790 
FOREST AND STREAM 
June 22, 1912 
Half-ounce distance bait casting: 
Feet. 
Feet. 
Z. Geist . 165 
Ed. \\erner . 13S 
Aug. Cyran _ 
. 122 
Longest cast, Z, Geist, 
Fly-casting for accuracy 
190ft. 
Per Ct. 
Per Ct. 
Aug. Cyran . 97,4 
M. J. Brennan. 97.1 
Geo. Ashton ... 
.97.0 
Long distance fly-castina 
Feet. 
Feet. 
M. J. Brennan. 76 
Dr. C. A. Vosburgh.. 70 
Geo. Ashton_ 
. GG 
Geo. Ashton, 
Sec’y. 
Louisiana Fishing. 
With the abatement of the streams and 
rainy spell, interest has increased in the sport 
of fishing at the several gulf resorts, and 
many parties have gone out during the week 
to enjoy the diversion. A large number enjoyed 
the sport Sunday, and several large strings were 
brought back to the city. Speckled trout and 
green trout, reds and sheepshead were plentiful. 
Croakers are said to be more abundant than 
usual. Shrimp are becoming more plentiful. The 
clubs at the Rigolets, Lake Catherine, Chef Men- 
teur. North Shore, Lookout and other resorts 
are entertaining many visitors. Quite a few 
families have gone over to Waveland, Bay St. 
Louis, Pass Christian, Gulfport, Biloxi and other 
places for the summer. A number of business 
men go over daily to be with their families on 
the Louisville and Nashville and enjoy a day 
or two out of each week fishing. The season 
was delayed on account of the unfavorable 
weather this year. 
Beam Trawlers. 
BY RALEIGH RAINES. 
The House committee on merchant marine 
and fisheries was the scene of an interesting 
gathering representing the deep sea fishing in¬ 
terests recently. The occasion was the hear¬ 
ing granted by the House committee on the 
Gardner bill to prohibit the importation into 
the United States of fish caught by beam trawl¬ 
ing. The bill introduced by Representative 
Gardner, of Massachusetts, seeks to prohibit the 
importation or landing of fish within the borders 
of this country that have been caught by beam 
trawling, or by any method which essentially 
consists of dragging a net or cage along the 
bottom of the sea by a vessel in motion. Dur¬ 
ing the hearings it developed that the deep sea 
fishing is greatly menaced by the beam trawlers, 
which it is alleged' destroys the young fish and 
otherwise operates to the disadvantage of the 
fisheries of the country. 
There were present at the hearings many of 
the prominent members of the Gloucester fishing 
interests. Dr. Field of the Massachusetts Fish 
Commission, naturalists and fish experts, all of 
whom testified to the iniquities of beam trawl¬ 
ing. Two concerns, one in New York and the 
other in Boston, who are engaged in beam trawl¬ 
ing, appeared by representatives and attorneys to 
fight any efforts of the fishermen to secure reme¬ 
dial legislation through Congress. Representa¬ 
tive Gardner, who spoke in behalf of his bill, 
declared that the Canadian Government has now 
a similar measure under consideration, and the 
matter is being held in abeyance until some ac¬ 
tion is taken by this country that both govern¬ 
ments may co-operate along similar lines look¬ 
ing toward the preservation of the fishing in¬ 
terests and regulating or prohibiting the destruc¬ 
tive methods incident to beam trawling. Friends 
of the old Gloucester fishermen fear that the 
beam trawler will destroy not only the fish life 
of the North Atlantic banks, but will attenuate 
the virile qualities of seamanship for which the 
fishing folk of Gloucester have always been 
famous. 
