May 27, 1899.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
407 
so overgrown with alders that it rarely tempts the few 
fly-fishermen who resort to it. It is a far cry from New 
Zealand to fly-fishitig in New York, but it has been im- 
pressed upon me witliin two years that bait fishing is 
giving way to fly-fishing in the region in which I live. I 
know this from the people who ask me about flies, and 
who confess that fly-fishing is a new departure for them, 
and once a fisherman is successful with artificial flies he is 
- loath to return to the barnyard hackle. 
Stinapee Troot in New York. 
Within a few days I have received two letters dated 
■within five days of each other, from two gentlemen in 
difl^erent parts of this State, making inquiries about sup- 
posed Sunapee trout caught in New York waters. The 
first, \vritten by a clergyman in Keeseville, Essex coun- 
ty, reads : "I have this morning been showing to a 
friend, an ardent and very successful trout fisherman, the 
copy of the Fisheries, Game and Forest Commission Re- 
port for 1896, and am so much interested in a statement 
which he made that I forward it to you. Late last sum- 
mer he was fishing Wall Brook, in the town of Schuyler 
Falls, Clinton county, which empties into Lake Cham- 
plain through Salmon River. Using a worm for bait he 
caught a red trout weighing from 4 to 61bs., unlike any- 
thing he has caught before, and his experience as a trout 
fisherman in lakes and streams is a Avide one. Two 
other trout fishermen who were with him had never seen 
one like it. The trout was very game and fought like a 
half-pounder. In looking over the report, when he came 
to the picture of the' male Sunapee trout, he said : 'That 
is the very trout I caught last summer.' " 
The other letter is written by a lawj^er in Lockport, and 
reads as follows : "During last week there were caught 
near Olcott, in this coimty (in Lake Ontario), several 
fish about which I ask your aid as to their identit}'. 
"An old fisherman who caught them stated to me that 
he had never seen their like before, although he has for 
many years been a net fisherman at Olcott. I examined 
one of the fish and found it in appearance to resemble the 
lake trout very much, and in fact to be as I thought from 
its appearance one of that species. However, it had none 
of the usual markings of the lake trout, no mottled spots 
or coloring of any kind. There was a silvery appearance 
over the whole body with no spots of any kind. The general 
shape of the fish was that of a lake trout, and upon ex- 
amining the second annual report of the Fisheries, Game 
and Forest Commission, I found there described the 
white trout, or as it is also called, 'golden trout,' or 
'Sunapee sabling.' The fish I refer to was exactly repre- 
sented by the illustration of the female Sunapee trout. Is 
there any reason to believe that this trout is .to be found 
in Lake Ontario? Otherwise, do the lake trout of that 
lake appear in the*form of the one I have described, with- 
out markings of any kind? I have seen the lake trout in 
many difi^erent places from Lake Ontario to Puget's 
Sound, and in all cases think I can recall there have been 
distinct markings on the fish consisting of mottled spots 
with purplish tinge, and also spots of a yellowish or 
salmon tinge. The absence of these spottings made me 
think that possibly the white trout had been planted in 
Lake Ontario through the eft'orts of the New York Fish- 
eries Commission or in some other way, and I am in hopes 
that it is so, as that species would seem to be a valuable 
addition to the fish supply of the lake. 
"I had the fish cooked, and its flesh resembled in color 
the flesh of the lake trout, and was very delicate and 
palatable." 
It was rather curious that two letters dated so near to- 
gether should ask about the same species of fish, and that 
a brook fish in one part of the State, and a lake fish in 
another part of the State, should have been recognized 
from drawings in the same volume as the male and 
female of the species, when, as a fact, the species does not 
exist in either of the waters. So far as is at present 
known, the Sunapee trout or sabling is found only in 
Sunapee Lake, New Hampshire ; in another lake in the 
same State, and in Flood's Pond, in Maine, or more cor- 
rectly, they are native only to the waters named, for I 
believe the fry have been planted in New Hampshire 
waters, to which they are not aboriginal, and the same 
may be said of Maine, as they have been cultivated in 
that State from the stock found in Flood's Pond. 
The only attempt made to establish the Sunapee trout in 
waters outside of the New England States named, so far 
as I have knowledge, was made by the Fisheries, Game 
and Foi-est Commission of this State, when it sent the 
State fish car to Simapee Lake and made an exchange of 
fish with the New Hampshire Fish Commission, obtain- 
ing sixty adult Sunapee trout from 2 to slbs. in weight. 
