478 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[June 17, 1905. 
Stream with Dr. Morris and others, has returned and 
reports the salmon plenty, ranging- from lYz to 
pounds in weight. He says there are many visitors at 
the hotel and camps. A party taking the Little River 
trip; — considered one of the most delightful in eastern 
Maine — returned with a fine string of square-tails. A 
party of twenty-five substantial citizens of Winchester, 
under the leadership of Mr. Charles A. Lane, have taken 
a trip by private car to Bingham, thence to Rowe Pond 
camps. By last reports thev were getting good fishing. 
Among those in the party are Drs. John L French, Mott 
A. Cumraings, H. J. Olmstead, H. L. Shepard, A. V. 
Rogers, and Messrs. A. A. Sargent, F. Clark and Louis 
Barta. 
Bangor anglers are in high glee over the return of the 
sea salmon to their famous pool, some thirty or more 
having been taken recently as reported, and all large fish. 
In the weirs below Bangor salmon are also being caught. 
Now, for a while, landlords may put "Penobscot salmon" 
on their bills of fare, though it is doubtful about there 
being enough of them to go round. 
Dr. W. H. Thayer and Frank L. Davis, of Fairhaven, 
Mass., have been enjoying eight days of good sport at 
Middle Dam, getting in all eighty-one trout and salmon, 
the largest a g-pound salmon taken by Mr. Davis. Dr. 
Thayer took a record trout at the dam weighing 8 pounds 
I ounce, which he is having mounted. At Moonhanis 
camps, on the Cupsuptic, Senator and Mrs. Hale and 
others have been entertained by the owner, Mr. Herbert 
L. Brown, of Portland. 
A notice of importance to those taking out boxes of 
fish from Maine has been posted by the Commissioners 
to the effect that persons having such boxes on board 
trains "should identify the same to Warden Cushman, at 
Portland, who will visit every train," otherwise the boxes 
are liable to be delayed. The name and residence of the 
owner must be on the boxes and they must be accom- 
panied by the owner, but those having the $1.00 special 
shipping tag need not be identified. 
Yesterday I saw a large salmon in the window of the 
office of the Dominion Atlantic Railway on Washington 
street which was taken by a Mic Mac guide from a river 
only five miles from Yarmouth, N. S. The fish weighed 
30J4 pounds and is forty inches in length, as described 
on the display card. Central. 
Notes on Live Bait* 
When it is taken into consideration how many anglers 
there are in every city and town in the United States, and 
that nearly all of them employ live bait for certain sorts 
of angling, it seems remarkable that so few dealers make 
it a practice to obtain and keep on hand supplies of live 
bait for fresh water angling. It is true that bait for salt 
water fishing is kept on sale in all seacoast towns, and 
it is equally true that in almost every inland city there is 
at least one dealer in live minnows, but nevertheless not 
so much attention is given this matter as the demand 
would seem to warrant. 
There is no doubt that the present vogue of bait-casting 
with short rods, free running multiplying reels and arti- 
ficial lures has attracted so much attention largely be- 
cause of the difficulty of obtaining live bait at the time de- 
sired. There was a time, not so long ago, when one of 
the most important things to decide on was the securing 
of the bait, and the time and place to angle very often 
depended upon this. Frequently a day's fishing involved 
at least another half day of time in catching minnows, and 
no small anxiety lest they die over night. In numerous 
places this still applies, but not generally to such an ex- 
tent as in former years, when it would have been con- 
sidered next to useless to go- a-fishing with no more 
preparation than the gathering together of the rods, reels 
and tackle-boxes, the latter holding a complete assortment 
of spoons, spinners and such inanimate lures as are now 
commonly advertised as "the most killing baits." Then 
the fishing equipment included a large minnow bucket 
ingeniously arranged to keep minnows alive a long time ; 
a net for catching minnows in small streams; perhaps a 
pair of rubber boots, etc. One's knowledge of where to 
fish was incomplete if he was ignorant of the most favor- 
able places for catching bait. Altogether there was much 
of discouragement involved, and no little back-breaking 
work. Still, the pursuit of small fry gave one a true in- 
sight into the ways of fishes, and often uncovered the 
hiding places of old-time big bass and other game fish. 
The difficulties incident to catching minnows led to 
many improvements in minnow buckets, so that it is now 
possible to purchase one of these in which minnows may 
be kept alive for two or three days, even during a railway 
journey or in a wagon. Air is pumped into a receptacle 
and thence filters slowly through the water. 
