Aug. 10, igoi.] 
FOREST AND STREAM 
109 
be doomed from the very first, and the scores that anglers 
have made and published of grayling killed must now 
haunt their makers. To me the short history 
of the Michigan grayling borders on the pathetic. Pos- 
sibly I have idealized the tish until it has become some- 
thing more to me than a A'ertebrate with iins and scales, 
and fills the place of a martyr among fishes. Certainly 
I rejoice to find that there are still enough of the grayling 
left to make an exhibit at Buffalo, and- this gives one faith 
to believe that there may be streams where one may yet 
entice a very few with the artificial fly and have the honor 
of catching one of the most shy and delicate of fishes, and 
then return it to the water. 
A Working Fishway. 
A most instructive exhibit in the collection of the U. S. 
Fish Commission is a working model of an improved Cail 
fishway, the improvements being made by Wm. H. von 
Bayer, engineer and architect of the United States Fish 
Commission. It is this pattern of fishway that the Forest, 
Fish and Game Commission of New York is erecting in 
the Salmon River near Pulaski, to enable the salmon 
which .were found there as the result of planting fry in 
the stream to find their way to the upper waters, from 
which they were barred by four dams. The model of the 
improved fishway demonstrates its practicability before 
the eyes of the visitors to the exposition. Young_ rain- 
bow trout, as they are hatched and after the sac is ab- 
sorbed, are placed in the water at the foot of the fishway 
and many make their way up through the fishway to the 
pool above it, and every morning they are returned to the 
pool at the foot, only to repeat the operation of ascending 
through the fishway, showing most conclusively that the 
fishway will perform Avhat is claimed for it. It is a case 
of seeing is believing. There are many other features of 
the exhibit of the United States Commission worthy of 
extended notice at another time. A. N. Cheney. 
Tarpon Fishing. 
Tarpon, Texas, July 26.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
I have looked in vain for an expression from tlie tarpon 
critics on the able paper of my friend Waddell on tarpon 
tackle. Though I claim the honor of being his pupil, I am 
not prepared to follow him to the full extent of his com- 
prehensive outfit or to allow his paper to go unchallenged 
as a possible deterrent to those who may wish to try the 
sport. 
I have read his paper with, pride and profit. Having 
undertaken to give a list, he must be excused for being 
comprehensive, though he may have enumerated many 
things which under certain conditions would be cumber- 
some and unnecessary. In summer time especially there is 
no need of hunting coat or other heavy clothing. The 
lighter the latter the more comfortable. I prefer to get 
my feet wet occasionally to inclosing them in a pair of 
waders. No doubt Mr. Waddell and others who can 
frequently enjoy the sport as he does will find abundant 
use of everything in his list. My lot is to be content with 
a few weeks in the season with the tarpon, and I know , 
of no more enjoyable or profitable manner of spending 
the short time that one can snatch from more serious 
affairs. My object on those occasions is to throw off all 
care and burden and to set out with rod and reel and 
small valise containing a few changes and a little tackle. 
T fear that Mr. Waddell's list, entailing an initial expense 
of two or three hundred dollars, would scare the average 
beginner. This I know was not intended, however, for 
when he furnished me with a list of the outfit necessary 
in ray case, it consisted of a $20 reel, a $12 rod, a Hall 
line No. 27, a dozen Van Vleck hooks and three dozen 
large barrel swivels; and with these I was content, until 
I saw his list and Mr. W. B. Leach's outfit, from which 
I propose to cull for future use — a small vise, some strong 
wire, wire cutter, a pair of flat pincers, a pair of round 
pincers, a file, a screw driver, an oiler, a sheet of emery 
paper and some old line. This, with my present outfit, is 
all that necessary, in my estimation, for a pleasant 
outing. 
I am glad Mr. Waddell has called attention to the fact 
that tarpon tackle is too light. In nineteen days and a 
half that I fished this summer, I broke the wire snell six 
or seven times; the Van Vleck hook three times; in ten 
days that I was compelled to use the 27 Hall line it broke 
thi-ee times. The balance of the time I used a Hall 37 
with entire satisfaction. It is very discouraging to lose so 
many of the largest and most coveted fish of one's catch. 
