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FISHING
IN
AMERICAN WATERS.
By GENIO C. SCOTT.
^VITH ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY ILLUSTRATIONS.
'Give me, Great Father, give me strength and heahh,
A hberal heart, afifections kind and free ;
My rod— my line— be these my pride, my weaUh !
They yield me present joys — they draw ray soul to Thee."
NEW YORK:
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
FRANK T. IN SQUARE.
1869.
|;
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by
Genio C.« Scott,
In the Clerk's OflBce of the District Court of the United States for the
Southern District of New York.
5 3^
TO
THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATIONS
FOR THE PROTECTION OF
FISH, GAME, AND BIRDS OF SONG,
THIS BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY
DEDICATED
BY
THE AUTHOR.
)gc-^>4v
M842776
PREFACE.
As it might not be deemed kind in me to inflict upon the
reader mj thousand reasons for writing and ilhistrating this
book with pencil sketches copied from life, 1 will therefore
merely state that my experience of many years in the prac-
tice of the gentle art, which has led me through so many
scenes of beauty and loveliness, has made me wish that
all the world might learn the enjoyment conferred by the
practice of angling.
I have endeavored to portray the recreations of the an-
gler in America, with his implements and his game ; add-
ing a small tribute to the temperate and industrious class
of men who follow for a livelihood the hazardous business
of fishing on the broad seas.
An outline of the progress of fish-culture in Europe and
America is also given, with pencil sketches illustrative of
the art of hatching and rearing fishes, including stairs and
fish-passes for enabling fishes to surmount mill-dams and
falls.
The fishes of our coast and estuaries, and the peculiar
methods adopted for their capture, form not (fnly a sealed
book to Europeans, but to those anglers in America also
who confine their recreations to fresh-water attractions.
Each game fish affords a distinct interest, with peculiarities
worth studying.
My sketches may lack artistic finish, but possess the
merit of correct outline; and in the words of Raphael,
" The outline is the picture." The reader may be assured
that fishing, whether for recreation or gain, entices its vo-
taries to unexplored sources of revenue and pleasure.
viii Preface.
I am under compliment to the following gentlemen :
Francis Fran<3is, of "The Field," author of "Fish-cul-
ture," and " A Book on Angling," has contributed valuable
suggestions, which I am pleased to acknowledge.
Isaac M'Lellan. To this accomplished poet I am in-
debted for contributing original verses to head my descrip-
tions of several among our most important fishes.
Thomas Tod Stoddart, whose "Angler's Companion" has
afforded me both information and pleasure.
Emile Blan chard. Member of the Institute and Professor
of Natural History, Paris.
James Pennie, M.A., Professor of Zoology, King's Col-
lege, London.
Walter Brackett, Artist, Boston, contributed the Brook
Trout and Whitefish.
J. B. Stearns, Brookl}Ti, E. D. Frontispiece of a Striped
Basfc, photographed from a picture painted by him.
Seth Green, Mumf ord, N. Y. Fish-culture.
Stephen H. Ainsworth, West Bloomfield, JS". Y. ^^atural
Spawning Race.
Middleton, Carman, & Co., Fulton Market. Statistics of
Fishes.
Gilbei-t Comstock, Fulton Market — wholesale depart-
ment. Fisheries Statistics.
Andrew Olerk & Co., Maiden Lane. Samples of supe-
rior Flies and Split Bamboo Rods.
Pritchard Brothers, Fulton Street. Artificial Flies and .
fine Bass-reel.
Mr. M'Bride, Mumford, N. Y. Fine Tro.ut-flies and
Stained Gut Lines.
John Shields, Brookline, Mass. Specimens of excellent
Trout-flies.
CONTENTS.
PART L
COAST AND ESTUAKY FISHING WITH ROD AND LINE.
s«..» CHAPTEK I. ^
I. General Characterization of Fishes 17
II. Prerequisites for Fishing 22
III. General Habits and Senses of Fishes 24
IV. On Vision in Fishes 26
V. On Taste in Fishes 33
VI. On Smell in Fishes 36
VII. On Hearing in Fishes 38
CHAPTER II.
I. Fecundity of Fishes 41
II. Voracity of Fishes 42
III. Times of Feeding and Haunts of Fishes -. 44.
CHAPTER III.
I. Coast and Estuary Fishes 46
II. Angling for Striped Bass 48
III. Trolling in HeU Gate 52
IV. Still-baiting for Bass 58
V. Casting-bait for Striped Bass .* 64
VI. Angling at the Bassing Clubs 69
CHAPTER IV.
I. Weakfish or Squeteague 79
II. Southern Sea Trout ~ 82
III. Sheepshead 84
IV. Angling for Sheepshead 92
V. The Kingfish 95
VI. The Hogfish, 98 ; the Grunter, 99 ; the Golden Mullet, 100 ; the
White Perch, 101 ; the Smelt, 102 ; the Spearing, 103.; the
Caplin... 105
Vn. The Sea Bass, 106 ; the Porgee 108
VIII. The Family of the Wrasses or Rockfish, 111 ; the Tautog or
Blackfish, 113; the Flounder 110
IX. The Bluefish 117
X Contents.
Section Page
X. The Spanish Mackerel 126
XL TheBonetta or Bonita 132
XII, The Cero, Cerus, or Sierra, 134 ; the Horse Mackerel 135
PART II.
FEESH-WATEK FISHING WITH FLY AND BAIT.
CHAPTER J.
I. The Poetry of Angling 141
II. The Brook Trout 146
III. Fly-fishing for Trout, 154; Modem Spliqe for Fly-rods 159
CHAPTER II.
I. Fly-fishing on Massapiqua Lake 162
II. How to Fish a Stream 165
HI. Knots, Loops, and Drops, 166 ; how to Stain Silk-worm Gut, 170 ;
Trout-reels, 172 ; Fly-rods, 173 ; Landing-nets, 173 ; Trout-
basket, 174 ; Bait-box, 174 ; Straightening Casting-lines, 175 ;
Natural and Artificial Trout-flies 176
CHAPTER II L
L Middle Dam Camp 181
11. Select Artificial Trout-flies, 184 ; Round Bend Fly-hooks, 185 ;
Fish-hook Philosophy 185
IIL Bait-fishing for Trout 189
CHAPTER IV.
I. Lesson by Josh Billings, 191 ; the Ardent Angler 1 92
IL Angling for Children 198
CHAPTER V.
L The Salmon 202
II. Outfit for Salmon-fishing 215
IIL Departure for Salmon-fishing, 215 ; our Start up the St. John.... 218
IV. The Encampment 222
V. Camping in the Wilderness, 228; a Morning's Experience 234
VL History and Rumination 236
VIL Jolly Sport on Rattling Run 241
VIIL Fly-fishing below the Falls 244
IX. Thoughts of returning Homeward 251
X. The Silver or Sea Trout, 255 ; the White Trout, 258 ; the Win-
ninish, 260 ; Red Trout of Long Lake, 262 ; Trout of Seneca
and Cayuga Lakes, 263 ; the Mackinaw Trout 264
XI. American Pickerel or Pike, 2G6 ; Skittering for Pickerel among
the Lily-pads, 270 ; Still-baiting for Pickerel 271
Contents. xi
^ . CHAPTER VI.
Section Page
I. Trolling among the Thousand Islands 274
II. The Maskinonge 277
III. The Black Bass, 280 ; the Oswego Bass, 282 ; the Black Bass of
the South, 284 ; the Spotted Bass or Speckled Hen, 285 ; Rock
Bass of the Lakes 285
IV. The Sunfish, 286 ; the Perch, 287 ; the Glass-eyed or Wall-eyed
Pike, 288; the Whiteftsh, 290 ; the Lake Herring, 291 ; the Cis-
co or Ciscoquette, 292 ; the Shiner 294
V. Bait-can and Baits," 294 ; Spinning-baits, 295 ; Hackett's Spinning-
tackle, 296 ; Haskell's Trolling-bait, 297 ; the Propelling Min-
now, 298 ; Buel's Patent Feather Troll, 299 ; Spinning Tackle
for Live Baits, 299 ; Spoon Victuals for Long-snouts, 302 ; Troll-
ing Weather and Baits, 303 ; Fish - hooks, 304 ; Salmon - flies,
306 ; Fly-dressing, 308 ; Mounting Salmon-hooks, 310 ; the Pon-
derating Sinker 310
PART III
COMMERCIAL FISHERIES.
CHAPTER L
Lake Fisheries 315
CHAPTER IL
COAST PISHES AND FISHERIES OP THE UNITED STATES.
L The Mackerel 319
IL The Shad 324
III. The Mossbunker or Menhaden, 326 ; Menhaden for Bait — Frozen
Herrings 328
IV. The Codfish— Catching and Curing it » 328
CHAPTER IIL
Whale Fishing, 332 ; the Striped Red Mullet 338
CHAPTER IV.
Salt-water Fisheries, 339 ; the Chesapeake Bay Fishery, 342 ; Findon
Haddocks, 342 ; Preserving Food-fishes Fresh 343
PART IV.
ANCIENT AND MODERN FISH-CULTURE.
CHAPTER L
The Art among the Ancients 34'
xii Contents.
CHAPTER 11.
Section Page
Fish-culture in Europe in Early Times 350
CHAPTER III.
Fish-culture of this Centuiy 355
CHAPTER IV.
Natural History of the Salmon, 367 ; Developij^ent of the Salmon 371
CHAPTER V.
I. Fish Propagation assisted by Art, 378 ; best Water for hatching
Salmon, 382 ; special Directions about preparing Spawning-boxes,
386 ; securing the Ova of a Salmon, 387 ; Mr. Gillone's Process
of propagating Trout and Salmon, 388 ; Care in obtaining Fecun-
dated Spawn, 390 ; a simple Process for preparing a Spawning-
bed, 392 ; feeding young Trout or Salmon, 392 ; stocking old
Ponds with Trout 393
II. Ainsworth's Race and Screens, 397 ; Furman's natural Hatching
Race, 401 ; " General Directions" by Seth Green, 403 ; every
Farmer should have a Trout Preserve, 405 ; General Observa-
tions 406
CHAPTER VI.
Salmon Passes, Ladders, etc 407
PART y.
A GLIMPSE OF ICHTHYOLOGY.
CHAPTER I.
I. First Class of Fishes — Spine-rayed bony Fishes, 424 ; Second Class
of Fishes— Soft-rayed bony Fishes, 428 ; Third Class of Fishes —
Cartilaginous Fishes 432
II. The common Eel, 436 ; the Lamprey, 437 ; queer Fishes 439
III. Fishes for acclimatizing in American Rivers 440
APPENDIX.
Cookery adapted to the Resources of Sportsmen in the Wilderness or on
the Wave, 445 ; General Rules for Cooking, 458 ; Compounding '
Fancy Drinks, 460 ; General Remarks, 462 ; Noteworthy Items,
463; American Game-laws, 467 ; a Word in Conclusion 478
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
1. Frontispiece.— The Striped Bass.
2. Title-page.— An Angler's Outfit
3. First Families 17
PAGB
44. Cero or Sierra 134
45. Harpooning 135
46. Horse Mackerel 136
4. Egyptian Gentleman Fishing 20|47. Habits of Fishes 137
5. Names of Fins 24;48. Poetry of Angling 141
6. Brain and Nerves of Fishes 26j49. Brook Trout 147
7. Artificial Dragon-fly ^ 30|50. A Poacher 162
8. Angler's Natural Flies 31 j 51. Fly-fishing 155
9. Hooks for Estuary Fishes 40 52. Trouting Tackle 159
10. The Striped Bass 46 53. Splice for Fly-rods 160
11. Tackle for Small Bass 50 1 54. A pair of Flies 101
12. General Bassing Tackle 54j55. Angling on Massapiqua 162
13. Trolling in Hell Gate 57|56. Fly and Minnow Hooks 164
14 Still-baiting for Bass 69|57. How to Fish a Stream 165
15. Playing a Bass in the Surf 65^58. Knots, Loops, and Drops 167
16. Baits, Thumb-stall, Bait-spoon 67j59. Trout-flies 177
17. Shrimp and Prawn 78 00. An Aquarium 180
18. Weakfish or Squeteagiae 79|61. Middle Dam Camp 181
19. Southern Sea Trout 82 62. Select Trout-flies 184
20. The Sheepshead 85'63, Fly Hooks 185
21. Hooks and Sinkers for Sheepshead 86.64. Difierent Bends 186
22. TheKingfish 95 66. Plate ofTrout-flies 188
23. Tackle for Kingfish 97|66. Josh Billings 191
24. TheHogflsh 98 67. The Ardent Angler 193
25. The Grunter 99:68. Green or Gray Drake Fly 197
26. The Golden Mullet loo'oo. Going a Fishing 198
27. The White Perch 101 70. Evening 201
28. The Smelt 102 71. The Salmon 202
29. Cast for small Fishes 103 ^2. Hat and Salmon-rod 208
no. Spearing or Silverside 10473. Gaff"-hooks 214
31. The Caplin 10574, Fishing Equipment 215
32. Sea Bass 106 75, Getting a Bite 215
33. Porgee 109 76, Encampment 223
34. Wrasses or Eockfish Ill 77, Camp Bed 229
35. TheBluefish 117 78. Pool below the Chute 245
36. Bluefish Squids 120 79, Silver or Sea Trout 256
37. The Flying Fish 121 SO, The White Trout 259
38. Trolling for Bluefish 122 SI, The Winninish 260
39. The Troller made Bait of 122 82. Red Trout of Long Lake 202
40. The Spanish Mackerel 127 S3. Trout of Seneca Lake 264
41. Spanish Mackerel Feeding 130 84, The Mackinaw Trout 265
42. Spanish Mackerel Squids 131.85, Pickerel or Pike 269
43. Bonetta or Bonito 132,86. Open Countenances 267
XIV
List of Illusteations.
100.
101.
102.
103.
104.
106.
106.
lOT.
108.
109.
110.
111.
112.
113.
114.
115.
116.
117.
118.
119.
120.
121.
122.
123.
124.
125.
126.
12T:
128.
129.
130.
PAGE
Skittering for Pickerel . *. 270
Still-baiting for Pickerel 272
Dragon Flies 273
Trolling— The Thousand Islands . 274
The Maskinonge 278
The Black Bass 281
The Oswego Bass 284
Black Bass of the South 284
Spotted Bass or Speckled Hen ... 285
Rock Bass of the Lakes 286
Sunflsh 287
The Perch i 287
Glass-eyed Pike 289
Whitefish 290
Lake Herring 292
Cisco or Ciscoquette 293
Shiner— natural Size 294
Bait-can 295
Spinning Tackle 297
Spinning Baits 298
Spinning Tackle for Live Baits ... 300
Feathered Spoons 303
Fish-hooks 305
Salmon Flies 307
Mounting Flies 309
Ponderating Sinkers 311
Indian Summer 311
Hammer-headed Shark 318
The Mackerel 320
Shad, Menhaden, Herring 324
The Codfish 329
The John Dory 331
Whale Fishing 332
Harpooned 333
Striped Red Mullet 338
A surprised Codfish. 339
Morning 344
Ancient Fish-culture 347
Modem Fish-culture 355
Cuttle-fish 366
History of the Salmon 367
Salmon Ova and Alevin 372
Salmon Fry 373
Parr Eight Months Old 373
131.
132.
133.
134
135.
136.
137.
138.
139.
140.
141.
142.
143.
144
145.
146.
147.
148.
149.
150.
151.
PAGE
Parr Fifteen Months Old 374
Smolt Fifteen Months Old 375
The Grilse 376
Adult Salmon 377
The Swordfish 377
Hatching-boxes 383
Hatching-race, Tray, and Grille . . 384
Siphon and Pincers 385
Gathering Salmon Eggs 387
Stripping a Trout 391
Feeding Young Trout 393
Ainsworth's Hatching-race 397
A Hard Leap 407
Salmon Leaps 411
Ballysadare Salmon-pass 413
Sligo Salmon-stairs 415
Canadian Salmon-stairs 416
Horizontal Screen 419
Current M^heel 419
Ichthyology 423
Pike-perch 423
Spine-rayed Fishes 424
" " 425
" " 426
The Pilot-fish 426
Roach and Dace 427
The Carp Family 428
The Pike Family 429
Salmon and Trout Family 429
The Cod Family 430
Flatfish Family 431
Sharks 432
Sturgeon and Chimaera 432
Ray Family 433
Catfish Family 433
Grenouille 434
The common Eel 430
The Lamprey 437
Estuary Catfish and Silure 440
The short Sunfish 442
Cookery 445
Reel to Dry Lines , . 463
Feet Dress for Field-sports 466
Invitation to the Streams 477
Part Jir0t.
ON COAST AND ESTUAEY FISHING
EOD AND LINE.
FISHING IN AMERICAN WATERS,
CHAPTER I.
GENERAL CHARACTERIZATION OF FISHES.
SECTION FIRST.
ON seriously contem-
plating the immensity
of the waters and their
innumerable inhabit-
ants, it is not difficult to
realize the importance
of these branches of ma-
terial and animal na-
ture, and I shall con-
sider myself fortunate
if able to present rea-
sons sufficient to induce
the employment of an
amount of time at all
commensurate with the proper division of labor between land
and water for the purposes of health, wealth, and recreation.
Not only has a larger portion of this terraqueous ball been
bequeathed to fish-kind than to mankind, but " its first fam-
ilies" were also more richly endowed by Providence in beauty
of form and of coloring. There was a period when all the in-
habitants of this planet were fishes, previously to the sublime
moment when " God said ' Let the dry land appear.' " The
ancients thought that the illimitable beauties of the waters
were reflected in the heavens; hence they gave to the con-
stellations the names of fishes. Thus, prior to the time of
B
18 Fishing in American Waters.
Galileo, when the earth was believed to be a great flat plain,
the celestial expanse was divided by them into the northern
and southern constellations, the most important of which
were named after their favorite fishes. Out of the legends
connecting these fishes with heathen divinities there have
been evolved and handed down to us, revised and improved,
the signs of the zodiac, indicated in almanacs by the figuiv
of a man, which signs are still reverently consulted by both
sailor and angler ; and the latter is never confident or hope-
ful of great success unless the sign be above the loins.
Whether or no this l?e a superstition bequeathed by the an-
cients I have not bestowed much time in examining, but
plead guilty to the weakness of individual faith, and feel con-
fident of good sport only when the sign is in the head, stom-
ach, or bowels, but never when it is in the legs or feet.
Man, from his inferior share of the earth's surface, to which
little space he appears confined without a fin to dive or a
wing to soar,* contemplates with pleasure the scintillating
heavens ; while the sublime roar of the ocean, its breakers
beating the shores into fragments with its billowy battalions
in close lines, and in storms booming like thunder, penetrate
his soul with awe and reverence at the power manifested, to
which, in comparison, his own is nothing.
But it is not my intention to estimate the power of the
waters, or their value for bathing or manufacturing purposes.
My object is to show the reader the attractions of angling,
and to convince him that, wherever commensurate efforts
have been made, the waters have yielded greater profits to
his toil or skill than the land. I strongly advocate the main-
tenance of a large maritime power. As a means of wealth,
the experience of the British Isles — isolated, and compara-
tively insignificant on the map of the world as they are —
proves that nothing is too exalted to be hoped for by a lib-
eral maritime power. But it is the wealth of the watei-s in
the riches of their inhabitants to which I would chiefly invite
attention. As to the intelligence of fishes, comparatively lit-
Fishing includes Angling. lif
tie is known ; but I feel assured that they would rank higher
in the " scale of entities" than the fourth class of vertebrate
animals, accorded them by Cuvier, did all men of thought and
science appreciate and pursue fishing.
Fishing, as a term, is general ; while angling is a special
kind of fishing. The word angling is supposed to have been
derived from the bend of the hook, forming an angle ; but
the origin or antiquity of the term is comparatively unim-
portant now. It is sufficient to know that the art of angling
" requires as much enthusiasm as poetry, as much patience as
mathematics, and as much caution as housebreaking."
That field-sports were among the earliest and most respect-
able pastimes of the ancients, we have abundant evidence
from their poets and philosophers, such as Aristotle, Plato,
Cicero, and Horace ; and that angling was practiced " with
much success and love of the sport is evident from the Hali-
eutics of Oppian, the only Greek poem now extant on this
subject;" but we learn from Athenaeus that several other
writers had written treatises or poems upon fishing some
centuries before the Christian era.
" Fishing was a favorite pastime of the Egyptian gentle-
man, both in the Nile and in the spacious ' sluices, or ponds
for fish,'* constructed within his grounds, where they were
fed for the table, and where he amused himself by angling,t
and the dexterous use of the bident, a two-pronged spear for
striking two fish at a time. These favorite occupations were
not confined to young persons, nor thought unworthy of)men
of serious habits ; and an Egyptian of rank, and of a certain
age, is .frequently represented in the sculptures catching fish
in a canal or lake, with the line, or spearing them as they
glided past the bank. Sometimes the angler posted himself
in a shady spot by the water's edge, and, having ordered his
servants to spread a mat upon the ground, sat upon it as he
threw his line ; and some, with higher notions of comfort,
used a chair, as ' stout gentlemen' now do in punts. The rod
* Isaiah xix., 10. t Isaiah xix., 8.
^0
Fishing in American Waters.
An Egyptian gentleman Ashing.
was short, and apparently of one piece ; the line usually sin-
gle, though instances occur of a double line, each with its
own hook, which was of bronze. In all cases they adopted a
ground bait, as is still the custom in Egypt, without any
float ; and though several winged insects are represented in
the paintings hovering over the water, it does not appear
that they ever put them to the hook, and still less that they
had devised any method similar to our artificial-fly fishing,
which is still as unknown to the unsophisticated modern
Egyptians as to their fish."
Prime kinds of fishes are, and have for some years been, in
the cities of this country, expensive articles of diet. It was
so in Athens ; and the following poem, quoted by Athenaeus
from " The Purple" of Xenarchus (Yonge's translation), is pre-
sented for the benefit of those who retail.stale fish from stands
along the streets :
"Poets are nonsense ; for they never say
A single thing that's new. But all they do
Is to clothe old ideas in language new ;
Turning the same things o'er and o'er again,
And upside down. But as to fishmongers,
They're an inventive race, and yield to none
Beauty in Form and Coloring. ,21
In shameless conduct. For as modern laws
Forbid them now to water their stale fish,
Some fellow, hated by the gods, beholding
His fish quite dry, picks with his mates a quarrel,
And blows are interchanged. Then when one thinks
He's had enough, he falls and seems to faint,
And lies like any corpse among his baskets.
Some one calls out for water ; and his partner
Catches a pail, and throws it o'er his friend
So as to sprinkle all his fish, and make
The world beHeve them newly caught and fresh."
In regard to propagating fishes, the experiments of the an-
cients amounted to little more than robbing the nests of her-
bivorous fishes, and planting the eggs in other waters ; but the
moderns have, within the past thirty years, invented success-
ful theories for studying the habits of fishes at their aqueous
homes, in rapid streams, or placid lakes, and deep down into
the depths of old ocean. As these will be explained in this
work under their appropriate titles of ancient and modern
fish culture, I merely allude to them in passing as having —
through their developments of the habits of fishes — opened
up a subject so attractive as to have induced anglers and
men of science to study more assiduously and minutely these
creatures of elegant forms, whose colors vie with the rainbow,
and reflect the hues of every precious stone. See. their scin-
tillant scales, their metallic rays, and colors more beautiful
than are given to birds of most favored plumage ! What
satin sheen, aurora borealis, or heavenly sunset can vie with
the prismatic colors of the living trout or the dying dolphin ?
What gold so finely burnished as the spots on the Spanish
mackerel ? or what shade of carmine so brilliant as the spots
on a samlet? What so transcendently lustrous and beau-
tiful as a fresh-run salmon ?
The Spanish mackerel, salmon, and bonetta combine to
form the models for the speed and beauty of our ships.
Even as far back as the Revolutionary War, one of our ship8
was named " Bonetta." In symmetry of form and beautiful
coloring, fishes stand at the head of animal creation.
:i2 Fishing in American Waters.
SECTION SECOND.
prerequisites for fishing.
In order to pursue with success any branch of fishing, a
knowledge of both the senses and habits of fishes is essential.
Angling is one of the most ancient methods of fishing, as
proven by the centre-draught hook exhumed at Thebes and
:it Pompeii. The hook used in China, when that realm was
first discovered by the Christians, was quite similar in bend,
and all of the ancient models left nothing to desire but a barb,
which is the only improvement made in the shape of the com-
mon fish-hook within three thousand years. And it is worthy
of remark, that the bend of the ancient hook is so like the
l>est hooks of the present day — eminently the O'Shaughnessy
and the American Kinsey, the latter known as the Pennsyl-
vania hook — that some suspect ours to be a copy of the an-
cient bend, with the addition of an Aberdeen barb. Our age,
however, has surpassed all others in artificial disguises' to
lure the finny tribes, and take the conceit out of them a
thousand-fold faster than ever could the ancients.
The habits of fishes to be fished for, whether by angling or
any other means^ should be carefully studied. So also should
their food.
"Fish have their various characters defined,
Not more by color than by mind."
They have their times to eat and their choice of food. Thus
the trout will take ground bait or minnows as substantial
ibbd, but for his dessert he prefers rising to the surface for
ilies. That most fresh-water fishes fast previous to important
j-ain-storms I think has become settled by the experience of
old anglers. Their appetite appears to be imj^roved by a
shower. Most fishes seem to scent the approach of a shower,
and know by instinct that, with the debris carried down by
a rise in the stream, they will find a variety of food from
which to select. Pike generally bite eagerly when it rains ;
and both trout and salmon will rise to the fly most readily
Appetite and Locomotion. 23
during a fall of snow or rain. Indeed, a snow-storm seems to
improve the appetite of some fishes ; and rains which do not
render the stream too turbid, but give to the water a slight-
ly-darkened tint, do not injure it for even fishing with the fly.
It is a commonly received opinion that angling is not as
good as usual during easterly winds ; but this is only true
when the winds cause the tides to rise so high on our coast
that fishes change their feeding-grounds. Fly-fishing for
both salmon and trout are, in some waters, best during an
east wind. A really windy day is not good for fly-fishing.
The gentle, balmy breeze, which merely produces a catspaw
ripple on the surface, and carries the cast of flies out, so as to
leave part of the merit for their graceful and snow-flake fall
to the angler and the rod, under " a sun of mild but not too
bright a beam," form a few of the conditions which give fly-
fishing its peculiar zest. The prejudice against an east wind
with the American angler on the Atlantic slope near the
coast is probably caused by the fact that an east wind so
raises the tides along the shores, and sets it back in the estu-
aries and creeks, as to cover shoals and islets of eel-grass.
This gives fishes a wider range to forage and prospect over
shallow and weedy places for shrimp, shedder and soft-shell
crabs, instead of remaining in the tideway to watch for bait
carried along by the current.
To converse intelligibly about fishes, it is necessary to
know the names of their fins, for these give the means of lo-
comotion ; and though this work is not intended as a school-
book, or to* be especially scientific, yet, as all retailers of fish-
stories should know enough of a fish to name its fins, I pre-
sent on the following page the form of a fish, with the names
of them.
The propulsive power of a fish is its taiL or caudal fin.
The pectorals and ventrals assist a little in speed, but more
especially in turning and diving, while the anal and dorsals
serve as centre-boards to a ship, to prevent leeway and being
easily capsized. Of rapid swimmers in the American waters,
21 Fishing in American Waters.
the sword-fish, Spanish mackerel, and the salmon are consid-
ered the swiftest of the forked-tails ; but the salmon has not,
strictly speaking, a forked lail ; it is more properly crescent-
shaped. Of square -tails, the brook trout, squeteague, and
Southern estuary trout are the swiftest swimmers.
SECTION THIRD.
GENERAL HABITS AND SENSES OF FISHES.
Generally speaking, the principal habits and instincts of a
majority of the finny armies consist in eating and j^rotecting
themselves from being eaten. The fact that over two thirds
of the surface of the globe is covered by the sea, and that
large parts of continents are covered by lakes, traversed by
rivers, and occupied by marshes, proves the impossibility for
man to have scanned with perspicacious eye the principal
marked peculiarities of a majority of the families which
dwell deep down in the bosom of old ocean, however indus-
trious he may have been in such research.
Though the Chinese had understood fish culture many cen-
turies, yet we date our practical knowledge of this art from
A.D. 183 V, when Mr. Shaw, of Scotland, expounded the theory
in Blackwood under the head oi^J^he transmutation of sal-
mon^"* and M. Gehen, of the^YosgS| in France, began to culti-
vate fish by artificial propagation. We now know that the
difference in the species of fishes is no greater than is the di-
versity of their habits. Some are solitary, and others grega-
rious ; some great wanderers, others restricted within narrow
limits ; some are surface-feeders, like the mackerel families, '
The Yalue of a Tear. • 25
others bottom fish, like the flounders and the flat-fish family ;
some prefer a sandy bottom, as thekingfish, others a rocky,
as the striped bass ; and yet others rejoice in mud, as the eels
and catfish, with the rest of the silurus family. Some fish
prefer salt water, others fresh, and yet others brackish ; while
eels prefer to spawn in salt water and fatten in fresh, as pal-
pably as do salmon pursue the opposite by feeding in salt
water and spawning in fresh. Thus salmon, shad, and striped
bass prefer to feed in salt water, spawn in fresh, and dally in
brackish waters. Some fishes keep near shore, others in deep
water and far from land. Bottom fishes are usually sluggish,
while surface swimmers are generally active. Some lose
their vitality as soon as they are landed, others live a long
time out of water, and dart revengeful glances at their cap-
tors. Some can creep like the eel, others climb trees like the
anahas scandens.
I may also state my conviction that a whale is a fish, and
that the porpoise is also a fish, though members of this ge7ius
travel in pairs, suckle their young, of which they usually have
but one at a birth, which the parent mammals guard with
jealous care, making it swim between them ; and if the calf
is harpooned, the mother always yields her life an easy prey
to the same weapon. The dudong, one of the most intelli-
gent of mammal fishes, is the Malays' emblem of constancy
in aftiection ; and as it is said to cry when wounded by the
harpoon and brought on deck, they catch the tears and bottle
them as a charm, supposing that the ajjplication of a single
drop will render a wife constant for life.
The black porpoise and the pufting porpus are great con-
sumers of estuary fishes. Theyi^hould not only be hunted
and harpooned, but small cannon loaded with grape or canis-
ter should be so planted as to project their contents into the
shoals which attempt to forage near bassing grounds. Por-
poises watch mouths of rivers for salmon, and they are sup-
posed to be the principal cause of depopulating many of the
Irish rivers of that royal fish.
26
Fishing in Amekican Waters.
Either a reward should be offered by each state for every
porpoise killed in its waters, or gentlemen who compose
sporting clubs for taking the game fishes of our coast and
estuaries should adopt a plan for capturing and driving them
away. The porpoise is one of the most profitable fishes for
capture, as its oil is the finest possible, and used exclusively
l)y watchmakers.
rh..^
CTION^FOURTH.
ON VISION IN FISHES.
m
^mi
The brain and nerves proceeding therefrom, a, a, h, b. The lobes of the brain in Ave
ranks, c, c. The nerves of the^eye, d, d. The nerves of gmell, branching off into di-
vergent filaments upon the nostrils, e, e.
That certain senses are bestowed on a*ll animals, intellect-
ual as well as instinctive, is too self-evident to the man of
science and the angler to require proof. These animals need
both, more than do those which dwell on land, to ayoid being
<levoured, and to aid them in capturing and devouring other
fishes; for their fortifications are often insecure, and they are
obliged to leave them frequently, and always to commit
slaughter, or to swallow minor species whole.
In order, therefore, to render this work practical, it is hard-
ly necessary that I should dwell upon principles of science
farther than to show by the nature and habits of fishes the
motives by which they are actuated, which appear to be, in
the main, efforts to eat and prevent themselves from being
oaten. These efforts, carefully studied, will assist the angler,
and the fisher with nets and other devices. Fishes are iren-
Round Eyes detect Motion, not Form. 27
orally taken by the angler while they are foraging for food.
When salmon or trout rise to feed, they may always be taken
with a well-made artificial fly, presented to them gently and
artistically.
The form of the eyes of almost all fishes proves them to be
near-sighted. All animals with very convex eyes quickly de-
tect the slightest motion, but lack the power to discriminate
form. Hence a deer, with its full lustrous eye, will approach
any still form to within a few feet of it, but at the first move-
ment it bounds away like the wind. In addition to the eyes
of fishes being convex, the density of the water — as a medium
through which they see — rather shortens than extends vision.
''The vision must also be farther limited from the eye being
covered with the common skin of the head to protect the eye-
ball; and as they have.no eyelids, of course the eyes never
close ; and, whether sleeping or waking, their vision must be
indistinct." White, of Selborne, states that eyes of fishes are
immovable ; but it is known that those of the silver and gold
fishes in glass cases turn in their sockets as occasion requires,
and that, while they take little notice of a lighted candle, they
will dart and appear much terrified if their glass house is
touched. As fishes have no eyelids, it is difiicult to discern
the difference between their sleeping and waking hours.
That they do not always sleep in the night is proven by the
many instances when trout have been taken by rising to the
artificial white miller in total darkness. M. de Blainville at-
tributes the greatest distinctness of vision to migratory fishes,
because he states their eyes are the largest ; but, instead of
that being so, the cod is about the only migratory fish "which
has larger eyes than the general run of river fishes, while
those with eyes of moderate size, such as the getius Perca and
those of the Salmo genus, give indications of better sight than
most sea fishes. Anglers of great experience and acknowl-
edged judgment select baits, whether live minnows, or such
artificial lures as. flies, squids, etc., which contrast strongly
with the water and the color of the clouds. What angler
28 Fishing in American Waters.
does not know that a shiner is the best bait to spin for trout
on a dark day ?
The sight of fishes is too imperfect to enable them to de-
cide between friends and enemies. A shadow cast upon the
water ,whether by a ship, seal, otter, or an angler, frightens
them. Sir Humphry Davy illustrates the truth of this the-
ory by the anecdote that some man, while walking up Bond
Street from one of the club-houses with an illustrious person-
age, laid a wager that he would see more cats than the prince
in his walk, and that the latter might take which side of the
street he liked. When they arrived at the end the prince
had not seen one, while the other had counted thirteen. The
explanation was that the prince had selected the shady side
of the street, while the other person chose the sunny side,
knowing that cats prefer sunshine. Sir Humphry, in his
" Salmonia," gives the following' advice to students at an-
gling : " You have been, naturally enough, fishing with your
backs to the sun, which, not being very high, has thrown the
shadows of yourselves and your rods on the water, and you
have alarmed the fish whenever you have thrown a fly. You
see I have fished with my face toward the sun, and, though
inconvenienced by the light, have given no alarm."
James Rennie,M.A., states that indistinctness in the vision
of fishes proves the fallacy df the routine angler, who fancies
the fishes are so well versed in colors and forms of particu-
lar flies as to refuse other sorts in some seasons and on par-
ticular days, and even at different periods of the same day.
" Nothing can be more preposterous than such a notion, uni-
versal though it be among the most experienced anglers ; yet
this theory is founded on natural philosophy, but the result
is to be accounted for on an entirely different principle."
Daniell states " there is no evidence of any fishes seeing
a considerable distance, and the conduct of many of them,
that are deceived by different baits prepared in imitation of
their food, gives room to suspect that objects are not very
distinctly perceived by them, even when near."
Gay Colors the most Attractive. 29
- Light seems peculiarly attractive to fishes, as proven by
their surrounding a diving-bell with a light in it. Walter
Scott, in his Guy Mannering, describes the plan adopted in
Scotland for attracting fishes by grates of living coal, or
torches earned by the fishermen as they wade shallow
streams for the purpose of spearing. When a fish is thus
discovered, it remains fascinated by the glare of light, sel-
dom makes an efibrt to escape, and is easily speared. This
is one of the many devices by which the Indians and vagrant
whites kill the salmon and trout while on their spawning-
beds, both in Maine and in the dominion of Canada.
The Chinese catch fish by employing two narrow boatSj
with a board painted white and varnished nailed to them, so
as to slope outward and almost touch the water, and so as
to reflect the light of the moon. Toward these boats the fish
dart, and, falling on them, are caught with ease.
From the pretended imitations of baits and .flies for cap-
turing fishes may be logically deduced the fact that fish are
near-sighted, and do not perceive with great distinctness any
minute object, however near to them. The most successful
artificial baits to troll with for the fishes of our lakes and
rivers are thus arranged : a pair of hooks disguised by a few
gaudy feathers — bright red and white being the most suc-
cessful colors — and at the shank* of the hook is placed a piece
of silver, brass, or copper, of oval or diamond shape, so ar-
ranged as to revolve rapidly, and appears^ little like any
thing living in or out of the water as possible. What is
known as the common " spoon," made with swivels, and a
shoulder on the shank of the hook, so as to revolve rapidly
by drawing it through the water, is frequently a more capti-
vating lure than a live fish. In trolling for bluefish, a piece
of lead or bone five inches long forms a more successful lure
than the sea-shiner which is its principal sustenance ; and a
piece of pearl, five inches long by half an inch in diameter,
either round or oval, is the most' attractive troll for Spanish
mackerel; while, a plain piece of red flannel, attached tea
30 Fishing in American Waters.
piece of lead and drawn quickly through the water, is often
the only bait used by heavers and haulers for bluefish, who
fi&h for a livelihood.
