Sept. 12, 1903.] 
FOREST ^-.^ STREAM. 
205 
since, I heard a man shoot eight or ten times in a piece 
of grass, and, later, asking his shover how many rail he 
had started there, was told "One." Possibly the shooter 
fired all those shots at a single rail, or he may have been 
shooting at reedies and blackbirds. 
On Labor Day a large number of boats were out, but 
there was no shooting. Now and then half a dozen guns 
would be heard, and then for half an hour not a shot 
would be fired. Unquestionably a few birds are moving, 
as shown by the situation in which birds are found; and 
also by the reluctance with which they take to wing. 
However, the nights are not yet cold enough to make 
them come along in any number, and it is quite possi- 
ble that there will be no heavy flight until toward the end 
of the month. A. B. 
— # — 
Proprietors of fishing '■esorts will find it profitable to advertise 
them in Forest and Streak. 
All comrnunications intended for Forest and Stream should 
always be addressed to the Forest and Stream Publishing Co., 
New York, and not to any individual connected with the paper. 
A Picture* 
Scene — a little lake, deep set among the hills, long 
and narrow, fringed with lilies, the water lying level 
like a sheet of steel. Back and forth along the north- 
ern _end_ plies a sharp-nosed boat, with scarce a wake. 
Amidships a brown-necked young college lad in bath- 
ing suit propels it, with an easy, rotary motion of. the 
hands in alternate strokes, with barely a ripple. In the 
bow, both small hands on the gunwales gripping in 
nervous tension, a lovely girl of nineteen, her delicate 
color coming and going, her hair awave. her eyes 
aflash with excitement; and in the stern a middle-aged 
man whose hair in the right light shows a touch of 
iron gray. In his hand arches a fly-rod of split bam- 
boo, well back over his shoulder, the quivering tip 
darting in irregular thrusts, far astern like the lunging 
beak and serpentine throat of a giant crane, pointing 
to where the line is weaving this way and that in 
surging tugs. The lake grows sullen. Dark, white 
dimples show upon it. Gray light steals down the 
hills, gray mist shrouds them. There is a patter of 
falling drops, large ones, here and there. But the rod 
keeps up its lunging, the line its weaving to and fro. 
SloAvIy the bamboo straightens, a bull-necked fish 
sculls slowly in resentful, then with a surge and splash 
darts back again in rage. Still the pliant cane keeps 
fast its yielding urging, again the fish is guided along- 
side. There is no net. Nathless, there is a hand, that 
has been an expert frog-catcher jn its day, which gently 
hovers ready, grips, and swings 'into boat with a single 
motion a burly three-pound pickerel, so lightly hooked 
in the cheek that it seems not possible the hook could 
have held through all that striving, granting, as it did, 
to the fish to keep his nose well turned away from the 
angle of the pulling of the line. But hold it did. And 
then the rain comes down in very truth — or we awake 
to it at last — and the boat perforce flies shoreward. 
I would that I could tnake you see it as I saw it! 
For jt was a lifting of the curtain to just the scene that 
William _ Black delighted in — ^the bare-armed, bare- 
legged gillie at the oars, the delicately beautiful young 
American girl in the bow, and in the stern — the same 
old, yet never old, lad in the hair of iron gray; and all 
in the heart of the hills, of the gray mists, on the level 
of that sullen lake. J. P. T. 
The Maine Whitefishes. 
BY WlrXIAM CONVERSE KENDALL, ASSISTANT, UNITED STATES 
FISH COMMISSION, IN U. S. FISH COMMISSION BULLETIN. 
About forty years ago Ezekiel Holmes published a list 
of the fishes of Maine, chiefly compiled and containing 
but few fresh water species. Over thirty years later the 
present writer published a report upon an investigation of 
the fresh waters of Washington county, which contained 
about the first record of observations upon Maine fresh 
water fishes since Holmes's publication. Prior to this 
time there had been no systematic collecting in the inland 
waters of the State. In the four years immediately fol- 
lowing some small collections were made, upon which 
there has been no detailed report. 
In iSgS the United States Fish Commission, realizing: 
that knowledge directly valuable to fishculture and indi- 
rectly to the public could be derived from a study of the 
landlocked salmon and hs native habitat, detailed the 
author to make such an investigation of Sebago Lake 
basin. _ Since then up to the present time the fresh waters 
of Maine have received considerable attention and a large 
amount of important information has been obtained. 
In ten years twenty-two salt and fresh water species 
not previously recorded from the State, twelve of which 
are fresh water forms and three of which are new to 
science, have been found. This raises the list of native 
fresh water (including anadromous) fishes from thirty- 
five to forty-seven species. Others have had their 
recorded range considerably extended in the State,- and 
some which have not been recorded since their descrip- 
tion, or known, perhaps, from only a single locality, have 
been found widely distributed. These statements are not 
astonishing when the great extent of the fresh waters in 
the State and the small amount of work done there are 
taken into consideration. There still remains a large un- 
explored area, and doubtless other forms new to the State 
and perhaps new to science may be discovered. 
