Sept. i, 1900.] 
FOREST AND STREAM 
167 
The Great Back Bay of Lake 
Champlain^ 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
In more than one of my very pleasant cliats in the 
past, I have been told by you that if any angler discovers, 
or thinks that he has discovered, anything new in regard 
to black bass, it is his duty to give it to the world, and 
that the only way in which he can do so is through the 
columns of Forest and Stream. 
•I have just returned from a two weeks' trip to the 
Great Back Bay of Lake Champlain, which is near the 
northern end of the lake, and where most of the black 
bass in the lake are to be found. The most noted resort 
for anglers who visit these fishing grounds is known to 
the Post Office Department as the Lake View House, but 
to the angler it is known as Samson's. Why the United 
States Government should take delight in misleading 
anglers and giving most absurd names to fishing resorts 
is past finding out. 
For many years, running through the forties, fifties and 
sixties, the most magnificent and best known stream in 
this State was the Beaverkill, lying largely in Ulster 
county, and there are very few veteran trout anglers in 
this State who have not spent many days and weeks at 
the delightful retreat known as Murdock's, and the post 
office on this stream should have been known by that 
name, but the post office through which alone Mr. James 
Murdock could be reached has always, until recently, 
been known by the ridiculous name of Shin Creek. Why 
this name should be imposed upon the post office can be 
easily imderstood. About two miles below Murdock's 
there is a little tortuous stream emptying into the Beaver- 
kill, which comes down from the mountain side, full of 
small trout and running through ravines in many places 
between high and ragged rocks and full of ugly stones, 
and no angler ever followed the body of that stream 
with unprotected shins without feeling that the name 
of the post office was eminently appropriate, and we must 
look elsewhere than to the United States Post Office 
Department for sentiment. 
In the fifties many anglers discovered that the upper 
part of the Rondout Stream was a fair rival to the 
Beaverkill, both in the beauty of its surroundings and 
the wealth of its trout, and an angler impressed with his 
discovery exclaimed "Eureka !" and somebody caught the 
expression and in the early sixties a post office was estab- 
lished about two miles below the delightful resort known 
as Smith's at Sundown on the Rondout with the digni- 
fied name of Eureka, and many an angler has failed to 
reach either of these streams, because he did not know 
the post office address of either James Murdock or David 
B. Smith. 
It is quite in line with the above suggestions that I 
had a peculiar experience in trying to reach the fishing 
resort generally known as Samson's, and situated on the 
east shore of the Great Back Bay, about six miles from 
St Albans. Like many other anglers, I have known of 
the fine fishing at this place for many years, but have 
always known of the resort as Samson's, and when I 
stepped from the cars about 5 o'clock one morning in the 
last week of July and was met by a person who asked if 
I was the angler who was to go to the Lake View House, I 
very promptly answered ''No," with the result that I had 
the privilege, after getting my breakfast at the hotel, of 
hiring a team to take me to the Lake View House. 
After arriving there I found that the person who was 
sent for me was impressed with the dignity of his posi- 
tion as driver for the Lake View House, but very 
promptly condoned the n.atter on his promise that here- 
after when he goes to the depot for visitors he will re- 
veal himself as simply representing Samson's, so that 
other anglers will not fall victims to his mistaken ideas of 
his true position. 
Those desiring to reach this delightful resort can leave 
New York on the New York Central & Hudson River 
Railroad at 8:45 A. M.. reaching St Albans at 7:55 in 
the evening, which means an evening ride to Samson's, or 
they can take the train leaving New York at 6:23 P. M., 
reaching St. Albans at 5:25 in the morning, and by 
telegraphing to W. J. Samson at St. Albans, which will 
be forwaided by telephone, a team will be found at the 
depot, and boats provided, so that anglers taking the 
night ride can be assured of substantially a full day's fish- 
ing on the next day. 
The name of this place — Lake View House — is quite as 
appropriate as that of Shin Creek. The house, which 
will contain about thirty guests, is situated on the east 
of the Great Back Bay ; to the southeast can be seen the 
majestic outlines of Mt. Mansfield, the highest of the 
Green Mountain Range, being something over 4,000 feet 
in height. To the southwest can be seen Mt. Marcy, the 
highest peak in the Adirondacks, with its crest some S?400 
feet high, while all the adjacent mountains of the Adiron- 
dacks are in full view. In front stretches the Great Back 
Bay of Lake Champlain, containing several large islands 
and extending some twenty miles north and south, and 
from six to eight miles to the west. 
