PENNSYLVANIA FISHING. 
Lancaster, Pa., June 15 -—The streams in south¬ 
eastern Pennsylvania have never been in better 
shape for bass fishing than they are at the present 
time and big catches are reported despite the new¬ 
ness of the season. 
For three consecutive seasons the Conestoga 
River has been a stream of mud, with hardly a 
day during the entire season when the water 
could be called in first-class shape for bass fish¬ 
ing. From many sources have been reported an 
unusual number of big ones that have beefi seen 
from bridges, wharves and overhanging rocks 
when the water permitted during late fall and 
spring of the year. The thousands of State and 
Government fry that have been placed in local 
streams during the last five years should result 
in a plentitude of sport in the Conestoga, Co¬ 
calico and Big Chickies during the entire season. 
Rivermen claim that a small run of shad indi¬ 
cates an unusual run of bass and salmon, and, 
as the Susequehanna is at present in ideal con¬ 
dition, fishermen who journey to the river should 
meet with good success. An unusual number of 
bass have been caught already by fishermen us¬ 
ing worms for catfish, eels and suckers. 
The more strenuous followers of Isaak con¬ 
tend that local bass and pickerel will and must 
bite on the artificial bait. They claim that in a 
few years the old bait kettle must be relegated 
among the antiques of tackledom. Live bait 
are getting more scarce every season, aside from 
the burden and effort they require to keep alive. 
Fred Underwood claims that down in the 
Potomac the small-mouth bass bites as readily on 
a piece of bacon cut to resemble a minnow as 
on the real thing. Some fishermen in that lo¬ 
cality cut the bacon so that the stripes run 
lengthwise, and others crosswise. Both are 
successful. 
John B. Hammond, of Atglen, brings tales of 
how they respond to artificial lure in Ohio, 
Michigan and Wisconsin, and that if a fisherman 
will only devote as earnest and as persistent an 
effort with the artificial lure, greater success 
will result than from the live one. 
Charles M. Howell, who was recently shown 
some unusual fly-casting stunts by Mr. Dix, is 
going to make strenuous efforts to prove that 
local fish are as susceptible to winged lure as 
the minnow. The theatrical man referred to, Mr. 
Dix, recently caught an eighteen-inch trout on 
an artificial fly. 
F. W. Irwin, of Rowlandsville, Md., who main¬ 
tains a fishermen’s lodging house at Octorara, on 
the Susquehanna, has notified the writer that the 
rock bass are running, and that last week a 
twenty-one-pound fish was caught. Many smaller 
specimens, ranging in weight from two to six 
pounds, are being caught daily. Strangers claim 
that this section of the Susquehanna is the great¬ 
est rock fishing water in the world. Few anglers, 
unfortunately realize this fact. 
Lancaster, Pa., June 24.—Mrs. Peter Royer, of 
New York City, who, with her husband is spend¬ 
ing some time along the Susquehanna River in 
this section, established a record for the season 
at Octoraro this week. The couple started out 
alone. Mr. Royer had several strikes early in 
the day, but lost his hooks, and quit. Mrs. 
Royer kept on fishing, and landed six monster 
FOREST AND STREAM 
rockfish. Their weights were as follows: 11 
pounds, 19 pounds, 20 pounds, 21 pounds, 23 
pounds, and 25% pounds, making a total of 119% 
pounds. The fish were taken with ordinary fish¬ 
ing tackle, and were caught with bloodworms by 
trolling. D. P. McNEAL. 
THE LEAPING OF THE BASS. 
Sandy Griswold. 
I heard an old sportsman remark the other 
afternoon, as we idled an hour after luncheon 
with our cigars up at Billy Townsend’s, that 
black bass never leap clear of the water un¬ 
less hooked, but he will have many anglers to 
convince that this is true, but so far as I am 
concerned I coincide with him literally. But is 
it not strange, that anglers should differ in their 
views, for with all the literature which we now 
have there is yet room for a most interesting 
book on this great fish of ours. An appropriate 
title would be “What I Do Not Know About 
Black Bass.” Mr. George A. Hoagland, Dr. 
Frank Owens, George Entreken or Bill Simeral 
might add lots of interesting data of our black 
bass lore, if they only would, and I invite the 
opinion of the Forest and Stream readers. I have 
always believed, and still believe that a black bass 
leaps from the water for the sole purpose of 
throwing the hook from its mouth, and an ex¬ 
perience of many years and on many waters con¬ 
firms this view. It is for this reason that a 
bass taken with a fly yields more sport than 
those taken with bait, for its instinct leads it 
to believe that a hook in the mouth can be 
thrown out much more readily than one lodged 
in the stomach. In my experience those hooked 
in the mouth invariably leap from the water, 
while those hooked deep in the throat or in the 
stomach very frequently do not leap at all. 
