Jan. ii, 1902.]) 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
5" Mas&. shtisetts Dt»» 
North At\jRtX, Mass^ Dec, 30. — The past season has 
been a very favorable one for pond shooting in this 
vicinity. The stand at Wenham was for the first time 
equipped with live geese decoys, and forty-seven geese 
were shot. 
Among the peculiarities of the flight was the first ap- 
pearance of redheads in any numbers. This bird has al- 
ways been rather common on Cape Cod and outlying 
islands, but .on the North Shore_ I have found it very 
rare. The stand secured twenty-nine this fall, and others 
were observed. The flight was between Oct. 19 and 25. 
The pintail is another duck which has never been seen 
in numbers as this year. This is also a bird more com- 
mon to the eastward. Nine were secured and many 
more observed. They appear to be the shvest duck the 
stand gunner has to cope with, often circling about the 
pond for five or ten minutes and paying but little atten- 
tion to the live decoys. _ We observed one male canvas- 
back with a bunch of pintail. 
A spoonbill was shot on Oct. 8, this being the first 
one ever taken at the stand. He was with a small bunch 
of black ducks, evidently from the salt meadows. 
Mallards were more numerous than usual, fifteen being 
shot. In former years three or four has been the highest 
ever taken here. 
Fifty-nine ruddy ducks were secured, against only fif- 
teen of last year. Black ducks were also more plentiful 
than last year, but bluebills, whistlers and buffleheads were 
scarce. 
The best day happened on a big northeaster in No- 
vember, when three guns bagged twenty-six geese and 
seven ducks. A score of twenty-six ducks was reached on 
two different days in October. 
Can it be possible that a portion of the duck and goose 
flight is passing further to the westward than usual? 
Our notes for the year seemed to indicate some such 
change. 
It would be interesting if other Massachusetts pond 
gunners would report their luck from year to year. 
J. C, Phillips. 
The Maine Season of *90t. 
The annual report of the Maine Commissioners of 
Inland Fisheries and Game is in the hands of the GoV 1 - 
ernor. The Auburn station hatched 114,000 brook trout, 
170,000 landlocked salmon and 25,000 other fish last win- 
ter. There are now 300,000 brook trout eggs and 520,000 
landlocked salmon eggs in the hatching troughs of that 
station. Cobbosseecontee station hatched 140,000 brook 
trout and i6S,ooo landlocked salmon. At that station 
there are now 200,000 brook trout eggs and 40,000 land- 
; locked salmon eggs in process of hatching. At the Caribou 
! hatchery there were 194,000 brook trout, 1,100 brown 
trout, 125.000 landlocked salmon and 17,000 whitefish 
hatched. The Sebago station hatched 185,000 brook trout 
and 118,000 landlocked salmon for the season. 
Under the head of big game, the Commissioners say : 
From the best information we have been able to obtain from the 
annual reports of guides, sporting camp proprietors, transportation 
' companies and others, 317 moose have keen killed legally and 96 
illegally, .making a total of 413 moose killed in the State this year. 
A large majority of those killed illegally were cows and calves. 
From the same sources of information we learn that 10,320 deer 
' have been legally killed this year. We have no reliable data to 
show the number illegally killed. 
There is no indication of caribou returning to the State. 
The number of bears killed by parties guided by registered 
guides is 97: 
I also understand that the above estimate and com- 
pilation of the number of deer killed does not take into 
account the number of deer killed by residents legally — a 
vast number. It is not an unreasonable estimate to put the 
whole number of deer slain in Maine for the season of 
iqoi, legally and illegally, at 20,000 to 25,000. 
Special. 
The Season's Bag. 
Gloversville, N. Y., Dec. 25. — The bird season closed 
with us about Dec. 1 on account of the weather. My score 
this year was twenty-nine woodcock and seventeen par- 
. tridges. It required some hunting to bag them. On ac- 
count of the heavy crop of beechnuts the partridges were 
scattered, and we had hard work to find them. 
J, H. D. 
— k — 
Proprietors of fishing resorts will find it profitable to advertise 
them in Forest and Stream. 
Angling for God. 
In New York Fishing Waters at Coney Island and the 
"Banks"— Methods of Capture. 
One day a passenger on one of the fishing steamers, 
evidently making the trip for the pleasure of the sail, 
asked one of the deck hands how far it was to the land. 
