62 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Jan. 12, 1907. 
available until he decides on certain ones, then 
sticks to that which gives the best average re¬ 
sults in his own case. Another angler may tell 
him his rod is not just what it should be, but 
if he sticks to it, and it is at all adapted to his 
own peculiar style, he will do well with it, 
though it may give poor satisfaction to another 
person. (This, of cotirse, applies to a good rod, 
made for and adapted to the work in hand.) 
The casual observer cannot understand why 
there can be much difference between two 5J^ft. 
rods of the same diameters at winding-check 
and top, but with slightly different tapers. They 
may look exactly alike to him, but while each 
may cost a lot of money and be perfectly made, 
one may be worthless to the owner of the other, 
and vice versa, in tournament casting. 
To some persons it may seem that whereas 
a 10ft. rod must be nicely balanced, a rod only 
half as long is more or less stick-like, and made 
a given caliber, will answer. Nothing could be 
further from the truth. While it is true that a 
rod of this length requires less time and ma¬ 
terial than the old-fashioned long rods, it must 
be even more carefully made, for a difference of 
one-sixty-fourth of an inch in butt or tip may 
render it absolutely worthless. A mistake in 
the long rod may be hidden in its greater 
resilience, and this may save it; .but reduce the 
length by one-half and you double the work re¬ 
quired of each foot. 
A Pennsylvania Warden’s Work. 
Warden George D. Shannon, of Philadelphia, 
has sent a very interesting report to Fish Com¬ 
missioner Meehan of the carp industry in Phil¬ 
adelphia during 1906. According to the report 
the sales of this generally execrated fish was only 
about $8,000 less than the sales of shad, herring 
and fresh water fish caught in the Delaware River 
and sold in the Philadelphia markets. According 
to Mr. Shannon there were sold 3,136,375 pounds 
realizing $203,371. He says the sale of carp this 
year has been in excess of all previous years, and 
that on .an average 40,000 pounds of carp are 
consumed weekly in Philadelphia. About one 
third of the fish are alive when sold. For the 
last two weeks in November live carp sold whole¬ 
sale at from thirteen to fourteen cents and dead 
stock was quoted at from nine to ten cents a 
pound. The retail prices for live fish were from 
sixteen to eighteen cents a pound. Dead fish 
from ten to fourteen cents a pound. Thus a live 
carp of three pounds and over sold during the 
lqst week in November at a higher price than 
shad usually sell for during the open season. 
The bulk of the live carp are taken from the 
Delaware River and contiguous waters and are 
caught by means of hauling seines, fyke nets, dip 
nets and stake or parallel nets." The carp mar¬ 
ket of Philadelphia appears to be controlled, he 
says, by a company which, has ponds in which 
carp bought at low figures are held for a rising* 
market. As many as 90,000 pounds of carp have 
been in these ponds at one time. Live carp when 
caught are carried to Philadelphia by boats and 
wagons. The bottom of the latter are covered 
with wet hay or grass on which the live fish are 
placed and covered with other wet grass and so 
carried safely to the city and placed in tanks ap¬ 
parently without any harm having come to them. 
In his report of the shad and herring industry, 
Mr. Shannon confines himself entirely to the 
business as conducted in Philadelphia, which 
amounted to $211,400, and to the catch of the 
Pennsylvania nets which amounted to $34,613. 
Thirty thousand one hundred and fifteen shad 
were caught by Pennsylvania nets and the fish 
were sold at an average of forty-five cents each. 
There is invested in boats and nets by Penn¬ 
sylvania fishermen $12,865, and the total number 
of men employed was 179. 
Mr. Shannon concludes his report by declaring 
that the carp dealers in- Philadelphia are clamor¬ 
ous for a law to protect the carp. They demand 
a close season and a minimum size of fish which 
may legally be caught. They say that owing to 
the fact that there is no protection, the fish are 
rapidly decreasing in number in the Delaware 
River and its tributaries, and it requires more 
work, more men and greater expense to meet 
the growing demand for the fish. 
An Expert Fly-Fisher. 
From Scraps. 
Fish and Fishing. 
The North American Association. 
