5/8 
FOREST AND STREAM 
[Oct. 13, 1906. 
The Susquehanna. 
The Susquehanna during the past fortnight has 
furnished the best fishing that local anglers have 
enjoyed for years. The water apparently has 
been at its best, and almost anywhere between 
Owego and Wyalusing, and some distance below 
plenty of fish were to be had. Catches of black 
bass, and the yellow bass or pike, have averaged 
large. Indeed, so voracious have been the fish 
that the inexperienced angler with his crude out¬ 
fit and still cruder notions, has had no difficulty 
in making a good display alongside of the more 
experienced angler. Lampreys, which for a time 
in midsummer were the most killing bait, have 
given way to helgramites and little bullheads, the 
appetite of the bass varying with the varying at¬ 
mospheric and other conditions. 
One of the peculiar' facts in connection with 
the use of lampreys as bait for the river bass 
is that they cannot, it is declared by experienced 
bass fishermen, be used with success in lake fish¬ 
ing. In other words, lampreys, as bait, are 
adapted only to running water, and bass inhabit¬ 
ing lakes and ponds and other bodies of practi- 
catly still water, cannot be induced, as a rule, 
to take the slimy fingerlings. Quite extensive ex¬ 
periments, I am advised, were made with lam¬ 
preys as bass bait at North Fair Haven, Lake 
Ontario, the past summer, and the results con¬ 
firmed the deductions reached previously. 
Generally speaking, Susquehanna bass have not 
averaged large this season, the record black bass, 
so far as the writer has information, scoring in 
at a trifle less than four pounds. However, it is 
not the largest bass, taking rivers as they go, 
that afford the angler the most exercise in the 
capture. Some of these ij 4 and 2-pound small- 
mouths fight with the strength and activity of a 
steam engine, whereas the bigger fellows lie down 
and permit themselves to be hauled in as one 
might lug a lazy catfish aboard. ; 
About a mile or so north of Hornet’s Ferry, 
above the dam, is a fussy, plunging streak of 
water that is said to be one of the likeliest small- 
mouth bass grounds abounding anywhere along 
the Susquehanna, and a party from Sayre, fish¬ 
ing this smart reach of water a few weeks ago, 
caught some rare good ones. Nevertheless, this 
season there is little to choose between places 
on the upper lengths of the rivers. The bass, 
both black and yellow, are here, and given 
ordinary conditions, may be taken with about 
any kind of tackle, barring the bent pin and shoe 
string ■ combination. 
From North Fair Haven, Lake Ontario, a 
point to which many fishermen from northen 
Pennsylvania journey for autumn angling, comes 
word that pike and pickerel fishing will be at 
its best after the visitation of a sharp frost or 
two. Smaller pickerel, to be sure, are being 
caught in plenty, but the really big ones do not 
get into fair water until the swamp growth and 
water vegetation become scorched sufficiently to 
let in daylight. 
North Fair Haven is easily reached by rail. 
Boats, bait, fishing tackle and accommodations 
good enough for anyone of not over luxurious 
inclinations are to be had at the lakeside hamlet 
on terms that are just and reasonable. 
From Cayuga lake, advices are to the effect 
that at various points along that charming sheet 
of water the bass, pike, pickerel and maskinonge 
fishing continue to be of a goodly state. At 
Union Springs, in particular, the pickerel and 
bass have run fine in size with some locally big 
maskinonge interspersed. The stocking of these 
waters has been attended to with much diligence 
for a long term of years, which accounts in large 
part for the generally excellent fishing enjoyed 
by lake anglers during these later years. 
M. Chill. 
Sharks in the Canal Zone. 
Colon, Panama, Sept. 17 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: While lying in the harbor here, the 
other day, to break up the monotony of the 
daily routine on board a man-o’-war, T men¬ 
tioned the plan of fishing for sharks, and every¬ 
body got enthusiastic over the idea. For in¬ 
formation in. regard to tackle and bait we 
applied to an old salt of this ship’s company, 
whose picture you see herewith; he has been 
to sea for twenty-two years and has had lots 
of experience in that line, and was only too 
willing to superintend the operations. We first 
got 23 fathoms of 21-thread hemp, and to the 
end of this we spliced a shark hook with a 
chain leader 4 feet long, got a piece of salt pork 
weighing about 2 pounds and baited the hook, 
took the line to the end of the boom which 
projects about 50 feet from the ship’s side and 
payed out the hook with about 12 feet of the 
line in the water, and made the other end fast 
on deck. We also took the slack part of the 
line and made it fast on the end of the boom 
with a rope yarn, so when the shark should get 
the hook, the rope yarn would give way, the 
standing part still fast on deck. 
