May 7, 1898.] 
FOREST ANlD STREAM. 
373 
that he has thus slept in a room where eleven persons, 
adults and children, found beds in some mysterious 
manner. The cookery is very poor in such a home, 
but the people are generous and will give you anything 
they have. The moonshine industry is by no means 
extinct in those mountains, yet, but it is not now so 
dangerous to go into that country as it was not long 
ago. The man who goes in there and tends to his own 
business and does not ask any questions is all right. 
Yet even the most industrious angler is an object of cu- 
riosity if not suspicion, for the inhabitants are utterlj^ 
unable to believe that any sane man would come up 
into that country for tire purpose of fishing and noth- 
ing else. They follow the angler along the stream, 
watching his actions with w'ondering eyes. Plainly, so 
it seems to them, a man must be crazy who will wade 
in the water when he goes fishing. Yet the bass angler 
who wades the upper Cumberland at times when the 
water is clear and not troubled by the wash from the 
steep mountain sides is very apt to be repaid by good 
baskets of the fightingest sort of small-mouth bass. 
In the Pine Woods. 
That energetic "young hustler Fay Buck, of Manitowish, 
Wis., writes me that he and his father now have three re- 
sorts open on the Spider Lake, Turtle Lake and Manito- 
wish waters, and all the camps are connected by tele- 
phone, so that any one at either of the camps may tele- 
phone to any other camp or to town. This means a great 
saving of time and expense to guests and will add to the 
popularity of these first class fishing resorts, all of which 
will open J^Cay i, though the bass fishing does not begin 
until May 25. 
Mr. H. G. McCartney, proprietor of the now well- 
known Minnesota resort, Kabekona Camp, on Woman 
Lake, has brought out a very neat and fetching little 
novelty in summer literature this week. I say literature, 
for thotigh there is not a w^ord of text, the twelve Kabe- 
kona photographs speak each a potent language. The 
views show different scenes among the tidy log cottages 
and give the lake front view of the camp also, together 
with fine landscapes of some of the mightiest fishermen 
who have visited that favored spot. There is a view of 
a canoe on the water, a picture of the bark palace of old 
Bungo Buck, the Chippewa outlawed Indian who has 
taken up with the white men because he can't live with 
the red ones unless he kills one or two of them every day; 
moreover, there are the public documents of strings of 
great muscallunge, which ran up to 4ilbs. last season. I 
have heard doubt cast on the Kabekona average by 
men who have never been there, but Mr. McCartney per- 
sonall}^ told me that during the last part of the season, 
when the large fish were biting, the average of total catch 
at that resort ran over 2olbs. in weight. It was rare to 
take one so low as lolbs., and I understand that there has 
not been one brought in at that resort which weighed less 
than gibs. It is certainly pretty good lunge country. As 
to the bass, it is not fun to catch them, I am told, be- 
cause they are too numerous to offer any difficulty to the 
angler. A good bie market-fishing outfit was just about 
to drop in on that chain of lakes two years ago, having 
put up their ice houses and made every other arrange- 
ment to begin cleaning out those waters, when they were 
confronted with the Minnesota law forbidding the taking 
of black bass for the market. Also, Mr. McCartney 
dropped in on that chain with his happy idea of a sports- 
man's resort, and so the riches of those still unexhausted 
waters were left assured for many years to come. I 
should add in passing that Mr. McCartney is going to 
put his little Kabekona view book on sale this season 
up at his camp, so that an angler may show the proof 
of what might otherwise be considered fiction. The tidy 
little collection is bound in permanent form. 
Prizes in Angling. 
That there are prizes in angling would seem to appear 
from a look at the programme of the San Francisco 
Fly-Casting Club, who will give a grand tournament 
Sept. 9 and 10. In each of the eight events the win- 
ner will receive a $75 diamond medal, and there will 
be $1,250 worth of merchandise prizes. 
I have often gone on record in regard to the mer- 
chandise idea in amateur sport, giving it as my personal 
belief, not of much value, that no sport is ever bene- 
fited by the old-fashioned plunder list, nor is any giver 
ever benefited by a gift of such plunder for such pur- 
poses. So much for what it may seem to be worth. 
I wish, however, to qualify my remarks upon the general 
subject of merchandise prizes in angling circles. I con- 
fess that I have discovered one instance of a merchan- 
dise prize received by an angler under circumstances 
which command my absolute and unqualified approval. 
