72 
FORE ST. AND STREAM. 
tjAH. 24, 1903. 
of no other streams in Massachusetts, nor any in New 
Hampshire or Maine, into which the sea trout enter, 
and I know of none which empty into the Bay of 
Funday, either in New Brunswick or Nova Scotia, in 
which they are found. 
I have been informed that they are occasionally taken 
in the Tusket River and in the Clyde, but I am pretty 
familiar with those streams, and have never seen one 
in them. In the Mersey River, near Liverpool, a few 
are taken, but no large ones. 
In the other streams of eastern Nova Scotia, from 
the Port Medway River to the Indian River, the sea 
trout are rather plentiful, but they are mall, hardly 
averaging a half pound in weight; in fact, although I 
have fished all those streams a great many times, I 
do not remember ever taking a sea trout in them that 
would tip the scales at three-quarters of a pound. 
North of Halifax, however, particularly about and in 
Mascodoboit River, they run considerably larger. In 
the Middle River, in Cape Breton, about twenty miles 
from Baddeck, and in the Mira River, near Sydney, 
one may be reasonably certain of taking several that 
will weigh from two to three pounds in a catch of fif- 
teen or twenty fish. I have repeatedly done this, and 
have no doubt that large fish may still be taken in those 
streams. 
In the Margaree, that magnificent salmon river, the 
weight increases considerably, three-pound fish being 
rather common, and four and even five pounders being 
by no means rare. They are so abundant in the pools 
at and above Northeast Margaree as to be a perfect 
nuisance to the salmon angler, for they are much 
quicker in their movements and seize the fly as soon 
as it touches the water, and long before the lordly 
salmon can reach it. Of course, if a large sea trout is 
hooked he flounces and splashes arouund and disturbs 
the pool so much before he is brought to the landing 
net that the salmon becomes alarmed, settles down to 
the bottom of the pool and refuses to rise to the fly, 
perhaps for several hours after. 
Not only this, but their numerous fine teeth, as sharp 
as needles, work sad havoc with salmon flies, which 
are. as a rule, costly, and sometimes difficult to be re- 
placed. There is a large pool about two miles below 
Northeast Margaree called the Brook Pool, which 
would be one of the best salmon pools on the river if 
it were not for the numerous trout which abide in it. 
It is one of the deepest pools on the river, and it forms 
the junction of the river and a very large brook. 
I have in a day's fishing in this pool alone killed fif- 
teen or twenty fish that would overrun two pounds, 
some being of four pounds' weight, and they showed 
every grade of coloration from the silvery white of 
the fresh-run sea trout, through grays and yellowish- 
brown to the deep rich tints of the fish which had been 
in the river the entire season, and called by the natives 
the "river trout." 
About twenty miles from the settlement is Lake 
Ainslee, a magnificent body of water many miles in 
length and breadth. "Near the head of this lake is a 
stream of considerable size which empties into it. 
This is spanned by a bridge, below which is a large, 
deep pool worth a long journey to see. The water 
is as clear as crystal, from five to twenty feet in depth, 
and throughout the summer it is absolutely packed with 
sea trout. 
"As I crossed the bridge I looked down into the 
water below, and such a sight I never before wit- 
nessed. The trout were in thousands, and large ones 
most of them were, too. This pool is celebrated 
throughout this portion of the island, and many fine 
catches have been taken from it. It has been badly 
poached in years past, as many as three barrels of 
those splendid fish having in a single day been jigged 
out of it."* 
After passing the Gut of Canso there are no streams 
in which sea trout abound in Nova Scotia. I have 
never been able to find any in the streams which empty 
into the Mines Basin, except a very few small ones in 
the Cobequid River, near Truro, and those were not 
bright-colored fish. 
In the bays, estuaries and rivers of Prince Edward 
Island the sea trout are more or less abundant, al- 
though I confess I have never seen such fish as are 
described by Mr. Perley in Frank Forrester's book on 
"Fish and Fishing," who says that "The sea trout fish- 
ing in the bays and harbors of Prince Edward Island 
when the fish first rush in from the gulf, is really mag- 
nificent; they average from three to five pounds each. 
I found the best fishing at St. Peter's Bay, on the north 
side of the island, about twenty-eight miles from Char- 
lottestown; I there killed in one morning sixteen trout 
which weighed eighty pounds." 
