Nov. 10, 1900.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
37S 
through for the day. To feel that the time you may 
spend on making tip-ups is not thrown away, you have 
only to duplicate the specimen fish showai at the foot 
of tip-up No. 4, which can easily be done, I trust, on 
home waters available to readers of Forest and Stream 
all over the ice zone. New York fishennen may do it 
on. any of the following waters: 
On the Line of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western 
Railroad. 
Lake Hopatcong. — Lake Hopatcong station. 46 miles 
from New York. 
Budds Lake. — Three miles from Stanhope station, 48 
miles from New York. 
Panther Lake and Cranberry Lake. — Whitehall Summit, 
flag station, 56 miles from New York. 
When fishing Panther Lake, ask the conductor to 
Th^ Man With the Barrel 
"Oh, I could not stand being followed about by a man 
with a barrel to take all my fish from me!" Such has 
been the impatient exclamation of many an tinglish 
angler when told of the conditions under which he must 
fish in German waters. Doubtless the angler is deprived 
of his solitude. Perhaps to a certain extent a little of the 
romance attaching to the sport may be rubbed off if 
one's consciousness be fixed too closely on the thought 
that one's captures are for the market or for the pot. 
But these drawbacks can be easily exaggerated, and the 
German method really possesses merits and advantages 
so many and so great as to far outweigh such sentimental 
considerations. 
Let us take a typical day on a German river. We call 
on a miller and ask his leave to fish. The worthy man, 
put you down at Mr. Chrispell's door. The lake is on 
his farm. A letter addressed to P. J. Chrispell, Panther 
Lake Farm, Andover, N. J., a little in advance of your 
visit will insure bait and a hearty reception. Along 
both the FrankHn and Branchville branches a few miles 
from Andover are many ponds available for fishing- 
through the ice. 
On the Line of the Erie Railroad. 
Monroe station, 49 miles from New York. 
Round Lake, i mile distant from station. 
Walton Lake, ij^ miles distant from station. 
Mount Basha Lake, 3 miles distant from station. 
Chester station, 55 miles from New York. 
Glenmere Lake, 3 miles distant from the station. 
This is the best Avater we know of. A letter addressed 
to Mr. Cabel, proprietor, Glenmere Lake Hotel, Florida! 
Orange county, New York, will insure bait, plenty of 
fish and a trap to meet you at the station. 
Shohola station, iii miles from New York. 
Washington Lake, 4 miles from station; al water. 
Montgomery Lake, 4 miles from station. 
Greenwood Lake, 45 miles from New York; an ai 
water. James Churchward. 
New York, November. 
knowing that our catch will be so much money in his 
pocket, cordially wishes us luck, and with alacrity pro- 
vides us with a "bursch," a yokel, to follow us with 
the customary receptacle. This is not a barrel in general, 
but a tin or zinc vessel of a sort of cigar shape, tapered, 
truncated and flattened. There is a square hole in the 
top with a lid to admit the captures, and the whole is 
slung- from the shoulders of the bearer from two rings, 
so placed that the water slops about inside marvelously 
little. As we pass through the miller's garden we see 
buried hi a bank and covered with a lid a little tank, 
which is to receive our captives, while here and there 
from^ trees along our length of water hang suspended 
nets in which the capti\*es may be put and left in the river 
to save carrying them from place to place. 
From time to time, as luck justifies us, we have to let 
our bearer take back his burden to the tank. With 
The Salt Water Leagtie. 
The Protective League of Salt Water Fishermen held 
a special meeting on Oct. 31 at its rooms, 106 West 
Thirty-first street, this city, at which letters from nominees 
for the Senate and Asesmbly were read, pledg'ng their 
support to the bills to be introduced by the League into 
the Legislature at its next session. These bills provide 
for the restriction of netting in the waters within the 
jurisdiction of New York State, and were printed in full 
in last week's issue of Forest and Stream. The number 
and tone of the letters would seem to indicate that the 
League will have powerful support in the next Legislature, 
and the members are greatly encouraged with the progress 
their organization is making in its efforts to protect the 
salt water fish of the State. Several of the candidates 
addressed tht meeting, and gave their personal pledge to 
aid the League in passing its bills; The next regular 
meeting will be held on Nov: 19. 
graylmg in particular does it behoove us to be careful, for 
tl-iey are delicate fish, and readily die if kept in too con- 
fined or crowded water. In the evening we tip Fritz 
his mark and go our way rejoicing, having had an ex- 
cellent and most intelligent gillie, who has shown us 
where the best fish lie. netted out our fish, unhooked 
them, and assisted in recovering our flies when hung up 
u! trees, etc. He has saved us also: (i) The handling 
ot slimy fish; (2) the carrying of our landing net and 
waterproof; and (3) the carrying of our slimy and evil- 
smelling catch — and that is a serious item on this water 
When all is over, the "fisch handler" comes along, 
summoned in advance by the prudent miller, the captives 
are w^eighed (and a very interesting and ingenious 
process the weighing is), the good miller receives his i 
mark 50 pfennigs a pound for the trout and 60 pfennigs 
a pound for the grayling, and the fish are carried off 
alive to market. None are wasted, ^o^ none ar? killed 
till they are sold. The miller is delighted with the result 
of our day, and begs us earnestly to come again. 
Let us translate this process into English, and sup- 
pose a farn-ier or miller granting fishing rights upon 
such conditions. Think of the inducements to him to 
stock and preserve his waters, and to look after the 
purity of the stream! Think how easy for respectable 
applicants to secure leave to fish. Think of the profit of 
the riparians, and of the saving of the waste of trout life. 
