Am. 28, 1897.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
171 
The Lady of the Lakes, a small steamer, makes two trips 
- daily on lakes Detroit, Muskrat, Sallie, Melissa, and down 
to Buck's Mill, near Ihc Little Pelican. This is a chain of 
lakes connected hy small rivers from a quarter to a half mile 
in length. All these streams and lakes are fairly alive with 
fish of all the kinds found here. You can see them basking 
in the sun on the gravel bottoms of the streams. 
Occasionally we would all take the steamer for Buck's Mill 
and stay all day, when we were rewarded with the best 
sport during our outing. 
Ducks and geese are said to be very plentiful in the spring 
and fall. A finer place for hunting them cannot be found 
than along these streams. Deer and bears are occasionally 
seen, but not in abundance. 
Often when the weather was fair and. the lakes were calm 
we would fish till after 9 o'clock in the evening. But taking 
fish was by no means all the sport we had. 
In the evening when our day's work was done, we would 
return to our cottage on the verdant hillside, not to go to 
bed, but to sit and smoke and tell tales of our day's adven- 
tures 
For some of us this was our first trip to the Northern 
lakes, but we all agreed that it shall not be our last. To 
those who have never been there, we would say if you wish 
one of the finest outings of your lives go to Detroit, Minn., 
and on the lakes of the Pelican Valley. We would advise 
you to take a tent with you, to use when away from the 
Jiotel, and you wish to stay out for a few days at a time. 
CiMES. 
ONTARIO FISHING WATERS. 
Bellevtllb, Ont., Aug. 16 — Since my last the bass fish- 
ing has continued exceptionally good, many good catches, 
nearly all fish of upward of 21bs. and up to l^lbs. 
Thomas McDonald, of Point Ann, of whose bass pond I 
made mention in a previous note, has liberated in the Bay of 
Quinte all the fry in it, many of which measured 2^in. in 
length. He says that next year he will put 500 bass into his 
pond, and that he calculates they will produce 3,000,000,- 
000,000 of fry, all of which he will put into the bay. With 
such a source of supply the Bay of Quinte can be made one 
of the finest bass fishing grounds in the world. The Gov- 
ernment ought to take the matter in hand, as no private in- 
dividual can be expected to work long for the public good, 
as Mr. McDonald has done and purposes doing'nest year. 
Maskinonge are rather sTiy in their usual resorts near Belle- 
ville, but at Marina Lake, near Modoc village, twenty seven 
miles distant, Esox noUlios has been affording rare sport. The 
local newspaper gives ihe following details: 
"Pisbing at Moira Lake has been unusually good for the 
past week, large catches of fine bass, pickerel, etc., being 
made. In addition, the following catches of maskinonge 
have rewarded hours of patient 'trolling': Lester Morrice 
led ofif with a 22i pounder on Thursday last. W. H. 
O'Plynn lost one, as well as his hooks, but nest evening 
caught a fine large one weighing nearly 201bs. Mrs. B. 
O'Hara was lucky enough to hook a nice 12 pounder, and 
the same evening, while Mr. O Hara was crowing over the 
other campers, they ran across that old fishing veteran, M. 
Maybee, with two of about the same size in his canoe. Mr. 
Maybee caught another still larger one. Monday evening, 
J. C. Dale successfully landed his first 'lunge, a fine one, 
weighing over 20lbs. The same evening A. H. Watson 
'played' a large fish for ten or fifteen minutes, but finally 
lost it. On Tuesday, Mr. Crawford, visiting at Mr. Dale's 
cottage, caught a 13 pounder, and Master Eoy Dale, the 
same evening, caught a large one, but it got away from him 
before he could land it in his boat. Wednesday morning, 
Master John Dale took an early spin, and in less than ten 
minutes had captured a beauty, weighing about 171bs. He 
got it in his boat but it flopped out, and after a few minutes' 
tugging he landed it to the boat again, and sat on it until 
assistance reached him. Other fishermen have hooked their 
fish all right, but owing to breaking lines have lost fish, 
bait, hooks and all. The interest in the sport is increasing 
every day, and even the lady campers are not exempt from 
the excitement." 
COLD RIVER TROUT. 
Cold River rises near the base of Killington Mountain, 
in Vermont, flows through the town of Mendon and empties 
into Otter Creek two or three miles south of Rutland. The 
stream is appropriately named, and its temperature is like 
that of spring water, even in the hottest of weather. Leav- 
ing Rutland by way of the Mendon road, which extends 
through the Notch, in the mountain range east of Rutland, 
you arrive at the river after a journey of about five miles. 