It is not the aim of this paper to enter into the details 
of the results of this work, this being reserved for a 
future more comprehensive paper, but to call attention to 
a few interesting fresh water species of Maine fishes and 
put on record some observations regarding them. 
One species of whitefish has for many years been known 
to occur in certain Maine waters. Holmes mentions two 
species under the names of Coregonus albus and Coreganus 
iArfyroson^M^) clufeifornti^. The former the wrjtei' b4§ 
decided must be the species formerly recognized as C. 
lahradoriciis, and the other doubtfully as C. quadri- 
lateralis; but they are assigned to no particular locality. 
In the first report of the State Fish Commission, 1867-68, 
Mr. Charles G. Atkins, the commissioner, says, under the 
heading "Whitefish {Coregonus)," page 25: 
Of this genus we possess at least one, and probably more than 
one species. They occur principally in the central, northern, and 
northeastern portions of the State. The species found abundantly 
on the St. John and its tributaries has been referred to the 
species 'C. albus, but we doubt whether that is correct. Whether 
o^r not our whitefish is identical with the famous whitefish of the 
Great Lakes, it certainly partakes of that excellence which is a 
characteristic of all the members of this genus. In the Fish 
River region, in Moosehead Lake, in Schoodic Grand, they pro- 
nounce the whitefish the best of fishes. Like nearly all the salmon 
family, to which they belong, they spawn in the autumn, and 
seem to prefer running water. On the Schoodic they resort to 
Pocompus and Grand Lakes, where the water is flowing from 
three to five feet deep, and the bottom sandy and gravelly. In 
November each year small quantities of them are taken here with 
the spear. One night, Mr. B. W. French, of Cakiis, set a net 
30 feet long at this thoroughfare, and in the morning had a barrel 
of whitefish. In Moosehead Lake they sometimes take the fly. In 
June last we saw one taken with a fly near Mount Kineo by 
Artemas Libby, Esq., of Augusta. It weighed 1% pounds. Two 
trout weighing a pound each were taken at the same cast. Tliey 
can be taken with the hook at any season of the year in deep 
water. Almost any bait will answer, but the best is a piece of 
small fish. The most of them are taken in winter. The greatest 
success is obtained by sinding through a hole in the ice, at the end 
of a line, a "cusk" thoroughly gaslied with a knife. This remams 
there one day and tolls a great many whitefish around. They are 
then taken by smallest baits on small hooks. One winter many 
of these _ Moosehead Lake whitefish were sold in Augusta, and 
their weight was so uniformly one pound that they received the 
name of "pound fish," and the trouble of weighing was dispensed 
with by the mutua] consent of seller and buyer. 
The whitefish differs from most of its family in being nearly or 
quite destitute of teeth. Its mouth is small and tender. It has 
therefore none of the fierce predatory character of the trout and 
togue. It probably feeds mostly on small aquatic animals of 
various kinds, such as insects, crustaceans and mollusks, being 
guiltless of the death of any of its fellow fishes, * 
Several other annual reports of the State Fish Com- 
mission allude to these fish under the general name of 
"whitefish," but give no localities besides those men- 
tioned above by Atkins and nothing further indicating 
more than one species. 
For many years the common whitefish of Maine bore 
the name of Coregonus labradoriciis , but a few years ago 
the well-known ichthyologist. Dr. Tarleton H. Bean, an- 
nounced the identity of this species with Coregonus 
clupeiformis, or the common whitefish of the Great Lakes. 
Whatever changes the names may undergo, the fish re- 
mains the same for the table, unexcelled by any other 
fresh water fish in Maine. 
During most of the year this species (the others, too, 
for that matter), affects the deep water of the lakes or 
streams. It is essentially a lake fish, but is found 
throughout the year in some fresh water streams, prob- 
ably having strayed from its lacustrine home over falls 
which were barriers to its return. In the lakes early in 
the evening and throughout twilight these fishes often 
appear at the surface to feed upon insects, and their 
"rises" may be seen everywhere at some distance from 
the shore. The whitefish rarely, if ever, leaps from the 
water, and his "wake" is inconspicuous compared with 
that of the trout or most other fishes. At this time it 
will occasionally take an artificial fly, as also sometimes 
on cloudy days, but the most successful method of 
angling for it is that described above by Atkins. 
This species is known to occur in Maine in the St. 
Croix waters — both east and west branches — Moosehead 
Lake, Debsconeag lakes, Allagash, St. Francis, and Fish 
rivers. It undoubtedly is a resident of nearly all, if not 
all, of the larger lakes of Maine. It is propagated to 
some extent by the State Fish Commission. 