This bay contains many reefs and shoals, where the 
water is from 10 to 15 feet in depth, and in many places 
the water is from 75 to 100 feet in depth, where those who 
are fond of deep-water fishing can take a large amount 
of wall-eyed pike. 
The fishing during the last week in July and first 
week in Atigust was only moderate, as might have been 
expected, and I visited the place for rest and recreation 
with a knowledge that it was too early for good fishing. 
The habits of the bass are perhaps a little more pro- 
nounced here than in many places, and that on account 
of the depth of water in the lake. In the latter part of 
May or in June, when the water has become somewhat 
warm, they are to be found mostly on spawn beds along 
the shore, as there are no streams running to or from 
the lake which they could frequent for the purpose of 
spawning. After brooding their young they may be 
found along the shoves eating crustacea. fresh-water crabs, 
etc., for a short time, and then as the water becomes 
warm they sink into the deep water. 
In the latter part of July they form in schools and can 
frequentlj^ be taken on the reefs, which are quite abundant, 
hwX tlie- larger bassj^ ■^hicl^ frequently vi'eigh from 4 to 5 
pounds, are generally taken in the latter part of August 
or in the month of September in water from perhaps 15 
to 20 feet in depth. My largest catch during my trip con- 
sisted of twenty small-mouthed bass, ranging from i to 
pounds, not counting, of course, seventeen bass weighing 
less than a pound, which were returned to the lake alive. 
My main object in writing this article, however, is to 
state a fact in regard to the black bass in this bay which 
came within my personal knowledge, and which I think 
is peculiar to the present year. 
During the last week in July and the first week in 
August I saw quite a large number of the largest female 
bass which were taken and which would weigh from i to 3 
pounds, cleaned, and noticed that in many of them the 
spawn was fully ripe, while in many of the others I 
noticed incipient spawn, which in the course of nature 
would not mature until next spring. 
The season, it is true, has been about two weeks later 
than usual on account of the late spring, but, in any 
event, the bass should have been through spawning not 
later than the first week in July. Mr. Samson also in- 
formed me that many of the bass which I did not see 
also contained spawn fully as ripe and perfect as that 
found in fish taken earlier in the season from the spawn 
beds, and yet these fish were taken from the schools 
which were roaming over the reefs and shoals, and I 
could see nothing in, the lake to indicate that the fish 
were not entirely through spawning. 
I write also to say that if the present practice of taking 
bass in the lake with nets, which is permitted at certain 
seasons under the laws of Vermont, and also from the 
spawn beds, is continued, they will be practically de- 
stroyed in the next few years. The State of Vermont, 
which owns this part of the lake, has passed laws 
sufficiently stringent to prohibit illegal fishing, but those 
who should enforce them simply wink at all the violations 
of them, unless, perhaps, they should catch some luckless 
stranger coming from a distance, and by arresting him 
make a show of enforcing the laws. 
While on my trip I met a couple of residents of St. 
Albans, who told me that the fish protectors did. not 
pretend to enforce the law against the residents of that 
place or against those who live on the shores of the 
lake, although they knew of its violation, and to cor- 
roborate their statement, they told me that it was a com- 
mon custom for persons living in St Albans to take bass 
during the close season from the spawn beds, and they 
further informed me that during the last spring or early 
summer they visited the lake with the knowledge of the 
fish protector during the close season, and that on one 
of these visits they took from the spawn beds, between 4 
and 7 o'clock in the afternoon, eighty large bass, some 
of them being of the weight of at least 3 pounds. 
It is due to Mr. W. J. Samson to say that he refuses to 
furnish bait to those who violate the law, and endeavors 
to discourage its violation, but if those who thus violate 
the law cannot take the bass in any other way, they simply 
take them with a naked hook from the spawn beds, and the 
larger the fish the more easily can it be taken in this way. 
The question is a very simple one, and it is this : If 
the taking of bass from the waters of the Great Back Bay 
with nets is permitted at all hereafter under the Vermont 
law, and if those living in the vicinity are permitted to 
take them from the spawn beds or during the close 
season without risk of prosecution, then these magnificent 
waters are doomed as the natitral home for the small- 
mouthed black bass. As it is, the fishing in these waters 
has already suffered seriously from the practices to 
which I have referred, and unless they cease, and that 
immediately, they will be entirely abandoned by anglers 
in the near future. 