Indeed, so seemly and fit do these surroundings seem 
to me that I will go further and saj^ that under no other 
except similar circumstances should any angler ever 
take unto himself anj' merchandise prize. This instance 
it is my duty to give as recorded when it first came 
to my attention. It was down in Missouri, and a Mis- 
souri paper describes it as follows: 
"Robert Bryson, while fishing near the mouth of Buf- 
falo Creek, instead of a fish landed a pair of pants, in 
the pocket of which was a roll of bills amounting to 
$23. Owing to a protracted stay in the water the green- 
backs were hardly recognizable, but they will, how- 
ever, be sent to Washington for redemption." 
I consider a merchandise prize received under such 
circumstances as the above to be not onljr entirely legiti- 
mate, but indeed highly commendable; for not only did 
Mr. Bryson earn his increment hy his skill as an angler, 
but by the same act he saved a worth}'- pair of pants 
from a watery grave. E. Hough. 
1206 BoYCE Building, Chicago, 111. 
Ohio Bass Waters. 
HuNTSViLLE, O., April 25. — Black bass began taking- 
minnows here on April 16, and since that time many 
large catches have been made by Cincinnati anglers. 
Of the strings taken by E. W. Ellis three weighed islbs. 
Lewis -A Davison took one of 5%lbs. The fishing is in 
"Indian Lake," a new name for Lewiston Reservoir. 
A recent writer in the Georgetown Gazette says of these 
waters: "The Reservoir, to the visitor, is of great in- 
terest. It is just six miles from Huntsville, in the north- 
western part of the county, and is a great sight, with the 
thousands of stumps of trees projecting from the water, 
the many fishermen in boats landing large fish every 
few minutes, and the constant roar of the water as it 
rushes through the bulkhead to come in contact with the 
thick, muddy water of the Miami Canal. The "pond," 
as it is called, covers 16,000 acres of territory, which 
includes the islands and waste land. That it is a great 
resort for fishermen and hunters is proven by the fact 
that last year 64,000 people entered the gates of one of 
the resorts. Lakeridge, and so far this year 58,000. This 
does not include those gaining access to the pond by 
way of the other resorts, nor by the public roads which 
ruii to the Reservoir. The resort spoken of, Lakeridge, 
is managed by W. E. Clarke, and is an ideal place to 
spend a week or so in hunting and fishing. 
"Bass, ring perch, cat and sun are the most numer- 
ous, and are taken in great numbers during the season. 
A string of twenty or thirty is an ordinary sight, but 
before gaining much of a reputation as a fisherman you 
will have to double that number, and even then yov 
will not be the cause of nutcli comment, big catches be- 
ing the rule, not the exception. The fish run ^4 to /lbs. 
each, and the bass are said to be especially fine. 
"The Reservoir, with its waste land and islands, is a 
great feeding ground for wild ducks, and in season they 
are killed by the hundreds. A good marksman can 
easily land thirty or forty fine specimens in a day. The 
fare from Cincinnati to the Reservoir is $4 the round 
trip, which is the rate given all hunters and fishermen 
by the Big Four." 
The Rainbow Trout in England. 
The rainbow trout (Salmo irideus) was introduced into 
Great Britain in 1S85. The}' were not very successfully 
bred, nor did they attract much attention for some years 
following. In a recent essay by Mr. Wm. Senior, read 
before the Piscatorial Society of London, the past, pres- 
ent and future of the fish are thus discussed: 
I have Jiot carried my researches any further, my ob- 
ject being merely to show how the rainbow trout was 
introduced into this country; and by this time, viz., in 
1895, the cultivation, and, I presume, distribution of 
rainbow trout was being made a regular business by 
most of the fishculturists of the countiy; and it will be 
seen by the fishcultural advertisements of the present 
day that there is scarcely a hatchery that docs not sup- 
ply them. I think much of the caution which has been 
recommended in the introduction of rainbow trout to 
rivers is traceable to the fishculturists themselves. The 
old hands among them had paid pretty dearly for the 
enthusiasm worked up over the foiitmalis when it was 
first introduced into this country. Nothing could ex- 
ceed the rapture lavished upon that fish. Everything 
was to be revolutionized; the fontinalis was to be the 
trout of the future. There is no need to enter into 
the histoiy of the movement, but the fontinalis is not 
the trout of the future, but is, I think, with us at any 
rate, the trout of the past. He was confidently recom- 
mended for both river and lake. His enthusiastic ad- 
mirers were prepared to back him against our own wild 
brown trout, and the boom of the fontinalis was a most 
pronounced success. People bought them right and left, 
and put them into their rivers and lakes, and then it 
was found that they disappeared from the rivers, and 
after giving perhaps a couple of seasons' sport in the 
lakes became sulky and non-sporting. Some of the 
fishculturists, therefore, have remembered this, and, I 
expect, resolved to avoid a second mistake if possible, 
though it was no special mistake of theirs, as they were 
pushed on to a boom of the fontinalis by enthusiastic 
admirers from the outside. 