All hands then waited for a sign of a shark. 
We were finally rewarded by seeing a fin above 
water, heading toward the ship. This we knew 
to be a shark, as a shark always swims with 
his fin above water. After a few minutes we 
had the pleasure of seeing the slack line jerked 
off the boom and the shark heading out to sea, 
TAKING HIM ABOARD. 
when we knew we were in for some sport. We 
then* took a turn around the winch and hauled 
him alongside the ship with his head about 2 feet 
above water right under a fiavit, when a man 
climbed down the ship’s side and put a running 
bowline right under his two fins. A tackle was 
then placed on the bowline and all hands 
clapped on and hauled him on deck, as per 
photograph. We first measured him and found 
him to be 10 feet long from tip to tip. The 
ship’s cook then brought his ax into play, and 
started to cut his tail off (as most of his power 
is in the tail). With one swing the ax bounded 
off his tail and flew overboard. Another man 
then came along with a large carving knife and 
cut the shark open. It was a surprise to all to 
see what his stomach contained. The first thing 
we picked out was a can of tomatoes that had 
never been opened, and a piece of raw beef 
weighing about 10 pounds. Then followed other 
articles, too numerous to mention, among them 
two large-sized fish hooks. The curio hunters 
then came out in full force. One man cut our 
his backbone, which, when cleaned and put to¬ 
gether, makes a fine cane. Another got his 
jaws, which contain about 300 teeth in double 
rows, and are as sharp as razors, which, when 
cleaned, can be made into a necklace which 
looks very odd. The remainder of the carcass 
was heaved overboard, and a hose was played 
on the deck to wash the blood off. We caught 
several other sharks after that, but that one 
was the largest. Leo Volgmuth. 
U S. S. Co I UMBIA. 
In Newfoundland. 
In Sept. 15 issue of Forest and Stream, under 
above heading, appeared an item clipped by me 
from a local paper, with some comments of mine 
on ;he same. The item was to the effect that a 
foreigner named Notman had built a camp on a 
pool at St. George’s; that he had assumed pro¬ 
prietorship over the pool; that he had warned 
off some local sportsmen who had trespassed; and 
that he had sold the rights of the pool to 
another angler. 
The item was clipped out of a local paper, and 
sent among other clippings of interest to sports¬ 
men to Forest and Stream. I took the par¬ 
ticular item, as I have taken hundreds of others, 
cut it out and forwarded it to Forest and Stream 
in all good faith, and in all good faith I com¬ 
mented on it. I wish to say that I assume no 
responsibility whatever for the item in question. 
I did not write it originally, nor inspire it, nor 
know anything about it, till I saw it as an or¬ 
dinary news item, and cut it out as it interested 
me, and sent it along as I imagined it would 
interest others as wtell. 
I have received a note from Mr. Notman in 
which he complains of the cruel injustice I have 
done him, and from which I infer that he is 
justly and deeply aggrieved. The item said he 
was a foreigner. Mr. Notman proves he is not. 
It insinuated he was a German; this he denies, 
and further states that he has been domiciled so 
long in Newfoundland, that he is a registered 
voter. He also denies that he ever assumed any 
proprietorship over the pools, or that he had sold 
such rights, or had ever hindered any one from 
fishing. On the contrary he points out that on 
many occasions he has helped to make it pleas¬ 
ant for visiting and other sportsmen. Now as 
I have no personal knowledge whatever of the 
matters complained of, I unhesitatingly accept 
Mr. Notman’s denial of every charge made in 
the item, and while not assuming any respon¬ 
sibility for originating the canard, regret exceed¬ 
ingly that I was the innocent cause of propagat¬ 
ing it. I could have no motive whatever in 