There is another whitefish found in Maine which is not 
so well known as the above, consequently no one dis- 
putes the right to its name of Corgonus quadrilateralis, 
or round whitefish, Menominee whitefish, frostfish, shad- 
waiter, pilotfish, chiven, Chateaugay shad, black-back, etc., 
according to the locality in which it occurs. It is found 
from New Brunswick westward through the Adirondacks- 
and the Great Lakes, thence northward into Alaska. It 
may be distinguished from other Maine species by its 
more elongate, rounder body, more pointed snout, and 
much smaller mouth. Its habits arc similar in almost 
every respect to the above, but it is more seldom noticed 
owing to its smaller size and less abundance, perhaps, 
and from its never being taken on a hook. It has doubt- 
less been observed by residents of the State and its differ- 
ence from the others noticed, but it has been previously 
recorded from but one locality in the State — Clearwater 
Pond, Industry. 
In 1901 the writer collected this whitefish in Umsaskis 
Lake, October 3, and the Cross Lake thoroughfare of 
Eagle lakes, Aroostook county, Oceober 23. Late in 
November some were also received from Mr. John Story, 
who collected them with the common whitefish in Square 
Lake thoroughfare of the same region. It is doubtless 
more commonly distributed in the State than recorded 
observations indicate. 
Supported by the opinions of such eminent ichthyolo- 
gists as Dr. Jordan, Dr. Everman, and Dr. Bean, and an 
abundance of material and data, the writer has no hesita- 
tion in describing a new whitefish from Maine, which will 
be designated Coregonus staitleyi, named for Commis- 
sioner Henry O. Stanley. It was found in abundance upon 
its spawning beds in the thoroughfare from Mud Lake 
to Cross Lake on the night of October 23, igoi. At one 
haul of a hundred-foot seine fully two barrels of these 
little fish were captured, with them being one large speci- 
men of C. quadrilateralis, several small S. sebago, numer- 
ous common suckers (Catostomus commersonii) , and.-a 
few Catostomus catostomus. 
There are but two instances of the introduction of non- 
indigenous whitefishes into Maine waters. One was Core- 
gonus clupeiformis, the other Coregonus alhula, with 
either of which Coregonus stanleyi is unidentifiable. Re- 
garding the former, in a letter dated April i, igoi. Com- 
missioner H, O. Stanley says: 
Some twenty years ago the United States Commission sent me 
some whitefish eggs, I think from one of the lakes in Michigan. 
I hatched them at Rangeley and planted them in the upper lake— 
Rangeley. This winter they have been caught with hook and line 
in considerable numbers in Umbagog Lake, which is the fourth 
lake below. This is the only lake in which fishing through the 
ice is allowed. It is a pickerel lake. These whitefish were caught 
with a small live minnow. I have had some sent me twice this 
wiut^r; ^^*^y W si« fropj Vk to 2 pounds. I presume they 
are in the lakes just the same, and could be caught if fished for 
in the same way. It seems queer that they should turn up in the 
lower lake first, some forty miles or more away. They are surely 
whitefish, and none has even been seen in Rangeley waters, to 
my knowledge, till this year, and I have been familiar with them 
all my life. 
The other case was a single plant, concerning which 
Supecintendent Charles G. Atkins, of Craig Brook Sta- 
tion, writes that having searched the records, as well as 
his own memory, he finds that he has knowledge of only 
one introduction of such species — namely, that of Core- 
gonus alhula, of which an importation of eggs was hatched 
at Craig Brook in the spring of 1886, and all the resulting 
fry, estimated at 51,000, were planted in Heart Pond at 
East Orland, April 21 of that year. 
This fish abounds in the chain of Eagle lakes, and is 
doubtless a conspicuous item in the menu of salmon, 
togue, and trout. Reports of small whitefish from other 
parts of the State indicate that this species may be com- 
mon in other waters. It is never, or very seldom, seen, 
except in breeding season, but very likely could be caught 
with fine-meshed gill nets made of fine twine if set in 
deep water. It is an excellent pan fish. 
Massach«setts Fish and Game. 
Boston, September 5. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
Capt. Collins and his able corps of deputies are making it 
warm for violators of the fish and game laws. As your 
readers know, the use of dynamite in "fishing waters" is 
prohibited by a law passed last winter. At Revere Beach 
this week a carnival is on, and among the many outdoor 
attractions Prof. Oldrieve has been exploding dynamite 
sticks, thus producing huge "geysers" to the delight of the 
great crowd of onlookers. But on Wednesday two depu- 
ties appeared on the scene and forbade the use of the 
dynamite sticks as a violation of the law above men- 
tioned. The managers of the show have since been trying 
to see the Commissioners, even following the chairman to 
Gloucester, whither he had gone on business, in the hope 
of convincing him that the surf at Revere is not included 
in what the law styles fishing waters. It is reported that 
many fish floated on the water after the explosions, but 
that no dead ones were found on shore. The managers 
have, however, desisted from further use of dynamite. 