Forty-two of these fish, evenly divided as to sex, were 
planted in Lake George, and the balance went to the stock 
ponds at the Caledonia hatching station and to the New 
York Aquarium, where th.&y subsequently died. During 
the journey from the New Hampshire State hatchery to 
the New York fish car, where the fish were crowded into 
one-tenth or less of the water they should have had, they 
proved themselves to be the most hardy of any fish of the 
salmon family that I have ever handled. Except for the 
driver of the wagon, I was alone with the fish, and I did 
not dare use the water in the streams that we crossed, as 
all were swollen and discolored from recent rains, and 
every fish appeared to have its head out of water seeking 
the oxygen the water did not afford, so that I had serious 
doubts of handling a single fish alive at the car, as all 
were weak from the exhaustion of artificial spaAvning 
only a day or two before. At the car the fish were taken 
from the four cans in Avhich they had made the mountain 
journey and placed in fifty cans with fresh water and 
ice to reduce it to the temperature of the hatchery breeding 
pens, and during the subsequent all-night journey all buttAVO 
of the smaller fish recovered and AA'ere planted in ap- 
parent good condition, but I never expect to see another 
lot of any species of trout that Avill live through what 
those fish did, in spite of changes in temperature, over- 
crowding, leaky steam valves, missing train connection 
and adverse conditions generally, and I doubt Jf so many 
would have survived except for a plucky crew of men Avho 
could go Avithout sleep or food, and did not mind Avater 
hot or cold. After the Sunapee trout were planted in 
Lake George, on a shoal in mid-lake, for they are lake 
fish and spawn on shoals in the lake, and do not enter 
streams, one was caught by a lake trout fisherman the fol- 
lowing spring, but recognized by the man, as he was the 
captain of the steam launch which took them to be 
planted, the fish was released uninjured. They have been 
seen on the shoal where planted at breeding times, and it 
is hoped that they will thrive and multiply. 
The fish caught in Clinton county may have been an 
unusually high-colored male fontinalis, as it was taken 
"late last summer," for a breeding male fontinalis is some- 
times as highly colored as a male Sunapee trout, and the 
latter presents the deep red of the illustration only in the 
autumn. If it was not a breeding male fontinalis, I do 
not know what it could have been, but it was not a 
Sunapee trout, for they do not enter streams. 
When the first report of the Fisheries, Game and Forest 
Commission was issued, a gentleman Avho has been an 
ardent trout fisherman all his life, told me that the male 
fontinalis shown in colors in the salmon, and reproduced 
in the second report, Avas of such vivid red on the belly 
as to be overdone, for no trout was ever so highly colored. 
I complimented him by saying he must ahvays have 
fished in the open season, and had never seen a breeding 
male in breeding finery. Later I dipped from one of the 
stock ponds at a State hatchery a lot of breeding male 
trout, many of them more highly colored than the trout in 
the illustration, and the same gentleman, when he looked 
at this, remarked that he had nothing more to say about 
the red of brook trout. 
As to the Lake Ontario fish, it Avas probably a lake 
trout and nothing else- In more than twenty years of 
lake trout fishing, fishing every year with fair success 
and taking in the aggregate a good many . trout, I have 
caught three trout which would ansAver fairly Avell to the 
description given in the quoted letter, and the three are 
all that I have ever seen, although I have heard of other 
similar fish. My fish Avere deep, short fish, Avith small 
pointed head like the fresh run sea salmon, and the flesh 
was of a richer salmon color than the ordinary run of lake 
trout from the same Avaters, but they lacked the mottlings 
of the average lake trout, or rather the mottlings appeared 
to be covered OA^er by a thick coating of silver. All the 
same, they were lake trout, but of finer flavor Avith thicker 
cream curds between the flesh flakes than their felloAvs of 
the same species. As a matter of fact, in dire necessity 
on one occasion, I passed one of the three fish off a? a 
salmon at a luncheon given by my mother. I was not 
afraid of the women, nor of some of the men, but I was 
afraid of tAvo of the men. One of the men afterward 
asked me Avhere I got that salmon, and I said I tele- 
graphed to Blackford's in a hurry to get a fresh fish. 
That Avas absolutely true, but I did not tell him that 
Blackford replied that he had no green salmon, and so 
I had rung in a lake trout, cold boiled and covered Avith 
Mayonnaise, for the fish was a ringer sure enough. 
Landlocked Salmon in Lake George. 
Several queries have come to me this year about the 
landlocked salmon Avhich have been planted in Lake 
George and Lake Champlain, and as to the probabilities of 
catching them. The first plant of these fish was made in 
the lake in 1894, consequently they are noAV five years 
old. About a dozen were caught last year, the largest 
weighing 6Ibs. 
