May 1902.] 
alter law suit has been waged against it for its removal, 
aided by the Iowa State Sportsmen's Association, but to 
no avail. The trouble is that the dam is provided with no 
fishway to allow the fish of the Mississippi to pass up the 
Des Moines, and the owners say a fishway would spoil 
the water power of the dam. 
The only way for the ending of the fight is to have the 
State of Iowa purchase the dam, but as the owners want 
a good-sized fortune for it, it will probably be some time 
before the fish of the Mississippi can swim np the Des 
Moines River to spawn, George J. Bicknell. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
Anglers Cannot Carry Fish oat of Michigan. 
Chicago, May 24. — The publication in these columns 
last week of information regarding the bringing of trout 
out of the State of Michigan to Chicago has brought to 
focus a matter which is of the utmost interest to all the 
anglers,- not only of Chicago, but of the West. We have 
no better angling State than Michigan. I have known 
ttiany anglers who did not care to go to a State where they 
did not feel free to bring a certain part of their catch home 
with them. Yet others, like Mr. E. Lipkan, who was 
cited in these columns last week, have not hesitated to 
bring trout home with them, on the basis that the law was 
not intended to prevent carrying trout home, but only to 
prevent shipping fish out of the State for the purposes 
of sale. 
As a matter of fact, it is quite certain that the latter 
class of anglers have largely outnumbered the former. 
1 know of scores of anglers who have been in the habit of 
bringing home their trout with them from Michigan. 
Since publication of last week's comment on this ques- 
tion, I have heard a half-dozen anglers, some of them 
well-known sportsmen, who have expressed their con- 
tempt for the Michigan law, and their intention of violat- 
ing it whenever they felt so inclined. 
There has never been, so fat as I know, any authorita- 
tive statement made ih the columns of any paper in regard 
to the construction of that clause of the Michigan law 
which prohibits the export of fish from the State. Every 
one has been left pretty much to construe the law as he 
liked, and although there have been this spring one or two 
cases of arrest and confiscation, these are but the excep- 
tion and not the rule. 
Under these circumstances a very great interest at- 
taches to the following letter from Mr. Grant M. Morse, 
Game and Fish Warden of Michigan, who. in answer to 
my inquiry of last week, replies as below: 
"I am in receipt of what purports to be a. copy of an 
article to Forest and Stream in re the law prohibiting the 
exportation of protected game fish from Michigan, asking 
that I make full reply to you. From the tone of the 
article I take it for granted that the author was fully 
aware of the law governing this question in Michigan. 
He quotes from a Chicago sportsman who recently made 
a catch on- the Au Sable River in a way that would indi- 
cate that no attempt is made to enforce the law. Permit 
me, however, to disabuse your mind in this particular. 
We do endeavor to enforce the law, and against all alike, but 
as you must well know, we have many men coming to our 
State clothed in the garb of sportsmen who are not and 
never were sportsmen, true to name, but on the con- 
trary, are persistent poachers and violators. They do not 
come from any particular locality, but we find the species 
occasionally in every community, and from the vast num- 
ber of trout streams- which we have in our State, visited 
every year by thousands of residents and non-residents, 
you ought to be able to appreciate how hard it is to ap- 
prehend men who are bent upon a systematic violation of 
the law. 
"It goes without saying that Michigan has some of the 
finest trout streams in the world, and to their pleasant 
haunts we invite the sportsmen from every clime, charg- 
ing them no fee or license for the privilege, admitting 
them to the sport and recreation on an equal basis with 
our own citizens ; but as a protective measure we have 
found it necessary, as has every other State which hopes 
to perpetuate its wild life, to prohibit , the exportation 
of protected game and fish. As a protectionist and one 
who loves and enjoys whipping the stream for the wary 
trout and gamy bass, and desires to see the sport per- 
petuated for his posterity, I have no excuse to make fdr 
this law; it is wholesome and should be observed by 
every true sportsman throughout the land. The recrea- 
tion enjoyed in the cool and pleasant haunts of our Michi- 
gan wild wood should be pay sufficient for the true 
sportsman, and I cannot see where it is in any way a 
forfeiture of pleasure to be obliged to observe this law. 
The law is absolute in its terms, and I assure you, sir, I 
have no friends to serve in its enforcement. I shall serve 
all alike so far as in my power lies, and 'will prosecute 
any residents or non-resident against whom I can get the 
evidence for shipping or attempting to ship any of the 
protected game or fish beyond the limits of this State, and 
I will also prosecute any corporation or servant of cor- 
poration who intentionally allows or aids in their shipment 
out of this State. 
