FOREST AND STREAM. 
[May 2, 1903. 
coast, so far as I can show, for which figures of an abso- 
lute character can be given. The figures I have submitted 
from California are of so positive and convincing a char- 
acter that the salmon interests of this coast are united in 
advocating the continuance and increase of salmon propa- 
gation, and are paying for it. 
Not only have the fishery interests of this coast urged 
propagation on the State and asked that they be taxed 
to pay for it, but some of the leading packing concerns 
have established extensive hatcheries which they operate 
at their own expense. I do not know of a prominent 
packer on this coast who does not believe that salmon 
propagation is a success, and who does not willingly pay 
for it. Nor do I know what better evidence can be de- 
sired to show that salmon propagation in Pacific waters 
lias been a success than the figures already submitted 
from California. Now, from what has been accomplished 
in California why may we not conclude that similar ef- 
forts on the Columbia and the Fraser have been a factor 
in contributing toward the present run in those rivers? 
It certainly is not conclusive that, because the run is 
decreasing in a given river, none of the fish liberated 
from the hatcheries on that river have survived, or that 
all the fish now running in that river came from natural 
propagation alone. Hatcheries' may not be able to main- 
tain the run, but if they help to sustain it. help to give the 
people a good food, who doubts the wisdom of an expen- 
diture to that end by the State, especially when the 
moneys so used are, mainly and willingly, contributed by 
the thousands of people primarily concerned? 
Were we to conclude, as "Old Angler" maintains, that 
"only by the submission of some statistics alone a sound 
opinion can be formed," and that we would determine this 
question onlj'' by figures, and that deductions and even 
"opinions and assertions" of careful observers were ex- 
cluded, it could be shown that since the establishment of 
the hatchery at Bon Accord, on the Fraser River, in 1885, 
the run of fish, as expressed by the catch, has increased 
to enormous proportions. For the figures show that the 
pack in that year was 199,244 cases, the greatest up to that 
period, that it was not exceeded until four years follow- 
ing, a period which presumably expresses the duration of 
the life of the sockeye salmon. In 1893 the pack was 
457.797 cases. In 1901 it was 990,252 cases. And these 
figures of the Fraser River pack do not express it all, as 
90 per cent, of the pack on Puget Sound consists of fish 
running to the Fraser River. The combined Fraser 
River, B. C, and Puget Sound pack in 1901 was 2,400,696 
cases, or almost 50 per cent, of the entire pack of the 
world. But no propagator on this coast believes, or has 
ever clairried, that this is the result of propagation; the 
markets have been increased and there is more fishing, 
but there are probably no more fish, if as man}^, but from 
figures above the last statement cannot be proven. "Old 
Angler" must take that as an opinion and. an as.sertion. 
John Pease Babcock. 
The Sea Trout Question. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Not a single writer of any note who has fallen into 
the error of supposing the so-called sea trout a differ- 
ent species from fontinalis, ever contended that it was 
"brought up in the sea," as does President Jordan, in 
your issue of April 11; and no one asserted that its 
fry were ever seen in the sea, but all agree that it was 
hatched, and passed its first years in fresh water. Mr. 
Hallock himself and all those Avho have taken part in 
the present discussion, Avith the exception of Messrs. 
Gregory and Manuel, in your issue of Dec. 27, have tes- 
tified that the sea trout spawn in fresh water. The let- 
ter of that veteran angler and celebrated fish-painter, 
Walter M. Brackett, of Boston, carries more authority 
and is entitled to more reliance than the insi dixit of 
all the mere college professors in the United States, 
Great Britain and Canada, not one of whom ever saw 
the fish in salt water or fresh. 
