500 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[March 30, 1907. 
after, but young shad eight to ten inches in 
length. I expressed surprise at the haul but 
Davis assured me that it was nothing unusual 
barring the circumstance that we had four 
fine mackerel meshed in with the rest. 
I then told him our Delaware fishermen had 
always said they were never seen at sea and 
only caught when making their northern trips. 
“That may be all right for your Delaware and 
Jersey coast” he said, “but we have them here 
at all times. In the spring they run up the fresh 
water streams and spawn and then return to the 
sea and stay for the rest of the year.” 
I would like to hear from other readers of 
the Forest and Stream on the habits of this 
fish. 
Anyone wishing good deep sea fishing could 
not do better than pay a visit to Monhegan, the 
water being cold and deep, ranging from thirty 
to fifty fathoms. The fish which inhabit these 
waters are cod, pollock, hake, cusk and had¬ 
dock. In grandeur and wildness, nothing on the 
whole coast approaches these great rock fort¬ 
resses, that the sea has battered in vain for 
centuries. White Head and Black Head rise 
straight from the ocean to a height of one hun¬ 
dred and fifty feet; Gull Rock, a great naked 
stone over one hundred feet high, juts out into 
the ocean, connected with the land by a narrow, 
grassy ridge. High up in the sea front of this 
frowning rock is Gull Cave, an exploration of 
which will furnish all the excitement of an Al¬ 
pine climb. Harry L. Shaw. 
Providence, R. I., March 16. —Editor Forest 
and Stream: There have been many game fishes 
described and praised in Forest and Stream, 
but I have not seen anything relating to the 
hickory shad, although it is one of the gamiest 
of game fishes. He is a tarpon in miniature, 
about the same shape, but wider through the 
body in proportion to the length, silvery in 
color, with a beautiful iridescent sheen when 
first taken from the water. The eye is large, 
while the mouth is small and bony. 
After the scales are removed, one or two black 
spots are seen on the sides above the median 
line; the dark longitudinal stripes, from whence 
the fish is said to get the name “hickory,” are 
also more pronounced. The flesh is good, equal 
to any shad, but the bones are multitudinous. 
The height of their season is in September 
and October, although the past two years we 
have caught them from June to the end of 
October. The shad are generally found with 
the squeteague; in fact, often the first notice' 
we have of them is by seeing a flash near the 
boat as they pick up the “chum” thrown out to 
attract the “squit.” After the first flash your 
old-timer loses his interest in what he came for 
and at once changes over to his shad tackle, 
picks out a small live “mummie” from the 
bait basket, casts over, and by the peculiar sink 
and draw motion, endeavors to hook one. 
Soon he feels a “tick,” but fails to fasten the 
fish. He pulls up the line and perhaps the 
hickory will follow it to the surface, at which 
time, if the bait is stopped for an instant, the 
fish may take it. If he does seize the bait, 
strike hard, for the mouth is bony and they will 
often throw the hook back at you and with a 
flip of the tail are gone. When one is fairly 
hooked, he begins his acrobatic feats andjhrows 
silver rainbows about your boat, sometimes 
coming straight up out of the water to a 
height of three and even four feet, again skit¬ 
tering along the surface of the water, seeming at 
times to stand on their tails, or perhaps they 
will rush away so fast that the reel will fairly 
scream. When you try to slip the net under 
the fish, he is off for a fresh run, maybe going 
under the boat and putting a fearful strain on 
the rod. It is a common thing to bring these 
fish up to the landing net three or four times 
before they can be lifted into the boat. 
Expert shad fishermen use a light rod eight 
to ten feet long with plenty of backbone. A 
black bass fly-rod is an excellent tool for this 
purpose. An oiled or enameled silk line is best, 
as it does not stick to the rod when wet, and 
will cast a light bait much better. A three-foot 
single gut leader with small swivel next to 
line, and No. 2 Pennell turned-down eye hook 
fastened on is about right. One or two 
smallest Rangeley sinkers are used according to 
the strength of the tide, and sometimes if the 
fish refuse to bite, although taking “chum,” re¬ 
move all sinkers and cast the bait lightly on 
the water, allowing it to sink a few feet and 
raise the tip of the rod slowly, then they are 
pretty sure to take hold. 
One of the best baits is a small live “mum¬ 
mie” one and one-half or two inches long. 
Gently pass the hook through the eye socket 
above the eye and you have a bait that will be 
lively for a long time. Single shrimp are also 
successful as bait, at times even being preferred 
to the “mummie.” It is well to have plenty of 
them to use as chum, scattering a few at a 
time, and thus holding ‘the school about the 
boat. 
Hickory shad are also taken with a fly gen¬ 
erally in October. Our angling nestor, known 
as “the Doctor” anchors his boat just below 
the Pawtuxet Falls, where the water is brackish, 
and catches a number of them in the fall, using 
a fly of his own tying. 
I know of no better sport for a man whose 
time is limited than fishing for shad with the 
proper tackle, as a good catch can be made in 
an afternoon during their season. 
Hickory. 
Canadian Fish and Fishing. 
