876 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
[Nov. 4, 1905. 
A Big Halibut. 
It was late of a July morning when we left the wharf 
in the little punt, but the lateness of the hour was not 
due to laziness, but was because there had not been a 
breath of wind since sunrise. My companion had been 
out early to his net, which lay out at mooring near the 
Duck Rocks, and had taken from it a bucket of squid 
^bnd some hiacks, so when the breeze finally came about 
8 o’clock, we were ready and quickly slipped our 
mooring and sailed out through the Gut, past Smutty 
Nose, and around the point of Manana, choosing the 
inner fishing grounds, as the wind served. 
Our boat was an old-time sloop, 20 feet long, battered 
by many hard winters in the lobster business, but still 
staunch and able, and looking almost respectable with 
a new coat of paint. Having passed into the hands of 
a suriimer resident, she was familiarly known as the 
rusticators’ ” boat, for by that name went all those 
who were not natives. 
As we left Manana, the fog, which up to then had 
hung heavy upon the water, began to “burn” under the 
hot sun, and slowly filtered away. But with the fog 
went the wind, and only by resort to an “ash oar 
breeze” were we able to reach the grounds — a twenty- 
fathom ledge, easily found by getting the point of 
Manana in range with the Eastern Duck Rock, and the 
light showing out bye. 
_ Having rounded, and finding the depth right, let our 
killick go, made all snug, cut the squid up on the bait 
board, and put our lines overboard. 
In one day the preceding year two of us had caught 
eleven hundred pounds of fish on these same grounds, 
so the prospect was fair for a good day’s sport. But 
our hopes soon vanished, an hour’s fishing yielded 
but a few small cod. Quite discouraged, we were lolling 
over the wash board, idly holding our lines, when sud- 
denly arid without warning a terrific yank nearly pulled 
the line from my hands. I tried to pull in — no easy 
task— but with some difficidty about three fathoms of 
Mne was hauled aboard, when zip, out it flew, till the 
halibut had reached bottom. This process was re- 
peated perhaps a dozen times, each trial bringing the 
fish nearer the surface, The rig — a six-pound cod line 
— w^as new luckily, and stood the strain. One hauled, 
carefully keeping the dine clear of the gunwale, while 
the other coiled the line so that it would run out 
smoothly when the fish dove. At last we got him to 
the surface, just for a second; but this was time to slip 
the gaff in his mouth and jerk it under the hard, bony 
substance which formed the upper lip'. Thus, pulling 
and hauling, we dragged him over the gunwale and in to 
the, bottom of the boat, where he lay slapping his great 
tail upon the flooring, making a noise like a small 
battery. 
A breeze having come up, we sailed in and weighed 
our fish before an admiring audience, the scales tipping 
to 150 pounds — a' rather good fish. 
G. P. Putnam. 
Are Fishes Deaf? 
Readers of Brehm’s “Tierleben” (Animal Life) will 
recall a statement to the effect that the carp inhabiting 
a pond in a certain continental town are accustomed 
to come up to the landing steps at the sound of a bell 
to be fed. And from this and other circumstances it 
has been commonly held, at least up to. the middle of 
last century, that fishes possess the sense of hearing. 
In the year of 1851 were discovered, however, the so- 
called organs of Corti in the internal ear of mam- 
mals, which there is good reason to believe alone 
receive and transmit to the brain the vibrations 
giving rise to the sense of hearing. Now these 
organs of Corti, together with the bony “labyrinth” 
of the jjiternal ear in which they are contained, 
are absent in fishes alone among the whole 
group of vertebrates; and it accordingly seems highly 
probable that these creatures lack the power of hearing, 
more especially since there seems reason tO' believe 
that the aforesaid organs of Corti are absent in such 
few' members of other classes of vertebrates as are 
deaf. If this be so, it follows, of course, that the so- 
called otoliths (the familiar solid white bones in the 
head of a cod, for instance) in the ears of fishes have 
nothing to do with the sound of hearing. 
The whole question has recently been discussed in 
an exceedingly interesting manner by Professor O. 
Korner, director of the ear hospital at Rostock, in the 
German Aurists’ Journal, published at Berlin. The 
learned professor commences his essay by urging from 
analogy that we ought not to expect to find the power 
of hearing among fishes; Nature is never wasteful, and 
since fishes possess keen power of sight, smell and 
touch (in the so-called lateral line on the side of the 
body), it is improbable that they are also provided with 
the sense of hearing. He incidentally cites as a proof 
of this, the presence of numbers of sharks at the 
battle of Aboukir Bay and other naval battles, pointing 
out that if those fishes heard the roar of the cannon 
they would scarcely have swum about in their usual 
unconcerned manner, intent only on business. Another 
argument used is that the sense of hearing would be 
useless to fishes, since the enemies by which they are 
attacked rush silently upon . them in the waters, or 
swoop down upon them from above. The vibrations 
caused by the breaking of the waves on the beach are 
probably communicated by the lateral line system, so 
that fishes are warned in this manner of the proximity 
of land. 