The Octogenarian is ever ready and thankful to re- 
ceive instruction from competent teachers; but when 
one tells me that the sea trout of Canada "is brought 
yp in the sea, better fed and developed under other 
conditions, which make it larger, fatter, more rangy (?) 
and without the peculiar colors which characterize the 
brook form," I can only smile in derision. Instead of 
being "brought up in the sea," this trout is hatched 
out and brought up in fresh water, and no other writer 
that I have ever read contends that the fry, fingerlings 
or young fish of 4 ounces weight were ever seen in the 
sea. nor even in the estuaries of their native rivers, to 
which they do not resort until they have attained some 
size. In.stead of being larger than brook trout, I have 
never seen nor heard of a "sea trout" in New Bruns- 
wick, Nova Scotia or Quebec that exceeded 8 pounds, 
while in the Rangcley Lakes, where there is no access 
to the sea, brook trout frequently attain 10 and 12 
pounds; while well-authenticated specimens have been 
taken with bait and fly which turned the scales at 14 
pounds. In Nepissiguit lakes, brook trout, which have 
lio access to the sea, run several pounds heavier than 
any ever known to be taken in the mouth of the river 
or in the bay. . ,, . , 
Professor Jordan tells us that the sea trout is with- 
out the peculiar colors which characterize the brook 
form," while every observant angler knows, as Mr. 
Brackett states in your issue of April 11 that the in- 
stinct of reproduction forces him back to his original 
habitat, where he will resume his old garb, with red 
and yellow spots and brilliant fins. The professor 
presumes that "the young of any brook trout hatched 
in the sea and fed in the sea would be the same." 
Surely the man to whom we ought, in your opinion, be 
grateful for consenting to arbitrate between Mr. Hal- 
lock and mvself and settle finally the thirty years' dis- 
cussion of the sea trout question ought, at least, to 
know that the ova of brook trout will not hatch at all 
in sea water, and that the fry, newly hatched m fresh 
water, will die if placed in salt water. He should also 
know that the fish he calls the "Canada sea trout" 
does not spread out in the sea, as he tells us the red 
spotted Alaska trout does. If Prof. Jordan ever saw 
a Canada sea trout that was caught "at sea," he has 
gppp ^h^t t^iis writer was not ^hk to disp9Y?r 9n th? 
north shore of New Brunswick in twenty-two years' 
assiduous search from the head of_ Bay Chaleur to 
Prince Edward Island, with the assistance, during all 
that time, of the whole force of fishery overseers and 
wardens of that whole stretch of coast, comprising 
eight counties. 
W. H. Venning, 
Late Inspector Fisheries, N. S. and N. B. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I observe that a contributor in your issue of April 
18 thinks the sea-trout question is "immaterial ^to 
sportsmen," and that its satisfactory settlement is "of 
very little practical use to science and none to sport," 
and that "nearly all anglers care nothing whether 
'sciolism rushes blindly in' or 'knowledge creeps with 
cautious steps.' Were all anglers, since the days of 
Dame Berners and Father Izaak like the writer of 
that suggestion, neither the scientific nor the sporting 
world would now know rnuch about the life history of 
our game fishes. To intelligent anglers much more 
than to collecfe dons, are we indebted for what little 
we know of the several varieties of salmon and trout, 
and to them, much more than to so-called ichthyolo- 
gists, must we look for the settlement of several very 
important questions which now occupy the attention 
of anglers of a different cast of mind from that dis- 
played by Mr. Brown. I think all naturalists, as well 
as all intelligent anglers, would like very much to know 
whether the so-called sea trout is really a species distinct 
from fontinalis. 
The question which science has never answered— 
whether salmon and trout are annual or biennial 
spawners — is now engaging the careful attention of a 
band of studious anglers. If the question ever is set- 
tled beyond doubt, it will be by anglers, not by college 
dons. The Old Angler. 
Two Days on Trout Streams. 
And to think that it was necessary to spend half of 
the daylight hours on trains. Well, one cannot catch 
the speckled beauties in one's backyard. There was 
one comfort, not always noticeable, the trains were 
on time. The Erie officials were very kind in giving 
me such information as they possessed. 
I made a try first at Pond Eddy, N. Y. Arriving at 
12:28, T soon found the little hotel, had some dinner, 
engaged the proprietor's son as guide, and was off for 
Carpenter's Brook. There were two streams joining 
about a mile from the hotel. The best branch and the 
large brook below the confluence were ruined by saw- 
du.st from a mill up stream. It is a pity to allow a mill _ 
to ruin a good trout brook, especially one stocked by 
the State. 