I found while on my trip that the people living near 
these waters have an impression that the bass are so 
abundant and their chances for reproduction so great, that 
their numbers are not likely to be reduced to any great 
extent, either by illegal fishing or fishing with nets; but 
this is a grave mistake. The grounds in this portion of 
Lake Champlain suitable for spawning purposes are not 
very abundant; there is no large stream running into or 
out of the lake in this vicinity where the bass would 
naturally go for the purpose of spawning, as the bass of 
Lake Ontario go down the River St. Lawrence, or those 
of Lake Erie down the Niagara River to within half a 
mile of the falls, and where the small fry would be 
largely protected against destruction by their natural 
enemies, but the bass are forced to spawn in the lake 
itself, and as it abounds, among other fish, with yellow 
perch and rock bass, it is only a question of time in the 
near future when the bass will be reduced to a point 
where these natural enemies of the small fry will prevent 
Recuperation. Some twenty years ago the waters of the 
St. Lawrence teemed with black bass, and anglers visiting 
this river were always sure to find sport, but these bass 
largely came from Lake Ontario and went many miles 
down the river for the purpose of spawning, and were 
taken before their return to the lake in large numbers 
and without reference to size, with the result that the 
black bass fishing in this river is at the present time so 
indifferent that anglers for them are forced elsewhere 
for the purpose of enjoying their favorite sport. 
Ten or twelve years ago there were no better waters 
for taking large black bass than the Bay of Quinte, but 
the Canadian Government has allowed, and still allows, 
fishing for them at certain seasons with nets, with the 
result that the large fish particularly have been to a great 
extent destroyed. 
Those who now visit the Great Back Bay are, as a 
rule, not content with a few large fish, but save and 
destroy all that are taken, little and big, and when they 
have more than needed for their own use, frequently pack 
them in ice and ship them either to their friends or to 
market. 
It is not too late to save these magnificent waters, but 
in order, to do so the taking of bass with nets must 
be prohibited, the laws protecting the spawn beds and 
establishing a close season must be respected and en- 
forced; all small bass bass must be returned to the 
waters alive and the daily catch to an angler or to a 
boat limited, as it is now under the laws of Canada and 
those in the State of New York, and the State of Ver- 
mont must also provide a sufficient number of protectors, 
lespetaally for thiese ^\•ate^s, vAth. th^ same powe-rs to 
make search and arrest those violating the law that are 
now given to fish protectors under the laws ur tnis State, 
J. S. Van Cleef, 
POUGHKEEPSXE. Aug. 30. 
A Novice's First Fish. 
Boston, Aug. 25.— -Mr. S. C. Dizer has just returned 
from a fishing and canoeing trip from Moosehead, through 
the Carry, the West Branch, the lakes, and down the 
Allaguash to New Brunswick. He says that this is one 
of the most delightful trips to be imagined. There is 
scarcely carry or tramping and toting enough to give 
a man good exercise. Still, there is paddling, which the 
voyager may always do, if he chooses. At Long Lake he 
made a pause for fishing, and had remarkably good suc- 
cess. He landed four or five doubles, weighing as 
high as 2^ pounds to the fish in one case. In another 
case the double was a trout and a big chub. Here the 
skill of the guide was required to land the slow and 
down-pulling chub attached to the sprightly trout, bound 
to come to the surface. The net was first worked under 
the chub, and then it was the matter of a moment to get 
it under the trout, Each of the five doubles of Mr. Dizer 
was netted without losing a fish. They counted fifty-six 
deer in all, many of them at Long Lake. They also 
saw six 'moose, two or three with good antlers, already 
far advanced in the velvet. One deer was noted with 4 
remarkably broad and full pair of antlers. The guide 
suggested that they would be out of the velvet in a couple 
of weeks. The guide paddled - Mr. Dizer up to within 
about a canoe length of a while doe. The light was 
splendid. What a chance for a camera! But, alas! Mr. 
Dizer had no camera. One old doe stood and stamped 
her feet at the canoemen with the greatest independence. 