From this point to where the C. V. R. R crosses the stream, 
two and half miles south of Rutland, the fly-fisher finds an 
ideal strip of water. This stretch of fishing is about four 
miles long and runs through a dense forest most of the way, 
having a fall of about lOOft.^ which makes the water quite 
rapid. 
Having arrived at the stream, put on your waders (for you 
must wade most of the way), and with your favorite fly-rod, 
flies tied on No. 8 or 10 Sproat hooks and a 6 or 9ft. leader, 
step into the stream and enjoy life. 
Do you see that rock projecting from the water in mid- 
stream, with the current rushing against and around It, 
forming an eddy at the lower side? Cast your flies beyond 
it, draw them gently across the current toward the eddy. 
Ahal See that risel See how he breaks the water 
six or eight inches away from your fly, exposes 
his entire length to your admiring gaze, descends 
in a graceful curve and takes the fly as he goes down. Now, 
with a quick but gentle motion of' the wrist press Ihe hook 
into his hp, and as he realizes that he is duped, he gives you 
such an exhibition of trout athletics as only trout living in 
cold, rapid waters are qualified to give Long stretches of 
rapids, alternating witu deep pools shaded by huge rocks, 
occur in unbroken succession, and in each propitious place 
lurks a fierce insect-destroying trout. Extremely wary as 
they are, owing to the transparency of the water and the 
many lessons they have learned from numerous fishermen, 
the finest exercise of the art is required to bring to basket the 
denizens of this beautiful stream ; and although many care- 
less and indifferent anglers assert that the trout are nearly all 
caught out, I know to the contrary. They are "at home," 
but only to the careful and well-equipped caller. 
The irout of this stream are justly celebrated for their game 
and table qualities; slender, raiher than thick, yet beautifully 
proportioned; color light and tints delicate, yet distinct, witu 
a silvery shten of extreme brightness over all. The Rutland 
Association for the Protection of Fish and Game is doing 
good work in slocking and protecting these waters, and in 
consequence the fishing is expected to improve each season. 
New HampsMre Trout. 
Clarbmont, N. H. — It has been my observation, that 
trout as a general thing are very regular in their spawning. 
Some streams may be earlier and some later than others, and 
I think that in our streams here more spawn is deposited 
between Oct. 16 and Nov. 1 than at any other time. Yet I 
have in mind two streams in this vicinity, Bible Hill Brook 
and Grannis Brook, that I feel assured that the spawn is de- 
posited before Oct. 16. Now if they continue to spawn six 
months that would bring it into the last of March or first of 
April, and whoever found trout in spawn at that season in 
this vicinity except in very rare cases? You will find a 
trout at any season of year occasionally wi^h spawn. Yet 
this has not changed my mind in regard to late August fish- 
ing; for when I kill trout that will average eighteen out of 
twenty that are well started with spawn, I somehow fell as 
if I had killed a mighty lot v.f trout for next season's fishing, 
and what I kill are but a very small item to what are killed 
by the hundreds of fishermen who fish for them, and it seems 
to me that any man ought to be satisfied with what trout he 
can kill between May 1 and Aug. 15. 
I know that the Fish Commission are doing a grand work, 
yet many things are overlooked that would be a great 
help to perpetuate and increase our trout fishing. One of 
the greatest curses is the polluting of our streams with saw- 
dust and chemicals from mills. There are many other 
minor causes which, if they could be stopped, would' give us 
an abundance of trout without so much restocking. 
Columbia. 
A Boston Sportsman's Exhibition. 
We have receivi d an announcement of fhe first exhibition 
under the auspices of the New England Sportsman's Associ- 
tion, in the Mtchanics' Fair Building, Boston, March 14 to 
26 inclusive. This is to be, essentially, a sportsman's exhi- 
bition, with numerous delightful gleanings from forest and 
stream, and with actual, practical demonstrations of life in 
the woods, controlled and managed by true sportsmen, and 
will by no means be the conventional "trade show." 
Here the visitor will find all the latest and most improved 
paraphernaha pertaining to life in the woods, with the newest 
inventions. But, perhaps, the most fascinating of all will 
be the demonstrations of life in the woods, from the pictur- 
esque Indian camp and the log cabin of the trapper to the 
temporary lean-to of the amateur sportsman, all equipped 
with practical utensils and paraphernalia, and each presided 
over by guides — Indians, Canadians, and hunters and trap- 
pers from all paits of the country. Inquiries, applications 
for space, etc , may be addressed to the New England 
Sportsman's Association, Boston, Mass. 
Black Bass in New England. 
Boston, Aug. 21. — Bass fishing is stfll attracting a good 
deal of attention in both Maine and New Hampshire waters. 
Winthrop Ponds, in Maine, are daily fished for bass, when 
the weather permits, and some good catches are the result. 