I fished up the smaller branch about two miles, and 
then took an occasional cast coming back, with a net 
result of one tror.t. When I returned to the hotel a 
kindly disposed citizen said: "If you had gone to Fish 
Cabin Brook you would have caught lots of fish. If 
you come back here let me know and I will take you 
where there are plenty of trout." How familiar such 
words sound' 
After a hastily dispatched supper I took an early 
evening train up the road. The conductor gave me 
some good advice, which, however, I was obliged to 
disregard. I stopped at Callicoon, and was soon com- 
fortably settled at the Western Hotel, with all arrange- 
ments made for an early breakfast and a team. All the 
people about the hotel told me the story I had heard 
ever since leaving New York, that the weather had 
been too cold for the fish to bite, and that trout would 
not rise to a fly. 
By eight o'clock in the morning I was six miles from 
town, and was starting to fish back townward on the 
north branch of the Callicoon Creek. For an hour I 
stuck to the miromantic fish worm. A little trout 
occasionally nibbled off the tail of my bait, and occa- 
sionally got mixed up with the hook, so that he had 
learned a new experience; he had been involuntarily 
out of the water and had discovered that some worms 
had a peculiar sting from which it took some time to 
recover. Getting wearied, I tried a fly: some little 
chaps came up and looked at it; a few discovered that 
flies could sting, too. I went back to bait. 
Another hour passed. I wanted to catch some fish. 
Well, as bait was no good, and flies no good, I resolved 
to fish in the nleasantest way. There were other 
worms. The sun was occasionally breaking through 
the clouds and lighting up the pools. I had noticed 
an occasional gray fly in the air; I was finding some 
beautiful deep pools (holes the people up there call 
them), and I thought the fish should know that fly 
time had come again. 
I selected a couple of choice morsels (from the 
ti-outs' point of view) and began to drop them on the 
deep pools. I soon had a half dozen nice trout in my 
basket, and had thrown several back because they were 
too small. What is the use of killing a six-inch trout? 
It is too small to eat; it doesn't help much to fill a 
creel, and is not likely to win a prize at an exhibition. 
This stream may be waded almost anywhere with 
hip boots; it is good for casting— by standing in the 
stream above or below a pool; it may be easily fished 
with forty feet of line out. I caught all of my fish on 
long casts. There are plenty of places where it may be 
fished from the bank, and one can walk near enough 
to. see the likely places without trouble. There is a 
good road up the valley, so that an attending carriage 
may keep in sight. A fact of which I might have made 
better use. 
For at one o'clock I pulled out of the stream, three 
miles from town. The man who drove me out in the 
morning said I would find plenty of teams going back 
to the village. I started cheerfully, and did see plenty 
of teams, all going the same way, but that was not 
my way. Well, I got back, but was slightly warm and 
weary. Hip boots are splendid in the stream, but I 
don't recommend them for walking shoes. 
The nature of the country may be seen from a sign 
I saw along the baiik. I ^^as without pencil find paper 
and cannot remember the exact words (it was in 
German), but freely translated, it runs thus: "In these 
grounds there is not even a mule path." 
L. W. B. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST* 
Fishing Season Opens, 
Chicago, III, April 24.- — The weird spring season in 
Chicago progresses apace. We had a nice little snow 
storm here Tuesday morning, though since then the 
weather has been warm and the leaves are beginning to 
spring .again. As the first of May approaches, the cer- 
tainty of success on the lakes and streams increases, and 
a great many anglers are now out, more especially those 
in pursuit of trout fishing. I hear that some fifty rods 
were on the upper reaches of the Prairie River early this 
week, these coming from many points in Wisconsin, with 
some Chicago people. Mr. E. G. Taylor and wife, with 
one or two others, of this city, left here some days ago 
for the Prairie. Mr. Charles Antoine takes his wife next 
Monday for a trip on the Prairie. Mr. Walter Dupee, of 
this city, will also visit the Prairie by the middle of next 
week. Most of these are going either to Dudley's or 
above Dudley's on the stream, a point where the fishing 
was better last summer than it was on the lower reaches. 
I have not heard anything from the lower part of the 
Prairie this spring, nor indeed do I know what success 
has met those who went up above Dudley's. This stream 
i^ nicely accessible from Gleason, on the C. M. & St. P. 
R. R., via connection at Tomahawk. I have always gone 
in at Mr. Delos Cone's place, which is about a mile from 
Gleason station, and directly upon the banks of the 
Prairie River. I met a gentleman by the name of Frost 
from Wisconsin this morning in one of the tackle stores, 
and asked him where there was good fishing in Wiscon- 
sin. He replied, very guardedly, that there were a great 
many good places. Later on I mentioned the Prairie, and 
his face lighted up. "There is no better stream in Wis- 
consin than the Prairie," said he. 
