May g, 1903.] 
FOREST AND STREAM 
S7l 
head Lake Sanatorium, a mile or two from Greenville 
Junction on the westerly shore; Mr. and Mrs. H. L. 
Hoyt, of New York, who have gone to Indian Pond for 
several weeks, where the trout have been rising for sev- 
eral days. Mr. F. D. Parsons, of Springfield, Mass., made 
the lake a flying visit and would have stayed three days, 
but the wind bfew almost a gale, fishing was impossible, 
and although he braved the elements long enough to get 
a heavy strike, the conditions were too bad, and after 
losing his fish he returned to his hotel, packed his trunk 
and started for home. 
The finest, and, in fact, the only good fish so far re- 
ported, has been at Indian Pond, where Mr. F. W. Dui;- 
gin, of Bangor, has been for the past week. Every day 
he has had splendid sport, the fish rising to (he fly as 
well as the}'- do even later, and he caught a string that 
would have turned many an angler green with envy. One 
weighed 3, another 21/, a third 2 and there were a great 
many only a half pound lighter. On the morning of his 
departure for Bangor he went out and caught an even 
dozen. Mr. Durgin is almost invariably successful at 
these camps, and spends probably more time there than 
any other guest, his health compelling him to spend all 
the time he can spare from his business in the woods, 
And the only flies he asks for, at any time of the season, 
are the silver-doctor and the Parmachenee-belle. 
The fishing has 'begun well at Jackman, where they get 
good fishing as soon as the logs begin to run in the river. 
Oft' the bridge on one day a Bangor man who is just 
home from there caught a nice string, some as heavy as 
four pounds, others two and three in weight. 
At Lake Hebron in Monson, where they catch nothing 
but togue, the fish are getting ready to warm up, and 
some have been caught. W. C. Pickard fished there a 
day or two since and took four that weighed eighteen 
pounds. 
Probably, so soon as the great advantages of the waters 
along the new Fish River division of the Bangor & 
Aroostook Railroad are known, these will furnish some 
of the finest sport obtainable in the State. Already they 
are deservedly popular with those who are pioneers, 
and who always seek for wild spots unsullied bj^ the 
snort of the locomotive or the hotel of the tourist sports- 
man. Portage Lake is a finely stocked lake; Eagle, 
Square and others of the Fish River chain are even bet- 
ter it is said, and one is sure of great sport. Portage 
opened last week, as did also Eagle, and St. Froid was 
reported to be breaking up on Friday. Mrs. Hallet, wife 
of the superintendent of that division, no doubt caught 
the first trout of the season in that region, at least 
among anglers from below the Aroostook line. While on 
a visit to her husband last week she caught in the Fish 
River a 2%. pound square-tail trout. 
Herbert W. RowE; 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST* 
The' Trout Season, 
Wautoma, Wis., April 20. — The trout season of 
Michigan will open to-morrow, perhaps under circum- 
stances now wholly auspicious, if the weather man is 
to be believed. A severe storm is now raging over the 
Northwest, and at Ashland, Wis., and at points in the 
north peninsula of Michigan, snow has blocked all 
railway traffic. This is something of a change, for the 
last outlook was good, with warm weather and soft 
winds. The present storm is over Wisconsin to-day, 
and should be due in Michigan south peninsula to- 
morrow. 
Let us hope that the blizzard may be dissipated be- 
fore it reaches the fishing country of Michigan, so that 
the first trips of the Saginaw and Grand Rapids boi^s 
may not be unhappy adventures. As for the Saginaw 
Crowd, the car will leave Saginaw at midnight to- 
night. By wire to Chicago I had invitation to join 
this expedition, which is one of the most important 
angling functions of the year, but, unhappily, I was 
away, so cannot join these stalwarts, much to my 
keen regret, for they always go where there are trout, 
and go well equipped. The telegram forwarded, comes 
from Mr. W. B. Mershon, and ends: "A prompt answer 
turneth away wrath." I hope my oflice sent the 
prompt answer. As to the wrath, it is at this end of 
the line, for I do not willingly forego any journey with 
the Saginaw Crowd. They are old experts, not a 
tenderfoot among them, and they savvy trout plenty. 
Game Law Tragedy. 
A saddish sort of tragedy took place near Frank- 
fort, Mich., day before yesterday, in which B. B. 