Of artificial flies, I know that gaudy colors are generally
preferred by the black bass, while the red ibis is one of the
most attractive lures for trout in the waters of Long Island,
and in many streams and lakes remote from the sea-board.
Of course the red ibis fly does not imitate any winged insect
seen on the waters of the State of New York. Its adoption
resulted from the frequent rises of trout to the red float while
fishing with bait. I scarcely suppose a critic will be found
willing to risk his reputation, however slender, upon insisting
that a red float is the imitation of some water-fly. Anglers
generally regarded these trout-leaps at the float as a whimsi-
cal caprice of theirs while on a spree. Not so, however, with
Judge Philo T. Ruggles and Mr. Finn, two among the best
fly-fishers in the state. They concluded to test the fancy of
trout by offering them a red fly. Accordingly, Mr. Finn
bouglit a red ibis of a taxidermist, and employed a fly-tyer
4#« to make it into flies. The result was a success ; and the fly-
tyer, who was presented with all of them but a couple of
dozen, actually made money enough by the sale of them to
set himself up in the fishing-tackle business. Early in the
season this is the most killing fly on Long Island, though per-
haps not for large fish, which generally prefer the fly made
The Artificial Dragon-fly.
Dessert for Salmon and Trout.
31
of a claret body, brown mallard wing, and tail of the top-knot
from the golden pheasant ; or the blue professor, with blue
silk body and dark gray wings.
With the following remarks from a clever writer on an-
gling in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and a few comments on
them, I shall dismiss the subject of the visio?i in fishes:
" It may be asked upon what principle of imitative art the
different varieties of salmon-fly can be supposed to bear the
most distant resemblance to any species of dragon-fly, to im-
itate which we are frequently told that they are intended ?"
The reader will please compare the artificial dragon-fly
with a true copy of a natural one on the following plate of
natural salmon and trout flies : ,
Amkbioan Nebve-winged Insects, natural size. 1. Common Dragon-fly. 2. The Ag-
ri«)n Dragon-fly. 3. Day-fly, or May-fly. 4. Grub or larm of the same. 6. Honied
Corydalis. G. 'A Mantispan. 7. The magnified claw of the Mantispan.
Of the dissimilarity of the artificial lures to the natural
ones, the same may be generally said and prove true, whether
32 Fishing in Ameeican Waters.
for salmon, trout, maskinonge, pickerel, black bass, bluefish,
Spanish mackerel, and all other surface feeders. Besides, the
pretended imitations are used several months earlier in the
year than nature produces their originals ; thus, while the
finest salmon-fishing in Europe is during the spring months,
the dragon-fly is a summer insect, and rarely makes its ap-
pearance until June.
If artificial flies have no resemblance to natural ones, " how
much more unlike must they be when, instead of being swept
down by the current, as a real one would be, the artificial fly
is seen crossing and recrossing every stream and torrent with
the agility of an otter and the strength of an alligator?
Now, as it is demonstrable that the artificial fly generally
used for salmon bears no resemblance, except in size, to any
living one ; that the only tribe which it may be supposed to
represent does not exist in the winged state during the pe-
riod when the imitation is most generally and most success-
fully used ; and if they did, their habits and natural powers
totally prevent them from being at any time seen under such
circumstances as would give a color to the supposition of
the one being even mistaken for the other, may we not fairly
conclude that, in this instance at least, the fish proceed upon
other grounds, and are deceived by an appearance of life and
motion rather than by a specific resemblance to any thing
which they had previously been in the habit of capturing ?
What natural insect do the large flies and sj)Oons at which
sea trout, lake trout, black bass, etc., bite, resemble ? These,
as well as salmon, frequently take the lure far within the
bounds of salt-water mark, and yet materialists know that no
such thing as a salt-water fly exists. Indeed, no true insect
inhabits the sea. What species are represented by the palm-
er, or by three fourths of tlie dressed flies in use ? An arti-
ficial fly can, at the best, be considered only as the represent-
ative of a natural one which has been drowned, as it is im-
possible to imitate the dancing or hovering flight of the in-
spect over the surface of the stream, and, even with that re-
Most Fishes ake Short-sighted. 33
stricted idea of its resemblance to nature, the likeness must
be scarcely perceptible, owing to the difference of motion and
the great variety of directions in which the angler draws his
flies, according to the nature and locality of the current and
the prevailing direction of the wind.".
The sight of fishes is like that of all animals with round
and convex eyes. If the angler will stand quite still in the
water, fish will not fear to congregate about him, or to flap
his legs with their fins ; but with his slightest motion they
dart to their hiding-places. The convexity of the eye pro-
duces short-sightedness in man as well as in quadrupeds,
birds, and fishes. The round eye is inferior to the almond-
shaped for distinguishing form^: thus round-eyed animals and
fishes mistake a man for an inanimate object, and, from their
shortness of vision, approach him without fear. These gen-
eral and specific reasons convince me that fishes are short-
sighted, and that, while quick to detect action, they are slow
to distinguish form.
SECTION FIFTH.
ON TASTE IN FISHES.
The sense of taste in both birds and fishes, which subsist
on similar food, is less acute than in other animals, a circum-
stance strongly indicated by the hard, gristly texture of the
tongue when it exists, which it may scarcely be said to do
in all fishes, though it is very distinct in the CypHnidce, and
rather less so in the genus Salmo.
Dr. Rennie states that numerous experiments made by him
on birds whose food consists of small fruit and insects, which
they swallow without breaking, leads him to conclude that
they choose some and reject others, not by taste, but by
touch, probably aided by smell ; and he adds, " I have no
doubt it is the same with fishes ; at least it is obvious, from
their so generally swallowing their food without chewing or
bmising it, that, even if they possessed acute taste, it could
not aid them in the discrimination."
C
34 Fishing in American Waters.
The large tongue in the carp may have been providentially
furnished to give it a more acute taste for preventing it from
being poisoned by eating water hemlock, or other deleterious
plants, as it is known to feed on water-plants. That all fish
are not thus provided^with taste sufficiently acute to enable
them to reject what is poisonous, appears from the practice
of poachers in poisoning fish by pulverizing and making a
paste of fisher's berries, or Gocculus indicus^ which they form
into balls about the size -of peas and cast into the water.
Fish greedily swallow these, and, becoming intoxicated or
palsied thereby, float to the surface of the water and are eas-
ily caught, or soon die. Chub and dace are ready victims
to this device, as are also the black bass, Oswego, yellow,
white, rock, and all the varieties of lake and river bass. It
is always dangerous to purchase fish out of season any
where ; but residents of cities should be especially careful
who they purchase from, and the safest houses are those which
deal largely with fishing firms of established reputation.
Teeth of fishes appear destined more especially for laying
hold and detaining their prey than for chewing. With this
view they are bent inward, like tenter-hooks, so that fishes,
howsoever small and slippery, are forced back into the gul-
let, and their escape or return prevented. It is no doubt
with the same design that the throats of many fish are stud-
ded with what M. Bory St. Vincent terms a pavement of
teeth. Such fishes as have teeth thus placed far back on the
palate and upper part of the throat, while in their jaws they
have none, are termed by anglers "leather-mouthed," but
technically malacostomata.
Anglers of the British Isles reckon among the principal of
leather - mouthed fishes the minnow, gudgeon, roach, loach,
bleak, chub, daces, barbel, bream, rud, tench, carp, and other
minor fishes. The salmon and the pike have teeth in the
jaws and in all parts of the mouth, and the perch in all parts
of the mouth except the tongue. The sturgeon and sucker,
again, have no teeth whatever.
Bony and Leather Mouths. 35
The division of anglers' fishes into such as are and such as
are not leather-mouthed may be important to the young an-
gler, as different management is required in playing each.
Old anglers considered such fishes leather-mouthed as have
their teeth in the throat. Hooks seldom part their hold from
the mouths of such fishes, which are not generally regarded
as gamy, though good sport for ladies and youth. But the
contrary is the case with the striped bass, squeteague, pick-
erel, maskinonge, perch, and most game fishes which are
white-meated. These have a bony mouth, and not much
flesh or skin to hold a hook; therefore you are never sure
of landing these fish unless you play them so lightly as i^ot
to permit them a foot of slack line, except, perchance, they
have gorged the hook.
That water-grasses and some other plants are partly the
food of leather-mouthed fishes, especially of the carp genus,
is unquestionable ; and in the Orient herbivorous fishes are
^considered the most delicate and highly prized. But when
they feed on liver, brewers' grains, boiled barley, split peas,
and the like, they probably mistake these for the eggs or co-
coons of water animals, inasmuch as they could not procure a
supply of these except by rare accident. That some fish may
feed on the seeds of such plants as are scattered about the
.water is not improbable, and it may have been from observ-
ing this that it is recommended by Lebault and Debraw, aft-
er removing the fish to let fish-ponds dry, to sow them with
oats or other grain, and, when it is ripe, to let the water
again into the pond, and bring back the fish to feed. Bowlker
remarks that carp will eat barley, wheat, or oaten bread,
while tench and perch will not touch it. Of course perch
prefer meats to vegetable diet ; but as the tench differs with
the carp upon vegetable diet, both being vegetarians, it
proves that fishes. have discriminative tastes.
Most leather-mouthed fishes like both vegetable and ani-
mal diet, and the cafp is said to devour young eels, frog-
spawn, fish-roe, and young fishes, including its own species.
36 Fishing in Amekican Waters.
as well as water insects, which are the staple food of every
kind of fish from the minnow to the salmon ; every thing that
lives and moves being swallowed without — so far as has been
found — any discrimination of species or much nicety of se-
lection.
SECTION SIXTH.
ON SMELL IN EISHBS.
Smelling in land animals is immediately connected with
breathing, and we can not easily conceive how smell is pro-
duced except by a current of air, in which odoriferous parti-
cles are diffused, passing through a moistened channel, as was
so admirably described by Schneider two hundred years ago ;
but in fishes which do not breathe, smell can not be thus pro-
duced, though there can be no doubt of their being endowed
with this sense. Water, indeed, is as good a medium for dif-
fusing odors as air, and there is the less necessity for a cur-
rent of this being produced through the nostrils, as fish move
about so constantly through the water. Their nostrils, there-
fore, are generally large, but imperforate backward ; that is,
they do not communicate with the throat ; but in some fishes,
such as rays and sharks, the nostril opens by a considerable
space into the mouth, and through this a current of water
may probably run. M. Dumeril and the Rev. W. B. Daniell
think that, from the structure of the nostril and the want of
an aerial medium for odors, fishes can not smell at all, and
that their nostrils perform a function similar to taste ; but to
a late professor of zoology in King's College, London, this
supposition appears improbable. From all that I have dis-
covered, I feel confident that a majority of anglers and men
of science believe that smell in fishes is quite palpable. Smell-
ing substances for enticing fish to the hook are recommended
by too many honorable names to leave a shadow of doubt
upon the subject. Walton, for example, recommends numer-
ous strong-smelling pastes for attracting fish to the bait, stat-
ing that " old Oliver Henley, now with God, a noted fisher
Composition Baits. 37
both for trout and salmon," contended in favor of acuteness
in the smell of fishes. In an old volume on " The Secrets of
Angling," by J. Davors, published in 1813, I find the fol-
lowing :
" To bless thy bait and make the fish to bite,
Lo ! here's a means, if thou canst hit it right :
Take gum of life, well beat and Is^id to soak
In oil well drawn of ivy which kills the oak.
Fish where thou wilt, thou shalt have sport thy fill ;
When others fail, thou shalt be sure to kill."
M. Chars, who was apothecary to Louis XTV., composed a
perfume which attracted all kinds of fresh-water fishes by the
use of cat's fat, heron's grease, the best asafoetida, Egyptian
mummy finely powdered, aniseed, camphor, galbanum, Yen-
ice turpentine, and civet. These he made into the consist-
ence of thin ointment by means of oil of lavender, of aniseed,
and camomile, which may be preserved for a year or two if
kept where the air is excluded. The bait and about eigtt
inches of line are directed to be anointed- with this to attract
fish.
Of the numerous scented-baits recommended, Walton wrote
in favor of petroleum, and Daniell suggested that tar is most
attractive in the composition of a scented ointment for bait.
But the most fascinating of such pastes for fresh-water fishes is
that composed of the roe of salmon ; and I should be opposed
to its use if millions of salmon-eggs were not annually wasted
along most of the salmon rivers ; and it is to be hoped that,
by the means of science, some successful theory may soon be
adopted for turning this seed into the waters to restock them,
for it is morally revolting to an angler to contemplate the
great loss by the depletion of the waters from the waste of
ova. While the wholesale waste continues, those who desire
to make bait from the roe of fishes should sprinkle it with
salt, and then put it down in a pot in alternate layers with
wool. Rev. W. B. Daniell advised the taking of a pound of
roe in September, and," after boiling it fifteen minutes, beat it
in a mortar until sufficiently mixed with an ounce of salt and
38 Fishing in American Waters.
an ounce of saltpetre, the membrane in which the spawn is
contained being carefully picked out ; it is then packed in
jars and covered closely ; in that way it will keep good for
many months.
It is suggested that roe of other fishes would do as well as
that of salmon — such as herrings, because the smell, which
seems the chief attraction, is quite similar. A paste made in
the same way from shelled shrimps is also attractive. Mus-
sels and putrid meat attract eels, obviously in consequence
of their odor.
Independently of these and all other ascertained facts re-
specting smell in fishes, the anatomy of the head proves that
the nerves of smell are large, and thus establish conclusively
the fact that fishes are gifted with the sense of smell.
SECTION SEVENTH.
ON HEARING IN EISHES.
Fishes hear. Of this I feel quite sure, without the story
of Amphion and the Dolphins, or of the auld Scottish harper
Glenkindie, who — as related in verse — " harped a fish out o'
the sa't water."
^lian tells us that the chad is allured by the sound of
castanets, and in Germany they take these fishes with nets
to which bows of wood hung with little bells are attached
in such manner as to chime in harmony when the nets are
moved. These fish, it is stated, will not attempt to escape
while the bells continue to ring. On the Continent of Eu-
rope people are in the habit of calling the gold fishes, as well
as other fishes in ponds, to be fed at the sound of a bell.
Professor Bradley states that in Rotterdam, at a preserve
of carps owned by Mr. Eden, he saw them fed. " The gen-
tleman having filled his pocket with spinach-seed, conducted
me to the side of the moat, whefe we stood mute for some
time, the better to convince me that the fish would not come
until called. At length he called in his usual way, and im-
mediately the fish gathered together from all parts of the
Fishes have sensitive Eaks. 39
pond in such numbers that there was scarcely room for them
to lie. by one another, and then he threw some spinach-seed
among them, which they devoured very greedily. This .sat-
isfied me that fishes have the sense of hearing." Sir Walter
Rogers, an English gentleman, had a pond of pikes which
members of his household called together at pleasure ; and as
carnivorous fishes are more wild and untamable than are
those which feed on herbs, it offers the most palpable proof
that iishes hear.
M. Lebault advises fish culturists not to permit shooting
about the ponds for wild-fowl, etc., as it frightens, injures,
and destroys the fish. This opinion is also entertained by
celebrated physiologists ; and John Hunter, who describes the
ear of fishes — always, he says, important — as consisting of' a
gristly substance, very hard and firm in parts, and in some
species crusted over with a thin plate of bone, so as not to
permit it to collapse. The ear of fishes he also remarked to
possess the singular peculiarity of increasing with the size
of the individual, whereas in quadrupeds,it is nearly as large
in the young as in the full-grown animal.
" When in Portugal," said Dr. Hunter," in 1762, 1 observed
in a nobleman's garden near Lisbon a small fish-pond full
of different kinds of fishes. Its bottom was level with the
ground, and was made by forming a bank all round, with a
shrubbery close to it. While lying on the bank seeing the
fish, I desired a gentleman who was my companion to go be-
hind the shrubs (that there be no reflection from the flash)
and fire his gun. The moment the report was made the fish
seemed universally affected, for they vanished immediately,
raising, As it were, a cloud of mud from the bottom. In
about five minutes afterward they began to appear and
swim about as before."
The discussions of Dr. Munro, Geoffroi, Comparetti, Scarpa,
Weber, and De Blainville, may be referred to, as their works
fully settle the question in favor of hearing in fishes. Weber
discovered a communication between the ear in fishes and
40
Fishing in American Waters.
the swim-bladder, the air contained in which is probably af-
fected by sound; and De Blainville expresses his astonish-
ment at the mas^nitude of their nerves of hearins^.
It is superfluous to multiply examples of fishes coming
when called by a whistle or a bell. I have frequently called
them to me by whistling for them at various fountains and
ponds in France, where the chief of the Fisheries Commis-
sion, M. Coste, is stated not only to contend that all fishes
hear, but that some of them talk ! From all the evidence
pro and cow, I am convinced that fishes possess the sense of
heariuG:.
Large and ai^xious Families. 41
CHAPTER n.
FECUNDITY OF FISHES.
First. Mammalia, including whales, porpoises, and all fish-
es which bring forth alive and suckle their young, whether
herbivorous or carnivorous, seldom have more than one or
two young at a birth, which sailors term calves.
Second. The families of which the salmon and trout are
the heads are called by naturalists the genus Salmo. These
fishes have the palpable mark of an adipose second dorsal
fin ; their meat is of a tint between mallow and pink, and
they are regarded by anglers and epicures as the highest
game and most luxurious fishes of the oviparous class, or
those fishes which replenish their species by laying eggs,
which are vivified by the milt of the male,- and then, after a
time, the eggs hatch in the water. This process is common
to all egg-laying fishes ; but, while eggs of the salmo genus
require from three to four months to ha^tch, those of the clii-
pea genus hatch in as many days. Seth Green hatched shad
artificially on the Connecticut River within forty hours from
the time the ova and milt fell into the hatching-boxes in the
stream — being the main current of the river — and not in
boxes so placed as that a stream should run through or over
them, but anchored so as to float in the current of the river,
submerging a sufiicient portion of them for keeping the egg^
covered with water to a sufficient depth. A salmon is sup-
posed to lay a thousand eggs for every pound the mother
fish weighs, consequently they avjerage from ten to thirty
thousand for each pair.
Third. Included in this class are all the oviparous tribes
but those of the genus Salmo. The number of eggs in the
42 Fishing in American Waters.
roe of some of these fishes is so great as to appear almost in-
credible. While the carp and the sturgeon produce from
half a million to a million and a half, the celebrated Dutch
naturalist Leuwenhoeck reckoned that the codfish contains
over nine millions of eggs. This estimate was based upon
weighing accurately a small part of the roe and counting the
eggs, then weighing the remainder, and estimating the whole
from the part counted. Without doubt the fecundity of all
the food-fishes of the sea is beyond human estimate ; so that,
if all the spawn should be fructified by the male fishes, the
vast body of fishes would, within a few years, become too
great for the waters to contain.
SECTION SECOND.
voracity of fishes.
The innumerable shoals of young fishes constitute the chief
part of the food for larger ones, and even those full grown
often meet in fierce combat, when the one which has the
widest throat comes off victorious by swallowing his oppo-
nent. Fish, being cold-blooded animals, are not susceptible
to an acute sense of pain ; thus it does not hurt an eel much
to be skinned, and a shark has been observed to seek prey for
some time after he was split open and entirely eviscerated.
The prettiest and most playful of fishes, almost domesticated
in private ponds, do not fail occasionally to devour such
members of their own family as venture near enough. Sir
William Jardine states that "the lake trout are very rapa-
cious, and, after attaining the weight of three or four pounds,
feed almost exclusively on small fish, not sparing even their
own young."
This being true of the finny tribes generally, how malapro-
pos is the sympathy extended for them by good souls who
do not understand the savage character of the objects of their
solicitude. Such was the poet Dr. Walcott, author of the fol-
lowing verses :
Cruelty of Fishes. 4S
" Why flyest thou away with fear ?
Trust me, there's naught of danger near :
I have no wicked hook,
All covered with a smarting bait,
Alas ! to tempt thee to thy fate,
And drag thee from the brook.
Oh harmless tenant of the flood,
I do not wish to spill thy blood ;
For nature unto thee
Perchance has given a tender wife,
And children dear, to charm thy life,
As she hath done to me.
Enjoy thy stream, oh harmless fish.
And when an angler, for his dish.
Through gluttony's vile sin
Attempts — a wretch — to pull thee o^t,
God give thee strength, oh gentle trout,
To pull the rascal in .'"
Instances are common of fishes following a hooked one, and,
while it is being played by the angler, biting pieces out of
it, and sometimes swallowing it, so that both are landed. It
may be readily inferred from this that small fish form at-
tractive bait. Fish evince no mercy for any living thing
which inhabits the waters, and most of the angler's fishes
feed readily on their own broods. As fish are generally at-
tracted by the sight or smell of blood, red feathers, burnt
wool, and scarlet braid, etc., are found to fascinate them when
attached to trolls ; especially is this proven to be the case
in trolling for bluefish, black bass, and maskinonge.
I therefore conclude that, as the principal food of all fishes
consists of animals and animalculse, with water-insects, and
the spawn deposited in the waters, these last seeming to form
the dainties most eagerly sought by them, so the unlimited
voracity of fishes, which has no counterpart in any other
branch of animal creation, may be one of the means wisely
ordered to check an excessive multiplication ; and that their
extraordinary fecundity is probably a provision of nature for
supplying an adequate amount of food, upon the same prin-
ciple that land insects are so greatly multiplied probably for
supplying food to birds.
4:4 Fishing in American Waters.
SECTION THIRD.
TIMES OF FEEDING AND HAUNTS OF FISHES.
Most fish are said to be night-feeders, yet all of them feed
more or less in daytime. Like spiders, all of which feed in
the night, and are tempted to come abroad when the weather
is so cloudy as to resemble twilight, so also the fishes, with
this farther peculiarity, that a turbid state of the water from
recent rains may so dim the light that they will bite when
the sun shines brightly.
When the weather is bright and the water clear, most
fishes keep their places of retirement, some among reeds and
other water-plants, some under banks or ledges of rock, lurk-
ing in deeper and deeper water as the weather becomes
warmer, so that the feeding-level for lake trout, which is often
from four to eight feet in early spring, is found from fifty to
a hundred feet below the surface in July and August. Rivei-
fishes seek the shade of overhanging trees; some under
stones; some squatting close to the ground over springs,
sand, or in the sludge at the bottom of the water. In difier-
ent waters, however, there are peculiarities of currents, ed-
dies, and pools that fish are fond of haunting, concerning
which no practical rule of general utility can be laid down.
Waters, to be most successfully fished, must be first under-
stood by fishing them.
STRENGTH AND PROPULSIVE POWER.
The true indication of a fish's strength is found in the
shape of its head and shoulders back to the first dorsal fin,
while its speed or propulsive power is shown by its shape
from the front of the second dorsal and anal fins to the end
of the tail, and the shape of this caudal continuation. Of the
forked-tail, it has already been remarked that the swordfish
and salmon are supposed to be the most rapid swimmers,
while of the square-tails the brook trout and squeteague are
supposed to propel with the greatest velocity. Among fishes
Professor Boeelli's Experiments. 45
which unite the greatest velocity with the greatest degree of
strength must be reckoned the whale ; for, struck with a har-
poon or spear with a line attached, the leviathan of the waters
darts down into the deep with such velocity that if the line
were to entangle it would either be broken or the boat would
be capsized. Upon the act of striking a whale, therefore, one
man is stationed to give his whole attention to the line run-
ning off clear, while another is employed to pour water con-
tinually on the wood over which the line runs, to prevent ig-
nition by friction. The angler knows that the sheepshead
has this power of diving with the velocity of lightning ; so
have all fishes which are swift and wide compared to their
length. In diving or darting upward, the swim-bladder is a
great assistance, as it is found to be compressed while the
fish is at the bottom, and expanded when the fish is on the
surface of the water. Probably the salmon and the bluefish
unite the greatest amount of muscular strength to the great-
est power of propulsion. Other fishes of our coast, such as
the Spanish mackerel, bonetta, cerus, and the horse mackerel,
add to the muscularity of the salmon and bluefish the propul-
sive power of the swordfish and the dolphin. The pectorals,
ventrals, and anal fins assist the fish in maintaining its bal-
ance or level position of body. In experimenting upon the
use of fins. Professor Borelli, of Naples, ascertained that after
clipping off the pectoral, ventral, and anal fins of fishes, all
their motions became unsteady, and they reeled frem right to
left, and up and down, in such irregular manner as to prove
that they were left at the mercy of their voracious neighbors
of the deep.
46 Fishing in American Waters.
CHAPTER m.
COAST AND ESTUARY FISHES.
As the fishes of the Atlantic coast of North America, in-
cluding those of the estuaries and tidal waters which debouch
along our coast, are more numerous, and include a greater va-
riety for both the angler and the commercial fisherman than
do the finny trilJes of the coasts of any other country, and as
nearly every American angler of a tidal river regards the
striped bass as the fish of fishes par excellence to be angled
for, I trust that I shall be pardoned for placing this beauty
first on the list, and showing some of the artistic ways for
taking^ him.
• The Striped Bass.
This fish, so beautiful and gamesome, is peculiar to the
tidal waters and estuaries of the rivers which enipty on the
coast of the Atlantic from Portland to Norfolk. The striped
bass is known farther north and south, but it exists in the
most perfect state in the rivers and along the coast between
the points named. It affords good sport with light tackle
when its weight is but half a pound ; and it tries both the
metal and skill of an angler after it rises to the ponderous
importance of ten pounds, though it is said to attain to the
Appearance and Habits of Steiped Bass, 47
weight of nearly a hundred. I have captured but one whicli
weighed over forty pounds, although I have angled- for them
every season for the past thirty years. It is great game
when weighing any where from ten to thirty pounds. In
muscular power the striped bass equals the salmon, but it
lacks the caudal power for leaping, which is so palpable in
the form of a salmon, back of its adipose fin, including its
crescent-shaped tail.
This fish is known south of New Jersey as the rockfish ;
but as no two ichthyologists agree upon a classical name for
the fish, it had probably best be called the name by which it
is known where the greatest numbers are taken, and there it •
is known only as the steiped bass ; and as there is no other
fish which at all resembles it, there is no chance of mistake.
It approximates the Perca genus^ the front dorsal fin being
composed of seven spinous or spiked rays, and having twa
nearly concealed spines. Its scales are rather large, and of
metallic lustre; gill-covers serrated and edges sharp. The
color of the back is a blending of black, blue, and green, light-
ing to bluish-gray at the sides, and to a ^atin white belly.
The longitudinal stripes are usually seven or eight in number,
and are like narrow black braids, sparkling with silver or
diamonds and emerald. Its symmetry, marks, and satin sheen
render it one of the most picturesque and interesting fishes in
the w^orld, independent of its great game, generous play, and
luxury as a dinner fish.
The striped bass is eminently domestic in his habits. He
is not given to wandering or vagrancy. He is generally to
be found at home and in good condition. The female de-
posits her eggs in fresh and brackish waters, but never in the
sea. In November the bass shoal and congregate in brackish
water-ponds, or back waters of tidal rivers, or in the bays and
bayous of rivers which have an outlet to the sea, after which
time it will not take bait until the following spring, after
having spawned and returned to active waters. The ponds
formed by the back water of the Seconnet River were, a few
48 Fishing in Amekican Waters.
winters since, so full of striped bass that the fish were dis-
covered by their dorsal fins in the ice, where they had been
frozen by too close packing. The ice was cut, and hundreds
of cart-loads were pitched out with forks and taken to
market.
Striped bass will live and increase when confined to fresh
water, but its shape then becomes changed, and instead of its
symmetry and lustre when having access to both fresh and
salt waters, it becomes more chubbed, and its colors less scin-
tillant. This I discovered in those I took in the upper part
of Lake Ontario, and it corroborates the opinion which I have
heard expressed by other anglers and fish-culturists.
These fish delight in rocky shoals, among which they flap
their tails and rub their scales as they prospect, for Crustacea^
of which' shedder and soft-shell crabs they consider great del-
.icacies. Their great power and swiftness enable them to for-
age with impunity for disabled menhaden, spearing, shrimp,
crabs, shedder lobsters, etc., among the breakers, as they lasb
and lave the rocky shores of our coast ; and it is at such
times, when the sea is agitated, that casting for them from
the rocks with rod, and reel, and menhaden bait, that the
sport is rendered more pleasingly exciting and attractive
than angling for any other game fish.
The angler pursues many methods for capturing this beau-
ty of the estuary, the chief of which are still-baiting from an
anchored boat along the edge of the tide, trolling with live
squid (small cuttle-fish), and casting with menhaden bait — but
without sinker — into the surf of a rocky beach, along the
shores and islands from New York to Martha's Vineyard.
SECTION SECOND.
ANGLING FOR STRIPED BASS.
In order that the reader may proximately realize the char-
acter of the striped bass as a game fish, I propose taking him
with me on several excursions after the lustrous beauty.
And, first, we will try him in the vicinity of New York. The
Effects of an easterly Westd. 49
weather and tide are favorable, and the moon is right for giv-
ing fish an excellent appetite and great activity. Fishes in
waters near the ocean bite best in the first quarter of the
moon, while those which are up ri^^ers and creeks, near fresh
water, bite best at full tides, and immediately after a " nor'-
easter," when the wind, having backed round by the south,
has settled in the northwest. You may prove these facts
without going a dozen miles from the metropolis ; and I have
always noticed that it is better fishing in " the Kills" and at
the hedges of Newark Bay, as well as at those in the lower
part of the Bay of New York, when the tide is low, while the
fishing at King's Bridge and Spuyten Duyvel is best at very
high tides. ^ The only exception to this rule is applicable to
i-eefs and low rocky shoals, where bass forage most during
high tides.
As we are to try the bass to-morrow, suppose we make a
day of it ? Well, that being agreed to, we will first try Har-
lem River, or the creek at King's Bridge. Being an angler,
you of course know that the baits here are confined to shrimp
early in spring and late in autumn ; to soft-shell and shedder
crab in the summer and until the middle of October ; after
which soft-shell clam for the English Neighborhood Bridge,
and shrimp, with an occasional shedder lobster, serve as baits
in the vicinity of New York, except for trolling in Hell Gate,
where we use squid; and for fishing in the surf at Newport,
and along the coast generally, the menhaden is preferred.
Shad roe is frequently recommended for bass bait. I once
tried it at Saybrook, near the mouth of the Connecticut Riv-
er, where the bass were said to bite it unconditionally; but,
though I stood on the platform and fished from it, I did not
capture a single fish. It was not because the bass did not
like the bait, but rather that the great depth of water and
strength of tide obliged me to fish with a heavy tracing
sinker, and the fish stole my bait before it settled on the bot-
tom, because I was not prepared with the means of porous
muslin wherein to tie the bait over the hook. I have never
D
50
Fishing in American Waters.
tried the bait since, and though it is very attractive, it is un-
pleasant to. use. The thousands of barrels of shad cured
there every shad season, when the roe is thrown into the
river, attracts myriads of striped bass every May and June,
causing a regret that Seth Green could not use the roe of
this delicious esculent for restocking the river as he does at
Holyoke.
Of course tackle is of the utmost importance. . As we are
to angle for small bass, with crab and shrimp bait, we will
rig light, and as represented by the following engraving :
Tackle for taking Small Bass.
A. Solid Cork-float. B. Swivel Sinker. C. Piece of the top of Rod, showing the
double guides ; on one side bell-metal, and the other agate. D. Agate or Cameli-
an tip to screw into the top of the rod. E. Upper Hook, rigged a foot above the oth-
er hook for shrimp. F. Lower Hook, for baiting with shedder crab. G, H. Single-
gut Leader. I. Line ; of either linen twisted or silk braided ; very small, no larger
than for trout, but from 300 to 400 feet in length.
^ The reel should be a multiplier, without any stop, check,
or drag ; it should be of brass, German silver, or bell-metal,
run on steel or agate pivots, and with a balance crank.
The rod for this style of fishing should be from 9 to 11
Angling at King's Bridge. 51
feet long, bearing in mind that a short, stiff rod is the best
to cast with, but not so good to play a fish with light run-
ning-tackle. Of course the size of float and weight of sinker
will be changed to suit the waters and the tides.
" See that all things be right,
For 'twould be a spite
To want tools when a man goes a-fishing." — Cotton.
You perceive that I have selected one hook with an
O'Shaughnessy bend (E), and the other (F) an Aberdeen.
Well, brother angler, a night of sound sleep, and our in-
comparable breakfast at the Astor, with our drive over the
Bloomingdale Road this beautiful morning, has so enlivened
me to a sense of the beautiful that I feel assured we shall
have good sport to-day, and enjoy it. This is King's Bridge,
the name of the most spicy and succulent oyster that ever
graced the cuisine of a Dorlon. Our horse will be well cared
for at this hotel, for the host — an admirable caterer — appre-
ciates anglers.
We will first see what sport there is to be had at the east
bridge, where we will joint our rods, and rig sinkers and floats
according to the movement of the tide. I perceive that the
tide is just on the turn to flood. Kig light for half an hour,
and then change to heavier sinker and larger float. I like
bridge fishing, for, after making a cast, you may humor youi-
line so as to lead the bait in the most angling manner from
current to current ; and then, in striking at a bite forty yards
off, there is so much sport in playing your fish until you get
him into the slack water formed by the piers of the bridge ;
and, being from 8 to 10 feet above the water, you generally
fasten the fish at the first bite. Strike ! You've hooked him !
There ! give him play, but feel his weight, and make him con-
tend for every foot of line you give him, or he will take the
whole without exhausting himself, and you will lose him.
Do not permit him to run back on you, for that is a favorite
dodge of these striped sides to get slack line, and enable them
to dislodge the hook. Keep your rod up nearly perpendicu-
52 J^'iSHiNG IN American Waters.
lar, giving him the benefit of its spring, for he is bony-mouth-
ed, though the teeth in his uj^per jaw are too small and short
to bite, or even chafe oft a silk-worm gut snell. Keep your
fish out of the swiftest of the tide, and, after playing him un-
til he succumbs from exhaustion, land him on the shore, for
he is too heavy to lift upon the bridge. Well done ! Now
bait quickly and cast for another. You perceive that at the
foot of the rapid tide the bass lie in wait for bait, for our
floats dip at that place. But the fish move away from there
after the tide gets running its full strength, and an hour is all
of first-rate fishing we may expect in one tide, therefore it is
necessary to be active in baiting and expert at casting and
playing a fish, always using shrimp on the upper hook and
shedder on the lower one, when you use two baits at a time
in this style of fishing. Now, as the tide has become too
swift for float-fishing, just step into this boat, and we will row
down to the first island in the creek, seventy-five rods beyond
the west bridge, and try Spuyten Duyvel Creek. The fish
are smaller here, but they bite more generously. I took 1 74
here in one day, and yet Judge Brevoort, my companion,
beat me by one fish. See ! one on each hook at every cast !
Say you not that angling for small bass with light tackle
forms a pleasing excitement ? Well, having fished out the
tide, suppose we return to the hotel and take our vehicle for
home ? This place is accessible by public conveyances over
several routes, but as it is only eleven miles from the City
Hall, I prefer to drive out. We have taken between thirty
and forty bass which scale from half a pound to a pound
each — only three two-pound fish and one three-pounder ; and
this may be regarded as an average morning's sport.
SECTION THIRD.
TROLLING IN HELL GATE.
You doubtless perceived, brother angler, that the sport
which we yesterday enjoyed at King's Bridge might be
practiced and greatly relished by ladies. Many ladies of
Angling suited to Ladies. 53
New York and its suburbs are experts at casting a fly for
trout or a bait for bass ; and, in my opinion, they lend one
of the principal charms to ruralizing. I do not like the pent-
up, hide-bound, cynical geniuses of the Diogenes quality, nor
yet of those bachelors whose rectangular apartments each
side of a hall in our hotels are not inappropriately consider-
ed by some as stalls for the stray oxen of society. I agree
with Brother Lathy that
' ' No scenes more suited are to themes of love,
Than whilst on rivers' banks you fish and rove ;
T' instruct the fair the happy lover tries,
And, grateful, she rewards him with her eyes.
No longer, then, our angling sports disdain,
Since Venus sprung from Ocean poets feign,
Rising all beauteous from the briny main :
As, of our grief, do thou partake our pleasure —
Our life, our heart, our soul, our earthly treasure!"
When you decide to troll for a day over the tumultuously-
seething and hissing waters of Hell Gate, where an oarsman
must know the tides and shoals to keep his boat right side
up, you will require heavier tackle, and will therefore select
them from the plate of " implements for angling in lakes,
bays, rivers," etc., on the following page.
Select a rod from 8 to 9 feet long, like A, B', C, in the en-
graving. Let it taper regularly and be rather heavy. The
butt and second joint should be made of ash, and the top of
lancewood. Bell-metal top and guides are best for mount-
ing a trolling-rod, while agate or carnelian are best for the
purpose of casting a long distance, as the friction is less on
jewels than on metals. The guides for all kinds of bass
angling should be large enough to pass a knot in the line
through them. In ringing rods for salmon and trout, the
rings should be diminished in size from butt to tip, as the
rods taper ; but such is not the case with bass guides, all of
which should be equal in size and shape, and polished for the
line to run smoothly. Large guides are a modern invention.
