248 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[March 30, 1901. 
completely absorbed. They become accustomed to their 
new homes and know where and how to seek food 
vvhen the time conies, far better, in my opinion, than fish 
that have been fed for a few weeks in the hatching 
trouglis and then suddenly planted to shift for them- 
selves. Some people object to planting fish fry when 
there is ice in ^the streams. This is fact, not fancy. It 
seems to be overlooked that trout hatched naturally in 
a stream would suffer far more if cold water was in- 
jurious, for the eggs are deposited in the autumn and 
remain in the ice cold water all winter, and the 
embryo does not appear until spirng. As a matter of 
fact the water in the hatchery from which the young 
trout are sent is fully as cold as the water in the brooks 
in which the trout are planted, and cold, water does not 
kill or injure trout, no matter how cold the water may 
be. The great objection — and the only valid one — to 
planting fry is that too often they are not properly 
planted, but are turned into the main stream, where 
other and larger fish may prey upon them, instead of 
planting them in the tributary rivulets. Naturally fin- 
ger! ing fish, are better than fry, for they are larger and 
less likely to be eaten; but fry properly planted will 
give good results. 
Mascalonge. 
The report of the State Fishculturist, made to the 
Board of Forest, Fish and Game Commissioners, gives 
the distribution of fish for the month of February as 
17,698,600; 17,000,000 of this number were "whitefish fry, 
distributed in Otsego Lake, Canandaigua and Hemlock 
lakes and Lake Ontario. The balance are brook, brown 
and rainbow trout, fingerlings and fry. 
A number of letters and newspaper articles, which 
complain of the injury that the spearing law is doing 
to mascalonge in Chautauqua Lake, were embodied as 
part of the report, and it was shown that the operations 
at Chautauqua Lake in hatching mascalonge, which began 
in 1896 at an expenditure of $670.34, had increased an- 
nually until in igoo the expenditure was $1,034.72. The 
increase of fry was from 1,248,000 in 1895 up to 4,860,000 
in 1899. 
In view of this exhibit instructions regarding the 
future work of the- Commission ;it Chautauqua Lake 
were asked for. The Commission, after discussing the 
matter, passed the following resolution: 
"Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Commission 
that so long as the law allowing spearing of mascalonge 
in Chautauqua Lake is in operation, it is not advisable 
to continue the work of propagating mascalonge in 
those waters." 
The report further shows that contracts have been let 
for building four fishways in Salmon River, at Pulaski, 
where the salmon made their appearance last year and 
the year before, in sufficient numbers to warrant con- 
siderable outlay in opening the river for them. 
A^ii. Cheney. 
Talks to Boys. 
Xni — Bass Fishing. 
Approaching the subject of bass fishing, I would ask 
my young readers to do just as they should do in enter- 
ing any line of activity not familiar to them. I would 
ask them first to sit down and think about it. 
If you are going to undertake the capture of any animal, 
bird or fish, and if you wish to do this in the most suc- 
cessful way. the best thing you can do is to sit down 
and study the habits of that particular animal. There- 
fore, before you go out fibbing for bass, I would suggest 
that you first study the habits of that fish. 
Yoti will find that the black bass, known in pretty 
much all the States east of the Rocky Mountains, com- 
prises two species — the large-mouth and the small-mouth. 
Generally speaking, the small-mouth bass will be found in 
clear and cold waters, and over sand or rock bottom. It 
is found in lakes as well as streams, but it prefers cold and 
fresh water to water of high temperature and little move- 
ment. The large-mouth bass, upon the other hand, will 
live in warmer waters, is often found in the shallower 
parts of lakes, and over muddy bottom. It lives much 
among the bullrushes and we?ds. This species grows 
heavier than the small-mouth bass, and weights of 6, 8, 
10 and even 12 pounds have been reached in States north 
of the Ohio River, and in some of the Southern States 
it has been taken weighing as much as 20 pounds. Al- 
though this speices grows larger than the others, it is 
hardly so bold a fighter on the average. Sometimes both 
species are taken in the same waters, as in the lakes and 
streams of Illinois, Indiana, Mich'gan, Wisconsin, Iowa 
and Minnesota. If both fishes are living under practically 
the same conditions, the one species will fight pretty nearly 
as well as the other, thotigh if you compare a warm- 
water big-mouth with a cold-water small-mouth, or even 
a cold-water big-mouth, you cannot fail to note a su- 
periority in the gameness of the latter over the former. 
