464 
FOREST AND STREAM 
April 12, 1913 
Florida Report. 
Richmond, Va., March 21. —Editor forest 
and Stream: Thinking, perhaps, that the fol¬ 
lowing information may be of some service to 
you in advising other sportsmen, I submit a re¬ 
port in brief on a six weeks’ shooting and fish¬ 
ing trip in Florida: 
, The first stop I made after leaving Jackson- 
lille, was at New Smyrna, Fla., on the Florida 
East i^oast R. R. Here we were unable to pro¬ 
cure a guide for the fresh-water fishing and the 
shooting. There -seems to be only one guide in 
the town, and at that time he was away in the 
interior with a camping party on Lake Ashby. 
This guide’s last name is Sams, being the 
brother of the man who runs the Ocean Hotel. 
W'e were told by Mr. Sams of the hotel that 
the salt water fishing was poor in that immediate 
locality, and that there was no duck shooting 
allowed within the limit of twelve miles down 
the coast, said territory being a Government pre¬ 
serve. Fie reported further that the bass fish¬ 
ing w'as good in Lake Ashby, and that lioth quail 
and turkey could be obtained in the Lake Ashby 
district, but only by going some fifteen to twenty 
miles by wagon and camping out. lie suggested 
that we go direct to Allenhurst, Fla., which is 
reached as follows: New Smyrna to Titusville 
via Florida East Coast R. R., Titusville to Allen¬ 
hurst via small mail boat which leaves Titus¬ 
ville wharf every day at 4 p. m. Allenhurst is 
situated on the peninsula running south between 
North Indian River and South Indian River, or 
as is locally known, between Mosquito Lagoon 
and Indian River proper. It is on the liaulover 
Canal which connects IMosquito Lagoon with the 
Indian River. 
Allenhurst is a place of some fifty inhabi¬ 
tants and has one general store and postoffice 
and a small hotel, run by the Indian River Co., 
M. S. Rowley, Manager. We found the .\llen- 
hurst Hotel entirely satisfactory—the rooms 
clean, the beds comfortable, water good, the 
management kind, considerate, and catering al¬ 
most exclusively to sportsmen. We obtained 
special rates of $14 per week each. The hotel 
provides rowboats for nearby fishing free of 
charge, bait free of charge, launch and guide 
for duck shooting 75 cents per hour. We found 
good duck shooting and fair snipe and shore bird 
shooting. All the fishing from Allenhurst is in 
salt water—-very good trout and sheepshead fish¬ 
ing — and residents report excellent channel bass 
fishing in spring. 
I would advise sportsmen to engage for their 
guide a man named Crooks, who hunts and fishes 
for a living, wdien not guiding. Fie is reported 
to be the best guide in that locality. The, guides 
furnished by the hotel are employed in other 
capacities and do not claim to know the favor¬ 
able places as w'ell as Crooks. 
We found the climate delightful and healthy 
and the surroundings all that could be desired. 
We spent two weeks at this place. From Allen¬ 
hurst we went by mail boat to Titusville, thence 
via Florida East Coast R, R, to Miami, We 
found excellent sea fishing, the catches brought 
in containing amberjack, grouper, kingfish, bar¬ 
racuda and mackerel. We got no tarpon, as they 
were not running in February. Seagoing- 
launches cost $20 to $25 per day, the sportsmen 
furnishing food for the crew. Fl-om Miami we 
went north again via Florida East Coast R. R., 
getting off at Titusville, thence via branch line 
to Sanford at the head of the navigation on the 
St. Johns River, stopping at the Sanford House, 
rate $2.50 per day to a sportsman; guides at 
this place hard to procure. We obtained a boat¬ 
man who knew but little of the fishing grounds, 
but even with this to contend with, we se¬ 
cured good catches of large-mouth bass and 
crappie. The angler who cares for crappie fish¬ 
ing can gorge himself among the lilypads with¬ 
in two miles of Sanford. The bass fishing I 
would call fair only for Florida. The best bass 
fishing out of Sanford is obtained by taking a 
launch up the St. Johns some fifteen miles to 
the mouth of the Wekiwa River, thence up this 
river to its headwaters at Wekiwa Springs. 
