Sept. 3, 1898.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
189 
ing and only want to be able to put our catch in the 
right class, and to give them the name which belongs 
to them by right of usage, and which is accepted by 
the majority of anglers and specialists in fish lore, 
Color. 
This is of the least importance; yet the angler is apt 
to attach great value to it. Let us see how little there is 
in it. The mascalonge is black-spotted in the Great 
Lakes and in Minnesota, but has no spots in Chautauqua 
Lake, N. Y., nor in the Ohio River and its tributaries, 
where it is occasionally found. The white perch of 
brackish waters and coastwise streams is of a drab color 
in saltish water, and is bright silvery in the upper rivers. 
The Eastern brook trout loses its red spots if it remains 
long in salt water, but regains them after ascending 
the streams. Few fish vary as much in color as this 
trout does, according to the waters it happens to, be in; 
on Long Island the trout are much lighter in color than 
those from the Adirondack's, while many Canadian 
trout are almost black. 
In some species we find the males differing greatly 
from the females at breeding time, especially in the 
cyprinoids, or soft-finned, toothless fishes, of which we 
have over seventy species, such as chubs, horned dace, 
shiners, and a host of small species which only attain 
a length of 2 or 3m., for which the angler has no other 
name but minnow, often corrupted into "minny"; but 
the student of fishes takes them all in, and sees that 
they differ. The so-called "red-finned shiner" (Luxilus 
corniitus), which is found "in all brooks from Maine to 
-the Rocky Mountains, except those of the 'Carolinas and 
Texas," is a fair sample of the value of color. Only 
the male has red fins, and he only in the breeding season. 
At this time his head is covered with hard tubercles, 
which are shed when the season is over. This is a 
common fish in Adirondack waters. It runs into the 
streams in June to spawn, and then the males are exceed- 
ingly brilliant. Their length is about sin., and the sexes 
and the name usually ends in idae, as salmonidse, the 
salmon family, which includes fishes of quite different 
structure, but may be described as: "Body oblong, cov- 
ered with cycloid scales; head naked; mouth terminal or 
subinferior, of varying size; teeth various; maxillary 
with supplemental bone forming side of upper jaw; 
pseudobranehisc (false gills) present; no barbels; dorsal 
fin median; an adipose fin; ventrals median; lateral line 
present; belly not compressed; vertebra; about sixty. 
Stomach siphonal, with 15 to 200 pyloric cceca; eggs 
large; no oviduct." 
In this family we find several genera, and a genus is 
nearer to what we consider a human family, in the 
narrowest definition of that term, for here we find two 
names for each fish, the generic and the specific. The 
salnionicke has the following genera: Coregonus, the 
whitefishes; Thymallus, the graylings; Salmo, the salmons; 
Salvclimis, the chars. In naming a fish the genus is 
placed first, just as we index. "Smith, John," and 
"Brown, James"; so we say of the chars: Salvelinus 
uamayatsh for the lake trout, and 5. fontinaUs for the 
brook trout. The object of using Greek for the generic 
and Latin for the specific name is that these names are 
accepted by scientific men the world over, and if I 
write of capturing a pike the name is merely an English 
one. The Germans call the fish hecht, the French 
brochat, etc., but if I write pike, Esox lucius, the Russian, 
Dane and Japanese know as well as the German and 
the Frenchman the exact fish intended, for it is named 
in the language of science. 
The local angler may recognize the need of such a 
universal language when he realizes that partridge 
means a small bird in Virginia and the South, and a 
large one in New York and further East; and that 
but three fishes on our Atlantic coast — the eel, sturgeon 
and shad — bear the same name from Maine to Texas. 
That the name blackfish in New England means what 
is a sea bass in New York, Centropristis striatus, while 
east of New York the Indian name of tautog is used; 
are so different in appearance at spawning time as to be 
taken for different species. It was only by opening many 
specimens that I convinced a dozen or more of the 
guides that the "red fins" were all males and the 
"shiners" were all females, by showing that the "shiners" 
alone carried eggs. 
Our creek chub, called horned dace, has protuberances 
on the heads of the males at breeding time, hence 
"horned." This fish grows to a foot in length, and is 
a favorite with boyish anglers, but while its colors do 
not vary much it is introduced here to show that other 
things vary besides color. 
Some species seem to be permanently marked, like 
the yellow perch, with its ground-work of yellow and its 
dark bands, which are merely intensified at the breeding 
season ; but curiously the salt-water fishes do not seem 
to change their colors much at that time. The male 
brook trout brightens his fins at the mating period, puts 
on a brighter red on his lower sides, and at the height 
of that season adds to his war paint a stripe of black 
just above the ventral fins, and tops off with a drab 
coat on his back, being an entirely different looking 
fish for a fortnight, some time fcetween November and 
January, than he is during the rest of the year. 