About ten years ago I was fishing at West Island — that par-
A, B, C. Butt, middle joint, and top of a Brass Rod. D. Baiting Needle. E. Sinker
for trolling with sguid. F. GaflFfor large bass, four inches across the bend. G. Oval
Tracing Sinker, with hole through centre. H. Swivel Sinker. I. Pivot multiplying
Reel, with balance crank. J. Brass Swivel, for fishing on the bottom with tracing
sinker. K. Wedge, to fasten trolling sinker E for the different lengths of squid. L.
Loop above sinker E, to which the line is attached ; length optional. M. Heavj-
Hook for trolling. N. Kin^sh Hook ; small, strong, well tempered, Sproat's bend.
O. Scap-net for catching shrimp, or, with larger meshes, a landing-net. No.l. Shank-
bended Hook, with line fastened by three half hitches to angle for, or cast into the
surf for large striped bass. 2 and 3. Smaller sizes, for casting menhaden bait, or
still-baiting with heavy tracing sinker. 4. Kinsey bend, or Pennsylvania Hook. 5.
O'Shaughnessy bend. 6. Sproat's bend. 7 and 8. Kendal Hooks.
How TO Squid a Hook. 55
adise of the bass angler — when one morning I was awakened
from my early slumbers by the loud calls of Hosier, my gaff-
er, who had tried a cast with one of my rods from the Table
Rock, and, in casting, had thrown a knot in the line about
thirty feet from the reel ; and, as the guides were too small
to pass the knot, Mosier, to prevent the fish from getting
slack line, ran back as the fish came toward shore, and ran
forward when the fish carried off too much line, calling lusti-
ly for me as he ran backward and forward in great excite-
ment. I finally relieved him of the rod in due time, and he
gaffed the bass, which weighed twenty-two pounds. Since
then I have all guides made large enough to pass a small
pea. Double guides are best, unless you have Pritchard's
patent guides, which turn on a fixed metallic band. It is al-
ways best to disjoint a rod when done fishing for the day,
and then change the sides of the two upper joints every day,
as it prevents the rod from warping or setting.
The reel, like I, should carry 600 feet of hawser-laid linen
line, of from twelve to fifteen threads, thus rendering it about
the size of a fine salmon line ; but the line should be free from
any oily composition, and a dip in dye to give it a greenish
shade is beneficial. Never, by any chance, use a check reel
for coast or estuary fishing. Depend on the pressure of your
thumb for checking the fish, and wear knitted thumb-stalls.
Hooks like M, with taper shank and loop of linen line, the
same size as that on the reel, extending six inches beyond
the end of the shank. Place your squid along the hook so
that the extreme bend of the hook will be opposite its eyes,
when slide up sinker on loop E toward L until the sinker is
even with the other end of the squid. By this process your
tackle will fit your squid. Then fasten E to its place by K ;
hook the squid back of its mouth, running the point forward,
and turning it down so as to bring the point out between the
eyes ; attach loop L to the baiting-needle ; draw the sinker up
through the ink-sack, or body, and attach the loop to the end
of the reel-line, and you will be ready to commence trolling.
56 Fishing in American Waters.
Those who employ a man to row and gaff the fish would-
do well to direct him to squid half a dozen hooks before start-
ing, and lay them aside in the boat under some wet rock-weed
before leaving shore. If you have ever been trolling — as I
have—when large bass were biting generously, you will real-
ize the force of this advice. It is unpleasant to be trolling
in rough waters, and, when a bass strikes the back of youi-
hook and takes your bait without fastening, to be obliged to
stop and squid a hook before proceeding.
Now for the fray ! Our boats are made by Hughes, fellow-,
apprentice of George Steers; and with Sile Wright and Sandy
Gibson as guides and gaffers, we shall be sculled over all the.
favorite trolling grounds from the ferry below to the Drowned
Marsh above Ward's Island. ' Our first move will be to\yard
Tide Rock, swinging Big and Little Mill Rocks on the way ;
then we shall glide over the Hen and Chickens, swing Holt's
Rock on the Hog's Back, round Nigger Point, and, stopping at
John Hilliker's to rest, enjoy a piece of incomparable apple-
pie and a glass of milk served by two charming ladies. While
indulging these ruminations one day, as my friend was swing-
ing* Holt's Rock, he hooked a large bass and played it all the
way round the east end of Ward's Island to Chowder Eddy,
where, on landing, it weighed twenty pounds.
The sketch on the opposite page represents my friend as
the bass first rose and laid its course.
I was not so fortunate as my friend ; for, as my squid was
struck by a large bass, Sile said he heard the rod crack ; but
the fish made such a long, vigorous run, that I scarcely real-
ized what he said, and, after turning the fish and reeling him
in gradually, he broke water with a leap, clearing the surface,
and revealing a forty-pounder. While turning and bringing
him toward the boat for the third time, he darted down and
* Swinging a rock is done by the oarsman holding the boat sixty feet from
the rock and swinging it so that the troll will move about the rock on all
sides and play as if alive. This art is possessed in great perfection by Hell
Gate oarsmen.
A Word on Gaffing. 57
Fish and Tide Irresistible.
snapped the middle joint of my rod in two, when I threw the
broken rod down at my feet and took hold of the line ; the
fish made but feeble resistance, and I towed him alongside
the boat and shouted to Sile for the gaff, but he had thought-
lessly placed it in the other boat. I then endeavored to put
my hand in his mouth, and, while in the act, the fish turned
over, breaking the hook and bleeding profusely as he settled
off into the tide, leaving us astonished and almost desperate.
On examination, I learned that a flaw in the hook had been
the cause of our loss of the tish ; but had we rowed ashore
and towed the fish after the rod broke, we should probably
have landed him. I have never since been caught trolling or
angling for large bass without a gaff and tried hooks ; and as
the gaff is an implement of such high importance, I have given
the shape and description in another part of this book ; but
the one shaped like F among the " implements," and from 3
to 4^ inches across the bend from point to shank, made with
a screw to fit into the gaff handle, leaves little to be desired.
In using it, drop it below the fish, point upward, and as it is
raised to the fish, the fish settles against it, and a simple jerk
impales it. Do not strike a fish with the gaff; insert the
58 Fishing in American Waters.
gaff gently beneath, and it will be hooked with the utmost
ease.
Well, with broken rod and tangled line, I ordered Sile to row
away from the scene of our misfortune. I found my friend
at Hammock Rocks, his fish laid out in state on rock-grass,
and he mutely bending over it with a face radiant with pleas-
urable satisfaction at his achievement. Trolling, to him, was
a new-born pleasure, and his first capture a trophy of which
a slayer of lions might be justly proud. It would be super-
fluous to add, we drank to the study for a Stearns or a
Bracket as it lay shining on the pallet of sea-grass. Sandy
commiserated Sile's misfortune at losing the large bass. In
the centre of a radius containing the most picturesque land-
scape near the metropolis, we rested, wondered, and admired.
" The skies their fairest canvas spread
When the angler goes a-trolling ;
Relenting clouds float overhead,
And tears and smiles alternate shed,
When the angler goes a-trolling," — Stoddart.
Having toasted the health and appetite of bass in that
neighborhood in a glass of sherry, and replaced the broken
joint of my rod with a sound one, we again seated ourselves
in our boats, and commenced trolling the Little Gate, the
Kills, and all about Randall's and Ward's Islands, and, after
the usual alternatives of hopes, fears, and moments of ecstasy,
we finished up a mess of seven bass between us, the largest
nearly thirty, and the smallest four pounds in weight.
Well, having given you a taste of the sport on the waters
bounding Manhattan Island on the north and east, let us an-
chor our boat near the lower hedges of New York Bay, and
learn how different bottom fishing with a tracing sinker is
from both trolling and angling with a float.
SECTION FOURTH.
STILL-BAITING FOR BASS.
Use a stiffish rod, like A, B, C on the page of implements.
It should be from eight to nine feet in length. The Japan
liiG FOE Bottom P'ishing. 59
bamboo pole, being a rod without joints, of the same length,
and mounted the same, with top and guides of agate or car-
nelian ; multiplying reel like I, which shall carry from four to
six hundred feet of fine linen or silk line. Linen is the best
for bottom fishing, but it should be made of the finest and
strongest flax or hemp. You may use a double-gut leader,
three fourths of a yard long, or make a leader from your line,
which I prefer when bottom fishing for bass ranging from
three pounds upward ; then one hook only is used. Use a
tracing sinker in the form of a long roll or cylinder of lead,
three fourths of an inch in diameter^ with a hole for the line
longitudinal, cutting off the weight required for a sinker ; or
let it be an oval form, as represented by G, with a swivel to ^
stop it at the top end of the leader, like J. The swivel should
be brass; all swivels for use in salt water should be brass,
for steel is soon corroded. Thrust your line through the
sinker, and attach the end of your line to a swivel, and your
leader to the other end of the swivel. This leader may be
either linen or double gut of the silk-worm. If the latter,
the hook will require tying or winding on with waxed thread ;
if the former, the hook should be headed like a pin, and the
line fastened to it by three half hitches, as if for fishing with
menhaden bait. Shedder or soft-shell crab is preferred for
bait ; but, if it can not be procured, use shedder lobster.
60 Fishing in American Waters.
Now, having finished our rig, we will cast our anchor here,
about a hundred feet above the hedge, and fish toward it un-
til the tide turns, when we will anchor about as far the other
side of the hedge. These hedges were made to lead shad
into channels, across which nets were spread, as you perceive
by the spaces left in the difierent rows of hedges. I always
anchor my boat so as to cast at an edge of an opening, or
channel, through the hedges. Our boat is not so near as to
alarm the fish, while a gentle cast of seventy-five feet reaches
them. Make your cast, and let your sinker settle naturally,
so that your line be straight, when you will feel the slightest
nibble, though bass generally grab the bait and dash away,
and, if they feel the hook, continue going until they become
exhausted, when they rise to the surface, which is called
" breaking water." In this act they inhale a little open air
oxygen, which renders them so gay and sportive as to be
almost unmanageable. You should therefore always wear
thumbstalls or cots on the thumb, a neglect of which has
caused numerous thumbs to be blistered by the friction of
the line when endeavoring to snub a striped-sided racer, or
a bluefish, which intrudes as a guerrilla, and, with its steel
jaws, chops up your tackle and occupies the post with impu-
nity ; and if perchance you hook a bass, he is sure to liberate
it in the endeavor to get the bait, by biting the line off" be-
fore the mouth of the bass. Gimp snells are as straw to
their saw-set teeth, and nothing but piano wire has yet been
found strong enough to resist their bite.
There, sir ! When you jerk at a bite like that, reel in the
slack you have caused, and let your sinker settle so as to
keep your line straight. Well done ! That fish is game. T
will reel up, or he will cross my line, and, by becoming en-
tangled, you may lose your fish. After all, he is not so large
as to require a gafi". It is best to have both a gaff and large
scap-net in the boat for such fishing.
Our sport bids fair to-day. We have already taken a
dozen bass, besides a few squeteague and blackfish, and the
The Luxury of a Lunch. 61
tide is not yet full ; but perhaps we had better use the last
of the flood tide to help us up to the light-house on Ber-
gen Point Reef, for the best time there is just after the tide
has turned ebb, when I never failed of an hour's brisk sport.
Let's, therefore, up with our killick and man the sculls, which,
wdth the tide, will carry us there in twenty minutes.
Well, brother angler, our good arms, assisted by the tide,
have enabled us to arrive in time for me to cast anchor on
this, my favorite ground. The tide is just high- water slack.
Our landmarks are right. Let go the anchor. Be seated
and ready, but do not cast until the boat toles by a decided
ebb of the tide. In the mean time suppose we lunch ? Now,
as we enjoy these broiled squab, buttered biscuit, and a mod-
icum of claret to moisten them, we will feast our eyes upon
the captivating scenery. Comparatively few understand the
pleasures of boat fishing. It is removed from the dust and
hurry-scurry of terra firma. Our position enables us to sur-
vey several shores and the employments of busy life. What
can be more lovely on a mild autumn day than scenes like
these from a boat ? We are near enough to the metropolis
to hear its noises subdued into a musical monotone. That
mountain which you perceive at the head of Newark Bay —
of which we are at the foot — is Snake Hill, at the confluence
of the waters of the Passaic and the Hackensack, which emp-
ty at each prong of the fork formed by the head of this
bay. To the south a few miles you perceive a large city,
which is Newark. The spires of a town still farther south
are over Elizabethtown, while two miles south from us is
Elizabethport. On the Staten Island shore, at the east of us,
are New Brighton, Factoryville, Port Richmond, and a series
of buildings and gardens, as a part of the periphery of Staten
Island. Directly in front of us is Bergen Point, being a gar-
den charmingly dotted with dwellings of picturesque archi-
tecture. Do not these scenes present subjects for contempla-
tion sufficiently enchanting to pay the artist for a visit with-
out any sporting accessory ? Many innocent persons wonder
62 Fishing in American Waters.
how a man can "waste" an occasional day "at the stupid
sport of angling." These persons do not even know that the
modern angler is as widely different from the ancient dream-
er portrayed by good old Izaak Walton as are percussion
caps and locomotives from flint-locks and post-coaches.
The tide here appears to take longer to make a decided
turn than at any place known by me. We will shed a few
crabs, as the boat toles nearly right. Notice the landmarks :
the dock at Bergen Point is in range with the steeple at New
Brighton ; the south side of the Light-house ranges with the
high chimney on Staten Island shore. These ranges form the
angle where our boat rests, a hundred yards west of the
Light-house, and within casting distance of the submerged
rocks, seven to the left and five to the right, at the stern of
our boat;
Now for commencing. Cast a trifle to the left, and let
your sinker fall just above the seven rocks, and I will cast
slightly to the right of the stern, toward the five rocks.
There ! I told you so ! You can not sink your bait before
you have a bite. Well, this is sport ! Each of us is either
playing a bass, landing him, or casting. LTnder thes6 condi-
tions, it will depend on the activity in baiting, and dexterity
in playing and landing our fishes, for deciding which will take
the greatest number. It is true that they are not large — from
a pound to two pounds generally, with a three-pounder some-
times, and a semi-occasional five-pounder ; but it is rare sport,
for all that. The tide becomes more swift, and our fish are
harder to play. Deftly and gingerly are the words, while not
a moment is to be lost. I have angled here and taken bass
throughout the ebb tide ; but if I take from fifteen to twen-
ty-five in an hour, I generally become fatigued, and rest the
pool for some one else.
You know George Wilkes, of the Spirit ? Well, he and I
were once still-baiting here, and, as we were about to leave,
after taking between thirty and forty bass, our line on which
the fish were strung, and fastened to the thole-pin for keeping
A MOETIFYING LoSS. 63
the fish alive in the water, parted as we were in the act of
lifting the fish into the boat, and we lost nearly all of them.
The same circumstance hapjDened here while angling with
George Austin, Esq. Such luck is aggravating to a common
man, but an angler soon learns that eflects follow causes. If
you prefer to keep your mess alive, either tow a fish-car at
the stern of your row-boat for placing them in, or deposit
them in a net fastened to a thole-pin, or purchase the new in-
vention of a string made of raw-hide by Andrew Clerk & Co.
It is time for us to reel up and count our mess, for we have
tide enough left to float us to New Brighton, where we hired
the boat in the morning. Your count says twenty-seven
fish. Well, that is an average take. We will unjoint our
rods, place them in their cases, take up anchor, and you may
light a regalia, while we enjoy the enlivening scenes along
Kill Van Kull on our row to the landing. This is the be-
witching time for driving along the cornice road of Staten
Island ; and that couple which you now see in a buggy oppo-
site us think that driving a fast horse on a dusty road is fa-
mous sport. See the cavalcade of roadsters stirring up the
dust ! Coaches with liveried drivers and footmen are not
rare, and the outriders will come next. But we are at New
Brighton, our fish are basketed, and our boat returned. We
will now step on board the steam ferry-boat for New York,
which stops here every fifteen minutes.
Our sail across the Bay of New York to the Battery, you
perceive, is a continuation of the enlivening local and aquatic
views which have blessed .our eyes throughout the day.
We must part now with a shake of the hand. Your steam-
ship is to leave at noon to-morrow, and the engagements of
which I spoke to you may prevent me from bidding you bon
voyage on the deck of the vessel which is to convey you to
home and happiness in one of the British Isles. May the
blessings which usually accompany true sportsmen be with
you ; and when thinking of this land of long rivers and broad
lands,! trust that you will not forget the slight taste of sport
64 Fishing in American Waters.
which you have experienced in the immedi.ate vicinity of
New York, but that it will prove a foretaste of a whole sea-
son to be hereafter enjoyed in angling and trolling for the
game fishes of our coast and estuaries.
SECTION FIFTH.
CASTING BAIT FOE STRIPED BASS.
Casting menhaden bait for striped bass from the rocky
shores of the bays, estuaries, and islands along the Atlantic
coast constitutes the highest branch of American angling.
It is indeed questionable — when considering all the elements
whicji contribute toward the sum total of sport in angling —
whether this method of striped bass fishing is not superior
to fly-fishing for salmon, and if so, it outranks any angling
in the world. The method is eminently American, antd char-
acteristic of the modern angler by its energy of style, and
the exercise and activity necessary to success.
Reels for this kind of fishing have taxed the ingenuity of .
the best fishing-tackle makeri in the Union. The balance
crank should be designed with the greatest nicety of propor-
tions, to prevent a momentum hard to check with the thumb,
and still the crank should not be so short as to be difiicult in
reeling. The crank should also be placed so far back and
low on the end of the reel as not to endanger the fingers of
the angler by a sudden strike of a heavy fish, for a bass does
not, like the salmon, stop to study the cause of a pain in the
jaw, but straightway makes a run without hesitation. The
best materials for reels are supposed to be German silver,
brass, or bell-metal. The wheels should run on jewels, and
be so covered with an inner case as to protect them from
salt water. The reel should not be too long ; the one repre-
sented on the plate of bassing implements indicates the shape.
It should be a triple multiplier, without check or drag, and
large enough to carry from two to three hundred yards of
fine linen line.
Lines should either be of linen or hemp, hawser-laid, or of
Keady for toe Gaff.
braided silk. The latter is the easiest to cast, but not so
good to fasten a fish by a strike, because of its elasticity,
while a linen one will .-respond at a hundred yards to the
slightest strike. A linen line, formed of from twelve to
eighteen strands, and strong enough to sustain a dead weight
E
6Q Fishing in American Waters.
of thirty pounds, should be stained to the color of the water,
when it forms the best line possible for this kind of fishing,
and it should not be larger than a salmon line. The buoyancy
of the water, strength of tide, and dash of the surf, render a
very strong line indispensable for large bass. Still, as the
fish is as gamy as a salmon, and full as cunning, the line
must be fine and the rig very clean, or he will select every
piece of chum thrown to him, and refuse the one with a hook
in it ; or if by chance — when feeding on chum — he takes a
piece with a hook in it, he rejects it instantly, and before the
angler has time to strike, probably distinguishing the differ-
ence by the weight of the hook. The most successful way
to angle for them is to rig so clean that they will grab the
bait like hungry dogs, and dash away for more, or to keep it
away from other fishes.
Rod. — Should be from seven tp eight feet six inches in
length. The two lower joints of ash, and the upper one of
lancewood, mounted as indicated by A, B, C, with silver, bell-
metal, or brass. Some prefer a Japan bamboo pole, because
of its strength and lightness ; several gentlemen of thePasque
Island, Cuttyhunk, and West Island clubs are among those,
and as these clubs include many of our amateur experts at
this elegant kind of fisliing, their opinions claim attention.
My own opinion is, that a highly-finished, well-balanced, three-
jointed rod is the best for use, and of course most convenient
for carrying on fishing excursions. Some anglers have joint-
ed bassing-rods made exclusively from split bamboo, weigh-
ing less than a pound, including their silver and jewel mount-
ings; the objects attained being lightness, strength, beauty,
and just elasticity enough for casting and playing a fish. The
sockets and shoulders of the joints of all rods for coast and
estuary fishing should be lined and covered with the same
metal used for the bands and guide-frames. Double guides,
one side lined with jewels and the other made of bell-met-
al, and a jeweled top, form a good mounting, the shoulders
being covered with the same metal as the bands. It is nei-
Pkepaeing to Captivate.
et
ther artistic nor in good taste to cover the rod several inches
with bright metal for attaching the reel. Whether double
guides or patent ones are preferred, carnelian or agate make
good lining and tip. The tip should be formed with a screw
to fit several top joints. German silver, brass, bell-metal, or
any other metal, hard and still malleable enough, and which
will not oxydize in a saline atmosphere, form good mount-
ings. A solid butt, without elaborate and heavy mountings
to hold a reel, is preferable. If the line does not run on jew-
els, bell-metal is the next best material, except it be the alu-
minum— a light metal of new invention in combination and
manner of manufacture — which is lighter than any other
metal, and is said never to oxydize. Our fishing-tackle man-
ufacturers are making trout-reels of it, and, to judge from ap-
pearance and recommendation, I should decide that it is the
be'st metal ever employed "for reels and mountings of fishing-
rods.
As no sinker is used for assistance in casting menhaden
bait, and as the striped bass are extremely knowing, the ne-
cessity for a clean rig, and nothing to check the impetus of
the bait, make up desiderata never to be lightly regarded by
the bass angler.
Baits, Chum-spoon, and Thumb-stall.
No. 1. The menhaden — Alosa menhaden — a species of her-
ring used for bait, and showing the mark, back of which a
bait is taken on each side.
No. 2. Bait cut from No. l,the knife being drawn through
the flesh side at dotted line, but not so deep as to part the
skin, but to facilitate folding like 3.
68 Fishing in American Waters.
No. 3. Bait folded at dotted line and baited on shank-headed
hook, with a half hitch of the line cast round the end of
bait to prevent it from slipping down and filling the bend
of the hook. Some anglers cast one half hitch around the
bait just below the head of the hook, and another round
the top of the bait ; it forms a more compact bait, and 'bet-
ter shape to cast ; but bluefishes are more likely to cut the
line off than when the bait is secured by one half hitch
above the hook, as represented.
No. 4. A thumb-stall, knitted from heavy double and twisted
woolen yarn, to be worn on each thumb, to prevent the
friction of the line in checking the too swift revolving of
the reel.
No. 5. Chum-spoon for throwing minced fish with. After
taking a bait from each side of the menhaden between the
first dorsal and the tail, which is done by first scaling the
part from which the bait is taken, then cho]? fine the re-
mainder of the fish, head and all, with a hatchet or bait-
knife, and use the spoon to cast it out on the pool to be
fished. The spoon is about a foot long. This choj)ped-up
fish is called " chum," and castmg it out is called " chum-
ming," which is continued until the debris of half a dozen
menhaden so scattered on the water produces an oily sur-
face, or " slick," as the gaffers call it, extending sometimes
half a mile from shore. When bass smell it they approach
it, and follow the oily surface toward the point where the
chum was thrown in, occasionally finding small bits of men-
haden, which the angler on the rocks may see them break
water to obtain. Nearer and nearer the bass approach in
the path of chum until they arrive within casting distance.
The chum should be chopped very fine ; some persons cast
in the head of a menhaden whole ; this is bad practice, for
it not. only invites sharks and bluefish, but bass feed on it
when they might otherwise take the baited hook.
Recupeeating Health. C9
SECTION SIXTH.
A DAY WITH THE DOCTOR. ANGLING AT THE BASSING
CLUBS.
Well, doctor, having arrived at West Island, which is
owned by an association of gentlemen who have formed
themselves into a club for the incomparable enjoyment of
angling for striped bass, they will of course assign us stands
to fish from to-morrow. It is the practice here for all mem-
bers to draw at night for the choice of stands to fish from
the next day.
Doctor. A gentleman just handed me a card containing a
" number," and " outside the Hopper," marked on it.
A'. I perceive by the card that the outside of the Hop-
per is assigned to us. Well, of course that is owing to the
composition of the club ; the members have given us their
best stands. That is a feature of all the bassing clubs ; and
besides, William C. Barrett, Esq., is president of this institu-
tion, and he is a sportsman possessed of the most discrimin-
ative sense of true hospitality. On the morrow we will try
to do honor to their estimate of us.
D. Gentlemen, as Mr. S. and myself are somewhat fa-
tigued, and would prefer to retire early, will you have the
goodness to join us in a parting glass for the night ?
All join; and we retire with a sense of good-will toward
all mankind, and indulge school-boy hopes of the morrow.
" While others are brawling, let anglers agree,
And in concord the goblet replenish ;
'TavIU cost not a care so long as we share
The cups of content and of concord."
Our dreams were rose-tinted; but the pleasurable antici-
pations of the morrow's exploits caused us to awake early,
and I sounded the doctor before daylight.
8. Hallo, doctor ! Mosier, who is to be our gaffer, rapped
at my door and said it was four o'clock.
D. Well, sir, I have been up an hour, and down on the pi-
V
70 FlSHESTG EST AmEKICAN WaTERS.
azza trying to joint my rod, but I can not get a light, and
" daylight don't appear."
S. Bravo ! I'll be with you in a minute.
D. The sea fog sets in chilly ; what say you to a cocktail
and a cracker ?
S. Oh ! Do you know where we are ?
D. Certainly ; we are near Plymouth Rock, the blarney-
stone of America.
S. Tush ! I will accompany you, and we will take a sto-
machic and a cracker; but do not — for appearance sake —
call drinks by their ordinary names in this " land of steady
habits," where it is unlawful to taste diffusible stimulants.
D. For medicine ?
S. Of course not, if prescribed by a physician ! <
D. It was upon that hypothesis I ventured the invitation.
I brought my diploma with me, and, as a doctor, I prescribe
the potion.
S. Ahem I you are right ; I feel that your prescription is
a good antarthritic. And now we will hie to the Hopper
Rocks, take our stands, joint our rods, and be ready by the
time Hosier gets the fish chummed ia Mosier calls up the
bass here just as a farmer brings his chickens to feed. Let
us prepare ; but there is no use to make a cast before sunrise.
Mosier. I've throwed in the chum of six fish, an them
scups an cachockset comes up an takes it just for all the
world as if they was game ! an I hain't seen nothin of no
bass yet.
S. That is right, doctor ! you have jointed your rod per-
fectly ; every joint should be driven home. Now, in fasten-
ing the hook to your line, cast two half hitches with the end
of your line over the shank, just below the head; then turn
up the end of the line, and cast a half hitch over it and the
shank, and turn the hook round in the tie thus formed to see
that it revolves easily — cut off any superfluous end of line.
See how Mosier chops up the chum, and where he throws it ;
and just where he throws the chum, cast your baited hook.
Captain Moseee in Command. Y1
Hosier, bait the doctor's hook. I see luminous rays from
the God of Day, and he will make a splendid appearance in
ten minutes. Now, doctor, reel up your line, so that the bait
will be within a yard of the top of your rod, and mak« a cast
to the whirl which you see was made by a bass. Your reel
overruns? That is unfortunate. You should keep your
thumb on the reel, and check it as the bait drops on the
water. Hosier, bait my hook; I have put on a medium-
sized hook with a headed shank, and I am going in for the
fish refused by the doctor.
Mosier. Hr. S.,jist cast along there in Snecker's Gap, for
they are reether sassy there on the young flood.
S. Well, Hosier, here goes for a forty-pounder !
Mosier. There ! I told you so ; I knew that feller wanted
breakfast, an I guess he's got enough to last him.
JD. Hr. Hosier, as I have succeeded in getting my line out
of snarl, shall I cast now ?
3Iosier. Not quite yet, I guess, for there's no knowin where
that critter will yet lead Hr. S.
D, Well, I will take a seat on the rock here, and look at
the play. Ugh ! that wave wet me all over. Is it not dan-
gerous to remain here ?
Mosier. No, sir ; ony keep a look-out for them ninth waves;
don't git down toward a gulch, but watch where the waves
throw the most water when they breaks for it allers depends
on the course of wind.
Z>. I see your philosophy is correct, Hr. Hosier, and I have
now got a dry seat. Hr. Hosier, do you think that fish will
ever be landed ? He has run nearly all the line off the reel
already.
Mosier. I can't say; there's 'no counting on them chaps
till they are landed, if so be you fish with a pole ; but if I
had him on my hand-line, I'd make him come humming, and
show no quarters.
S. Hosier, keep my line away from the rocks with your
gaff, for he seems bent on rounding the Hoj^per Rock, and
72 Fishing in American Waters.
its corners may cut or chafe and part my line. There ! he
ha;s tacked again ; be ready to gaff him, if I get him near
enough, before he makes another run.
Mosier. I see his mate a keeping alongside of him all the
time ; she's 'bout as big as the hooked one. I mean to gaff
that one first. How like tarnation the feller fights, an tries
to whip out the hook with his tail ; that shows he's gitting
tired. When they curl themselves up on the top of the wa-
ter so that you can't budge 'em, you had better be careful
not to hold so hard as to let 'em break the line with their tail,
nor cut it off with their back fin ; nor so loose as to let him
git slack line to unhook, or knock* the hook out of his jaw
with his tail. There ! see him straighten out ! He has made
his last fight, and got whipped ! His mate has gone. 'Twas
no use for her to stay an try to help him any longer, for she
knows he's dead. Now, with the heave and haul of the tide,
there is more danger of breaking the line an losing him than
if he was alive ; but here he comes, an here goes the gaff — a
forty-pounder at least 1
S. Well done, Mosier ! Struck just in time, for the hook
has let go.
Mosier, Jist so ; I hain't no confidence in them hooks with
the barb curling out so that you can not git it into the flesh.
The Kinsey point an* Sproat bend, or the O'Shaughnessy with
the Kinsey point, are the best.
D. Well, rny preconceived notions of bass-fishing have all
been cast wide. When you first hooked the bass, I thought
I could take a seat and be a quiet looker-on at the play ; but
I have been so excited by alternate hopes, fears, doubts, and
surprises, that I want you t<> pardon me for getting into your
way several times. The truth is, it astonishes me to see the
fish on terra firnia. I thought him lost a dozen times ; and I
can not now fully realize how it is possible to play success-
fully so large a fish, and one so game, in such boisterous
water, with such slender tackle. I am really afraid to try to
make a cast, for I expect if I get a strike that I shall either
break my rod, or the fish will part my line.
. The Doctor doeng Bettek. 73
••'aS'. Hoot ! doctor, don't be too modest ; a man who has shot
wolves in the Black Forest, and killed salmon in the Dee and
Moisie, is not easily demoralized by a striped bass.
Mosier. Yes, doctor, you jist make a cast out into the Rifle
Pit, and do it right away, for I see by their whirls that they
are hungry.
JS. See that your thumb-stalls are well on, and that your
line is clear. Now reel up so that your bait is within two
feet of the tip of your rod, and when you cast, hold your
thumb gently on the reel-line, and as the bait touches the
water, press your thumb on the line to check the reel at once,
and prevent the reel from overrunning.
D, Well, here goes for a second trial.
S. Very fair cast ; far enough for bass at this stage of tide.
D. Ye — ye — es, I see it is, but then I shall not be able to
save him — I know I can not, for he runs and pulls so like a
reindeer that I can not check liim. There ! my thumb-stall
is loose, and I feel that my reel is not tight. He's gone ! 1
knew 1 couldn't save him.
S. Don't be so excited, doctor ; keep cool, and reel in your
slack line ; he is only studying a new dodge or making a new
tack.
Mosier. He breaks water ; I seen him ; he's a scrouger !
S. There, doctor, you perceive he has hove to for a lunar,
and to discover how to tack ; there ! he is now laying his
course for Newport ; reel as fast as you can, and, if necessary,
run back to prevent him from getting slack line.
D. This last turn and the dash of spray nearly capsized
me. Why, he plays as strong as he .did w^hen he was first
hooked,
S. How long do you suppose you have played him ?
D. Nearly an hour, and he seems to grow stronger and
stronger.
S, It is not yet fifteen minutes since you hooked him ; bear
up, keep cool, and keep your line clear on the reel, and be
prepared for his fight. They do not appear to be in a mood
74 Fishing in American Waters.
for sulking this morning ; sometimes they settle behind rocks,
and butt the hook against them to spring it out.
Mosier. Don't you hold him a leetle too taut ?
D. I don't know ; but I can not play him easier, for when
I give him an inch, he takes a rod !
aS'. He will soon stop for his final fight. See ! he is prepar-
ing. Now ease the line a trifle, and trust to the chance of
his being well hooked.
2>. He's gone, I know he is ! Just see the fellow throw
himself like Pat McAroon in a street-fight. There, he's off!
No, he is not ; what's to be done ?
S. Reel up gently; he is dead ; that is, he has fought until
he has fainted. Gingerly, doctor ; reel with the incoming-
surf, and slacken with the ebb — there !
Mosier. He is a game one, and will weigh over twenty
pounds. They're allays hifalorum in them Rifle Pits ! Gen-
tlemen, the breakfast horns has been bio win a good while.
D, I am wilted. These rocks are rough to run about on
and play a fish, when every now and then Neptune drenches
one with spray. I had long heard that striped bass were
game, but all that I ever heard or read did not prepare me
for such encounters as I have seen and realized this morning.
I am not now surprised that Americans consider this the head
of game fiphes. The accessories of fishing for it, the scenes
where it is taken, together with the modus operandi of its
capture by artistic means, render the sport the most exciting
that I know of under the head of angling. I shall certainly
prescribe something to steady my nerves. Ek Men! To
breakfast is the order ; and as we have taken two grand bass,
ne quid nimis, we will even leave off fishing whilfe they are
feeding, which, for the vulgar object of ourselves feedmg, is,
with a real angler, an unpardonable offense against the aes-
thetics of sport. But, though belonging to the refined con-
fraternity of anglers, our excuse is that we are rigged with
human necessities.
As the breakfast-table is the morning's trysting-place for
BeEAKFAST and DEi*AETUEE. 75
the members of the chib, where they recount their exploits
over their tea and coffee, with broiled bluefish, striped bass,
and scopogue, or with broiled chicken and beefsteak, the ten-
der of congratulations to my friend for his success, and the
stories of successful takes by some, and of parting tackle with
others, acted as charming opiates to witch away the time ;
and when we rose from table we saw our yacht hove-to, and
the sails flapping an invitation for us to step on board. With
great reluctance and regret we parted from the members of
the West Island Club, and the most attractive five-acre island
in America.
The sail to Cuttyhunk was remarkably interesting, present-
ing views of the picturesque landscape, alternating with vil-
las and foliage on Massachusetts shore, and the group of Eliz-
abeth Islands and Martha's Vineyard, with No Man's Land
peering above the waves far out in the ocean. We arrived be-
fore lunch-time, and, having examined the trout preserve, the
black bass and white perch ponds, and taken each a couple of
striped bass from that incomparable stand, " Bass Rock," we
adjourned to dinner, where we were regaled with choice vi-
ands, wines, and the recital of angling exploits by the mem-
bers of the club, who are justly celebrated as amateur experts
with rod and reel.
After dinner we shook hands as an au revoir^ mats pas
adieu^ and ran over to Pugne Island, to drojj in upon John
Anderson, Esq., and learn from him what charms he could
see in his little island home of a hundred acres to induce a
millionaire of his industrious proclivities and habits — with-
out a knowledge or taste for field-sports oy yachting — to
shut himself out thus from the enjoyments of the greatest
and most social city in the Union — his birth-place, where he
ha&, by enterprise, accumulated a fortune, and possesses one
of the finest residences in the metropolis. He informed us
that the charming climate, with the constant feast to his eyes
in scenery, made up of the main land and the islands, with
the ever-changing aspect of the sea, filled his soul with rap-
76 Fishing in American Waters.
ture, and made his cup of happiness full to overflowing.
With a ptomise to visit him before taking final leave of
Vineyard Sound, we steered for Pasque Island, only six miles
distant.
Here we found a club-house with appointments calculated
to render not only the members of the club and their families
comfortable, but all such guests as members of the associa-
tion think proper to extend invitations to. The island in-
cludes more than a thousand acres, which the club has divid-
ed into two farms, erected commodious buildings, including
club-house, ice-house, stabling, etc. The club has also vege-
table and flower gardens, sail-boats and row-boats, and the
river, which sets back a mile into the island, is stocked with
a hundred thousand menhaden as bait for the use of the club.
This is the ne plus ultra of a place for angling, being sep-
arate by a strait half a mile wide from Norshon, which is
nine miles in length by two miles wide, fifteen miles from the
main land, and stocked with all the English and*Scotch game
birds and most of their game animals, including also several
hundred American deer, prairie-fowl, etc. It also contains a
large pond well stocked with black bass, besides several perch
ponds; the latter is not regarded as a very valuable acces-
sory to any piece of real estate, for perch fishing is not con-
sidered sport in America. I mean the common yellow perch
with barred sides ; but the white perch, like those of Cutty-
hunk, offer good sport to ladies and children, and are a very
good pan-fish, ranging in size from three ounces to three
pounds.
We remained at Pasque Island several days, most of the
time angling for striped bass, but occasionally, on a dark
day, spending it in a cruise after swordfish, which, we took
with the harpoon. Other days we rowed a little boat out a
hundred rods from shore, when we put down killick and still-
baited for squeteague. Weighing from five to fifteen pounds
each. Then, again, if the bluefish came in such shoals as to
turn our strait into a state of commotion resembling soap-
Attractions of the Elizabeth Islands. 77
%
suds, we rigged to the end of our bass-line about two feet of
piano wire, on which we wound ft hook with 'copper wire.