There is only the sentimental objection, and in a reason- 
ably good day. in the excitement of fishing, the thought 
that the pot is behind one is practically forgotten. Fritz 
is often a capital fellow, with a fund of information ready 
for you, and his services in lightening the load upon 
oner's shoulders make a very appreciable addition to the 
day's pleasure. 
The drawbacks of the system are that it cannot be 
taken into wild parts, nor can a long stretch of river 
far from the tank which is to receive the catch be readily 
fished without undue strain upon the shoulders of the 
"bursch," and on the breathing apparatus of the fish. — 
London Fishing Gazette. 
Tarpon Fiihing. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I am going to say a few words on tarpon tackle, and 
how to hook a tarpon. The rod I prefer is of green- 
heart from end to end (lancewood is very good with an 
ash butt), from 8 to 10 feet long, with German silver 
guides and reel seat (a man must suit himself about a 
reel seat; there are a great many good ones on the 
market to-day). My reel carries 600 feet of No. 24 silver 
lake (Cuttyhunk) tarpon line, and is controlled by a 
leather drag. This drag can be turned back when you 
are ready to cast. 
Now as to hooks and leaders, I have tried them all, and 
I take fine piano wire, have it cut into pieces 2 feet long 
and join four of them together, making an 8-foot leader, 
A man can make his leader just as long as he pleases. 
People differ — especially over fishing tackle and guns. 
My favorite hook is the O'Shaughnessy. In Galveston 
we have to use a float and sinker just heavy enough to 
keep the cork well up. 
Now that we have the tackle, the next thing is how to 
use _ it. Let us find ourselves standing on the North 
Jetties in Galveston. At first, casting with a stiff rod and 
a leader sometimes a foot longer than your rod is very 
awkward, the more so if you have cast with a fly. But 
you learn to cast, and now you are ready to meet the 
silver king. He comes with a rush, and your hand drops 
to your reel (we are out for the first time after tarpon 
and are pretty clumsy at first), the crank is turning 
sixty miles an hour; it hits you on the hand, and you— 
well, then you go to put your thumb on your leather 
drag, but you put it instead of on the drag (for the begin- 
ner always forgets to lay his drag on the line after cast- 
ing) on the line itself; and it is hot. I have done this 
time and again, and it hurts far more than an ordinarv 
burn. Ah! the silver king leaves the water; he seems to 
shake his lordly head; your hook goes in one direction, 
your mullet in the other. You wonder how, after hook- 
ing three or four, that the hook never seems to get 
hooked. Here is one secret: When a tarpon strikes, 
you strike him back. Look into the fish's mouth, and 
you will see the reason for this. One out of fifty might ■ 
hook himself. After you "have got your tarpon firmly 
hooked, keep cool; don't get excited' when he jumps. 
Each tilTie he jumps he loses a great deal of strength. 
Keep as much strain on your line as it will hold. A 
tarpon nearly always cuts your line when he jumps and 
falls on it. A man who lands a tarpon with a i-foot 
leader deserves ten times more credit than a man who 
lands one with a lo-foot leader. If he falls on your line, 
good-by, tarpon. 
I hope that some brother sportsman who has fished for 
tarpon will write what he thinks the best tackle for 
tarpon, and how to catch them — a true sportsman is 
always ready to learn.' The reason I prefer a piano wire 
leader is that it is not much larger than the line, will 
hold anything, and does not frighten a fish as a thick 
one is apt to do. You will get three strikes on a thin 
leader where you get one on a thick one— that is my 
experience. C. K. Byrne. 
P- S. — I am on a ranch in western Texas, and I never 
saw so many quail. I am having a great time with 
them, and plenty of wildcat hunting with hounds 
C. K. B. 
A Forty-Nine- Poand Muscalonge. 
A MUSCALONGE was caught in a seine on Fox Lake, III., 
the other day, and taken to Chicago, which weighed when 
caught 49 pounds, and when weighed in Chicago 45 
pounds. The length was 4 feet 2 inches, and the g.rth 26 
m.ches. The Chicago Tribune tells the story of its cap- 
ture: "Thursday afternoon Game Warden Ratto, with 
two helpers, Pete Johnson and Albert Peterson, were 
dragging a huge seine through Fox Lake for the purpose 
of catching the carp and all other objectionable fish which 
are a menace to the game fish. The day before they had a 
catch of 1,350 pounds of carp, together with nineteen gar- 
fish and other objectionable species. In the morning they 
had caught 800 pounds of carp, and regarded their^day's 
work nearlj' over. 
"As they were dragging the 600-foot seine in for the 
last time, it felt rather light, but the men who. were 
holding It said that the carp were making more commo- 
toin than they had ever known them to before. The net 
was finally dragged up to the boat and it was found that 
there were some 300 pounds of carp. But in the bottom 
of the net was a fish which made the eyes of the old 
fishermen stand out in wonder. 
"Thrashing about in a frenzy, with scales gleaming in 
the sunlight, was the biggest muscalonge that Mr. Ratto 
had ever seen. His immense mouth was snapping at the 
carp, and as he felt himself being dragged toward the 
boat he made frantic efforts to go through the net. But 
it was too strong for him and he was unable to break 
out. The two fishermen got him to the surface of the 
water, and were about to pull him into the boat when 
with a desperate fling, he knocked both of them over and 
the net sank once more into the lake. The fishermep were 