"In conclusion, permit me to say that I find nothing 
in the language of Mr. Purchase that can be interpreted 
as a permission to take trout beyond the limits of" this 
Stale. That this party had the right to take fifty trout 
each with them from the stream is unquestioned, but 
when they attempt to take them with them with the intent 
of shipping or taking them beyond the limits of the State, 
knowing, as they admit, the law which prohibits it, they 
raise the guise under which they have been masquerading 
and disclose their true nature. We invite all true sports- 
men to Michigan, are glad of their company and will do 
everything we can to entertain them in true sportsman- 
like manner, offering them the best trout and bass fishing 
and the finest field shooting, all without license or fee, 
simply asking them to observe the laws which we have 
found necessary to enact in order that we may furnish 
to our citizens and friends, from sister States this splendid 
recreation. 
"I trust you will fully appreciate my position and. in- 
terpretation of the law, and that not only Chicago sports- 
men, but those from other States and cities may now 
fully understand that the exportation of any protected 
game or fish from the State of Michigan is absolutely pro- 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
hibited at all times ; and if you will make an affidavit of 
the facts upon which I can base a Complaint and forward 
it to me, I will prosecute Mr. Lipkau, or any other per- 
son who violates this law. 
"Trusting that this will settle the question beyond 
further dispute, and believing that all true Chicago sports- 
men will gladly acquiesce in the provisions of the statute, 
which has done more to make the trout streams of Michi- 
gan famous than any other." 
The foregoing certainly closes the question. No mat- 
ter what other wardens may have thought in regard to the 
law or what they have failed to do in regard to it, it is 
quite plain what the present warden intends or desires to 
do. Now we might continue to bring trout out of the 
State, if it has been our practice so to do, and we might 
continue to escape the law. but I imagine that no real 
sportsman likes to break the game law of a State de- 
liberately, and after reading a letter such as the above 
from that State's chief executive. We must take our 
medicine and take it like men. I should regret very much 
to hear of any angler of Chicago who has read the 
above, hereafter undertaking to bring home with him any 
portion of his catch, no matter how much he would 
like to do so. For myself, I admit it deprives me of 
nearly half the pleasure of the trip not to be able to 
bring home with me a few trout, but that is neither here 
nor there, and it is not for any of us, either as sportsmen 
or non-residents, nor even as residents of the State of 
Michigan, to complain of the laws which that State sees 
fit to enact. 
In one grave particular Mr. Morse is correct. There 
are none too many trout as it is. Last week I spoke of 
some nice sport I had on a branch of the Au Sable. Ten 
days later I received advice from my friends to the effect 
that that stream is fished out. They made another trip 
and found fifty rods on the river, and the stream killed 
thus early in the season. Everybody knows that the 
limited catch law and the eight-inch law combined have 
been the salvation of the Au Sable. That is to say, it 
would have been utterly ruined without these laws. We 
cannot have our cake and eat it. We cannot make the 
laws to suit ourselves. Therefore, as I said, let us take 
our medicine aiid not make any wry faces about it. Let 
us not make wry faces even if the Michigan laws get still 
stirrer and limit the catch to twenty-five on each stream 
of the State, aiid make the limit eight inches all over the 
State. Personally, I should be entirely willing to see these 
laws so extended, and believe it would be a good thing if 
they were so extended. I should be glad to see certain 
streams closed alternate years. I am going to try to be 
glad that the warden iritettds to impartially enforce this 
law prohibiting the taking of trout out of the State, but 
I can tell him he has got a lot of work to do, for the 
law has- been broken continuously for years, and will 
still be broken. Watch the Au Sable. 
It is then settled that we ought not to sneak trout out 
of Michigan. "Ought not" in this case should mean for 
every real sportsman "shall not" and "will not." 
Bass Fishers. 
Good weather to-day, and a big crowd started out for 
the bass waters, among these John and Oscar Nahser, 
Tom Walters, A. Wolfarth and their friends, Ambrose 
Cooley, Delano, Cooper, Rice and Paulsen. The bass arc 
biting welt in the Fox Lake Chain now. Mr. T. A. 
Hagerty, recently back from Pistakee Bay, says that early 
this week the pickerel and bass were being taken in great 
numbers by nearly everybody who went out. 