He replied, "Not far." 
Arriving on the grounds, anchor was heaved, the 
steamer came to a stand and all commenced to fish ex- 
cepting the foreigner, an Englishman, who, after an hour's 
patient waiting, took himself to the pilot house. 
"Say, Cap," he inquired, "when do we land at the Fish- 
ing Banks?" 
"We are on them now, sir," was the reply. 
"Why," exclaimed the passenger, "do you call these 
waters Banks? I thought your boat was bound for some 
land resort, where I could get off, walk about and rest. 
Instead I find myself out upon the ocean with a lot of 
bloovnin' idiots, all a-fishing, creating a big fuss and 
making the decks gory with the blood and slime of cod- 
fish." 
The disappointed traveler was compelled to endure it 
all until late in the afternoon, when anchor was shipped 
and the boat headed for home, but to this day he cannot 
understand why the ocean should be called the Fishing 
Banks. 
There are others, somg £o the manor born, like hirn, 
In 1832 Captain Lyman Bebe, of New York, commanding 
the fishing smack Mary, discovered a noted fishing ground 
jbout twenty miles east from Sandy Hook. This_ was the 
"great cholera" year, and the scourge was making such 
progress it became the main topic among men. Naturally 
Captain Bebe decided to call his find the "Cholera Banks," 
and the name clings to those fishing grounds to this day. 
Another reef of rocks in the sea famous for excellent 
fishing, are known as the Fishing Banks. These grounds 
extend from off the Highlands of Navesink, past Long 
Branch to a point nearly opposite Squam Beach. Both 
of these fishing waters are favorite resorts for a certain 
class who reach them by excursion steamers built for 
the convenience and use of fishermen. 
During the summer — in fact, during the whole year — 
several steamers daily visit these Fishing Banks, which 
are really numerous submerged, rocky reefs, while above 
and all about them is the ocean. 
Thousands of fishermen, the German element largely 
predominating, are their patrons, and these seldom fair 
of making good catches of sea bass, blackfish, porgies, 
cod and other varieties of deep-sea fish. During the 
fall and late into the winter the principal fish sought by 
these jolly, good-natured citizens, is the cod. which runs 
to good size, often so large as 40 pounds or more, but the 
average fish is about 10 pounds weight. _ 
A good description by a newspaper artist who, visiting 
the Cholera Banks for the first time, says:_ "Starting so 
early in the morning that my eyes are still heavy with 
unexpended sleep, I soon found myself on the steamer in 
company with a hundred more fellow passengers, some 
of whom are heavy eyed and inclined to grumble about 
the. hour of starting, while others are cheerful and full 
of excitement at the prospect of the day's sport. Down 
the bay, through the Narrows, across the Lower Bay and 
out to sea steams the craft on which we are embarked, 
past the lightship and twenty miles due east from Sandy 
Hook she runs, and then begins to search for the banks. 
The pilot takes ranges by several of the big hotels along 
the south shore of Long Island, a man in the bow takes 
soundings, and, if the day be clear, the steamer is soon 
brought to an anchor directly above the reef, and a 
hundred eager lines are dropped overboard. Once at 
anchor the fun and trouble begin. It is fun to catch fish, 
but seasickness is among the saddest of human experi- 
ences. Many who have bravely endured the pitching to 
which the steamer has been treated ever since she left 
Sandy Hook succumb at once to the motion that succeeds 
it as soon as she comes to anchor and rises and falls 
with regular, ceaseless monotony on the land swells. 
"Apart from these and ridiculing their wretchedness 
stand the regulars, smoking short pipes, hauling in fish, 
making cruel jokes upon the condition of the novices and 
thoroughly enjoying themselves. They bait their hooks 
with skimmer clams, skillfully toss their leaden sinkers 
far out, let run their line and haul in sea bass, blackfish, 
fluke, cod, weakfish, porgies or whatever else comes to 
hand. Once in a while a line goes whizzing through 
the water with a wild rush, there is a protracted struggle 
and an ugly customer in the form of a shark, either 
breaks the line and escapes or is hauled on board amid 
much rejoicing." 
The first catch of the day is always watched for with 
the greatest interest. Other points to be scored are the 
largest catch of the day in numbers and weight, and the 
heaviest fish. 
