen 
miles from the village of Oanso, in Nova Scotia. We had 
been tramping through the woods, following our French 
Canadian guide, Louis, for probably half an hour, when, 
through the trees, a sheet of water was seen ahead of us. A 
few minutes later we found ourselves on the banks of a large 
lake. Louis conducted us to a rustic low tent covered with 
spruce. Here we found the boats. As there had been a 
freshet, it was decided to take the flat- bottomed boat called 
a dory, which we carried to the edge of the stream running 
from the lake. 
Having shipped our fishing gear and provision hampers, 
we launched the dory with Louis in it, and jumped in as 
expeditiously as possible, for the stream was running 
swiftly after the rain. This stream, which is the connecting 
link between two lakes, is but a series of rapids, so down we 
shot. Louis, in the stern of the boat, directed our craft 
with his steering oar, but notwithstanding his vigilance, it 
would be carried against the side of a rock with such force 
that we narrowly escaped being dumped on several occa- 
sions. This shooting the rapids was very exciting, and in 
our mirth we made enough noise to frighten all the fish in 
the neighborhood. The stream ran through a wild wood- 
land section of Guysboro county. After considerable dodg- 
ing of branches and trunks of trees stretched half way 
across the stream, we slid out into the lake. On the island 
m the center of this lake was built the lodge of the fishing 
club, of which two of our party were members. 
We intended to start our fishing from the point formed 
by the lake and the stream, so we landed, leaving Louis to 
row to the lodge and prepare dinner, etc. Our rods were 
put together with alacrity, while our tackle, gut casts and 
flies were allowed to soak in water as a precautionary meas- 
ure. The sea trout, as we hoped, were going up the stream. 
Duncan, who was an expert angler and up to every time- 
saving device, had been soaking his lines in the bottom of 
the boat, which, it is needless to say, leaked somewhai;^ and 
thus was able to begin fishing as soon as his rod was pieced. 
A sudden splash and a swi h attracted our attention, and by 
the commotion in the water we knew he had hooked the 
fish. A little maneuvering and with the aid of Samuel, our 
amateur photographer, who took charge of the landing-net, 
the trout was bagged. This put us in excellent spirits. 
We were all soon fishing, and in about two hours we had 
landed forty-nine speckled beauties, none of which weighed 
less than fib. , while the largest tipped the scales at Slbs. 
Our catch of large fish was mainly attributable to our using 
a large brown hackle fly with red tail. I have ascertained 
from sportsmen, both in" Newfoundland and Cape Breton, 
that the brown hackle is generally effective, and is used 
more than any other fly. 
There is a smaller stream about three hundred yards to 
the south, which was known to abound in trout. As we 
were getting comparatively few rises after two hours' fish- 
ing, to that stream we decided to repair. 
We found the fish voracious. Considerable merriment 
was occasioned by James, wbo struck a sea trout so heavily 
that his rod snapped at the second joint. The fish being 
securely hooked, rushed ofl: at a frantic rate, carrying the 
line with it, into a shoal portion of the stream. James' first 
and only thought was to Jump in after it, and to our sur- 
prise, after some skirmishing, he threw himself bodily on 
the flsh. and by clasping it to his body, inside of his coat, he 
succeeded in capturing it. He was justly proud of his 
achievement by such a novel. method, for his fish turned out 
to be the largest one caught. It weighed over 4lbs. 
The trout in this stream were generally small, but so 
gamy that our arms after awhile became positively tired 
from casting and playing. The little black flies, which had 
become numerous around the pools, made our stay very un- 
comfortable. They viciously attacked the exposed parts of 
our anatomy, leaving our faces, in particular, in a swollen 
and bloody condition. These flies soon monopolized our 
attention, and being unable to longer withstand their 
assaults we decided to embark for the lodge. 
On the island we found Louis at work, in the capacity of 
chef, over a wood fire. The pure atmosphere and healthy 
recreation more than sufficed to prepare us for a hearty 
meal. 
While we fishermen lay off digesting our dinner and re- 
counting fish stories, Louis cleaned the trout so that they 
would keep better, and incidentally be lighter to carry. In 
accordance with our desire he left the six larger ones intact; 
their average weight being 31b8. they were well worth pho- 
tographing. 
We were quite satisfied with our luck, for when we em- 
barked for home Louis informed us that he had counted 
ninety-two fish. 