Spafford, a deputy warden, shot and killed Chris Mc- 
Lain, a farmer, after a desperate encounter. McLain 
was of the opinion that this is a free counti-y, and that 
the game laws were not made to be enforced. It is 
pitiable that his ignorant stubbornness brought him 
so bad an ending. McLain, his son, and three other 
men were spearing fish out of season and Spafford and 
another deputy attempted to arrest the party. In the 
fight Spafford was pinned to the earth by a spear in 
McLaiii's hands, the weapon tearing the flesh near 
the heart. While upon the ground Spaft'ord fired a 
bullet into the base of the spine, of his retreating 
assailant, death being instantaneous. Spafford gave 
Inmself up. He lives at Cadillac. 
Wkconsii Hatchery Needs Water, 
It is something of a self-evident fact that a fish hatch- 
ery ought to have water in order to be successful 
Heretofore, the Wisconsin State Hatchery at Madison, 
has always had what seemed an abundant and exhaust- 
less supply of good water from a series of springs 
and artesian wells, but of late this supply seems to be 
dimmishmg, so that the State Fish Commissioner is 
thmkmg of reducmg the size of the propagating ponds 
The board held a meeting this week to discuss this and 
other matters, and to canvass certain measures now 
before the Legislature. 
Golf and Bass. 
Mr. P. S. Elting, of Hannibal, Mo., asks the some- 
what perplexntg question, "Where can two young rail- 
road men get some good bass fishing and good golf 
grounds for a couple of weeks in June or July?" I 
don't know that one serves the ancient sports of the 
angler a good turn by encouraging golf, tiddledewinks, 
ping-pong or other allied games, but we have to take 
care of our friends, and maybe Mr. Elting will give up 
golf for bass fishing after a Avhilc; so I would advise 
him to go to Mocatwa Park, Mich., where the golf 
links are regularly maintained, and where a good bait- 
caster can usually get a dozen or twenty black bass in 
a daj'' in Black Lake. There may be other points on 
the lake coast where the summer hotels have golf 
links. Some of these hotels are situated at the mouths 
of short arms connecting Lake Michigan with deep 
inland lakes, such as Spring Lake, Black Lake, etc., 
in which latter there is at times excellent fishing. It 
is eas}' to furnish good bass localities or good golf 
localities, but to get both in one is not so easy. 
E, Hough. 
Hartford Building, Chicago, 111. 
Santa Catalina. 
AvALON, Santa Catalina, Cal., April 20.^Editor 
Forest and Si ream: The close of one of the most re- 
markable winters in many years has been celebrated. 
Southern California has had about twenty-eight inches 
of rain, or a little over half the average of New York, 
and as a result the land is blossoming as a rose, verdure 
riuining riot in hill and dale and mountain', and nowhere 
is it more pronounced than at Catalina, the sea angling 
headquarters of Southern California. The island is from 
a distance an emerald in a setting of azure, literally, as 
the blue water approaches the very recks, Catalina being 
a mountain range rising suddenly oat of the deep sea. 
In the interior the mountains and hills are covered with 
verdure, the Mariposa lily in places gives it a lavender 
hue, while here and there a golden sheen strikes the eye 
telling of the yellow daisy, the copa del oro, the poppy 
and a host of others, while the golf fiends fight the yellow 
violet which would cover the greens were it not for the 
care of the keepers. 
Santa Catalina is perhaps the only place hi America 
where the angler is king, where almost everything is sub- 
servient to him, and when it is known that nearly 100,000 
people visited the fishing grounds last year, some idea of 
the sport may be had. The town is 'in the Bay of Avalon, 
about half a mile around, and is a perfect crescent 
guarded by two lofty rocks, one on either side. The 
north portion of the beach is laid out as an esplanade, 
has a sea wall on which a line of seats afford lounging 
places for the people from the many hotels and cottages. 
The south beach is devoted entirely to the angler, and s 
filled with a collection of stands whose prototype is found 
nowhere else. Each boatman has about twenty feet front- 
ing the bay in which is his stand with a well cushioned 
seat for his patrons and above his name and flag. Each 
stand is gaily painted, and leading out from them is the 
boatman's string of boats— row boats, tuna boats, .sail 
boats and launches. There is about $150,000 invested in 
fishing boats here, and over 250 boats of all kinds can 
be counted. None of these belong to professional fisher- 
men, all being part of a singular "angling liveiw," each 
boat being built for the angler's comfort, about 18 feet in 
length with a four horse-power engine and two comfort- 
able chair seats facing the stern for the anglers. One 
can hardly imagine anything better arranged for com- 
fort. The gaffer and boatman is engineer as well, and 
at the strike stops the boat and manipulates it._^ ^ 
The season of 1903 in on. Flying fish, have arrived in 
the bay, and the anglers are gathering for the white 
sea bass season, which is supposed to begin with the ar- 
rival of the flying fish. The sea bass is the Pacific repre- 
sentative of the weakfish, but have been rarely caught 
ranging less than fifty pounds, a splendid creature which 
comes in schools — literally comes and goes — and speci- 
mens weighing 80 pounds have been t:iken in Avalon Bay, 
which has been the scene of many exciting experiences 
with these fishes. 