Color is a thing to be noticed; for in some species it 
is of value; but it is not to be relied on in diagnosing 
a fish. It has nowhere near the value that it has in 
determining species among birds, because it is more 
variable. 
The Important Points. 
As all this may be thought difficult to master, as 
given in detail, let me make the points plainer by a 
synopsis. To describe a fish note the shape — flat, com- 
pressed or cylindrical; position, number and character 
of fins, with their ray formula; shape of caudal fin; num- 
ber of scales in the lateral line; barbels, if any; scales 
on any part of head, or their absence; teeth, as indi- 
cated above; and the position of the mouth, as terminal, 
etc. After all these structural differences, which cannot 
be varied by any change of habitat, you can add the 
colors. These are the points on which an expert 
would think it worth while to give an opinion as to the 
place of any particular fish in the system, and they are 
not hard to learn. 
There are minor points, and I only mention them 
to show that what has been written is not the whole of 
ichthyology. One of these is : In the black basses of 
fresh water there is a character which has not been 
mentioned; that is, the small-mouth has minute scales 
on the soft parts of its dorsal and anal fins, while the 
big-mouth has none. 
Nomenclature. 
For convenience all fishes are first grouped into fam- 
ilies from some peculiarity of structure common to all, 
among the whalemen from Long Island to Maine black- 
fish is the name of a small whale. Chub in the North 
means one of the two species of large cyprinoids, soft- 
finned, while on the Tar River, North Carolina, the 
name chub is applied to the black bass. 
These examples show that the vernacular names are 
so largely local as to be of no value beyond the local- 
ities where they are used, and they are often loosely ap- 
plied there; hence the necessity of a nomenclature that 
is universal. 
In the early days of Forest and Stream the older 
anglers ridiculed scientific nomenclature; they "didn't see 
the use of it; a bass was a bass and a trout was a trout, 
what more do you want?" At the first meeting of the 
American Fishculturists' Association, now the Fisheries 
Society, an ignorant, egotistical boor, who posed as the 
only authority on fish, made some remarks about a trout. 
Mr. William Clift, the first president of the society, 
asked: "Mr. , do I understand you to refer to 
Salmo fontinaUs?" Our Eastern brook trout was then 
classed in the genus Salmo. 
With scorn in his emnhasis. the man addressed an- 
swered: "Well, you might call him that, or you might 
call him a sawbuck; I call him a trout," and then he 
rambled on. That day has passed, and the observant 
angler has developed into the "scholarly angler" in 
America, and within a quarter of a century has so in- 
fluenced angling literature that such a scene in the pro- 
ceedings of an angling or fishcultural society w r ou!d be 
impossible to-day. 
Chicago Fly-Casting Club. 
Chicago. Aug. 27.— Editor Forest and Stream: Here 
is the score of the contest of the Chicago Fly-Casting 
Club, held to-day: 
Long Distance Acont-aov Bait 
Distance and Acc'y, and DePcy, Casting, 
Fly. Feet. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. 
I. H. Bellows 117 r - 95 flfi 1-3 92 3-5 
C. F. Brown 93 1-3 94 1-6 91 3-5 
N. C. Heston . . . . 95 4-5 
C. G. Ludlow 113 
Tf. W. Perce 86 1-3 . . 9fi 1-5 
H. A. Newkirk 96 2-3 95 1-6 97 1-5 
This closes the season for i8o8, and determines the 
medal winners for the year of the different events, as 
follows: Long distance fly, F. N. Peet; distance and 
accuracy, I. H. Bellows; accuracy and delicacy, C. A. 
Lippincott; bait casting, H. G. Hascal; all-round cham- 
pionship cup, I. H. Bellows, 
G. A. Murrell, SecV- 
The Forest and Stream is put to press each week on Tuesday. 
Correspondence intended for publication should reach us at the 
latest by Monday, and as much earlier as practicable. 
An Outing on Lake Lagunitas, 
Through the kindness of the president of the San 
Francisco and North Pacific Railroad, Dr. W. E. 