James B. Connolly, author of “'Tales of the 
Gloucester Fishermen,” was also a spokesman 
in behalf of the fishermen. In discussing the 
condition of affairs, Mr. Connolly said: “We 
are acting in the interests of the great body of 
American bank fishermen. We protest not against 
the use of steam vessels in the fishing industry, 
but against the use of beam or otter trawls with 
which these steam vessels are equipped. This 
beam trawl, which is dragged along the bottom 
of the ocean, is a most destructive agent. It 
scrapes the bottom, leaving a bare surface to 
which fish will not afterward resort. Fish are 
afraid of the ocean bottom where it is not cov¬ 
ered with a growth of some sort. Beside the 
material damage to American fishing interests, 
the steam trawlers, if they are allowed to con¬ 
tinue, are certain to drive from the sea the 
present fine type of deep sea fishermen. Another 
thing, the present sailing men work on shares; 
that is, it is a purely co-operative business; there 
is no wage system. The steam trawling crews 
all receive regular wages. There is a small per¬ 
centage which the steam crews receive in addi¬ 
tion, but it is so small that it requires an extra¬ 
ordinary catch to make it worth while. On 
steam trawlers the crews do not have to go in 
dories, but work entirely from the decks of the 
steamers. The result is that instead of real fish¬ 
ermen their crews are made up of men who 
need to know nothing of the sea. They are 
merely landsmen afloat, but these landsmen all 
profit by the initiative, the resource and daring 
of the real fishermen, for the steamer crews do 
not seek out new grounds or even new places 
to trawl. They invariably upon arrival on the 
grounds pick out some sailing schooner, with 
her dories around her and already at work, and 
using her as a guide, they begin to drag the 
bottom in a circle around her. The result is 
that a great deal of the fish are driven away by 
the racket made by the steamer. The sailing 
schooner already there is not given a fair chance 
for a catch. By their methods the steam trawl¬ 
ers also destroy so many fish that are too small 
for the market that the waste from an old-fash¬ 
ioned fisherman’s point of view is criminal. They 
also destroy much of the sailing schooner’s gear; 
that is, their lines, hooks and bait, especially in 
foggy weather, when no watch can be kept on 
them. And this gear so destroyed must be paid 
for, not by any vessel owners, but by the fisher¬ 
men themselves.” 
The Gloucester delegation called upon Presi¬ 
dent Taft, and upon a number of representa¬ 
tives and senators at the Capitol. The Canadian 
Government regards the use of steam trawlers 
as a menace to fish life, and to the sturdy quali¬ 
ties which the fishing industry under sail gives 
to the nation. Great Britain has been indis¬ 
posed to back up the Canadian Government’s 
desire for an international agreement restricting 
the use of trawls, because Great Britain is al¬ 
ready a party to a European agreement under 
which trawling is conducted in the North Sea. 
Notwithstanding the attitude of Great Britain, 
Canada has taken the position that in case this 
country restricts steam trawling, she will prob¬ 
ably follow suit. 
The House committee, having supervision of 
the fishing interests of the nation, is ably pre¬ 
sided over by Representative Joshua W. Alex¬ 
ander, of Missouri, who, with twenty other rep¬ 
resentatives, look after the merchant, marine and 
fisheries, seals and navigation laws. There are 
among these gentlemen of the committee many 
who are adepts with rod and gun, and probably 
the most celebrated of the number is Represen¬ 
tative James W. Collier, of Mississippi, who has 
long been a full fledged member of the sport¬ 
ing fraternity, being a famous breeder of dogs, 
and equally proficient with the rod and gun. It 
is understood that the committee will refer the 
entire question of steam trawling to the United 
States Bureau of Fisheries for a scientific in¬ 
vestigation and report on the entire question, 
after which the committee will recommend ac¬ 
tion to the House, looking to the restriction of 
steam trawling. 
Fishing at the Beaverkill. 
BY ONE W'HO went. 
There are fine boarding places at Beaver¬ 
kill and De Bruce, both of which places I 
visited. You can recommend Jay Davidson’s at 
Beaverkill, $9; and Mrs. Cooper’s or Miss 
Royce’s, at De Bruce, , $9, to people who want 
good boarding places near the best fishing that 
the country affords. If I were to go up there 
again, able to do some fly-fishing, I should go 
first to De Bruce, stopping at one of the two 
places mentioned (they are run by sisters and 
are close together), and if I did not get trout 
there, it would be a short trip to Beaverkill, Lew 
Besch, 'W’illowemoc, etc. 
It is all a, beautiful country and the larger 
streams are about ideal for fly-fishing. I wet a 
line only twice for an hour at a time and both 
times got fish. 
Another thing—this season is late, but even 
in ordinary years the best time in that country 
is probably not earlier than from about May 15 
to 20 on into June. 
California Fishing. 
Capitola, Cal., June 12. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: Last Sunday was a great day for those 
fishing in the waters of Monterey Bay, off Capi¬ 
tola and Santa Cruz, as the salmon are running 
in large numbers and the catches were all big, 
over 800 of these beautiful fish being caught on 
hook and line. 
Trout fishing in the streams in the vicinity 
of Santa Cruz and Capitola has been all that 
could be desired, since the season opened on 
April I, and it is with little trouble that the 
angler is able to creel the limit of fifty fish. 
From present indications it would appear 
that this will be a banner year for all variety 
of fishing in the vicinity of Santa Cruz and Capi¬ 
tola, and that those royal game fish, the quinnat, 
salmon and steelhead trout, will afford the angler 
great sport until the season closes. 
'Walter R. Welch, 
Fish, Game and Fire Warden. 
The Forest and Stream may he obtained from 
any newsdealer on order. Ask your dealer to 
supply you regularly. 