I have fished in the waters of this island considerably, 
and have never been so fortunate as to find a sea 
trout that would weigh over two pounds, although I 
have been informed that in the Dunk River three-pound 
fish are sometimes taken. I found the largest aver- 
age to be in the stream near Malpeque. 
On the New Brunswick shore there are many sea 
trout rivers; in fact, it would be more difficult to name 
a stream in which none are found than the contrary, 
even the little Shediac River containing them, as I 
have proved on several occasions. The Miramichi and 
its tributaries, the Tabasintic, Tracadie, Nepisiquit, 
Jacquet, Upsalquitch on the south shore of the Baie 
des Chaleurs and the Restigouche, Nouvelle, Great and 
Little Cascapedia rivers on the north shore, and fol- 
lowing the coast, the grand St. John's, York and 
Magdelaine rivers actually teem with these fish, and 
their size averages large, too, a catch of thirty fish 
in the Bonaventure River weighing over sixty pounds. 
So much for the distribution of the sea trout. Now 
I have time and again fished most of the rivers I have 
named; was for five years one of the lessees of one of 
the best of them, and have thus had good opportuni- 
ties for observing and studying this fish, and am con- 
vinced that it is not a distinct species, per se, but be- 
lieve it to be our old darling the spotted or brnok 
trout, but clad in a silvery-bright armor, which, if a 
♦ From "With Fly-Rod and Camera." 
number of them are thrown in a pile, gives them the 
appearance of so many herrings fresh from the sea. 
This brightness, however, is replaced by a more sober 
livery after the fish have been in the river a while, and 
late in the autumn their color is about the same as 
that of the spotted trout lliat have lost the anadromous 
habit. 
This change of color, however, is not peculiar to the 
sea trout, for the slamon also loses the brilliancy of 
its silvery coat after it has been in the fresh water a 
month or two, and later in the season it becomes of a 
dirty, brownish, gray color, with numerous spots and 
markings scattered over its body. 
Coloration is often of no great value in determin- 
ing species, but anatomical peculiarities are an unfail- 
ing guide. 
"Scientists insist that tlie carmine spots which ap- 
pear on the sides of tlie sea trout after they have been 
in the river a long time, together with the same .num- 
ber of rays or spines in the fins prove that they are 
identical with the spotted trout." 
To determine the identity of this fish, I visited the 
Jacquet River (N. B.), in the winter of 1886 "for the 
purpose of obtaining, specimens for the Museum of 
Comparative Zoology at Cambridge, Mass., but not a 
single one could I find, although I visited pools which 
had teemed with them in the summer, but the spotted 
trout were there in numbers; at Campbellton, however, 
near the mouth of the Metapedia, I had no difficulty 
in getting as many as I wanted, and they were all 
silvery-white."* 
These fish were pronounced at the Museum to be 
the spotted or brook trout. Now, if there were no sal- 
mon in the rivers I have named, the sea trout would 
amply repay an angler for taking the long journey 
that is necessary to reach them; but the salmon is the 
great prize that tempts him to visit those streams, and 
he has no desire to waste time on trout, no matter how 
Ic^rge and gamy they may be. 
So far as gaminess goes, I believe that for straight 
fighting qualities this trout is one of the leaders. 
Large ones weighing four or five pounds are par- 
ticularly obstinate in refusing to come to the land- 
ing net, and they often make as good a fight as a 
seven or eight pound salmon. 
Among the streams of New Brunswick the Jacquet 
is Avell known as being not only a good salmon river, 
but also one of the most abundantly stocked with sea 
trout of any in that Province. They begin to come 
into the river early in June, when the smelts, in incred- 
ible numbers, make their annual ascent of the stream 
for the purpose of spawning. So numerous are they 
that the water seems literally to be alive with them, 
and, of course, the trout have an abundance with which 
to gorge themselves. 
Some of the local fishermen used to make great 
catches at this season, using smelt for bait, and large 
numbers were packed in snow or ice and shipped to the . 
St. John and Quebec markets, snow being stored in 
that section as ice is packed elsewhere. 