Leaving the island, we rowed toward the stream we had 
descendea so rapidly. Our return had to be effected by the 
same route. The gear, etc., being made secure in the stern 
of the dory, we proceeded to haul ourselves up the stream 
by means of a small anchor, which we would throw ahead 
on to the most convenient projection. The process waS 
slow, but we managed, after innumerable ditHculties, to 
reach the place from which we had started, Fishbb. 
A SULLIVAN GOUNTY FISHING TRIP. 
Walton, N. T,, June 18. — A fishing trip is one of the 
pleasantest experiences that a person can have, if the con- 
ditions are all favorable; and the conditions are not favor- 
able unless the companionship is congenial. 
I was met one morning last May by the Doctor with : 
"Say, you don't dare go down fishing next w^ek?" After 
some conversation it develojjed that the Doctor; his brother 
(insurance agent), the Superintendent and myself, were to go 
to StevensvSle Lake, which is in the heart of the summer 
boarding portion of Sullivan county, for a day's fishing for 
pickerel. I had never been fishing with any of the parties, 
therefore did not know exactly the kind of fellows I was 
to be out with. As a friend says, "If you want to find out 
just what kind of a man he is, you want to go fishing with 
him." But I was not long to remain in ignorance. 
The day before the starting the Doctor came around, and 
said he and the Superintendent had been out and caught a 
lot of tait, and that the Superintendent was keeping them at 
the house, but was fearful some would die, and the Doctor 
thought he and 1 had better go out and get a fresh lot in the 
morning. I was awakened at about daybreak the next 
morning by a heavy thump on the door, and there was the 
Doctor, wiih his horse, at the door, and I hastily donned my 
old clothes with my old shoes, expecting to wade for the bait. 
We drove to a place that the Doctor had been to before, and 
had dug a ditch to let the water down a little, and then we 
were ready for business, as I supposed, but could not go on 
until the Doctor had given me his high-topped boots to wade 
ui; and I thought this a very peculiar transaction, as he had 
just gotten off the bed having been confined with rheumatism. 
But I supposed he knew what he was about. It developed 
later that he was that kind of a man. We went down to 
the binnacle and made two hauls with the minnow net, and 
secured about eiphty as fine bait flsh as ever were seen, as 
well as sundry tadpoles and lizards. 
We made our start on the noon train with a magnificent 
day. The bait cans were lashed fast to the car platform, 
and the motion of the cars sufQciently areated the water to 
keep the fish in nice condition. We arrived at Ijiberty, where 
we were met by Mr, Goff, to whom the Superintendent had 
written to meet us. We found him a character very pleas- 
ant to meet. At his place the Superintendent had stopped 
for many years of fishing. He drove us over to the lake, 
which is about five miles from the station. At the lower 
>.nd we secured boats, and started up the lake for our fishing 
^rounds, and for Mr, Goff's home. 
7 
Of course we could not row up the lake without throwing 
out the spoon hooks, and we had but nicely gotten under 
way, the Superintendent and the insurance agent in one 
boat, and the Doctor and myself in the other, when the 
Superintendent began to pull in his hook and to act very 
funny; the Doctor says, "He has one; let's watch him." 
He landed his fish, and the Doctor shouts, "Ha! ha! that is 
a counter ;" and to me says, "That will make about three 
baits." And so we row along up the lake, and soon are fast 
to one, and then they are fast to another, and we find upon 
counting up our fish when arriving at the landing of Mr. 
Goff, that the other boat has caught seven pickerel, and that 
we have but five. 
We then get the rods and live bait, and have a very busy 
time with them, occasionally catching a large bullhead on a 
bait, which struck our party as a little unusual. After a 
short time the Superintendent and the agent tire of fishing 
with the bait, and start off up the lake to skitter, and so we 
work until nearly dark when we go in for supper, and then 
we of course count up and compare. The Doctor and I find 
that we are somewhat behind, as the other boat have thirty- 
six pickerel to our nineteen pickerel and seven or eight bull- 
heads, and the other boat has one pickerel that considerably 
overtops anything that we have. The Doctor raises the fish 
up and says, "How much will it weigh?" The Superin- 
tendent says, "It will weigh about 31bs , a little more, if 
anything." We weighed the fish, and found it to weigh 
31bs. 2oz. We tried the Superintendent several times after 
that and found him about as accurate as the average scales, 
in fact he did not miss the weight more than 3oz. on a single 
fish weighed during the trip. 
