Oct. 21, iSgg.J ^ 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
SS3 
Maine PaftfMgfes. 
\ Partridges are reported scarcer in some parts of 
Maine this year. Mr. M. Hardy writes frora Brewer: 
"In spite of what the papers say, partridges in this part 
of the State are extremely scarce. Up to Sept. 15 I was 
in the woods with my son on a canoe trip for fifteen davs. 
-AVe traveled 150 miles by canoe and half as far on foot. 
In all this time we saw a single partridge, and that was 
one flying across the lake. Neither did we see a single 
.sign of one, nor where any of the campers had picked 
imc. We met a good many campers, but no one had seen 
a single partridge. Near Bangor I have known of one 
man kiliing seven in a day, but the average is not one for 
a day's work. It has not been the market-hunter, nor 
the snarer, which has caused this, nor is there any snaring 
in this whole region, as very few have been killed for 
market, as it does not pay. 
Nofth Carolina Quail. 
WiNusoRj N, C, Oct. 12. — Quail are plentiful this sea- 
son, owing, no doubt, to the dry weather in hatching time. 
A great many of them are small, however, for the sea- 
son, and will not be large enough to afford good sport for 
some time. I should say about Nov. 15. 
A good many turkeys, bvtt deer are very scarce. 
A. S. R. 
DiLLSBORO, N, C, Oct. 12.— There never were so many 
birds as this season has shown in this section. The bird 
law ends Oct. 15 and goes into effect March 15. Parties 
desiring to hunt would have to bring their own dogs. 
Will be pleased to furnish information to parties wishing 
It. R. H. Tarret & Sons. 
mid ^itf^r ^mtjing. 
A Plea for the Single Hook. 
It may be hard in a way, but nevertheless it is true 
that as we leave boyhood's days behind us, with the 
changing scenes of life, and the result.s of added ex- 
perience, the simple foods once appealing so strongly 
lose their power of pleasing. The liking for the sweets 
seems to fade away, and after the years have gone we 
learn to enjoy the very things that in youth we could 
not have appreciated. If rheumatism or gout gives us 
no twinges, a canvasback cooked to the turn, a glass 
oi Burgundy rightly warmed, a Caniambert just soft 
enough, and an appropriate salad most certainly have 
their charm beyond the well-done beefsteak, potaties and 
pie that satisfy the schoolboy. Yet perhaps there exists 
a marked difference in the appetitie of the two ages. 
Then it was quantity; now it is quality. In a great 
measure, then, Avill this apply to our fishing experiences. 
I doubt much if the thrill of keenest pleasure is to-day 
more marked even in the handling of delicate rod, reed 
and tackle than came when, with the pole cut and fash- 
ioned by the jack-knife, heavy, stiff, hard to wield; the 
line a cheap affair; the hooks durable, but not dainty; 
no reel at all; a mass of squirming worms that served 
as bait, we captured a very hungry hsh and success was 
uurs in the landing high on the bank, behind us. 
To-day, in order to awaken this same thrilling, we must 
make the fight and capture as hard as possible. Our 
" skill is put against the strength, activity and sharp tricks 
of the game fish. So it appears to me— and I hope and 
• believe to many of my fellow anglers — that the pleasure ts 
keenest when we try not for numbers captured in any 
manner possible, but for the delicacy of capttire, that 
alone can come when the chances are taken with light 
gear. Information obtained from several dealers in 
tackle shows that this tendency is already a marked one. 
True, indeed, the shops are filled with a host of cunning 
devices— imitations of live bails, with sets of hooks 
(generally three in number); bunches of hooks, and a 
sharpened, pin-Uke blade to pierce the living mmnow 
and hold it securely; spoons, with a cluster of hooks, 
each covered beautifully with brilliant feathers, but all 
appearing somewhat like an ornament of tiny sword 
points. Each and every one of these when taken makes 
it an almost impossible thing for the fish to escape, or 
even holding liim so securely in so many places that 
when the net lifts him frora the water then nideed it 
- becomes a task to disentangle from meshes the points of 
'the hooks; and delay becomes a feature. On the other 
hand, with the simple single hook, Ave gain m time, and 
on a good ground obtain more fish. But above all this, 
which some may call inconvenience alone, comes the 
intense satisfaction of being better fishermen, and of a 
contest in which much finer skill is required. 
Personally, I even like to use the single gut hook, 
as with it the excitement of the moment is enhanced. 