Quebec, Canada, March 23. —Editor Forest and 
Stream: An illustration of the rapid growth of 
brook trout under favorable conditions, which 
should prove of special interest to fish culturists, 
was furnished at the recent meeting of the North 
American Fish and Game Protective Association 
in this city. A beautifully mounted brook trout 
weighing between four and five pounds was ex¬ 
hibited by Mr. George van Felson, secretary of 
the Tourilli Fish and Game Club, who explained 
that it had been taken out of a lake upon the 
club preserve, which four years before had con¬ 
tained no trout at all. The lake was so full of 
larval and other slimy matter as to make its 
water quite offensive and unfit for either drink¬ 
ing or bathing. Apparently it contained no fish 
life at all. It was suggested that it was almost 
as full as it could hold, however, of the very 
best kind of fish food, and would speedily prove 
a valuable trout pond if stocked with fry. In¬ 
stead of applying for the product of any hatch¬ 
ery, those having the matter in hand simply 
caught a number of small trout out of a neigh¬ 
boring lake and transplanted them in the water 
in question. The fish were small fingerlings, 
with very distinct parr markings, taken from a 
lake which only produced small trout. The fact 
that the dwarfed size of these adult fish was 
not due to heredity, or to any connection with 
a stunted variety is shown by the size attained 
by those specimens which were removed into 
waters well stocked with food. Some forty of 
them .which were caught four years after they 
had been transplanted weighed about four 
pounds each, thus showing an average increase 
in weight of about a pound a year. How long 
this rapid growth will continue in this lake, 
unless provision is made for an unfailing supply 
of food for the fish, which have now enormously 
increased in it, remains to be seen; for the 
water, which was so thick with animalculae when 
the trout were first introduced into it, has now 
become beautifully clear. 
Important legislation affecting salmon rivers 
was adopted at the session of the Quebec Legis¬ 
lature which has just come to an end. J. H. 
Kelly, member for the county of Bonaventure, in 
which are situated portions of the Restigouche, 
the Cascapedia, and other salmon streams, brought 
to the notice of the House a species of fraud prac¬ 
ticed upon American anglers by some of the set¬ 
tlers on lands adjacent to such rivers. These 
parties have been known to sell riparian rights 
to salmon fishermen from other countries, and 
then to abandon the lots upon which they had 
settled without having ever complied with the 
settlement duties, thus leaving the purchasers of 
the fishing rights without a proper title from 
the Government for what they had paid out, 
sometimes a large sum of money. Mr. Kelly in¬ 
troduced a bill to remedy this condition of affairs 
and to perfect the titles left insufficient by action: 
of this kind, when it can be proved that the 
riparian rights were purchased and paid for in 
good faith. 
Another important matter was brought to the 
notice of the Legislature by Mr. Taschereau, who 
asked that the Government should undertake to] 
declare what rivers of the province are floatable! 
or navigable. It has been decided by the Im-l 
perial Privy Council, the highest court in the! 
empire, that the fishing in floatable and naviga- 
ble rivers is the property of the Government.' 
while in rivers which are not floatable or navi¬ 
gable, the riparian proprietors are owners of the 
fishing rights. Some lawyers and judges have 
held that a river is navigable if it can be as¬ 
cended in a canoe. Others appear to think that 
if a river is navigable, a schooner should be able 
to sail it. And there are similar differences of 
opinion as to whether a river is floatable if one 
log at a time can be floated down it, or whether 
it should be able to float a raft of timber. There 
is consequently a constant conflict of opinior 
between the Government and riparian proprie¬ 
tors as to the ownership of the fishing. . Some 
of the most valuable fishing privileges in the 
country are thus held upon very uncertain 
tenures, and in one instance, that of the Moisie 
the Government claimed that the river was navi¬ 
gable and floatable and that the fishing belongec 
to it, after the riparian owner had disposed oi 
the fishing rights for some $30,000. to an Ameri¬ 
can angler, who purchased them in good faith 
supposing he had a perfect title. Since thest 
titles depend almost entirely upon the differing 
views that may be taken as to their navigability 
or floatabilitv it would seem to be essential tha^ 
there should be some definite pronouncement a 
to what rivers belong to the one category,, anc 
which to the other, although as Mr. Kelly pointec 
out in the course of the debate, it is but.jusi 
that present holders of Salmon fishing right- 
should be afforded a hearing before anything i: 
decided in regard to streams in which they an 
financially interested. The Government ha 
promised to take the matter into consideration 
though it is not yet determined whether tin 
proposed classification will be entrusted to ; 
special commission or in what manner it will bi 
decided. Vested interests will certainly be af 
forded an opportunity of being represented be 
fore any commission or other tribunal which may 
be seized with the matter. 
The enemies of young salmon are legion, bu 
probably the worst and most dangerous of al 
are the sheldrakes. A suggestion was made, a 
the recent meeting of the North American Fisl 
and Game Protective Association that the shoot 
ing of sheldrakes should be permitted on salmot 
streams at all times. Strong opposition wa 
made to this proposal on the ground that i 
sheldrakes were allowed to be killed, other bird 
would be shot at the same time, and the whole 
family of ducks disturbed on their feeding 
grounds. The entire question of spring shoot] 
ing, which was only satisfactorily settled in th 
province of Quebec about a year ago, would re | 
ceive a set back, it was claimed, if the killing 
of any species was permitted at that period, am 
from "the duck hunter’s standpoint it was strong! 
urged that the proposed step would be a retro 
grade one. The association went on record a 
opposed to the proposed exception, but the Legis 
lature has found what appears to be a perfect! 
satisfactory method of meeting the difficulty. I 
has adopted a bill providing that on salmo: 
rivers only the killing of sheldrakes may b 
permitted by the Minister of Fisheries. Thu 
the shooting of them will not be general through 
out the province, or furnish an excuse for firm; 
at edible ducks, and yet the Minister can pernii| 
them to be killed on salmon rivers wheneve 
it may be deemed necessary or advisable so to. dc 
Some of those present at the North America; 
Fish and Game Protective Association made th 
rather extraordinary suggestion that the lessee 
of salmon rivers should be made ex-officio jus 
tices of the peace for the purpose of punishin. 
offenses avainst the fish and game laws, becaus 
of the absence of magistrates in many of th 
secluded districts where salmon fishermen wer 
