Megantic Club Protective Work. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
The intelligent and aggressive manner in which 
vou are working for the preservation of the 
forests, fish and game, the evident desire to 
each the ignorant but willing listener, is the 
ict of a missionary in nature as much as that 
if one who goes to a far off country to spread 
he belief in a Christian religion. So few peo- 
>le, comparatively speaking, realize what it all 
neans. 
The desire to hunt, fish and kill is due mainly 
o a lack of knowledge, carelessness of thought 
nd selfishness of purpose. It looks so good 
D bring in a big string of fish, have your photo- 
raph taken, and in the winter months show 
lis to your friends, and with due modesty re- 
ite to your listener the difficult task you have 
b well performed. 
To assist as best I can in your work I shall 
ive you a slight idea of what one organization, 
j'e Megantic Fish and Game Club of Maine, is 
oing. The club was organized in 1887, start- 
ig in a very modest way with a few stray 
imps, owning but little land, and to-day we 
wn or control 250 square miles of territory 
ith a full membership of 250 members. 
Eustis is the gateway to the ponds and streams 
the Megantic Fish and Game Preserve, 
cached at its two principal points on a road 
-hich diverges a few mile 5 from the town, 
«e leading to the Cham of Ponds, thirteen 
files away, and the other leaving the Chain of 
-pnds road where the Alder Stream enters the 
j;ad River, and following along the banks of 
f former for ten miles where will be found 
jr Alder Stream farm. Eight miles more over 
pbuckboard road brings one to the Megantic 
:mps at Big Island Pond. 
Passing over the Megantic preserve via Big 
fand, in which both trout and landlocked sal- 
f n are to be caught, one crosses L Rock, 
fnt, Northwest, Little Northwest and Bound- 
j ponds, thence over a trail to the stretch of 
'ter called Massachusetts Bog. Another trail 
il passing over a corner of Canada, the ponds 
biold and Crosby are reached. Four miles of 
'mpmg and the head of the Chain of Ponds 
s rea ched on the stream called Horseshoe 
5 earn. Round, Natannis, Upper and Lower 
"ket, Bog and Lower ponds are the names 
■ cn to this chain of ponds and we reach the 
'dwaters of the North Branch of the Dead 
! 'er. A canoe trip down this river forms a 
hsant ending to a vacation, the river having 
my places of quick water to afford a little 
ntement, and the sight of the three sets of 
Ps ’ called Sarampus, Shadagee and Ledge 
is, are worth the trip, 
his is not written for the purpose of prais- 
’ club, but to show what can be accom- 
! hed m the way of protection to fish and 
ae by concerted and harmonious action on 
1 part of each and every member. Our pre- 
' c, as many of your readers know, is situated 
Northern Maine and Southern Quebec. Our 
ponds have been carefully stocked each year. 
Our rules regarding the killing of fish are very 
well shown by Chairman Carleton, of the Maine 
Fish and Game Commission in an editorial in 
the State of Maine Journal. 
A most remarkable feature, and one that will 
be appreciated by every true sportsman, is the 
absolute protection to fish arid game which this 
organization insists upon to the very letter. It 
is entirely within the bounds of sober truth to 
say that there is no spot or place within the 
bounds of the State of Maine, of equal extent, 
where the laws are so well lived up to as on 
this 250 square miles leased by this corporation. 
“'To illustrate: A record of fish taken is kept 
and reported to the chairman of the fish com¬ 
mission. 
“Of course this is not absolutely correct, but 
practically so. According to these reports thir¬ 
teen thousand fish were taken last year and but 
13 per cent, of them were killed; the balance 
were returned to the waters. This is not an 
exceptional record, but the usual thing. Fly¬ 
fishing only is the rule of the club. There is 
no fishing to supply the general tables, only 
for one’s c*vn use, and practically none are taken 
away from the preserve by the members. This 
organization does its own enforcement of the 
fish and game laws. They pay a competent 
warden, commissioned by the State, and answer- 
able only to the fish and game commissioners of 
Maine for his official conduct. He devotes his 
entire time to this territory. No member of 
the corporation can maintain his membership or 
social standing in the organization who does not 
fully conform to its rules and regulations, or 
who does not, in fact, conform to the laws of 
the State. Every member is obliged to observe 
these laws in letter and in spirit, and anyone 
who violates them may as well get out; not 
stand on the order of his going, but go at once.” 