The Wekiwa River is in most places very 
beautiful, and on the upper reaches a typical 
stream for fly- and bait-casting, the water being- 
very clear, swift and cold for Florida.. I had ex¬ 
cellent sport fishing down six miles from Wekiwa 
Springs in this territory entirely with a fly-rod 
and thinly shaved pork rind in lieu of a fly. It 
is true that the bass in the upper reaches of 
this river are smaller than those lower down, 
and the fishing resembles more brook fishing for 
trout than bass fishing. It is the only stream of 
its character that we discovered or heard of in 
Florida. Exceptionally large bass were taken by 
another angler just at the mouth of this river. 
Wekiwa Springs can be reached also via Sea¬ 
board R. R. to Apoka, thence by team to Wekiwa 
Springs Hotel, which is merely a bungalow kept 
by a man named Osbern. We attempted no 
shooting around Wekiwa Springs, but from what 
I can learn, I believe it is one of the best places 
in F'lorida. In going down the River I saw two 
deer drinking. I should certainly advise a trial 
for quail, turkeys, deer, bear and wildcats in 
this district. Rates at Wekiwa Springs Hotel 
are $2 per day. The hotel is satisfactory in 
every way and caters especially to sportsmen. It 
is a most delightful spot and I don't think it can 
be beaten for all-round sport. 
Our next stop was at Lakeview Hotel, Lees¬ 
burg, Lake county. Flotel accommodations good, 
management considerate, special attention given 
to sportsmen, live bait plentiful. One excellent 
guide from hotel, a colored man, named Milton 
Johnson, who has a small launch for fishing- in 
Lake Griffin. Rates at hotel, $18 per week; bait 
so cents per dozen; launch with guide, included, 
$3 per day; launch with guide, included, on Lake 
Flarris, $4 to $6 per day. On Lake Griffin I got 
my best fishing, securing some e.xcellent strings 
even in unfavorable weather. The bass in Lake 
Griffin and up into the mouth of the Oklawaha 
River run as big, I believe, as anywhere in the 
world. I saw one string of ten bass, the largest 
weighing twelve pounds and the smallest four 
and a half pounds. There is a limit in Lake 
county of ten bass per rod per day. 
We had but poor success at Leesburg with 
trolling and artificial bait-casting. I believe the 
bass will rise to artificial bait of several kinds 
in the late spring or early summer, but for 
February or March there is no use trying any¬ 
thing but live bait, shiners in preference. I re¬ 
gret to state that fish in Lake county are not pro¬ 
tected during their spawning season, but the 
game reforms in Lake county far surpass those 
in any other county we visited, the quail bag- 
limit being fifteen per day per gun, and nets of 
all kinds are prohibited in the lakes. In several 
counties we found the game fish being taken by 
hundreds and towers built in the water from 
which the local fishermen shot the fish with rifles 
and heavy buckshot. The quail shooting around 
Leesburg is good, guides, teams and dogs easily 
procured, duck shooting poor, alligators seen fre¬ 
quently. 
I have gone somewhat into detail and trust 
that you will pardon the length of this report. 
W. P. Patterson. 
Immense Slaughter of Wildfowl. 
iMoRE wild ducks have been shot in Iowa 
during the past two weeks than in many sea¬ 
sons previous. Northerly gales and cold waves 
have twice arrested the northerly migration of 
wildfowl and driven them southward, and where- 
ever there has been open water, the hunters have 
been able to kill them with ease. Assuming the 
average number shot in each county during the 
past two weeks to be 500, a conservative esti¬ 
mate, 50,000 ducks have been slaughtered in 
Iowa this spring. If permitted to pass on to 
the breeding grounds unmolested, these birds and 
their progeny would have furnished fine sport 
next fall.—Waterloo Evening Courier. 
Regulations Regarding Camp-Fires on New 
York State Lands. 
Every person who starts a camp or other 
fire upon, or in the vicinity of forest or wood¬ 
land, for cooking, obtaining warmth or any in¬ 
dustrial purpose, shall, before lighting the same, 
clear the ground of all branches, brush wood, 
dry leaves or other combustible material within 
a radius of ten feet from the fire, and shall 
carefully extinguish the fire before quitting the 
place. 
Every person who shall use other than in¬ 
combustible gunwads or carry a naked torch, 
firebrand, or exposed light in or near forest or 
woodland, or who, in the vicinity of such land, 
shall throw or drop into combustible material, 
any burning match, ashes or pipe, lighted cigar 
or cigarette, or any burning substance, and who 
fails to immediately extinguish the same, is 
guilty of a misdemeanor. 