Often the anglers of a community come to patronize 
some good-natured individual, possessed of more time 
than wealth, who, for a nominal consideration, will catch 
and deliver at a certain time and place a given number 
of minnows. Now and then his word is as good as his 
bond, provided the corner ginmill does not lure too stfon- 
ly or the state of his health demand rest and quiet. There 
is as a general thing not sufficient demand for bait to 
make it worth while for any man to deal exclusively in 
it, hence the angler who finds himself in a strange town 
naturally asks the local fishing tackle dealer for the de- 
sired article or information leading up to its acquisition. 
Not a few tackle dealers endeavor to keep on hand dur- 
ing the fishing season a supply of minnows, and of live 
frogs, crickets, helgramites or even the lowly angleworm 
as well. Sometimes bait can be found at fish markets. 
But at the best known resorts for black bass anglers the 
boatmen, or guides, as they are sometimes called, and 
the hotelkeepers are almost certain to either have sup- 
plies of bait on hand for their customers or fill orders on 
short notice. It seems to be the angler's fate, misfortune, 
what you will, however, to find the supply of the very best 
bait known always short, so that his trips are often 
marred by the haunting belief that if he could have had 
the young catfish, or lamprey eels he wanted, his creel 
would have been much heavier on his return. 
In one or two cites dealers have given no little attention 
to the collecting of eggs and the hatching of minnows 
and frogs. Some of the bait obtained in this way and 
others is preserved and bottled while the surplus is sold 
during the most active season. Evidently success has at- 
tended their efforts and it may reasonably fee e3q)ected 
other persons will enter this line of business, since in it 
both live and preserved baits are possible. 
There are waters in which certain varieties of live bait 
only can be employed with marked success, but as a rule, 
if the largest minnows obtainable are used one's chances 
of attracting and possibly catching large fish are good. 
And, following out the same line of reasoning, it would 
be folly to say what sort of bait is best, since all waters 
are not alike and their finny inhabitants' likes and dislikes 
differ. One thing is true of all waters, however, and it is 
that the angler who employs a single hook, or at most two 
single hooks, will catch as good fish in the long run as he 
who puts his faith in all the villainous trebles and gangs 
of trebles invented. Nor will he mutilate many fish that 
get away. 
Along our coasts there are numerous places where bait 
can be purchased all the time. In the cities a great many 
of the small dealers in fishing tackle carry bait that com- 
mands a standard price per dozen and is always obtain- 
able, since there is practically no closed season except 
during the coldest parts of winter. Some small dealers in 
cigars carry bait also, such as sandworms, whiteworms 
and the like, and the writer knows of one place in New 
York city where can be purchased a sack of coal, a lump 
of ice, a bundle of kindling wood or a supply of salt water 
bait. At the same time the dealer repairs shoes. Here is 
a man of many parts. He knows little English but bids 
fair to accumulate wealth with his knowledge of the New 
World. 
At the resorts dotting nearby bays and estuaries live 
bait of the most attractive sorts for all seasons is obtain- 
able from local bonifaces. 
Yellowstone National Park. 
Editor Fores't and Stream: 
Mr. DeWitt C. Booth, Superintendent of the Spearfish 
Station, United States Fish Commission, came on from 
Spearfish, S. D., with the crew of the sub-station in the 
Yellowstone Park, Yellowstone Lake, where, as usual, 
the eggs of the native black spotted trout will be taken 
for distribution. Last year several million eggs were 
taken, and this year, if conditions are favorable, they 
will obtain 5,000,000 or more. Most of these eggs are 
kept until "eyed," or brought to that stage when they can 
be safely shipped to any part of the world, with proper 
care en route. Only a few eggs are hatched at the sub- 
station. 
Mr. Booth brought with him from Spearfish hatchery 
103,000 brook trout, which were planted in the following 
waters: 11,000 in Ice Lake, lo,000 in Swan Lake, 25,000 
in the head waters of Gardiner River and Indian Creek, 
40,000 in Willow Creek, and 17,000 in the Gibbon River 
above the Virginia Cascades. 
Several years ago rainbow trout were planted in the 
latter place, and for two years a few were taken above 
the Cascades. Of late years none have been seen above 
that point. It is supposed they dropped down below this 
obstruction and were unable to get back for the spawn- 
ing season. The same trout has been found just below 
the falls. The plant just made by Mr. Booth will stock 
the upper waters of Gibbon River with a trout that won't 
"go back on the stream." There is an interesting fact 
connected with this recent plant. Eighteen thousand of 
the young fish are hatched from spawn taken from fish 
which annually visit the sea, whose ancestors are more 
like salmon, going to the fresh water streams to spawn,, 
aiid visit the salt and brackish waters off Plymouth, 
Mass., where the young trout came from. 