Either fish is a grand game fish, and we have no better in 
Arherica. Neither have we one more widely distributed 
or easier to get at, hence we may call the black bass one 
of our most valuable game fishes, and we may regard its 
study as very well worth while. 
Now this is where you will find the black bass, li 
you i<now some clear deep strgam, tributary to the Mis- 
sissippi waters, which runs full the year round, and which 
is not cut off from the lower and larger waters by dams or 
obstructions, you will probably find that it holds black 
bass. There are thouasands of other waters not tributary 
to the Mississippi or its branches which also hold bass, 
but nearly all of the thousands streams which eventu- 
ally run into the Mississippi havfi;. or have had, a supply 
of black bass, if they offer food gpd water enough to hold 
a stock of that fish. If a stream is too shallow or too 
muddy or too small, the bass \vRll not' go into it. They 
like a good bold water where can move around and 
get plenty of food. Tjig, upp^ part of the ^fississippi 
River is a favorite home of thel@ack bass of both species. 
There are thousands of lakes in Minnesota and Wisconsin 
which are, or have been, alive with these splendid fish. 
Some of these lakes havg outlets, and some of them seem 
to have been s>bocked by bass long ago. in some way un- 
known to us, although they are landlocked, so that no 
fish can run up into them irom streams. , 
If you are fishing a bass stream you should expect to 
find, your fish, ordinarily speaking, in the deepest and 
best .hidden parts of the stream. The bass is a very shy^ 
fish, and is fond of keeping out of sight. If there is a' 
deep cut bank with a cave or hole in it, he will get back 
into that hole where you could never see him. He will 
push back into a washout under a root or a log, where he 
will be quite out of sight. In the morning or evening you 
might see him splashing around, but though you passed 
his den a hundred times you might never know he was 
there. In the spring, when the bass are moving up stream, 
they are more often to be seen in shallow water, where the 
bass of a pound or two in weight sometimes feed on flies. 
Sometimes in the evening the bigger bass will also feed 
on the riffles of the stream, but usually speaking the 
biggest bass will be found in the deepest water, unless it 
be during the spawning season, or in some good frog 
country, where the bass are out chasing the frogs in the 
edge of the shallow water. 
If you will operi the gullet of a bass you will find that 
he 'has been feeding on crawfish, minnows, frogs, perhaps 
on little mice, sometimes on insects, sometimes on little 
snakes, or perhaps on helgramites — indeed on almost any- 
thing which moves and which he can swallow. This will 
give you an idea as to the proper bait for him. The min- 
now and the crawfish are very good baits for the small- 
mouth bass. The frog or the minnow will be good for 
the big-mouth bass, though either species will at times 
feed on almost any of the baits above mentioned. 
If you will watch the movements of a bass while it Js 
feeding you will get a good notion of how to present'^a 
bait to it. If a dead minnow comes floating through a 
pool, a bass will move out and look at it, but perhaps will 
never strike , it. If a crippled minnow or frog comes 
through the same pool and all at once begins to move- or 
struggle to get away, you will see the same bass rush 
at it at once. The moral is plain. Always keep'' your 
bait moving when you are fishing for bass. Never allow 
it to be still for a moment. A bass will strike at almost 
anything which is moving. Thus it is well known that 
the bass can often be taken on an unbailed spoon hook. 
In the fall of the year the bass drop back down stream 
and all of them gather in the deep holes. Sometimes num- 
bers of them can be taken out of one hole in that season 
by a spoon hook, or on a live minnow moved through 
the hole. In wild and little fished waters a piece of red 
flannel will sometimes kill a bass. In the South a great 
many bass are taken by means of what is called a bob. 
The latter is nothing but a bunch of deer hair and red 
flannel tied about three big hooks, yet when it is pulled 
along the surface of the water at the end of a long pole 
the bass will jump at it as though they could not get 
along without it. This method of fishing is called skitter- 
ing. 
In stream fishing for bass you will do well to study 
the feeding times of the fish. Usually this will "be In the 
morning and in the evening, though as the weather grows 
cooler the fish feed more in the middle of the day. If 
you are fishing in May or June you will do better to fish 
close to the bank, moving your bait up and down from 
the bottom to near the surface. Use a frog or a minnow. 
For stream fishing the minnow will probably be better. 
