Oct. io, 1908.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
581 
Fishing in California. 
San'Francisco, Cal., Sept. 26. —Editor Forest 
1 and Stream: The State fish commissioners are 
ii very much pleased with the successful opera¬ 
tion of the new fish distributing car, which went 
into operation for the first time about a week 
I ago. They are now able to fill, on one trip of 
; the car, from twelve to fourteen applications. 
The first trip was made to points along the 
Sacramento River to Chico, and all of the ap¬ 
plicants received their fish in first-class con¬ 
dition without loss. It is believed by the com¬ 
missioners that with the present methods of 
concentrating hatcheries at certain points where 
and number: Rainbow trout, 3,000,000; cut¬ 
throat trout, 3,000,000; steelhead trout, 3,000,000; 
eastern brook trout, 1,250,000; Loch Leven 
trout, 750,000. The commission will continue 
to follow its long established and highly suc¬ 
cessful plan of liberating trout fry averaging an 
inch and a half in length. Some of the more 
precocious fish attain a length of three inches, 
but none are liberated until they reach a length 
of at least one and a quarter inches. 
While under normal conditions the fishing 
season at Lake Tahoe would be practically over 
by this time, the unusually fine sport now being 
experienced is drawing crowds of anglers from 
all sections of the State and almost as many 
A great run of salmon is now on at Bolinas 
Bay and San Francisco sportsmen who have 
visited that place state that the bay is simply 
alive with fish. As many as a hundred boats 
could be counted there at one time on Sundays, 
and the average catch was four salmon to a 
man. Many of the fish weighed as much as 
fifty pounds. The season is now closed and 
will remain so until Oct. 23, when a renewal of 
the sport is looked for. The local fishermen 
state that it is their methods of fishing that ac¬ 
counts for their large catches. While most of 
the professional fishermen use sardines and a 
heavy sinker on a thick line the amateurs use 
a new trolling spoon on a light line. They se- 
MEMBERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL FISHERY CONGRESS. 
From a photograph made after the luncheon given at the American Museum of Natural History, New York city, on Sept. 28. Left to right, front row, from sixth 
figure: Rrof. Hermon C. Bumpus, Director of American Museum of Natural History, President of the Congress; Prof. Henry F. Osborn, President of the Museum 
of Natural History; Dr. Vinciguerra, Director of the Royal Fish Cultural Station and Aquarium, Rome, Italy; Dr. Hugh M. Smith, Deputy Commissioner of 
Fisheries, United States Government, and Secretary-General of the Fishery Congress; Dr. Oscar F. Nordqvist, Swedish Superintendent of Fisheries, Lund, 
Sweden; Dr. W. Naumann, German Fishery Society, Lipsa, near Ruhland, Germany; Dr. G. Antipa, Inspector-General of Fisheries, Bucharest. Second row: Mr. 
Dwight Franklin, Museum of Natural History; Dr. Yen, Chinese Embassy, Washington; Prof. P. P. Hoek, Scientific Fishery Adviser of Dutch Government, Haarlem, 
the Netherlands; Prof. E. E. Prince, Dominion Commissioner of Eisheries, Ottawa, Canada; Dr. H. Van Kadich, Councillor of Administration, Vienna, Austria; 
Dr. Charles H. Townsend, Director of the New York Aquarium; Dr. T. Kitahara, Imperial Fisheries Bureau, Tokyo, Japan. 
the transportation problem is simple, the output 
of each hatchery can be increased 50 per cent, 
without any additional cost. With the new car 
I every section of the State can be reached. All 
the applicant has to do is to make his applica- 
! tion for fish—provided they are for public 
waters—meet the train at a given time and 
place, receive his fish and liberate them in ac- 
. cordance with the written instructions that are 
supplied by the fish commission deputies. One 
of the most important things to be considered 
is that the young fish must be planted in the 
shallows or riffles wherever possible. 
It is in such places that they are to be found 
under natural conditions, and it is there that 
they find food and are safe from attack. 
The total output of young trout in the State 
this year will aggregate 11,000,000 fish, divided 
in the following order, relating to importance 
persons are there as during the height of the 
season. Every one is talking about the wonder¬ 
ful fish that was taken in the lake last month 
by J. O. Thomas and everyone is trying to out¬ 
do him, but without success so far. The much 
admired trout is of the Mackinaw variety and 
weighed exactly thirty-one pounds. It is one 
of the largest of its kind ever taken out of the 
lake and since making the capture Thomas has 
been the center of an envious throng. The prize 
was captured about a mile and a half from 
shore and Thomas had quite a time in making 
the capture, but finally made his prey fast just 
as the latter had almost freed himself from the 
hook. 
'Among the recent visitors of note to the lake 
have been Misses Minnie and Katie Langhorst, 
of Cromberg, well known anglers, and Miss 
Mira Arms, of Quincy, Cal. 
cure many more strikes and have the satisfac¬ 
tion of landing the king of fish in the most ap¬ 
proved style. Reports from Santa Cruz and 
Monterey are that salmon are very plentiful 
there after a rather dull summer, and some 
vary fine sport has been indulged in. 
Landing an eight-foot shark weighing 
seventy-seven pounds with a light bamboo rod 
and reel is a feat not often done, but was ac¬ 
complished by William E. Lynn, of Sausalito, 
off the Lime Point rocks a few days ago. Lynn 
was fishing for rock cod in company with 
two other fishermen, and the trio were just 
ready to start home when the shark made the 
strike. 
The struggle lasted for three-quarters of an 
hour, when the fish was finally landed in the 
boat. Even then he was quite difficult to 
handle. A. P. B. 
