Aug. 19, i8gg.,] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
having been placed in full possession of the facts de- 
clared that he would not interfere. On the following 
day the Governor ordered the release of the defendant. 
I do not see that I had anything whatever to do with 
the case. 
Then a letter of mine to Senator Foster regarding the shooting 
of rabbits by farmers in certain cases where rabbits were destruc- 
tive to fruit trees caused adverse comment. 
I refused to sign certain proposed fish and game laws. 
I was accused of being hostile to fish and game laws. 
I trust I rnay be pardoned for being led to believe that 
a Governor is hostile to fish and game laws who pdrdons 
violators of the law, who writes letters that he will par- 
don other violators, who refuses to approve fish and 
game bills which provide some measure of protection 
to fish just introduced and who signs bills which extend 
the open season for netting fish and killing birds. I 
also considered the fact that last year no appropriation 
was made for stocking purposes as rather significant, 
when I remember the fact that this is the first year 
since New Jersey had a fish commission that no appro- 
priation was made for keeping up the supply of fish. 
However, I may be mistaken in regard to the real attitude 
of tbe Governor on these matters. 
■ Tlic straw that broke the camel's back was the slurring comments 
he made regarding the members of the State Tax Board, whose 
duties required them to act in his own bailiwick up in Passaic 
county. It seemed to me that it ill became a State oflicer to 
make personal comments about members of a State board, some 
of whom at least Mr. Shriner could not hold a candle to. I wrote 
to Mr. Frothingham, of the Fish and Game Commission, that Mr. 
Shriner must be relieved from duty. 
I fail to see exactly what connection there is between 
protecting fish and game and making comments on the 
doin.gs of a State board. My comments were made 
on general principles and were exactly in line with a 
plank in the platform of the last Republican county 
convention of Passaic county, which strongly advocated 
the abolition of the State Board of Taxation; consequently 
my comments could not be construed as having been 
actuated by partisan motives. -If it is contrary to public 
policy for one State officer to criticise another, then 
tlie resignations of Comptroller Hancock and Custodian 
Boiincll are in order, for both these officers had no hesi- 
tation in criticising the Board of Fish and Game Com- 
missioners. 
This completes the quoted interview with Gov. 
Voorhees, as given to the newspapers. I notice, however, 
that he has stated in other newspapers that he objected 
to the present administration of the affairs of the Fish 
and Game Commission because too much attention was 
paid to the interestes of sportsmen, he preferring that 
the State -money should be spent in the protection and 
propagation of shad and sturgeon. The Legislature 
every year appropriates money for the Fish and Game 
Commission, but specifies to what uses this money is to 
be put. The Commission is required by law to appoint 
twenty-five wardens, and sums are appropriated just 
enough / to cover the salaries and expenses. Then the 
Commissioners have an allowance of $800 annually for 
their individual expenses. In addition to this, the Com- 
mission has a revenue from the receipt of menhanden 
licenses and fines; but this money is used in the payment 
of litigation, costs of justices and constables where con- 
victed offenders are either acquitted or sent to jail, and 
for other necessary expenses for which the Legislature 
has made no provision in the appropriation bill, the bal- 
ance being used for stocking purposes. In addition to 
these sums of money, the Legislature has annually up to last 
year appropriated $5,00D for stocking purposes. In no 
year has the Commission ever had enough money to 
either acquire or maintain a hatcher}'-. The reports of the 
Fish Commissions of New York, Pennsylvania and other 
States show that the cost of maintaining a hatchery aver- 
ages over $S,ooo a year. Fortunately the State of Penn- 
sylvania and the United States Fish Commissioner have 
taken good care of the Delaware River, and the New 
Jersey Commission has always allowed the wardens along 
the Delaware double the usual quota for expenses, and 
during the shad season wardens from others parts of 
the State have been sent to the assistance of the Delaware 
River wardens. 
As to the artificial hatching of sturgeon, if Gov. 
Voorhees has devised some means by which this can be 
done, especially without an appropriation, he will con- 
fer a great favor on mankind generally by giving such 
information to the Fish Commissioner in Washington. 
The last report of the Pennsylvania Commission saj^s: 
"The great expense involved in the propagation of the 
sturgeon renders it out of the question for any one State 
to undertake it, and even for the United Stated Fish 
Commission." 
