June i8, 1904.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
508 
keeps one pretty well employed, but when he undertakes 
to conquer two at a time he undoubtedly has his hands 
full. 
"Bravo !" shouted the Doctor, "you've done it this time 
v.'ith a vengeance." 
And the Doctor was right. I doubt very much if 
there was ever seen in the waters of the Grand Discharge 
a prettier fight than those silvery beauties put up before 
they were conquered. Here, there, and everywhere, seem- 
ingly at one and the same time, they worked well in double 
harness, for their runs were made side by side, and when 
they leaped both fish cleared the water together. It was 
a pretty sight, and one not likely to be repeated. For- 
tunately, in rushing about as they did, they "played" each 
other, for when one made a long, savage run he had the 
other as sort of drag upon him, and in leaping of course 
they could not act absolutely simultaneously. 
As they had done before, the guides worked the canoe 
back again into the quiet cove, and it was not long before 
I had my fish fairly conquered and ready for the landing- 
net ; luckily for me, it was a capacious one, and both fish 
were lifted in it from the water with one sweep. It was 
with no little satisfaction that I gazed upon my silvery 
prizes, for it was my first experience in playing two sal- 
mon together, and I felt that the congratulations my 
canoemen uttered were thoroughly genuine. 
The fish were nearly matched in size, one weighing 2^/2 
and the other about 2^ pounds. As my guides were pre- 
paring to pack the fish in wet moss in the bow of the 
canoe, the Doctor came into the cove to enable him to 
land another beauty. 
"By Jove !" he exclaimed, as he gazed upon my ouan- 
aniclie, "you had wonderful luck; to kill a pair like that 
in such a place is something to be proud of, and worth 
going a long distance to accomplish. Well, we've taken a 
half-dozen nice fish, and as it's noon, I propose that we go 
ashore, have lunch and a smoke, and give our boys (point- 
ing to the guides) an hour's rest. I dare say they'll en- 
joy it." . ■ . . : 
"Yes," I replied, "I was not aware until now that it is 
so late, but I really feel that lunch would be most 
acceptable." 
The prows of the canoes were pulled ashore, and step- 
ping out we selected a shady spot for our resting place, 
and there enjoyed our noonday meal with the relish that 
is only given to anglers and hunters. 
The allotted hour soon passed away, a good portion of 
it having been devoted to the siesta which one so thor- 
oughly enjoys when on an outing in the forest and on the 
stream. . 
Our catch in the afternoon consisted of five ouananiche, 
three of which fell to the Doctor's rod and the others to 
mine, and when the hour arrived for the sailing of the 
steamer up the lake, we felt as we repaired to the landing 
place that our first day with the ouananiche had been 
everything we could have desired. 
To anglers who are about to visit these waters, a few 
suggestions as to desirable varieties of flies will not here 
be out of place. My favorite fly for the ouananiche and 
other landlocked salmon is the so-called Tomak-Jo, which 
has a golden hackle over a red and white chenille body, 
and wings made from the beautiful ruff feathers of the 
wood or summer duck. Next in value to that is the 
silver-doctor, the feathers of which should always be from 
the crest of the golden pheasant ; and following these, the 
light and dark Montreals, the Durham-ranger, grasshop- 
per, butcher, light and dark fairy, and Jock-Scott, all tied 
in medium or small sizes, will be found amply sufficient 
for all conditions of weather and water. 
Edward A. Samuels. 
The Leap of the Bass. 
Again a correspondent writes me for my opinion as to 
what it is that actuates a black bass after he 
has been hooked to leap out of his native elemenc 
into the air, and if mv readers will pardon me once more 
for "threshing old straw," in reviving once more the leap- 
ing bass, I will reply. ' In the first place, it is not strange 
that anglers should differ in their views, for with all the 
literature- which we now have there is yet room for a 
most interesting book on this great fish of ours, and an 
appropriate title would be, "What I Do Not Know About 
Black Bass." Mr. George A. Hoagland, Dr. Frank Owen, 
Henry Homan, or George Entreken might add lots of in- 
teresting data to our black bass lore if they only would, 
and letters from these gentlemen would indeed be valu- 
able. I have always believed, and still believe, that the 
black bass leap from the water for the sole purpose of 
throwing the hook from its mouth, and an experience of 
many years and on many waters confirms this view. It is 
for this reason that a bass taken with a fly yields rnore 
sport than those taken with bait, for the instinct leads it to 
believe that a hook in the mouth can be thrown out more 
readily than one lodged in the stomach. In my experience 
those hooked in the mouth invariably leap from the water, 
v/hile those hooked deep in the throat or in the stomach 
verv frequently do not leap at all. 