The United States Fish Commission has done a very 
good lot of work in the Yellowstone Park stocking vari- 
ous waters and keeping up the stock in streams where 
there was the least danger of depletion by over-fishing 
or from other causes. Not only has the Park been 
benefited by the Commission's work but the whole coun- 
try, and some foreign States. Millions of eggs have been 
obtained here and distributed. 
It would be very little expense to the Government to 
establish another sub-station on the east side of the lake, 
where it would be as easy to obtain 5,000,000 additional 
eggs for distribution as at the present station. This 
would not affect the supply of trout in the Yellowstone 
Lake, for it is over-stocked now. An addition to the 
equipment of the station should be made by giving the 
men some kind of a motor boat. They are now handi- 
capped by being compelled to use wagons for their trans- 
portation along the shore of the lake and are compelled 
to limit their field of operations to a stream or two close 
to the sub-station. 
Another good bit of work which could be done for the 
Park is the planting of some suitable fish in Yellowstone, 
Shoshone and Lewis lakes for food for the large trout 
in these lakes. As it is now, there is not the proper food 
for the growth of the trout to the size they would reach 
were food conditions favorable. No large trout are ever 
seen in Yellowstone Lake. There are no fish for them 
to eat except their own kind. On the food they find there 
they can reach a certain size ; beyond that they never go 
— except when a cannibal is found. The conditions are 
the same in Lewis and Shoshone lakes, where the Com- 
mission planted the great lake trout. No food suitable 
for their best development was planted with them. It is 
not too late to do so now, and it is hoped that the Com- 
mission will put this matter in the hands of those who 
will carry the work through successfully. 
About the time the first plant was made in the Yellow- 
stone Park under Commissioner McDonald, several thou- 
sand western whitefish were transferred from Henry 
Lake, Idaho, to the Yellowstone Lake and River below 
the lake. None of these or their descendants has ever 
been seen since they were turned loose. What became 
bf them no one knows. It is supposed they were de- 
voured by the large trout, or went down stream over the 
falls. Some of them were as large as the largest trout 
and ought to have escaped. Nevertheless, there- was no 
whitefish left to spawn and afford food for the trout. In 
Heart Lake, at about the same altitude as Yellowstone, 
Shoshone and Lewis lakes, are found trout, chub, white- 
fish, suckers and blobs. There one can take trout weigh- 
ing over 5 pounds, and then there are minnows that 
could be transferred to some stream running into Yel- 
lowstone Lake from the Continental Divide. 
Yellowstone Lake is slowly filling up. The work of the 
sub-station may be hindered or helped by the small quan-? 
tity of snow in the Park. Last year they were hindered 
by high water. This year they had no trouble getting 
to the station. Rains may make up for scarcity of snow. 
T. E. H. 
The Log of a Sea Angler. 
XL— The Trfpfetail as a Rod Fish— Experiences With Taf^ 
pen — Hauling the Seine — Ten Pounder- Hog Fish — 
Lady Fish — Black Grouper, etc. 
BY CHARLES FREDERICK HOLDER, AUTHOR OF BIG GAME 
fishes/' "adventures of TORQUA/'' ETC. 
One of the fascinating problems of the outer reef 
was to determine how the deep channels in the heart 
of the sandy lagoon were formed. There was absolutely 
no current, at least to the eye. I recall one of these 
turquoise blue leads, the sides of which were so steep 
that I could stand on the coral of the edge and dive 
down into deep water. To determine the depth, I 
brought out heavy coral rocks, and rigging a rope 
hold, allowed the weight to carry me down, after the 
fashion of the Panama pearl divers. Exactly how deep 
I sank I had no means of knowing. I "cast off" vvfhert 
I thought a depth had been reached that Would tlot be 
too much of a swim, and as I Was a fair dlvfir, arid in 
good training, I tilay have attained thirty fefet; at le^st 
it grfew perceptibly dark as I sank. 