The claim has also been made that the Commission 
has stocked private waters. I have had exclusive 
charge of that work, and I know just what has been 
done. The act under which the appropriation has an- 
nu.ally been made is Chapter 42 of the laws of 1892, and 
the appropriation act of 1896 and of other years dis- 
tinctly provides that the money shall be expended under 
the provisions of the 1892 act. This act provides in 
plain language that the Fish and Game Commission 
shall in each and every year furnish to every incorpo- 
rated association for the protection of fish and game 
not less than i per cent, and not more than 10 per 
cent, of the total fish product of the year. Such associ- 
ations generally control private waters, and there are so 
many of them in New Jersey that all the fish received 
by the Commission might with legislative warrant have 
been place_d in private waters. But the Commission has 
always objected to stocking private preserves, and for 
the purpose of keeping within the law of 1892 and still 
subserving the best interests of the public, the Commis- 
sion has prepared blanks for applications for fish and 
one of the requisites for the granting of these applica- 
tions is that the public shall be permitted to fish in the 
waters to be stocked. These- appHcations must first be 
signed by the applicant: then the nearest warden inves- 
tigates the answers to the various questions, and finally 
the signature of the Senator representing the county 
where the water is located is necessary before further 
action is taken. If private individuals' have succeeded 
in evading all these precautions then the Commission 
has been imposed upon, but I feel confident that this has 
been done in exceedingly few instances. In further 
answers to this claim I will say that every application for 
fish, excepting such as referred to private waters or to 
waters where it was apparent the fish could not possibly 
live, and a few applications I still have on hand, has 
been filled; the number of fish placed depended altogether 
upon the size of the water, and the apparent probability 
that the fish would thrive. The same policy has been 
pursued in the distribution of game. As soon as all the 
applications were in the number of birds to be distributed 
was divided by the number of applicationsj and on. this 
basis was the distribution made. 
I have now answered all the charges- and insinuation& 
made, with the exception of one, and this is of a general 
character and to the effect that the laws have been too 
stringently enforced. As to the desire of the Commis- 
sion on this subject, I will quote the following from the 
book of general instructions furnished to all the wardens 
and others interested in the enforcement of the fish and 
game laws: 
The laws are not to be used for the piu'pose of oppressing any 
person. Where habitual violations of the law have occurred 
through ignorance of the ol'fciulers, common justice dictates tliat 
these persons should he warned nf the fact that they are violating 
the law before the rigors of prnsecution are resorted to. When- 
ever leniency is indicated by the circum.stances it should be exer- 
cised, and that in many cases where the letter of the law has been 
plainly violated. 
I have always endeavored to carry out these principles, 
and in nine cases out of ten in prosecutions I myself con- 
ducted I have turned over my lawful portion of the fine 
to the convicted; and I know that this has also been done 
frequently by the wardens in my charge. The records 
of the Commission show numerous cases in which sen- 
tences were suspended on payinent of costs, and this was 
done in every case where an application to that effect 
was based on the poverty or ignorance of the offenders. 
I can say without the slightest fear of successful contra- 
diction that no laws have ever been enforced with more 
regard for cleniencj^ than have been the fish and game 
laws during the past four years. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
Fly-Fishing on the Mississippi River. 
Chicago, 111., Aug. 5- — I have recently made tnention 
several times about the sport of fly-fishing for bass on the 
Mississippi River near La Crosse, Wis., and opportunity 
offering early this week, I was able to put the matter to 
proof very fidly, I am ready to sa}-^ that this branch of 
our Western angling has not been over-estimated, and 
will go further and state emphatically that I never had 
so good sport in angling for bass in any part of the 
country whatever. I have caught bass in the several 
forms of bait fishing and with the fly in almost every 
State of our Western country where the bass is native. 
I have taken them in the best running streams of the 
Middle West and in the cold lakes of the North, both, the 
big-mouth and the small-mouth bass, and I confess I 
thought I had about run the gamut in the area of the bass. 
I am willing to admit now that I never Icnew before 
how gamy a fish the black bass can be. The best bass of 
the cold Northern lakes that I have ever taken are in 
fighting quality to be compared with these Mississippi 
River small-mouths about in the ratio of one to three. 
I took bass on my little trip which fought me harder than 
many a I2lb. pike I have taken in our pine woods lakes. 
I killed one bass which weighed less than 3lbs., which for 
a long time I felt quite sure was a large pickerel, and I 
told my boatman that I thought the fish would weigh 
between 12 and islbs. For absolute savage wildness, for 
power, activity and staying quality, I never knew such 
fish as these. My little experience has nearly spoiled 
me for the tamer forms of bass fishing in this country. 
