Forest and Stream 
$3 a Year, 10 Cts. a Copy, 
Six Months, $1.50. 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, JUNE 29, 1912. 
VOL. LXXVIIL—No. 36. 
187 Franklin St., New York. 
The Fish Pirates 
I N one of our middle Atlantic States there is 
a goodly number of sizeable lakes. There 
is one that falls far below any of the others 
in the scale of beauty, but which excels them 
all in fish. The pike and bass caught in this 
lake bring the highest price in the New York 
markets of any fresh water fish, and are ad¬ 
vertised on hotel menus by the name of the 
lake itself. 
Amateur sportsmen from far and near have 
long made periodic journeys in season for the 
fishing, but as a general thing little luck attends 
their patient persistency. The fish pirates scoop 
out so many with nets in season and out of sea¬ 
son that the hook and line business is poor. 
The sportsmen appealed to the State a few 
years back, and an appropriation was made for 
the purpose of scaring off the pirates. That ap¬ 
propriation has been increased from time to time, 
and game constable after game constable has been 
appointed. They all approach the task with high 
boasts and a great splashing of oars freshly 
painted in honor of the occasion. One after the 
other they all inconspicuously retired from the 
office. Still the carloads of fresh finnies go 
down to the metropolis to swell the purses of the 
lazy illegal fishers. The State continues to 
buy choice spawn for the lake, and the hook and 
line business grows steadily poorer. 
The game warden usually approaches the citi¬ 
zens of standing for information against the 
suspects. Nowadays he never gets any help, al¬ 
though the citizen may be honest as the day is 
long, and hate the illegal fisher with all his heart. 
They have had examples of what happens to 
tattlers. 
A few years ago a wealthy hotel owner who 
had a farm and summer home bordering on the 
lake openly bragged that if the warden would 
come to him, he would give him some news. One 
day he was seen talking with the warden and 
several arrests shortly followed. 
A night or two later the hotel man was 
aroused toward morning by the agonized screams 
of his horses. Hurrying to the stables he found 
several expensive animals lunging in pain caused 
by cutting off their tails close to their bodies, 
and a rude scrawl tacked to the stable door 
warned him to let the fishermen alone. 
Another man suspected of giving information 
to the constable, awoke at night to see his barn 
in flames, and the finest herd of cattle in the 
county was cremated with the barn. 
A man who was at odds with some of the 
pirates, over burning a net found on his beach, 
failed to arrive at his home one evening after 
By ALICE A. CLARK 
a walk to the postoffice. Finally the family set 
out with lanterns to- look for him. In a fence 
corner he was found unconscious with a bloody 
gash on his head, evidently caused by the fence 
rail that lay across his body. The perpetrators 
of these deeds were never placed. 
Others who feared to give information and 
said so, aired their opinions nevertheless, and in 
due season reaped their measure of punishment. 
New boats left tied at their landings were seen 
no more ; young orchards disappeared root and 
branch, and a series of nagging misfortunes fol¬ 
lowed the man who “blowed his mouth too 
much.” The citizen now maintains a discreet 
silence. 
Sometimes it happens that he stumbles upon 
groups where his room is better than his com¬ 
pany. If his demeanor under such circumstances 
is satisfactory, he will probably find a few choice 
messes of fresh fish hanging on his back door 
on summer mornings, or he may say to a pirate 
after the game warden has driven by: “Harry, 
I want a mess of fish.” 
“All right. I’ll see that you get them,” answers 
the pirate. 
Such men help fight the wardens, but would 
be surprised if you accused them of it. 
There is of course only one way of illegal 
fishing in season, and that is with nets 
which take minnows and all when a school is 
scooped. The warden thinks that he has done 
a good day's work when he has burned thirty 
or forty nets (for they cost from twenty to fifty 
dollars and more, according to size). However, 
when a pirate’s net has been captured, the rest 
all turn in and help him make a new one. 
Once a warden, who was sneaking across the 
country on foot in order that he might not be 
seen and recognized in time to warn the fisher¬ 
men, came upon an old sugar shanty in a lonely 
piece of woods. Hearing voices inside he cau¬ 
tiously peered through the window. Four men 
were inside making a net. One was the post¬ 
master of a small town; another was a promi¬ 
nent farmer, and the others were plain pirates. 
They were so intent on a critical part of their 
task that he moved away unobserved. Their 
arrest followed, and they paid big fines. They 
could afford to do so, for the profits are enormous. 
One young man who was in jail several months 
refusing to pay the fine imposed upon him by 
the court made nets all that time. There was 
no law prohibiting his making nets if his friends 
provided the twine. 