A good chub is the best minnow. Bait it through the 
lips, as you should also bait a frog. Imitate the swimming 
movements of your bait as well as you can, and never 
let it lie still. Raise it up and down, asd move it along in 
front of any bank, and into any hole under a log or root 
where you think an old bass may be lying. For this sort 
of fishing you may use a rod of 10 ounces or more in 
weight and 10 to 11 feet in length, as you are not going 
to do much casting of the bait. You must not use any 
, float or bob on your line, though probably you will find it 
easier to handle the bait if you have a lead sinker on your 
line heavy enough to pull the bait down into the water. 
Your theory is here that the fish is lying deep and is 
hid, and you want to take the bait to him so he can see 
it. If you see a little deep and dark pocket among the 
weeds, drop your bait down into that. In the evening, if 
your stream is shallow, so that you can wade, get out into 
the middle of it and let your bait swim down on a long Fne 
ahead of you. A bass can see you further than you think, 
and you will notice that you get most of your strikes after 
your bait is out of sight. If your stream is too big to 
wade, and you cannot fish it well from the shore, you will 
want a boat and some one to row it. In boat fishing you 
will need the short dasting rod, of which I will speak later 
in describing lake fishing for bass. 
Of course it is very nice to have good fishing tackle, but 
not all boys can afford costly rods and reels for bait 
casting. I would be far from discouraging any boy from 
the use of the cane or bamboo rod. such as he can buy in 
the country stores, but I would suggest that he try not to 
get the biggest rod he can, but the smallest and slimmest. 
A reel will cost him but little, and he can tie his own 
guides on his rod. Thus rigged up, he can have a lot 
of fun walking along the bank of a bass_ stream and 
working his bait up and down the likely looking places. I 
say that he should use the smallest rod he can get, meaning 
by that that such a rod will give him the most pleasure 
and be most apt to save him his fish. He should never 
try to throw the fish out on the bank with the strength of 
the rod. This will lose a great many bass. 
When a bass strikes it does so with the savage rush, and 
if you snub him up at once he is apt to break something. 
When you feel a bite, do not strike at once, especially if 
you are fishing with a frog bait. A bass will strike a 
frog or sometimes a minnow and then move off with it 
a little way before it swallows the bait. After this first 
nm of 10 or 20 feet it will lie for a moment, and then 
like a flash turn the bait in its mouth and swallow it._ head 
first. Then is your time to strike, when the hook is inside 
the bass' mouth, and not outside. 
I have very often seen a big bass hold a frog by the 
middle, both ends sticking out its mouth for some mo- 
ments. This was when the fish was not very hungry. Yet 
a bass has a kind of bulldog way of hanging on to a bait 
sometimes. Shy as they are. I have often pulled them up 
within a few feet of a boat, grimly holding on to the frog 
and only letting go at the last moment. This happened, 
too. at a time when the bass were not very hungry and 
seemed to be striking more for fun than anything else. 
You will observe this creature, as. indeed, any other 
wild creature, doing strange things at times. At times 
black bass will strike in plain sight and close to a boat, 
apparently showing no fear whatever. For the most part, 
however, he is one of the very shyest of fishes, I think 
even more shy than U« brodt trout, end in going after 
him yoii must remember the one great rule of keeping out 
of his sight until after you have hooked him. There is no 
fish which fights more boldly for liberty. A trout will 
try to roll over on the line, but the favorite trick of. the 
bass is to spring out of the water and try to shake' the 
hook out of his mouth. I have known small-mouth bass 
to jump six times in this way before they were brought 
to the landing net. The big-mouth bass will also jump, 
but not so often as the small-mouth. His favorite trick is 
to bore down into the roots or weeds, where he can get 
a wrap of the line about something and so tear free from 
the hook. 
-These fish show a surprising amount of strength, and 
it takes careful handling to land them. Hence, I suggest 
that you have a reel of some kind- on your rod, When 
the bass makes a rush, let himvgo, and when you get a 
chance^reel up your lihe again.' You will not be able to 
do this with the reel as fast as you like sometimes. I 
always play a bass with my left hand on the line, ^specially 
if I am using a, fly-rod, and I do not try to recover the 
line on the reel, but let it lie in folds on the ground or in 
the water until I get time to reel it up. If a bass is 
coming toward you, you want to keep the line tight on him 
all the time, and you can recover the line faster by pulling 
it through the guides with the left hand than you can 
by the use of the reel, 'unless you have an automatic reel. 