The same informant later mentioned a point on the 
Wisconsin Central Railroad by the name of Coloma, as I 
understood it. He says the McCann River is about four 
miles from this point, and states that the latter mentioned 
stream has good rainbows in it. This is simply a chance 
tip, and I know nothing about its value, but perhaps some 
fellow may be in that neck of, woods and may care to 
investigate. 
I learn from Mr. G. A. Buckstaff, of Qshkosh, Wis., 
that he and a number of friends opened the season at 
White River, Wis. They found a good deal of company 
on the stream and the conditions- were very favorable. 
No one made any big catches, twelve good fish being the 
record for the day, among these one very nice rainbow 
trout. Mr. Buckstaff says that it takes an angler to catch 
these big fellows on the fly in the White, but also says 
that patience is pretty sure to be rewarded in any average 
conditions along that stream. 
Messrs. Miller and McLcod, who fislied their preserved 
stream, the Pine, last week, got no beauties, according to 
advices at hand to-day. Montreal and coachman seemed 
to be the ruling flies on this trip. Earlier in the season 
■silver-doctor was asked for. This is one of the most 
freakish streams on which I have ever fished. There was 
no hatch of fly on at the time of this trip. 
The Michigan season is not yet open, but I expect 
presently to hear a dull heavy thud in the neighborhood 
of Saginaw, not to mention Grand Rapids. The Saginaw 
Crowd will make two official trout trips this summer, per- 
haps more. Mr. W. B. Mershon, who has spent a month 
or more in California, was expected back on the 23d inst., 
and about the first of May there should be some- 
thing doing in the Saginaw vicinity. The Grand Rapids 
boys, John Waddell, Asa Stuart and others, will take to 
the Pere Marquette, as is their annual custom. They will 
be joined by half a dozen Chicago devotees of that beauti- 
ful river. 
Bass, 
'I'he bass fishing season may be .said io have iiegun, 
rdbeit imtimely. Five days ago some anglers on Bass 
Lake, Ind., took twelve nice bass, and the fish are re- 
ported to be rising well in that lake. 
By the way, in regard to early fishing on the spawning 
beds, I see that the latest scientific or semi-scientific dic- 
tum in regard to the spawning habits of bass runs to the 
effect that it is the male fish which makes the spawning 
bed "and which protects the spawn upon the bed, the 
female not being a tenant of the bed after the spawning 
operations. TWs would seem to take the curse off spawn- 
ing ground fishing, yet such is not really the case. 
Whether it be male or female which protects the ova on 
the bed, the taking of that individual would seem to de- 
prive the nest of its proper protection. Most writers, 
including Henshall, have thought that it was the female 
bsss which remained on the bed after spawning. I have 
often seen two bass on a bed in a Wisconsin lake as late 
as August. We drove these fish away several times, but 
whenever we would come by that particular nest we 
would find two fish in the same place there. 
Tarpon. 
The tarpon fishing in the South, in Florida and Texas, 
may be said to have begun so far as northern fishermen 
are concerned. Mr. W. P. Mussey and wife will .'^tart 
presently for Aransas Pass for a stay of some time. 
'I'hey will be joined there by Mr. John Haskell, of this 
city, who is a tarpon angler of experience in that locality. 
Mr. E. D. Brown, of this city, is now absent in Florida 
on a tarpon trip of some extent. 
Mr. J. R. Griffitts, general advertising agent of the C. 
B. & Q. R. R., tells me that he has had a good deal of 
fun with the tarpon in Mobile Bay, Ala. "I have seen all 
sorts of tarpon pictures, photographs and otherwise," said 
he, "but they are not realistic so far as my own ex- 
periences are concerned. These pictures always show 
Mr. Tarpon-fisher sitting calmly in a boat with a fish 
somewhere in the distance, about a quarter of a mile 
away. I caught some of these tarpon back from the 
mouth of the river, where the water was as clear as glass, 
and where we could see everything the fish did. As quick 
as I sunk the hook into one of these fellows, up he would 
go in the air, a most beautiful sight, which is surpassed 