Mr. Carleton s last remarks show the spirit 
which each member is expected to live up to. 
The unwritten law and which is universally fol¬ 
lowed is: Kill what you alone absolutely need 
for personal use and obey the law. If your 
friend does not care to fish let him go without. 
There is always plenty of other food in camp. 
No plug fishing is allowed. A record is sent 
to the chairman each week which tells the date, 
water fished, time of day, number caught, num¬ 
ber killed, largest fish, best fly. 
I cite, as a sample, the catch of one member 
at Big Island Pond in July, 1908, in six days’ 
fishing, two forenoons’ fishing and four even¬ 
ings: One hundred and eighty-three trout 
caught; twenty-one trout killed; largest fish, two 
pounds; brown hackle favorite fly. 
More remarkable still is a report for the week 
ending Sept. 1, 1908: Three hundred and eighty 
caught; eighteen killed. 
These are practical examples of what common 
intelligence properly applied will do for protec¬ 
tion. These men are now enthusiastic mission¬ 
aries. Would we have good fishing and hunting 
if this same feeling did not exist among all our 
members? No, 
Mr. Carleton well says that one who breaks 
these rules, which are club rules and not State 
laws, might as well get out; but the same mis¬ 
sionary work is being spread beyond the Megan¬ 
tic preserve. There is, south and east of us, at 
least 200 square miles controlled by public camp 
owners, including Tim Pond, King and Bartlett, 
Round Mountain, Spring Lake and others whose 
tributaries simply overflow with small trout five 
to eight inches in length. 
, > T 9o8, I was on the preserve and com¬ 
ing out met a party who told me that four rods 
had taken from Tim and Nash brooks, which 
are about six to eight miles from the extreme 
southern line of the preserve, 1,365 trout and 
killed them all. I never realized before that 
my temper was so mean. I got busy, however; 
and a meeting with Mr. Carleton and Mr! 
Brackett, his associate, was the result. This 
conference was held at Eustis, Maine, in July. 
The vaiious camp and lumber owners of this 
district were present and we put in force the 
following special law: 
“North Branch, Dead River—Alder Stream.— 
Unlawful to catch trout less than eight inches 
in length in North Branch of Dead River, from 
its junction with the southwest branch to Chain 
of Ponds, or in Alder Stream, in Jim Pond 
township, or in Tim Brook, below Shepp’s camp, 
or for one person to kill in one day more than 
ten trout taken from any of the above named 
waters.” 
Not only this, but eleven of the men present 
were delegated as wardens for the district. 
Some were disposed to complain, for fear that 
their customers would resent the act, but they 
have changed their ideas. We may make mis¬ 
sionaries of them. 
In closing let me cite one incident which may 
be of interest. One of the most beautiful ponds 
in the State of Maine is Round Mountain Pond 
in Franklin county. This is a spring pond with 
a very small outlet. The pond is one and a 
quarter miles long by seven-eighths wide. A 
stream. Little Alder, flows by it, about one-half 
a mile to the north. I conceived the idea of 
stocking the pond from the stream, and after 
a lot of small talk I made the statement that 
my boy and myself could take on either a barb¬ 
less hook or fly 2,000 fish in six days. We took 
2,001 up to Saturday noon and then stopped and 
only seven were lost in transit. 
The problem of planting these was very sim¬ 
ple. Boxes with covers, after being bored for 
air, were placed at different points in the stream. 
Three pails were used to convey the fish, and 
as fast as they were fairly well filled the guide 
would take them to the box. The fish were 
from five to nine inches in length. At night 
these were emptied into a ten-gallon oil can 
which had been thoroughly cleansed and then 
taken to the pond. Someone will be sceptical? 
Did they live? Indeed, they did, and to-day you 
can tell the difference between the stream fish 
and the pond fish. Did we have any fun? We 
certainly did. Won’t we have more as a re¬ 
sult? Surely so. Try it some day and the feel- 
