53« 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Oct. 6, 1906. 
Newfoundland Salmon Fishing. 
Troy, N. Y., Sept. 28 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream’: 1 have been much interested in the 
various items and communications on. the subject 
of Newfoundland trout and salmon fishing pub¬ 
lished in your issues of Aug. 25 and Sept. 1, 15 and 
22, as given by IMessrs. Carroll, Ciane, and IVIuir. 
Having been in the habit of taking a trip of 
from a month to six weeks, since the year 1900, 
to Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, and Newfound¬ 
land, 1 beg of you permission to add my mite 
to the matter of Newfoundland fishing; _ par¬ 
ticularly so since I notice in the remarks of Mr. 
Carroll’ strictures upon a Mr. Notman—spelled 
Nottman in the article—at Ba^ St. George. 
I have the pleasure of Mr. Notman s acquain¬ 
tance, having first met him at Nardini Crossing, 
Bay St. George, Newfoundland, in August of the 
year 1900, and also on Harry’s brook, where a com¬ 
panion and myself were fishing with Oliver and 
Peter H. Benoit as guides. 
Since this first meeting the acquaintance has 
been continued, and 111 the summer of 1905. 1 
again, in company with my artist friend, Mr. 
W. B. Gillette, of this city, had the pleasure of 
seeing both Mr. Notman and his good wife— 
who by the way is an ardent and expert angler 
—at his cottage on Main river. 
I notice two points of especial importance in 
this connection, in the communication of Mr. 
Carroll and Mr. Muir in your issues of Sept. 22 
and 15. In the first Mr. Carroll says:“I do not 
assume any responsibility for the clippings and 
reports that I send.” 
But in the letter of Sept. 15 he remarks, after 
reporting the item about 300 salmon being left 
to rot on the bank, ‘‘Another case was reported 
where it was alleged that a ‘foreigner,’ named 
Notman, built a camp on a grand pool at St. 
George. This gentleman assumed proprietorship 
over the adjacent river (?), and had the gall to 
warn off some local men who trespassed on -his 
preserves. * * * It is asserted that he sold his 
‘rights’ to the adjacent pool.” 
Here are an allegation and an assertion given 
as items of news. But Mr. Carroll, as before 
mentioned by me, has disclaimed responsibility for 
both. And Mr. Muir, the Scotchman, who was 
accused of leaving 300 salmon on the bank to 
rot, denies in your issue of Sept. 22, in toto, the 
truth of this “fish story.” 
As to Mr. Notman I am prepared to assert, 
first tl'.at he never laid claims to any salmon pool, 
and second, that he never sold any “rights” to 
any pool. 
This gentleman was in the habit of visiting 
Newfoundland from Portland, Me., until within 
a few years when he removed to Picton, N. S., 
where he now resides. He built a cottage at 
Nardini crossing, on the banks of Bay St. George, 
and on Harry’s brook he had a camp. I11 the 
season of 1905 he sold both to a gentleman from 
New York, who understood perfectly before he 
purchased, that Mr. Notman could not, and did 
not pretend to sell any fishing rights, as all the 
rivers in Newfoundland are free. Moreover, 
this gentleman was perfectly satisfied and has 
never entered any complaint. 
T know that Mr. Notman has incurred the ill- 
will of some of the natives, chiefly I believe, be¬ 
cause he has denounced net fishing in Harry’s 
brook. Hence, no doubt, the “fish story” related 
of him by Mr. Carroll. 
I know, and Mr. Gillette knows, and my friend 
Mr. Barret, editor of the Western Star, at Bay- 
of-Islands, N. F., knows that netting of salmon 
at the mouth of Harry’s brook, in the summer 
of 1905, was flagrantly pursued despite the law 
and the warden. Mr. Barrett made especial 
mention of this illegal and outrageous practice 
twice to my knowledge in his paper. 
Mr. Notman also kicked against this practice, 
but in vain, and there were almost daily ship¬ 
ments reported from Stephenville Crossing to 
Halifax of fish taken in nets at the mouth of 
Harry's brook. 
Had Mr. Notman winked at this practice no 
doubt he would have escaped much ill-will. 
Where was the fish warden? Busy at Sandy 
Point miles away; too busy to patrol the streams 
at Main river. 
Instead, he sent his three sons, or at least three 
boys, who were said to be his sons, to examine 
the nets. My artist friend took a fine snapshot 
of these lads—from eight to ten years old—as 
they rowed up the bay to Harry’s brook. It was 
his intention to send this picture to the Minister 
of Marine and Fisheries at St. Johns, and he 
was urged to do so by several guides and others 
who knew the circumstances. But it is hardly 
our business to try to regulate the duties of the 
fish wardens of Newfoundland. And these boys 
were asked: “When will you be up again?” to 
which query they naively answered giving the 
date, thus posting the net fishers. A pretty sort 
of fish patrol this. 
In the summer of 1900 Mr. Notman caught 
just one salmon in Harry’s brook. In the season 
of 1896 he caught twelve. Pie is neither a fish 
hog nor a poacher. He has, in my experience of 
six years, always treated brother anglers decently 
and gentlemanly, inviting them to his cottage and 
offering the free use of his camp when not oc¬ 
cupied by himself. 