Then we anchored on the edge of the tide, and cast out a
hook baited without much care, and the moment afterward
we were saluted by a jerk and a Summersault a yard clear
of the surface, and a short, vigorous fight to bring the blue-
fish to gaff. An hour of energetic sport, and twenty bluefish
of from eight to twelve pounds each, generally satisfied us ;
and though the fish challenged us by menacing leaps to con-
tinue the contest, we preferred to retire — however ignomini-
ous it might appear to them — and recuperate for another
time. •
It was hard to part from those charming scenes and the
healthful recreation. The doctor decided to return home to
England, arrange his business, come back, and spend his life
atPasque Island. But how to leave those captivating aquatic
scenes, ranging from simple loveliness to grandeur, and some-
times rising to sublimity ? What scene can be more refresh-
ing and exalting than an expansive view of the mighty wayes,
dotted here and there with such beautiful islands as those in
the Vineyard Sound ? The Elizabeth Islands offer the condi-
ments of existence to season the dry hurry-scurry and com-
monplaceism of the business world on the main lands . of
America ; and they will, before many years, be numbered
with the watering-places of the world par excellence. While
aquatic birds skim the waves, and the gulls are screaming,
dipping, and darting over a shoal of bluefish or menhaden,
vessels outward and homeward bound are always passing, for
it includes in its range of view the packets and steamers for
England, and the steam and sailnig crafts between New York
and Boston. We have here the foreground and perspective
worthy the pencil of Claude de Lorraine, while the back-
ground is formed of the granite shores of Massachusetts, with
its improvements so varied and important as to give surety
of an intelligent and industrious population. Who would not
delight to angle here ?
78
Fishing in American Waters.
Eternal ocean ! old majestic sea !
Ever I love from shore to shore to look on thee,
Ahd sometimes on thy billowy back to ride,
And Sometimes o'er thy summer breast to glide ;
But let me live on land, where rivers run ;
Where shady trees may screen me from the sun ;
Where I may feel, serene, the fragrant air ;
Where, whatever toil" or wearying pains I bear,
Those eyes which look away all human ill
May shed on me their still, sweet, constant light.
And the hearts I love may, day and night,
Be found beside me, safe and clustering still."
Tackle for Weakfish. 79
Weakfish, or Squeteague. — Labrus Squeteague. — Storer.
CHAPTER IV.
WEAKFISH, OR SQUETEAGUE.
This fish is considered the second in interest by the angler
of the coast and estuaries of our Eastern and Middle States.
It never visits fresh water, and either spawns along the sea-
shores, or on deep middle-grounds of estuaries or bayous, the
latter being small bays and back-sets of tide waters. It is
probably a family of the Clupea genus^ one of the marked
characteristics of which is that it contains roe in difierent
stages of approximate maturity, though this fish diffiers by
continuing to spawn at diflTerent times from the last of March
until the first of November. It is, therefore, quite probable
that the squeteague visits our shores to spawn, and that it re-
mains during the spawning season ; and if it be true that the
time of their stay is regulated by the duration of their spawn-
ing season, then we may reasonably suppose that they spawn
along the term of time between March and November,
though the best time to angle for the squeteague is from the
first of June until October. From the middle of June until
September the tidal parts of rivers from Chesapeake Bay to
Vineyard Sound actually teem with them. I have taken
with light bassing-tackle, comprised of a nine-foot jointed
rod, a reel carrying a hundred yards of fine linen line, a swivel
sinker, single-gut leader, 'hooks snelled on single gut, like
those represented on the plate for taking small striped bass,
medium-sized vOrk float, and shrimp bait, on many occasions,
80 Fishing in American Watees.
M pair a minute for some time ; but the fish would not scale
over half a pound each. Shoals of them rise to the surface
like mackerel, at full tide, and take bait as fast as it can be
cast to them ; but after they sink it is useless to angle longer
for them. Then you will generally hear a croaking sound in
the water all round your boat, which indicates their presence ;
but while croaking they will seldom bite. They generally
croak for half a minute after being landed.
At full tide slack I once rowed out from the Bath Hotel,
where I was passing the summer, nearly to the mouth of Co-
ney Island Creek, where I took eighty-four squeteague within
forty minutes. They averaged about three quarters of a
pound. This was in July. At every cast I hooked a pair,
and fished as expertly as possible until a shoal of porpoises
approached, when the squeteague settled, or sank, and quit
biting.
This is a white-meated fish, the meat rather mealy when
small ; but after it scales ten pounds it becomes as flaky as
a salmon, and resembles one very much, except in its being
a square-tail. It is an excellent pan-fish if cooked when first
caught, being free from the flavor of any foreign substance ;
but it soon deteriorates, and its juices become absorbed. In
point of delicacy of flavor, many epicures prefer it to either
the striped bass or bluefish. Its eyes being oval, it is sup-
posed to possess the strongest sight of any estuary fish. Al-
though it has no teeth on the tongue or in the throat, its jaws
are armed with pretty strong and sharp ones, which are set
so far apart as to prevent it from biting off a gut snell. Its
mouth is very bony, and the meat being tender, it is there-
fore liable to unhook easily by the hook tearing a large ori-
fice, or not taking sufficient depth of hold. I therefore rec-
ommend a hook of fine wire, well tempered, and of large bend.
The rushing bite of a squeteague is precisely like that of a
brook trout, but its play is of shorter duration, and it sooner
yields to fatigue.
The shape of the squeteague is represented-by the engrav-
1
Sportive EsTUAKY FigniNG. 81
ing, and its colors are gray, masculated on the back and
down to the middle of the sides with clouded spots of dark-
er shade, and all terminating in a gold-colored belly, pecto-
ral, ventral, and anal fins. The dorsals and tail are clouded
like the back. The first dorsal is composed of spiked rays,
and the second soft.
In angling for large squeteague about the Elizabeth Isl-
ands and in the Vineyard Sound, heavy combination tracing-
sinkers are used, and the shank-headed bass-hook, baited with
menhaden, is preferred. There they are taken by still-baiting
from a boat anchored from thirty to fifty rods from shore, in
from fifteen to twenty feet water. The squeteague is one
of the swiftest fishes of the square-tails, and its ready and
dashing bite, and short fight, render angling for it with light
bass-tackle as exciting as for almost any other fish of our es-
tuaries. For the very small fish shrimp is the be^t bait ; for
the yellow-fins shedder crab is the best ; but for those of the
large and rounded form of the salmon, the menhaden bait is
generally preferred.
It is almost superfluous to state that angling in the tide-
ways with success requires that attention be paid to the
stages of the tide. In general, squeteague bite best on the
second half of the flood tide, but there are places where they
bite best on the ebb. If outside the mouth of a river, the
first of the flood is best, while well up the estuary they begin
biting when the tide is half up, and continue until half ebb.
Though feeding-ground for squeteague is in deeper water
than is chosen by striped bass, yet they generally forage
along the bank of the channel. I have frequently anchored
my boat so that, angling with the tide, I was sure to take
nothing but striped bass, but by casting to the right or left,
outside the bank, within three rods of the boat, I would take
nothing but squeteague, and an occasional blackfish or tautog.
In a commercial point of view the squeteague is important.
The runs of shad up our rivers cease about the first week in
June, when the squeteague become numerous in our bays and
F
82 FisHiNO IN American Watees.
the estuaries of the larger rivers. Great quantities are then
taken in seines, pounds, and set-nets, which supply the marble
stands of the markets lately vacated by the shad. The sque-
teague at this time divides interest with the early run of blue-
fish, and about the middle of June the sheepshead visit us,
when the variety includes also tautog and black bass, with
the bonetta, cero, and the incomparable Spanish mackerel.
These do not include any of the fresh- water fishes, of which
the black bass is very numerous in June.
SECTION SECOND.
SOUTHERN SEA TROUT.
From Delaware Bay all along the Southern coast, and in
the estuaries of rivers which debouch into a bay or arm of
the Atlantic, this fish is taken in great numbers with nets
and angling tackle, and is known as the " sea trout." Both
its habits and play are so much like those of the squeteague,
or weakfish, that anglers along the coast of NTew Jersey
term it the spotted weakfish, to distinguish it from the oth-
er, which they call the mottled weakfish ; but the inhabit-
ants of the coast from Delaware to Florida know it only as
the " sea trout," or " spotted silversides."
\
Southern Sea Trout. — " Otolithus regalis"
The body of the sea trout is more round, and it is smaller
from the tail to the second dorsal and anal fins than the weak-
fish or squeteague. Its meat is also firmer, and the flakes
closer and more compact, while its silver-gray back and sides
are of a bluish tint, which shines like burnished steel, and its
belly and the lower fins are white, without a yellow tinge.
Eesoets of Sea Trout. 83
It is also sprinkled aU over, including its dorsal fins and tail,
with jet black dots about the size of a pea.
Professor Mitchill, in writing of the squeteague, states :
" A beautiful variety of this fish is sometimes seen with the
following characters, to wit : Spotted squeteague — [Lab. Sq.
maculatus]. There are black, well-defined spots among the
specks over the back and sides, and checkering the caudal
and second dorsal fins. The pectoral fins are rather small ;
ventral and anal fins not yellow, but brownish. The parts
thus variegated with spots have a pretty appearance." With-
out doubt, the professor alluded to the Southern sea trout ;
and as it shoals with the squeteague, and only visits the
shores of New Jersey occasionally and in small numbers, he
did not see proper to distinguish it by other than a peculiarly
f marked variety of the squeteague ; whereas it difiers more
palpably from the squeteague than do some families of the
mackerel tribes, eminently the Spanish mackerel and the cero,
which differ only in the color of their spots, the first being
gold color, and the latter black.
The sea trout is superior to the squeteague as a table-fish ;
its scales are about the same size, but fii-mer, brighter, and
not so viscid. As a game fish, it is fully equal to the sque-
teague, as free a biter, and as readily netted. Both fishes are
summer spawners, laying from 175,000 to 700,000 eggs.
The sea trout appears along the coast and estuaries of the
Southern States nearly all the year round, but takes the hook
most freely from June until December. It is taken of all
sizes between a pound and fifteen pounds' weight, and if there
is a difference in game between this fish and the squeteague,
it is in favor of the sea trout, which is a heavier fish of its
size, and rather more elaborately rigged with fins. It should
be angled for in the same manner and with the same tackle
used for taking squeteague ; and shedder crab is its weak-
ness. But as all the shores and estuaries of the South are
alive with crabs, as well as other Crustacea, baits are easily
obtained for striped bass, trout, golden mullet, hogfish, grunt-
84: Fishing in American Waters.
ers, sheepshead, and several other species of anglers' fishes,
all of which are much more numerous than they are in the
latitude of New York. Fishes for the troll are also very nu-
merous along the coost of the Southern States ; such, for ex-
ample, as the Spanisl\ mackerel, bonetta, or botiito, pompineau,
redfish, cero, and bluefish ; and while gunners extend their
sporting tours as far south as the Floridas, and west to the
Rocky Mountains, anglers seem contented with trouting in
spring, visiting Canada for salmon in summer, and casting
the hook baited with menhaden for bass in the surf along the
rocky shores of the Atlantic in the autumn. But it would be
well worth while to make an angling tour southward in au-
tumn; and such as may desire to extend the sporting season
would do well to take a trip to Washington, and angle for
striped bass below the falls of the Potomac ; thence to Nor-
folk, for meeting the Spanish mackerel, striped bass, sea troutf
and hogfish — a great delicacy — and other fishes of the coast.
If the sportsman be a relative of Nimrod, he may close the
season's sport along the coast of North Carolina by shooting
wild geese, and the numerous varieties of duck which congr^
gate there in myriads.
SECTION THIRD.
SHEEPSHEAD.
At mouth of river, or where deep
O'er mussel-beds the bay tides sweep,
The bulky sheepshead loves to hie
When summer suns ride hot and dry ;
And there, for hours, in anchor'd boat,
Hopeful, the patient anglers float,
Only too happy if a score
Of dainty fish enrich their store.
The sheepshead is one of the most interesting on the list
of anglers' fishes. It is a dinner-fish, and by many termed
the American turbot, because it frequently figures at alder-
manic dinners. It is really a delicious fish when either boiled,
or stuffed and baked. It usually makes its appearance in our
bays and estuaries about the first of June, and remains until
Que Aldermanic Fish. 85
the middle of September; but it does not visit streams above
the estuary, and is found in greatest numbers along the mus-
sel shoals or beds, and around old wrecks in the bays. When
it first makes its appearance in our waters it is thin and
lean, but it soon increases in plumpness and succulence, so
that from an average weight of four pounds early in June,
it increases to nine pounds by the middle of August. Its
maximum weight is twenty pounds, but the runs along the
coasts of Long Island and New Jersey, where they are confess-
edly in best condition and flavor, seldom range higher than
from ten to fifteen pounds. Its mouth is paved throughout
the roof and lower jaw with square teeth of flat surface, like
eight4nch square mosaic, but rather larger at the outer edge
of the jaw, where its even teeth resemble those of a sheep,
from which it is supposed its name is derived. But the teeth
are not sharp, and there is space between them for a fish-line
to play, so that it seldom parts a line, or even a single gut
snell, while mussels and clams are instantly crushed to pow-
der by its powerful jaws.
Sheepshead. — Spams ovis. — DeKay.
Its scales are large, and surpass in brilliancy the highest
metallic polish ; they are about half an inch in diameter, hard,
and radiate from concentric lines, lapping so as to form a de-
fense on the back and sides against a blunt-pointed gafl".
86
Fishing in American Waters.
The crescent-shaped bands on each side are sometimes quite
black on the back, and lighten gradually to a dark gray tint
near the belly. The color of the fish is neutral-tinted on the
back, which lightens gradually to the lateral line, below which
it is like white ehene silk. The spiked dorsal fin is followed
by a second of soft rays. The upper ray of the pectoral fin
is spiked. Its eyes are large, and almost beam) with intelli-
gence. The cheeks are often tinged with a pinky glow ; and
when first raised from the water, and lying exhausted and mo-
tionless in the landing-net, it is one of the most beautiful and
happy-looking objects ever raised above the sparkling wave.
Hooks and Sinkers foe Sheepshead.
Examine youe Tackle. 87
As the play of the sheepshead yields a new sensation to
the amateur who for the first time indulges the penchant of
angling for this dinner luxury, and as the modus operandi oi
its capture is somewhat peculiar, the opposite sketch is giv-
en to indicate the forms and sizes of the hooks and sinkers
used by anglers with rod and reel, and by members of the
hand-line committee.
No. 1. Hook of the Sproat bend, small but strong, of finest
tempered steel, and the short point and barb sharpened like
a fine knife-blade, not round and needle-pointed like those
for striped bass and squeteague. There is a fine gimp-wire
loop wound to the shank with fine waxed sewing silk or
fine linen thread. I recommend waxed linen thread when
snells are wound to hooks for any of the respectable sized
game fishes of our estuaries ; for fresh water, silk is pref-
erable.
Ko. 2. Shank-headed hook, with the line fastened below the
head by two or three half hitches, the same as for use in
fishing for large striped bass. In fastening the line to the
hook, cast the two half hitches around below the head, then
turn up the end of the line and cast another half hitch over
the shank and the end of line, filling the space to the head.
Then drawthe hitch tight, cut ofi" the end of line even with
the head of hook, and turn the hook in the tie until it turns
easily, and you have the best possible hook-rigging. The
hook should be made of finest tempered steel, and the point
very sharp, or it will be either turned or broken in the mo-
saic pavement of the mouth before it slides to the rim of
the jaw, and by the turn of the fish fastens the hook in the
lip or corner of the mouth.
No. 3. This is the size of hook for hand-line fishing, at which
a large business is done during July and August, and some-
times throughout September. There is a greater number
caught by the hand-line than by sweep-nets or seines, the
only other methods of taking them for market. The Vir-
ginia bend, like 3, with knife-blade edges of barb and point.
88 Fishing in American Waters.
is preferred ; and the fine but strong linen leader, or twist-
ed or braided hair leader a yard long, is armed with a hook
at each end, one to be baited with a whole soft-shell clam
by inserting the hook between the shells, and the other
with the clam taken out of the shell
No. 4. Tracing sinker of lead, with a hole through the centre
longitudinally. All sinkers should be of lead, as one of the
most ponderous metals. At the upper end of the leader —
which is the same material as the line — three fourths of a
yard above hook No. 1 , the leader should be tied to a brass
swivel, and, after running the end of the line through the
sinker, the end of the line should be tied to the upper end of
the swivel, to prevent the sinker from falling too near the
hook, and still to permit the line to play freely through it
when it rests on a mussel-bed at the bottom, so that the
angler may feel the slightest nibble. This is also a mark-
ed point in still-baiting on the bottom for striped bass and
squeteague.
No. 5. Sinker for hand-line fishing. Tie the end of line to the
sinker though the hole in the end. About ten or twelve
inches above the sinker, tie to the main line a leader with
a hook like No. 3 at each end. The leader should be near-
ly a yard long, and if made of hair it will be lighter and
play easier than if of linen ; and when the sinker lies on
the bed of mussels where sheepshead feed, it is well to have
the leader so light that the hooks will be moved about by
the tide. One hook should be about a foot from the main
line, and the other two feet. When thus rigged, and you
have cast as far as you can astern of your anchored boat,
take up all your slack line and your heavy sinker, which
will permit you to draw the line straight without moving
it, and this will enable even a member of the hand-line-
committee to feel the slightest bite.
I am thus particular in describing the rig for hand-line fish-
ing because many good anglers consider the electrit? dips and
dives of a " head" too quick for a line to render before break-
Starting foe a Day's Fishing. 89
ing a rocL I do not appreciate a repugnance to a rod because
a fish plays rapidly and with powerful demonstration. The
angler should use a heavy rod, about nine feet in length, and,
like the ordinary bass rod, the two lower joints should be of
ash, and the top of lancewood, or the whole rod should be of
Japan bamboo. I rather favor a bamboo rod for sheepshead
fishing. The angler should use the heaviest make of a steel
pivot bass reel, large enough to carry six hundred feet of
line, though there will probably never be naore than half that
length carried off the reel ; but the fish doubles and turns so
rapidly that a large drum, or much line on a reel, is necessary
to wind the line in quickly and prevent the fish from getting
slack line, and to give him time to disgorge or break the
hook.
To the angler who has never fished for sheepshead I would
say, " You have a rare treat in store, so enjoy it the first op-
portunity." If a resident of New York, you will find Canar-
sie, or the " Old Mill," near East New York, the most conve-
nient places to take sail-boat from, and bait is generally plen-
ty at either place. Sail down the channel above the inlet
toward Near Rockaway ; about a mile below Remsen's Hotel,
feel by sounding for a mussel-bed : they are numerous for a
mile along shore, about 200 yards from it. When found, cast
anchor far enough away, so that when the boat toles round
by the tide toward the feeding-ground, the cast required for
dropping your sinker on it will be about fifty feet. The wa-
ter should be about seven feet deep at low tide, and it rises
there from four to six feet. The best tide to fish is during
high and low tides, when the water is slack, and until it runs
at the rate of five miles the hour, or one hour after it begins
to run ; for when the tide mns at its full strength, sheeps-
head seek some still-water ground, and wait for a moderate
motion of the waters. During the intermission I am in the
habit of taking up anchor and trolling for bluefish, or of
seeking some feeding-ground up a bayou, or some sunken
vessel, where I angle for sea bass, squeteague, striped bass.
00 Fishing in Ameeican Watees.
blackiish, and an occasional sheepshead, until the tide again
serves on the mussel-beds, which generally border the main
channel.
At the right times of tide, the locations of the mussel-beds
are plainly indicated by a fleet of from twenty to fifty small
sail-boats of hand-line fishermen. Many of them are farmers
who reside near the shore of Jamaica Bay, and employ the
interregnum between hay and grass to unite pleasure and
profit by earning from three to ten dollars a day at fishing
for sheepshead. There is always ready sale for the fish at a
price nearly equal to that obtained for salmon.
Having grouped the implements — except the necessary one
of a large landing-net, of heavy brass rim and large meshes
of strong twine — suppose we drive down seven miles to Ca-
narsie, and go out from there to try the " head" for one turn
of tide?
Crossing the ferry from New York, our drive from Brook-
lyn lies through a labyrinth of flower and vegetable gardens,
forming a landscape dotted here and there with chateaux
whose surroundings prove the menage to have been designed
with a view to uniting comfort with elegance. Those old
oaks, cherry-trees, and black walnuts, together with the ser-
pentine windings of a couple of trout brooks, are the only
marks left of that antiquity which antedates our Revolution-
ary War for Independence; but the gardens, lawns, fruit-
trees, and margins of flowers, foi'ming the landscape into a
picture of beauty, and loading the air with perfume, demand
that the senses of smell and sight shall do their duty.
% % ^ ^ % ^ %
Yes, judge,vWe are already at Canarsie, and I do not won-
der at your surprise that in le^s than one hour we should
have left urban blocks of brick and marble, and been wafted,
as it were, through seven miles of flowers, to be set down on
the margin of the sea, with all its aquatic views breaking
upon us like a startling pun or paradox. Be pleased to step
upon the piazza of the hotel and take a look seaward, while
Quaint Salts at Canaesie. 91
our host orders Captain Abrams to bring his yacht along the
dock. It was amusing, when I first inaugurated rod-fishing
for sheepshead, to perceive the members of the hand-line-com-
mittee cast furtive glances at me as they winked knowingly
to one another, as much as to say, " All's fish as comes to our
net, and a greenhorn is as good as any, if he pays." The clam-
rakers and crab-catchers, whose small sail and row boats dot
the shores and shoals of Jamaica Bay as they saunter about
barefooted and clad in a red shirt and rolled-up trowsers, also
believed that anglers for sheepshead with rod and reel were
monomaniacs ; and though they freely took my money for
bait, they frankly advised me to use a hand-line for " head."
This want of faith, however, lasted no longer than did the
gibes and sneers of the shad-fishermen at Holyoke when Seth
Green stated that he could hatch a million of shad a day, and
within a week he hatched six times that number daily. So
the members of the hand-line-committee and bait-catchers
soon became not only civil, but vied with each other in sec-
onding my wishes by taking pains to 'procure me peculiar
baits, etc., concluding finally that angling with a rod and reel
may be as respectable as fishing with a hand-line.
SECTION FOURTH.
ANGLING FOE SHEEPSHEAD.
The saline air is invigorating, and a slight haze protects us
from an unwelcome glare of the sun. The gulls scream as
they dip and sweep over shoals of young herring and men-
haden. Members of the hand-line-committee are out in full
force, and sixty clinker-built and copper-fastened tiny sail-
boats, with poles lowered and sails wrapped round them, are
anchored along the banks of mussel-beds, intent on baiting
with clams, and casting their heavy sinkers — -catchung ! ca-
lung ! Our captain rounds our craft to as if he intended to
swamp half a dozen tiny craft ; but all is serene and the an-
chor cast, when the captain falls to opening shedder crab and
soft-shell clams, and throwing the shells overboard at the bow
9^ Fishing in American Waters.
of the boat, so that the tide will carry them astern and at-
tract the fish.
With the sail lowered over the centre of the stem and
lashed, the judge takes his stand on one side of it and my-
self on the other, when each with a single-rigged hook, as be-
fore stated, and well baited with shedder crab, make our first
cast.
" Judge, permit me to advise that when your sinker touch-
es the water you do not slack your line or permit any to run
from the reel, but let it sink naturally, and the tide will keej)
your line straight, so that you will be able to distinguish the
faintest nibble after it settles on the bottom. If you do not
get a bite in a minute, jerk — as if you intend to hook a fish —
and reel in a yard or two of the slack caused by the jerk, and
then let the sinker settle as at first. Keep striking and reel-
ing a few feet every minute until you have efiectually fished
over all the ground from where you cast to the boat. Then
reel all the way up and repair damage to bait, and cast again.
I have cast and reeled in for hours, sometimes without get-
ting a single bite from a ' head,' and in such cases my friends
resorted to segars and other expedients to prevent them from
becoming discouraged ; and if they saw the hand-line men
catch a few and string them to a cord fastened to the thole-
pins, leaving the fish in the water to keep them alive, they
would forthwith order our captain to bargain for a few at a
dollar each. But, before we or they discontinued fishing, we
would take the greatest number of any craft in the bay, and
frequently more than we knew how to dispose of But the
tide slackens, and ' head' will begin to bite very soon. Keep
your line clear on the reel, and straight from the tip of your
rod to the sinker." " There ! I've hooked one !" " His shoot-
ing up to the top of the water is no sign of weakness, for you
perceive that I can not prevent him from diving to the bot-
tom quicker than he came up. Captain, man the landing-
net, and be ready and careful, for he is a fifteen-pounder !
There, he is off again ; you perceive that I can turn him and
Contest with a Sheepshead. 93
bring him to the surface, but as soon as he smells the upper
air he turns quicker than thought, and, unless I yield him line,
he will either part it or break my rod. The sheepshead is
what Lord Dundreary said of a certain bird, ' werry wobust.'
You are right, judge, he is beautiful ; but do not count him
until he is in the landing-net. There ! stand out of the way
of his dorsal and pectoral spikes ; I always wear boots ;i5vhen
angling for sheepshead or trolling for bluefish."
" Ho ! judge, you have hooked a good one. Good ! Play
him gently and gingerly."
" He'll not let me ! I expect to lose him. There, that's the
third time I have brought him to the surface, only to see him
take more line and get farther from the boat at every turn.
By the powere, there ! Captain, how much will he weigh ?"
"I guess summut near on to ten pound."
" What ! You don't rtiean to say he'll not scale more than
ten pounds ?",
" Yes, sir ; maybe et's summut bigger."
I check the interesting colloquy by stating that I think our
fishes are about the same size, but that the one I have just
hooked is larger than either. The judge then sees that it is
best to employ all his time at fishing while the biting con-
tinues. As I land the second one, I remark :
" Judge, you perceive there is no mistaking the bite of a
sheepshead ; his bite informs you that he is in earnest."
" Precisely so. His bite is like that of no other fish. It
is as spasmodic as a bluefish and as powerful as an alligator,
and he gives, also, an indescribable premonition, informing
you that a powerful fish is examining your bait. There !
he's gone !"
" Well, judge, please examine your hook. The point is bro-
ken off. The only safe place to hook a ' head' is in the lip,
or at the angle covering the mandibles. I took thirteen here
one day, and played a greater number which I lost. Our
fishing-tackle kings should inspire greater confidence and
better temper by giving us finer tempered hooks."
94 Fishing in American Waters.
The captain counts eleven as our take. Moderate, but
enough. Suppose we reel up ? Captain, head the craft home-
ward. Let's unjoint our rods, put them in their cases, and
enjoy the sail. To our left is the lower bay of New York,
the fortifications and shore of New Jersey. To our right is
Rockaway, and the great South Bay. Those birds in the
weed* are yellow-leg snipe, and those on the sand-bars are
summer snipe, of numerous varieties. The gulls seem to be
at war, for they sally from the islets and descend on spearing
and shoals of small fry as if they were storming a fortification.
Our horse is ready, and our fish are stowed under the car-
riage seat. We will try to drive home before sundown.
There are many places along our shores better than Jamai-
ca Bay, where we fished to-day, for sheepshead. The hand-
line-committee make it pay at Fire Island, and there are
many superior feeding-places in the 'South Bay. About the
wreck of the Black Warrior, near the Narrows, is celebrated
for great numbers of them. In truth, our whole coast south
of Long Island is rendered inviting by this delicious fish.
Late in autumn the sheepshead are numerous along the
shores of Virginia and the Carolinas, but they are not so
good any where else as within* the latitude of the State of
New York. The sheepshead of our northern chain of lakes
is an inferior fish, and should not be confounded with our
coast and estuary delicacy.
Along the shores of New Jersey sheepshead are numerous
from May until October :
Where inlet of the Barnegat
Opes to the boiling surf its gate,
When the young flood-tide washes in
Limpet and crab, a luring bait,
Then, where the affluent current pours
The deepest o'er its mussel floors,
The greedy sheepshead hidden lie
To seize whatever may float by.
And there, in dancing boat that stvings
At anchor in the floating tides.
The angler line and plummet flings,
And takes the robber where he hides.
A GAMY AND DELICIOUS FlSH. 95
SECTION FIFTH.
THE KINGFISH.
By many anglers this fish is regarded as the best water-
game of the estuaries. It is justly entitled to be considered
one of the best food and anglers' fishes of the waves which
wash the shores from Sandy Hook to New York City. Its
small and hard mouth is bordered with a gristly rim, peculi-
arly adapted to holding a small hook. In the waters about
the city this fish is not numerous, nor are the members of the
limited shoals of large size, runnii^ only from a half to two
pounds each off Communipaw, Kill Von Kull, and Newark
Bay ; but at the south end of Staten Island, in Amboy Bay,
and where it merges into the lower Bay of New York, near
Freeport, and in Jamaica Bay, near Barren Island, they some-
times run as heavy as five pounds. All along the South Bay
and the New Jersey shore and inlets this delectable fish is
taken in greater or less numbers in fykes, seines, pounds, and
with the hand-line, while they yield tithe to sportsmen with
rod and reel
The Kingfish. — Scecena Nebulosa. — Mitchill.
The meat of the kingfish laminates in flakes of very close
texture. It is a very heavy fish for its size. Though emi-
nently a breakfast fish, yet for a chowder the epicure prefers
it to sea bass or cod, the acknowledged chowder fishes. The
96 Fishing in American Watees.
color of the fish is gray, with irregular marks nearly black.
It is covered with fine, rigid scales, which extend over the
head. The first dorsal is spinous, and all the other fins are
soft-rayed. The fish possesses great propulsive power, as in-
dicated by its fins, so that a three-pounder at the remote end
of a line, with delicate bass rod, generally induces the novice
to believe the strength, speed, and endurance of the fish un-
der-estimated. "Gently, but firmly," are the words in play-
ing a kingfish, which some denominate " barb," because a
short adipose barb shoots out beneath its lower jaw; but it
bears no resemblance to^ the barbel family. It spawns in
spring-time, as most white-meated fishes do; and, though
rather solitary in its habits, it remains in our estuaries and
small bays along the coast from May until November. Au-
gust and September are the best months to angle for it; and
as the tackle required should be adapted to its size of mouth
and great propulsive power, the following cut may assist the
angler who would enjoy the sport of taking the fish, which —
for his inches — is eminently the king of game fishes.
The rod is the common three-jointed bass-rod, from eight
to ten feet in length. Pivot, multiplying reel of German sil-
ver or brass, large enough to carry from four to six hundred
feet of fine linen line.
The play of a kingfish is peculiar, though like the striped
bass he takes the bait without hesitation and starts ^way,
and when he feels the prick of the hook, accelerates his speed,
swimming low, and making a very long and strong run. If
you have never taken one you will be puzzled with his invet-
erate persistence in keeping down and running deep, and
your surprise will not be diminished when he finally breaks
water a hundred yards from the boat ; and you will wonder,
after landing a fish which has taken you nearly half an hour
to kill, that it weighs scarcely three pounds. The vital spark
of the kingfish is very brilliant, and he is very tenacious of it ;
but, once landed, he exhibits a vanquished look, and his or-
ange-colored eyes and scaly head turn downward, as if both
JIang-dog Look when Vanquished.
97
KiNOFisH Tackle.
A. Strong hook, but small ; either the Virginia or Sproat's bend, made of finely tem-
pered cast-steel, and needle-pointed: a short bend and low point is required, be-
cause the mouth is very small ; and a hook of large wire in proportion to the sizt-
of the bend is necessary, because of the great strength of the fish. B. Tracinjr
sinker : the size should be graduated to the strength of the tide, hence the combi-
nation sinker is the best, because its jjouderosity may be increased or diminished
without untying the line. C. German silver tip, mounted with carnelian or agate,
to screw into duplicate tops of laucewood ; regular size. D. Part of a lancewood
top, showing its size, double guide^ and line. E. Line, showing how it passes
through a. jewel-mounted guide. F. Guide, of German silver, bell-metal, or alumi-
num. 6. Bell-metal guide, attached by the same ring which fastens the carnelian.
H. Brass swivel, to one end of which the line is attached, and to the other the lead-
er, which is three fourths of a yard in length, and the snell to which the hook is
wound is looped to the leader : both leader and snell (or snood) are doable Bilk-
worm gut.
fatigued and ashamed ; not like the striped bass and sheeps-
head, who look happy, and seem to say, " Mr. Angler, I guess
you had your metal tried in playing me ;" or like a traveler
just arrived from Europe, assuming an air of importance, as
if condescending to visit America just to see for himself what
the Yankees are like. But, though the kingfish looks like a
deck-passenger after a long voyage, the angler is sure of one
point in his favor, and the cook, as well as the epicure, will
be fully assured of another. •
The kingfish shoals on a clean sandy bottom, feeds on Crus-
tacea, and prefers shrimp, shedder, and soft-shell crabs and
lobsters. Anchor off Barren Island to the north of the edge of
the channel, and expect sport. Anchor east of Chesnequack
Creek, on the border of the channel between there and Free-
port, and in August and September you can not fail of ob-
G
"98 FiSHma in American Waters. ,
taining rapturous sport. Take your bait with you from a
^ew York market, for fear of delay. Caving Channel, a
sandy bottom tideway from Communipaw to Jersey City, is
said to be a favorite run for small kingfish, where good sport
is often realized on the first of the flood. Kingfish feed also
at numerous places in the South Bay, and all along the coast
of New Jersey.
To anglers who dwell near the coast,
The kingfish is a peculiar joy ;
And among all the scaly host,
This they choose as their favorite toy.
SECTION SIXTH.
THE HOGFISH.
This fish is very numerous on the Bahama banks and along
the coast of the Southern States, visiting in the spring, which
is its spawning season, as far north as the mouth of the Ches-
apeake Bay. It is white-meated and very juicy, requiring no
butter or lard in cooking, and its peculiar flavor is very rich
and creamy, being the best table-fish among anglers' fishes of
the South. It ranges in weight from five to fifteen pounds.
Its scales are rather large, excej)t on the head, where they arc
The Hogfish.
very small. The first dorsal is spinous-rayed, and all the
rays of the other fins are soft. It is marked similar to the
perch, with rays or bars of a darker shade than the rest of the
fish, which is a reddish-brown. This fish is angled for by
still-baiting with shedder or soft-shell crab, and with shank-
Delicacies without Olive Oil. 99
headed hooks, like those for taking large bass. As its scales
are very tenacious, some cooks recommend skinning it as the
New Englanders do tautog and yellow perch. It is an excel-
lent iish Avhen stuffed and baked, but it is rather adipose for
boiling.
Apropos of scaling fish: Firsts lave them in vinegar, and
the most tenacious scales will be easily removed.
THE GRUNTEB.
This is a silver-sided fish with gray back and white belly.
The fish is very plump, round, and fat, without any foreign
taste. It usually weighs from two to five pounds, and is
juicy enough to fry. without butter. It is one of the best
breakfast fishes of the shores and estuaries, and usually shoals
with the squeteague, and utters several grunts after being
landed. It is angled for the same as the squeteague. Its
fins are all soft-rayed, and it is leather-mouthed; medium
sized scales cover the. body. In speaking of a frying fish, 1
believe in the epicurean theory of never frying a fish which
weighs over half a pound ; and that boiling, broiling, baking,
and chowdering are the only true ways to cook fish, except
the primitive ones of rolling them in buttered paper and roast-
ing them in hot embers, or threading them on a birch toast-
ing-fork, with a slice of pork, and roasting them before a
^amp-fire. The grunter is a great delicacy, and very good
game for the sportsman with rod and reel.
The Gkcntek,
100 Fishing in American Waters.
THE GOLDEN MULLET.
This is eminently a fish of the coast and inlets of the Caro-
linas, though in summer it is taken in considerable numbers
as far north as the coast and estuaries of New Jersey. Its
mouth is very small and toothless, so that a person might be
led to suppose that it lived on animalcula did it not bite so
ravenously. In size, the golden mullet range from half a
pound to a pound, and they are so fat that cooks say "they
fry themselves." I know of no fish possessing in an equal de-
gree the rich, sweet juiciness of the golden mullet. It is al-
ways distinguishable by from tw^o to four jet spots above^
the tail. The color of the back is brown, sides golden, belly
white, meat a cream color. Its scales are small and soft, fins
soft-rayed. The body is masculated in dark shades like the
squeteague, and the tail is straight across the end.
The Golden Mullet.
The golden mullet affords exciting sport to the young an-
gler with very light bass and perch tackle. The rod should
either be four-jointed and ten feet long, or a plain bamboo
pole, mounted with guides and reel-rings. The reel may be
small, but large enough to carry a hundred yards of fine linen
line, because the angler sometimes hooks squeteague, grunt-
ers, striped bass, and kingfish while angling for the smaller
delicacy. The golden mullet affects shrimp bait, but will
sometimes take mussels and soft clams. The hook must be
small — single leaders are preferred — and a swivel and float
afford the prettiest sport, with two hooks, as rigged for small
striped bass. The golden mullet seldom ventures far above
the estuaries of rivers, and it should not be disgraced by con-
Spokt for Ladies and Childben. 1,01
founding it with the numerous family of mullets of the Mugil
geiius.
THE WHITE PERCH.
