April 23, 1904.I 
FOREST AND STREAM.' 
r 
AND 
Voracious Pike. 
Calling the pike the fresh water shark is a name 
well applied, for he is bold and anything that comes his 
way is food for his maw. It is a known fact to those 
who have studied its habits that he will eat frogs, 
young ducks, musquash, in fact, anything that happenb 
to be in front of him, not even barring his own off- 
spring. How destructive they are in a trout or white- 
fish lake is well known. 
One of the lakes on which I was stationed years ago 
was said to have been, formerly, good for whitefish, 
but was now almost nude of this staple food of the 
dwellers at the post, brought about by the increasing 
number of pike. 
As I was likely to be in charge, for a few years at 
least, I set to work to destroy these marauders. The 
lake is only a mile and a half long by a quarter broad. 
It discharges into a large river by a shallow creek, but, 
by this creek, no doubt, many pike were added to the 
number at each spawning time. 
The creek took my attention first, and we staked it 
from side to side with pickets six feet high and planted 
them about two inches apart. 
At the back or river side of this barrier we kept 
some old, alrriost useless, nets set continuously. They 
were doubled so that ilo srriall sized pike could pass. 
1 his W2ts done during the low water in August. , 
My liext rriove \vas to erriploy every boy, girl arid 
old wbmah about the post trojliiig for pikt;. ,Wfe supi- 
plied thein with the trolls ana lines and paid thefH a 
cent apiece for every pike over A foo't long. 
During this trolling process we kept some liets^ of 
large mesh, set purposely for the bigger brieg. For 
days and weeks there must have been landed oh dh 
average a hundred a day, and yet they came. 
As most of the pay was taken out in cheap "bulls- 
eyes" at a cent apiece the real outlay in money was not 
considerable. 
The following spring we inaugurated another system 
of warfare against the pests, and that was by paddling 
quietly around the bays and shooting them while they 
lay spawning and basking in the sun and shallow water. 
Often three or four would be clustered together. A 
shot would not kill the whole, but it would stun them 
so we could finish them with the paddle. 
One that was killed in this way measured thirty-nine 
inches long and weighed thirty-five pounds. A fish of 
this size was good eating, and therefore used at the 
post. 
The small, slimy ones, however, were burned in num- 
bers on a' brush heap. 
With such persistent and continued onslaught on our 
part, at the end of the first year their numbers were 
very noticeably decreased, and at the close of the fol- 
lowing summer they were positively scarce, and a very 
welcome number of whitefish stocked our lake in their 
place. 
I resided at that post for twelve years, and we were 
never in want of the finest fish for the post's consump- 
tion. 
Before closing this sketch I must tell one anecdote 
about a pike, even if I lay myself open to be disbelieved 
by the reader. I am well aware that fish stories stand 
in bad repute and the veracity of the narrator doubted. 
The following is positively true and came under my 
notice: 
Years before the foregoing part of my story hap- 
pened I was stationed on the height of land north of 
Lake Superior, and one afternoon portaged my canoe 
over into a small chain of beaver lakes "hunting for 
signs." 
It was a "still, calm day," as some high-flown writer 
would put it. 
A feather dropped would have fallen straight to the 
earth. 
I was paddling very quietly out into the lake from the 
portage when I noticed something moving very gently 
on the surface a few yards ahead of the canoe. Getting 
closer I made this out to be the fin of some fish moving 
sluggishly. Pushing the canoe further in advance with 
noiseless knife strokes of the paddle, I got close enough 
to see it was a pike with a whitefish half protruding 
from its mouth and almost dead from suffocation. 
This, I thought, is a rare occurrence for a person to 
witness, and gently reaching out my hand I inserted 
my thumb and finger into the eye sockets and lifted 
both into the- canoe. 
On getting ashore at the next portage I forced open 
tlie jaws of the pike, and the whitefish dropped from 
them. The half that had been inside the pike's mouth 
was quite decomposed, while the part out in the water 
was comparatively fresh.. 
In trying to swallow this fish, which was two-thirds 
the pike's own length, he had distended his jaws to the 
utmost, but they only opened enough to reach near the 
back fin, and here fixing his teeth in savage fury the 
biter had bitten more than he could eat. He was 
equally unable to disgorge himself as he was incapable 
of swallowing, and thus by his greediness he brought 
on his doom, 
Noticing his stomach was in a distended shape caused 
me to rip it open witli my knife, and out tumbled the 
remains of a smaller whitefigh, alniost quite digested, 
which had been swallowed whoffe arid Would have meas- 
ured nearly a foot long. 
