408 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Ma^ 25, 1961. 
Trout fishing has been almost spoiled by the heavy 
rains of the last month. The streams have overflowed 
their banks, and fishermen can't get near enough to the 
fishes' haunts to hold anj' intercourse whatever with 
them. Another trouble to the angler is that the floods 
have washed down so much good and dainty food to 
the trout that they would hardly think it wor.h while to 
consider a store fly or any other kind of bait. No catches 
that could be exaggerated into making a good story 
have been heard of so far, but anglers say that inside of 
two weeks with, good, warm weather and receding 
Streams, there ought to be some sport again. 
W. H. M. 
ANGLING NOTES. 
How Little "Water Can Trout Swim 1j. 
On Monday a gentleman wrote me say'ng he had two 
ponds, artificial, which he intended to devote to trout, and 
desired to connect one with the other by a channel that 
trout could swim between them, and he wished to know 
how little water it would take for a two-year-old trout to 
swinv in comfortably. As a two-year-old trout is just 
about as big as a piece of chalk, tliat part of the question 
was easy, but I really do not know the depth of water a 
trout would regard as comfortable to swim in, and for this 
reason: On the Saturday before the Monday I was with 
a foreman of a hatchery looking at some trout fry in some 
fry ponds, the water flowing finally into a box supplying a 
pipe to other ponds, and the waste water passed through a 
spillway into a wild pond. The spillway was about 14 
inches wide and perhaps a foot high at the sides, and 
from the end this water dropped fully 18 inches, perhaps 
20 inches, to the surface of the pond. As we stood on 
the cover of the reservoir box looking into the spillway 
we saw a trout in it, and it raa}^ have been two years 
old, also_ it may have been only a yearling, for it had 
jumped lip from the wild pond into the spillway, and ap- 
peared to the eye to be about 9 inches long. The water 
was so shallow in the box that the trout was from one-third 
to half its depth above the water, but occasionally it 
turned from side to side, immersing its body completely. 
This was a deliberate motion, as if to keep the exposed 
skin wet; then there was another motion as if rubbing its 
belly and sides on the bottom of the box, and perhaps that 
was what it was doing, cleaning its sides of slime. After 
watching the fish for some minutes I brought my heel 
down on the boarding and the trout swam up and down 
and across the spillway as rapidly aud as easily as though 
it had been in water a foot deep, and finally out o'f the 
spillway into the pond. The water on one side of the 
spillway was deeper than on the other, for on the shal- 
lower side the water barely covered the green mould, so 
that in its efforts to escape it was at times almost entirely 
out of water. Whether this was comfortable or not I 
cannot say, but the fish made lightning darts with its 
body partly in the water and sometimes almost entirely 
out, with the same facility and apparent grace displayed by 
a fish which swims in waters that are over its head and its 
body. ij ^ 
Tarpon and Shark. 
To be chronologically correct, on the Sunday between 
Monday and Saturday already mentioned, I was spending 
some time in the studio of Mr. Chas. F. W. Mielatz in 
New York city looking over drawings and paintings and 
etchings, all relating more or less to fish and fishing, when 
the artist put before me a black and white drawing of a 
shark that had risen and seized a tarpon which an angler 
had previously filed a claim to by hooking it, and this 
reminded the artist of a story. Mr. Mielatz had gone to 
Florida for the fishing, and to make studies of the fish to 
be transferred to canvas later. Camped at Captive Pass, he 
had been attracted by the tarpon jumping from the -water 
one moonlight night, and had gone out in his boat for 
moonlight fi-hing for the big herring. He said he had 
hooked and killed a small tarpon (the manner in which he 
mentioned the size of the fish was not really contemptu- 
ous, but it caused me to ask what he called a small tar- 
pon, and he replied about 50 pounds, and so 1 record 
here what a small tarpon is supposed to weigh by those 
who seek the giants and arc on fami'iar terms with 
them) and lashed it to the gunwale of the boat to keep 
the fish in the water and its scales intact, that he might 
make a drawing of it in the morning. Seated in the stern 
of the boat, he finally told his boatman to row to camp, 
and taking the cord by which the little tarpon was 
fastened to the boat, towed the fish behind. He heard a 
■hissing sound as though a naphtha launch, which had been 
seen in the pass, was approaching and he turned his head 
from side to side to locate it, when suddenly he was 
startled by an exclamation from his boatman to "Look 
put!" Then for the first time he looked behind him. and 
m the water, and saw the great dorsal fin 'of a shark cut- 
ting the water as though the Empire State Express was 
propelling the fish but it was too late, for the shark had 
the tarpon. However, Mr. Mielatz stood by his^nns gnd 
pulled as the shark seized, and actually recovered his 
tarpon, but in such shreds and ribbons that it was only fit 
for Indian basket work. 