Some idea of the numbers of Chicago anglers may be 
gathered from the fact that one firm reports the sale of 
240 dozen live frogs for bait before noon to-day. The 
trade stopped at ,this point, for the reason that the 
supply was exhausted. Ten dozen went to N. M. Nus- 
ley, who is fishing the Fifield Chain of Wisconsin, on the 
Wisconsin Central Railroad. C. H. Lester, also in Wis- 
consin, took five dozen. Mr. J. Beall, of Rockford, had 
twenty-four dozen sent up to Delavan Lake. And so the 
supply went rapidly. 
Chicago Fly-Casting Club will make its first outing on 
the Lauderdale Chain of Wisconsin, on the Milwaukee & 
St. Paul Railroad. The postponed Michigan trip will be 
pulled off June 12. The following is the programme for 
the summer: 
First contest will be held Saturday, June 7. at Garfield Park. 
There should be a large, regular attendance this summer, and the 
committee has tried to make it as interesting as possible. Prizes 
will be given in each event except long-distance fly. Optional 
with winner whether prize shall be $30 gold medal or $30 V. L. & 
A. rod, bait or fly. With the handicaps put on the leaders, you 
have an exceedingly bright chance to win one or more of these 
prizes. 
The executive committee voted $100 toward defraying- the ex- 
pense of two members to be sent to California in August. These 
members are to be selected in July, and will be those with highest 
standing in club contests tip to that time. Come out and practice, 
and perhaps be selected as one of the above members. 
H. G. Hascall, Pres. 
Trout. 
Mr. R. S. Emmett. of this city, started yesterday for 
Saunders, Mich., for two days' trout fishing on the Fence 
River at that point. 
Mr. Charles Antoine reports a checkered trip on the 
Prairie River, from which he has just returned. He 
found no fish on the lower part of the; stream or near 
Dudley's and went up six miles above Dudley's and a 
mile above Bates' place, into the deep and still water. 
Here for a week he. found very fine trout fishing indeed. 
He and his friend Lester took about fifty trout a day 
without any trouble, and very large ones indeed. They 
had several over a pound, and the average of their catch 
ran over eight inches. This is the best fishing reported 
for a long time on the Prairie. Go in by way of Merrill 
to Lossie Cone's, and thence drive up the river six or 
seven miles. You will need waders in this deep water. 
Perhaps with the subsidence of these deep floods the 
trout will work down and scatter again over the stream. 
The professor was the best fly during the last few days 
on this stream, previous to that cowdung and grizzly- 
king. 
Mississippi River Bass, 
\ gentleman who fished the Mississippi River between 
Alma and La Crosse a number of times last summer, says 
that he took about 100 bass in a half-dozen trips there. 
One day he took six bass which weighed 18 pounds, all 
small-mouths and all fighters. This was all fly-fishing. 
481 
Stocking of Michigan Streams, 
There are 475 streams along the Grand Rapids & In- 
diana Railway, of Michigan, that have been stocked by the 
Fish Commission. Six thousand landlocked salmon, 5,000 
fingcrling lake trout have been planted in Walloon Lake; 
also 60,000 wall-eyed pike. There was also 75,000 wall- 
eyed pike planted in Crooked Lake. 
The following streams have been planted with rainbow trout: 
Antrim County — Rapid River, Spencer Creek. 
Grand Traverse County — Bcitrier's Creek, Boardman River. 
Kalamazoo County — Arcadia Creek, Cooper Creek, Spring Brook, 
Portage Creek, Olmstead Creek, West Street Creek. 
Kent County— Rogue River, Harvard Creek, Plaster Creek, Cold- 
water Creek, Shaw Creek, Stegman Creek, Stroup's Creek. Derby- 
Creek. 
Lake County — Pere Marquette River, Little Manistee River, 
Baldwin Creek. 
Mecosta County — Tributary to Muskegon River, Hersey Creek, 
Bruce Creek, East and North Branches of Pine River, Pony 
Creek, Millbrook Creek, Bengin Creek. 
Montcalm County — Stony Run, South Branch of Pine River, 
Tamarack Creek, Off and Near Creek, Broderick Creek, West Lake 
Creek, West Branch, Sucker Creek, Briggs Creek, East Branch, 
West Branch of Flat River, Pickerel Creek. 
Newaygo County — Pere Marquette River, Left Hand Creek, Mul- 
len Creek, Morgan Creek. 
Osceola County — East and West Branches of Pine River, Grind- 
stone Creek, Middle Branch, Ghost Creek, McLung Creek.. 