It was gluttony and not hunger that caused h'iiti to 
reach an untimely end, a moral for greedy little boyS. 
Martin Hunter. 
Tarpon at Tampico. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
The season at Tampico, Mexico, has this year been 
extraordinary, even for this well-known fishing 
ground, and your readers may be interested in the 
fortunes of our party of three rods during ten days' 
fishing in those waters, swarming with tarpon, jack- 
fish and shark, and with myriads of smaller Gulf fish 
that crowd the entrance to the river and bay. 
W., our veteran of five seasons here, who fishes 
always with the tangible result in view, pronounces 
the season without parallel in his experience in the 
number of fish hooked and landed in a given number 
of days. 
Tampico is not ideal, either in its conveniences for 
living or its equipment for the fisherman. In both 
of these, in fact, it is decidedly lacking; the hotels 
are poor and the food far from appetizing, while every 
itelti of tackle must be taken with you and all repairs 
be made by the fisherman himself as best he may. 
Euiz, the p'roprietp'r of the most atrailable boats, pro- 
vides skiffs with .bbatrrien at . $4 Me'xiean ($2 Ameri- 
can money) per day, vp-ith a chjlrge of $2 for the chaif, 
of which you thereupon become the Owhef. 
The tarpon fishing is in the Januco' Ri^ef, a;b'fea:st of 
the town, and extends to . Tamos, a Httle village nine 
miles above. Bfelov^, ai§. far as. La Barra, "the hsif" 
or entrance from the Gtilf, a distance, of some eight 
miles, the jackfish run plentifully, and. sharks are to' 
be readily taken from eight to ten ffefet in length. 
Our "savalo" or tarpon record covers seven days — 
P'eb. 3 to 10 — and shows fifty-eight fish to the trifge 
rods, the largest 6 feet 4 inches in length, with a girth 
of 40 inches; weight (by formula) 154.6 pounds. The 
others varied iii weight from 70 to 125 pounds, and in 
length frojii 5 feet 4 inches to 6 feet 8 inches. These 
fifty-eight tarpon represented approximately a third 
of our "rises" — that is, of fish actually hooked — and 
the three rods must have had during the seven days at 
least 150 tarpon fairly "on." W. and the writer, fishing 
side by side one morning for perhaps two hours, 
"rose" nineteen fish during that time. W.'s method, 
and E.'s and my own for the first few days was to 
shoot the fish with a revolver after it had been 
brought in near enough to the boat to lift the head 
and shoulders out of water; but my^ own fancy later 
was to land the fish on the shore, take the hook from 
its mouth and return it to the water. In most cases I 
am confident that it survived the operation. The 
banks of the river are low and muddy, and the landing 
is far from being a pleasant process, but it gives the 
tarpon a chance for his life, and is, T think, to be 
conliiiended ill the case of a fish which is practically 
jnedible, and in most cases a sheer waste. The natives 
will, it is truCj accept the gift of a tarpon, but its sub- 
sequent tise is more than doubtful; it has fertilizing 
properties, however, and may be so disposed of. 
The jackfish, or "purel," is a powerful fighter, but 
does not leap. He is a tireless puller, however, and 
it is no easy matter to bring him to gaff. In appear- 
ance he is a direct contrast to the tarpon, being com- 
paratively short and deep and of a clear orange color, 
varied with white and blue. He is said to be excel- 
lent eating — certainly the shark finds him a dainty- 
morsel, as we found on opening one of his captors. 
The jack runs in size from 8 to 30 pounds, our largest 
of the fifty or more taken weighing 23 pounds. 
Four sharks, taken at La Barra, where we passed 
two days on the fine sand beach, by hand-line from 
the shore, and three specimens of moonfish, the latter 
of an exquisite color and shading — a sort of iridescent 
blue — completed our creel. It was a wonderful ex- 
perience in what one may call the heavier or more 
strenuous fishing. As an exhibition of fish power the 
rush of the tarpon is incomparable, and the first 
straight leap into the air, head up and silver body 
quivering in the sunlight, one of the moments of a 
fisherman's life. The tug of the purel is simply 
amazing, and the alternation of their powerful strug- 
gles with the leaping and lashing of fifteen tarpon, 
our heaviest day's catch, should be more than satis- 
factory to the seeker for exciting sport. 
Our weather was as nearly perfect as may be. 
Only one day were we kept ashore by a norther, in 
the teeth of which the wise fisherman goes not forth. 
At such times, and in the non-fishing intervals our 
visit was made more than pleasant by the cordial re- 
ception and kind attention of friends, who did every- 
thing to make it long and happily remembered. 
Henry Q. Picicering. 