The single hook, the small fly, the light rod and reel 
and line, certainly give fair fighting. 
Men who are honest sportsmen care alone for the 
excitement. Thev never kill more fish than they can 
make use of. The largest number of fish, after being 
taken, are throAvn back. Is it not a shame and a sin 
to see a large catch of beautiful fish caught by any 
method and landed hastily, a simple trial of obtaining 
numbers, so many that they cannot be used, carelessly 
thrown awav to lie and rot, doing tremendous harm to 
the fishing at that place and reflecting no credit on the 
lisherman? Even the guides think ill of this sort of pro- 
cedure. Often have I had my -uide strike the net 
against the side of the boat or make a dart at a good 
fighting fish in order to stir him up a bit into action; and 
I'have had him release the fish as soon as he had been 
landed. 
The years to come that may be granted to me in which 
I may be able to do my share of fishing, the more 
money I hope to expend, will be spent in obtaining the 
best, simplest and lightest tackle for all fishing, as sharper 
and'keener are the joys of fair battling. 
When in the deep woods, where fish as food is a neces- 
sary thing, it is wise and best to have different and plenty 
of applianc«s in case.fish do not bite well. 
The lad counts his hour as a happy one when the large 
string taJcen shows his playmates that he has clone be^t§r 
work than they; but the tired-out man of the world ap- 
preciates the skill that enables him to outgeneral the 
fish in the scientific handling of dainty tackle. To him 
the woods mean rest; the air the new life; the beauty of 
the shading tints of green, the maiesty of the golden sun- 
sets, the clear skies, the changing clouds, the quick- 
running waters of the mountain stream, all— all give an 
ever-changing picture that brings sweet peace and com- 
fort; while in the activity of exertion comes physical 
tiring that in sweeter sleep gives back a building up of 
the vital forces and enables him again to dcA'Ote himself 
with renewed zeal to his life's work. As the years pass 
that turn to gray the hairs or make an easier task of 
counting the few that may be left, they bring also the 
knowledge that truth and right are the qualities that ap- 
peal the more strongly. So let us in our woodland life 
ring true and be the true fisher, giving a better chance of 
escape to the gamy life, battling for liberty. To be the 
man who is right, who never wantonly kills, one who 
despises the tricks and the un,sportsmanlike resources of 
the pot-fisher, the man who reaps his reward in the 
simple knowledge that he has given fair play, and that 
when victory is his, he has deserved it honestly. 
Let each and every one of us, true lovers of nature 
and of sport, make capture harder for us and a chance 
for liberty greater than for the fish. 
V. M. Johnson. 
St. Andrew's Tarpon and Sharks. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
For a number of years past I, with a party, have made 
annual trips to St. Andrew's Bay, Fla., to fish for tarpon, 
and while our party has not taken the fish in such num- 
bers as reported from some other points along the Gulf, 
the sport lias been satisfying, and in none of our trips 
have we returned without tal<ing more or less of the 
silver king. 
This year we went about the middle of July and imt 
with about our average success. Rev. J. S. Foster, one of 
the party, had an experience new to all of ns. He had 
hooked a tarpon, about 6ft. long, and after playing the 
fish to the point of exhaustion had bi-ought it to within 
20ft. of his boat, when a shark 12 or 14ft. long appeated 
upon the scene and proceeded to cut the tarpon in two 
near the dorsal fin, and not satisfied with this perfrorm- 
ance, took a large mouthful out of the remaining portion, 
thus leaving Mr. Foster to land only the head and a badly 
mutilated portion of his catch. 
This was the first occurrence of the kirid happening to 
any of our party in all the years fished here. The sharks 
seemed to be more numerous and larger this year than 
I have ever observed them before. 
The youngest member of the party, Frank Berry, aged 
thirteen, .succeeded in hooking a handsome .specimen of 
the tarpon and after a struggle of near an hour, and al- 
though the little fellow was frequently off his seat and on 
his knees in the bottom of the boat, he pluckily stuck to 
his task and succeeded in bringing his fish to gaff. His 
father and some others of the party hovered near by, but 
ilid not interfere, as every one Avas anxious that Frank 
sjiould have the undivided honor of the achievement. The 
tish measured nearly 6ft. 
The smaller fish, such as Spanish mackerel, bluefisli, 
channel bass, sea trout and cavalli, are abundant in the 
bay and may be taken in great numbers by those who do 
not care to tackle the larger game. 
