FOREST AND STREAM 
781 
Nov. 14, 1908.] 
Brant Lake Fishing Boats. 
New York, Nov. 4.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: A little over a year ago I stopped over 
night at Horicon, on Brant Lake, New York. 
| While sitting on the hotel porch I made the ac¬ 
quaintance of a guide, Jud. Smith by name, and 
after some conversation he agreed to take me 
fishing on the morrow. 
I was exceedingly well pleased with the boat 
from which we fished; and as a few friends and 
I were about to start a camp, I took measure¬ 
ments and photographs of the boat, as I knew 
we would want a boat for camp use and ex¬ 
pected to either buy one or have one made like 
it. Mr. Smith said he made the boat, and it 
is greatly to his credit, as it is the best all¬ 
round fishing boat I ever sat in, and I have sat 
in a few. 
Referring to my note book, I find the follow- 
above the floor, avoiding the cramped position 
of the legs which is so tiresome to a person not 
accustomed to sitting in a low seat. 1 am con¬ 
vinced that three-quarters of the fatigue of a 
day's fishing is caused by the posture caused by 
the low seats in most boats. It is noticeably 
absent after a whole day spent in this boat, as 
the curve in the little deck covering the stern 
fits one's back nicely, and one can stretch out 
and take full comfort in this boat. She is very 
steady when one stands up to cast, and the flat 
bottom does not tire the feet. Her shape be¬ 
ing similar to the shape of the fishermen’s 
dories used on the ocean, she will comfortably 
ride seas which would fill an ordinary fishing 
boat. The boat is put together with brass 
screws and varnished natural color without 
paint. The material looked like Georgia pine 
or cypress, but what I do not know about 
wood would fill a large volume. I was told I 
A Shark on Light Tackle. 
Greensboro, N. C., Nov. 7. —Editor Forest and 
Stream: On Oct. 10 last a fishing party, com¬ 
posed of Charles H. P'isher, of Greensboro, N. 
C.; Commander Harry Phelps, of the Navy, and 
James W. Thompson, of Southport, N. C., went 
out on the launch May Phelps to Southern Rock 
about three miles off shore east of old Fort 
Fisher. 
After catching a nice lot of blackfish, flounders 
and other kinds, Mr. Fisher called for help, as 
he said he had hooked a whale or some other 
very large fish and knew he could not land it 
without help. 
Mr. Fisher was using a lancewood rod and a 
reel with a No. 15 linen line and a sheepshead 
hook. After playing the fish for fifteen or 
twenty minutes, he succeeded in bringing up 
nearly to the surface of the water a large shark, 
TWO VIEWS OF THE BRANT LAKE FISHING BOAT DESCRIBED BY MR. SPAULDING, WHO MADE THE PHOTOGRAPHS REPRODUCED HEREWITH. 
ing measurements: Length, 16 feet; width 
amidships, on top, 4 feet 1 inch; bottom amid¬ 
ships, 2 feet 8 inches; height amidships, meas¬ 
ured on the slant, 1 foot 4 inches inside; 3 seats; 
flat bottom; 9 braces across the bottom on the 
inside about S inches shorter than the width, 
so the water can be bailed; 10 braces on each 
side, including 4 knees near the midship section; 
19 inches high at bow and stern. The seats are 
11 inches above the bottom boards. The bot¬ 
tom rocks some; that is, the bow and stern are 
higher than the middle. A line from the top 
of the bow to the top of the stern is 22 inches 
above the floor amidships. The sides are made 
of two boards, the joint being covered with a 
strip of wood about 3 inches wide and about 
inch thick, fastened to the side boards with 
two rows of brass screws. 
It is fitted with two pairs of rowlocks. When 
the boat has only one occupant, he sits in the 
middle seat and rows either end forward and 
the boat balances. With a passenger in the rear 
seat the oarsman shifts to the forward seat and 
the boat balances. It still balances with three 
occupants. There is a well under the middle 
seat with the ends boxed in; that is, it does not 
extend to the sides. The rear seat is well 
could buy one for thirty dollars, and I can 
cheerfully recommend them to any brother fish¬ 
erman who appreciates comfort and safety. 
I hope my description is clear enough so any¬ 
body who wishes to build one can take plans 
from the phbtographs and this description. 
N. E. Spaulding. 
[Mr. Spaulding has also loaned 11s a photo¬ 
graph of a type of fishing boat which he saw 
on Crooked Lake, in Steuben county, Indiana, 
while fishing there. As will be seen in the illus¬ 
tration, each boat consits of two complete hulls 
fastened together with crosspieces. The bows 
and sterns are decked over, and this decking is 
carried along the entire length of the craft 
where the two hulls meet, strengthening the 
boat as well as protecting its occupants. The 
oarsman sits amidships, with a leg in each hull. 
Mr. Spaulding did not take measurements of 
these boats, but estimates their length at six¬ 
teen feet and the beam of each hull at eighteen 
inches or slightly more, while the beam of the 
complete boat is about three and one-half feet. 
He says they row very easily, but is not greatly 
impressed with their utility as fishing boats.— 
Editor.] 
and when the fish turned to go down, the swish 
of its tail churned the water like the propeller 
of a steamship. It ran off with 100 or 150 feet 
of line, but as soon as he slackened his pace the 
reel was called into play and it was brought 
back again. This was repeated several times 
till it was seen that the fish was getting as tired 
of this sport as the fisherman was. 
After more than an hour’s reeling in and pay¬ 
ing out line, the tired fish was again brought 
near the stern of the launch, when Mr. Thomp¬ 
son made a slip noose of the end of the rope 
so he could drop it over the butt end of the rod 
and over the shark’s head. The fish was thor¬ 
oughly opposed to coming up to the boat head 
on, but in his efforts to go down again he 
switched his tail near enough the stern of the 
boat for Mr. Thompson to catch him by the 
upper part of his tail and jerk it on the boat. 
As soon as the tail touched the deck, Mr. Phelps 
put two half hitches on it and made it fast to 
the Sampson post. 
Then came the tug to get the other part on 
the boat. The slip noose had gone over the rod 
and was caught in the shark’s mouth, but as 
soon as this part of the rope was taut the 
shark bit it in two as if it had been a straw— 
