940 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Dec. io, 1910. 
land on the floor of the valley, two thousand 
feet, a stupendous mass of solid stone guarding 
the entrance like a huge sentinel. In the dis¬ 
tance is the Grand Canon of the Tuolumne, 
whose four waterfalls glisten in the sunlight. 
At the left three masses of light-colored rocky 
cliffs rise like a flight of immense steps, below 
flows the Tuolumne River, large pine and oak 
trees interspersed along the shore. A little 
wooded island adds variety to the scene and a 
small lake lies peacefully under the shadow of 
Kolano. 
Turquoise gem of beauty rare, 
Set in Sierras’ rugged heights, 
Amid the pine and fir trees fair. 
Brightly beam thy emerald lights. 
E. W. Currier. 
Stillwater Trout. 
Billings, Mont., Nov. 30 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: The Stillwater River is a fine trout 
stream, and with the exception of the Boulder 
River, which flows into the Yellowstone at Big- 
Timber, is the finest in this part of the country. 
It contains several varieties of trout, among 
which the speckled or ordinary mountain trout 
appears to be the most common. I caught a 
large number of rainbow trout and not a few 
of the black-spotted variety, which have been 
planted in the Stillwater and tributary streams 
within the last few years by enthusiasts from 
Billings and other points. 
The largest catch I made last summer on this 
trip was some seventy-odd in about four hours’ 
fishing. These ran from one-half to three pounds 
in weight and I would not ask for better fishing- 
in any man’s country. The largest one weighed 
pretty close to five pounds and belongs to the 
variety known to Uncle John Losekamp as "an 
old yellow belly.” He was taken with a royal 
coachman and put up a stiff fight before being- 
laid out upon the grass to be admired. 
A trout of this size is somewhat above the 
average. Larger ones are caught in the Still¬ 
water each season, but not in great numbers. It 
was my good fortune to catch a huge trout four 
years ago in this same river, but at a point much 
lower down, which weighed five and three- 
quarter pounds, dressed, after being on ice for 
two days. I had no way of weighing him at 
the time I caught him, but he certainly looked 
like a whale to me then and I guessed him at 
about seven and one-half. H. B. Miller. 
Anglers’ Club of Milwaukee. 
Milwaukee, Wis., Nov. 29. —Editor Forest and 
Stream: Following are the averages of the eight 
members who qualified during the past year: 
M. A. Beck. 
Place. 
... 1 
Average. t4-ounce. 
98.30 98.30 
%-ounce. 
98.30 
H. C. Mullen. 
9 
98.13 
98.44 
97.82 
A. F. Bingenheimer 
... 3 
98.04 
98.20 
97. SS 
Albert Lahmann .. 
... 4 
97.8H 
97.90 
97.82 
A. L. Stole. 
.. . 5 
97.70 
97.80 
97.60 
C. A. Rhine. 
. . . (> 
97.69 
97.73 
97.65 
G. C. Schoenlaub.. 
97.10 
97.10 
C. L. Tolfson. 
... s 
96.66 
96.20 
97.12 
General average for the season 
won by M. A. 
Beck; second, LI. 
C. Mullen; third, A. F. 
Bingen- 
hqimer. 
Quarter-ounce 
average 
won by 
H. C. 
Mullen; 
.second, M. A. Beck; third, A. F. Bingenheimer. 
Half-ounce average won by M. A. Beck; sec¬ 
ond, A. F. Bingenheimer; H. C. Mullen and Al¬ 
bert Lahmann tied for third place. 
It was hoped that a larger number would 
qualify the past season; however, the number 
was four less than last year. 
The average attendance the past season was 
eight members. The largest attendance was 
twelve; the smallest, four. 
C. L. Tolfson, Sec’y. 
Planting Trout Fry. 
Denver, Colo., Nov. 27 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: A large shipment of trout fry by the 
United States Commission of Fisheries is to 
be placed in Colorado waters in the near future. 
It is, I believe, a generally admitted fact that, 
although millions of trout fry are planted both 
by the State and the Federal Government in 
our waters, the fishing for the last three or four 
years has been gradually growing poorer, and 
this notwithstanding the fact that the State 
hatcheries and the output of fry therefrom are 
continually increasing. It is questionable if 25 
per cent, of the fry thus planted live to be one 
year old. 
I have been for the last fifteen -years cultivat¬ 
ing trout in Colorado waters, much of that 
time in connection with the Government opera¬ 
tion of the Grand Mesa Lake. I believe that 
the lack of increase in numbers comes largely 
from improper handling and planting, as I be¬ 
lieve trout fry can be shipped almost any dis¬ 
tance under proper care, and when judiciously 
handled and planted will nearly all live, at least 
for a time. 