This fish is found at the meeting of salt and fresh waters all
along the coast from Cape Cod to the Carolinas, and, though
similar in essential marks, it differs in shade and symmetry
either according to its food or the waters it inhabits. It is a
little fish at best, ranging all the way from ]bhree ounces to
three pounds. Of course you throw the small ones back if
you do not hook them in the gills. The back is neutral-tint-
ed, sides a silvery lustre, and belly white. The first dorsal is
spinous, and the others soft-rayed, except the first anal. The
Iiead is small, and, with its silver-plated gill-covers, small
mouth, and little teeth, looks pretty, bites freely, and resists
the angler merrily. This fish is peculiarly adapted for the
sport of juveniles. It is a pan-fish, white-meated, flat, easily
scaled, and quite a delicacy in November, for it is one of our
latest biting fishes. Angle for it with light bass-tackle, and
it is generally to be found near where a creek of fresh watei*
empties into salt water, or in brackish waters over springs
which bubble up from the bottom of a pond or river. A
white perch which weighs but a pound afibrds sport with
light tackle, and, when weighing three pounds, it plays very
vigorously.
The White Perch.
i02 Fishing in American Waters.
THE SMELT.
This is a small, delicate fish, supposed by some to belong
to the salmon tribe, though it is not nearly so much like it
as is a shiner like a shad. It is almost translucent, and from
five to eight inches in length ; its meat is soft, white, and
sweet, with no bones but the spine and ribs, which are so
small and tender that they are eaten with the precious mor-
sel of a fish when fried hard in olive oil, or rolled in flour and
fried in butter so as to be crisp. Its scales are impercepti-
ble, but the skin, traced in small diamond lines, is like the
canvas skin of the trout of Long Lake. It is ash-colored on
the back, with white sides and belly. This is a favorite bait
for trout or salmon, and an excellent sample for a spinning
bait. As affording sport, the smelt is no mean game. Late
The Smelt. — Osmerus Eperlanus. — Yarrell.
in- the autumn, when ice begins to border the streams, the
angler rigs a long perch-rod with a small multiplying reel,
and a fine line ri^sced with half a dozen small trout or min-
now hooks on short snells fastened to the main line, six inch-
es apart, and baited with pieces of shrimp or bits of clam,
and resorts in boat up small tidal streams, anchors and angles
for them during the flood tide, when it is not uncommon to
take from a fourth to half a dozen of these pearly beauties at
a time, as fast as he can bait his hooks and cast them near
the boat. There is nothing prettier than these gems dangling
and shining at the end of the line, when they emit the odor
of fresh cucumbers. On the approach of winter, anglers of
all ages are seen on the bridges and along the saline streams
of the coast, from Delaware Bay to the eastern boundary of
Maine ; and as an article of commerce, thousands are sold in
A Bait for Striped Bass.
103
the New York markets, the average retail price being twenty
cents a pound. The smelt is eminently the winter sport for
the angler, succeeding the white perch in small tidal creeks.
This fish will also take the fly when sunk to their feeding-
level near the bottom.
When twinkling icicles depend
From woods that with the bright freight bend,
When salty stream and open sound
With adamantine ice are bound,
Then o'er the solid frozen stream
The tents of the smelt-fishers gleam ;
Each opes with axe the crj'stal floor,
Then patient watches at the door.
THE SPEARING, OR SILVERSIDES.
This is the same order of abdominales .as the smelt and
caplin, shoals with them, and is eminently a bait for the sal-
mon and striped bass. Late in October, in a tideway, bait
with this fish for striped bass. On Pelham Bridge, anglers
are seen letting the line carry out with the strong tide this
shiny bait, or casting with float, light swivel sinker, and this
bait, which — where the most rapid current slackens toward
an eddy — attracts the leap of a striped, satin-sided beauty,
forcing the blood to the ends of the digits of the angler. The
upper part of the head is rather flat, and the tiny gill rays
are six in number, and the side-belt shines like silver.
" Color. — Pale olive-green above the lateral line ; opercles
and sides silvery ; obscure traces just below the lateral line
104 Fishing in American Waters.
The Spearing, or Silversides. — Genus Atherina.
of a broad satin-like band, extending the whole length of the
body ; the place of the ribs indicates lustrous stripes, which
disappear shortly after death ; upper part of the opercles,
near the nape, dark green ; caudal dark at the base, and with
an obscure marginal band ; dorsal caudal fins light green ;
pectorals, ventrals, and anal light colored, tinged faintly with
bluish; irides silvery; bones of the head sub-diaphanous."
The foregoing quotation is from De Kay's description of
the smelt ; but he. inadvertently described a spearing. I am
not surprised at that, for they shoal together, and even Dr.
Clerk, an angler and a scholar, did not know the difference
until I casually pointed it out to him.
When in the autumn's latest time,
, And first the streams run icy cold,
In Indian summer's crimson prime,
When forest trees are touched with gold,
Then take the silvery fish that gleam
Along the eddies of the stream.
THE CAPLIN.
This is the tiny, translucent fish, of from three to six inches
m length, which shoals in great abundance on the shores of
Newfoundland and Labrador, and is chiefly used as bait for
cod. It will be seen that this fish belongs to the same order
as the smelt and spearing, the chief difference consisting in
its double anal fin. All codfish fleets employ a sloop, two
row-boats, and a set of hands with caplin nets, to keep them
supplied with bait. It is an interesting sight to witness a
city of boats distributed over many miles of water in the
Gulf of St. Lawrence, or about Newfoundland, and the bait-
tenders hauling seines over shoals and about islands where
the tiny caplin resort for protection from the cod. So, it ap-
Cod Bait in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 105
pears, Great Xature has wisely ordained that big fishes shall
eat the little ones, and, to compensate for this consumption,
fishes naturally increase many hundred fold faster than land
animals, as before observed.
I have presented these three great baits-i-the smelt, spear-
ing, and caplin — for the angler's information, for I have been
acquainted with many anglers who could not name the dif-
ferent fishes when taken together in great masses. Shoals
Ox these fishes are followed by salmon, codfish, and by the
larger fishes of prey, such as the horse mackerel, cero, and
bonetta, over which hover flocks of gulls, and ever and anon
the latter swoop and shriek as they pick up the debris float-
ing on the surface left by the monsters as they follow and
feed on the shoals of these tender delicacies.
The Caplin. — Mallotus villosus.
All the estuaries of rivers and shores of the St. Lawrence
teem with the caplin, and sometimes with the smelt also, and
occasionally with all these three shoaling together. They
form the staple food of the silver trout of the estuaries. All
these fishes spawn in the ' spring, and, therefore, I am sur-
prised that they should be supposed to belong to any brancli
of the Salmo genus.
SECTION SEVENTH.
THE SEA BASS.
Where low the level Jersey shore
Spreads out its ribb'd and sandy floor,
At break of day the fishers launch
The little skiiF, so swift and stanch,
Spread the white sail, forsake the strand,
To dare the ocean miles from land.
Full well by shoremarks they may know
Where reefs of weeds are hidden low ;
G 2
i06 Fishing in American Waters.
, There, anchor'd at the dawn of day,
They rob the marine banks of prey.
The sea bass is not strictly a vegetarian, though it visits
.vegetable banks to spawn and feast upon the numerous small
Crustacea which hide amongst sea-weed. It occupies a re-
spectable place in the culinary calendar, and is preferred to
cod for a chowder. It is eminently a coast fish, and seldom
ventures far above the estuaries, bays, and back-waters, or
bayous. The sea bass, porgee, and tautog banks along the
coast of New Jersey form ona of the attractions of Long
Branch, and they are a real blessing to the members of the
hand-line-committee, who realize in them a cheap relaxation
from business and the lassitude caused by too constant work
in a city during the heat of summer.
The Sea Bass.
Several excursion steamers run every alternate day to the
Fishing Banks, where they make a day's excursion for half a
dollar, and whence often on the evening of the same day each
passenger returns with three dollars worth of sea bass. A
large business is done throughout the summer and autumn
in the capture and sale of sea bass.
The meat of the sea bass laminates in compact flakes, not
so soft and watery as the cod, but more succulent and deli-
cate in taste. This fish usually runs from three to twelve
pounds, and is what angler's term a bottom-feeding fish, con-
sequently not an especial favorite with the disciples of rod
To Make a simple Chowdek. 107
and reel. Its feeding-grounds extend along the coast from
Delaware to Maine, wherever the sea-weed grows from beds
of mussels. This fish, like many herbivorous fishes of the
Orient, lays its eggs, and they are vivified on the weeds and
among the shells of the bottom. This process continues from
May until August, and the shoals remain on the banks until
most of their annual progeny leave the shell, when they all
resort to deeper waters to winter.
It is a ravenous fish to bite, and seldom breaks water until
ready for the landing-net. Unlike the tautog, its mouth is
large and leathery, easy to hook, and tenacious to hold. Its
color is a bluish, and sometimes a greenish black, lightened a
trifle at the lower jDarts of the sides and belly. Its scales are
about a quarter of an inch in diameter, and its dorsal fins —
while spinous — are not very hard ; the other fins are soft-
rayed, except the front ray of the anal.
The sea bass is a boiler, but epicures regard it as superior
in a chowder. Chowder clubs use no fish but sea bass. Lit-
tle. Neck clams imi3rove the chowder, and, as I was for some
time, secretary of the Latourette Chowder Club, and. superin-
tended a combination of the gustatory elements, I will here
describe a simple chowder for anglers. A common iron pot,
of globular shape, is best to make a chowder in. Slice, as
thin as possible, enough salt pork to cover the bottom and
sides of the pot, to prevent the chowder from burning. Then
cover the pork with a layer of quartered onions, which have
been previously parboiled fifteen minutes ; then cover the
onions with a layer of fish cut in two-inch-square pieces ;
then cover the fish with a layer of tomatoes ; then a layer of
sea-biscuit ; then a layer of clams ; then a layer of onions, and
continue the layers in the rotation described until the pot is
filled. Season each layer with salt, and a mixture of red and
black peppers, together with such other condiments as de-
sired. Cover the pot, and let it stew or boil an hour ; then
pour upon it from a pint to a quart of Chateau Margaux, or
good Bordeaux claret, and let it simmer half an hour longer.
108 Fishing in American Waters.
Ghowder should remain over the fire nearly two hours. This
chowder has the merit of being simple, and — to a hungry
sportsman — it is palatable, though not so epicurean as the
chowder made by the late Daniel Webster, the receipt for
which is given on another page.
Chowder - parties and clam -bakes are American institu-
tions, and they are indulged in annually in July and August
throughout the whole length of the coasts of New York and
Xew England.
In a commercial point of view, the sea bass ranks with the
tautog, and next to the cod, being consumed anrtually to the
number of millions.
For capture with rod and reel the common striped bass-
tackle is used. I have taken hundreds of small ones in a day
while angling for sheepshead. They take with equal voraci-
ty shrimj), clam, and shedder crab. A shoal of a single pair
of fish number probably five thousand which attain to the
weight of half a pound and over ; not more, because ground-
sharks and other marine carnivora thin their ranks when fin-
gerlings. Their feeding-time is during the lull of the waters,
between the turn of the tides, when they yield themselves
willing victims to the angler's captivating art. They weigl)
from half a pound to five pounds, and some shoals run from
eight to fifteen pounds. As one of our common food fishes,
it is a shade more respectable than most of those which have
by quality and status been consigned to the hand-line multi-
tude.
THE POEGEE.
: This fish runs from a quarter to three pounds in weight,
and unites with the blackfish (tautog) and bergall (cachogset)
to form the guerrilla army of thieves for robbing bait when
the angler, with hooks too large for its mouth, is fishing for
larger game. Its mouth is armed with pin-point teeth like
those of the perch, and while it can not bite in two a single
gut snell or thin linen line, is most dexterous in robbing basts
A SLY Bait Thief. 109
hooks, or mauling and mutilating the bait. It is a greedy
little shiny sinner, whieh is both herbivorous and carnivor-
ous, foraging on both fish ^nd vegetable diets, and shoaling
with the omnium gatherum of bottom fish, which make their
summer habitations among the weedy banks called by their
name all along the coast from Maine to Georgia, from three
to six miles from shore, purveying every where from their
homes, into all the estuaries and tidal back-sets, for proven-
der. The porgee is one of the most numerous of coast fishes,
and as greedy as it is plenty. Dr. Brown, in his Anglers'
Guide, states that the steam-boat which runs daily to the
porgee banks in summer returns with many thousand pop-
The Pokgbjs. —Po^tms Argyrops.
gees, besides the sea bass and tautog, averaging from six to
ten thousand as their daily catch with the hand-line. To the
mechanics and clerks of the metropolis tliese daily excursions
in midsummer to the fishing-banks are great blessings ; for,
besides the inflation of the lungs with bracing sea-air, the
change of scene, and the exercise out of doors, they bring
back more than an adequate compensation for the pittance
expended for the day's recreation. There can not be too
many boats engaged in making fishing-bank excursions, pro-
vided the boats are sound and well managed. In general,
the captains of excursion steamers are well acquainted with
the topography of the banks, and know where to order the
110 FisHmG IN American Wai-eks.
heaving of the anchor for good fishmg. The charge for pas-
sage includes hand-line tackle and bait, so that a man may
start in the morning empty-handed, and be landed at home
the same evening with a large mess of fish.
The porgee is a pan-fish of sweet and delicate flavor when
first caught, but its juices soon become absorbed, and, with
the loss of its juiciness, becomes nearly tasteless. While
casting along the coast for ' striped bass, anglers frequently
hook these nimble shiners, and the guides always draw them
at once and place them in moss between a cleft of rocks for
their own eating, preferring them to the striped bass.
The .porgee is supposed to spawn on the weedy banks with
the sea bass and tautog early in sj^ring, when the last year's
hatch leave for estuaries, purveying to the head of tide-
waters. In angling for this fish perch tackle is used. The
rod is from ten to eleven feet in length, multiplying reel car-
rying a hundred yards of fine linen or silk line, cork float, and
swivel sinker, single -gut leader and snells, with minnow
hooks. Taking them is pretty sport for ladies and children.
Use shrimp or clam bait, and let the bait nearly cover the
point of the hook; and where they are numerous — as they are
throughout summer in nearly all tidal waters in and above
the estuaries — the angler will pair them nearly every time
he baits his hooks. The fashion is becoming more and more
prevalent along the tidal waters of the Atlantic coast, where
they are shut in from the heaving and throbbing of the sea,
for whole families to take a seat in a row-boat toward even-
ing, and row out to some favorite ground not far from shore,
but at a suflicient distance to enjoy difierent landscape views
of both shores, and there to anchor the boat and angle for
porgees, with an occasional sea bass, squeteague, and black-
fish. Rocking in a boat over the running tide is great food
to vitality, and the evening scenes from the water, with the
pleasing exercise of angling, are blessings to be thankful
for.
Lies Low a^b Looks Cunnestg.
Ill
SECTION EIGHTH.
1. Blue-striped Wrasse, Lahrtis mixtus. 2. Trumpet-fish, Sea-snipe, or Bellows-
Centriacua scolopax. 3. American Tautog, Tautoga Americana.
The family of the wrasses, or rockfish, includes our com-
mon bergalls, the New York tautog or common blackfish, and
those fancy-colored species known as " old wives of the sea."
Of the latter there are several varieties, such as the red old
wife, the blue old wife, and the yelloio old wife, which are so
named in accordance with their prevailing colors. The thick
pouting lips of the fish of this family are their most striking
characteristic. The wrasses were known to the poet Oppian,
who describes the beds of sea-weed as their favorite places
of resort :
"And there thick beds of mossy verdure grew —
Sea-grass, and spreading wrack are seen : below,
Gay rainbow-fish, and sable ^vrasse resort."
The foregoing is an extract from Willson's Fifth Reader,
and forms a part of the " Glimpse of Ichthyology" which this
work includes.
112 Fishing in American Waters.
THE TAUTOG,
This fish (Fig. 3) is termed tautog along the coast of New
England, and is equally well known as hlackfish along the
shores of Long Island and New, Jersey, south of which it is
not numerous, nor is it north of the Vineyard Sound, though
it has greatly increased along Cape Cod within the past fif-
teen years.
Wherever kelp and sea-weed cling
To ramparts form'd of rugged rocks,
The tautog finds a dwelling-place,
Deep down in waters at their base ;
Or where a passing boat hath met
Its fate along the rocky shore.
And, with its broken ribs and keel,
Lies rotting on the ocean floor —
There, where the clinging shell and weed
Gather, and barnacles abound.
The blackfish, seeking out their feed.
In numbers by the hook are found.
The tautog is one of the largest family of fishes which in-
habit the waters along the coast from Vineyard Sound to Del-
aware Bay. Urchins along shores begin fishing by taking
cachogset, kunners, and bergalls — all of the diminutive car-
nivora or bait-robbers — and if, in their efforts, they succeed in
capturing a tautog, the lucky urchin who thus succeeds to
the first step of fishing thereafter scrapes money together to
purchase a regular hand-line and two tautog hooks, with a
heavy sinker. He then rigs a hand-line en regie, and consid-
ers himself a juvenile member of the "hand-line-committee,"
not to be entitled to full membership until he can earn by
fishing a miniature scow large enough to float two young-
sters of from seven to ten years of age. Then, with a stone
for anchor, they scull from clump to reef of rocks near the
shores of our tidal estuaries and small bays, and once in a
while add to their catches of blackfish a weakfish, or even a
striped bass ! This achievement affords the barefooted regi-
ment a week's discussion, and forthwith the luckv urchin be-
Members of the HAND-LmE-coMMiTTEE. 113
comes the arbiter in all piscatorial disputes, as w;ell as the
counselor in all arrangements of fishing-tackle, until some
other boy takes a larger fish.
But the blackfish, or tautog^ is not to be disdained by the
disciple of rod and reel. Though he is eminently a commer-
cial fish, yet a tide-runner of his family which weighs from
eight to twelve pounds makes such dips and runs as try both
the angler and his tackle. A somewhat celebrated senator
of Rhode Island (now the Chinese embassador) used annual-
ly to spend several summer weeks in fishing for tautog with
an artistically-rigged hand-line. He sculled his boat to the
edge of the tide, on the bank between a rapid current and
nearly slack water, and near an islet or reef of rocks in the
Seconnet River, where the water is about fifteen feet deep ;
anchored his punt firmly, standing up in the stern, and cast
some seventy-five feet of line, armed with two hooks about
two feet above the sinker, and baited with clam. In this
way I have known him to take one hundred pounds of tau-
tog in one hour.
At the mouth of the Seconnet River there are numerous
pounds, built of stone, or staked out with netting, for the
purpose of catching tautog, porgee — or scapogue, as the •
large ones are called — and numerous minor bottom fry. Re-
cently a salmon was caught in one of these infamous traps,
and, if it is seriously contemplated to restore salmon to our
deserted rivers, the first step should be to take up all nets
fastened to stakes in the rivers and along the coast.
Tautog are eaten while fresh. Neither the tautog or any
other fish of the estuaries which is angled for are cured hy
salt or refrigeration. They are, as it were, hand-to-mouth
fishes. Both the tautog and sea bass are kept alive many
days, and sometimes weeks, in fish-cars anchored in water
suited to their growth. The blackfish is next to the shad in
affording the greatest amount of estuary fish to our markets.
Its meat is watery, and the scales are so firmly set that some
])ersons invariably lave them in vinegar before scaling. In
H
114 Fishing in Ameeican Wateks.
New England they generally skin tlie tautog, as an easier
process than scaling, and consider it a culinary delicacy when
properly cooked, of which there are three methods, ^. e., broil-
ing, frying, and stewing. Before frying the fish, score him
across each side an inch apart, as you would any breakfast
pan-fish. Fry some salt pork to a crisp ; .take out the pork,
and, while the fat is so hot as to be next to blazing, roll your
fish in a mixture of rye and corn meal, and place it in the
sparkling hot fat, and let it brown. Turn it twice, and dredge
it each time with flour, so that its crust will become an eighth
of an inch thick. After broiling, and while piping hot, baist
it with butter, salt it, and give it a simple dash of red pep-
per, which stimulates without inflaming the stomach, and the
slightest dash of black as a bouquet, though it does inflame
the stomach without stimulating or assisting digestion.
The following receipt by an editor oiquelque chose de goUt
is worth remembering :
" Now, fair ruler of the destinies of dinner (for if thou beest
a man I have no sympathies toward thee), smoke-compelling
Betty, or Mary, or whatever else may be the happy appella-
tive in which not only thou, but all of us rejoice, thou hast
before thee one of the most delicately absorbent substances
in nature, imbibing flavor from every thing which surrounds
it, whether of adverse or of propitious tendency ; subject, as
Warren Hastings said of the tenure of the British possessions
in India, alike ' to the touch of chance or the breath of opin-
ion.'
" Thou hast it, my choice Mary ! The small, deep stew-
pan — with its thin cullender or strainer, on which the fish is
to be lowered to the bottom, that it may, when stewed into
soft delight, be gently raised again without injuring its integ-
rity of form — glows with brightness in front of thee ! Thy
vigorous arm of mottled red, thy round wrist, and small, com-
pact fingers, grasp the sharp-pointed knife with which to sat-
isfy thyself that not one scale remains around the head, the
fins, the tail.
To CA'J^H AND COOK TaUTOG. 115
" Now tail and fins are nicely shortened in their termina-
tion, not hacked ofi*. A little salt is thrown over the fish,
merely to harden and not scdt it, and it lies two hours iov this
'purpose. It is then scored, that it may not break when it
swells, and browned well upon the gridiron, from which it
is carefully taken up, and laid to repose upon a bed of nicely-
peeled and very fresh mushrooms, daintily spread over the
strainer.
" While the fish was hardening, Mary has had a communi-
cation from up stairs. An extra bottle of the Chateau of
twenty-five had been unavailingly opened the day before to
tempt a total abstinence friend who had arrived from the
country. Good part of it remains, and at this moment it is
decanted into the stew-pan ; the freighted strainer descends
into the wine, and the fish, entirely immersed in the amethysr
tine element, regrets no more its loss of life, of liberty, and
youth. A white onion or two is sliced into rings, that fall as
decorations over him ; a few berries of pepper thrown in ; six
cloves ; two blades of mace ; an eschalot, if you think proper ;
and Cayenne or not, according to your taste. The stew-pan
is then covered, and a careful, slow, epicurean simmer com-
pletes the work."
During winter the blackfish hibernates under rocks in the
bays and estuaries, as proven by the vent entirely closing
and a thin film growing over the mouth. In the spring they
appear with the dogwood blossom and the chestnut leaves.
" When chestnut leaves are as big as thumb-nail,
Then bite blackfish without fail ;
But when chestnut leaves are as long as a span,
Then catch blackfish if you can."
In angling for the tautog, use a heavy bass rod, heavy trac-
ing sinker like that for sheepshead, but hooks of the Virginia
bend and short nib. Swivel sinkers are preferred by some.
Let the point of hook be very sharp. Sometimes striped
bass, sea bass, squeteague, grunters, and sheepshead feed with
the tautog. It is necessary, therefore, to rig with as large a
116 Fishing in Amebic a]% Waters.
hook as will answer for small striped bass and squeteague,
and one strong enough for tautog, or one rather larger than
the common blackfish hook. Let your leader be part of your
line, say three fourths of a yard long, and attached to a brass
swivel; run the line through the tracing sinker, and attach
it to the upper end of the swivel. Bait with shrimp, shedder
crab or shedder lobster, fiddler, soft or hard shell clam, or the
sand-worm dug along the sandy shore at low tide.
The tautog bites like the sheepshead, but with less power.
You feel the premonition, but when he dashes aside the pull
is weaker than that of a sheepshead. I mean now a tide-run-
ning tautog of from three to eight pounds, which feeds on the
edge of swift water, has a white nose, and is fair game. The
tautog which feeds close to the base of the rocks is an adept
at getting hooks or sinkers fastened in the clefts, for so soon
as he bites he darts under or between the rocks, leaving the
angler thankful if the fish will liberate the hook or sinker as
the price of his freedom. The bite of a small blackfish of
from one fourth of a pound to a pound is like that of a roach
or sunfish, but large ones bite with energy, and play so as to
afibrd sport. All the fishes angled for along the coast, except
the striped bass and bluefish, are usually landed with a net.
The color of the tautog is bluish-black, with a lighter shade
under the belly and lower mandible. The mouth is furnish-
ed with very small teeth. The engraving is a perfect coun-
terpart of the fish in appearance.
The Flounder. — Pleuronectes Flesiis.
The flounder is an important estuary fish for boys and hand
line fishers, though it is not appreciated very highly by rod
fishermen. It is one of the latest fishes angled for in autumn
when the icicles begin to form, and it is the first fish that
bites in the spring. It is to be found in the estuaries and up
the rivers as far as salt water runs ; also in our bays. It is
a fish of the temperate zone, and, from its great numbers in
spring in all the inlets from the Atlantic, is a profitable fish,
A Btter and Bboilek. 117
and a great blessing to the poor. Though generally caught
with a hand-line, many are taken in set-nets and fykes. With
light perch tackle, small hooks, and clam bait, it furnishes
sport to the disciple of rod and reel who does not fish for
trout, and has no fishing in the vicinity of New York until
the striped bass awaken to a feeding sense, which is usually
from the first to the twentieth of May, toward the head of
tide water.
SECTION NINTH.
THE BLUEFISH.
Professor Mitchill has given to this fish, which affords
more sport with the troll than any other,, the classical name
of Temnodon SaUator, the first from temno, to cut in pieces,
probably indicating its sharp teeth ; and the last signifying
a pantomime dancer, doubtless with reference to its leaping
or skipping ; but, as if these names were not sufficiently de-
scriptive, he adds those o^ Scomber Plumheus, or leaden mack-
erel. '
mz^
The Bluefish. — Temnodon Saltator. — Mitchill.
The bluefish is known along the coast of New England as
the horse mackerel, but that is a different fish, and grows to
the weight of a thousand pounds, and sometimes more, while
the bluefish seldom attains to twenty, though I have heard
of thirty-pounders. The color from the back to the almost
imperceptible lateral line is a leaden blue, whence it gradu-
ally lightens to a white belly. The first dorsal fin is spinous
— very sharp and strong, while the second and anal are ap-
118 Fishing in Ameeican Wateks.
proximately rigid, being fixed and translucent; the rays,
though not spinous, remain standing even after life is extinct.
These fins are like sails always set, or like a centre-board
above as well as in the keel. The body, head, and fins for
half an inch are covered with infinitesimal scales. The jaws
are very strong, and the gill-covers like three plates of steel
The jaws are armed with a row of strong, closely-set, sharp
teeth,^ which will cut a cord of one fourth of an inch in diam-
eter in two as smoothly as it could be done with a knife, for
they are sharp-edged, and those of each jaw are like saw-
teeth which match perfectly ; therefore beware of fingers in
dislodging a hook from its powerful jaws.
The young bluefish, which are hatched in quiet nooks of
bays along the beaches, wag their way like other estuary
younglings, without being provided with a bag of provision
suspended by the umbilical cord, like the young of the Salmo
genus, but by instinct they propel their tiny selves to the sa-
line creeks and inlets from the sea, to prevent being devoured
by the parents which visit the spawning beds early in June,
to subsist on such of their young as have not yet emigrated.
The young fish are vulgarly called " snapper" or " snaj^ping
mackerel," and are the bright little predacious thieves which
steal by small particles the angler's bait before striped bass
or squeteague can get a taste of it. In October, having
grown to the weight of half a pound each, the shoal reunites
preparatory to going into winter quarters, where the Gulf
Stream keeps the water at an even temperature ; and if per-
chance they meet gut snells on their way, they bite them in
two without effort. During the last fortnight of their sojourn
near the shore they purvey for young menhaden and spear-
ing, but keep at a respectful distance from shoals of older
fish. This is supposed to be the case with nearly all shoals
of coast and estuary fishes, and a shoal is merely the progeny
of one pair of fishes, and the hatch of one laying of ova.
Though in summer they may wander apart for food, yet,
warned by an unerring instinct, they reunite in autumn to
form an army.
Best for Table in October. 119
The bliiefish returns to our shores after its first voyage a
two-pounder, being then one year old ; and by autumn these
eighteen-months' old fish weigh from, three to five pounds
each ; but only those which weigh from five to fifteen poimds,
with a semi-occasional twenty-pounder, are regarded as good
sport for the troll. These large ones are seldom taken in
pounds or nets, for they can liberate themselves with their
teeth from almost any net or pen not made of steel ; but the
younger shoals evince more prying curiosity, which leads
many of them into nets fastened to ground fixtures in sufii-
cient numbers to keep our markets supplied with them from
June until November.
But the midsummer bluefish, having recently spawned in
our bays, are lean and dry food unless cooked within the same
hour they are caught, when they are juicy and tender, but
lack the rich succulency of the October shoals. The bluefish
taken in autumn is equally good as a broiler, or to bake or
souse, so long as it can be kept sweet by the use of ice. This
is the case with every branch of the mackerel family ; and
the bluefish of October, when canned in salt, is preferred by
many to the, common mackerel. Both the bluefish and mack-
erel are in best condition from the middle of October until
the tenth of November, when they begin to deteriorate and
fall away to thinness, probably because the butter-fish and
bay-shiners have settled away to hibernate, and the smelt and
spearing have moved into brackish waters, leaving the blue-
fish no alternative but to starve or move farther south, and
within the influence of the Gulf Stream.
It is well understood by amateurs and fishermen that the
bluefish, like the prawn, visit our bays and estuaries period-
ically, remaining sometimes only a season, and at other times
several years. The present visit of the bluefish has been the
longest one known to the oldest inhabitant of Long Island,
having lasted twenty years. Every year since its present
advent it has become more numerous and larger. In 1850,
a ten-pound bluefish was a greater curiosity than is a twenty-
120
Fishing in American Waters.
pound one now. Then, shoals of bluefish were rare ; now
they are to be met with every where that the angler plies his
gentle art along the Atlantic coast.
In trolling for bluefish, metal squid are supposed to be the
best, though bone, ivory, and pearl are frequently used in a
light breeze for small fish. Large, heavy baits are best for
large bluefish. The following engraving illustrates the
shapes, and they should be made from five to six inches in
length, or they can be purchased of the right weights and
patterns at our best fishing-tackle stores.
Bluefish Squids.
No. 1. Material German silver, with a pearl plate inlaid on
each side. The shank of the hook extends through the
squids, and the troUing-line attaches to the ring by a
double hitch, or to a strip of raw hide — which is better —
that plays freely in the ring. The points of the hooks are
at right angles with the width of the squid.
No. 2. Block tin or Britannia metal, flat on the under side,
and forming three edges, as represented. The loop at the
end of the trolling-line closes at the hole in the end of the
squid by thrusting the loop through and over the end of
the squid. On each side of the middle there is a hole
drilled, in which red webbing or burnt wool braid is in-
serted, and a knot formed with it as represented, for either
red cloth or blood attract nearly all species of game fish.
Shaup Hooks axd Strong Lines. 121
The hooks should be very strong, and the points should be
filed very sharp : this last piece of advice applies to all hooks
for all kinds of fishing, and its importance is not generally
appreciated by amateur fishermen.
TroUing-lines of cotton are better than linen lines. They
should be hawser-laid, so as not to kink, and be from three
eighths to a quarter of an inch in diameter. Although it is
well to have them fifty yards in length, yet when the fish are
feeding in earnest fifty feet is line enough to let ofi*. Always
fasten the end of your line to the boat, and in case you put
outriggers, a check line should be attached to each to draw
them to the boat or yacht, so as to take hold of them without
disturbing the rigger. Lines to outriggers should be so short
as to skitter on the surface of the water.
Gloves of heavy woolen yarn should be worn ; the line
will wear through leather much quicker tlian through wool,
and woolen gloves do not slip, and* they are more comforta-
ble to the hands. It is common to double the gloves over
the forefinger and on the under side of the little fingers.
Buckskin or dogskin, the two best kinds of leather to use
when wet, are only a momentary protection, good for noth-
ing as troUing-gloves or thumb-stalls.
"V-
The Flying Fish.
122
Fishing in American Waters.
Trim the white sail ; the rising breeze
Blows freshly from the open seas ;
It ripples over ocean's breast,
Tips with the foam each billow's crest.
Now cast astern the dripping line,
That cuts and whistles through the brine.
TROLLING FOR BLUEFISH.
ROLLING for bluefish by
New York sportsmen is
generally done in sail-
boats, and the flood tide is
best. Therefore, whether
we start with sail-boat or
yacht from the city, or go
to Islip or South Oyster
Bay, or to Rockaway or
Canarsie to sail from, it is
best to sail out to the feed-
ing-grounds during the ebb
tide, so as to be sure of no
delay after the fish begin
to bite ; and as the fish ap-
How TO Sail a^d Troll. 123
proach nearer shore with the rising tide, the sail-boats may
be working nearer home, so as not to be obliged to stem a
strong ebb tide in returning to port. The best grounds for
large bluefish are outside and near the inlets of Fire Island.
These inlets are formed by the tides of the Atlantic passing
through Fire Island into the South Bay; the principal ones
are oj^posite Islip and South Oyster Bay. But late" in the
fall the best trolling is off Rockaway and Jamaica Bay, the
grounds extending from the Highlands, off" the Jersey shore,
to some ten miles below the light-ship.
As a sample of the sport, I will recount my last day's ex-
perience. My respected friend Gilsten having retired nearly
twenty years ago to the charming village of Fort Hamilton,
of which he owns the greater part, residing on the border
of the troUing-grounds, and in close proximity to the favor-
ite resorts of sheepshead, squeteague, and kingfish, has given
his exclusive attention to field-sports for many years, angling
and trolling in the waters between New York City and the
Narrows until November, when he repairs to his island near
the coast of Virginia, and shoots duck and wild geese until
the first of January. Being a gentleman of good taste and
large experience, as he could not angle in the winter, he has
kindly employed his time in designing trolls and stools for
fishing and shooting. Well, my friend Gilsten called at my
office one evening late last October, and left me two squids,
with notice that the bluefish were biting generously in the
Lower Bay, and that he would be obliged if I would try his
newly-designed models, of which the foregoing samples were
copies. I therefore acted promptly upon his generous advice,
and called on my angling friend Charles Gaylor and several
others, all of whom agreed to meet me promptly next morn-
ing at seven o'clock at the yacht moored in Jamaica Bay.
Of course none of them came to time ; and as Captain Morri-
son brought the yacht alongside the dock, a haze, perceptible
on the waters, was just lifting at the rise of the sun. A gen-
erous breeze flapped the sails of the trolling crafts lying-to
124 ' Fishing in Amekican Waters.
awaiting company, but nearly all the trolling fleet had sailed
hours before, and the lowness of the ebb tide warned us not
to delay. We therefore wore away, passing between Barren
Island and Rockaway Beach, amid shrieks of gulls and flights
of duck, the sun lighting up the beach and the breakers, and
rendering them scintillant as they flashed upon us between
the clouds of fog .which at fitful turns enveloped us. Pres-
ently a gentle, fog-subduing warmth, with wind freshening,
made our jolly craft dance along, and all nature appeared de-
lightsome.
" On the surface ranging, boys,
We'll beat from bay to bay ;
Sea and water changing, boys,
It's the angler's way :
So we troll,
One and all,
And cheerily, cheerily pass the day." — Stoddart.
We passed on near the Black Warrior, whose battered
wreck was lifted silently above the waves as a warning to im-
potent man against rashness. Toward the Narrows and the
light-ship the fleet of trollers were gayly tacking and cross-
ing each other's wakes hither and thither over the bluefish
shoals, so that,
" Why sure, thought they,
The devil's to pay,
'Mongst folks above the water. "
Soon we joined the merry fleet. Our trolls had been put
out as we entered the bay, and our outriggers from each side
of the craft, a little aft of midships, consisting of stifi" poles
with a line attached to the end of each, and a troll at the oth-
er end, but the line so short that the troll skittered on the top
of the waves. A check line was fastened to the main one,
with its end in the boat, so as to draw the main line in with-
out moving the hoop-pole rod to which it was attached. In
addition to the two outriggers we had four trolling-lines out,
the ends of which were fastened to the tafi*rail of the boat.
'Captain Morrison took the first fish, a ten-pounder. " Small,''
said the captain. Presently a whirl was made at one of my
Gay Pasties all Engaged. l^S
squids ; another dash, and he hooked himself. I took hold to
pull him in hand over hand, but the pull was quite enough
for me. Before I landed him another was on my other squid,
which my helper landed. Now a whopper fastened to my
first hook, and I found him difficult to draw in; he weighed
nearly twenty pounds, and was as much as I could manage.
The prospect was most gay and enlivening, as the fleet con-
sisted of small sail-boats, cat-boats, sloops, schooners, and
yachts, over sixty in all, crossing and jibing, while the troU-
ers were tugging and hauling at fish, and all seemed to vie
with the jollity of the gulls and the fun of the loons, which
kept jabbering, with now and then a scream and hurrah, as
if they joined in our sport.
We continued trolling until noon, when the wind died away
and we turned our craft homeward. We counted our take,
which numbered thirty-six fish, and weighed four hundred and
eighty pounds, averaging over thirteen pounds each. Thus
ended one of the most interesting, health-givmg, and delight-
ful days of the season.
Trolling with sail and row boats in September and October
is extensively indulged in by amateurs and professional fish-
ermen who fish for a livelihood along the shores from the
east end of Massachusetts to Chesapeake Bay ; and as the
shoals begin to turn southward in September, the best troll-
ing is in October along Long Island and the Jersey shores,
Mftcr which the angling is good along the coasts of Maryland
and Virginia up to December.