Judging from the number of complaints that I have heard 
from all sides, even this is not a fair average of the loss 
occasioned by light tackle. I wish the manufacturers 
would take the matter into consideration and furnish a 
stronger article to those who desire it. The manufac- 
turers, however, are not entirely to blame; some men will 
not use heavy tackle, and we are all apt to compare the 
lightness of our tackle with the weight and strength of the 
fish, paying therebv an indirect compliment to our own 
skill. 
I have not seen Mr. Waddell's paper on where to fish. I 
trust he has not slighted Aransas Pass. I can give no 
opinion on its relative merits, having no experience any- 
where else, but from what I have heard and seen, few 
places, if any, would have furnished me the sport that it 
has this season. In nineteen days and a half I landed 
fifty-eight tarpon, four sharks, eight jackfish and two 
Jewfish without any extra skill or other advantage over 
^the ordinary every-day amateur. I never enjoyed such 
recreation. To my mind it is the pink of perfection. I 
don't know where to go nor what to do to improve on 
it. If you add to the above the balmy sea air and an 
■occasional bath in the surf, it would be difficult to sur- 
pass it. 
Now let me say a word in behalf of the tarpon himself. 
I have heard a great deal of discussion in regard to the 
fate of those landed on the beach. I incline to the opinion 
of the majority, who hold that they invariably die or are 
devoured by the sharks. I am inclined to think so, be- 
cause of the number cast upon the shore, and be- 
cause of the thumping they give their heads on the ground 
occasionally, causing blood to flow from the mouth. So 
dazed are they when returned that they cannot make their 
way to deep water ; the boatman has generally to steer 
them out. Frequently they float on their backs as long as 
they are in sight. Fish that are intended to be returned 
should not be landed on the beach. The hook should be 
taken from them at the end of the boat in deep water. I 
have done it and have seen it done in this way. When 
the fish is ready to land he is reeled in to the end of 
the boat. Then the boatman takes his gaff, passes back 
and holding the snell with the left hand passes the point of 
the gaff through the thin skin under the tongue and imme- 
diately behind the lower jaw and jabs it against the boat. 
Here it is easily held by the fisherman until the hook is 
removed. Then the boatman takes the gaff again, esti- 
mates the length and weight of the fish and sets it free. 
Compare the fate of this fish with the one landed on the 
beach and you can readily see that his chances for life are 
a thousand to one. In fact, except for the exhaustion of 
the struggle, which a few hours' rest will dispel, and a 
small hole in his mouth, which closes immediately that the 
gaff is removed, and which in a few days will heal up, he 
is just as he was before he struck for the bait. My boat- 
man at first protested that this could not be done, but 
after a little patient coaching he was delighted to find 
that it could be, and frequently in half the time that it 
would take to land the fish on the beach. 
If I have hereby obtained for the silver king at the 
hands of his friends more humane treatment, of which, in- 
deed, he is so worthy, and encouraged others to try this 
most enjoyable and beneficial recreation, and pleased my 
friend Waddell, I feel grateful for having done through 
your good will what I set out to accomplish. 
M. J. O'DWYER. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
Brown Trout in the Adirondacks. 
BooNNiLLE, N. Y. — Editor Forest and Stream: A recent 
remarkable catch of a 5-pound trout in the waters of Mill 
Creek, a stream flowing through this village, and which 
has yielded a most prolific supply of small trout for the 
last century, has created no little excitement among local 
anglers. The creek runs into the northerly part of the 
village from the west and flows in an easterly direction, 
being one of the many tributaries of Black River, some 
three miles distant. In wet seasons the waters of the 
stream turn the wheels of a half dozen mills located in 
the village, but the greater part of the year the waters 
are shallow, especially so in the summer months. There 
has been no stocking of the stream for the last ten years, 
but catches of trout of a pound weight are not infrequent, 
though the average weight of those caught does not ex- 
ceed 4 ounces. The largest brook trout taken from the 
stream heretofore weighed 2^ pounds. 
For several years anglers have brought home well 
filled baskets, but always with the doubtful tale of the 
big fellow that got away. The big fellow referred to 
above was captured by Dr. Webster S. Seavey, of this 
village, last Friday afternoon. Out of a cold spring 
hole he drew hirn with a 7-ounce rod, leading him into 
shallow water and drawing him thence to the shore. The 
bait used was an ordinary minnow. Many persons 
viewed the prize, which was caught forty rods east of 
the corporate limits of the village. Various opinions 
were expressed as to the variety of the trout caught. 