After supper three of us decide to go out in the boat to try 
the bullheads, and leave the Superintendent on shore, who 
said he did not care much to flsh for bullheads. After three 
hours of industrious fishing we row back to shore, and there 
find the Superintendent sitting in the back end of a boat 
with his line in the water, industriously depositing the bull- 
heads in the bottom of the boat, although I suppose he was 
not fishing for bullheads to any great degree. We, however, 
found upon counting up, that he had twenty-six bullheads, 
and that our whole party had only taken nine. We thought 
that very good for a party who did not care to fish for bull- 
heads. 
The next morning we were out at the first peep of day 
and found that we had had a heavy rain during the night, and 
the remnants were with us upon our rising. We, however, 
make for the lake, and without stopping to consider the 
weather start out for fishing. The shower is soon over, and 
we are at them, only reversing the order of the night before, 
the Doctor and I skittering and the insurance man and 
Superintendent tending the live bait. The Doctor and I 
work along the far shore, and take one out of almost every 
likely place, it seeming as though there never was such 
pickerel fishing. We keep at it until the breakfast hour 
when we go ashore, and don't stop to count up but make a 
rush for breakfast and Kate's coffee, which we can appre- 
ciate to the highest degree. 
After breakfast we resume fishing, the Doctor and I going 
still further up the lake, and the whole time are kept about 
as busy as we care to be, taking off fish and cutting bait, 
although the wind is blowing quite hard. We flsh until the 
dinner hour, and then repair to the landing to count up our 
fish, feeling that we have done fairly well, and if the other 
boat has caught as many as we there will be a fine showing 
of fish. We have fifty sis pickerel in our boat and tha 
others have forty-three; but they again can show some 
larger ones than we have, although we have some very nice 
ones. Here again cojnes the Superintendent's chance to tell 
us how much the largest fish will weigh; he carefully lifts 
him up, and says he will weigh about 3flbs., but we had 
better get the steelyards. We do this, and find the fish 
weighs 31bs. lloz. ; and to this day the Superintendent says 
that the largest fish weighed Slbs. lloz , while some of the 
others of us say that it weighed 3flb3. 
After dinner we dress our fish, and then start out to catch 
enough to make our total catch 175 pickerel, which is easily 
done as we are rowing the boats to the boathouse. 'There 
we are met by Mr. Goff with his team. 
We arrive home in the best of spirits, with a magnificent 
catch of pickerel, and with the knowledge that this fishing 
in no way diminishes the supply, as we are informed that 
the fishing at this lake is better each succeeding year, owing 
to the magnificent opportunities that the fish have to propa- 
gate themselves, and the determined stand that is made 
against fishing through the ice. The fishing, the fellowship, 
and the knowledge that the supply is not materially dimin- 
ished by our enjoyment, lends the best of feeling to such an 
outing. 
Stevensville Lake, as I nnderstand, is mostly artificial, a 
New York individual having rebuilt the dam at quite a 
heavy expense, and having bought as much of the land that 
surrounds the lake as possible. I understand, also, that 
there have been several suits brought by him to prevent the 
promiscuous fishing of the pond; but that there is no trouble 
in getting on to the lake if a person goes like a gentleman to 
his boathouse and engages one of his boats, of which he has 
a number, and which he lets at a reasonable price. The 
lake is about five miles from Liberty station, and it is a very 
delightful ride. M, J. Stantok. 
Is the White Perch Musical? 
Newton, 111, , June 21.— Editor Forest and Stream: A few 
days ago while down the Ambraw River on a fishing trip, I 
got into an old fisherman's boat, and as we oared over a 
deep hole at a bend in the river a grating noise came from 
the water near the boat, and seemed to follow the boat in 
any direction as long as we stayed in deep water. The man 
I was with said the noise was made by a white perch fish, 
and that he had heard of his neighbors running them into 
nets, and even catching them on hook and line by tolling them 
with a boat, which always attracts them this time of vear, 
from 4 P. M. until after dark. I have made some se'arch 
since returning home for some information on the subject, 
but fail to find anything. 
The noise is something like a mixture of bullfrog and tur- 
key gobbler, and seems to come from under the boat mostly, 
getting stronger and weaker alternately as the fish seems to 
raise or lower himself in the water. Racket made in oaring 
or talking does not interfere with the growling, snoring, or 
whatever it is. 
Can you or any of your readers explain what this is? 
Chab. M. Honet. 
The Forest and Stkeam is put to press each week on luesday. 
Corresvondence intended for publication should reach us at thu 
ateet by Monday, and a» much earlier, as practicable. 
ON THE COOEY COFFRE. 