Brooks, E. W. Currier and James Watt were granted a 
permit to fish on Lake Lagunitas, one of the prettiest 
bodies of water in the State of California. This lake is 
situated in Marin county, about four miles from Ross 
Station, a lovely suburb of San Francisco. A walk 
through Ross Valley and up what is known as the Fish 
Grade brings you to the lake. On entering the grounds 
you are received by the keeper or his good wife, at- 
tended by a retinue of noisy canines. Our permits 
having been taken up, we proceed at once to the boat 
house, where, through the kindness of Mr. Foster, we 
find a boat at our disposal. The day was a very unusual 
one for Ross Valley and the lake; there being a heavy 
mist and drizzling rain, and fly-fishing was out of the 
question, hence we had to resort to the expedient of 
trolling. Bait fishing is not allowed, and trolling has 
only been in vogue within the past year or two. The 
spoons and spinners used by the sportsmen of California 
are of the smallest pattern, and nearly every one has his 
individual preference.. Brooks and Watt occupied the 
boat, while Currier preferred to fish from the bank, quite 
a difficult feat, as in most places it is very abrupt, and 
foothold quite insecure. However, Mr. Currier's princi- 
pal object was to locate a suitable place to take a sketch. 
Commencing at the east arm of the lake, we trolled it 
thoroughly with very little success, as at the noon hour 
we had only four fish, but they were beauties. Mr. Watt 
then concluded to try his luck from the shore, and the 
Doctor, left to himself, started on a prospecting tour 
up the south lagoon, and was delighted to find the fish 
were jumping in all directions; he very speedily added a 
dozen or more to his creel. 
Mr. Currier had at last found a beautiful spot, and was 
making a sketch of the extreme end of the lake, with 
Mount Tamalpias in the background, which is one of 
the most charming bits of California scenery to be found 
in many a day's trayel. The Doctor, however, being 
more of a fisherman than an artist, lingered not, but pro- 
ceeded on, when a signal from the other side of the lake 
drew his attention to the fact that Watt was anxious to 
enjoy some of the sport which he could see the Doctor 
was having. Watt was taken aboard, and for the re- 
mainder of the afternoon we both were as successful as 
any two Nimrods could desire; the sport only ceasing 
when we had each caught our limit. 
By this time Mr. Currier had finished his sketch. 
The return trip was uneventful. All things combined, 
Thursday, the rath day of May, 1898, furnished an outing 
for us that will long remain a pleasant memory. 
J. W. 
San Francisco, California. 
New Jersey Shore Fishing. 
Asbury Park, N. J., Aug. 27. — Surf fishing the past 
few days has received a most decided setback, pre- 
sumably catised by an extremely cold current, which 
has set in from the south. Why a southern current 
should produce this is hard to determine. Still we have 
that effect, and the cause remains unknown. So .cold 
has it been that one could scarcely stand in the water, 
although protected by lined rubber boots. However, the 
conditions are modifying some, and fish are again be- 
ginning to be in- evidence. I recently mentioned the tak- 
ing of the croaker from the boats which go out to 
sea, and expressed some doubt as to the identity of the 
fish, as they had never before been taken in that man- 
ner so far north in any quantity. An examination firm- 
ly establishes the fact; and those who have angled for 
them are quite enthusiastic in their praise as good 
biters and hard fighters, resembling in many respects 
the sheepshead in their movements. They are quite a 
common fish in the estuaries around Cape May, but I 
have never found them to be extraordinarily game; in 
no respects do they excel the weakfish, weight con- 
sidered. Yesterday one was taken from the Asbury 
Park pier, the first one ever taken from either of our 
piers here. 
Snapper fishing is now beginning to claim the atten- 
tion of hundreds of anglers daily. While they are not yet 
very abundant, still they are of fine size thus early in 
the season, and the delight they afford on lightest of 
tackle is thoroughly appreciated. I know many men 
who have taken the muscalonge in the North, and 
battled with the lordly tarpon in the South, and when 
blues and weakfish were biting all around them devote 
whole days to pursuit of the sprightly snapper. As 
with your trout fishermen, both could easily take game 
producing more pounds of meat, but that is a different 
story. 
Leonard Hulit. 
Big Black Bass* 
New York, Aug. 22. — Editor Forest and Stream : The 
largest black bass taken from Popolo Pond, near West 
Point, this year was caught by Mrs. J. Yale, of Fish- 
kill, N. Y., on a 7oz. fly-rod last Thursday. 
The fish made a vigorous fight, but being adroitly 
handled the prize was soon in the boat and tipped the 
scales at S^lbs. 
On our way out Thursday we passed Long Pond, 
where we saw the Riddell boys fishing. On inquiring 
as to how fish were biting Bob answered laconically, "I 
don't know; we have only been here since last Monday." 
J- J- R- 
Not Unreasonable* 
The Lake County (Mich.) Star prints the following 
card: 
To Fishermen! 
I wish all fishermen to either keep in the stream or 
along the banks thereof in crossing my fields south of 
town. Do not tramp over my crops, or destroy them in 
quest of angleworms. I do not object to fishermen 
having- a fair show, but I am farming and want them 
to give me sow 'show for my crops 
„ Geo. J, Austin. 
1 