Although the bluefish is sufficiently plucky to take a coarse
troll, and few venture to angle for him with ordinary tackle,
even with gimp snells, yet, with good bass-tackle and strong
hooks, either wound with copper wire on a heavy gimp lead-
er or snell, or with a hook fastened with wire to a piano
string, capital sport is found at still-baiting for them from a
boat anchored along the edge of tideways in the' estuaries
and near the shores of bays. The coast of Rhode Island, and
126 Fishing in American Waters.
the islands which form the Elizabeth group, are filled with
shoals of them all summer and fall, where they forage foi*
menhaden and young mackerel ; and, anchoring in either of
the straits which separate those islands, we find that the cast
of a menhaden bait is usually met by the generous ofiers of
half a dozen fish, whose whirls make the tide boil. Were it
not that the electrical jerk of the bite of a large bluefish has
such great power in it as to make the angler sometimes feel
that he too is being fished for, and that its teeth are so sharp
as to make strong and heavy tackle necessary, it would be
considered incomparably the highest game-fish of the Ameri-
can coast.
When estimating the value of anglers' fishes by the play
they give, and the scenes into which the angler is led in
search of each kind, the bluefish must occupy a foremost
rank ; and the man who has neither trolled nor still-baited for
this peculiar fish — the best breakfast fish on our coast except
the Spanish mackerel — has two treats in store, which, the
sooner he improves, the earlier he will regret that he had not
tasted before.
SECTION TENTH.
THE SPANISH MACKEREL.
Lovely with all their spangled dyes,
Fairer than flush'd autumnal skies,
With gold-drops all their sides a-glow,
Tinct like the rainbow's prismy bow,
The Spanish mackerel gorgeous roam
The rolling, yeasty world of foam ;
Now glittering o'er the waves they skim.
Now lost in deep abysses swim.
This incomparable breakfast luxury is a comparative stran-
o-er to us, and, though never known to venture as far north
as the fortieth degree of latitude until about ten years since,
yet his families are now as numerous on our coast as are those
of most other estuary fishes. He is coy and careful, slow to
make acquaintance, and doubtful of a squid or baited hook.
Beauty Unadoened. 127
A select family of the mackerel tribes, he is not yet fully un-
derstood by either amateurs or fishermen, and commands a
higher price than salmon in the markets. Apart from being
the greatest beauty that swims, he is undoubtedly the best
fish for the gridiron to be found in the waters of either hem-
isphere.
The Spanish Mackerel.
My experience in trolling for the Spanish mackerel off the
inlets of Fire Island has convinced me that the fish is as nu-
merous as the bluefish, more so than the striped bass at cer-
tain seasons, and a little farther seaward than either of those
fishes. The striped bass is the fish which ventures nearest
shore ; the bluefish feeds in a range farther from shore, and
the Spanish mackerel feeds farther from shore than either,
excejit the large bluefish at the last of the season. Every
year the shoals of Spanish mackerel become more numerous,
and more are taken, but never in suflicient numbers to reduce
the average price below sixty cents per pound.
The shoals which I saw, when last trolling for them, would
have formed an area of nearly five miles square, and still the
most successful boat did not take more than a dozen in three
days. He will not bite freely at any artificial lure, and
though numbers came near leaping on the deck of our yacht,
they treated our lures with an indifference which savored of
perverseness. " Oh !" thought I, " how I would like to be an-
chored in a small boat, and still-bait for you with a pearl
squid, a shiner, or a gar-eel !" But the difficulty was that
their favorite feeding-groiJhds seemed to be just beyond the
verge of anchorage for a row-boat. This fish is eminently
shy of all kinds of nets, and, when a shoal is surrounded by a
128 Fishing in American Waters.
shir-net or seine, will point their heads down in the bottom of
sand or weeds, and the nets glide over their backs without
capturing one. Two intelligent fishermen of the south side
of Long Island, men well learned in their trade, and who
have for many years followed fishing successfully, concluded
that they would turn their exclusive attention to the Spanish
mackerel, and, by studying their habits and watching their
movements, invent some plan for their capture, and thus en-
rich themselves. They persevered for three years, trying all
sorts of artificial lures, differently constructed nets and fykes,
set in different ways, besides employing the Spanish casting-
net ; but their patience became so exhausted that they re-
linquished the enterprise, and had learned to look at a shoal
leaping so that thousands were above the wave at a time
without causing the slightest emotion or sensation of either
hope or fear. A few silly fish occasionally stray away from
their shoal, and are found in a fyke or pound, and an occasion-
al one hooks himself by indulging a dangerous curiosity ; but
the genius who will invent a successful method for taking
the Spanish mackerel may be as sure of a fortune as the person
who owns a goose which lays a large egg of gold every day.
The Spanish mackerel is much more beautiful than th€
dolphin, even when the latter is dying. Its back and sides,
down to the corrugated lateral line, are dark blue, shot with
purple and gold ; below the line it is pink and gold for a
short way, terminating in a white belly. The shaded parts
of the body are ornamented with spots of gold, like new gold
dollars, to the number of between* twenty and thirty. Its
scales are imperceptible to the naked eye, but they extend a
short way up the fins also. The first dorsal is spinous-rayed,
and the first rays of the second dorsal and pectoral are spin-
ous ; all the rest are soft, though the tail and anal fins are
nearly rigid or set, and do not fall together or close like those
of the common mackerel. There is a small adipose fin on
each side extending from the tail three inches upward.. Its
head is a perfect cut-water, carved most artistically, and small
The Breakfast Luxury of the Age. 129
in proportion. Its jaws are armed with small, fine teeth, that
laugh at silk or linen reel-lines; gills of two rigidly resisting
plies ; meat white, but neither mealy nor flaky, though of
close texture, creamy and peculiarly delicate, of most deli-
cious flavor.
The Spanish mackerel is seldom taken with rod and reel,
though small ones of from three to six pounds sometimes
venture to taste a baited hook. I have taken two while
angling for striped bass with shedder crab bait ; but it is em-
inently a fish for the troll, if captivating trolls can be invent-
ed. These fish surround a shoal of gar-eels, butter-fish, shin-
ers, spearing, or young menhaden, when the tiny baits — anx-
ious to escape — rise to the surface, followed by the Spanish
mackerel, which may be seen two miles distant, leaping, a
thousand at a time, their forked tails conspicuous, and their
bodies gleaming like miniature rainbows. The bite of a Span-
ish mackerel is very different from that of a bluefish. It is
not so dashing or strong ; and when hooked, it swims deeper,
and does not resist so pertinaciously. In size it ranges from
three to fifteen pounds. It is often reported as having been
taken of thirty pounds' weight, but this, I think, is an error.
The bonetta is very like it in outline, and it is also a compar-
ative stranger along our coast ; one of these fish was recently
taken in Jamaica Bay which weighed about thirty pounds,
and the daily papers noticed it as a large Spanish mackerel ;
but the bonetta — as a food fish — is vastly inferior.
Both the Spanish mackerel and cero are spring-spawning
fishes, and no doubt spawn in our bays, for there are occa-
sionally small ones taken by the angler in June, before the
large ones visit our shores, and I argue, therefore, that the
small half-pounders are of last year's hatch.
Spanish mackerel and large bluefish shoal together while
feeding, and woe be it to any soft-rayed herbivorous beauty
that crosses their path. Bluefish and striped bass feed to-
gether also, but the bass swims deeper than the bluefish, and
generally nearer shore. This is frequently proven while cast-
I
130 Fishing in Aheeican Waters.
ing for striped bass ; for if the cast be made beyond a certain
range, the angler is sure of a bluefish, if any thing.
I have here roughly sketched a part of a shoal of Spanish
mackerel feeding. To troll with hope of success for these
f
Klf
Spanish Mackerel Feeding.
delicacies, employ a light, swift-sailing craft, and rig it with
a long outrigger On each side ; for a heavy vessel cleaving a
shoal disperses the live bait on which they are feeding, and
the fright causes the shoal to settle without biting. Fre-
quently have I trolled through a shoal of thousands, with
hundreds in sight all the time, and as the craft passed through
and got far enough from the shoal to tell, I have felt the bite,
and, while drawing the fish in, have commented upoi\ the ease
of detecting the difference between the Spanish mackerel on
my troll from the hard-mouthed bluefish, only to be laughed
at a. moment afterward as I landed a bluefish in the boat.
Said I, " This is, of course, a Spanish mackerel ; any novice
might distinguish him by his bite ; and then he comes in so
gently, but swims low." I can detect by the bite, when still-
baiting, almost any kind of estuary fish ; but in trolling any
angler is liable to be deceived.
From the limited experience thus far gained by using
Curious Fancy of Fishes.
131
bright metal trolls, not one Spanish mackerel in ten thousand
will pay the least regard to them. Having ascertained that
they feed on several kinds of fishes, the squid-makers have
recently obtained some data to work from, and the following
are the latest and most captivating samples.
^*§^^^^^
Spanish Mackerel Squids.
A. Artificial squid or bait, made of Britannia metal, block tin,
or German silver. The hooks of all trolls should be tinned
or silver-plated. The shank of the hook extends through
the squid, and forms an eye to attach a trolling-line. Feath-
ers extend beyond the bend of the hook to form the tail
of the gar-eel. The form of the squid is tapering, cylin-
drical, and about five inches long exclusive of the hook. It
should be kept polished as bright as possible, and is a very
taking lure. A tail of red ibis feathers would probably be
the most attractive.
B. Squid as bright as polished silver, inlaid with pieces of
pearl, and intended to represent a sea - shiner, about five
inches long besides the hook. The line is attached by a
hole in the end, and at the other there are several small
feathers from the red ibis. The shape of the body is half
as thick as it is wide, and in order to render if as ponder-
ous as possible for its size, it is best to cast it of lead over
the hook, then plate it with copper, and plate or wash it
with silver. Spanish mackerel do not generally feed on
fish as large as the bluefish bait, and it is therefore impor-
132 Fishing in American Watees.
tant to have a small but ponderous bait attached to a fifty-
yard line of the smallest size for trolling. The jaw of the
Spanish mackerel is tender, therefore he plays more gin-
gerly, and does not resist so hard in landing as does the
bluefish ; but he should be handled carefully, and prevent-
ed from taking slack line, as he unhooks easily.
My opinion is that this fish will yet be taken in great num-
bers with rod and reel. As they annually become more nu-
merous, they come farther into the estuaries and back-sets
from the bays along the coast, and after they get a taste of
shedder and soft-shell crab, with smelt in abundance, and a
modicum of spearing and shrimp, they will soon make them-
selves more familiar, and accept the dainties ofiered on the
angler's hook ; and when-once fairly converted, he will afibrd
the angler better sport than the salmon or the striped bass.
SECTION ELEVENTH.
THE BONETTA, OR BONITO.
The bonetta is the beautiful and swift fish after which one
of our war vessels of the Revolution was named. The Span-
ish name is bonito. I prefer the other name because of its
associations. This fish is found in great numbers about the
West India Islands, where it preys on the flying-fish. His
first arrival along our beaches and in our bays was about
eight years ago, and his shoals have increased remarkably
fast ever since his advent. As a table luxury it ranks with
epicures below the striped bass and bluefish, but because of
its comparative rarity it commands a price rather above
The Bonetta, or Bonito. — Thynnus pelamys. — Cuvier.
Loves Flying-fish, laughs at Tkolls. 133
either. The numbers of this fish annually taken about the
approaches to our harbors with the troll and in nets increase,
so that it bids fair to become nearly as numerous as the blue-
fish. Of the shoals which venture along the shores of beaches
or breakwaters, the fish range in weight from five to fifteen
pounds, while farther south they are said to attain to the
weight of nearly a hundred.
The menhaden of our shores form the leading attraction to
the food-fishes of the troll, and they are so prolific that, if they
can be protected against oily speculators, there will be no
danger of our losing entirely any of the large food-fishes of
the coast.
The bonetta is very beautiful, having a dark greenish-blue
back, which lightens to midsides, and terminates in a satiny
white belly. The diagonal rays are nearly black, and extend
a little below the sinuous lateral line. The first dorsal is
spinous, as are .the first rays of the second dorsal and pecto-
ral. The tail is frajned by two spinous rays, and never closes.
The anal fin is also rigid. There is an adipose fin about three
inches long from the tail up the lateral line, as on the Spanish
mackerel and cero. The mouth is armed with teeth both
strong and sharp. The tufts of fins from the second dorsal
and anal to the tail add to its superior means of propulsion,
and its shape, being perfectly adapted to cleaving the waters,
prove it to be one of the swiftest fishes of the soundings and
harbor approaches. Its scales are so small as not to be seen
without the aid of glasses. It is usually taken on a large
metal squid in trolling for bluefish, and very few have been
caught in fykes and pounds. It is a very voracious fish, and
generally in good condition and very gamy. It spawns about
June in our bays, but probably earlier in the season farther
south. While angling in company with Alderman Dodge,
last year, in Jamaica Bay, he took one which weighed less
than a pound, on shedder-crab bait ; it was one of a shoal
hatched the year previous. Some fishing naturalists state
that it spawns about the islands of the Western Archipelago,
134 Fishing in American Waters.
where it is known as the " albicore," and comes to Northern
waters for recuperation. Others suppose it to be the " tunny,"
which follows ships for the crumbs from the table, and at-
tains, off the coast of Spain and in the Mediterranean, the
weight of a thousand pounds. I do not believe the bonetta
to be similar to the tunny, but I know that it is called albi-
core by some Southern fishermen. The fishes of our coast
and estuaries which I name as belonging to the troll are sup-
posed to be of this hemisphere, and are spine-rayed families
of the mackerel tribes. I am often surprised at the innocence
of intelligent anglers, who do not know a cero from a Spanish
mackerel, nor the latter from a bonetta, or a spearing from a
smelt, and can not distinguish the great Northern pike from
the maskinonge.
SECTION TWELFTH.
It is rather a cereus matter to ascertain the names of such
fishes as ichthyologists have left out of their catalogues; and
as I make no pretensions of claiming this to be a school-book,
the angler will please scan the illustrations which I made per-
sonally from the fishes of which these are intended to be true
copies.
The Ceko, Cerus, or Sierra.
The cero is evidently a member of one of the mackerel
tribes, and in esculent quality ranks between the Spanish
mackerel and "bonetta. It is a new visitant along the shores
from Virginia to Rhode Island, but it is quite numerous in
the West Indies. It evidently spawns in spring-time; is
white-meated ; ranges in weight from four to twelve pounds ;
is longer in proportion to its weight than any other of his
, The Estuaey Sentinel. 135
mackerel kindred ; an individual specimen a yard in length
weighs from six to eight pounds only. The cero is of a lead-
en color on the back and sides ; belly and belly-fins white ;
back and sides sprinkled thickly with black dots nearly the
size of peas. The first dorsal is spinous, as are also the first
rays of the pectorals and second dorsal ; all the others are
rigid, but not spinous. The frame of the tail is spinous, but
the tail is translucent ; it has an adipose fin each side on, the
lateral line at the taU. Its jaws are armed with serrulated
teeth which laugh at any cords softer than copper wire. I
believe that none have yet been taken with rod and reel,
though they are said to be very ravenous biters and ambi-
tious vaulters, which can leap much higher than a salmon.
They are taken in increased numbers annually by persons
while trolling with common Britannia metal squids for blue-
fish. This fish has no apparent scales.
THE HOESE MACKEREL.
I HIS monster mackerel is sup-
posed to be a " thynnus^'^ as
some members of its family
weigh nearly a ton; but I
may be in error, and the fish
may be the head of the
mackerel tribes, whose fam-
ily commands the coast from
Nantucket to the Straits of
Belle Isle. At Quebec and
Gaspe it is called "Bluefish."
The name may have been de-
rived from its leaden color,
and having a head like the New York bluefish, though its
body discloses a few mackerel marks, and its tail is like that
of the honito. Wliile in Gaspe I sketched the head and tail
of a horse mackerel which had just been harpooned in the
Bay of Gaspe by Thomas Morland, Esq. The fish weighed
136 Fishing in Ameeican Wate;rs.
seven hundred and fifty pounds, was nine feet in length, and
six feet in circumference. The illustration here given is a
The Horse Mackerel, — Genus Thtjnnus.
copy of my sketch of the fish made from still life. As Gaspe
is a great fishing port, the " old salts" would have detected
this fish as a tunny, had it been one. That it is a great deli-
cacy for the table is proven by its marketable value, which
nearly equals, per pound, that of the salmon in the vicinity
where both fishes are taken. It is stated that this fish attains
to the weight of two thousand pounds, but it is very rare to
take one of more than a thousand. This eight-hundred-
pounder towed the boat to which the line of the harpoon
was fastened nearly five miles. They are taken, like the
swordfish, by sailing for them ; and when coming on a shoal,
or even a single one, a well-aimed harpoon is sent into the
fish where its head unites to the body, and then the towing-*
line is manned carefully, and the fish tows the boat until he
gets fatigued, and, when in a fainting condition, the lance
bleeds him in the gills, and he is towed alongside until his
powerful rigid tail has made its last flap ; then he is raised
into the boat, a subject of wonder to the amateur. I think
the horse mackerel one of the links in the chain of fishes
whose head is the tunny, and which rank as follows: 'Tunny,
horse mackerel, bonetta, bluefish, Spanish mackerel, cero,
winding up with the common mackerel, which — as the bar-
ber said of the baker when asked tp shave a coal-heaver —
" is as low as we go."
It will be seen by the conformation of the horse mackerel
Habits of Fishes Illustkated.
137
that his propulsive power is equal- in proportion to that of
the bluefish, and so are his teeth. The foot or hand of a man
would stand no chance in the jaws of this monster delicacy.
Talk of the bad reputation of the Silurus glanis of the Dan-
ube because portions of human .bodies have been found in
their stomachs ! the horse mackerel would make nothing of
chopping up both man and fish. This is not a fisji for the
troll, or the rod and reel ; for it is as strong in proportion to
its weight as the bluefish, and it would trouble an angler- to
kill a thirty-pound bluefish, or even take him in by trolling.
But sailing for horse mackerel is rare sport ; and I would ad-
vise those about New Bedford and Martha's Vineyard, who
delight so much in sailing for and harpooning swordfish, t< >
sail down about Nantucket for horse mackerel, where they
are comparatively numerous.
To conclude : Having presented the best samples of the
coast and estuaries for affording sport by the recreative art
of angling, I will postpone for the present the description of
those commercial fishes which belong of right to the harpoon,
the net, and the hand-line.
Pale student, who consumes the night
With learned vigils till the light ;
Merchant, who toils in city street
Through all the summer's fervid heat ;
All ye tired sons of gold and gain,
Turn from your weary tasks of i)ain,
And haste to wood, and bay, and stream,
Where health, and joy, and sunshine beam.
art Seconb.
FEESH-WATER FISHII^G
FLY AISTD BAIT.
CHAPTER I.
THE POETRY OF ANGLING.
SECTION FIRST.
' The patient angler threads the wind-
ing brook,
Tempting the dainty trout with gilded
bait;
And ever and anon, as fleecy clouds
Pass o'er the sun, the fish voracious
darts
From the cool shadows of some mossy
bank,
Swallows the bait with one convulsiA-e
act,
And learns too late that death was at
the feast ;
While the glad sportsman feels the
sudden jerk.
And plays his victim with extended
line.
Swiftly he darts, and through the glit-
tering rings
The silken line is drawn with ringing
sound.
Till, wearied out with struggling that
but serves
To drive the barbed weapon deeper
still,
He seeks his quiet shelter 'neath the
bank,
And thence in triumph to the shore is
borne,
A prize that well rewards a day of
toil."
The question has been discussed by hundreds of enlight-
ened minds, from King Leopold to Bill Kromer — from men
highest in the sciences and most exalted in the state, to the
lowest in worldly means and position, as to who can ade
142 Fishing in American Waters.
quately describe the pleasures that surround the angler V
The most compendious, truthful, and summary is contained
in the poetical exclamation of O. W. Holmes in the following
couplet :
" Oh ! what are the treasures we perish to win,
To the first little minnow we caught with a pin!"
But who can catalogue the pleasures which cluster around
the angler's pursuit ? He pursues his avocations amid scenes
of beauty. " It is he who follows the windings of the silver
river, and becomes acquainted with its course. He knows
the joyous leaps it takes down the bold cascade, and how it
bubbles rejoicingly in its career over the rapids. He knows
the solitude of its silent depths, and the brilliancy of its shal-
lows. He is confined to no season. He can salute Nature
when she laughs with the budding flowers, and when her
breath is the glorious breath of spring. The rustling sedges
make music in his ear when the mist has rolled ofl* the sur-
face of the water, or the dew been kissed from the grass by
the sun's rays." The lark sings for him, and robin red-breast,
with the brown thrush and jolly bobolink, pipe and chirp
their mellifluous notes along his path. The gorgeous king-
fisher heeds him not, and the meadow-hen seldom moves from
her nest as he passes. The storm and the tempest scarcely
hinder his sport. He throws the line when ruddy Autumn
gilds the western heavens, and the fruit of the year hangs
heavy on the bough, or waves in golden abundance 'on the
uplands. Even stern Winter does not forbid him his enjoy-
ment. If he cares to pursue his favorite pastime, he may do
so equally when the tall bulrushes, wavy reeds, and chestnuts
rattle with December's winds, as when the marsh marigold
opens its big yellow eyes on an April day, or the birds of all
song, size, and feather congregate along the streams, and teter
on the sprays that kiss the ripples, while they chirp and ca-
vort with their mates on yonder side the stream. The au-
tumn trolling season over, the angler begins to think of the
springing into life of all nature, when again the frogs begin
Antiquity of the Gentle Art. 143
to croak, the trout to leap, the wild geese to honk, the kine
to low, and material nature gushingly bursts forth into new
life and loveliness. If he is an ardent sportsman, the whole
year is before him. When the trout in spring, the salmon in
summer, the striped bass in early autumn, and the trolling
for bluefish, Spanish mackerel, cero, and bonetta wind up the
falling season, he may hie to the Carolinas and Florida, where
the oranges, amid labyrinths of flowers, greet his senses, and
there troll for black bass and angle for bream to his heart's
content.
" It was always so in the infancy of mankind ; the finny
tribes were pursued by a primitive people with as much ar-
dor as they are by civilized men ajt the present time. Sav-
age and cultivated nations equally followed, either as a busi-
ness or as a pastime, the occupation of capturing fish with
a line and hook, with or without a rod. We find its praises
celebrated in ancient poetry, and its memory embalmed in
holy writ." The rudest appliances of a savage life have been
used to aid the angler at his delightful task, and science has
not disdained to aid the modern fisherman in his sport.
There are tribes who yet feshion fish-hooks out of human jaw-
bones, and the Saxons managed to snare fish with hooks
foi-med of flint. Indeed, the Anglo-Saxon race have followed
angling with an energy and a zest far beyond any other na-
tion, not excepting the Chinese, w^hose great perseverance is
devoted rather to cultivate fishes than insnare them. 'We
know the inhabitants of the British Isles pursued it as a prof-
itable occupation in remote times, and we have it on the au-
thority of the venerable Bede that the people of Sussex .were
at one time preserved from famine by being taught by Wil-
fred to catch fish. Among the earliest printed books is one
on fishing, by Dame Juliana Bemers or Barnes, prioress of
the nunnery of Sop well, near St. Alban's. This book was
printed in 1496. The old lady shows that if sport fails the
ambitious angler, his time is not spent in vain, for has he not,
" atte the leest, his holsom walke, and merry at his ease, a
144 Fishing in American Waters.
awete ayre of the swete sauvoure of the meede flowres, that
makyth him hungry ; he hereth the melodyous armony of
fowles ; he seeth the young swannes, heerons, ducks, cotes,
and many other fowles with theyr brodes ; whyche me sem-
yth better than all the noyse of houndys, the blastes of
horny s, and the scrye of fowlis, that hunters, frunkeners, and
fowlers do make. And," says the good old lady, " if the an-
gler take fysshe, surely their is no man merier than he is in
his spyryte."
Angling, in modern times, is the most refined of all field-
sports. If the angler take a fish, he knows that it is only one
of a spawn of from a thousand to many hundred thousands,
and that all shoals which can, prey on one another. Not only
so, but the old prey on their own offspring ; and from the
time when the mother fish appears in the spawning-pools,
there are several milt fish waiting to gorge themselves with
the ova / and so, during all stages of fishhood, the larger eat
the lesser ones, and — as cold-blooded animals — they can not
be susceptible to an acute sense of pain. These truths can
not be said in favor of killing a land animal, whose annual
procreative increase never amounts to a tithe of any individ-
ual of the oviparous fishes.
The innocence of angling is therefore a feature wiiich has
commended it to the good of all ages. " When bank and
meadow lie starred and enameled with flowers ; when the
trill of the song-bird issues from every thorn ; when all sounds
and all prospects are joyous and exhilarating, and the cloud
itself, sleeping high in the arch of heaven, is as the honored
presence of some benevolent watcher ;" with the soul toned
by the sights, sounds, and exercise into a state of harmony
with all nature, then the angler realizes that the precious gift
lie enjoys is
" One of the spirits unwithdi-awn,
That, erst the fall, were charged to minister
To the earth's gladness, and continually,
Out of their ample and unfailing horns,
To pre-endow the advancing tracks of men. "
The Charms of Angling. ^45
Modern improvements in anglers' implements, and recent
inventions in lures to captivate by trolling, have rendered
the angler of to-day very different from the ancient dreamy
fishing philosopher. Especially is the difference from the
ancient angler — as portrayed by. good Izaak Walton — ob-
servable in the United States of America, where an angler is
expected to scull a boat with alacrity and pull an oar grace-
fully, to sail a boat and man a pair of troUing-lines, to brave
the ocean's dashing surf and spray, and, clad in sailor's garb
of water-proof material, stand on the rocks of the shore and
cast menhaden bait for striped bass, and play large fish from
a stand where the dashing waves threaten continually to
wash him off.
The art of angling has become so rich in variety of imple-
ments, so varied in scenes, so replete with all the elements
for exercise — as well for the student as for the man of action
— as to render it a recreation entirely satisfactory to its dis-
ciples, who believe that
"All pleasures but the angler's bring
I' th' tail repentance like a sting."
Men of cultivation and natural gentleness of disposition
have frequently been known to indulge in the chase, and fol-
low a well-trained dog with pleftsure, though they are often
known to forego these for angling ; but there was never, a
true angler known to exchange his gentle wand, his quiet
rambles among the most charming haunts of nature, for any
other means of recreation.
" Bear lightly on their foreheads, Time I
Strew roses on their way ;
The young in heart, however old,
That prize the present day.
" I love to see a man forget
His blood is growing cold,
And leap, or swim, or gather flowers,
Oblivious of his gold.
And mix with children in their sport.
Nor think that he is»old. "
K
lJ6 Fishing in American Waters.
" I love to see the man of care
Take pleasure in a toy ;
I love to see him row or ride,
And tread the grass with joy,
Or throw the circling salmon fly
As lusty as a boy.
"The road of life is hard enough,
Bestrewn with slag and thorn \
I would not mock the simplest joy
That made it less forlorn, ,
But fill its evening path with flowers
As fresh as those of morn."
SECTION SECOND.
THE BROOK TROUT.
Where the tangled willowy thickets lave
Their -drooping tassels within the wave,
There lies a deep and darkened pool,
Whose waters are crystal clear and cool.
It is fed by many a gurgling fount.
That trickles from upland pasture and mount,
And when the deep shadows fall dense and dim,
The speckled trout delight to swim.
The illustration on the opposite page is a copy of a trout
drawn by Walter M. Brackett, Esq., of Boston, as a contribu-
tion to this work. Of his gifts and inspirations, it is difficult
to decide whether he draw^rout best with a fly-rod or a pen-
cil He is authority for either, and in painting fishes has no
superior.
This book — not being especially devoted to ichthyology —
could scarcely be improved by giving the geiius and family
of each separate fish of which it treats ; but as the heading
indicates that the brook trout belongs to the genus Salmo, I
will add that it is still questionable with some ichthyologists
whether the trout is not the head of the genus, and the sal-
mon belongs to the genus Trutta, or the trc^ut is distinct from
the genus Salmo. Pliny confounded 'them, and the difierent
members of the genus Salmo were never assigned, their posi-
tion by the aid of science until within the present century.
The scales of the trout are imperceptible to the naked eye;
A Thing of Beauty without Alloy. At
The Brook Trout. — Salmo fontinalis.
all its fins are soft-rayed except the second dorsal, which is
adipose ; its caudal fin, or tail, is nearly straight across the
end, contradistinguished from the other families of the genus^
including lake trout. Its meat is generally pinky or salmon-
colored, and of all the shades between pink and white, the
mallow-colored trout is preferred for perfection ofgoUt. The
meat laminates in flakes, and, when in best condition, there is
a curd-like leaf of creamy succulency between* each flake.
Trout taken in streams which empty into tide-waters are
usually in best condition, because their food consists of smelt,
spearing, shrimp, herring roe, roes of other fishes and their
alevins, in addition to their desserts of flies to render them
more delicate, to say nothing of ground bait driven down the
stream by freshets, and from which our Beau Brummels of
the estuary turji aside their beautiful noses. Streams backed
by saline tides are not often impregnated by the debris car-
ried down with the floods or by any foreign substance ; hence
New Yorkers regard Long Island trout as the best, while Bos-
tonians consider the Marshfield trout as the ne plus ultra.
Though I accord a preference to trout which have access to
tide- waters, those of mountain streams are better than any
pond trout. Writers upon angling mention many families
of the brook trout ; there are doubtless very many, but in the
United States I know of but few. A marked peculiarity is
observable in the trout of the Umbagog range of lakes: and
its FiwiiNu in Amkuiuan Watkich.
rivcrR, in the State of Maine?, wIiomo fins aro })r)nl<T(!<l on oru
Hid(5 with a ray of pure whiU;; i*ut I know of* nono whi<li
are not definable as J^atmo fontinalu, diflcrin^ only in quali-
ty and tuiiniportant superficial marks, /y^cncrully cauHcd \>y
the di»tin(!tiv(! properties of the waters which vmh family in
habits. Thus the black-mouthed trout of the swampy forcsi
would soon become assimilated to the trout of the sulino ch
tuarios were they transported thither. Upon this subject
permit mo to quote from Thomas Tod Stoddart, a very higli
authority :
" Of the food and habits of trout I have said comparative
ly little ; nor have I called direct attention to what may be
termed the cross-breeds, in contradistinction to the true or
original breed peculiar to each stream or lake. ♦ ♦ * *
I may notice that the cross-breeds to which I refer are simply
those \yhich have their origin in the different varieties of i Ik
common trout brought into contact with each other at tin
breeding season, and do not implicate the questionable prod
uce, or mule breed, arising from any haphazard connection be-
tween thofario and bull trout, or whitllng, a connection al-
together discountenanced by nature, and not likely to take
place. I may also remark that, although cross varieties may
for a season, or term of seasons, rival in number the tru(
breed belonging to this or that stream, and threaten to ex-
tinguish it altogether, yet there is no fear or likelihood of*
such a result, the peculiar nature and qualitit^s of the water,
aided by the remaining original stock, always tending to re
instate; the breed." This is merely reasserting that the (pial
ities of* the water tknd/ced will govern and regulati; tlx; r<dor
and quality of all trout of the same breed, whether /on^m^^e*
tyvfario.
The speckled beauty known as the brook trout Jias been
an exhaustless tluimo for pastoral poets of all agtis. It has
affordcrl rccreMtion for thousands of years to most of tlie lov-
«?rs of nature tliroui^liout the temperate zone of the north(!rn
hemispheres. Tin* old and young, the learned and ignorant.
ih<« poor jiM'l n<;li >ill chnnun^ rti<«*«, ft>|i1 «orMljtJon«<, lj«v<« m
)oy»Mi flit? >»pori orurjglifij^ for (rout, U |MmM)l>ly ifrtlU ihnU
nunt* im^i and *JUd|>liw« ^pfhtfiU mUul nmi body to nntatem'
fully iiivt'Mt ttml pr»*)»«»it U»« lur«M irio^f <'«f>ilvrtl)ti^ to H ihttii
to uny ofhi'r i'rfmhwfUvr iUU, Alihouj^h Uii* brook tfotit in
\irn\ffi\t\y tho »kM mmwroun tpfttW iJi« j^itrnii fUh«#, mftntntfi^Ui
lor by iJm' ti[r«'«M'«*i monWr of con* ' 'ivm phllimopfmrw,
y»'t it oiay b«' «n^l«'4 for with ih« <;* - ' t^M'kb*, aw\ with
a willow wttwcl mii by tb« wlib* of my nirmttif or It max *M'
f' I ' I Tor with rt \«*ry «lttbor^t« i*pfmmtM>*, Jtrul bi «lib«' tJiMW'
'1("m| ififouioM »j/oH.,
Tb« cJor>»f«oii iroiii l» th« niAmixtfH uport of th« i*nthM«lA*»tli'
itii/tcr, Im mniiy (^otintrit'M thf« trofii tnul ^ttlmon nrt* tho only
MM'tit^ of^nfm^ HmIm'm whi^'h iot^'r^'Mt i\mtiu^U'r\ mu] whilf
=»>ibiiori fl»»hlrij( rrwy b« JtJ<*tly r«*««rdif4 »« th« hlj<fi*'*»t brtt««fi
of fr^«*h'W«tvr x|w>rt, yot it Unn Wri J««f'y »«i'J *'y l^rtt««l#»
I'noM^i* thui, **tt Koo<l troi»t^i»h**r will r'H^ily bi*<;orri« nu CX'
fM*rt ttt ntiUium4\nUUin '^ but » v«ry fe«p«*'tttbl« |/rfM.'titloti«r
wiilt iii< ;il(noM'ro<l will ofWi hAv«f AJl hi«( M«'hooliti(( to tUt
tifri^li, :)»'/'. M hM tUm'trnd in trout flshifii/, \it^ihr" Itt* *'nu frtk"
rttiik ttit II mmisr of tfio art
Ihit it U U'h Uf th** Amt^runii nttijt^i'r to «'rij'/j W»M?4' ri«irn»'r
ou«» ttr^J v«rjo«i«< r*'>»*/Mrc'4'*i tttn\t*tn »o<koown Ut th*f Kurofw'ttn,
Our h\iU'M hnm nrti m*tir\y am tiigh i^ttoiw »!» tfi*.* wibnori, whib'
«am»' ' ' ''M nir\\Hu\ hmn hij<;h*'r, oot Ui mm* iUt* ftiU(*r va
rK't>' '»«< tor t\w ro<l tthd th** troll, whl^^h nUoni Ut myr
Ui^U tiUmn fmr etpwHn^ md in ih« (^niHArif»n (ft UmnmfirMe rfv'
AifiMt t Ut* f»m\ntiiUmn of »ll otb«r finh^^ ihv
mm*\ »i4fitk# iitt |>b*«*fir»bb* mmUimphiUm (tfih(*. \frmk irmt
lh#««p<' '\i*\U'fiU*^tiw\ ytd n4p tifiUiUt, Kvtm iUt* rttn^
iU', i» tfm • >rMmioftt<bJr**«H» by folio wiot( « trout «*tr**ttio
witf* hi« mh wftmJ/ Tfmitirii^ l« «« MtUrnf ttwi mth^mni
' ' '« Ut «11 «bi«*>wHt ttod ^'ooHltiorw ttfitmt atwl
)fwb*?» ftl««y. It mtifii iU$mtf^nrti U* U^^ff*«^A
with tt unmi v»Hitiy </f ifkftM^ti^ ini^Ml^l t^* «rif»t** r*ffirw«J
150 Fishing m American Watees.
emotions of pleasure tiO the best minds ; and while much of
it is due to the incomparable beauty and superior qualities of
the fish, yet his habits and attributes command unmixed ad-
miration. " He is an intellectual kind of creature, and has
evidently a will of his own. He looks sagacious and intelli-
gent— sedulously avoids thick, troubled, and muddy waters
— prefers the clear spring stream — displays an ardent ambi-
tion to explore streams to their source-^is quick, vigorous,
and elegant in his movements — likes to have the exclusive
command of the stream — keeps up a rigid system of order
and discipline in the little community of which he is a mem-
ber— exhibits a remarkable degree of nicety and fastidious-
ness about his food — is comparatively free from vulgar, low,
and groveling habits — entices his pursuer into the loveliest
scenes of Nature's domains — calls forth from man his utmost
ingenuity and skill — and, in- a word, in every stage of his ex-
istence preserves a dignified demeanor, unattainable by any
other living occupant of the streams.
"While these may be styled his social and intellectual
qualities, his physical constitution is e(]^ually entitled to our
respectful consideration. He discloses a prepossessing and
fascinating figure, moulded in strict conformity with most
refined principles of symmetrical proportion, sparkles in all
the gorgeous colors of the rainbow, and occuiDies a distin-
guished position in the important science of gastronomy."
Reasons which combine to establish so high an estimate in
the regard of anglers are connected with the idea that the
amber beauty is gifted with rnind^ for in every thing which
claims human attention, mind, real or imaginary, in the object
is necessary to attract our serious notice and to secure our
lasting esteem.
Once nearly every stream in the Middle, Northern, and
Eastern States teemed with both trout and salmon. The
salmon have been driven away, and, had not anglers inter-
fered to save the trout, the luxury would now only be known
from books and the stories of the oldest inhabitants. As it
Make effective Game-laws. 151
is, the trout streams have been so depleted aud thinned of
their most attractive beauty that restocking by artificial
means has been found necessary as a last resort.