Tarpon in Colors. 
It is twelve or fourteen years since my friend, Mr. 
Harry Allch'n, did a tarpon in black and white that was 
considered a perfect drawing of the fish in form and 
action. Since that day I have seen a great many draw- 
ings of tarpon in all sorts of positions, but never orie in 
colors that I was actually enamored of until Mr. I\Tielatz 
placed on the easel on the Sunday aforesaid a water color 
of a hooked tarpon leaping from the water. The coloring 
suited me exactly, and the scene of the fisherman, the 
boat, the water and all was so characteristic of tarpon 
fishing that though I am not an apostle of tarpon fishing, 
when my friends come into my den to talk fish and smoke 
a cigar, I will show them this picture on my wall 
Tarpon in Rough Water. 
When tarpon fishing was a new form of angler's relaxa- 
tion, it was the thing to cast a baited hook, overboard and 
wait for a tarpon to come along, stand on his head and 
take it, provided he came along at all. This uncertainty 
3nd waiting did not lend a charm to tarpon fishing, and 
to-day the tarpon fisherman in swift water rather turns 
up his nose at the first form of tarpon fishiiig. At first 
the tarpon was allowed to swallow the hook to get it in 
his gullet, as it was believed that a hook would not 
penetrate the bony structure lining the head and mouth 
of the fish. Now the strong water tarpon fisherman casts 
h's bait and strikes, or rather the fish does this part of 
the work, and the hook does penetrate the bony lining and 
the fight is on from the moment the bait is taken, but the 
hooks wears a hole in the bony structure and many fish 
are lost in consequence, but the angler has a fight more 
or less prolonged even though the fish is lost in the 
end. Mr. Mielatz tells me that often this hole is as large 
as a silver dollar when the fish is gaffed, so no one can 
tell the size of the hole in the fish that gets away. Let no 
one criticise the pictured leaps of a hooked tarpon, for 
Mr. Mielatz showed me a number of snap shots that he 
had taken with a camera of the fish when hooked and 
leaping. They were straight in the air, head to the zenith ; 
they were belly up and back up ; they were curved in all 
sorts of curves; they were head down and tail up, and 
they were coming toward the camera, so that little could 
be seen of them but an open mouth like a cavern, and an 
undefined something behind it. One snap shot showed a 
leaping fish with his head hanging backward as though its 
vertebrae had been severed back of its head. In fact the 
camera showed them ift what otherwise would have been 
called impossible positions for a fish to be in. 
Landlocked Salmon in Lake George. 
Several letters have come to me asking about the land- 
locked salmon fishing in Lake George this year. I have 
not been in a position to learn much about it, but I have 
heard of three being killed and one being hooked and 
lost. It would not pay any one to go to the lake for sal- 
mon alone, but if content with lake trout fishing with the 
possible chance of a salmon, the visitor may be sure of 
the trout. A. N. Cheney. 
Food of Sea Lions. 
From Science, 
The California State Board of Fish Commissioners 
during the past two years has ta"ken steps to kill off a 
very large number of sea lions on the California coast, on 
the ground that tliese animals are highly destructive to the 
salmon fishery. The President of the Board, Mr. Alex- 
ander T. Vogelsang, claims that it is not the intention 
of the Board to exterminate the sea lions, but inerely to 
kill "10,000 of the 30,000 that now infest our harbor en- 
trance and contiguous territory."* The opinion of ob- 
servers familiar with the sea lion rookeries is that the 
number of animals has been greatly exaggerated, and that 
long before Mr. Vogelsang has killed the contemplated 
10,000 there would not be a living sea lion left on the 
whole coast. Already many have been killed, and, un- 
less public sentiment is aroused to check the movement, 
some of the most interesting rookeries of the State are in 
danger of depletion. The Fish Commissioners have em- 
ployed men to shoot the sea lions, and are loud in their 
lamentations because the Government lighthouse reserva- 
tions have not been thrown open to the slaughter. 
The local fishermen, the State Fish Commission and 
others assert without qualification that the sea lions feed 
extensivejy on salmon, and the inference from their state- 
ments is that the animals subsist chiefly, if not entirely, on 
fish. A few years ago, when similar complaints were 
made against the fur seals, I took the trouble to examine 
the stomach contents of a large number of these animals, 
and found to my surprise that the great bulk of their food 
consisted of squids, hundreds of whose beaks and pens 
were found in the stomachs, while in x)nly a few instances 
were arty traces of fish discovered. 