On the homeward trip the fish are cleaned, sorted, 
weighed, examined, passed about for inspection and com- 
mented upon. Special lots are put aside for those at 
home and distribution among friends, and often those 
making very large catches raffle them or present them to 
the steamer's crew. 
These cod are captured in immense quantities in pounds 
and traps along the coast of Rhode Island and Massa- 
chusetts." Many of its haunts are undisturbed by fisher- 
men, and its importance as a food fish increases with 
years. 
In the fall of 1896, for the first time in about twenty 
years, the cod appeared and were taken by angling with 
hooks and line from the Iron Piers at Coney Island, and 
in small boats fishing near the shore, and in the waters of 
Gravesend Bay. They returned this fall in greater quan- 
tities, and will continue to return to these waters each 
fall and winter season for perhaps seven years, as is their 
habit in any given waters they once enter. 
These fish differ from the large cod of the deep sea. 
These of the smaller species are really rock cod. called so 
in this section, while in Southern waters, notably in the 
vicinity of Charleston, S. C, and Pensacola, Fla., they 
are known as rock blackfish. 
Experienced cod fishermen use a short, heavy, two-piece 
rod, with butt of ash, and lancewood tip, ball-bearing 
wood reel to hold 600 feet of strong, but not necessarily 
thick, linen line. The hooks, Nos. 4, 5, 6 and 7 Sproat, or 
Kirby, Limerick, are tied to tarred snells, and the bait 
is "skimmer clams," of which cod are especially fond; a 
very heavy sinker is essential. These fish are not, how- 
ever, over-particular regarding their diet, almost every- 
thing goes. They have been caught containing silver 
watches, nails and closed pocket knives. Recently in 
the stomach of one was a silver buckle of a lady's garter. 
The writer caught one which, on opening, had inside a 
portion of a cutlet, the bony part of a chop, and a piece 
of apple pie, which the cod had swallowed as the particles 
fell from the kitchen window of an excursion boat. 
Another curious thing about cod is that when taken 
just before the approach of a storm, they have been found 
to contain big stones, which the fishermen declare they 
use to anchor themselves during the storm and the sea's 
swell, which after the storm has spent its fury they eject 
from their stomachs and swim away, happy in the knowl- 
edge of their wisdom. T. Biedinger. 
Bass Flies and] Entomology. 
In Forest and Stream of Sept. 21 last, I referred to a 
new and promising bass fly sent me by Mr. N. P. Howell, 
of Newark, N. J., and explained that it had been de- 
signed from insects which appeared in great numbers for 
a few days in June at Belgrade Lakes, Maine, which were 
eagerly devoured by the bass. Having expressed a hope 
that some of these insects would be properly classified, 
Mr. Howell, who had specimens still by him, sent them to 
^he Smithsonian Jnstkutipn, and has kindly forwarded 
me the reply of the assistant secretary, Mr. Rathbun, 
who says, "I am informed by Mr. W. H. Ashmead, as- 
sistant curator of the Division of Insects, that the speci- 
mens which you transmitted on Sept. 20 have been identi- 
fied by Mr. D. W, Coquillet, Custodian of the Section of 
Diptera, as representing the species Bibio pallipes, Say. 
He states that no figure of this species appears to have 
been published as yet, nor is he aware that anything is 
known regarding the early stages of the fly, although 
other members of the genus have been reported as feed- 
ing upon the roots of grasses and plants. The specimens 
will be added to the Museum collection in your name." 
This is simply another instance to be added to the many 
on record in which fresh contributions to our knowledge 
of natural history have resulted from the intelligent ob- 
servations of cultured anglers. Would it not further 
contribute to the important study of fish food, if either 
the New York State Fish Commission or some similar 
body procured specimens of Bibio pallipes, and published 
a figure of them in colors? It would certainly be of 
interest to entomologists and anglers. 
E. T. D. Chambers. 
Quebec, Canada. 
San Francisco Striped Bass Club. 
San Francisco, Cal. — Editor Forest and Stream: Tues- 
day evening, Dec. 17, iooi, will long be rememberfd by 
local bass fishermen who met at Good Fellows' Grotto 
under the auspices of the San Francisco Striped Bass 
Club, to show their appreciation of the genius of Mr. 
Albert W. Wilson, the well-known authority on striped 
bass fishing, for having furnished them with a trolling 
spoon which has proven itself the greatest killer to date, 
and, so far as sportsmen are concerned has relegated the 
succulent clam to its original use— chowder — as it will 
be seldom used in future for bait. 