Before addressing myself to the task of describing the ar-
tistic means for capturing this beauty of the brook, it should
be known that it is not lawful to take trout in the State of
New York by any other means than with the angle in fly and
bait fishings. Considering the diminished numbers in our
best streams, and the swift-growing density of the population
throughout the North, it is a question of importance whether
this law should not be adoj^ted by all the states north and
east. The inhabitants of the United States are a peculiar
people in some things, and in no one element is this more
patent thah in their running on the last idea, to the disregard
of all others. This is eminently so in artificial fish-culture.
There are many waters which require protection only to ren-
der the increase of trout abundant ; but instead of protecting
the waters by proper legal enactments, and faithfully carry-
ing them out, some states leave the waters to the mercy of
nets and spears. They appropriate sums of money for prop-
agating trout, and while the fish-culturist is hatching trout
on the middle of a stream, the mouth is being netted, and the
spawning-grounds thinned with the spear. This is " feeding
at the spigot and leaking at the bung."
Game-laws should be enacted in each state establishing the
fence or close seasons for game fish and game animals, thus
protecting them while with young, while hatching, and until
they have recovered and fattened sufficiently for the table.
The legal season for taking trout ki the State of New York
is from March until October, leaving six months of the year
wherein it is unlawful to take trout by any means. It would
be well if the Northern and Eastern States could unite upon
a close season, as it would assist to prevent poaching. Al-
though I have no key to fit the humor of the selfish proprie-
tor who would begrudge the laboring man his snatch of pleas-
ure at this universal and favorite pastime, or limit him to
152
Fishing in American Waters.
Poacher.
hours in a day's fishing, where-
by he might add a real zest in
the way of hixurious variety to
his every-day fare, yet I would
second all efibrts to thwart the
poacher, who robs the streams
of their life and beauty to sell,
when these waters are be-
queathed to the poor as well
as to the rich as a health-giv-
ing blessing.
" Bill Blossom was a nice young man,
And drove the Bury coach ;
But bad companions were his bane, ,
And egged him on to poach.
' ' Once, going to his usual haunts,
Old Cheshire laid his plots ;
He got entrapped by legal Berks,
And lost his life in Notts. " — Hood,
The poacher is an unmitigated scamp wherever found. On
Long Island he robs the streams by night with fine silken
nets, which he conceals in a pocket or in the crown of Jiis hat
(if he have one), and, knowing all the by-paths of the island
as they meander among the net-work formed of dwarf pine
and scrub oak, he approaches a trout stream after midnight.
There are usually two poachers in company. They set the
net across a narrow place in the stream, and while one at-
tends to it, the other drives in the trout. The meshes of the
net are so small that a two-ounce trout can not escape. Before
daylight the poachers art back at their wretched homes, and
those who wink at the criijie purchase the fish, and send them
to the New York markets. The fish being m season, no ques-
tions are asked. It is diflicult to detect poachers on the isl-
and, because proprietors of real estate and hotel-keepers are
afraid to inform against these desperadoes, lest they should,
in revenge, add arson to poaching.
There is not within any settled portion of the United States
Poachers Rob all Classes. 153
another piece of territory where the trout streams are com-
paratively so numerous and productive as they are through-
out Long Island. It is scarcely possible to travel a mile in
any direction without crossing a trout stream, whether from
Coney Island to Southampton on the south side, or from
Newtown to Greenport on the north side ; and when taking
into account the necessity for a kind of recreation which shall
not be too violent for the thousands of debilitated cit^sens
who are pent up in squares of brick and mortar, and engaged
at sedentary occupations, it is impossible to estimate in dol-
lars the value of a recreation which, while it is sufficiently
free, airy, and attractive to inflate the lungs, jog the biliary
organs, and unbend the mind, is not so difficult to pursue as
to prevent the most delicate in physique from enjoying it.
The value of the Long Island trout streams to New York City
is inestimable, for each one of them is approachable by rail-
road in a few hours. In a hygienic sense, therefore, they are
above price. How deep must therefore be the turpitude of
the crime of that vagrant class of vagabonds who recklessly
rob the streams of their life, beauty, and means of recreation
to the overworked citizen who depends on angling instead
of physic for restoring his waning health of body and decreas-
ing vigor of mind !
Streams in New Jersey and Connecticut, and those west
of the Hudson to the Delaware Rivers, and far beyond in both
this state and Pennsylvania, contain trout, and many of them
are well stocked. Indeed, it would be difficult to find a stream
within a radius of a hundred miles from the city of New
York which has not more or less trout in it. The paper-mills,
railroads, bleaChing-fields, chemicals of acids an.d gases, lime,
manures, and numerous kinds of manufactories which cast
their choking and poisonous debris and filtrations into the
streams, have not proved sufficient to depopulate them of
their speckled beauties ; and were it not for the poacher, who
stops not at nets, spears, snares of singular device, killing the
trout by liming the streams and poisoning them with coculun
154 Fishing in American Waters.
indicus^ they would still be so numerous as to require noth-
ing, toward propagation but protection. Want of moral rec-
titude, indolence, and greed make up the modest sum total
of a poacher's character ; and the sooner the class is forced to
work for the state the better, therefore our legislators will
please take note of the true penalty for poaching.
SECTION THIRD.
fly-fishing for trout. *
"Thin, o'er the wave, the quivering insects skim,
And faintly dip their pinions on its brim.
Winter its power has not yet resigned,
. And yet, I fear, the weather is unkind.
But there, an answer to that doubt receive —
A gallant trout ! — behold it, and believe."
Here we see the fly-fisher wading a brook while it rains,
with shoulders protected by a water^proof cape, and extremi-
ties clad in India-rubber boots, with silk rubber attached and
extending up to the thighs, thus rendering the toggery light,
and so imj)ervious as to keep the shoulders and feet of the
angler dry. The boy with rolled-up trousers represents the
ancient angler. He quietly contemplates and fishes in a
drenching rain, taking eels, catfish, and chubs in the pool be-
low the beaver-dam, never dreaming of a trout, when an ap-
parition wading the stream surprises him as the fly-fisher
casts his line, armed with artificial flies, quite over his pole,
and hooks a trout to his great astonishment.
Fly-fishing is more indolent and elegant than bait-fishing.
From the streams on the Styrian Alps, eastward over Hun-
gary, and westward over all the vast empire of intellectual
man, wherever the lands are divided by the ornamental tra-
cery of trout streams, even to the mildly sublime Pacific
Ocean, fly-fishing is regarded as an elegant accomplishment.
To cast a fly gracefully, so that it will fall in the right place
like a snow-flake, or light like a winged insect, requires prac-
tice. The beginner should not attempt to cast too long a
line. Let him first try to throw a line as long as his rod, say
GUAKD AGAINST A SlACK-LINE CaST. 155
Ely-fishixg for Trout.
twelve feet of line ; then increase the length as he learns to
cast it, so that it will lie straight on the water, and a trout,
in attempting to taste, will be" sure to hook himself, because
there is no slack line. This is important ; for if the trout
strikes at a fly on a slack line, he at once becctoes disgusted
at so lame an efibrt to deceive, and the slack-line fisher will
never receive a second visit from him. But if you cast
a straight line, and the trout misses the fly, he will come
156 Fishing in American Waters.
again, sometimes as many as four times, before he fastens.
It is necessary that the line be so straight that a slight touch
will be felt by the angler, and that a responsive jerk at the
top of the rod will be sure to fasten the fish. But if the line
is slack, and the trout happens to get hooked, he will be like-
ly to disgorge before the angler has time to strike. Do not
be in a hurry to lay out more line than you can cast straight
from the tip of your rod to your stretcher-fly. Some good
fly-fishers prefer to cast a short line, because it is so much
easier for them to hook their fish and play him. Especially
is this the case when trout are plenty. On Long Island they
are educated ; but even there do not strain your nerves and
muscles to make a wide cast. Experience is the only teach-
er who will confer the perfection of casting.
So soon as the angler learns to lay out thirty feet of line
straight/without a bend from the tip of his rod, he may count
himself a fly-fisher ; and as he continues to practice for im-
proving in the elegance of his casting, he will naturally ac-
quire the habit, so that fifty or sixty feet casts will be done
with perfect ease, grace, and precision. Over-hand and under
casts will be his next practice, in order to succeed in wading
a stream overhung with willows or alders, or margined with
large trees whose wide projecting branches warn the angler
to beware lest he cast too high.
Many simple souls suppose angling an indolent pastime ;
and Johnson's plagiarism from a Greek author of " a stick
and a * string, with a fool at x>ne end and a worm at the oth-
er," helped to fix in the minds of the ignorant the impression
which the stolen aphorism was intended to convey. Such
vulgar witticisms may please the splenetic ; they only dis-
gust liberal-minded men.
A word more about the costume of our model angler. The
color of the dress should either be gree?i, to. blend with the
foliage, or gray, to harmonize with the shade of the rocks.
Wading boots, with rubbered silk extensions, are the lightest
and best, except, perhaps, the Scotch wading stockings, of
Trouting on Long Island. 157
quite recent invention, and imported by our principal fishing-
tackle houses. A cape of water-proof silk may be carried in
the pocket, and put on as a protection to the shoulders in
case of a shower, as it is not too warm and does not impede
casting.
Trouting on Long Island is the most artistic angling that
I have ever seen practiced, either in Europe or America. The
trout there appear to have learned to detect many of the an-
gler's artifices. Fly-fishing is there practiced near the estu-
aries of streams, where they are influenced by the tides, so
that in flood tide the fisher begins below and casts along as
the tide makes, as far up the stream as the trout feed ; and
when the tide turns, the angler fishes along down with the
tide and the feeding fisli. There being little protection to
veil the angler from the tenants of the stream, it is necessary
that he keep far back from the bank, which necessitates long
casts, and frequently the first intimation which the angler
receives of a^ bite is the gushing and slapping rise of the fis]i,
and the tremulously nervous resistance at the end of his line ;
then approaches the play and the contest, when light — but
finely-constructed — tackle tells. Deftly and gingerly arc the
words, for Long Island trout are not to be trifled with. The
rod should be permitted to do its duty, and the angler be
neither impatient nor excited. Anglers who have never vis-
ited Long Island are comparatively innocent of the real zest
of trouting ; for, without being annoyed with stinging and
biting flies, the trout are as large and as free from rust or the
eflects of discolored waters as are those of the estuaries on
the coast of Maine or along the Gulf of St. Lawrence. On
the island they run from a quarter to three pounds in weight,
sometimes more, and are in the highest state of succulent ad-
iposity. The climate is charming, surroundings most invit-
ing, hotels where good cheer greets the sportsman through-
out the year. I love Long Island, and venerate its trout
streams.
158 Fishing in-Amekican Waters.
" Nature hath endless aspects : to the angler
She doth her beauties and her glories all unfold ;
A magic light rests upon land and sea,
And aU her brooks are silver, all her sunshine gold."
What angler's heart does not beat more quickly at the
joyous announcement of the opening day of. the t routing
season ? He will find, upon asking himself seriously, be he
rich or poor, learned or ignorant, that no announcement of
any other recroation so thrills his heart. The emotion caused
by. the schgol-master when he used to say "boys may go
out," or "there will be a vacation until next Monday," is
quadrupled and sublimated by the permission given from a
highet sphere, as if Heaven said " boys may go out." Go
forth from your counting-houses, your mephitic offices, your
workshops^ for it is the opening day of the trouting season !
" With Winter's frown let sadness cease.
And cankering care,
And o'er the brow sweet smiles of peace
Wreathe garlands fair ;
From joyous Nature catch the smile,
And every weary hour beguile
From care and pain —
Join, join with bird and flowing stream
In shouting forth the rapturous theme,
'Tis Spring again,
'Tis Spring again!"
Who can forget the angling of old at Oba. Snedicor's ? The
late Daniel Webster used to be there on the opening day of
the trouting season, and so did many of our truly great men.
It was there that John Stephens was advised to sail his yacht
in the regatta in England, which resulted in his winning the
race. But the Snedicor Preserve is now in different hands.
A close club of wealthy and intellectual sportsmen own it,
and they have rendered it worthy of its name, the " South-
side Club."
The light, 'artistic character of the fly-fisher's tackle proves
him a disciple of the fine arts, though translating their sjiirit
•into graceful action.
Always Use the best Tackle.
159
Trouting Tackle.
Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4. Split bamboo tront-rod and click reel. The hand-hold above the
reel is either velvet or plain wood. This trout-rod is eminently American ; joints
and rings of German silver, the rings gradually diminishing in size from butt to
top. A spliced top joint is to be preferred. 6. Wicker-basket with padlock, and
plate for owner's name ; sliding shoulder-pad on the strap. 6. Tin bait-box, paint-
ed, perforated lid, and waist-belt. The strap is sometimes so made as to connect
with the basket-strap, when the box is worn or left off, at the option of the wearer.
In case of connecting the bait-strap with the basket-strap, the basket is supported
by the left shoulder, and the bait-strap attaches at the waist, so that the right arm
is entirely free for casting. 7. Fly-book with leaves of Bristol-board, or other stiflF
material, to which are attached short ends of elastic, with a hook to attach a loop,
and a ring at the other end of the leaf for the hook. This plan of carrying flies
without bending the gut was invented by Mr. Hutchinson, of Utica, New York, and
the cards may either be attached to the book or laid in as leaves, so that the angler
may merely take a single leaf of selected flies, and place it in his pocket-book for a
day's Ashing. 8. Lanrfing-net. Rim of hollow brass wire. Meshes large and of
not too tine twine. Handle formed of two joints which screw together, or made so
that the joiut connected with the net will slide Into the butt. The oval shape of
rim is better than the round one.
MODERN SPLICE FOR FLY RODS.
A correspondent of the Field (London), January 4, 1868,
described the modern splice, and gave it his name of the
" Robinson Splice," but since then several contributors claim
to have used the same splice many years ; and the reason for
giving it to my readers is that every angler, when writing
upon it, commends it. It is generally used for splices of sal-
mon-rods, but I can not see why it would not be equally use-
ful for splicing the top joint of a trout-rod. The following
is the description : " The splice is of the ordinary length, with
a small, thin rim, or flat ring of brass at the thick end of each
160
Fishing in American Waters.
splice ; the thin end of each splice fits so tightly into (under)
the brass rim or ring at the thick end of the other one that
it will not shift in the least degree ; a length of waxed glov-
er's or tailor's thread, tied on at your leisure (for all is hard
held to your hand by the brass rings), completes the splice."
mf^mmMmfmmmmmk
Numbers 1, 2, 3 present a side view of the splice, and 4, 5
a surface view. Of course the ferrules or rings are fastened
firmly on the thick ende of each splice, and splice ends are
requisite after unjointing the rod for protecting the thin ends
of the splice when thrusting the joints into a case to carry
the rod after a day's fishing, or when the angler desires to
pack his rod. That is, " corresponding pieces of spliced wood,
with brass rings (or ferrules) attached, are made, joined to-
gether, carried in the pocket, and when the rod is untied and
unjointed they are detached from each other, and attached
to the spliced parts of the rod, to save the splices from any
accident." This is a precaution necessary for protecting all
kinds of splices of rods.
In returning to the general subject, the spring opens earlier
on the south.side of Long Island than in any other part of the
state. This is owing to the island extending so far into the
Atlantic that the Gulf Stream mellows the air by its warmth,
lladishes, celery, lettuce, and sometimes eschalots, are not un-
common on the 1st of March, while the martin and meadow-
lark enliven the air, and the robin is not far behind in putting
in an appearance to open the full court of Spring ; and as the
angler casts from the bank or from a boat, all nature is alive.
The island being in the direct route for the passage of wild-
fowl, the honking of them high in air, and the gunners' in-
tonations on the bay, give a touch of sublimity and grand-
eur which, when mingling with the sounds of lowing herds
and the music of birds, brings heaven and earth together, and
Opening Day of the Troutlng Season. 161
ill a condition of harmony never dreamed of by the care-worn
racer after the rusty dollar.
Persons who have never practiced the angler's gentle art
can scarcely appreciate the feelings which well up in the
soul of an expert who has studied nature, the habits of trout,
and the devices necessary to present lures gracefully for their
acceptance. His fly-rod is twelve and a half feet in length,
including a telling-top of split bamboo. His reel is a narrow
click one, upon which is wound a braided line of silk and
hair, which tapers from the middle to each end, and is thirty
yards in length. A nine-feet-long casting-line is looped to the
end, and with the attractions of a cinnamon fly as a stretch-
er, a gray professor as the first drop, and a red ibis as the
hand-fly, he feels sure that the trout in the first pool will leap
for joy at his approach. As he walks over the meadows, sees
the birds, hears all nature waking into new life, his Very step
upon the mead when the grass is beginning to shoot confers
a sense of velvety elasticity ; and as he nears the stream, sees
the cat-tails of the willows dip and play on the margin of the
ripple, and the trout rising and leaping after flies so that they
cast miniature rainbows over the stream, with cautious step
he approaches within casting distance of the pool. He makes
a cast, and a large trout meets his fly and fastens. For an in-
stant the angler is transfixed ! The old sensation of rapture
returns with the new spring, and as the circulation of his
blood quickens, he spontaneously ejaculates, " Well, this is
worth livincr for !"
162
Fishing in America*) Waters.
CHAPTER 11.
FLY-FISHING ON MASSAPIQUA LAKE.
Fly-pishing from boats or punts on ponds and lakes forms
a most interesting branch of the art of angling. The tackle
is fine, and the boat comfortable. When the pond covers not
more than fifty acres, the oarsman rows across from side to
side without turning the boat, but merely changing his seat
and sculls ; thus the angler, at the bow when crossing first, is
at the stem while returning, and the oarsman continues to
cross and recross the water back and forth, with sufficient lee-
way to prevent the water being twice fished over. The an-
gler must needs be ambidexterous, for he must change hands
every time the water is crossed. On the trout lakes border-
ing the Adirondacks the boats are very light, and finely con-
structed of narrow and thin cedar boards, very closely braced
Fly-fishing fkom a .Boat. 163
with small ribs ; they are clinker built, and about fourteen
feet long and four feet wide, and are intended for one angler
and his guide. The guide has a seat toward the bow, and
the angler takes a seat near the stern, either to troll or fly-
fish. Between the angler and guide, is a basket of heavy
splints and thick oaken cover, opening across the middle by
brass hinges. On the bottom of the basket is placed a huge
lump of ice wrapped in a woolen blanket, above which — or
half wray up the basket — is a piece of canvas, attached by
strings to the basket, and fitting all round. The guide rows
along the margin of the lake, and when approaching a stream
which falls from the mountain into the lake, turns the stern
toward it and backs the boat to within casting distance, and
when the angler hooks a trout the guide rows out away from
shore, where the fish is played and landed without alarming
the other fish of the pool. The guide draws the fish at once,
throws it into the basket on the canvas above the ice, and
then backs the boat toward the shore for the angler to take
another. This is a deliberate way of angling, by which the
pools at the mouth of every brook are tendered the choice
of a cast of flies, and yield their tithe as 2)ay for their cruel
curiosity.
Lake Massapiqua, at South Oyster Bay, on Long Island, is
probably the best trout preserve in the United States. It is
owned by William Floyd Jones, Esq., who is one of the finest
samples of an American gentleman. The preserve covers
eighty acres, and is fed by a spring-brook which is seven
miles in length, and all of it on Mr. Jones's estate. This gen-
tleman maintains the preserve for his exclusive use and that
of his invited guests, who are the ardent disciples of the angle
and promoters of field-sports. Not only for his fish-preserve^
and his system of fish -culture is Mr. Jones pre-eminent,
but as a farmer and horticulturist, a sportsman of first-class
in all its ennobling features, from the winter joy of following
the hounds to the refined and contemplative amusement of
casting the fly, he is worthy of emulation by all who would
164: Fishing in American Watees.
so dispose of the bounties with which Providence has favored
them as that they shall confer blessings on all classes.
There, are several reasons in favor of fly-fishing from a boat
over that of wading a stream, or catching casts from streams
bordered with foliage. It is out on the water, away from
shore, and free from the danger of getting flies fast on the
limbs of trees while casting or playing a fish. There is room
to play your fish. Your shore views are less restricted. Two
anglers, in such case, form the best company possible. The
business of the world may be canvassed while excellent sport
is enjoyed amid the gushing music and harmony of nature.
SECTION SECOND.
now TO FISH A STREAM.
"Where the robin carols loudly —
Gayly and untroubled sings,
And the lark is poised most proudly
On his strong, untiring wings.
There may I be found each morning,
With my rod and reel complete,
Not a speckled beauty scorning
In the pearly streams I meet.
* ' Oft I pause to hear the thrushes
Trilling out their morning song
In those wild and rapturous gushes
Which to melody belong. "
Then mingled is with song of bird,
The monotone of barn-yard herd ;
Anon, a flock of geese appears,
Honking to calm each other's fears ;
And as I angle the streams along,
All the world seems made of song.
Don't see it in that Light.
165
HITS we deftly cast the artifi-
cial lure on the margin of the
streams, or on the bosom of
lake or pond, whipping, whip-
ping, whipping all the day, and
playing trout till twilight.
Questions in relation to fish-
ing up or down a stream
should be decided by the con-
dition of the stream atid its
borders. While casting from
: the shore, it makes very lit-
^ tie difference which way the
stream is fished ; but in wad-
ing, it is best to fish up stream, because it does, not roil the
water, and there is not so great liability to alarm the fish.
In making a cast, it is always best to draw the flies across
the current, for then the drop-flies will play clear of the cast-
ing-line. This is the opinion of most good fly-fishers. First,
cast up stream along the shore, and if the stream be not too
wide, cast to the farther shore, drawing your flies across the
stream, but not too fast, lest the trout become suspicious. In
striking, you can not be too quick when fishing up a stream.
Cast first near shore ; then a yard or two farther off"; next,
across the stream. If you get not a rise, take a step or two
up the stream and repeat. Continue doing so until a doubt
arises as to whether the trout admire your cast ; then replace
one fly by another of different color from any on your cast.
If that does not take after presenting it several times, take it
off and try another extreme in color. Keep changing until
you hit the fancy of the trout. When you have found the
fly that the trout admire, change your other flies (if you fish
with three) to those of colors in slight relief to the taking
one ; that is, put on one a trifle darker and the other a little
lighter in shade. Anglers are not so high a remove above
the rest of mankind as not to be susceptible to a slight influ-
166 Fishing in American Waters.
ence from the baser sentiments of humanity ; but I have actu-
ally seen a man so self-willed as to fish all day without a rise,
" because," as he said, " he was determined to bring the trout
to his terms."
All kinds of angling call for the exercise of patience ; but
fly-fishing requires the gift of genius. Do not fish with too
long a cast. In fishing a creek up stream, thirty to forty-five
feet are quite sufficient. In striking, let it be with sufficient
force to fasten the hook in his jaw; but play your fish most
gingerly and even tenderly, but not so as to give him slack
line, or he will disgorge the hook. One of the principal
causes of losing large fish is the being in too great a hurry
to land them. If the hook is well fastened, the more deli-
cately your fish is played the better; for snubbing a fish
hard at all points wears an orifice in its jaw from which the
hook falls by the mere turning of the fish. It is true that the
trout has a good mouth to hold a hook, but the hook must
first be well fastened to hold, and then the orifice made in
hooking should not be worn larger in playing, if possible to
avoid it.
SECTION THIRD.
KNOTS, LOOPS, AND DROPS.
While anglers should let every trade live, and buy their
tackle in preference to making it, yet with the make of cer-
tain parts of tackle every amateur should be familiar. Of
course he should know how to tie on a hook, and how to make
a loop whose equal bearings would prevent it from chafing
or breaking at the loop-knot.
No. 1. Bending on, or tying on a hook. The hook should be
tied on stained silk-worm gut, round, clear, and strong ; for
in playing a fish the tackle generally parts near the hook.
Use scarlet silk, well waxed with a drab wax made from
tar, like shoemaker's wax, only light-colored. From about
half an inch below the end of the shank, make half a dozen
turns with the silk to the end of the shank, and place an
Soak Gut befoke Tying.
167
end of soaked gut on the shank, and begin to wind it on at
the end of the shank, winding close, tight, and neat, until
you have wound down to near the end of the gut, or nearly-
half the length of the shank, when hold the end of your silk
there and form a loop of the remainder, and cast it three or
four times over the shank as represented ; then draw up the
loop by the end of the silk thread, which will leave the end
fastened under those three or four loops cast over the bend
of the hook, thus forming a good finish, so that you may
cut the end of the silk thread close to the tie without dan-
srer of its drawinar.
168 Fishing in American Waters.
No. 2. Snell loop. Soak the gut, and tie the loop as repre-
sented. It is the very best tie for a loop, and I have en-
deavored so to represent it as to enable an amateur to im-
itate it.
No. 3. A helm-knot, or tiller hitch, useful in sailing a boat or
yacht, because the hitch — though secure — is loosened in-
stantly by a jerk at the end.
No. 4. The common knot for forming a loop at the end of a
silk-worm gut or line.
No. 5, 5. Two half hitches, forming a slide-knot in a casting-
line, to slide for holding a drop, and for changing drops* at
will. Some anglers cast the end twice round instead of
once, as shown. The drop hangs well from it, being at a
right angle from the casting-line ; but with only one hitch
of each end, as represented, the gut is apt to slip and part
the casting - line, especially if the drops are frequently
changed, because, when the knots become drawn very tight,
they are hard to slide, and sliding them to change drops
weakens them ; but I have taken many hundreds of trout
on drops so arranged.
No. 6. The first drop, of the correct length. It is the red ibis
fly, all formed of the ibis feather but the red silk body,
wound with very small gold or silver cord. This is one
of the most attractive lures for trout, but it is no.t so good
as the coachman, or several of the professprs, for large fish.
The tail and hackle at the neck are brown.
No. 7. A knot recommended by many accomplished anglers
for connecting lengths of gut to form a casting-line. Some
bend the end twice round instead of once, as shown. If
only once, the ends should be lashed with waxed silk.
No. 8. Drop, fastened by a half hitch round the casting-line
and the end of the gut near the knot. After tying the knot
of the casting-line, draw it tight, and cut off one end close,
leaving the upper end half an inch long. Lash this end to
the line, and cover it with varnish, and loop the end of the
drop over it. By this plan the drop will not chafe or
Turn off Ends wrni Varnish or Shellac. 169
weaken the casting-line. This fastening is recommended
by Mr. Francis, and shellac might form a good covering for
the lashed end.
Xo. 9. Green trophy-fly. Peacock's wing body and Guinea-
fowl wings.
No. 10. Square tie in a casting-line. After drawing it close,
cut the ends to half an inch long, and lash them with fine
silk, and varnish them.
Xo. 11. The gut of the drop, soaked, and a knot tied in the
end ; it is attached to the casting-line close to the knot by
a half hitch. This is a very secure method and clean rig
for forming a casting-line and fastening a drop, especially
when fishing for large trout of from two to five pounds'
weight ; but for fish under two pounds I prefer the rig of
line and drop 5 and 6.
No. 12. Alder-fly — -phryganea — body of peacock's herl whip-
ped with red silk ; wings of gray cock's hackle.
No. 13. Attaching the casting-line to the reel-line. This loop
is quite secure, scarcely any chafing, is small and neat, yet
it may be easily loosened without cutting the knot from
the end of the casting-line. This is recommended when
the reel-line has a loop at the end ; but I prefer a loop in
the end of the casting-line, as represented. The fastening
is the same in either case, whether the loop forms the end
of the casting-line or the reel-line. Sometimes a loop is
made in each ; but if in one only, I prefer it in the casting-
line, as I consider it the neatest finish.
No. 14. The casting-line, rigged with stretcher and two drop
flies. The object is to show the student how they should
be rigged, so that all may fall at the same time on the wa-
ter, calculating the natural angle of the casting-line.
No. 15, 16,17. No. 15 is called the stretcher-fly; 16, the first
drop ; 1 7, the second drop, or hand-fly, being the drop near-
est to the angler's hand. The drop for the hand-fly should
be four inches long, while the first drop should be from
two and a half to three inches in lenojth. The knots in the
170 Fishing in American Watees.
casting-line show where the lengths of gut are tied — thus,
from the stretcher-fly to the first drop are four lengths of
gut, and three or four lengths from the first drop to the
hand-fly. These distances will be changed to suit taste
and the distance of cast. For long casts, the drops should
be a yard apart.
No. 1 8. A tie for uniting lengths of gut, so that they will
break at any other part as easily as at the tie. Tie a knot
in the end of each length of gut ; lap them an inch, and
wind them closely between the knots with white waxed
silk. This is the best tie for a salmon leader or a trout
casting-line. Casting-lines should be made of stained gut,
the gut selected so as to taper regularly from the reel-line
to the stretcher-fly; and the drops should be of fine, clear,
round gut, stained to the shade of the casting-line. It is
an indication of very bad taste in a fishing-tackle maker to
,ofier finely-tapered and stained casting-lines and flies tied
to coarse gut, and not dyed or shaded to the tint of the
casting-line. All should be in harmonious keeping, from
the reel-line to the casting-line and drops. For casting
from a boat or from the clear margin of a stream, the cast-
ing-line should be nine feet in length, or even a foot or two
more, only have a care not to make it so long that, with the
bend of a twelve-foot rod, you can not reel up sufficiently
close to bring your fish within reach of your landing-net.
For rough fishing on a stream of bramble margins a cast-
ing-line of from six to seven feet in length, and one drop
besides the stretcher, may be sufficient. Many anglers dis-
pense with drops, and fish with one fly only on some streams
in the interior of Pennsylvania, Maine, New Hampshire, and
throughout the region in New York known as the Adiron-
dacks, which is about forty miles square, and one of the
greatest fish arid game regions in America.
HOW TO STAIN SILK-WOEM GUT.
Gut may be stained by leaving it in a strong decoction of
To STAIN SlLK-^VOEM GuT. 171
cold coffee or tea twelve hours. Tinging the gut thus does
not weaken it or render it less pliable. Logwood and alum
form a decoction very commonly in use for staining gut.
Lemon-juice and indigo produce a delicate tinge. The outer
skins of onions, when steeped, produce a dye which stains a
yellow or leather-color without injuring the gut.
Stoddart states that walnut leaves produce a brown dye,
which is a good general tinge for all waters ; and such mate-
rials as stain the gut a neutral tinge, or bluish, are best for
clear waters. Steep two handsful of walnut leaves in a
quart of water, and when cool, soak the gut in the water two
or three hours. The rind of the American black walnut forms
as good a dye for general use as can be obtained. A bluish
dye is obtained by boiling a handful of the dust or shavings
of logwood a quarter of an hour in a quart of water, adding
a lump of alum half the size of an almond. Dip the gut in
the decoction while it is yet very warm, and allow it to re-
main half an hour, or until the shade required is obtained.
Gut should be entirely dried after staining it, and then it
should be thoroughly washed in tepid water, when, after dry-
ing it perfectly, it should be rolled in chamois skin, or stretch-
ed on a board with the ends fastened to keep it straight. An
excellent plan for keeping the gut straight upon which flies
are tied is Hutchinson's, before mentioned. The distances
between the loops or rings and the hooks should be so grad-
uated as to accommodate different lengths of gut, as illustra-
ted on the page of trouting-tackle, thus enabling the fly-fisher
to change his flies or replace one quickly. This plan is ex-
cellent for drops, but stretchers would require too long a fly-
book for convenience. On going a-trouting, I usually put up
a couple of casts, such as I may think will suit the waters
which I contemplate fishing. For most waters I rig a stretch-
er and two drops; and I seldom make a mistake in the selec-
tion of flies. In the early spring I employ the cinnamon as
the stretcher for one cast, a red ibis as a stretcher for anoth-
er, and a mallard wing, with claret body, for the third. The
172 Fishing in American Watees.
first drop above the cinnamon is an ibis, and the first drop
above the ibis is a cinnamon, and the first drop above the
mallard wing is a cinnamon. The hand-flies are the blue dun
or the cow-dung. The blue professor is also an excellent fly
early in the season, as is also the gray ; the yellow is better
in May.
My advice to the angler is to purchase his flies of the best
fly-tyers in New York and Boston, where competition has pro-
duced the necessity for employing first-rate materials in all
the departments of fishing-tackle, whether of gut, flies, hooks,
lines, reels, rods, and the coarser paraphernalia of the angler.
Trout Reels. — The click reel is ijicomparably the best,
though it is not so good to dry a line on as is the Billinghast
reel, which is formed of brass or German silver wire, and the
line open on all sides to the air. The click reel checks the
line to a certain weight of resistance, to which the angler
soon becomes accustomed, and in giving the fish the butt, he
does it with confidence, because he has ascertained from ex-
perience how great a check he puts upon the fish, and the pre-
cise strain caused to his casting-line, which he has regulated
accordingly. This is- not the case with a reel whose tension
of drag may be changed several times during one day's sport.
But the best reel for my use is a click reel, with a large per-
forated barrel or cylinder to reel the line on, and it should
also be perforated at the ends over the cylinder, for drying
the line. The advantage of a large cylinder to reel the line
on when the reel does not multiply is important, because it
shortens the time of reeling. Besides, with a large cylinder,
thirty yards is a sufficient length of line. I once killed a five-
and-a-half-pound trout in a very rapid stream with a nine-
ounce rod and only thirty yards of line. It took me two
hours and twelve minutes to kill the fish, timed by Dr. Be-
thune, of Boston.
A click multiplier is better for angling with the worm or
minnow, but many bait anglers of the country prefer a small
multiplier without a click or drag. Bell-metal is supposed
Magic in a good Fly-rod. 173
to be better than German silver or brass, but alumine, or alu-
minum, is better than either.
Fly Rods. — Rods made from split bamboo are unquestion-
ably the best in use ; but a Robert Welch rod, of ash for the
butt and second joint, lance wood for the third, and split bam-
boo for the fourth or top joint, is the best rod that I have
ever owned for general fly-fishing. The split bamboo rod is
much lighter, and full as desirable. A fly rod should not be
under twelve feet in length, and I had rather have it six
inches over, or so made with duplicate top and third joints
as to make it either twelve or twelve feet six, though my
longest fly rod is only twelve feet and two inches long. I
prefer a single action rod to the one of double action or a
" kick in the handle," though the latter may send a fly far-
ther, and deliver it more gracefully, but it lacks the snap of
the single action to strike. Fly -rods from split bamboo
should weigh from seven to ten ounces when mounted ; and
if from ash, lancewood, and split bamboo, if strictly for sin-
gle hand, their weights should range from nine to fifteen
ounces ; and if the latter weight, they should be about twelve
and a half feet long. Neither rod should be too withy, but
have snap or elasticity enough in the top to hook a fish with-
out yielding enough to permit the sinner to disgorge. One
of the pleasures of fly-fishing is to use a rod which will re-
sponsively hook a trout without an eflbrt of the angler. The
sport consists in delivering a fly neatly on a straight line —
seeing the trout rise gushingly to the surface and accept the
lure — and playing a trout gracefully. The charm consists in
the manner of taking the trout, and the suiToundings of a
pleasing landscape — the music of birds, the spring-time of
general rejuvenation, and the running harmony of intellectu-
al conversation. There is society in trouting, but it does not
prevent the soul from basking in all the life and beauty of
sound and gayety around.
Landing Nets. — If for landing in a boat or on shore, a; two-
jointed handle is the best. If for wading, a short handle, at-
174 Fishing in Ameeican Waters.
tached to an elastic cord and suspended from the shoulder,
or a double-jointer, in which the second one slides into the
first, and is attached by a loop to a button on the breast, is
the least cumbersome. I have found the hollow wire rims
the best, and brass is the best metal for them. The hollow
rim is light, and it does not rust. As to the round and oval
shapes, they are matters of caprice, and as to the wicker
frames of wood, they are no lighter than hollow brass wire,
while they oifer fourfold resistance to the :svater. The rim
should be large, the meshes large, the twine not too fine, and
the net itself large. A landing-net, large, strong, and light,
is one of the angler's sources of delight.
Trout Basket. — Let it be plaited or woven from the thin-
outer grain of the willow or osier, very light and large ; to
contain ten, fifteen, and twenty pounds offish are the sizes.
They should be stained inside and painted outside, or by
painting the inside also they are more easily cleaned. Green
is the color preferred. The shape not very deep, with a hole
in the lid, brass hinges, a staple extending up through the lid,
fastened with a padlock. The strap should be of worsted
webbing instead of russet leather, or if of russet leather there
should be a pad attached, with straps to slide on the shoul-
der-strap to the right place. The New York fishing-tackle
dealers have introduced a new gear, by which the weight
rests on both shoulders, and the basket is held more securely,
and is less cumbersome in forest-fishing. The angler's coat
should be made with a strap and button on the shoulder, un-
der which to hold the strap of the trout-basket ; and there
should be another strap on the coat at the left side, to pre-
vent the basket -strap from moving, and the basket from
swinging about while climbing over logs and fences. But
the great desideratum consists in getting a light and small
basket,^ which will contain a great many large trout of your
own taking.
Bait Box. — Of course bait-boxes and fly-books are articles
to purchase at the fishing-tackle stores ; and while there are
Finishing up the Trouting Kig. 175
numerous theories about fly-]3ooks, there can be but few about
bait-boxes. I will therefore state, beware of those three-
story complications. Procure a box as simple as possible in
construction, made to slide on and be supported by the waist-
belt which holds up the wading water-proofs, or the common
leather waist-belt. It should consist of two compartments,
one for worm and the other for minnow, or for grub-worms
and grasshoppers.