Some years ago I was casting a fly on a little 
lake up near West Point, Nebr., which was taken 
by a good sized bass, and on its first leap from 
the water the snell was broken from the shank 
of the hook. In a few seconds the bass leaped 
from the water at the same place, and shook its 
head vigorously, and after an interval of a few 
seconds more, it leaped again from the same 
spot, and on this occasion threw the hook from 
its mouth with such force that it fell on the 
water at a distance of ten or fifteen feet but 
after this it did not leave the water any more. 
It follows that on this occasion at least, the 
bass must have had its mouth open, for it could 
not have thrown the hook from a closed mouth, 
and that the head must have been shaken with 
great force to throw the hook such a distance, 
and it also follows that it leaped to free itself 
from the hook, for after it had gotten rid of it 
the leaping ceased. On the other hand, I have 
frequently taken bass at Lake Washington, 
while trolling with a spoon and a frog or min¬ 
now bait, which did not leap from the water at 
all, and have commonly found that in such cases 
the bait had been swallowed and the hook 
was far down the throat or in the stomach, and, 
in fact, it is frequently possible to tell to what 
extent a bass has swallowed the hook by its ten¬ 
dency to leap or not to leap from the water. As 
to the frequent leaping of bass as a matter of 
habit, as claimed by many of our local anglers, 
I can only say that I have frequently seen them 
break water, and in such cases have always found 
85 
that they were after food abounding on or over 
the surface, but I have never seen one leap clear 
of ttie water unless hooked. 
Does Thunder Kill Them. 
One of the strangest phenomenon caused- by 
the forces of nature is the dying of fishes dur¬ 
ing a thunderstorm, and sometimes this mortality 
is so great as to seriously impair the profits of 
the fish industry. An explanation of this is hard 
to find. A belief has been prevailing that the 
contamination of the water caused by drainage 
during heavy showers and thunderstorms as be¬ 
ing responsible for this mortality. I had a talk 
on this subject with Pat Sheehan up at Lake 
Washington, one Sunday years ago, and he says 
this belief is illy founded. In the first place, lie 
said, heavy rains and the consequent draining 
into the lake of mulch and slime and other filthy 
matter would not alone be sufficient to kill the 
fish. In the second place, mortality occurs, al¬ 
though thunderstorms may not be accompanied 
by heavy downpours, and fishes will die even if 
the thunderstorms are somewhat remote from 
the waters. - 
THE AUSTRALIAN MONKEY BEAR. 
Editor Forest and Stream : 
Easily the most harmless of his kind in exis¬ 
tence is the Australian monkey bear. An 
American “grizzly” would make very short work 
of him. He is, to begin with, a strict vegetarian. 
He spends nearly all of his time in trees. The 
big eucalyptus trees of our forests, towering 
two and three hundred feet into the air, are his 
home. He has a splendid set of claws, and these 
help him to be an expert climber. I have seen 
a bear, on a windy day, swaying in a thin bough, 
away up in the air, 300 feet above the ground. 
It seemed certain that he would ultimately fall, 
but he didn’t. Sometimes when fighting they 
have been known to fall. I remember, when a 
boy, seeing a female that had been arguing with 
a male, come to the ground. She fell about 60 
feet, and I thought that she would be badly 
hurt. But, though she lost her breath for the 
moment she soon recovered, and at once scram¬ 
bled up the tree again. The bear had a young 
one about six weeks old on her back. The young¬ 
ster showed great presence of mind. He clung 
to his mother until she almost touched the 
ground. Then he sprang lightly into the air, and 
thus came to terra firma unhurt in the slightest. 
The monkey bear lives mainly on the leaves of 
the eucalyptus tree. It rarely eats anything else. 
As a consequence it is impossible to keep it in 
captivity. Mr. Seth Smith, of the London Zoo, 
who was out here for birds and animals a few 
years ago, made an attempt to take one to Eng¬ 
land, but it died on the ship. Even our own 
Zoos find it impossible to keep them alive. A 
daily supply of fresh eucalyptus leaves seems to 
be an absolute necessity for their health. In the 
earjy days, the monkey bear was one of the com¬ 
monest animals in our bush. But it receded be¬ 
fore the advance of civilization, until now it is 
beginning to be scarce. Another of its enemies 
is the bush fire. The great fires that occasional¬ 
ly sweep through our great forests kill hundreds 
of them. The bear lives exclusively on the 
outside of the trees. It never retreats to the hol¬ 
lows like the possum, for instance. And it has 
no burrow, like the platypus. So that when a 
(Concluded on page 100.) 