"A most beautiful sight," says Mr. Dizer. Mr. D;zer 
planned and the guides cut a new trail down to Chase's, 
on the left side of the river, and along by the river. He 
says that it is shorter and better than the old trail on the 
right side of the river. It does not leave the river, which 
makes it much pleasanter for tourists than the old trail, 
which leaves the river for a long distance, 
Mr. L. George Brown has just returned from a camp- 
ing and fishing trip to the Upper Dam, Rangeley waters, 
and he brings back a pretty good story of a Lewiston, 
Me., business man who had suddenly become an angler, 
whom he met there. The Lewiston man had evidently 
never caught many fish, although he hardly admitted but 
what he was an expert angler of many seasons. He 
arrived with his party one night, to do some summer 
fishing. Early the next morning he was at the Dam, rod 
in hand, and descended to the apron to wet his line. 
The rest of his party were not quite as anxious as he, and 
stood on the bridge watching. Almost the first cast the 
angler felt a tremendous pull. He lost all control of his 
nerves and all care for the opinion of his brother anglers 
in a moment. Dropping his rod he grabbed the line with 
both hands. Luckity, it was a new and a strong one. He 
drew the fish in, hand over hand, in a moment, and had 
him out on the apron. The fish was leaping and writhing 
at a great rate. The man was excited. The fish would 
get off the apron and into the water. Jumping on the 
fish with both feet, the man soon had him under him- 
self. Holding him down with both hands, his knees and 
body, he shouted to his companions on the bridge : "How 
shall I kill him? How shall I kill him?" They directed 
him to get his hands about his gills and hang on. This 
the excited fisherman did, and soon had a 6-pound land- 
locked salmon under control, which he triumphantly held 
up before the astonished gaze of his friends, with the 
question, "Who says I don't know hov/ to fish in Range- 
ley waters?" 'No one presumed to argue the question 
of the angler's skill, while congratulations were in order. 
Aug. 27. — Members of the Inglewood Club, with in- 
vited guests, have lately been enjoying an outing at their 
club belongings. Loch Alva, New Brunswick. In the 
party last week were Hon. Henrv E. Cobb, ex-Mayor of 
Newton; Mr. and Mrs. Morton Cobb, Mr. and Mrs. Wm. 
J. FoUett, Austin Follett, Wm. Done Follett, Mr. and 
Mrs. George W. Brown, all of Newton; Mr. "and Mrs. 
Burt March, Master Buster March, Col. and Mrs. Hop- 
kins and family, Judge Dunbar and Mr. John C, Curtis, 
of Boston Etnd Mr. Creelman, of Colorado. The fi.shing 
has been fairly good for August, and was pretty generally 
indulged in. _Mr. Follett and his two sons were about 
the most persistent fishermen of the party, and one even- 
ing Mr. Follett took twenty-six trout, all on the fly. 
"But," he remarks, "this was one of the best catches 
of the trip," Mr. Brown fished about all of one hot 
day and caught two little trout, from a spot near the lily- 
pads, which the Follett boys had located. Every mem.- 
ber of the party is charmed with the location, and the 
Inglewood Fish and Game Club is a permanent institu- 
tion. By being members of this corporation or guests 
of the same, the visitors are saved the disagreeable bother 
of fishing licenses, such as have been troubling anglers 
from the States so much the present season, and con- • 
cerning which appeals have been taken to . the Govern- 
ment at Ottawa. 
Mr. and Mrs. L. O. Crane, of Boston, have ended their' 
vacation and fishing at the home of the Megantic Club, 
Mr. Crane had caught i.ooo trout on the trip up to last 
Thursday, and says that he could have caught a great 
many more, had he desired. Nearly every one of these 
trout, be it remembered, has been returned to the water 
uninjured. The fixed rule of the club is-that no fish shall 
be saved, except they are wanted for the camp tables., 
Mr. Crane says that the fishing has been , poor of late in 
Big Island Pond, doubtless due to the hot weather. But 
L Pond is all that the angler could wish. He says that ■ ^ 
he could easily take too trout there in a day. 
Fishing in Maine waters is holding out most wonder-.' ■ 
fully. The great question is, Can the stock stand- up: . 
under another such season? A Mr. Mitchel has lately', 
taken a sahnon of 6^4 pounds and one of 414 pounds, and. 
a Mr. Lilly one of 5 pounds, at the Mouni-ain View 
House, Xangeley Lake. A lady, Mrs. Coburn Haskell, of 
Cleveland, O.. caught a salmon of 6 pounds and ro ■ 
ounces at Bemis last week. Mr. Walter Raymond, of 
Brooklyn, N. Y., is having remarkable success with illu- . . 
minflt«d flies of his own' invention, at. Pleasant Isla,nd r 
