Nov. 20, 1909.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
821 
crab seized another with its claws, a pair of 
stout iron nippers was used to cut off the attack¬ 
ing claw. Those nippers were useful, too, should 
a crab seize a hand. Sometimes, as a crab was 
picked up, another crab would seize it and an¬ 
other would seize the second, each trying to hold 
down the others. In this way half a dozen crabs 
would be caught up and dropped in the barrel 
at once. 1 hen, if any of the crabs were on 
their backs, the man would reach down among 
the claws and right the overturned crabs. That 
required quick work. 
The nip of a crab is something to be avoided. 
An old channeler—a deep water male crab or 
“old Jimmydigs”—will bite a finger off if he has 
a chance. I put my lead pencil between a crab’s 
claws, and when it closed down, it crushed the 
pencil into fine splinters. Incidentally the crab 
with the other claw slyly reached for a finger 
and missed by a breath. 
The barrels were packed about eighteen crabs 
to the layer and thirty-two layers to the barrel, 
say forty-eight dozen to the barrel. By dinner 
time there were twelve barrels full on the deck. 
Then the negro cook, who stuttered, called the 
coming on behind. Toward the end of the day 
Captain Dick had grown cross, as he found him¬ 
self with only half as many crabs as his able 
rival. Next day, though, with new hope, he 
would be as cheerful as ever. 
The gasolene dredge cost about $2,000. The 
good men receive $1.50 a day and the cook $1. 
It costs sixty cents a barrel freight, the barrels 
cost twenty-four cents each and the commission 
man receives 12^ per cent. Sometimes the ship¬ 
ment spoils and the loss is complete. Dredges 
turn to crabbing when the oystering is dull or 
out of season. The owner clears from $5 to 
$30 a day. 
Years ago only oysters were regarded as 
worthy of a bayman’s labor, but in recent years 
old oystermen have gone to shad netting, crab¬ 
bing and doing other things scorned of old. One 
finds Chesapeake men who are fishermen, hun¬ 
ters, crabbers, trappers and market gardeners, 
changing with the season and opportunities. 
The Maryland crab catch is about 42,000,000 
a year, say 74,000 barrels. The Virginia catch 
may be half as large. There are more than 8,000 
people on the bay who follow crabbing in one 
out, Waveland, Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Pass 
Christian and other places. Many fine speci¬ 
mens of sheepshead, bass, speckled trout, green 
trout, etc., have been brought back; in fact, 
fishing is more popular just now than hunting. 
F. G. G. 
Salmon Fishing in New Brunswick 
Of the rivers in New Brunswick on which 
salmon fishing may be obtained, the Upsalquitch 
is unquestionably the best. With the exception 
of two miles of fishing at Boland Brook, The 
Falls, Thomas Malcolm, of Campbellton, N. B„ 
has leased the entire river from the New Bruns¬ 
wick Government. He leases it to fishermen at 
$10 per rod a day. They engage guides at the 
Flatheads, twelve miles above Campbellton, and 
have twenty-five miles of pools, from Boland 
Brook to The Forks, some thirty-three miles 
from the mouth of the river. The fish average 
about eight pounds and run up to twenty-five 
pounds in weight; occasionally a forty-pound 
fish will be hook&d. As fishermen have taken 
as high as twenty-five salmon in a day, Mr. 
MIDDLE LANDING ON THE NEPISIGUIT RIVER. 
captain and he went to the galley to eat, the 
cook taking the wheel. The men ate as they 
had opportunity, between dredges, and for a few 
minutes, while the cook sorted, laid off to drink 
coffee and sit down and eat comfortably. 
On Captain Dick’s boat there was no cook and 
Captain Dick ate pone with one hand on the 
wheel, while the crew were uncheered and un¬ 
stimulated by coffee. There is a great differ¬ 
ence in boats. It was plain to see from the way 
the sailors worked that one boat carried cheap 
hands, the other experts. The catch showed a 
difference, too. One boat caught twenty-eight 
barrels, the other fourteen. 
At 4:45 o’clock Captain James hauled in and 
the day’s dredging was done. “I’m tired,’’ he 
said. “It’s hard work standing all day in the 
pilot house keeping track of the buoys, the 
dredges, directing the men and running the 
engine.” 
A half barrel of crabs fpr topping was then 
spread over the barrelsful and the covers of bur¬ 
lap hooped down and nailed on. This work was 
ione rapidly by the men as the boat ran home¬ 
ward. After a while Captain Dick was seen 
or another of its branches. More than 4,000 
boats are used, most of them skiffs used in run- 
ming trotlines and other hand fishing. Crabbing, 
like oystering, may be followed by boys for 
spending money, or by companies with power¬ 
boats and large equipment. More and more, 
however, the companies with large equipment 
enter the market, controlling it. Even the crab¬ 
bing bottoms are becoming private property, like 
oyster beds. Raymond S. Spears. 
Good Luck. 
New Orleans, La., Nov. 10.— Editor Forest 
and Stream: The fishermen report the best fall 
they have had in some years, while on the con¬ 
trary the past summer was one of the poorest 
or rather the latest. During June, July and 
August the fish did not bite at all. Shrimp were 
also quite scarce during the past summer, but 
they, like the ordinary scale fish, have come in 
with a rush this autumn. The coast trains are 
crowded almost every afternoon, and especially 
on Saturdays with fishermen going to Chef Men- 
teur, Lake Catherine, the Rigolets, Point Look- 
Malcolm has placed a limit of five salmon a day 
on each rod. As numerous grilse will be landed, 
and as any fair angler can hook his five fish 
with but little trouble, the investment is well 
worth the money. 
Guides cost from one dollar and a half to two 
a day, canoes fifty cents. William Couling, 
James McLeod, the Pollock brothers are among 
those recommended. A guide who is prepared 
to handle fishermen is Lorenzo D. Savage, of 
Penniac, York county. He has hunting camps 
further up the Upsalquitch and can supply 
canoes, provisions, a cook, tents, etc., at $5 per 
day per man. 
The best way to reach the fishing is by the 
new International Railway, running west from 
Campbellton. Twenty miles from this town it 
crosses the river and fishermen here take their 
canoes. Campbellton can be reached inside of 
twenty-four hours from Boston, or a day and a 
half from New York. Mr. Malcolm can supply 
reliable guides and Max Mowatt, of Campbell¬ 
ton, superintendent of the Riparian Association, 
also knows of good men. The trip to Camp¬ 
bellton on the Ocean Limited from St. John is 