Indeed it might well spoil one also for trout fishing. Of 
course no sort of trolling is in the same class with it. 
Unless it be salmon fishing, I question if there is any 
angling sport on this continent which can beat this small- 
mouth fishing on the upper waters of the Mississippi. Of 
course the strong current of the great river makes the 
fight the harder, but the water is also so cold and deep 
that the bass are big and lusty and full of ginger to an ex- 
tent hitherto undreamed, at least in my philosophy. 
If you go to La Crosse for bass fishing, you will find 
there a distinct cult of the fly. Bait fishing is at a dis- 
count, and you will see but few minnow pails or frog 
bags. The fly is the popular form of lure, and indeed in 
July and August it is perhaps as killing a lure as any that 
could be used. Your boatman might perhaps allow you 
to take along a bait rod, but you would probably sink 
rather low in his estimation if you insisted on using this. 
You will discover very early that you are in a country 
where the fly-rod is the practical and approved weapon 
for killing bass, and where the bass will take the fly. 
Anyone who has the least knowledge of the strength of 
this fish can imagine the quality of such sport under the 
circumstances. At least he can imagine it as it would 
be anywhere else but here. In order to get any idea oi 
the actual thing as it is found at La Crosse, you will need 
to go there and learn for yourself. 
So far as I can discover, the art of fly-fishing for these 
Mississippi River bass was introduced about sixteen years 
ago by one John Reed, who lived at La Crosse, and who 
died some years ago. Mr. Reed is described as a very 
decent sort of fellow, and very much of a sportsman. He 
conceived the notion that these bass could be taken on the 
fly. He began with the customary light tackle of the 
East, small flies and bright colored, with light gut. In 
time he began to strengthen and coarsen his tackle and to 
use very large and dark-colored flies. One of these 
flics, the Reed, tied with dark wing and peacock hurl 
body, is to-day a popular one in that neighborhood. Mr. 
Eeed used to fish the Mississippi all the way from Lake 
Pepin to points far below La Crosse. He often em- 
ployed a certain boatman by the name of Asher Spicer, 
who is now a man fifty-five years of age, and who is per- 
haps the best-posted and most popular guide in the city of 
La Crosse. It was Spicer, or "Ash." as he is commonly 
known, who took me out on the river. 
From time to time others took up Mr. Reed's example 
and began to use the fly along the big river. Mr. Tom 
Watson, of Chicago, says that he has been fishing there 
for fifteen years and has not been anxious to give the 
thing away. Mr. McCarthy and Mr. McFarland, both of 
this city, have been going out there for some years. Mr. 
J. J. Hogan, of La Crosse, Fish Commissioner of the 
State of Wisconsin, has been fly-fishing alo""- the-^e wat<;rs 
for very many years. Now and then T have heard of 
others here and there, and always with such reports that 
I was very anxious to look into the matter myself as a 
new and distinct sort of Western sport. 
I .speak of La Crosse as being the point for this fishing 
on the Mississippi River, and really it is the proper point 
toward which to head. The fishing itself is some miles 
below that city. It is all boat fishing, and the distances 
to be covered are necessarily very great. The customary 
way is to take a boat and boatman from La CrosKc and 
go up by rail to some such point as Trempeieaii, Foun- 
tain City or Alma, all points on the C, B. & Q. Railroad, 
which runs along within a biscuit toss of ihc edge of the 
river at the foot of the great sharp-faced bhilTs which 
make the distinctive feature of the scenery in that region. 
Without a good guide one might not have so much suc- 
cess, for sometimes there are stretches of river of four 
or five miles where a good boatman will not slop at 
all, knowing that those reaches offer no fishing worth 
stopping for. The bass lie along the sharp-faced banks of 
the river at this season of the year, and I was told that 
it was not much worth while to hunt for them in any 
other locality. Moreover, these banks must be mud or 
clay banks, running down sharp into deep water, aiid 
preferably with a good current along the face. A sandy 
bank will show no fish, and a good guide will not stop at 
such a place. Spicer explained the matter very perfectly 
to me when he said that the bass came into these cut 
banks to hunt crawfish. Of course there would be no 
crawfish along the sand banks. There were some sharp 
outcrops of bog iron or clay with iron stain, and these 
usually would show some bass, for some reason or other. 
Once in a while a bass can be picked up on the riprap 
of the many Government wing-dams which are thrown 
out from shore in the work of keeping open the channel. 