Winnipisaukee Lake and the adjacent ponds are fished con- 
stantly, and big catches of bass are being reported. The 
other elay a very remarkable string was taken by a party 
stopping at Bay View Cottage, Centre Harbor. The string 
was a surprise to both natives and sportsmen, and was taken 
chiefly with helgramite for bait. The largest bass weighed 
7Mbs., while in the string were eleven fish weighing over 
401bs. Long Pond, in the vicinity of Centre Harbor, was 
one of the points most successfully fished. 
Mr. Frank P. Dodge, with Mrs. Dodge, is ofl! for Lake 
Bario, Nova Scotia, for the fall fishing. Mr, Dodge's two 
boys have been at his camp there for several weeks, in charge 
of a trusty guide. They write home glowing accounts of 
the trout they have caught. Trout are abundant, from lib. 
to Slbs. weight, and sometimes larger. They take the fly 
readily nearly all summer, though bait is the surest at all 
seasons. Special. 
New Jersey Coast Fishing:. 
AsbueyPaek N. J. Aug. 21.— Perhaps never before was 
the outlook for J all fishing better either in the surf or bays 
and rivers. Already the run of bait fish is on such as mul- 
let, sand eel and spearing. The catches of weakfish in Bar- 
negat has been something phenomenal the past two weeks, 
while northward in the Shrewsbury and adjacent points the 
fishing has been all that could be desired. 
'The movements of the kingfish have been very erratic the 
entire season, they have apparently not been governed by 
tidal conditions, as is their custom, neither have they taken 
the hook freely at night. The severe storms have no doubt 
been the cause of their movements from point to point, but 
why they should refuse the bait at night is one of the many 
inexplicable things for which fish life is justly renowned. 
Striped bass are now in the background and will tmdoubtedly 
be but little heard from the next few weeks, which is 
always their custom at this period. Leonasd Hulit. 
Ijake Bomaseen. 
Laxb Bomaseen, not far from Rutland, Vt., and near 
Casselton, is a beautiful lake about nine miles long by three 
wide at the widest part, with some islands, and the water is 
very clear. We caught, with two small-sized spoon hooks, 
in about two hom's' fishing, 105 rock bass that would weigh 
from I to lib. apiece. Smaller ones can be taken with worm 
and hook and line, but we caught no large ones until we 
took to trolling with small spoon hooks. There is quite 
a variety of fish in the lake — yellow perch and pickerel, rock 
bass and large-mouth, or black bass. 
1 have seen one pickerel taken there through the ice that 
weighed IHlbs. 
Take the Delaware & Hudson road to HydeviUe, which is 
at the outlet of the lake; there is good hotel accommodation 
there, and you can get teams to drive you to the other end 
of the lake, where the best fishing is. Old Wat Back. 
Spawning of Fish in Pacific Water. 
That the spawning seasons of families of fish similar to 
those of the Atlantic should be different on the Pacific is 
easily accounted for by the warmer temperature of the 
water. It would seem that the laws of heat and cold have 
the same effect on fish that they do on vegetation, ordering 
the seasons accordingly; and tne spawning of fish, like the 
budding of trees, may be advanced or retarded by mild or 
inclement weather. Stated visitations of pelagic or anadro- 
mous fish may be postponed or even prevented by cold 
weather, but the Pacific is less subject to these vicissitudes 
than the Atlantic. — C7ias. EaUoch, in Our New Alaska. 
Bluefish in liOng Island Waters. 
IsLip, N. Y., Aug, 24. — ^Bluefishingis excellent in the Great 
South Bay, and large catches are reported. E. R. W. 
"That reminds me." 
A Shot in the Dark. 
One of our neighbors, Uncle Nate as we all called him, 
was greatly bothered by a whippoorwill that came nearly 
every night and sat on a rock in his back yard and sang his 
love song, or whatever it is, until Uncle Nate was nearly wild. 
One night he lay awake and, as he said, stood it just as long 
as he could, when he got up, and taking down the old gun 
that was loaded with a fox charge he went to the back door, 
and drawing a bead on the rock, which he could dimly see 
in the faint starlight, blazed away. Then, in the pleasing 
consciousness of a good deed well done, again sought his 
couch. 
In the morning his first care was to reload the old gun, as 
there was no telling when it would be needed. After this 
task was finished, he started for the back yard to gloat over 
the mangled remains of his tormentor; but what was his hor- 
ror and disgust to find that, instead of holding on the rock, 
he had completely riddled his wife's best washlub, which was 
turned bottom up about 4ft. from the rock. 
The disappointment was bad enough, but when Aunt 
Hannah came out and saw the ruin. Uncle Nate afterward 
declared, it was worse than the whippoorwill, and he made 
a break for the barn, his usual haven of refuge in such cases. 