By all means have a reel of some kind, for you cannot en- 
joy bass fishing without it. It enables you to lengthen 
or shorten your 'line at will, when you are moving your 
bait about, and -is of the utmost service. The general 
idea^xjf the reel is that it is of most use in playing the 
fish. Such is not the case. Indeed, as I will presently show 
you, the greatest purpose of,^the reel in scientific bass 
fishing is not to get your fish in to you, but to get your 
bait out t© the fish. ' 
You will learn this river fishing for yourself very easily, 
always remembering that you must keep out of sight and 
that you must keep your bait in motion, and that you 
must expect to find your fish in the hard and tangled 
places, and not in the open shallow water, unless they 
are feeding there in the evening. Your frogs you can 
carry in a little cheesecloth bag, even in an old stock- 
ing, for a little while, if you have nothing better. If you 
are using minnows, you must keep them alive, and hence 
must change the water in your minnow pail as soon as 
you see the minnows come up to the top for air. 
I would advise you always to have a landing net with 
you when you are bass fishing, and for river fishing, where 
you are on a bank, sometimes several feet above the 
water, I would advise using a net with a handle 2 or 3 
feet long. Have a button sewed' at the back of your col- 
lar, and a little loop at the end of the ring of your net. 
Fasten the loop on the button, and the shaft of the net 
will hang down your back and so be out of your way 
while you are fishing. Let j'Our line swim down along 
the bank and under the trees ahead of you. Keep on 
fishing. Don't be discouraged. Fish all day if yon are 
out for a fishing trip. Although bass bite best in the 
morning and evening, you may pick up a nice one at any 
moment, for a bass is naturally a hungry sort of crenttire, 
and will eat even when his stomach is full. 
Opening Day* 
Boston. March 17. — As the season for trout draws near, 
the local angler begins to feel a deepening interest in the 
progress of spring. 
It is taken for granted that he must he on the old brook, 
April I. The day was set aside a month before, a sacred 
day. to be used in no other way. 
As he looks back at former fishing years, his mind calls 
up his varied experiences of the opening day. He well 
remembers the first sight of the stream, how springlike its 
murmer sounded, of the long, long wade with never a fish 
to reward him, and then at last in a favorite spot his line 
has known for years, the thrill of the first bite, the short 
sharp play and the netting of a beautiful quarter-pounder. 
But it is usually no summer day. With waders well 
lined with socks, heavy coat and sweater, and even gloves, 
the fisherman may look more like a February eel-spearer 
than an angler for trout, but he has been there before and 
smiles at the scoff of outsiders. He has fished the open- 
ing day with the thermometer at 28°, perhaps in a snow 
flurry, when his line froze tight in the ferrules, and his 
hand's refused to obey his v\^ill when he tried to put on a 
livlier worm. For this is all bait fishing, and empty- 
handed is the man who casts the fly. 
Let us wish for a springlike day on April i. 
J. C. Phillips. 
A liighly original observation upon the behavior of 
fish in deep water is attributed to a long-experienced 
captain of a steam fishing .smack, so remarkable as to 
deserve special notice. The fishing boats belonging to 
the southern portion of the North Sea found in their 
catch lately a disproportionately small quantity of cod- 
fish. The captain maintained that he had foreseen this 
for eight days, because most of the fish caught had sand 
in their stomachs. He claims to have often observed that 
just before the fish left the shallow water of the southern 
banks they took sand into their stomachs, and soon after 
fish caught in deeper northern waters show^ the same 
peculiarit}'. Then when the time for migrating from 
these deep waters came again, the fish disposed of the 
sand. The theory has been advanced that the sand is 
taken in as ballast, and is rejected when shallow water is 
to be returned to. The sand often dift'ers in color and 
grain from that of the bottom where the fish are found. 
It is claimed that this sand may supply a guide for the 
fishermen . — Han sa. 
The pastor was calling at the house of Brother Billings, 
and the small boy was entertaining him until the parents 
came down, 
"Do you ever go fishin'?" inquired the youngster, who 
had inherited his father's fondness for the sport. 
"I am a fisher of men," responded the good man. 
"Do you carry your bait in a jug, like papa does?" 
was the next question, just as Brother Billings appeared 
with a seraphic smile lighting up his genial countenance. 
— Detroit Free Press, _ . 