The yellowtail_, a gamy fish running up to fifty pounds, 
is biting and will soon come with a rush and" turn the 
Catalina sea into gold. This fish is doubtless the hardest 
fighter of all fishes, pound for pound. Strong men have 
been demoralized by their first fish, and the writer saw 
a 150-pound man jerked from the Avalon dock by a big 
yellowtail. Did he drop the rod? No, indeed ! He 
happened to be a good swimmer, and swimming with his 
legs he clung' to the rod with his hands and fought the 
fish until he was picked up ; and he saved the game. The 
yellowtail is far ahead of the salmon as a fighter, and if 
it was as rare as the salmon would make a sensation. 
But easily hooked, it is caught by everyone. 
One of the remarkable sights to be seen here is what is 
known as the yellowtail fleet in Avalon Bay in July. 
Sometimes 200 boats are anchored together and 400 
anglers are fishing with the rod for yellowtails. When 
someone hooks a fish the entire floating city utters a 
shout, which is a roar that can be heard half a mile away 
down the wind, and as someone always has a fish on, the 
sound is almost constant. 
The yellowtail has no large representative in the North 
Atlantic. The amber jack of the Florida Coast is a 
cousin.. 
There is a procession of fishes from now on in these 
waters; the yellowtail and rock bass are now biting; the 
sea bass is due; the albicore is biting oft' Avalon Bay, 
a splendid fighter at seventeen pounds, and one at sixty- 
five pounds fought one of the most skillful anglers in 
the United States for four hours and was supposed to be 
a tuna until its long fins came into sight. Nowhere in 
the country does the albicore come so near a still water 
fishing resort as at Avalon, hence all the fishine is done 
with rods. The play of this fish is a scries of savage 
rushes from start to finish, and a lusty fish has been 
known to wear out a strong man and carry ^3ff the line 
The fish is. when feeding, dashing about at full speedj 
and takes the bait with a rush, hence the sport is strenu- 
ous and continuous, the fish fighting until it is in the 
boat. During the past year this fish has been cauo-lit 
almost every week without a break, it, Avith the rock 
bass, sheepshead and whitefish belongiiig to the class 
v.hich do not emigrate, hence are alwaj^ to be found, and 
afford excellent sport with a i6-ouncc rod. The sheeps- 
head is not its namesake of the East, but a singular red 
and black striped fish, the males having a white under lip 
and an enormously high "forehead," This fish is taken 
in the kelp beds which surround these islands, and large 
catches are _being_ taken at the present time. 
While this fishing place has become famous on account 
of the size of its fish, there are many fi.shes that afford 
excellent sport with light -rods. The rock bass are par- 
ticularly gamy; there are several different kinds and they 
all resemble the black bass to a remarkable degree, and on 
light split bamboo rods afford excellent sport— often 
k-apmg at the strike,, but not having the staying qualities 
of this king of fighters. This is one of the all-the-year- 
around fishes to be taken at any and all times. The re- 
markable fishing of the past winter has attracted manv 
eastern anglers who are on the island waiting for the 
tuna and sea bass season. The former, though not due 
until May 15, is liable to appear at any time, and even 
a month ago large schools were off the bay, but would 
not bite. Every season remarkable experiences with the 
tuna are chronicled, a;nd men play this remarkable fish 
from one to fifteen hours. Colonel C. P. Morehouse, 
ot Pasadena, still holds the record of 251 pounds— which 
scores of anglers cross the continent to beat every spring, 
and return filled with experience and wisdom, not to say 
bruises, to come again to east the line in these stormless 
seas of eternal summer. Senor X. 
Salmon Culture in America. 