After a couple of Aveeks of uninterrupted and healthful 
sport the party returned with complexions a little muti- 
lated by the sun and water, but full of pleasant memories 
and a determination to try it again next summer. 
After a month at home I concltided to try it agaui, and 
returned about Sept. i., in company with Sidney Lucas, 
of Nashville. We fished one day in North Bay, had sev- 
eral tarpon strikes which resulted in loss of hooks and 
broken tackle, so Ave Avent to our usual place, Red Fish 
Point, opposite the town of St. Andrews. 
Here we found the tarpon in great numbers and con- 
tinually rising and showing their dorsal fins and silver 
sides, but they did not seem eager to take our live mul- 
lets, and the first day only gave us two or three strikes 
each. The strikes we had did not come Avith the dash 
that hunger would giA^e, but rather a listless, indifferent 
sort of nibbling. On the second day I succeeded in 
hooking a large one, and found it to be one of the most 
active and vigorouos that had ever fallen to my rod. 
After playing him for an hour and having him thor- 
uughly exhausted, the boatman started for the shore, 
some half mile away, where I wanted to land the iish 
witliout injury for the purpose of mounting. Everything 
was .going nicely, the fish towing along easily, the water 
becoming shallow as we approached the beach, Avhen of 
a .sudden the fish made a turn and dash for the deep 
water, taking out in spite of my efforts 70 or 8oyds. of 
line, and making two leaps in the air equal to those made 
when first hooked. 
I told the boatman the fish had his second wind and we 
would have to go over the fight again; then we saAV a 
large shark attempting to get hold of the tarpon. Their 
heads Avere not far apart, and they whirled OA^er once or 
twice, AA'hen the shark dropped back toward the tail of the 
tarpon and succeeded in taking out a piece from the 
belly that Avould have weighed 12 or islbs. 
Meantime the boatman was making every effort to 
reach the scene, but got there only in time to drive off 
llu- shark. We took the mutilated fish alioard the bout, 
and after reaching the shore I opened the fish to ascer- 
tain upon Avhat the tarpon were feeding, and found the 
stontach well packed with a small fish, the local name of 
which is '"fat-back," and which I learned are used in 
making sardines at some points on the Gulf coast, 
On careful observation I found that there were vast 
schools of these little fish where the tarpon were show- 
ing themselves, and that the porpoises, sharks, tarpon, 
mackerel, cavalli and indeed all the predaceous fish were 
apparently rounding them up and devouring them by 
wholesale. My efforts to take another tarpon only re- 
sulted in hooking seven sharks in succession, of an aver- 
age weight of about loolbs. each, which u.sed me up so 
thoroughly that I abandoned the sport and went a.shore. 
One of the sharks furni.shed me a degree of malicious 
satisfaction, as he came up so easily and was managed 
with so little effort. I took it to be a small one, but found 
it to be the largest: one of the lot anij hooked in the 
stomach, with that organ partly pulled through the 
mouth, turning him inside out. 
The shark is very swift and strong and makes a con- 
tinuous pull, going to the bottom when possible, making 
it hard work to handle them. 
One day after our noonday Itmch on the beach, and as 
we were about entering our boats, my boatman called 
my attention to a rattlesnake about 6oyds. out in the bay, 
but my inexperienced vision failed to locate the reptile. 
However, on reaching the point in the boat we found a 
rattlesnake about 2ft. long, head straight up a couple of 
inches high and the rattles erect. The snake appeared 
to me to be somewhat distended with air along the length 
of the body and was swimming easily on top of the water. 
A blow from an oar soon disposed of it. I learned from 
my sailor that they often cross the bay from one side to 
the other, and this was verified by Capt. Ware, an old 
sailor and resident of St. Andrews. This was all new and 
curious to me, and may be so to some of your readers. 
D. B. Cliffe. 
Franklin, Tenn., Oct. 18. 
ANGLING NOTES. 
Striped Bass at West Island. 