Dr. Seavey claimed it to be a speckled or brook trout, 
but other well-known anglers insist that it was a hybrid. 
The weight of the fish was 5 pounds, and length 25J/2 
inches. It had the appearance of having been hooked 
in the mouth several times, the upper jaw being out of 
shape, and with no teeth on the left side. The upper jaw 
from the corner of the mouth was J4 inch shorter than 
the lower, the latter measuring 4 inches. The trout was 
of a dark color, with large red spots on sides and dark 
yellowish specks about the head and back' the red spots 
appearing on about two-thirds of the distance between 
head and tail. The flesh was pink in color, firm and of 
good flavor; in fact, similar in appearance and taste to 
a brook trout. It is possible that the trout at some 
season of high water had come up Mill Creek Stream 
from Balck River, and remained in the shallow_ waters 
to baffle the efforts of the many anglers who frequent 
the prolific waters in which it was caught. 
; Francis A. Willard. 
[The fish described by Mr. Willard, and of which he 
sends a photograph, is the brown trout of Europe, intro- 
duced into this country, and often incorrectly called Ger- 
man brown trout, and by the U. S. Fish Commission 
called Von Bahr trout, after the distinguished German 
who early sent the eggs to this country. A mark by which 
the brown trout (Salmo fario) can always be recognized 
is a pink spot on the adipose fin. for no other trout has it.] 
About "Givingf It Away*** 
St. Paul, Minn. — Editor Forest and Stream: Your 
remarks about giving away the good fishing spots to the 
outside world lead up to the practice of secretiveness in 
fishermen. The man who as a rule can keep a secret 
will suffer the tortures of a Byrnes third degree, and 
come out with the secret of his favorite trout stream or 
bass lake entombed in his breast. I think there are 
some fishermen who would be shot first before they would 
divulge the whereabouts of their particular stream. Well, 
in all this I presume there is the natural principle of 
keeping what you have. A miner would not proclaim 
to the world his newly found pay gravel or rich out- 
cropping until his claim had been entered and duly filed, 
giving him exclusive ownership. Now the fisherman as a 
rule does not own his stream, and when he finds a stream 
back in the wilderness choked with big trout, why, he 
keeps as still as death about it, trusting that no one may 
find it out and thus will the stream remain undisturbed 
until a year hence. 
And here is where the art of medicine differs from the 
art of fishing. If the physician finds some new remedy 
of greater service than any heretofore known, he tells his 
brother practitioners all about it, so humanity can be 
helped. Not so the angler. When he makes a discovery 
he keeps it to himself and sees that the rest of fishing 
humanity do not "get on to it," 
But I have never yet found a good spot but I was 
willing to let the other fellow know about it, be it lake or 
stream — a foolish thing to do in the opinion of many, but 
nevertheless I have so done. 
Chables Cmstadoro, 
They Got Muscallunge. 
Chicago, 111., Aug. 3.— One of the most successful mus- 
calluno-e parties to leave Chicago this summer was that _ 
engineered by Mr. W. T. Davis, of Chicago, representative 
of the Kansas City Star, which party has btit .recently 
returned from the Manotowish cham of Wisconsin. The 
party, as made up, was something of a family affair, Mr. 
Davis being accompanied by liis daughter and son, Mr. 
Budke. of St. Louis, taking along his family, and there 
being also in the party the Misses Caldwell. Miss Lulu 
Perkins Miss Flossie Cowgill, Miss Susie Thompson and 
Miss Lucas, Dick Brandon, of Lord & Thomas; Mr. 
George Williams and Mr. John Walker, completed the 
list. The party made a stav of three weeks, driving seven 
miles from Manotowish Station to Re.st Lake, and then 
going up the river to Manotowish Lake. They comprised, 
'it is true, quite a number of rods, and had several days 
of fishing, but the results seem to be better than those of 
any other party that has been in there this season. 
The largest fish weighed 25 pounds, and was taken by 
Miss Cowgill, a ladv who had never before wet a fish line 
in all her life. She' had been fishing but. a short time be- 
fore this fish struck, and naturally had rather an interest- 
ing time fop a while. Mr. Brandon was in the boat at 
the time with Miss Cowgill, and in attempting to gaff 
the 'lunge got it only part way inboard, and then told the 
guide to row ashore. At this moment the fish struggled 
and broke away from the gaff, going again into the water 
for a little run. Fortunately the hooks stiU held, and 
the 'lunge was finally boated and secured. 