After the run of smelts is over the sea trout ascend 
the river leisurely and make their homes in the largest 
and coolest of the upper pools during the summer, the 
famous Kettlehole Pool being the highest point that 
the large fish reach, and it is filled with them. 
When the salmon begin to spawn the trout are on 
the qui vive, and they rush in and seize the eggs as fast 
as they are dropped by the other fish. I have been 
informed of this fact by a number of guides and river 
men who have witnessed the act. The male salmon 
makes strenuous efiforts, of course, to keep the pilfer- 
ers from his mate, but usually with poor success. 
As for flies for sea trout, it would be difficult to 
name one they will not rise to, and they manifest no 
distrust or timidity when their companions are taken 
from the water. The largest specimen I ever killed 
was strong six pounds in weight, but larger "ones have 
been taken, even as heavy as seven or eight pounds. 
Edward A. Samuels. 
* From "With Fly-Rod and Camera." 
Shark Catching Near New York,' 
Although during the summer months sharks are occa- 
sionally seen and now and then caught with hook and 
line in New York Bay and along the adjacent coast, few 
persons have seen fit to, indulge in the pastime of angling 
for the ugly fish in tliese waters. 
The sport has generally been regarded as a discredited 
one and not at all looked upon with favor by the lovers 
of fishing, except those of a certain class ; and then again 
it has been supposed that the sharks were too few in 
number to make the fisliing for them worth while. 
Some years ago sharks were seen in great numbers off 
the Jersey shore in summer, and there was very little sea 
bathing indulged in at the resorts along the coast. It 
was at this time that Mr. Herman Oelrichs made his 
famous offer of ,$500 reward to any person who could pro- 
duce authentic evidence that a man-eating shark had ever 
been caught in this latitude. 
As it is understood that Mr. Oelrichs' offer, widely 
published at the time, still remains good, and so far has 
remained unclaimed, and as Mr. Oelrichs, who is a_ noted 
swimmer, repeatedly ventured out in the ocean in the 
places where sharks were observed to be plentiful at the 
time, it is quite safe to say that the sharks visiting the 
waters hereabouts are harmless, at least so far as an appe- 
tite for human -beings is concerned. 
If fishing for sharks has not been considered a very 
great sport, nevertheless there are a dozen or more men 
in New York harbor wko are not averse to angling for 
them. It is in August when the weakfishing season is 
at its height that sharks make their appearance in the 
lower bay. following up the sea trout and other small 
fish that frequent these waters. 
Pound fishermen in and around Gravesend Bay, where 
menhaden are caught for lobster fishermen, have their 
nets spoiled by these sharks, who get entangled in them. 
While rarely more than four feet long, a number measur- 
ing between eight and ten feet in length have been re- 
ported caught. The smaller ones often get on weakfish 
lines, and if the angler does not know how to handle 
them he loses his line. The shark becomes so entangled 
m the line that it has to be cut. 
When they once land a small shark, fishermen some- 
tirnes take a cruel revenge by bending or breaking the 
pointed nose of the fish so that it stands up, and then 
throwing it back into the water. This, they say. pre- 
vents the shark from swimming beneath the surface, and 
It swims about with its nose standing three or four inches 
out of the water until it turns over and dies. 
The fishermen who angle for sharks use a big hook 
with a small chain attached. A piece of pork or other 
meat serves for bait. A stout hemp line is attached to 
the chain, the end of the line being made fast to the 
boat. When a shark is hooked he comes to the surface 
of the water as gently as a sunfish. It is only when he 
gets close to the boat that the fight begins. The fisher- 
men keep pulling him in and letting him out again, until 
he is exhausted. Then they watch their chance, and 
when his head is lifted out of the water by a pull on the 
line they club him to death. Sometimes they row ashore 
and beach thein. 
So much in regard to the fishing for shark in the 
waters hereabouts, which is merely introductory to the 
aim and purpose of the present article, which tells of the 
new — so far as the public is concerned— and exciting 
sport of harpooning sharks, as indulged in by a handful 
of enthusiastic sportsmen and fishermen in certain New 
York waters and not a score of miles from City Hall 
Park. 
Odd as it may at first seem, this sport, conducted within 
so close a range of the business center of the metropolis, 
has never before been described in public print, this 
doubtles.s being mainly due to the fact that those who 
indulge in it have been loth to impart the knowledge to 
others except their immediate friends, who have been 
occasionally bidden to take part in the pastime. 