S'ome vears ago I was casting the fly in a little lake 
just west of Springfield, Neb., which was taken by a good 
sized bass, and on its first leap from the water the snell 
was broken from the shank of the hook. In a few seconds 
the bass leaped from the water at the same place and 
shook its head vigorously, and after an interval of a few 
seconds more it leaped again from the same spot, and on 
this occasion threw the hook from its mouth with such 
force that it fell on the water to a distance of fifteen feet, 
but after -this it did not leave the water any more. It 
follows that on this occasion, at least, the bass must have 
had its mouth open, for it could not have thrown the 
hook from a closed mouth, and that the head must have 
been shaken with great force to throw the hook such a 
distance, and it also follows that it leaped to free itself 
from the hook, for after it had gotten rid of it the leaping 
ceased. On the other hand, I have frequently taken bass 
at Lake Washington while trolling with a spoon and a 
frog or minnow bait, which did not leap from the water 
at all, and have commonly found that in such cases 
the bait had been swallowed and the hook was far down 
the throat or in the stomach; and, in fact, it is frequently 
possible to' tell to what extent a bass has swallowed the 
hook by its tendency to leap or not to leap from the water. 
As to the frequent leaping of some b^s§ 3s a matter of 
habit, as claimed by many of our local anglers, I can only 
say that I have frequently seen them break water, and in 
such cases have always found that they were after food 
abounding on or over the surface, but I have never seen 
one leap clear of the water unless hooked. 
There are few points on which fly-fishers differ more 
than the correct methods of striking a bass and trout. 
Not a few, in fact the majority, of fly-fishers will say that 
a bass should not be struck. As a matter of fact, the dif- 
ferences of opinion among anglers on this subject are 
more verbal than substantial. Most men, who have caught 
their 50 to 100 bass and 100 to 1,000 brace of trout, act in 
very much the same way, according to the varying cir- 
cumstances of each particular case. George R. Hoagland's 
direction is, as regards bass, that when you see the boil 
and feel the pluck you may "raise your rod smartly, with 
a fair tug, over your shoulder." Some call this striking; 
others say it is simply keeping a tight line on the fish. In 
bass fishing, perhaps the most important point to be re- 
membered in connection with the strike, is not to pull too 
soon. Men who are accustomed to the quick rising trout 
or rapid streams often make mistakes with bass. These 
small trout dash at every passing particle in all haste, 
fearful of food escaping in a locality where food is all too 
scarce. Very different is the stately Micropterus, which, 
as a rule, shows no too great inclination to feed, some- 
times follows a fly for soipe yards before seizing it, and 
frequently breaks the surface of the water a half second 
or so before the fly is in its mouth. 
Sandy Griswold. 
Omaha, Nebraska. 
Sturgeon Galore. 
A year or two ago an account, fully authenticated, 
came up from New Orleans regarding the choking of 
Harvey's Canal with buffalo fish, navigation being 
actually impeded thereby, and because of the suffocation 
and putrefaction of the fish, the public health being so 
endangered,^ the Mississippi levee was cut and the 
odoriferous 'mass washed out to sea. 
Now comes down from the north the following story. 
I know Mr. Crawford, and in this case, like all others 
before the bar, the prisoner must necessarily be given the 
benefit of the doubt. Here it is, cut from our local paper, 
the St. Paul Dispatch : 
"E. F. Crawford, a prominent attorney throughout the 
northern half of the State, and who practices at Bemidji, 
met with the most thrilling experience of his life while 
coming up the Big Fork River in a canoe. He saw the 
river filled from bank to bank with sturgeon, the big lake 
fish that at this time of year ascend streams from Rainy 
River to lay their spawn in shallow waters. Not only 
vvas the sight appalling, but on several occasions his boat 
was in danger of being crushed by the countless monsters. 
"In company with two rivermen, Mr. Crawford was 
paddling up river in great haste to reach Big Falls on 
the day of its being incorporated as a village, which mat- 
ter was in his charge. 