Warden Otis Thayer writes that on the approach of 
the "Scoter" the lobster fishermen hustle to get their 
shorts overboard as soon as possible. Deputies Bent and 
Paradis were able to convict the men arrested two weeks 
ago, as mentioned by your correspondent, and have also 
caused the arrest of still another culprit for illegal fish- 
ing in Watuppa Lake, Fall River. Several other violators 
of the law in various parts of the State have been suc- 
cessfully prosecuted, and other cases are now pending. 
Evidence of the increase in the number of deer are 
multiplying constantly. Several persons have reported 
damage to crops to the Commissioners, and one of the 
Selectmen of West Medway has sent a statement of dam- 
ages in that town to your correspondent with a request 
for information as to the method of securing payment for 
the same. I have some interesting items from Maine 
and New Hampshire, but will only add that reports indi- 
cate good fly-fishing for the current month. 
Central. . 
San Francisco Fly-Castingf Club* 
Medal Contests. — Saturday, contest No. 11 ; held at 
Stow Lake, Aug. 29. Wind, southwest; weather, fair. 
Event 
Event 
Event 
No t, 
No 1. 
No 4, 
Distance, 
Accuracy, 
, E 
vent No. ! 
3 , 
T.ure 
Feet 
Per cent. 
Acc. S 
Del < 
Net < Casting < 
C. G. Young..... 103 
91 
94.4 
87.6 
90.11 
95.8 
C. R. Kenniff.... U2y2 
93.4 
91.4 
90.10 
91.1 
97.9 
Dr. W. Brooks... 10.51/2 
91 
93.4 
83.4 
88.4 
H, Battu 10.3 
87 
90 
84.2 
87.1 
95.3 
G. C. Edwards.. 100 
S-5 
93.8 
80 
86.10 
86.4 
G. W. Lane 
92.4 
88.4 
90.4 
T. C. Kierulff.... 112 
8G.4 
87. 4 
80 
88.8 
85.8 
Medal Contests.— 
•Sunday, 
contest No. 
11: held at 
Stow Lake, Aug. 30. 
Wind, southwest. 
C. G. Young 
93. S 
91.8 
81.8 
86.8 
96.4 
88 
92 4 
77.6 
84.11 
96.5 
C. R. Kenniff 
93.8 
92 
85.10 
88.11 
98.6 
G. W. Lane 
91 
72.6 
81.9 
p-. M. Haight 
74.4 
85.4 
73.4 
79.4 
H. D. Sperry.... 101 
82.4 
84.4 
65 
74.8 
A. W. Blade 91 
82.8 
85.4 
71.8 
78.6 
G. H. Foulks, 103 
90.8 
92.8 
75.10 
84.3 
nr. W, Brooks.. 98 
89.8 
88.8 
86.8 
87.8 
F. H. Reed 
SS 
90.8 
86.8 
88.8 
H. C. Golcher... 1241^ 
89.4 
84.2 
86.9 
T. W. Brotherton.123 
89.4 
92 
86.8 
89.4 
92.9 
T. C. Kierulff.... 105 
84.8 
85.8 
80.10 
83.3 
85.2 
J. B. Kenniff 120 
91.8 
89 
87.6 
88.3 
95.9 
Judges, Reed, C. R. Kenniff. Referee, Battu. Clerk, 
Benney. 
The Minfc and the Fly. 
Trout fishing in northern Michigan I find is liable 
to furnish a line of incidents worthy of record, queer 
in detail, grotesque to a degree worth remembering. 
Not by any means the least of the number coming 
under my tiotice during the few days spent on the Big 
Manistee is the one of the mink and the fly. 
Mr. Harry Widdicomb, oE Grand Rapids, caught a 
full-grown female mink on a No. 10 Cahill fly in thre.„ 
feet of fast-running water. The fight which followed 
lasted three-quarters of an hour, at the end of which 
time the mink was drowned, and Mr. Widdirotnb was 
sotnewhat relieved. To relate Mr. Widdicomb's sensa- 
tions during this struggle would be imfair to this sage 
of the brook. He best expresses all he felt by relating 
the experience of a southern Indiana judge, who 
brought on an engagement with a newspaper man. 
The judge had figured that the first blow would out 
that editor's paper out of business, but when the blow 
had been struck and the editor was still on his feet, he 
felt that he would rather be on his own front porch 
reading an account of what a scound'-e! he was. The 
mink, too, got busy. T. E. Batten. 
All communications intended for Forest and Stream should 
always be addressed to the Forest and Stream Publishing Co.^ 
N¥w Yorlti <M»4 not to tay indmdual connected witfe th? p«p«, 