The exact spot where this unique sport is indulged 
in and the manner in which it is conducted, as told in the 
following words by Mr. George Thompson, a well-known 
New York yachtsman and sportsman, and a prominent 
resident of the summer colony at Oyster Bay, who, with 
his brother, Mr. Walter Thompson, are the foremost 
dev^otees of the sport, will doubtless incite many others 
next season to try their hand and skill in this novel and 
exciting pastime. 
"I was first made acquainted with the sport," said Mr. 
I'hompson, "about six or seven years ago by old Joe 
Lockwood, erstwhile captain of our famous international 
cup defender, the Mayflower, and who is well-known 
about the waters of the Sound, and particularly the Oyster 
Bay district, where, in addition to. a number of other 
aquatic accomplishments, he taught President Roosevelt 
how to sail a boat. 
"Of late years, however, Capt. Lockwood has rarely 
indulged in the sport; my brother, a few friends and 
myself being about the only ones to participate in it. The 
sharks are most plentiful in the months of August and 
September, when I have often in one day seen scores 
of them in the stretch of water off the shore of Center 
Island, extending along the shore from the country 
house of Mr. Le Roy Dresser to Bayville, a distance of 
about a mile. 
"This appears to be the favorite lurking place for sharks 
in the waters of New York, and the only way that I 
can account for it is that they congregate there in great 
numbers to feed on the refuse which comes up from the 
harbor along this point at certain times during the day 
in great quantities. 
"Along the stretch of shore already described there is 
a reef of sand which extends in some places a quarter of 
a mile out in the Sound. The water over this reef is 
quite shallow and just at the water's edge, which is 
marked by a line of sedge grass, the bottom suddenly 
shelves to a depth of from six to ten feet. It is along 
the edge of this shelf and on the deep water side that 
the search for the sharks is made. 
"Let us assume that it is a fine day in August or Sep- 
tember and that we are about to set forth on our expe- 
dition. It is absolutely necessary that a day be selected 
when the water of the fishing grounds is at almost a dead 
calm, as it is very often at certain periods of the day dur- 
ing these months. 
"The start is made in an ordinary flat-bottomed boat, 
one man pulling the oars, which it is not necessary to 
have muffled, even on the scene of action, while his com- 
panion, seated in the bow, harpoon in hand, is ready to 
deliver it at a moment's notice. The reason that a day 
must be chosen when the waters are calm and unruffled 
is so that a clear view may be had of the sandy bottom, 
which a ripple on the surface with its consequent shadows 
v^ould prevent. 
"The weapon I use consists of a nine foot pole fitting 
into the socket of a foot and a half iron harpoon. At- 
tached to the socket is an iron ring to which is tied an 
ordinary clothes line, kept coiled in a keg in the bow, 
and the tail end made fast to the painter of the boat. The 
only other implements necessary are an ordinary spear or 
two. 
"Arrived on the scene, one man stands in the bow 
with the harpoon poised for instant casting, while he tells 
the rower in which direction to pull along the edge of 
the shelving bottom. It is here that the sharks lie, easily 
discernible through the calm water, and they fall an easy 
prey to the harpooner. 
"As it is only the bigger sharks — those between six and 
ten feet in length — that furnish the greatest excitement, 
the smaller ones seen are passed by until the ones sought 
come into view. They lie close to the bottom, and are 
apparently unheedful of the noise made by the rower, and 
of the close approach of the boat, not stirring from their 
resting place until actually disturbed. 
"Although I have engaged in the sport for years, I 
have never failed to thrill with excitement the moment 
I have detected a big fellow lying within reach of my 
aim. The harpoon is hurled and the pole is wrested in 
a twinkling from its iron socket, now deeply imbedded in 
the shark; the rower has shipped his oars and leaped to 
the stern seat, while just as quickly I have seated myself 
in the middle thwart pf the boat. 
"Meanwhile, in the instant or two of time taken up by 
these movements, the shark is off like a flash, the hun- 
dred feet of line has run out and is drawn taut, and the 
next moment taking things at our ease, while we make 
ready our spears, we are being drawn at a lightning clip 
over the still waters of the Sound. 