Mr. Wilson is very expert in the preparation of fishing 
tackle, and has during the past twenty years done much 
for the encouragement and satisfaction of sportsmen; at 
the same time he has been experimenting with all kinds 
of spoons and lures, but not until the present discovery 
was any real success achieved in this line. 
The meeting was called to order by the president of the 
club, Charlie Breidenstein, who appointed Mr. George M. 
Mitchell chairman. Mr. Mitchell, in a few well chosen 
remarks, introduced the orator of the evening, Mr. 
Osmond W. Jackson, whose address was a masterpiece 
of faultless diction. He called attention in detail to the 
patient and persistent efforts of Mr. Wilson in prospect- 
ing for bass, meeting with so little success for so many 
years. During all- this time scarcely anything was known 
of the habits and haunts so far as this coast was con- 
cerned. He knew the Fish Commission had transplanted 
them to this coast in 1879. but where they had gone or 
the habits they had acquired was to be learned. How he 
visited week after week the various sloughs, rivers, bays 
and straits of the State and after locating this beautiful 
and powerful fish, he was not content until he had dis- 
covered a lure which could be depended upon to bring 
them to gaff, and he labored patiently until he gave to 
the anglers of this coast the spoon which will furnish 
from time immemorial grand sport, at so little expense; 
in fact, it is now called the poor man's sport. 
The presentation consisted of a "Testimonial and 
Award of Merit," accompanied by a ourse. The scroll, 
with the fac-simile signatures of the donors, was beauti- 
fully executed, and undoubtedly it will grace the wall of 
the' home of the recipient, and be shown with pride to 
his many friends as the token of appreciation of San 
Francisco anglers. 
Mr Wilson made a happy reply, and even on this occa- 
sion could not refrain from giving the boys a few gra- 
tuitous pointers which were well received. 
C. B. Hollywood, James A. Pariser and M. J. Geary 
were very f.licitous in their remarks, the trend of all 
seeming to lead to the climax of joy in the abolishment 
of the clam as bait. The toast of the evening— the 
health and prosperity of the guest of honor— was 
responded to most heartily, when by one accord_ the 
whole company rose to their feet and in this position 
drank to ltfs health, joining in the chorus For He s a 
Jolly Good Fellow." ' • , _~ u w M , 
Great credit is due Messrs. G. M. Mitchell, Osmond 
W Jackson and W. F. Shattuck for their untiring efforts 
in bringing the occasion to such a successful conclusion. 
Mr G Lutrell had charge of the decorations, and they 
were most appropriate. An enlarged Wilson spoon was 
suspended from the ceiling with one of McFarland s 
monstrous bass on the hook. Rods of the most approved 
pattern with the necessary tackle for actua. warfare were 
displayed with sooons attached to bass of goodly propor- 
tions, and the forsaken clam was there also, m great 
profusion, with humorous epitaphs inscribed by the club 
artist "Bill" Ashcroft, showing that now they were a 
thing' of the past as a bass lure. James Watt. 
Confess of Fisheries at St, Petersburg. 
Consul General Holloway writes from St. Peters- 
burg: The International Congress of Fisheries and hislr 
Culture, at its last session in Paris m 1900, decided to 
hold the next session at St. Petersburg. The imperial 
Russian Society of Fisheries and Fish Culture has re- 
ceived imperial sanction and has completed arrangements 
for an exhibition, to commence on January 28, 1902. Ihe 
congress will open on the 22d of February, and both will 
close March 8. . 
The exhibition is open to Russians and foreigners. 
Among its objects are to determine the actual condition 
of sea and fresh water fisheries, and of other similar pur- 
suits; to acquaint producers and consumers with the 
various products of fisheries, and with methods ot prepar- 
ing and preserving the same; to exhibit the gradual de- 
velopment and actual state of artificial fish breeding, as 
well as the various aspects of amateur fishing and 
angling; to promote scientific research in the interests 
of fisheries. . . . , 
The congress will discuss questions pertaining to the 
present position and needs of fisheries and fish industries 
from scientific, economical, technical industrial, and 
commercial points of view, and will also consider 
measures for the improvement of these branches ot m- 
^WStry, W. & HoiaowaY; QQm\ General, 