It has been shown from dates that we have had the 
rainbow trout bred in our public hatcheries and put in 
the market for ten years and over. There must have 
been hundreds and thousands of them distributed in 
our waters, but up to this moment, so far as I know, 
anything like adequate evidence of their success in a 
trout stream is wanting. For lakes and ponds I should 
say the rainbow trout is the best fish we know of to- 
day, for he grows rapidly and gives sport, though 
whether, like the fontinalis, after awhile he will become 
sulky and belie his own character, is a matter which time 
only will prove. But it is certainly strange that during 
die ten years we have been told so very little of results. 
The general question uppermost in the minds of all of 
us is, no doubt — ^What is going to happen? Is the rain- 
bow trout to be the trout of the future, and by its size 
and gamesome qualities to compensate us for the over 
education of our native fish? I wish I could answer 
that question, but I cannot. I have some very good 
friends who are inclined to think that the rainbow trout 
will not prove the disappointment which the fontinalis 
has done, and there are others who still maintain their 
attitude of reticent observation, and are waiting for defi- 
nite facts. Meanwhile the angling associations of the 
North have just taken to action, and are stocking with 
rainbow, so that we shall in due time get our evidence. 
Anyhow I am sure the rainbow trout will have a jjerfect- 
ly fair, if not an enthusiastic, trial. I believe if it could 
be clearly proved that the introduction of rainbows into 
four, five or six of our trout streams had been successful 
— that is to say, if they had remained in the streams, in- 
creased in numbers, risen well in their third season — 
there would be little more doubt about the matter. This 
all beside the mark to tell us of the magnificent size 
the fish repeatedly grew to under artificial conditions. 
That is a matter of course, and it may be accepted as 
beyond dispute that the rainbow trout have answered 
well in lakes and ponds. There are hundreds of pieces 
of private and public water in the country at the present 
moment that are practically waste, and that by slight 
trouble and expense might be stocked with these fish. 
But we are slow to move, and although the cultivation 
of waste waters has been urged again and again, it is 
only occasionally that we hear of a venture being made. 
Let us by all manner of means give the rainbow trout 
a perfectly fair trial; for I end as I began, by saying 
that our only object can be to improve our fishing, and 
make our stock of sporting fish, if possible, the best 
in the world. Let the best fish, like the best man, win. 
Pike in the Connecticut. 
'Chaulestown, N. H., April 23. — Edilor Forest and 
Stream: A letter in Fork.st and Stream a short time 
since called attention to the variations in the supply 
of fish in Plymouth Ponds, Vt, the head of Black 
River, which passes through Ludlow, Cavendish and 
Springfield to the Connecticut. The inclosed letter from 
the old veteran gunsmith at Bellows Falls, Mr. Brock- 
way, throws some light on the original stocking with 
pike. For "Ludlow" read "Plymouth" in his letter, as 
the ponds in Ludlow are merely mill ponds, caused by 
dams. No pike had ever been heard of in Connecticut 
River when I left home in 1841; but a year or two 
after, when home on a vacation. I lieard of the capture 
of two large "Lake Champlain" pike at Morris' Mills 
in Springfield, about three miles above the mouth of 
Black River. The next year I heard of the taking of 
that large one at Bellows Falls, but think it was in 1844. 
As I devoted my vacations solely, to brook trout, I did 
not pay much attention to the matter, except to try and 
find out where Ihey came from, when I was told that 
some one in Vermont had stocked the ponds at the 
head of Black River, and the fish had worked down. 
Yellow perch were always plenty in the Connecticut, 
and the mouth of Black River was one of my favorite 
fishing places for them when I was a boy, more than 
sixty years ago, before I was weaned from all other 
fishing by the delights of the trout brooks. The perch 
must have worked up Black River from the Connecticut 
some time, but I doubt if it has been within the memory 
of man. 