Wexford County— Headwaters of Pine River. 
Bass Spawning in Michigan. 
Mr. Seymour Bower, superintendent of the Michigan 
fish hatcheries, says that practically all the bass spawn- 
ing in southern Michigan occurs between May 1 and 
June 20. As far north as Petoskey the season may run 
ten days later. Bass in the lakes spawn a few days earlier 
than those in the streams. The small-mouth bass spawns 
on gravel bottom in one to five feet of water, the large- 
mouth in shallower water, and frequently over muddier 
bottom. I have seen bass on the spawning beds in 
Seven-Mile Lake of Wisconsin in the first week of 
August. This may perhaps have been the male bass, 
which is the last to leave the spawning bed, remaining to 
guard the spawn for a time. It is after the parent fish 
leave the spawning bed, according to Mr. Bower, that 
they are most hungry, and are most easily taken, either 
with bait or fly, hence Jitne is a good fishing month. 
E. Hough. 
Hartford Building, Chicago, 111. 
Angling- Near New York. 
With the arrival of the warm weather comes the wel- 
come news that weaktish have begun to take the bait in the 
neighboring waters. For some time past local salt-water 
angiers have had to be content with catching blackfish, 
flounders, ling and the like, but since the weakfish have 
begun to bite, better sport has been provided. 
Reports from the near-by waters are to the effect that 
weakfish are here in plentiful numbers, although the early 
catches have not been very large. Nevertheless, the fact 
of their presence and the warm weather of the past week 
is a source of joy to the devotees of salt-water fishing, 
and is a promise of good sport henceforth. 
In Jamaica Bay large schools of weakfish have been 
seen, but only in the past week have they taken the bait 
to any extent. The catches, while not large in regard 
to numbers, have been very satisfactory. The fish average 
about 1^2 pounds in weight, while one of the first to be 
caught weighed 3 pounds. 
At Gifford's, Staten Island, one of the very best points 
for weakfishing in this locality, the fishing has been bet- 
ter than at Jamaica Bay, and the fish larger. One weigh- 
ing 5 pounds was taken here last Friday, and during a run 
of weakfish on Wednesday of last week one of 6 pounds 
was taken. 
Fishing has been going on for some time at the Old 
Iron Pier, at Coney Island. Blackfish, ling and whiting 
are caught from the pier, and this has served to keep the 
enthusiast busy until the advent of the weakfish has turned 
his attention to that fine fish. G. F. Diehl. 
Kettka Lake Fishing 1 . 
Editor Forest and Stream : 
The fishing season at Lake Keuka opened with very 
cool weather. The result is that the fish have not general- 
ly risen to the surface, as many are still found at great 
depths. The uncertain weather up to to-day has scattered 
the fish so that one is just as likely at the present time to 
find them in 150 feet of water as near the surface. Last 
week some nice catches were made. Sixteen to eighteen 
lake trout during a day. and several were brought in 
which scaled twelve to fifteen pounds. If we only have 
a few warm days there is not the slightest doubt but what 
the trout will be at the surface, and those lucky fishermen 
who are at Lake Keuka at that time will enjoy a treat, for 
I believe there are more fish in the lake to-day than ever 
before. 
There is some excellent wall-eyed pike fishing going on 
in the Susquehanna River ; the best stretch in the river at 
the present time is from Waverly to Owego. Just above 
the railroad bridge over the Susquehanna below Waverly 
is a large pool ; here some fine wall-eyes are being taken. 
Lounsberry Eddy, a few miles below, is giving great satis- 
faction to the local fishermen. Lamprey eels are the 
best bait that can be used. 
Any one going there to fish this stretch of the Susque- 
hannah would do well to make Waverly^ their head- 
quarters. The fishing this season promises to be ex- 
ceptionally fine. J. Churchward. 
The Florida Turtle Extermination. 
St. Augustine, Fla., May 25. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: Here is an item from the Evening Record, St. 
Augustine : 
"The capture of an unusually large green turtle at Ma- 
tanzas, one day this week, leads to the hope that it will 
again frequent this part of the coast. For several years 
the green turtle, once plentiful here, had almost disap- 
peared. They make a most delicious stew and bring a 
ready sale both here and in Northern markets." 
Not a. word in condemnation of this stupid exterminat- 
ing business, but every robbery of turtle's eggs heard ui 
is recorded, as if a commendable act. Not until there 
is a vigorous and continued protest on the part of the 