But the most remarkable feature was the change 
in temperature. At the surface the heat was that of 
the "roaring twenties," intense and fierce, and the sur- 
face water often uncomfortably warm; but as I sank 
I seemed to be passing through different layers of tem- 
perature, and twenty feet down this tropical gulf stream 
was decidedly cold. I believe the channel to have been 
one hundred feet deep, and at the point I have in mind 
the branch coral formed a perpendicular wall as far as 
I could penetrate. As I swam upward within a foot 
of its gristling points I could see various fishes of 
brilliant hue poised in its interstices. As the water 
deepened, the coral assumed a more luxuriant growth; 
The branches were long, like the points of a deer's 
horn, and a rich olive-green hue. The water, doubtless 
due to its saltness, Was ari iilterise arid beautiful blue: 
Such a channel could be followed a Ibng distaricej arid 
might have several brarichfes. One which I eritergd, 
gradually shoaled until the water was not over ten feet 
deep. By diving in this cul de sac, I found that the 
bottom was a clear, sandy floor, without an object to 
break the monotony. So clear was the water that in 
sixty or seventy feet I could see the ripples in the 
sand and the crayfish whips on the under edge of the 
coral. In a word, here was a street perfect in its 
imitation of a thoroughfare of the land, the surface of 
the sand clean and well kept, the sides a wall of coral 
rising abrupt and precipitous, alive with the strange in- 
habitants of the sea. 
My favorite boat had a forward deck, upon which I 
could lie prone with niy face near the water, arid while 
I^ong John sculled along, I could scan the bottom arid 
pass in review the panorama of the sea. One day we 
were moving in this fashion up a cul de sac, when I 
came upon a break in the coral, as though some great 
boulder had crashed down the side, or an ocean 
avalanche, breaking, had cut the coral, forming a little 
snug harbor in which were numbers of fishes, and 
among them one which I recognized as a threetail, 
knowu as triple tail, Hasher, and various other names, 
a fish famous for its wide geographical range. 
It was poised iri the ceriter of the little bay, suf- 
rounded by a number of gay courtiers— angel, parrot 
and other fishes^ — arid iri contrast was a ponderous 
figure. I always kept nly rod at hand, arid pullirig the 
boat over on to the coral I had Long John hold her 
while I laid siege to the big fish. It was necessary tO 
entice him up and away from the long coral branches, 
at least I thought so, and I began chumming with 
crayfish. Long John pounded them up with a mallet 
and scattered the fine parts in the little bay of delights. 
I doubt if there are many fishes that can resist the 
fascinations of crayfish — it is the bonne bouche of bait in 
the tropics, and as it sank all the lesser fishes dashed 
at it, the water becoming filled with them, while the 
iiasher, which I "guessed" at fifteen pounds, ignored 
it, remaining in one spot, his fins moving gracefully 
and sufficiently to hold him in place. 
Again Long John sprinkled the water with chum, 
setting the fishes frantic; and as they rushed upward, 
the greater fish turned, tipped up and exposed his 
broad body wholly. I now took a large bait and tied 
it on the hook with thread, and as John tossed the 
chum I cast into it. The angel fishes seized it, and, as 
I had figured, they could not devour it before it reached 
the bottom; so they followed down, tearing at it 
fiercely until it reached the plane of the three-tail; then 
unable to resist, he moved ahead, dispersing the throng 
of small fry, and seized the lure. It was too much for 
him, and I watched his every move, so clear was the 
water, until he had bolted the large bait. He began 
to suspect that all was not right when he felt the wire 
leader against his big under jaw, and swung his head 
or body to the right. At that precise moment I gave 
him, in angling parlance, the butt. Instead of dashing 
into the coral, as I suspected he might, he made a 
savage rush directly out into clear water, taking line 
with a whirlwind run that threatened to unreel its en- 
tire length, the click protesting in loud staccato notes, 
the rod bending and bowing as I slipped the tip of the 
butt beneath my leg and tried to stop the run. I had 
taken the threetail, as Long John called him, before, 
in the "rip-raps" off Old Point Comfort, and a much 
larger fish, so was not wholly a novice; yet, before I 
stopped the run, I had very little line left, and my game 
was entirely across the channel, doubtless hunting 
fields in which to dart. 
Long John sculled after him, and so I gained line: 
and after a run down the slope into deep water half- 
way round, I stopped him. He turned, climbed the 
steep hill with a single rush, and raced away over the 
shoal in the direction of the reef, taking us into a 
splendid open field, where I played him twenty minutes, 
being well repaid for the work in the hot sun, as the 
):hreetail, if slightly poi]derous and heavy, was a clever 