Uncle Nate was one of the softest-hearted, best-tempered 
fellows in the world, and, as was always the case when he 
and Aunt Hannah had a falling out, he was soon begging 
-her pardon. Then he went to whittling out spiles, and it 
was afternoon before he had the shot holes all plugged. 
tw Menmt 
FIXTU RES. 
FIELD TRIALS. 
Aug. 30.— Western Canada Kennel Club's trials. 
Sept. 1.— ConMnental Field Trials Club's chicken trials, Morris, Man. 
Sept. 6.-Manitoba Field Trials Cliib. Morris, Man. 
Sept. 7.— Northwestern Field Trial Club's Champion Stake, Morris, 
Man. 
Oct. 25. — Brunswick Fur Clnb's ninth annual trials. 
Nov, 1.— Dixie Red Fox Club's third annual meet, Waverly, Miss. 
Nov. 1.— New England Beagle Club's trials, Oxford, Mass. 
Nov. 2.— Monongahels Valley Game and Fish Jfrocective Associ- 
ation's trials, Greene county. Pa. 
Nov, 8.— Union Field Trials Club's trials, Carlisle, Ind. 
Nov. 9.— Central Beagle Club's trials, Sharpsburg, Pa. 
Nov. 9.— Peninsular Field Trial Club's trials, Leamington, Ont. 
Nov. 15.— E F. T. Club's trials, Newton, N. 0. 
Nov. 16.— International Field Trials Club's eighth annual trials, 
Chatham, Ont. 
Nov. 22.— U. S. F. T. Club's autumn trials. 
1898. 
Jan. 10.— TJ. S. F. T Club's winter trials. West Point, Miss. 
Jan. ir.— Continental F. T. Club's trials, New Albany, Miss. 
FIELD TRIALS AND FIELD TRIAL 
JUDGES.-III. 
The man who knows all about a field trial and its compe- 
tition, because, though he has never seen either, he has shot 
over pointers and setters in actual field work, is the most 
helpless and inefiicient man imaginable when he is present 
in person at a field trial, if he have any responsible connec- 
tion with it, whether it be as judge," steward or handler. 
Nor is his friend and admirer, who has perhaps bred some 
very good setters and pointers, as measured by the local 
standard of canine values, and who is inflated with some 
field trial wisdom at second-hand, to be rated any higher if 
he be great only from his own inner consciousness. 
No inexperienced man is competent to be of real ability 
and use as a field trial judge; a sportsman must have had 
both experience in the field and at field trials to the end that 
he have a thorough knowledge of practical field work, and 
of the principles of a competition, and also of the manner of 
conducting it. 
By far the greater part of the adverse criticism on field 
trials and field-trial judges is offered by men who have seen 
little of field trials, or nothing at all. Their writings are 
mostly founded on hearsay. 
I once knew a man who read Darwin's "Origin of Species" 
for the first time, it also being the first work on the subject 
he had ever read, and though he could not spell words cor- 
rectly nor intentionally write a grammatical sentence at that 
time, his education being such as was gained by a few boy- 
hood summers at a common school, he made most voluminous 
marginal notes on every page of the "'Origin of Species, 
correcting, amending and amplifying Darwin, and this from 
the knowledge he gained from page to page by reading the 
book, and from the supplementary inner egotism which im- 
pelled him to believe that all things should be as he saw them 
and as he thought was fittest. It is hardly necessary to add 
that the valuable marginal contributions never appeared 
elsewhere than in the pages of that one book. 
If the field trial critic, whose theories are advanced as 
facts would first learn whether or not his theories were true 
or false, there would not be so many slushy columns of rub- 
bish contributed to the sporting press of America. I in no- 
wise dispute the right of a man to his opinions, or to the 
publication of his opinions, so long as he presents them as 
such, but I do dispute his right to assert that his emotional 
opinions and crude conjectures are facts, and this the more 
when he asserts his facts from hearsay, personal prejudices, 
all colored with the mental idiosyncrasies which may unfit 
his inf 3rmers from rendering any impartial or sound judg- 
ment. 
As there is always a small percentage of grumblers at field 
trials, and men so selfish that to lose is to kick, there are 
also grumblers and kickers who stay at home, men who like 
to talk and wiite even if the matter is one with which they 
have no concern. The kind of man whose knowledge is 
second-handfcd, bearing the imprint of the vagaries of the 
men who communicated it, with such new ones of his own 
added as are at command, rushes into print either over a 
nam to conceal a timorous heart or over his own 
name, one which is not of those who work and pay for the 
conducting of field trials. Such men are irresponsible, who 
have nothing to lose and nothing to offer, except what they 