As a general rule, the fry are delivered by the 
Government or State officials at a railroad sta¬ 
tion to some private individual, who undertakes 
to and does plant them in some water previous¬ 
ly agreed upon. These individuals are usually 
uninformed as to the things necessary to be 
done to make the planting a success. - 
The things that lessen the vitality of the 
trout are careless handling in transit, being 
planted in water either much colder or much 
warmer than that in the cans and either in 
water too deep, having too much current or too 
little shade. 
If the following suggestions are heeded there 
should be much less loss. These suggestions 
are applicable to conditions now existing, where 
the fry must be promptly removed from the 
hatcheries: 
First.—In case the distance from the station 
to the place of planting is more than one mile, 
or there is likely to be delay in transit, ice 
should be provided and placed in the cans in 
■small quantities from time to time as required 
to keep the temperature of the water about the 
same as when received. In case the water 
where they are to be planted is known to be 
warmer than that in the cans, the latter may be 
allowed to slowly warm up while en route from 
the station, but the cans should be protected 
from the sun. 
Second. — If the temperature of the water is 
kept substantially as when received and the 
wagon kept moving, the fry will require nothing 
more while in transit; but if a stop exceeding 
ten minutes is made the attendant (having pro¬ 
vided himself with a dipper) should every few 
minutes dip water from the cans and pour it 
back into the cans from a height of one foot 
to thoioughly reaerate the water. This is better 
than to change the water and substitute some 
water possibly unsuitable for fish life. 
Third.—At the time of planting there should 
be not more than 3 degrees difference in the 
temperature of the water in the cans and that 
in which the fry are planted. The equalization 
can be accomplished by dipping up the water 
from the stream or lake in which it is proposed 
to plant them and pouring it into the cans until 
the temperature is about the same in both, as 
the water being poured into the cans and per¬ 
mitted to run over for a few minutes will prac¬ 
tically substitute the stream or lake water for 
that in the cans, and do it so gradually that the 
fry will feel no ill effects. A thermometer is 
desirable, but not necessary, as the equaliza¬ 
tion can be tested by the hand. 
Fourth.—In planting pour, out the fry and 
water from the cans gently and not too many 
in one place, and, if possible, in small channels 
or bayous of gently running water, where there 
are grass and willows, as the fry will there be 
in less danger from larger fish, get feed and 
shade and stay until they have strength to 
tackle the current in the main stream; other¬ 
wise plant in shallow places near the shore 
where there is shade. 
The true method, however, is to provide rear¬ 
ing ponds adjacent to the hatchery, so that the 
fry may be there retained and properly fed 
until they attain the size of fingerlings, or 
larger, before they are distributed in the public 
waters. If one-half the hatcheries in the State 
were discontinued and the money required to 
operate them expended in making rearing ponds 
at the other hatcheries, the results would be 
quite different from what they are at present. 
The difficulty, however, seems to be that each 
legislator is anxious to have a hatchery in his 
county, and this entirely regardless of whether 
there is suitable water. Until this disposition 
is curbed, we cannot hope to have perfection 
in trout propagation. 
I recommend to all those interested, either 
pecuniarily or in a general way, in trout propa¬ 
gation, to read the book “An Angler's Paradise- 
and How to Obtain It," by J. J. Armistead, 
proprietor of the Solway Fisheries in Scotland, 
which is probably the largest and most success¬ 
ful fish propagating plant in the world. In this 
book is treated not only the entire theory and 
practice of the cultivation of the fish themselves, 
but it refers extensively to the natural fish 
foods, a matter often overlooked by amateur 
fishculturists, usually resulting in failure. 
The growth of fish is almost solely a ques¬ 
tion of food; the more food the faster they will 
grow, and their appetites are insatiable. I have 
known of brook trout in Colorado lakes 'attain¬ 
ing a weight of five pounds in four years. 
To show the growth of fish food, I refer to 
what Mr. Armistead says about the Cyclops 
quadricornis, a crustacean : 
"The great importance of these creatures (as 
fish food) will be understood when we consider 
that it has been estimated that a single female 
may be the origin of over 400,000,000 of its 
species in one year; nay, according to a calcu¬ 
lation by Jurine, a single Cyclops is capable of 
producing over 4,000.000.000 in the course of a 
single year.” 
In natural lakes there is usually an abundance 
of food, but in artificial lakes there is practically 
none until they are stocked either from the 
natural inflow of water or by the planting of the 
same artificially. D. C. Beaman. 