Undoubtedly the salmon and trout fishing of 
Newfoundland is immense, and the summer 
climate is good and glorious. 
But there is just this about it. The 200,000 
people of Newfoundland have been supported 
almost exclusively by fishing. This has been the 
end and aim of their existence. To them fishing- 
means business. They would no more think of 
wasting time fighting a’twenty pound salmon on 
an eight ounce rod than they would enjoy pranc¬ 
ing around a ten acre field with a yearling bull 
calf hooked to a salmon line and call it sport. 
They net, snare and jig fish. They want $100,- 
000 worth of salmon, $500,000 worth of oil seal, 
$300,000 worth of lobsters, $200,000 worth of 
herring, and fifty million codfish every year. As 
a consequence it became necessary to put on the 
curb, adopt stringent rules and regulations, stock 
the fisheries, and appoint fish wardens; but after 
all this the old time practices still prevail to a 
great extent and some fish wardens wink at them 
while they indulge in extravagant fish stories 
about the atrocious conduct of foreigners, anglers 
and sportsmen who spend their summers in New¬ 
foundland, also spending their cash liberally and 
enjoying the superb climate and trying to enjoy 
the salmon fishing, but running up against netters 
and jiggers all too frequently, which causes kick¬ 
ing, cussing and constant complaint. 
Hence reason for many of the fish stories 
started by ill-natured people. In my six years 
of experience I have found the people there very 
cordial, courteous and agreeable, poachers and 
netters on forbidden waters at forbidden times 
alone to the contrary. 
Newspaper correspondents should be careful 
about extravagant tales unfolded to them in 
wondrous ways. 
When I entered the profession of journalism, 
some thirty-five years ago, my instructions as 
resident correspondent of the New York World 
advised me to corroborate reports before circulat¬ 
ing them as facts. 
This is good advice even at the present ad¬ 
vanced stage of civilization. 
W. H. Harrington. 
Salt-Water Angling Near New York. 
Anglers of New York city who are too much 
occupied just now with business cares to take 
a fishing vacation and go to waters where the 
black bass are becoming lively again after the 
summer's heat, but who can take a day now and 
then, will find consolation by visiting the salt¬ 
water fishing'resorts near at hand. Not only is 
the present season favorable, but the salt-water 
game fish that frequent our shores at this time 
may remind the angler of his favo'rite black bass • 
in that he can cast or troll for them and need 
not spend his holiday trying’ to keep awake while 
holding a rod in one position, as in bottom 
fishing for many of the varieties that hover 
about the coast earlier and later. Besides, 
October days are crisp and cool, and one en¬ 
joys the exercise that does not sooh induce 
fatigue. 
Three varieties of sea fish are attracting special 
attention just now, and they are the bluefish, 
the striped bass and the weakfish. with several 
others that may be mentioned incidentally. 
The bluefish every salt-water angler is glad 
to catch, but not every one is fortunate enough 
to be able to visit the best waters, and even 
then if one’s stomach is likely to “turn turtle” 
in a plunging sea, bluefishing from a catboat or 
sloop may fail to charm, and the milder sport 
of casting in the surf or trolling in smoother 
waters from a rowboat will prove more to the 
liking of one easily affected by rough water. 
The south shore of Long Island attracts a great 
many amateur bluefishermen when the autumn 
run of these fish is on, and the villages near 
Fire Island inlet are favorite resorts. Block 
Island is better for three-day trips, and Montauk 
and other distant points for two, leaving Fire 
Island and vicinity and nearer places for one-day 
visits, with the preference of a journey to one 
of these resorts the previous evening, giving one 
the entire day for fishing. In this way he can 
fish, one tide and sometimes two, when there is 
high water early in the morning and late in the 
afternoon. Then, too, autumn tides often rise 
higher than summer tides, giving a longer period 
of slack water at the top of the flood tide, when 
fishing is generally though not invariably at its 
best. 
If Fire Island is the objective point—and this 
applies to other places as well—it is better, from 
an economical standpoint, to go with a party 
or at least two or three companions to Babylon, 
Long Island, and there charter a sloop whose 
captain knows the best waters and will take the 
anglers there without loss of time. Good fish¬ 
ing for bluefish is to be had both inside and 
outside Fire Island inlet, and in the latter waters 
Spanish mackerel and other fish are often taken. 
Great South Bay points are good for bluefish 
in October, as a rule, and one has a choice of 
a number of ra’lway stations at which to leave, 
the train. Bluefish are taken at East Rockaway 
inlet and at Queenswater. There are. several 
inns where one can stop over night, with small 
boats to hire at reasonable prices, while surf 
casting in the ocean off Long Beach is popular, 
and parties for ocean bluefishing can obtain 
sloops or power boats. Rockaway Point is an¬ 
other place, and there are a few others on that 
part of Long Island, but Broad Channel and 
The Raunt, in Jamaica Bay. famous weakfish- 
ing waters, often contain bluefish in goodly 
numbers. . 
In Staten Island waters such points as lotten- 
ville South Beach, Huguenot. Midland Beach 
and Eltingville often yield bluefish. and 
Princess Bay has long, been a . favorite 
point for weak and bluefishing, and striped bass 
at this season. Raritan Bay and river and the 
Plorshoe inside Sandy Hook yield these fine 
I 