This year I have not been able to go to the lake, but I 
have heard that eleven fish have been taken and that the 
largest Aveighed iilbs., although I cannot confirm the 
weight. Of six that I know to have been caught, the 
largest Aveighed 7^lbs., and the others 6, 6, SJ4, 5 and 
5lbs. rerpectively. Another is reported to have been 
caught weighing 81bs., but I cannot confirm the Aveight 
any more than in the case of the alleged iilb. fish. Every 
man that has caught a salmon knows that he has been 
fishing, and Warren Harris, an old man and old profes- 
sional fisherman, who caught the jY^Yb. fish, admits that 
he had a regular case of salmon fever, and his son says 
he Avas still shaking when he came ashore with the fish. 
The tactics of a hooked landlocked salmon puzzle the lake 
trout fishermen who have had no previous experience with 
his serene highness, the ouananiche, as he does more of 
his fighting out of the water than the black bass, the only 
leaping fish they are accustomed to. I cannot con- 
scientiously advise any of the people who have Avritten to 
me to come to Lake George solely for landlocked sal- 
mon fishing, as they are not yet taken in suflicient quan- 
tities to warrant an extended journey. Such of the fish 
as have been taken have been taken on the surface, chiefly 
by fishermen while trolling for lake trout, and the pro- 
portion of salmon taken to the men engaged in fishing is 
small, although more may have been taken than has come 
to my knowledge. That the water of the lake suits 
them, and that they find plenty of food, and are well dis- 
tributed in the lake is an assured fact, and that they have 
gone into the streams to spawn is also known, so I think 
in time the landlocked salmon fishing may be very good in 
Lake George. 
As to Lake Champlain, I haA'e had no reports this 
j'ear, but last year quite a number of salmon Avere caught 
in the lake, and I presume this year, Avhen the facts are 
known, it will develop that more were caught than last 
year. I do not know but I have mentioned in these col- 
umns, that last fall after the ice formed in the bays of 
Lake Champlain, I was at Port Llenry with a United 
States Fish Commission car planting fingerling landlocked 
salmon, and on the day of our visit a salmon of slbs. 
Avas caught through the ice by a perch fisherman. I have 
since learned that the fish was caught opposite and quite 
near to a stream where the fingerling fish have been 
planted annually since 1894, and I now believe it to have 
been a fish that had spawned, as the time Avas late De- 
cember. A. N. Chenf.y. 
From the Fishing "Waters. 
Fond du Lac, Wis,, May 19..— While bass and perch 
have been taking the hook in Lake Winnebago, and many 
fine strings have been brought in. 
ATetropolitan, Mich.. May 15.— Local anglers have 
taken many brook trout in the nearby Avaters. 
Iron River, Mich., May 16.— The fishermen have re- 
ported strings of from fifteen to forty trout from the Iron 
RiA'^er, four miles from here. 
Elmwood, Mich.— Our streams here for trout fishing 
are the Paint River, Bush River and Ontonagon River. 
Bush RiA^er is considered to be the best one," five miles 
east; Ontonagon River second, four miles west, and Paint 
River runs near by. 
League of Salt- Water Fishermen. 
New YorKj May 20. — Editor Forest and Stream: We 
hear many complaints made by the net fishermen in op- 
position to our efforts to restrain them and keep them out 
from nearby Avaters. The objection they urge is that we 
are depriving them of a living. Well then, what shall 
we say about the tackle and bait dealers, boat builders 
and those who hire boats to fishermen? These men must 
make a living too. 
We are not depriving anyone of anything, but just at 
present our only effort is to enforce the laws ; and if these 
men who complain of us were not in the Avrong they 
would not cry out. The shoe pinches, 
If we are successful in our efforts, and fishermen may 
know that fish are to be caught in the rivers atrd bays, the 
men who arc now netters we are sure would make a better 
living than they do noAv. As an example, consider Jamaica 
Bay and Long Island Sound and its bays. Avhere net fish- 
ing has been stopped. The people there are building more 
boats for the accommodation of the fishermen, just be- 
cause they see that there is a better fare for them. Those 
who now net fish in the Hudson I am sure Avould derive 
the same benefit as their brothers who formerly netted in 
the Long Island Avaters mentioned, if the law in the 
Hudson Avere enforced and similar conditions created. 
The Long Island netters at first cried that they Avould 
starve if the laAv Avas enforced; but now see the result. 
They are the very ones themseh^es to come into this league 
and help us. And Avhy? The reason is clear. Of course 
there will always be a few grumblers, but in spite of them 
the world moves on just the same. 