SEArr!.E,_ Wash., April ^q.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
V our publications concerning the hatching and propagat- 
mg of salmon are of much interest to me. It is just such 
a discussion carried on through the valuable pages of 
your journal that brings out points of interest and con- 
veys knowledge and' information from different sources 
of tins interesting and important science, and plants it 
where it belongs, m the minds of those that are unpreju- 
niced and desirous of knowledge. 
The hatching and propagation of salmon is just like 
everjihmg else. If the unfortunate Englishman is so 
unsuccessful that he cannot accomplish good result ? 
along these lines, he should not, never for once think 
that others cannot do that which he has failed 'to do 
and do it successfully, "Old Angler" included. 
Any man thrft has the courage or audacity to sign 
as 'Old Angler" should know something about what he 
has been angling for. That term old should signify that 
he IS able to discuss at length, from experience and ob- 
servation, and from enlightenment and knowledge gained 
Irom standard works and statistics along this line, that 
the hatching and propagation of salmoii is a success and 
a great success, too. But we have yet much to learn 
As to myself, I do not claim to be a know-all about 
- V''',".'^- I have made the hatching and propagation 
01 i.iis fish a study from my earliest - boyhood days [ 
have^ closely followed and studied the progress made by 
the United States Fish Commission, have visited almost 
every salmon stream of any importance on the Pacific 
Coast, from the Yukon River in northwestern Alaska to 
the Salinas_ River in California, and after \vorking among 
these fish tor over twenty years (ten of which has been 
spent among them in Alaska), I feel that in defense of 
the gTcat science of artificially hatching this valuable 
tood fish I should assert myself. 
I admire the stand that Old Angler has taken in re- 
,gard to this matter, as it takes the affirmative and neoa- 
live tor a good debate; but he has convinced all of us on 
ihis coast that he is quite ignorant of the subject under 
discnssion. His policy has been shortsighted all the way 
along. 1 hank God that the United States Fish Commis- 
sion 13 not governed by men so weak in their untiring 
efforts as he and our English cousins have been. 
He speaks of taxation for the direct benefit of a few 
cannery men. Does he know^ how much capital is in- 
vested in the cannery, cold storage and salmon business 
in general on this coast? At a rough estimate I would 
place the figures at from $75,000,000 to $100,000,000. one- 
half in the Coast States and the other half in Alaska 
Does he know what the rate of taxation is on say 
?40,ooo,ooo ? 
We do not pay taxes in Alaska, neither do we receive 
any financial assistance from the United States Fish 
Commission. But we do pay the United States Govern- 
ment four cents per case and ten cents per barrel on all ' 
salmon from that section. 
I acknowledge the fact that the canneries are good 
paying propositions, but are people not contented to eat 
canned salmon several thousand miles from where it is 
canned at from five to ten cents per pound? In the Coast 
States these fish, or a large percentage, are secured by 
individual fishermen who sell to the canneries at so much 
per fish, and where there is competition they get as much 
.for their fish as they are worth. These fishermen all pay 
a license for the privilege of fishing 
Does _ Old Angler know that the hatcheries on the 
Columbia and Sacramento rivers are increasing the num- 
bers of salmon now every year so that canneries that 
Avere closed down several years ago because of the re- ■ 
duced niirabers of fish, have been remodeled, improved 
Piid put into operation to receive the increasing numbers 
of fish that have been hatched and propagated by the 
means that he condemns Does he know that large'sums 
of money have been spent in private hatcheries in Alaska 
and that they are a decided success? 
I am interested in a number of fisiierics in Alaska my- 
self, and will have in operation two hatcheries there this 
season. A cordial invitation is extended to Old Ano^ler 
Mr. Stone and other unfortunate fishculturists "and 
skeptics to join us and let us teach them how to increase 
tiie ntimbers of the GiicoHiync/vus fschazvvtscha] O nerka 
and O. kisutch, and at the same time decrease the num- 
bers of the already too plentiful and inferior species, O 
gorhuschOj O. keta, and the destructive species Fontinalis 
Out West we have the prettiest girls, the richest cold 
names, the best battleships, the biggest trees, and the most 
salmon of any country m the world, and with the assist- 
ance of Uncle Sam we intend to show England and the 
vvorld that we can keep up the supply of our increasing-- 
products, it we have to do it artificially. * 
Come, gentlemen, become converted and join our 
ranks. I do not believe that the last appropriation of the 
United States Senate to the United States Fish Cona 
liiission of $650,000 is a bit too big. We need m.ore 
steamers like the Albatross and the Fislihawk, and more 