"To reach the town, a canoe trip was necessary, as a 
log-jam at the mouth of the river prevented steamboats 
from passing upward. The river is full of rapids at 
various points, and some of them are so strong that their 
boat had to be carried overland along the banks. They 
came suddenly upon a splashing surface which extended 
across the river and several hundred yards ahead. Flere 
the slope was gentle and no such conditions were present 
as to hint that rapids should form at this point. The 
men were in the center of the river, but at once began 
to paddle their boat shoreward to avoid the rapids. Sud- 
denly one of the boatmen cried : 
"'My God! This is not rapids, but a jam of fish!' 
"Mr. Crawford saw in startled amazement that they 
were, indeed, surrounded by big fish, some longer than a 
man. The sturgeon leaped and darted, showing the white 
gleam of their bellies, as they spurted along and churned 
the waters with head and tail. There were thousands of 
them, traveling up stream in a wedge-shape, with a leader 
at the head. Except for a narrow streak on each side of 
the river, the fish made the river look like a bed of rapids. 
By striking with their paddles, the men managed to clear 
a path to the bank without their canoe being crushed 
by the sportive monsters. Then, by dragging their canoe 
cautiously along the bank for half an hour, they got 
ahead of this school, which was swimming at a rate of 
about three miles an hour up stream. ' Later, another 
school like the first was encountered, and still another, 
although smaller. After that Mr. Crawford's party passed 
straggling bunches of five or six." 
And the above reminds me of a Russian sturgeon story. 
It was on the banks of one of the principal sturgeon rivers 
in Russia, and at a time when the villagers had abandoned 
all other duties and were attending strictly to that busi- 
ness which involved the catching of the sturgeon, the 
smoking of same, and the treatment of the eggs to turn 
same into genuine caviar. 
Two Americans were in the village and became inter- 
ested onlookers. They noticed that a strong line or rope 
was drawn across the stream, and from it dangled in- 
numerable barbless cod-hooks, each fastened by a strong 
linen snell. 
No bait was used, the bare hooks dangling in the water 
naked as far as any tempting morsel was concerned. And 
this queer way of fishing was credited up to the crass ig- 
norance and benighted condition of the natives. So off 
the two Americans hiked to the nearest city and there laid 
in a stock of barbed hooks, lines, etc., and returning set 
about to show the natives a thing or two, and they set 
their lines. It took but a very limited time for the natives 
to catch on, and up went a hue and cry, and before the 
Yankees knew where they were at they were running for 
their lives from a howling mob of infuriated Russians — - 
actually running into the Government police barracks for 
protection. In time it was all made clear. The native 
fishermen had no desire to catch all the fish in the river 
all at on® and the same tim,e. They wanted some of the 
sturgeon to get away and, come again. That's why they 
used barbless hooks. If they wanted all the fish in the 
river they could use nets, but they planned it otherwise. 
As long as a reasonable run of sturgeon was insured, 
and Russians and others enjoyed caviar on toast, as a 
starter, so long -yv^ere tbey^ as5ure4 of employment when 
the fish were running and reasonable returns. It meant 
recurring work and profit as the season rolled around, 
a condition that must cease with the extermination of the 
fish. So if as many sturgeon pulled loose and escaped 
as were hooked and held and captured, it was all right, 
for they would return again next year. 
All of which it nearly cost the two Yankees their lives 
to find out. Charles Cristadoro. 
St. Paul, Minn. 
New Jersey Shore Fishing. 
_A.SBURY Park, N. J., June 9. — June is ever productive 
of bass, as of roses, is a saying much in vogue among the 
angling fraternity, and as each succeeding year rolls 
around the fact is newly affirmed. While an occasional 
bass is taken during May in seasons that are mild, still 
little is to be expected earlier than the beginning of the 
present month. 
So far eleven fish have been taken that are known of in 
this vicinity, and none of these of the large order, 10^ 
pounds being the heaviest. The afternoon of the 6th wit- 
nessed the first capture — by a woman, at that, Mrs. 
Bruere, a well-known enthusiast, who summers at Avon, 
N. J., who, despite. gray hairs, braves the elements in bass 
weather and stays with the tides, casting as well as many 
of the sterner sex, and is uniformly successful. Of the 
eleven fish taken, three have fallen to her rod, weights, 
3, 5, and 9 pounds respectively. 
The conditions for striped bass are very promising. 
There is an abundance of food of their favorite sorts, 
shrimps being phenomenally abundant. Several river and 
offshore fishermen have told me that they have never 
known them so plentiful and of such large size. All man- 
ner of fish feed greedily upon them, and it argues well for 
future sport. 