Brehm’s anecdote of the carp coming to be fed does 
not by any means imply that these fishes hear the 
sound of the, bell; and it is much more likely they feel 
the vibrations communicated to the water by the feet 
of the person coming up to the landing steps. 
Moreover, according to the German professor, it 
appears as the result of direct experiment, that while 
fish are able to take cognizance of numerous rapid 
vibrations in water, such as those communicated by 
an electric bell; they take no notice whatever of loud 
single explosions under water, such as those made by 
dynamite. This strongly points to the conclusion that 
they receive impressions of the forrner type of vibra- 
j:ion by Rjegng pf their sense of touch or feeling, hut 
that they have no perception of either kind of 'vibra- 
tion by means of hearing. When we add to this the 
above nientioned fact, as to the absence of the organs 
of Corti in the internal ears of fishes — and in no other 
class of vertebrates — Dr. Korner’s contention that fishes 
are absolutely deaf becomes very difficult to discredit. 
Assuming this absence of the power of hearing, the 
function of the imperfectly developed ear of fishes has 
yet to be explained; but it is probable that this is 
merely part of the highly developed sense , of touch or 
feeling characteristic of these creatures. This presumed 
deafness in fishes seems at first somewhat difficult to 
realize, but a little reflection soon leads to the belief 
that the possession of the power of hearing would be 
altogether useless and superfluous. — London Field. 
CoDCernirig Bass. 
New Yo'r.yl.— Editor Forest and Stream : Some friends ■ 
and I were discussing the respective merits and claims 
to popular vote — pardon me if I speak in the prevailing 
phrase of the time — of the large-mouth and small- 
mouth varieties of black bass. Up in Lake Champlain 
we never noticed when a big bass came over the gun- 
wale whether his “slit” or mouth ran away around 
under his eye or not. Our fish often took the trolling 
spoon, especially just at night, and \vas generally con- 
spicuous for the way that he would run right out into 
the lake at right angles to the course of the skiff that 
we happened to be in. One of the largest bass I ever 
saw came to my hook one day in an estuary leading 
into the lake just east of old Fort Frederick’s ruins. 
He seemed bound to take a turn about a stake standing 
in the clay-stained water at the bridge, and in the 
struggle my old store fish pole broke near the end, and 
I had to work the line through the second ring and 
the pendant tip. I presume my honest endeavors to 
save that noble fish and my final successful netting of 
it, after my little brother had grabbed at the landing 
net handle three or four times and could not hold it 
A BIG HALIBUT. 
from sheer excitement over the fight, would have caused 
a laugh from those masters of the rod who are repre- 
sented as being so cool and deliberate — in the story 
books — when killing a big fish. 
All this leads me to the question, will the large- 
mouth bass breed in the same lake and do well in water 
inhabited by the small-mouth variety; or does each 
prefer a peculiar part of the same lake? I have in mind 
a large mountain pond well filled with the small-mouth 
bass on the reefs and along the rocky shores at various 
points. I find, however, that fe'w_, if any, of these fish 
inhabit the somewhat shallow portion of the lake thickly 
grown up with lilies and rushes or the outlet running 
for half a mile or so, navigable for rowboats, and full 
of shiners, small perch and other kinds of bass food. 
Would not the large-mouth largely congregate in 
the shallower and weedier portions of our water, find 
its food there and thus by its introduction greatly in- 
crease the chances for sport? I am very fond of fishing 
near lily pads and in the deep holes along the course of 
smoothly flowing outlets of mountain ponds. Should there 
be no objection, why would it not be a good plan to 
introduce, large-mouth bass into the water now in- 
habited by small-mouths, there being an abundance of 
fish foods, and the drain upon the water by local and 
city anglers being very great. ,. _ . 
A little expert testimony on this important question 
will be greatly appreciated. Peter Flint. 
Salt Water Fishes in Fresh Waters. 
Galveston, Tex., Oct. 25 — Editor Forest and Stream: 
I wrote you some months ago as to the fact that the salt 
water mullet at very high water, occurring years apart, 
has been thrown into Lake Surprise on the main land 
near Galveston Bay, and is in the lake in great numbers 
and apparently thriving and breeding there. 
It is accepted that the landlocked salmon of the lakes, 
lake trout and possibly the sturgeon of the lakes, all 
originated' from accidental salt water fish of their kind 
that were lost when going to fresh water to spawn. I can 
establish the fact that striped bass have lived and thrived 
in fresh water millponds in Virginia; whether they 
spawned I do not know. _ _ _ ■ 
We have data enough to justify the United States Fish 
Commission in trying some; experiments with the redfish 
of the Gulf and th? -Stripejf hass pf the' Atlantic, and the 
s'li water mule: as food for them,- and, to ascertain 
w'.tc. h r til y cannot be made so accustomed to fresh 
atcr, as ( 1 ived there. ' ■ 
- ! - 'gc-Cj- :h sc hsh as the striped bass in Virginia and 
ih: u(i fi: h in ; exas have been caught in fresh water 
])or.,ds y here .hey aj-peared to be thriving. j 
Our Fed;. ril Fish Commission is enterprising and in 
jlie .best position to try such experiments, the only trouble 
is wa;nt of sufficient appropriations. The' importance of 
.such-experiments will justify the expense, and I hope it 
is cnly necessary to get attention directed to this 'matter ; 
push it on and keep it before the public, 'and let every 
fisherman interested in such work see that his Congress- 
man. has a marked copy of the Forest and Stream when- 
ever you have an article on this subject. 