The meeting of the North American Fish 
and Game Protective Association will be held 
in Quebec Feb. 6 and 7, under the presidency 
of the Hon. Jean Prevost, Minister of Coloni¬ 
zation, Mines and Fisheries, and will occupy one 
of the large committee rooms of the Parliament 
House, and as the Legislature will be in session, 
it is probable that the proceedings of the asso¬ 
ciation will be closely followed by many of the 
provincial politicians. In the selection of the 
place for the next following annual meeting, 
New York stands a very good change. It is 
expected there will be a lunch or dinner at the 
Parliament House by the government or the 
Speaker of Legislature, a lunch a.t Mont¬ 
morency by the president, a trolley ride to 
Montmorency and also to La Bonne Ste. Anne 
if time permit, and very likely a trip up the 
St. Lawrence on board one of the ice-breaking 
steamers of the government, as far as the new 
bridge in course of construction at Cape Rouge. 
The names of those who are to read reports 
include Mr. A. Kelly Evans, Dr. F. M. Johnson, 
Dr. Finnie and Mr. L. O. Armstrong. Mr. C. 
E. E. Ussher will, unfortunately, be unable to 
attend the meeting. 
The Cascapedia Threatened. 
The startling statement is made that the 
destruction of the Cascapedia as a salmon river 
is seriously threatened by the proposed con¬ 
struction of a dam eighty feet high, about four 
miles above the last settlement, for the purpose 
of generating electric power to operate a pulp 
factory at the mouth of the river. When it is 
considered that the Cascapedia is probably the 
finest salmon river in the world, the enormity 
of the threatened evil becomes apparent. The 
Cascapedia is noted for its large fish. Its fame 
spread some years ago to the United States, 
and resulted in the formation of the Cascapedia 
Salmon Club, which pays the government over 
$7,000 a year for the fishing in a portion of the 
stream, while private parties lease the angling 
in the lower reaches of the river from the 
owners. Thousands of dollars are distributed 
yearly among the inhabitants in paying for 
leases, and many of the natives are employed at 
high wages to guard the river and to act as 
guides. It is not yet quite certain that the dam 
project will succeed, but the pulp company is 
wielding all possible influence in support of its 
application for a charter authorizing its con¬ 
struction. There will have to be a fishway in 
the dam, but many fish which ascend it to 
spawn will be killed in the fall over it on their 
attempted return* to the sea, and those that 
escape will desert the river. It is also claimed, 
and I, believe rightly, that the dam would so 
back up the water as to destroy the best pools 
now under lease to the Cascapedia Salmon 
Club. 
Tomcod Fishing. 
Fishing for tomcod has been exceedingly 
good for some days past in the St. Lawrence 
River at Quebec and at the mouth of the St. 
Charles. The favorite method of 'fishing for 
this little frost fish there is through the ice. So 
heavy and thick is it over the St. Charles, that 
small wooden shanties are erected on it, 
furnished with table, chairs, etc., and heated 
with a stove. Holes are cut in the ice for 
fishing purposes. 
Pacific Salmon on the Fly. 
A recent mail brought me an interesting letter 
from my old fishing companion, Colonel 
Andrew Haggard, D.S.O., who spent a good 
part of last summer and autumn camping on 
the Cowichan River on Vancouver Island. The 
Colonel is delighted with the rainbo.w trout.fish¬ 
ing in that river in September, though he admits 
that it is not much good in July and August. 
Just opposite to the cottage where he was stay¬ 
ing, the Colonel one day hooked and killed a 
12-pound salmon from a boat, having .to take 
up anchor and follow the fish down a rapid. 
That fish rose to a Durham-Ranger, and two 
more were killed on the same fly, while three 
were hooked and lost. On spoons and minnows 
he killed several of these fish up to 18 pounds. 
. E. T. D. Chambers. 
Illinois Bait Casters. 
Bloomington Ill.—The McLean County Bait¬ 
casting Club has secured Halfens Lake, a large 
body of water, and will at once erect a club 
house. The club purposes to improve the 
grounds, and will co-operate with the Illinois fish 
commission in preventing illegal fishing and also 
in propagating game fish. B. C. 