The riprap fishing is better later in the fall. 
Spicer and I put our boat on the train at La Crosse 
early in the morning and went up .stream about fifty-five 
miles, starting in above Minneiska and below Alma. We 
made the run thence down to La Crosse in two days, 
which is one day less than we should have given to it. 
One ought to fish about twelve or fifteen miles a day 
comfortably, and he will find a town every four or 
five miles of the river on the one bank or the other, so 
that he can stop at night about where he pleases, Wc 
made our first stop at Fountain City, a quaint little old 
place on the "Q" road, nestled at the foot of one of the 
big bluffs, and here wc found a very decent little hotel 
and passed a comfortable night. On the following day we 
went down the old "Betsey Channel" and through a cut- 
off into the Trempcleau River. We left Trempeleau town 
at about 2 o'clock, I should think, and got into La Crosse 
at about 8 o'clock that night. 
Before starting on this trip I had a talk with Fish Com- 
missioner Hogan, at La Crosse, where I also saw Mr. 
Watson, of Chicago, and General Bryant, President of the 
Wisconsin Fish Commission. I talked also with Mr, 
Frank Walker, who had recently put in half a day at 
Alma. The latter told me that he had caught thirty bass 
in his half-day's fishing. Mr. Watson on his last day 
caught twenty-six bass, and other catches of the Yik^ 
seemed to be not uncommon. The largest catch ever 
made on this river was 105 bass in a day with one fly-rod, 
and that happened seven years ago, Spicer rowing the man 
who did this work. 
All the gentlemen above mentioned smiled when they 
saw the outfit I had brought along. Thev told me that 
it was no use using double leaders, as 'they were not 
strong enough, and they told me that my largest bass flies 
would be of no use whatever. I had them up to 3 and 
3- 0 hooks, but they said these would be of no use in the 
world. _ "I will tell you what I will do," said Mr. Hogan. 
"I don't like to see you have your trip for nothing, and I 
will help you out." He gave me a leader of twisted sal- 
mon gut, strong enough to hold a horse, and some flics 
the like of which I had never seen. These flies, of the 
Raven, Reed and Onondago patterns, were all tied on 
4- 0 hand-forged O'Shaughnessy hooks big enough to hang 
up a quarter of beef on. (The Onondago is the best 
and most popular fly now— a dark wing with gray tip, 
white body, gold ribbed.) In general appearance and 
weight one of these flies resembled a flatiron as near as 
anything I can think of, and it casts about as well. I 
was skeptical of this tackle, and these gentlemen were 
skeptical of mine, but I thought it was better to take their 
advice and fish as they said. There is no question that 
this is the most killing sort of tackle, and I used it 
altogether, although I am disposed to think that one could 
use an ordinary bass leader and flv and kill fish on this 
river. With a 4 or Soz. rod it might take him half an 
' hour to land one of the biggest bass, but it would offer 
better sport than this powerful gear which gives a fish 
so little show to break away. I remarked sometliing to 
this effect to these gentlemen, but they said that they had 
been all through that stage of the game themselves. My 
boatman was all the time telling me that I took too much 
time in killing my fish, though I think I played none over 
five minutes or so. I think the boatmen do not Kke to 
row up stream in the swift water, and thev like to try 
for more than one fish along a bank, since they may not 
strike another bank for a mile or more. 
I had along with me three rods, a 40Z., with which I 
am sure I could in time kill the biggest of these bass ■ a 
heavy fly-rod of loft. length, and a rod which I think 
was of about 70Z. weight, a spliced rod, hand-made. 
I found that the method of fishing is to row along 
shore not more than 15 or 20ft. from the bank. The cast- 
ing IS done directly in .shore, and of course it is not really 
casting at all, but simply slapping in the flv on a short 
line, though it needs some skill to keep out' of the roots 
which lie on the bank, and yet to cast close enough in 
Spicer told me that the fly ought to be delivered right 
against the bank, as the bass lie very close in and just 
below the surface. He said the bass were not very shy, 
and this seemed to be the case, for time and again I saw 
them rise and take the fly almost under my nose, with the 
boat scarcely a dozen feet away from them. If one would 
use tackle like this and casting like this in the ordinary 
bass fishing of the Western country, he would not catch 
a bass in a hundred years, but every locality determines 
its own methods, and I found the' abo\'e the practical 
method here. It ought not to work, but it did, and I was 
contented to follow the advice given to me by those who 
had lived and learned there before me, 