Mr Davis himself was fortunate in taking a fish weigh- 
ing 24^ pounds, although it was 3^2 inches longer than 
that taken bv Miss Cowgill, which fish, although heavier, 
measured biit 44V^ inches, whereas that taken by Mr. 
Davis ran 48 inches full. Mr. Budke had several nice 
'lunge, his largest being 43 inches in length and weighing 
00 pounds. Miss F. Caldwell killed one handsome fish of 
40 inches length and 16 pounds weight, and Miss Lucas 
took one weighing 12 pounds. Mr Davis son F. G. 
Davis killed a handsome 'lunge of 16 pounds, and differ- 
ent members of the party had fish of 10, 11 or 12 pounds. 
At one time this party, or rather three boats of the party, 
came down in front of the hotel at the same time and 
each boat was playing a muscallunge. Fishmg of this 
kind is not ordinary in these days on our muscallunge 
waters. It is thought that • the water m the river was 
getting a little low, as the dam was open, and that the 
fish were just beginning to be uneasy and were moving 
back into the lake. The party were delighted with their 
trip, and purpose repeating it next year Mr. Davis, who 
is the best fellow in the world among those good fellows, 
the newspaper men, gets up one of these big parties nearly 
every year Dick Brandon, of Lord & Thomas, went 
along to tell them how to fish for muscallunge, and he 
seems to have been about the only one in the outfit who 
did not get any good muscallunge. Such is life. 
The Watefville Bullheads. 
The howl which recently arose from the village of 
Waterville. Minn., at the cutting off of their ancient bull- 
head privileges by the State Fish Commission, has resulted 
rather unexpectedly in favor of the bullhead-infested corn.- 
munity After a long and hot argument before the btate 
Fish Commission, where a delegation of the citizens of 
Waterville presented a petition for relief from the too 
numerous numbers of bullheads, the Commission finally 
granted permission to the citizens of Waterville to re- 
sume their former industry of shipping bullheads, this 
industrv. however, to be carried on only under a special 
bullhead inspector. Mr. L. L. Blair, of Waterville, has 
been appointed to this onerous position and will receive 
his pay from the citizens. The latter claim that they 
ship $!i,200 worth of bullheads every month, and sub- 
mit that the State Fish Commission will cost the life of 
every able-bodied citizen of Waterville unless the latter 
be permitted to continue in their favorite calling of ship- 
ping this succulent product. 
"Western Men on the Cascapcdia. 
Messrs. Watts Humphreys and C. E. Davis, of Saginaw, 
are just back from ten days' fishing on the Cascapedia 
River. Mr. Humphreys had the good fortune to kill two 
handsome salmon, and to raise three others. This was un- 
expected luck, for the -salmon season was practically over. 
The gentlemen went for the trout fishing and had mag- 
nificent success. The largest trout taken was 5^ pounds, 
but each had manv which ran from 4 to 4^4 pounds. 
These gentlemen were guests of Mr. W. B. Mershon, of 
Saginaw, who in the following week will probably send 
down to his lodge on the Cascapedia his friends, Major 
Lyons and wife, also of Saginaw. Mr. Mershon _ will 
hardly be able to attend his guests, a multitude of business 
engagements making this impossible. 
Must Not Seine. 
Mr. Nat H. Cohen, President of the Illinois Fish Com- 
mission, issued the following notice regarding the ob- 
servance of the new Illinois fish law, for which as great 
publicity as possible is requested: 
"The Board of Fish Commissioners have instructed the 
various fish wardens of the State to prosecute all persons 
seining or netting fish in the rivers of the State and other 
waterways which are not used for commercial navigation. 
This action of the board is taken under Section i of the 
act of 1899, still in force, according to the following 
opinion by one of the most eminent attorneys of the 
State : 
" 'The act of May 11, 1901, prohibits all kinds of fishing 
except with hook and line between the iSth day of April 
and the 1st day of August, and for bass, pike and pickerel 
at all times, except with hook and line. The provisions of 
this act leave in full force and effect the provisions of 
Section i of the act of June 1 1, 1897, prohibiting fishing 
at other times, except in accordance with the provisions of 
that act, and it is therefore lawful between the ist day of 
August and the iSth day of April "to seine with meshes 
not less than 2 inches square in the waters of the State 
used for commercial navigation,' " 