In 1899 a well-known naturalist. Prof. L. L. Dyche, of 
the Universit}' of Kansas, spent the months of June, July, 
August and September on the California coast, at a time 
when the sea lions were being slaughtered in the alleged 
interests of the fishermen. Prof. Dyche became interested 
in the question of their food, and took the trouble to 
examine the stomachs of twenty-five sea lions, not one of 
which contained so much as a trace of fish. The region 
visited extends from Monterey Bay southward along the 
coast for about twenty-five miles. 
Between June 25 and July 16 there were washed ashore 
within three miles of Point Pinos, at the mouth of Mon- 
terey Bay, eight sea lionfe which had been shot, the fisher- 
men said, because they were feeding on salmon. Prof. 
Dyche examined the stomachs of all of these and has 
given me a detailed record of the contents of each. It 
would take too -much space to print this in full. Suffice it 
to state that the remains of squids and cuttlefish (Octopus) 
were found in all, and that several were filled with large 
p'eces of the giant squid. Notwithstanding the fact that 
at the same time and place salmon were being caught 
by fishermen, not a fish scale or bone was detected in any 
of the stomachs. Whenever possible Prof. Dj'che opened 
the stomachs in the presence of the fishermen, who in- 
variably expressed the greatest surprise at the result. On 
July 20 Prof. Dvche moved his headquarters southward 
and e-^tablished a camp about twelve miles below Monte- 
rey Bay. between Point Carmel and the lighthouse, near 
which is an extensive rookery of sea lions. Between 
Juh' 20 and Aug. 16 the stomachs of seventeen additional 
sea lion'? were examined. Eight out of the seventeen were 
well filled with the flesh of the giant squid; two were 
gorged with large octopus, while the remaining seven 
contained pens and beaks of squids, the quantity varying 
from half, a pint to about a quart. 
Prof. Dyche was told that there were no fish within 
two or three miles of the sea lion rookeries near his 
camp as the sea lions had caught or- driven them away. 
In the face of this statement, he himself caught a dozen 
rock cod one morning between shore and the seal rocks, 
and his boatman, George (Sarr, an old salmon fisherman, 
caught plenty of rock cod weighing from i to 8 pounds 
each, within 60 feet of the flat rock where from one' to 
300 sea lions landed each day. The water close to these 
rocks, where the sea lions had lived for ages, proved to 
be the best fishing ground in the locality. Prof. Dyche 
states further that he had landed a number of times on 
*In. letter to Hon. Lyman J. Gage, Secretary of the Treasury, 
dated Saa Francisco. June 3, 1839, 
the rocky islands where in places the excrement from 
the sea lions formed a layer a foot thick. He hunted 
through this for fish bones and scales, without being able 
to discover a single one. On the other hand, the tough 
pens from the backs of the squids were abundant. 
Prof. Dyche found the fishermen loud in their denuncia- 
tion of the sea lions on account of their alleged destruc- 
tion of salmon, but, although he was on the fishing 
grounds continuously for more than three months, the 
fishermen were unable to show him a single instance in 
which a sea lion had killed a salmon. He adds, "You can 
hardly imagine the surprised look on these fishermen's 
faces when they saw the great masses of squid meat roll 
out of the sea lions' stomachs when cut open." 
The fact that sea lions in captivity will eat fish rather 
than starve has little bearing on the question, and the 
additional fact that salmon in nets are sometimes found 
bitten off or eaten is by itself no evidence at all, particu- 
larly in places where either sharks or otters occur. 
;It is not claimed that sea lions in their native element 
never eat fish; at the same time the only actual evidence 
we have on the subject fails utterly to substantiate the 
allegations of the fishermen. On the contrary, all of the 
twenty-five stomachs of sea lions examined by Prof. Dyche 
contained remains of squids or cuttlefishes,^ and not one 
contained so much as the scale or bone of a fish. And is 
it not significant that in former years, when sea lions were 
much more plentiful than now, salmon also were vastly 
more abundant? If the fishermen will look into their 
own habits and customs during the past twenty-five years, 
it is believed that the cause of decrease of the salmon will 
not be difficult to find, and this without charging the de- 
crease to the inoffensive sea lions, whose rookeries con- 
stitute one of the greatest attractions to the visitor on the 
Califoniia coast. C. Hart Merriam. 
New England Waters. 