BosTOK, April 12, 
The Opening Day. 
Oh, don't get up yet, boys. What time is it? 4:30^ 
eh. Too early. Dark for two hours yet. Why don't 
you let up and let me sleep a while yet. You are 
positive pests, and I will even up with you fellows- 
fet. 
Ail awake now and hustling, I can tell you. Where 
are we golttg to head for? "The island for me," says- 
George. "I'll fry Ihe log jam and the North Pass- 
age," breaks in Norman. "Well, the best remaining 
spot is the long level for me. Shall we meet at the 
old elm for lunch? We are up none too early after 
all, boys, and I hurriedly apologize for my growling; 
but it was tough to be dragged out so. I wonder 
if Vet will have our breakfast ready, so we won't lose 
any time? Did he have bait procured for us, so we 
won't have to wait to get it this morning? We never 
thought to ask him to do it. Wonder if he could 
have forgotten it." 
"Dear old Vet. Breakfast is ready for us, boys, 
and so is the bait. Why do we forget that he never 
forgets? How it does tickle him to see us so crazy 
and so happy to be here. 
"Don't eat so fast, boys; it is unhealthy; and you 
look so greedy. You are not hungry, eh? Only eating 
because it is ready and not quite light enough to go 
yet. Here is Vet again with our lunches all ready. 
Better come with us, Vet. You only think you are too 
old and rheumatic. You will forget it all with the 
first trout. Well, good-by. Much obliged for your 
trouble. Oh, yes! we'll catch 'em to-day, sure. Just 
right; not going to be too bright; do you think so, 
Vet?" 
At last we are started, and it seems miles to the 
river. "It don't seem as if it used to_ take so long to 
get there.- does it, boys ? And how light it is now ! It is a 
shame we are not there now! What time we are 
wasting! Here's where we part. Well, good luck 
to you. Doli't fail to be at the old elm at noon, boys." 
I must hustle now, get to work, and not be outdone 
to-day as usual. I wonder why George always catches 
the most and the lafgest? I am sure that the level is 
the best spot to-day, and I must be careful. It does 
seem, though, as if I would never get started at it. 
Oh, at last! The same old spot. Look at that log. 
That's where George hooked his two-pounder last 
season, right under that spur projecting over the dark 
pool and alongside the little eddy. Surely there must 
be another there now. I am shaking so that I can 
hardly get ready. What am I thinking of? I am 
almost in open view, and how can I expect to do 
business with a trout and so ignore his cunning? 
Baited at last! Is it possible? No trout there! I 
would not have believed it. Well, well! Come to 
think of it, I was too careless. Now for the old root 
below. I must look out now. There! What a beauty! . 
Another, and another! What a day! Is it possible? 
Past noon? What will the boys think of me? Too 
late to go to the old elm now. I will have to eat alone 
and explain to them to-night. It is too bad; but I 
never dreamed that it was so late. I won't stop but a 
minute now to eat my lunch, and then get to fishing 
again. . , , , 
The days must be getting shorter mstead of longer. 
Where did my lunch get so thoroughly soaked? It 
must have been away back there when I slipped in 
just as I hooked that big fellow. This doughnut is 
about four times its original size, I should judge. 
Off again! Glorious luck — beautiful fish — splendid 
weather. Oh, oh, can the day be so near over? It 
can't be possible. Well, I can't stay another minute, 
if I am to get back to-night. I am a httle tired after 
all Didn't think it. Yes, this is me, Vet. Have the 
boys come back yet? What luck did they have? Is 
it so, Vet? Have they really beaten me again? 
Fifteen apiece, and George has a i^-pounder? I 
don't care much. Vet. I have had such a day. 
100 Spomitien's JM%. 
96 
Most fishing stories are supposed to be untrue, or at 
least greatly exaggerated, and in case the above heading 
may lead the unsuspecting reader to pass over the para- 
graph we hasten to say that although it is a fishing 
story, it is also an absolute fact. It appears that some 
time ago a member of the Ladies' Branch of the^ Kennel 
Glub, residing in Jersey, sent to a local firm of jewelers 
four Ladies' Branch shields to be made into menu hold- 
ers. The jewelers sent them to a firm of manufacturing 
silversmiths in London, who returned them to Jersey on 
the isth of January, per London and South Western 
Railway. Three weeks ago a fisherman was spearing 
for eels near the Royal Pier at Jersey, and brought up 
on his spear a parcel done up in a portion of a trouser 
leg. On inspection he found enclosed the missing silver 
shields, which, as the owner's name was inscribed upon 
them were eventually restored to her.— London Kennel 
Gazette, 