Last year I happened to meet Mr. John Manning, oi 
Troy and Saratoga, on the train as he was returning home 
from the West Island Club, Buzzard's Bay, and he 
showed me a photograph of the record striped bass for the 
season at his club, which he had the good foi'tune to 
land. This year I again met him on his way to the 
club early in July, but he thought he Avas going rather 
too early for big fish. I did not happen to see him after 
his return itntil Oct. 6, when, on my Avay to New York, 
1 found him on the train, the place where we usually ex- 
change fishing gossip, and he told me that the fishing 
at West Island was unusually early, and that the fish 
struck in without the previous notice that they generalb^ 
give by appearing at Gloucester, Newport or elsewhere 
before they came to the island. He equaled his catch of 
last year by catching a striped bass of 4olbs., and eight 
in one day that weighed loglbs., and eight another day 
that weighed toolbs.; but his largest fish Avas not the 
record fish, as two bass Aveighing 55 and S61bs., re- 
spectively, were caught at the club in one day. He sayS 
that the best bass fishing at the club is usually in 
August, but this year they were surprised by the appear- 
ance of the fish — and big ones — in July, apparently 
coming in from the sea. 
Striped Bass in the Mohawk. 
It may not be generally known that salt-Avater stfiped 
bass are caught in the MohaAvk RiA'er, but such is — or 
Avas— the case a few years ago. I confess that Avhen Judge 
Yates, of Schenectady, told me of catching striped bass 
in the river near the city where he lives I Avas puzzled for 
a tnoment, for certainly no fish, not even flying fish, can 
surmount the falls at Cohoes, and a salt-water fish must 
pass over or around the falls to make their presence 
knoAvn in the Mohawk at Schenectady. Small striped 
bass have long been known in the Hudson, and they 
ti.acli the Mohawk through the locks of the Erie Canal. 
When talking to Mr. Manning of his fishing at West 
Island, I Avas reminded of the striped bass in the Mo 
hawk, and noAV ask a question that it has never occurred 
to me to ask before: Has any one seen any evidence 
that the striped bass in the MohaAvk dcA^elop ova or 
bpawn in the fresh water? While it is a simple matter 
for the small bass to Avork their way up through the locks, 
it is a question if they return to the sea by the same 
route. To be sure, the falls route is generally open (it 
was not the past summer), and they may go back that 
way; but the question is: Have any been caught above 
the falls with developed eggs? 
A Doe on a Gaff Hook, 
Charles Clements, of Lake George, was out in his boat 
fishing on Saturday, Oct. 7 (at least he was in Dunham's 
Bay on his way to the open lake for the purpose of fish- 
ing), when he saw a deer swimming across the bay, and 
rowing after it he caught the animal in the neck with a 
gaff hook and subsequently killed it. The details of the 
killing I do not know, and do not wish to know. I saw 
the deer this morning (a yearling doe), and I saw where 
the gaff hook had entered the neck, and I could imagine 
the rest of the tragedy, if I could persuade my imagina- 
tive work in that direction, but I Avill not. It is all 
right, I suppose, to gaff a swimming doe and kill it if a 
man likes that sort of thing, for the law does not forbid 
the use of gaff hooks for holding deer to be killed, and 
this particular unfortunate was swimming across Dun- 
ham's Bay in the open season for killing deer. I have 
shot deer ahead of dogs (but never swimming in the 
Avater), and have shot them by jack light, and now, as 
I look back upon the jack light episode, I think I must 
have been ripe for any crime; but to-day, with more 
gray hairs in my head than any other color, I doubt if 
I Avould kill a deer if it would stand stUl AA'ithin shooting 
distance and I had a loaded rifle in my hand: so I 
question if I am competent to say anything about the 
ethics of deer shooting or deer killipg; not that I object 
to deer shooting as a sport, though' I have now no de- 
sire to engage in it myself, but it does seem to me rather 
horrible to gaff a young doe swimming in the water and 
then butcher it. There is no question but Avhat I am 
clearly in the Avrong in having any such feelings in this 
matter of a swimming doe and a gaff hook, for I heard 
tw^o men say this morning that Clements Avas a luckj'- 
man. The elements of my composition appear to be 
such that if I had heard that the deer, after being gaffed 
in the neck, had kicked Clements out of the boat and 
escaped herself I think I would not have befen curious 
enough to inquire Avhether Clements got ashore or qot, 
I Avas trout fishing in Canada in September, and one 
morning a bull caribou dum-ped himself into the lake 
where I was fishing, as they usually dump themselves into 
the water when they take a swim, and proceeded to cross. 
We paddled after it to get" a nearer vicAv, and my guide 
i-aid if we had an axe we could kill it. I never t<5ld him 
so, but if Ave had had a dpzen axes in the canoe avc would 
not have killed the caribou, although Ave would have 
been very glad of the meat, as we^ were out of pork and 
bacon. Now, to show the eternal fitness of things, some • 