It is said by some of our critics that Ave do not know 
just Avhat we Avant. We do knoAV. We want them to 
confine themselves to their proper ground outside of 
Sandy Hook and give to the working class its rights. For 
it is the Avorking class as a rule which includes those who 
suffer by the inroads of the netters, and not the rich ; for 
the rich can go elscAvhere to places that are well pro- 
tected. But the salt-Avater fishermen of New York wish 
to enjoy the same privileges as the fresh- water fishermen 
do, and they may enjoy them too, if they insist upon their 
rights, and defend the waters from unlawful netting. 
The contention of the net fishermen that if netting near 
New York shall be prohibited by an enforcement of the 
present laws, fish Avill be scarce in the market, we know, 
and everyone knoAVS. is not sustained by the facts. The 
fish are very plentiful in the market, so much so that the 
market is often overstocked ; and frequently in order that 
prices may not be lowered, cases of fish (and of the very 
best varieties) received by the market men are not opened 
but are sent doAvn to Barren Island and are there de- 
stroyed. What do the fishermen get for them No con- 
mission; that means no money. This condition has been 
investigated thoroughly, and we know it to be as here 
stated. It may be recalled that on one occasion of when 
two carloads of fish had been sent from Galilee, N. J,, one 
carload was sold and the other Avas sent back to the 
shippers and dumped on the beach; a hole was dug in 
the sand and the fish Avere buried in it. 
We salt water fishermen in general are a generous and 
Avell-meaning class of citizens. We aim to do justice to 
all; but Ave arc determined to have justice done fo us. 
We propose to maintain our rights in this the greatest 
State in the land. We have set out to protect the waters 
from illicit netting, and this is precisely Avhat we shall ac- 
complish. We ask the support of all right-minded citi- 
zens, interested directly or indirectly in salt-water fishing- 
or not. The progress we have already made is an as- 
surance of our ultimate success. We are engaged in a 
righteous cause, and it will triumph. 
I shall from time to time announce in Forest and 
Stream the public meetings of the League, and your 
readers are invited to be present and join with us in our 
work. - T. BiEDiNGERj Pres. 
New England Fishing. 
Boston, May 20. — Fortunate is the fisherman who 
has a friend who owns a fine trout preserA^e, and still 
more fortunate is that man when the invitation comes 
for a fishing trip. Mr. George N. Talbot owns such a 
preserve at Windsor, Conn., and his friends know how 
to appreciate it. Messrs. John Fottler, Jr., A. N. Parlin" 
and C. H. Olmstead, all of Boston, Avere invited down 
there last week, and it was a royal fishing trip. In the 
'first place the trout fishing Avas all that heart cotild wish. 
Then the entertainment was such as a man of Mr. Tal- 
bot's means and generositj^ is able and glad to make. 
Some good successes are occasionally reported in Mas- 
sachusetts brooks not yet under control. Mr. C. C. 
Merrill, of Boston, mentions a fishing excursion recently 
taken. A friend invited him to fish a stream not over 
twelve miles from the Massachusetts statehouse— the lo- 
cation is not given, for fear that the rabble will want to 
fish there. They drove to the stream. The friend showed 
Mr. Merrill a hole that he considered a good one, but 
went up further himself. Mr. Merrill Isegan fishing. 
One, two, three, and up to half a dozen trout were taken, 
Finally three big ones came out, one after the other. 
Just then the man who "knew all about the stream" 
came back without a fish. To say that he was surprised 
at the catch Mr. Merrill had made does not overstate 
the case. Finally, he frankly confessed that he thought 
there might possibly be a trout or tAvo in that hole, but 
considered his own chances mttch better further up. 
Mr. W. S. Hinman has gone to Rangeley. Mr. Frank 
Magee, Avho has fished the Rangeley AA'aters for many 
seasons, having been trained to the sport by his father, 
has started for the Rangeleys, accompanied by Mrs. Ma- 
gee. Messrs. A. H. Proctor and A. F. Breed of Salem, 
have gone to Sebec Lake, Me., for salmon fishing. Then 
the3^ go to Moosehead to try the trout, and later they 
will Avind up the trip at the Rangeleys, Avhere they have 
had good success in former seasons. Another of the 
leading Boston fishing parties is off for Col. E. B. Has- 
kell's camps, Allerton Lodge, Mooselucmaguntic. In 
this party are an ex-Mayor and one or tAvo military 
colonels, all noted fishermen. Their names are li. T. 
Rockwell, E. B. Haskell, Henry A, Priest, Edwin U. 
Curtis, John A. Lowell, D. F. Appel, G. W. Russell and 
Henry N. Sawyer. Mr. Rockwell has fished the same 
waters for nearly thirty seasons, and the party always 