Boston, May 18. — Word comes from Upper Dam, 
Maine, that Mr. W. P. Clark, the veteran angler of so 
many seasons there, has landed a trout weighing 9^ 
pounds. Mr. Clark's friends in Boston- are all much 
pleased, since this is the biggest fish he has ever caught 
in thirty-two seasons' angling at that noted point. Still, 
it must be remembered that larger trout have been taken 
there. The largest brook trout on record was taken at 
Upper Dam, Sept. 29, 1879, and weighed 11^ pounds. 
This is no fish story. The skin of this trout, mounted, 
was in the Smithsonian Institute at Washington, under 
Professor Baird, and should be there now. Unbelievers 
need not cry "Lake Trout!" as they so frequently do. 
when hearing of the Rangeley giant salmo fontinalis, 
for both Professor Baird and the senior Agassiz have 
declared that they are perfect brook trout. Later, Fish 
Commissioner Henry O. Stanley has demonstrated that 
the spawn taken from these big trout hatches out the 
little brook trout, and that if they do not get down into 
the lakes and feed upon minnows they never reach a 
very great size. Cobljosseecontee reports of fishing are 
good. An Auburn gentleman writes that there were 
taken on one rod, in one morning's fishing the other day. 
two trout of good size and three bass. The recent warm 
weather has increased the sport there. The latest reports 
also mention better fishing at Lake Auburn. A Mr. 
Waugh, of Boston, fished that lake three days last week 
without a strike, however. Judge Whitehouse, of Au- 
gusta, and Judge Savage, of Auburn, have returned from 
a fishing trip to Upper Dam. Judge Whitehouse took a 
couple of good trout on Monday. Returned Moosehead 
fishermen mention very high water, cold weather and high 
winds, and poor fishing. They advise sportsmen to go 
later. 
A representative party of Boston merchants is planned 
to leave for a fishing trip on Thursday. The number in- 
cludes J. E. Toulmin, W. J. Leckie, W. J. Follett, C. P. 
Hall, George W. Brown and P. S. Allison. Mr. Alli- 
son is from Bristol, England, and this will be his first 
trip to Maine for trout fishing. He is in with a pjsrty 
of live merchants and fishing enthusiasts, and is one 
himself. They have had so much to say about Maine 
fishing that he is alive with expectation, and hopes to go 
back to the old country with a good deal in the shape 
of angling experience. J. L. Richards is purveyor of the 
party, and that means a good deal to the boys. They go 
to Norcross by rail; thence by canoes, sixteen miles 
through the Twin Lakes to their camp on the West 
Branch. 
Boston, May 20. — Great expectations are in the wind 
concerning the Belgrade lakes, in Maine, and several Bos- 
ton parties will go there for bass fishing, which is scarcely 
at its best till warmer weather. There are reports of some 
good speckled trout being taken there last week by local 
.sportsmen and Augusta and Waterville fishermen. 
D. Whitehouse, of Portland, has taken seven handsome 
trout, and P. O. Vickery, of Augusta, has taken one of 
7 pounds weight. Reports from Kineo say that Moose- 
head Lake fishing is good for togue. or lakers, with some 
fish up to 8 and 10 pounds being caught by Boston parties, 
among whom are A. W. Chester, F. D. Hall and C. B. 
Deyereaux. A, C. Millner. of Mormontown, Utah, is 
fishing there, and made a good catch of lakers last week. 
Salmon fishing has scarcely shown up much yet, but a few 
have been taken, and good fishing for them is looked for. 
Fly-fishing for squaretails, for which that lake is noted, 
will begin as soon as the weather is warm enough. Calais, 
Me., reports continue to mention great success at Grand 
Lake. Fish are beginning to rise to the fly in Grand 
Lake Stream. It will be remembered that this stream has 
long been noted for landlocked salmon that will rise to the 
fly. While the fish are not large, the sport is counted 
great. Several Boston parties are ready to be off for that 
stream as soon as the fly-fishing begins. Dr. F. M. John- 
son, C. E. Taylor, J. E. Brittian and H. M. Cutter, Bos- 
ton; P. E. Mansfield and J. W. Hoyet, Lynn; William E. 
Beggs, Woburn ; H. H. White, Cambridge, are among the 
more successful fishermen 'at Grand Lake thus far. The 
Underwoods, of the Duck Lake Club, are going the last 
of this month. The season at the big Bangor Salmon 
Pool still promises to be a record breilfer. An account 
kept by a Bangor citizen interested in the sport says that 
sixty salmon have been taken, of a united weight of 
1,066 pounds. This shows an average of a little over 16 
pounds. The greatest nuqiber of fish has been takm by 