The kingfish, which usually are quite abundant at this 
period, are scarce, although they were taken quite freely 
in the pounds about two weeks ago. Only one fish has been 
reported taken on the hook. Porgies, as they are usually 
termed in these waters, but properly "scup," have been 
very plentiful, as many, as 80 barrels being, taken at one 
lift of one pound net. They are not now so abundant. 
Sea bass are legion. It is perhaps safe to say that not 
within ten years have they been taken in such quantities 
and of such fine size, 2 and 3-pO'Und fish being caught 
in the small rivers on the hook, which is a most unusual 
occurrence. That general favorite, the weakfish, is also 
in evidence; quite good catches have recently been made 
in the nets, although none have as yet come to the hook 
in these waters. Plaice, or, as they are usually termed, 
fluke, are plentiful, are in fine condition, are taking the 
hook well, and afford good sport when fished for with 
light tackle. 
As to fresh-water fishing, results have been quite satis- 
factory. White perch have not taken the hook as readily 
as they did last season, however, owing to some caprice 
of their own. The good work done by our commissioners 
in trout stocking is plainly to be seen. I have seen and 
measured trout 13 inches in length from a stream within 
three miles of this place which never knew a trout until 
they were planted there five years ago as fingerlings. One 
small stream stocked by myself and a friend six years ago 
is now a joy, and the progeny have stocked two other 
quite large streams, so that the supply is now fairly 
abundant. Our original stock consisted of just twenty- 
seven fish of from five to eight inches in length. So much 
for a little thought, a little care, and lines scrupulously 
kept from the waters. 
The new law which opens the black bass season on May 
20 is generally regarded as a mistake in this part of the 
State. The fish do not multiply rapidly in our waters, and 
such streams as do contain them are at all times over- 
fished by the hordes who crowd here during the months 
the season is open for their capture. 
Leonard Hulit. 
Salmon Fishermen are on the Move. 
Quebec, Can., June 11. — Many salmon fishermen are 
already in camp on the banks of their rivers, and the bulk 
of those who fish the north shore streams, including 
Messrs. R. E. Plumb, F. S. Hodges, Vesey Boswell, Ed- 
son Fitch, and many others, are expected to go down by 
the next trip of the King Edward. Among those who have 
already gone down are Messrs. John and James Manuel, 
of Ottawa, John Law and Colonel Whitehead, of Mon- 
treal, all of whom fish the Godbout. Mr. Walter Brackett, 
of Boston, is daily expected here on his way to the Mar- 
guerite,, and Mr. Cabot, of Boston, is expected on the 
Grand River of Gaspe about the 23d inst. Several mem- 
bers of the Restigouche Club are already in camp at Meta- 
pedia, and so are some of the members of the Chamberlain 
Shoals Club, including Messrs. I. H. Stearns and W. M. 
Macpherson. Dr. W. F. Campbell and Mr. Stikeman are 
unable to go down this year. The Governor-General, the 
Earl of Miiito, hopes to be able to go to the Cascapedia 
shortly for a few days. 
Ouananiche fishermen for the Grand Discharge are just 
commencing to put in an appearance here, and many have 
written to secure accommodation. The first boat for the 
Grand Discharge crossed Lake St. John from Roberval 
on the I2th inst., and at present writing no word has been 
received from the first party of anglers to fish the waters. 
Several old-time fishermen in this country were with the 
party, including Mr. George E. Hart, of Waterbury. 
Trout fishermen are arriving here from the other side 
of the boundary line daily. At the headquarters of the 
Metabetchouan Club the other day twenty-four guests 
were present at one time. Reports as to the fishing con- 
tinue to be most satisfactory from all the northern club 
territories. Some very large trout have been taken on the 
fly during the last week out of Lake Bouchette, the 
Ouiatchouan River, and the waters of the Laurentides Fish 
and Game Club. Premier Parent, of Quebec, the Minis- 
ter of Lands and Fisheries, has been one of the most suc- 
cessful anglers this spring in the Ouiatchouan River. 
On the TourilH Club limits catches of very heavy trout 
are reported by the president of the club, Mr. McSloy, of 
St. Catherines, and by Mr. and Mrs. Vanderwerken, of 
New York. 
Inquiry as to the most successful flies tried this season 
upon the waters in the Lake St, Johri district, elicits tlie 
V. 