My friend the late Commissioner E. B. Ilodge in- 
sisted that the yellow perch were great spawn-eaters, and 
attributed the discovery of the "Sunapee saibling" in 
1881 to the destruction of the spawn-eating perch by the 
black bass, which had been introduced in Sunapee about 
1870. 
I tliink it most probable that the scarcity of pike in 
Plymouth Ponds at the present time is due to a want 
of food. The ponds are not very large, and the pike 
have probably cleaned them out gradually, and then 
"cleared out" themselves. They are moderately plentiful 
here in the Connecticut, as are the smaller "pickerel," 
but they do not leave mirch of anything else! Glad to 
see the illustrations of the family in friend Cheney's last 
letter. Von W. 
Bellows Falls, Vt., Feb. i, 1898. — Samuel Webber, 
Charlestown. — Dear Sir: I wrote you last winter about 
the pike in the Connecticut River; I have also written 
to all the parties I thought might know about it, and 
have a letter from Dr. Charles A. Scott, of Tyson, Vt. 
He is an old man, and has always lived near there, and 
he writes me that in 1828 one Jephtha Spaulding went 
"over the mountains" to Lake Champlain, brought them 
over and put them in Ludlow Pond. His expenses were 
paid by subscription raised among the neighbors, and 
after this they were put in other ponds around there. 
He thinks they killed out the trout in those waters. This 
is the best account of the fish I have, and it agrees 
with the facts we have here, that they come down Black 
River, and were caught in the stream before any were 
caught in the river. They were taken here about 1840, 
and Henry Hill caught the first big one that weighed 
iSlbs., and Mr. J. K. Wales, of this place, helped to carry 
it about town to exhibit. My own fishing memory 
dates back to 1848, and I have caught many pike my- 
self. They seem to drift down the river, but don't work 
up stream much, as the most northerly point they strike, 
of which I have knowledge, is in Claremont at a place 
called Toad Hole, They are caught down the river by 
Springfield and far to the south of this point, and called 
"muscalonge." I have never seen one of this species 
in this river, though I was in Springfield some years. 
They think down the river that they come up stream, 
but T do not agree with them. Yours truly, 
N. S. Brockway. 
Black Bass in Southern Waters. 
_ Birmingham, Ala. — Editor Forest and Stream: I have 
just read in the issue of April 9 in Mr. Hough's article 
a reproduction of a letter from Dr. Neely, of Cook- 
ville, Tenn., which causes me to take up my pen, as 
the subject is one of special interest to me. Having 
had considerable experience in using the fly in fishing 
for bass in some of the streams of Tennessee, my whole 
aim is to be of more service to Dr. Neely in his laudable 
desire to join the craft. 
What Mr. Hough says of tackle is true in most in- 
stances, in all I might say, except where the party con- 
cerned has an almost unlimited supply of the needful. 
So I would say to the Doctor, if he is indeed earnest 
about '"jining" the craft, go shy of cheap tackle, es- 
pecially flies, rods and leaders. 
I would suggest that one carry guide rings with him 
on his trip, also a spool of silk and bottle of rod varnish 
in case of losing a ring. In my- opinion there are more 
rods broken for the lack of a ring on the tip or second 
joint than from any other cause. Last season I saw a 
tip smashed on an expensive rod for the lack of two 
rings. Of course the maker came in for some remarks 
about swindling, etc., when all the fault was with the 
user. I do not care how much yoit pay for a gun or 
rod, unless it is kept in condition and taken care of it 
is no better in the end than something cheap, only that 
it will stand abuse longer. 
I prefer my flies tied on Pennell's turned down eyed 
hooks. No. 4, for bass fishing. If I cannot get these 
I would take them on Sproat, same number of hook. My 
experience is that the flies tied and sold as black bass 
flies are entirely too large. There is certainly no reason 
for using them that I can see. They are much more 
difficult to handle except with a very heavy rod, and I 
do not think under most conditions that the fish rise 
to them as well as to the smaller flies. The largest 
bass I ever landed with a fly was caught with a fly tied 
on a No. 6 Sproat hook. The flies I have found most 
successful in the waters of Tennessee and Alabama for 
early spring and summer are the silver doctor, the ori- 
ole, the royal coachman and the bucktail. The latter 
is particularly a killer in the last part of July. For fall 