If those interested in the work of the Fish Commis- 
sren; .would urge at the right time their representatives to 
see that the commission has ample appropriation, much 
w'ould be done by the commissioner that has now to be 
left undone. G. E. Mann. - 
Sunfish D.stfoy Carp. 
National Military Home, O., Oct. 28. — Editor Forest 
and- Stream: In your article on “The Carp Curse” you 
say that in waters already infested with carp “the only 
thing left is to be content with the coarse fish which has 
taken the place of native species.” We are not so help- 
less and much may be done to control the over-produc- 
tion pf this friendless fish. I have seen the problem fully 
worked out in one of the ponds in this place during the 
past, feu years. The carp makes no nest but emits the 
eggS'.-.while swimming, and they fall to the bottom and 
are left without any protection. Sunfish eat them eag- 
erly, and I have often seen a number of these alert friends 
of our youth following two carp when spawning and 
the eggs went where they -would do good, or at least were 
prevented from doing harm. 
Further on in the breeding process, when the young 
carp hatch, (hey flock together and when attacked, in- 
stead;, of scattering as bass and other fish do for safety, 
(hey huddle closer and then the ever hungry little two 
and; three-year-old bass gets his fill, going through the 
scliGoJ of helpless carp minnow^s with wide open mouth, 
making a heroic effort to swallow them all before taking 
a rest. 
You may bank on it in confidence that if plenty of little 
sunfish and young bass are put in the same waters with 
carp the fittest will survive, and carload lots of carp will 
sccn. be scarce in “hat locality. Charles Carroll. 
fennel 
— * — 
Virginia Field Trials Association. 
Richmond, Va., Oct. 24. — For the Virginia Field Trials 
enlries close' Nov. 8. The trials this year will be very 
much bigger and better than ever before. The club has 
guaranteed a purse of $300 in the free-for-all stake. A 
good many entries have already come in. Thee secretary 
will be glad to hear , from those handlers who have not 
received entry blanks. They have been mailed to the last 
known addresse,s, but probably not received by the 
handlers. 
We are just in receipt of a letter from our first vice- 
president, Dr. Leigh' Buckner, of Roanoke, in which he 
says : “I am sending you under this cover application 
for fifteen new members, and will send you some more as 
soon as you forward me application blanks. I got these, 
in about one hour’s work to-day.” He also says the Fox 
Hunters’ Club will probably take their hounds over and 
run them against the Martinsville dogs. It will give lots 
of sport and create interest in the Virginia Field Trials. 
He also says if the Maryland and District of Columbia 
people will bring a select number of their dogs to our 
trials and run a special stake, as they propose, he thinks 
we can accommodate them. I will enter one or two, but 
I cannot go to Maryland. See if you can’t arrange this, 
it will add a very attractive feature to our trials.” 
This is the kind of men who are working for the Vir- 
ginia Field Trials*-Association, and all those who enter 
dogs attend the trials personally and run them. It is our 
endeavor to build up a strong and attractive circuit or 
the east coast, and we hope that all of the sportsmen in 
terested in. field trials and hunting dogs will lend a help 
ing hand. Every single entry counts and adds interest to 
the game. No one can tell how good a dog he has until 
he is placed in competition with the other fellow’s dogs, 
and we hope that none of the members of the Virginia 
Association will hold back because they think they have 
not dogs good enough to win. Chas. B. Cooke, Sec. 
Meado-wgrass — “Si Oatca'ke seen a advertisement in th’ Bunco ' 
Bulletin what sed ter send on er dollar an’ git instructions as ' 
■U-az guaranteed t’ make enny slow hoss fast. So he took an’ ' 
sent th’ money.’’ 
Corntassel — “An’ did he git th.’ instructions?’’ 
Meadowgrass — “I ’low he did. He got a postal card on which 
wuz written in red ink: ‘Don’t feed him.’ ’’—Chicago Daily News. 
“VV'hen I die,’’ said Cholly, “I’m going to will my brain to 
some medical college. 
' “Oh, you stingy thing.” replie.d the girl. — Chicago Record- 
Herald. 
“Sometimes de man dat’s workin’ de hardest in dis world,” said j 
Uncle Eben, “is de one dat los’ too much time tryin’ to pick j 
cut de easies’ job.” — Washington Star: . i 
Mistress — Bridget, that cigar Officer Keegan was smoking in the 1 
kitcli|n last night was simply awful. Bridget— Yes’m ; he says 
he don’t see how your husband can smoke thim. — Puck. 
i 
Tommy — Say, pa, why did Peary name his ship the Roosevelt? 1 
Pa— I guess he wanted to scare the bears away from the pole, ■) 
my son. —Chicago Daily News. ; 
THE MANY-USE OIL 
Keeps boots and Rather soft and waterproof; 2oz. bottle 10 centfi j 
■ ^ 