Carrying Casts of Flies. — Instead of winding a casting-
line round the hat, a double band is made to fit the hat arid
buckle round over the hat-band, and the casting-line or snell-
ed flies are attached to it and folded in, so as not to expose
them, or render them liable to get loose and dangle about, to
the danger of the face and eyes. The Calcutta or Gibraltar
sporting-hat, illustrated on the plate with the salmon-rod, is
excellently adapted for carrying snelled flies or casts. A
"snelled fly" is a length of silk-worm gut, with a fly at one
end and a loop at the other.
Straightening Casting-lines. — Hitch the line at one end
either by the hook or a loop, and rub the line with brown
paper between your thumb and finger, and it will take the
turns out of it; or, rub it between India-rubber; but both
these methods tend to chafe 'the gut more or less, and neither
shotild be resorted to if you can have time to soak the gut in
tepid water half an hour. I am in the habit of soaking my
casting-line over night in cold water if I intend to fish early
the next morning ; and I am accustomed also to selecting the
flies which I think may be necessary, and on the rim of a glass
nearly filled with water I hang the hooks, letting the gut fall
in the glass and soak all night. I do not approve of straight-
ening gut by friction when soaking it is possible.
Thus^ with a finely-balanced and finished fly-rod, a click
reel attached to the rod below the hand, a silk and hair
braided line, protected from the efiect of water by being
oiled, varnished, or saturated with some oleaginous substance,
braided like a whip-lash to taper each way from the middle,
176 Fishing in American Waters.
a stained gut casting-line tapering from the reel-line to the
stretcher, a well-selected cast of flies, with drops artistically
fastened to the casting-line, and of proper length, a good
landing-net and light basket, and I am ready for the fray and
to angle all day; for I never yet experienced a day long
enough while fishing.
Oh ! the varied and mixed emotions of the fly-fisher. How
often he is tantalized by false rises, which suddenly inflate
him with hope, to collapse as soon by disappointment. Some-
times he misses a well-intended rise of so bold an effort as to
render the fish too much alarmed by the sights and sense of
the upper air to trust a repetition. Anon he hooks a fine
trout, and in playing it the hook parts from the jaw of the
fish, leaving to conjecture whether it was really a disgorge
or a too tender hold. Thus he continues whipping the water,
exercised by various emotions, when a large feeding trout
springs above the water, revealing all his beauties of color
and proportions, and, taking the fly, he darts away with the
power and celerity which prove that he is going to try the
strength of the tackle. What interesting moments to the
angler ! The numerous runs of the fish, his wiles and strat-
egy to escape, are all tried in vain, and he is finally helped
out of the wet by means of the landing-net.
The man or boy who has never taken a trout has not
really seen one — with angler's eyes. To the angler, a large,
healthy trout in full season, just taken, when fish are scarce
and bite shy, is the prettiest object in the whole world of
beauty.
NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL TROUT FLIES.
Letter A, the artificial, and B, the natural dun-cut fly {phry-
ganea)^ is a good lure for the month of May. Body of
brown bear's hair, mixed with blue and yellow worsted,
whipped with green and yellow ; brown feather wings, and
squirrel's-tail hair for antennae.
Letter C, the artificial, and D, the natural of the green-tail fly
Deceptions of Aet.
C B
177
(phrygmiea). This is regarded as a successful fly for April ;
body dubbed with fur from hare's ear, whipped with gray
or green silk, "hackle from gray cock, and wings from the
prolace of a partridge wing.
Letter E, the natural, and F, the artificial of the prime dun, a
fly for March {ephemera)^ and for which month the great
dun, dark brown, little red-brown, and the small dark brown
are also favorites. They are composed of different shades
of mohair, dun and speckled wings, and gray and light
brown hackles.
Letter I, the artificial, and J, the natural dun drake, or March
brown, or Moorish brown {ephemera). Body of hare's-ear
fur and yellow worsted, or black wool whipped with red
silk ; mottled wings, and hackle from the gray cock. Pro-
fessor Rennie, M. Carroll, and hosts of other authorities,
consider this the best March fly.
M
178 Fishing in American Wateks.
Letter G, the natural, and H, the artificial cow-dung fly. The
body of lemon-yellow mohair and a yellow feather, whip-
ped with yellow silk, and the wings of grayish-blue feather
of a hen, land-rail, or mallard. This is one of the taking
flies for March and April, and the best that I ever saw were
tied by Pritchard Bros.
Letter K, the artificial, and L, the natural blue dun or violet
fly. Body of light worsted violet, mixed with gray down ;
the wings from the pale feathers of a starling's wing, whip-
ped with pale yellow silk. The black gnat, early and late
bright browns or cinnamons, palm fly, and whirling dun,
with the blue dun, dun drake, with palmers, hackles, and
the stone fly, are intended for both March and April.
Letter M, the natural, and N, the artificial hawthorn fly.
Body of black ostrich herl or black seal's fur, mixed with
buff" mohair ; wings of horn shavings, or of the palest
snipe's feather or mallard's wing.
Letter O, the natural, and P, the artificial oak fly. This is a
May insect, famous under the names of oak fly, camlet fly,
down-hill fly, and canon fly. The body* is dubbed with
dark brown shining camlet, whipped with very fine green
silk, or is made with a bittern's feather, and the wings from
the double gray feather of a mallard or of a woodcock.
Letter Q, the natural, and R, the artificial green drake or
green May-fly, the common fresh-water fly for May. The
body is dubbed with hog's down or light bear's hair, mix-
ed with yellow mohair, whipped with pale floss silk, and a
small strip of peacock's herl for the head ; the wings from
the rayed feathers of the mallard, dyed yellow ; the hackle
from the bittern's neck, and the tail from the long hairs of
the sable or ferret.
The gray drake is similar in form, but diflerent in colors,
having the body dubbed with whitish hog's down, mixed
with black spaniel's fur or white ostrich herl, whipped with
black silk ; the wings dark gray mallard ; black hackle, with
silver twist ; whisks of tail from a black cat's whiskers.
Fine Tackle always Alluking. 179
Comments. — From the perusal of previous pages addressed
to the questions of "senses, in fishes," the reader will not be
surprised at the difference between natural and artificial flies.
Fishes in general, and indeed all fishes, are generally more
readily attracted by the size, color, and action of a lure than
by its form. And as a floating lure is better than a sinking
one, the fly-tyers prefer such floating hairs as those from
hog's ears, seals, bears, the South American fox, otter, etc.,
while for feathers they prefer those of the mallards, the bar-
red feathers of the wood-duck, and numerous other oil-quilled
feathers, including all such as do not lose their lustre by the
action of water, and, like the topknot of the golden-pheas-
ant, will shine as brilliantly in the water as above it. It is
doubtless true that more care in selecting floating materials,
and the adoption of a greater number of oleaginous sub-
stances in mounting flies, would be an improvement upon the
almost perfect state to which the art of fly-tying has already
attained. I prefer a body of silk to one of mohair for the
c^wwamon^y, because silk retains more lustre when wet than
does common wool, or even mohair ; and so with the blue pro-
fessor^ another attractive fly for large trout, the body of
which should be wound with lustrous blue silk. The near-
est copies of nature that I ever saw in flies are those of gut-
ta-percha, recently imported by Andrew Clerk & Co., who
^eep the largest assortment of hooks, duffings, feathers, silk-
worm gut, and all the materials i-equisite for the angler to
be prepared with on a lengthy fishing tour, of any house in
America, if not in the world.
Many fly-fishers claim that a different fly is required for
every month during the trouting season; but that has not
been my experience with trout, nor of the best anglers with
whom I have conversed on the subject. I refer not to fledged
lures for salmon, as that royal fish is as capricious about flies,
and changes its mind as frequently as did the Empress Jose-
phine about bonnets.
Barker, an authority on angling, says:
180
Fishing in Ameeican W^-ters.
"A brother of the angle must always be sped
With three black palmers, and also three red ;
And all made with hacklfes. In a cloudy day
Or in windy weather, angle you may."
He then recommends the May-fly, and states that the haw-
thorn fly should be small, while the oak fly with brown wings
and the grasshopper should be carefully imitated, concluding
with the following advice :
" Once more, my good brother, I'll speak in thy ear :
Hog's, red cow's, and bear's wool to float best appear ;
And so doth your fur, if it rightly fall ;
But always remember, make two, and make all.'
Wise Trout below the Dajvi.
181
CHAPTER III.
MIDDLE DAM CAMP.
This camp is situated at the head of Rapid River, and at
the foot of Mollychunkemunk Lake, being the next lake east
of the Umbagog, in a chain of a dozen lakes, in the State of
Maine, which head near the mountains separating that state
from Canada. Rapid River falls into Umbagog Lake, and as
this is a famous trouting region, I give a view of the camp,
where the angler luxuriates on brook trout and spruce par-
tridges, and rests from his day's labor on a spring-bed. Trout
of nine pounds' weight each have been taken there, though I
never took one which scaled much over six pounds. It was
here that I met a new experience in the character of trout,
and think it worth relating for the benefit of anglers.
While I believe that trout are not generally so discrimin-
ating in the selection of artificial flies as to evince acuteness
of vision, yet I have experienced that at certain waters, when
the streams are low and clear, a copy of the living fly is more
182 Fishing in American Waters.
or less necessary to success. This is the case at the pool and
rapids below the middle dam at the head of Rapid River, and
half a mile below Middle Dam Camp, where a large shoal of
— rapparently educated — trout keep leaping and tumbling so
that from fifty to a hundred speckled beauties of from two to
five pounds' weight are always in sight. But it used to be
said that they would not take an artificial fly ; so, school-boy
like, the guests at the camp sent every angler, on his arrival,
to " try below the dam," as a sell. It pleased them to see a
fresh man's face glow at the first sight of those sportive beau-
ties, which acted as if half in coquetry and half in defiance
of anglers. I felt thankful when witnessing the self-denying
hospitality which prompted several anglers, who were entire
strangers to me, to ceasQ angling opposite the camp for the
sole purpose of showing me a pool full of very anxious trout.
They left after I had tried in vain to coax a favorable notice
at one cast of flies. I changed my cast several times, and
then rested the pool to allow them to change their minds or
whet their appetites, until I devoted in that way about two
days, to the amusement of the anglers at the camp, and final-
ly* began to think that the stories I had heard about the sa-
gacity of those trout were true. On my return to camp aft-
er each trial below the dam, I saw that my brethren of the
angle were interested in my efforts by their furtive glances
and sly winks at each other as they anxiously inquired what
sport I had enjoyed. But all their jokes fell short, for my
mind was with the sparkling beauties below the dam. After
having exhausted my fly-books of their attractive lures, I
concluded to repair to the dam and study the trout. There
they were, apparently as jolly as ever, rolling, tumbling, and
leaping about the surface of the clear, curling pool. I had
not sat long on the dam, and peered into the sparkling eddies
below, before I saw a trout rise gracefully and swallow an
ash-colored midge which had floated down from the dam.
On looking around me, I saw a cloud of drab ephemera, rath-
er larger thai! musquitoes, swarming ov^r the dry timber
1^
Fish Philosophy evolved. 183
, and ever and anon, as one fell on the water, a trout
very gracefully and swallowed it, turning quickly down,
nd causing a whirl made by his caudal train, which had so
excited me when I first looked upon the pool. With assidu-
ity I commenced examining my flies in search of an ash
midge. I soon found a pair, and, placing one on as my stretch-
er, the first cast I made with it fastened a three-pound trout,
played and landed it. The next cast I fastened another, but
so slightly that the hook parted from his mouth. Two or
three more casts assured me that the shoal " smelt a rat ;"
and as minks, muskrats, and flies .with hooked tails are their
terror,! adjourned to another pool, and did not return to the
dam until nearly night, wl^en I took the conceit out of four
more beauties ; but, after playing the fifth nearly half an hour,
he made a rush for the rapids, and went over the chute, car-
rying away my casting - line. Having captured five, and
played two more trout that day, I felt satisfied. I had for
years contended that trout might be taken with artificial fly
when in feeding humor, but I had never before found them so
fastidious or discriminative. Since then, Mr. James Stephens,
f Hoboken, and myself, hired a trout-pond in Connecticut,
and though I fished it three days, and Mr. Stephens three
weeks, yet neither of us succeeded in capturing one with the
y. Neither would they take a minnow, while they rose
freely to angle and grub worms, cast, without sinker, as a fly.
On the last day of my visit to the pond I saw the trout nish-
[ing furiously after tadpoles ; but, as I had not time to re-
main and try that bait, I probably lost a treat, for I have
since heard that it is the favorite lure for trout in some parts
f the state. Indeed, the fish-culturists of France propagate
frogs, that the trout may feed on tadpoles.
The angler, on making a lengthy tour for sport, can not
ave too great a number or variety of artificial flies. He can
rocure them at the principal fishing-tackle establfehments
New York, where competition has so sharpened invention
d enterprise that the best flies and fly-tiers are imported,
184
Fishing in American Waters.
together with the best materials, from wherever on earth
they are to be obtained. Or he may be supplied in Boston,
Montreal, Quebec, or at Rome, Rochester, or Mumford,'New
York.
In addition to an extensive assortment of flies, the angler
should carry silks, wools, mohair, duffings, and feathers of va-
rious colors, gold and silver threads and tinsels, fine hooks,
and selected gut, so that he may occasionally extemporize a
cast of flies, which, though not so finely tied, may combine
size and colors attractive for the finny epicures which show
themselves fastidious about putting in an appearance. This
xjourse is pursued by many experienced anglers, whom, I may
justly add, are great bunglers at tying a fly or properly
mounting a hook. Half a dozen lessons from Pritchard
Brothers, or from one of the fly-tyers for Andrew Clerk &
Co., could scarcely fail of being useful to the student of con-
templative philosophy.
SECTION SECOND.
• SELECT ARTIFICIAL TROUT-FLIES.
No. 1. Black Gnat.— Black ostrich-feather body, wings of pale starling's feather, drab
tail and antennae. 2. Red Ibis.— Red body, wound with gold or silver cord ; browu
hackle and tail, red ibis-feather wings. 3. Wilson's Professor.— Yellow gut body,
mounted«by M'Bride, of Mumford, N. Y. ; red ibis tail headed with gold tinsel, brown
hackle, gray mallard wing. 4. Stone Ply — Green drake wing and hackle, drab body
and tail. 5. Pritchard's Stone Fly. — Composition body, drab wings, tail, and anteu-
nae. 6. Cinnamon Fly. — Orange body, ash-colored wings, brown hackle and tail.
7. Green Drake.— Silver body, tipped with gold ; short black hackle, black head,
brown tail ; wings and shoulders of green. drake feather.
A CKOOKED BUT POINTED SuBJECT.
185
BOUND BEND FLY-HOOKS.
These are Adlington and Hutchinson's superfine warranted
cast-steel hooks. They are imported in great numbers by
Andrew Clerk & Co., and, whether straight or curbed, are the
best fly-hook in use, and infinitely, superior to the common
Limerick hook.
1
00
f^
n
n
n
n
(^
1
V \
FISH-HOOK PHILOSOPHY.
Upon the subject of fish-hooks, their important qualities
and bearings are applicable to hooks for all fishing purposes.
The draft, or pull on a hook, is equally applicable to a hook
for fly-fishing or for capturing the largest sharks. It is con-
ceded by hook-makers that the forged hook is the best,
whether it be hammered flat, square, or round. The needle-
pointed, cast-Steel hooks, of round bend, are probably best for
mounting with flies for salmon, black bass, or trout, or bait-
ing for striped bass, squeteague, and maskinonge ; while for
sh^pshead, kingfish, and for all fishes which have a small
and hard mouth, the Sproat bend is preferable. Of the Kiu-
sey or Pennsylvania hook, the shape is good for small fish,
but it gapes so much that a large fish is apt — in sulking and
beating its nose against a rock, or rubbing it on the gravel
bottom — to spring the hook out. If made of large wire and
well tempered, it is good for sheepshead and kingfish, because
it is not so long from the bend to the barb as is the Limerick
,c d^.
c
186 Fishing in American Waters.
of the O'Shaughnessy pattern, or the regulation hook for ex-
portation. The Virginia hook, and the Sproat and round
bends of Redditch, are the best that I have seen.
The foregoing cut, representing the samples of two hooks,
was clipped from a recent number of the Field, and as it
embodies philosophy f©unded on experience, I give it, refer-
ring to the cut, as folloAvs :
" Now I have this autumn devoted particular attention to
this subject, i. e., hooks. I have been fishing with Hutchin-
son's Limerick and Sproat bends (I may remark that I can
not speak too highly of the latter for its prehensile capabili-
ties), and the following is the result. In seven consecutive
days' fishing I hooked thirty-six fish, and of them landed
twenty-seven. I was broken four times. Once my single
gut, with which I always fish, was frayed by a heavy fish
against sharp boulders, and three times the hooks were the
traitors — two were Limericks, and one was a Sproat. Three
out of thirty-six is too large a proportion, and it is very de-
sirable to reduce it. Even in fishing with single gut, the
heaviest fish, if properly handled, barring the circumstances
of snags or boulders, seldom succeed in breaking the line.
But what handling will save a hook ? One will go some-
times, and most unaccountably, probably from being fixed so
as to allow the fish to wrench, jerk, or squeeze it. The first
step to a cure is to find the weak point.
" The only Sproat hook which has broken with me went at
the point a. I think it is an admirable form of hook, al-
though I tried it first as an experiment this year, with much
prejudice against the looks of it. It is less apt to break than
the Limerick, both from its form, and because the pull, 5, c, is
nearly in the direction of the point, whereas in the other the
line of pull, d^ e, forms an obtuse angle at the point e. Of
the thousand and one Limerick hooks which I have seen bro-
ken, either against stones or in fish, by far the greater propor-
tion have failed at the point /", where — in good hooks to a
less, and in bad to a greater measure — the wire is reduced in
BrpoETANT Elucidations. 187
forming the barb. Having determined the weak point, I
think it can be merely a mechanical difficulty which prevents
that part of the hook being made as strong as the rest, and
anglers should insist on manufacturers overcoming it. I ob-
tained some hooks from Messrs. Bernard, of St. James's Pas-
sage, which were flat-sided — that is, they were filed to angles,
and the section of the wire would be nearly an oblong. They
appeared exceptionally strong, but were otherwise objection-
able, being over-ironed and over-barbed. I think something
might be done by flattening the wire from the beginning of
the bend, the shank being left circular for fly-dressing facili-
ties. A section of the wire at the bend would then be ellip-
tical. However, ignorance as to the manufacture, unfortu-
nately, is in the way of my suggesting any thing practical ;
but if I succeed in drawing attention from anglers and man-
ufacturers to this subject, my object in occupying so much
of your space will be fulfilled. Salmoniceps.
" [The hooks which * Salmoniceps' describes as flat and filed
at the sides are, we fancy, not filed, but hammered_, as they
are usually described in the trade as ' forged Limerick tapers.'
We have previously expressed a very high opinion of the
Sproat bend, which is undoubtedly one of the best, if not tin'
best, salmon hook made. — Ed.]"
Having a greater variety of fishes to angle for in America
than there are of angler's fishes in Europe, it will be necessary
to recur to this subject, for the fish-hook is the foundation of
all fishing-tackle; and if it gives way, all the expense of
mounting or baiting it, with expense of other tackle and loss
of time, besides the chagrin, amounting to mortification and
sometimes almost desperation at losing a very large fish, go
for worse than nothing. The centre-draft hook of the an-
cients is quite similar to the hook «, 5, c, minus the barb, and
it is probably the best form for all large fish.
Plate of Trout-flies.
A Cleegyman's Contribution. 189
No. 1. Red body, wound with gold cord; streamers red, blue legs. 2. Coachman.—
White wings, green peacock herl body, brown legs. 3. Drab npper wings, and brown
under ditto ; cinnamon body and legs. 4. Red body and legs, brown mallard wings.
5. Peacock herl body, Guinea-hen wings, brown hackle. 6. Gold body, orange wings,
sandy legs, and gray tail. 7. Silver-drab wings, yellow body, and black legs. 8. Red-
dish-brown wings and legs, with peacock herl body. 9. Drab wings, brown' body,
legs, and tail. 10. B^o^vn Lody, red legs, gray mottle win^s and antennae. 11. June-
fly.— Orange wings, brown body and hackle. 12. Red body, brown wings, gray mal-
lard wings. 13. Brown hackle and two hdoks. 14. Purple body, wings, legs, gray
tail, and green herl at root of tail. 15. Gold body, yellow and black legs, wings
white and black bars. 16. Silver body, speckled wings, brown legs. 17. Black
hackle over body of orange wound with gold, gray wings, and yellow tail. 18. Brown
bo(ff wound with gold cord, gray wings, red and black hackle. 19. Green body, red
tail, gray legs, and hackle round the neck. 20. Yellow Professor. — Yellowish-gray
wings, red tail, golden body, gray antennae. 21. Gray Professor.— Broven maUard
wings, red hackle, gray body wound with gold, yellow legs. 22. Black Gnat. —
Black body, legs, hackle ; ash wings. 23. Blue Profjpssor. — Body dark blue and gold,
legs blue, and drab wings. 24. Body brown South American* fox, wound with silver
cord ; dark browu wings and legs.
SECTION THIRD.
BAIT-FISHING FOR TROUT.
" Hail to the spring-time and the hills !
Hail to the meadows and the fog !
Hail to the gorges and the rills !
All hail the trout 'neath yonder log !
Have good care,
That's his lair :
Heigh-ho, hop,
Flip, flap, flop.
Hail to the shocking old straw hat,
Second-hand trowsers, coat, and boots.
Box of worms, lively, and fat.
All hail your hook in those old roots ! •
Careless man,
Mad as bran,
Neither snap.
Nor flip, flap.
Blessed and calm the smiling mom ;
Birds sing wheresoe'er we roam.
Flowers the fields and woods adorn ;
All hail my line 'midst dancing foam !
Now look out —
Silent stand —
And a trout
Will kiss my hand.
Hail the graceful silver gleam !
Lo ! a trout, with sudden spring.
Forms a spray-bow o'er the stream.
And is added to my string.
Verhum. sap,
Flip, lloj), flap."
190 Fishing in American Waters.
The above pastoral was contributed by a clergyman who
is as eloquent in the pulpit as he is persuasive along the
streams. The disciples were fishermen.
The bait-rod should be a little heavier and longer than the
fly-rod. I prefer one not less than fifteen feet in length,
formed of four joints, the top one lancewood; and in place
of rings, I prefer guides of aluminum. A click multiplier is
the best reel. In angling a stream of tangled brush margin,
it may be fished without the bottom joint by tying on the
reel ; and in carrying the rod through brambles, it is best to
unjoint, leaving the line and reel on when the distance is only
from one trout pool to another, or not more than a mile. The
bait-fisher is much more eager in pursuit of his game than is
the fly-fisher. He threads his way through thorns and bram-
bles that appear impenetrable to any one but a bait-fisher.
He prefers to wade the stream if it be not -too deep, but he
permits nothing to prevent him from fishing all the pools.
He generally prefers to fish down stream, and if he discovers
fresh tracks of an angler gone before, he will either endeavor
most adroitly to get before him, or he will fish so slow as to
let the trout recover from the fright caused from the disturb-
ance of the waters by the angler ahead of him. In the mean
time the foremost angler is continually on the alert to see
that no one gets before him on the stream; but if he suspects
an attempt to outflank him, he pretends to reel up and pre-
pare for home, when in reality he is only putting up his tackle
to make a long detour and arrive at the stream at a greater
distance below his adversary. The bait-fisher does not — like
the fly-fisher — fish all the stream, but knows how to judge
where the trout lie in wait for bait. The fly-fisher often
takes them from the shallow reefs before they seek their hid-
ing-places, w^here the bait-fisher finds them. Bait-fishing is,
of all field-sports, the parent of more patience and eager per-
severance than any other.
Glokious intellectual Musings.
191
CHAPTER IV.
LESSON BY "JOSH BILLINGS."
Anglers with bait
are a more queer,
quaint, peculiar class
of sportsmen than are
the devotees of the
fly, and they include
in their class students
deeply read in nature
and books. If you de-
sire to find an original
genius, you will most
readily succeed among
anglers with bait, who
use primitive rods and
tackle, and follow the
streams solitary and
silent, in a meditative
mood, enjoying the
sights and sounds, of
nature unmolested by the presence of the less contemplative
fly-fisher, or the worshiper of dog and gun. Such a one Josli
Billings appears to be, with his coat buttoned on the wrong
side, if his writings are' any index to the man. His lesson is
included in the following original verse :
" Whare the dul stream
Haz fatted tew a pulp
The sooty arth,
Go seek the dark-skinned alder
(A tiny forest),
And from the crowded growth
Selekt a slender wand.
192 ■ Fishing in American Waters.
Tru tapering^from base to pinnakel,
Four yards in length.
Bee it thy care
Smoothly the bark tew cleave from awl the pole
Save near the springy top.
Thare leave the natiff kivver two feet or more ;
Haply thus the game no fear will hav
When thwart the brook yu stretch the reed."
Anglers will agree that " Josh" has studied both the rod
and the habits of trout, for he describes what a fishing-rod
should be for general use in angling along a stream where
reels and jointed rods are scarcely ever seen. The favorite
baits for such anglers are, 1st, angle- worms, or common earth-
worms, kept in moss a day to scour, and then sometimes
sprinkled with milk to feed them, and still not to darken their
color ; 2d, the white grub-Vorm, found in great numbers by
splitting decayed logs of soft maple or cherry ; 3d, the shiner
of the brook ; 4th, the grasshopper. The two latter baits are
preferred by members of highest rank in the profession; and
in lieu of the shiner, when near the coast, they use smelt and
spearing with nearly equal success.
THE ARDENT ANGLER.
Our wide acres and free streams are ^vorable to the cul-
tivation of liberal, poetical, and artistic ideas, and I select the
following verse from a poem by a gifted student at painting
and the fine art of angling :
"We break from the tree-groups, a glade deep with grass ;
The white clover's breath loads the sense as we pass.
A sparkle — a streak — a broad glitter is seen,
The bright Callikoon through its thickets of green I
We rush to the banks — its sweet music we hear ;
Its gush, dash, and gurgle all blent to the ear.
No shadows are drawn by the cloud-covered sun,
We plunge in the crystal, our sport is begun.
Our line, where that ripple shoots onward, we throw ;
It sweeps to the foam-spangled eddy below ; •
A tremor — a pull — the trout upward is thrown,
He swings to our basket — the prize is our own !"
Alfred B. Street.
The Hakmony of Nature.
193
The akdent Angler.
I
I have also seen excellent fly-fishers with such an extem-
porized rod as Josh Billings recommends. On Pine Creek,
in Pennsylvania, anglers who fish for a livelihood use such a
rod, and fish with only one clumsily-tied fly. They wade the
stream — which is a good plan to avoid meeting rattlesnakes
— and to a string tied over the left shoulder and under the
left arm they attach their fish, and tow them along as they
angle down the stream. On some days they take from thirty
to fifty pounds -of trout. On Trout Run, a tributary to Ly-
cominsc Creek, the best native an oilers use a rod formed of
two hickory joints lashed together, and a top joint of whale-
bone lashed on — whole length about nine feet. They fish
down stream, wading the middle of the creek where not too
deeji, and casting right and left some forty feet, under boughs
which barely clear the water, bringing out large prismatic
beauties at nearly every cast with a single fly of domestic
make. They do this where gentlemen amateurs, from all
I^arts of the country, find it extremely diflicult to get a rise
to their superior flies, though presented with the best make
N
194: Fishing IN American Waters.
of split bamboo rod, handled by expert anglers. The natives
tie on their click reel ; and for guides and top, use loops of
leather or raw-hide. ,
Reprenons notre Discours. — Of bait-fishing nothing seems
more simple to the uninitiated than to be able successfully
to angle with a worm. Mere urchins have succeeded with a
rough stick, linen line, and clumsy hook, more clumsily tied
on, and covered with a worm, in landing a goodly-sized fish.
But this is a mere matter of luck, and it would be absurd to
classify the performance among the efforts of scientific bait-
anglers.
Entertaining, as I really do, great respect for many bait-
fishers of trout, I the more cheerfully present the following
opinion from the genial angler and man of genius, Thomas
Tod Stoddart, whose " Companion" and *" Anglers' Rambles
and Songs" have afibrded me so much pleasure and instruc-
tion:
" It may perhaps startle some, and those no novices in the
art, when I declare, and offer nioreover to prove, that worm-
fishing for trout requires essentially more address and expe-
rience, as well as better knowledge of the habits and instincts
of the fish, than fly-fishing." He does not refer to the prac-
tice followed in brooks and petty streams, nor as pursued
after heavy rains in discolored waters, and goes on to say :
"My affirmation bears solely on its practice as carried on
during the summer months in Scotland, when the waters are
clear and low, the skies bright and warm. Then it is, and
then only, that it ought to be dignified as sport ; and sport
it assuredly is, fully as exciting, perhaps more so than angling
with the fly or minnow."
As I agree in the method recommended by this teacher, I
will give its principal features, and leave with the angler to
decide in his course of practice between us. " The rod should
approach seventeen feet in length, but light, top pieces some-
what stiff, of lance or hickory."
The common trou ting-line of stained silk and hair, tapering
Rig for Bait-fishing. 195
from the middle to each end, a§ sold by our fishing-tackle
men, is the best. The same may be said of the ordinary click
reel, though it were better did it multiply. " The casting-
line of silk -worm gut should be well tapered, and seven
lengths of long single gut, tinged rather than dyed with the
ordinary decoction of logwood and alum. The knots should
be tied with care, but not whipped with thread — an operation
which should be confined solely to the upper joints of the
line. They ought to be of picked material, sound, clear, and
fine, without flaw or fretting."
Hooks should be of finest steel, needle-pointed, and either
the common Aberdeen round bend, Hutchinson's round bend,
Sproat's bend, or the Kinsey bend, known as the Pennsylva-
nia trout-hook. " Before attaching the snell or gut, file and
break ofl" from a quarter to half an inch of the shank, which
is usually too long." This I have found best with hooks for
small striped bass, which weigh each from half a pound to
three pounds. Tie on the hooks with red silk, well waxed.
"Some worm-fishers of celebrity adopt a small projection of
gut or bristle, as in the tackle used for the stone fly," etc.
Sinkers should be made of split shot, from all sizes between
pigeon and buck shot, according to the tide or current, or
by winding sheet-lead round the line a foot or more above
the hook. The bait should play under water, be kept mov-
. ing, and never allowed to sink to the bottom or float on the
surface ; and when the current is swift, shot should be dis-
tributed above the regular sinker on the casting-line.
The best bait-anglers seldom use a float; when they do it
is very small, only large enough to float the lightest sinker
that will^ answer for the water. Casts shduld be regularly
made, and the bait kept moving as if it were a fly under wa-
ter ; or if in the current of a stream, should be made to move
with the current, as if there were no hook in it. The head
of the worm should be broken off*, and the hook so baited
with the remainder as to leave an inch of the tail free to play
naturally.
196 Fishing in Amekican Waters.
Of the varieties of angle-worm, that with rings, from five
to six inches long, and about the size of a wheat-straw, is the
best. Place the lot dug for fishing in cold water a little salt-
ed, and leave them in five minutes ; then take them out, and
place them on a dry board for ten minutes. To farther scour
them, place them in swamp-moss which is damp, but not
wringing wet ; let them remain over night, and next morning-
go a-fishing.
The grub-worm is best in streams after a shower, because,
being white, it shows best in discolored water. But the best
bait of all for trout, to my notion, is a live shiner. Large
trout will take it in preference to any other bait. As trout
do not usually bite freely previous to a shower, it is best to
bait-fish in the rain, or just after it has ceased. Fish know
by instinct when it is going to rain, and they fast until it be-
gins, because they expect the rain to swell the stream and
bring down to them all sorts of delicacies ; therefore, as soon
as it commences to rain, they take any thing offered which
they can swallow.
It is the angler's duty and pleasure to study all the pecu-
liarities of weather, with the habits and haunts of trout, and
to practice upon them; for as the bait-fisher does not usu-
ally whip all the surface of the water, but selects his places
to drop his bait, it is necessary to know on which side of a
rock or log it is natural for the trout to lie in wait for bait.
The successful bait-angler studies also the condition of the
water, and selects his favorite pools, while the fly-fisher looks
for a gentle wind that will carry his flies off", and trusts to his
skill and good fortune for attracting sport.
Fly-fishing possesses its peculiar advantages. As a means
of exercise, it reaches just the degree to brace the muscles, ex-
ercise the temper, enliven the spirits, and produce the alter-
nations between hope and despair characterized as sport. It
encourages fine address and graceful attitudes, produces ear-
nestness and even enthusiasm, and while the practice in minu-
tiae is not so close as to pin the mind to earth, every sound of
Alone with Nature.
197
bird oi' sight of flower is enjoyed by the devotee, and as lie
casts his eyes aloft and around, the earth appears a paradise,
and anglers the only appreciative recipients of its blessings.
Hence, from the variety of emotions which entrance the mind
of the angler, men of genius and learning, especially those of
ideal temperament, such as poets, painters, sculptors, philoso-
phers, and worshipers of nature, become so penetrated with
the beauties which surround its pursuit, that the cold, calcu-
lating outer world deems them mad upon a trivial subject.
But it was owing solely to the pleasures which angling con-
fers that Thomson, Bums, Scott, Hogg, and a host of other
acknowledged worthies, succeded by Prof. Wilson, Words-
worth, King Leopold, Dr. Bethune, and Daniel Webster, ea-
gerly exchanged the gray goose-quill and the fellowship of
books for the gently-tapering trout-rod and the music of the
rills and cascades, older than the rhythm of Homer, and as at-
tractive as the propositions of Socrates. " Therefore it was
that Paley left his meditative home, and Davy his tests and
crucibles, Chantrey his moulds, models, and chisel-work — each
and all to rejoice and renovate themselves," and to fish up*
new ideas as with the gentle wand they cast their lines in
pleasant places, playing trout in sparkling waters, and enjoy-
ing a sportive recreation which ever fills the mind with pure
and joyous emotions, tempered by serene philosophy.
198
Fishing in American Wateks.
SECTION SECOND.
angling for children.
' Come when the leaf comes, angle with me,
Come when the bee comes crossing the lea ;
Come with the wild flowers,
Come with the mild showers,
•Come when the singing bird calleth for thee !"
Stoddart.
TRANGE ! I sometimes involun-
tarily ejaculate when I see
people economize the necessa-
ries of life in order to be able
to support a carriage and dress
the family fancifully, to take
them on a drive in the country
over dusty roads as an airing
and exercise for the promotion
of health.
Of course, exercise in the
open air is necessary for the
preservation of good health;
and a residence in a city where
the only breathing-places are
its parks, or in the few country
places which are remote from
waters that offer the recreation
of angling, there is an excuse
for the next means in the sim-
ple catalogue for promoting
and preserving health, which is
driving or riding on horseback.
But in our country of broad
acres and free fishings, every
parent should teach his children to angle. The sport, which
is not laborious, soon renders the young student so ardent m
its pursuit that he will get sufficient exercise, while his mind
Tempering youthful Ambition. 199
will be rendered logical by the realization of cause and effect,
and his whole being will soon become attuned to the harmo-
nies of nature. The pleasurable, exercise and anxieties in the
practice of angling rest and recuperate the mind, so that
children are thereby enabled to commit their school lessons
to memory with greater ease, and to understand them more
fully.
A small stream to angle in from the shore, or a pond to
row out on and anchor the boat to fish from, is a great lux-
ury which a family should not omit the enjoyment of. I have
noticed with pleasure that the taste for angling has been in-
creasing annually for the past ten years with our ladies. They
begin to delight in fishing excursions and in the harmony of
angling. There is, therefore, hope of a large crop of anglers
from the rising generation. Twenty years ago there were
scarcely a dozen ladies in the metropolis who could scull a
boat, but now many ladies ply a pair of sculls very grace-
fully. With those families settled near the shores of the
numerous water approaches to New York, and along Har-
lem River, the taste is setting in favor of light, buoyant, com-
fortable, and elegant row-boats ; and morning and evening,
these boats, laden with joyous families of children, lend an
enlivening charm to the scene.
Sometimes papa and mamma take the children a-fishing.
Whenever they do, they should supply them with a light
bamboo rod, and attach at a joint one third from the top end
a very fine silk or linen line ; wind it a few times round the
rod, and cast two half hitches over the top end ; then afiix a
float according to the depth of the water, so that the bait will
sink within six inches of the bottom, and a foot above the
hook fasten to the line from one to three split shot. Let the
hook be the minnow size, and the bait — a piece of angle-worm
dug the day previous, and laid in moss or green grass over
night to scour, if for small fresh-water fishes — should merely
cover the point of the hook. Never bait with the head of
the worm ; always break that off and throw it in the water.
200 Fishing in American Waters.
Sometimes it is best to take an extra supply of worms, and
cut some of them into small pieces and throw them into the
fishing-pool to attract the fishes to the place where you in-
tend angling. The liver of any animal is good bait for sun-
fish, shiners, chubs, dace, etc. If angling in salt-water for
Avhite perch, smelt, spearing, porgees, and tomcods, use shrimp
for bait ; or, if they can not be procured, use either soft or
hard shell clam. Rig the line with only one hook, and let
papa regulate the whole tackle according to the size of the
fishes to be angled for.
Oh ! well do I remember the time when I first essayed to
capture the finny beauties of the brook. I was about seven
years old, and as my father, who was devoted to educational
pursuits, had found both recreation and consolation in an-
gling, he used sometimes to permit me to accompany him
and carry his strings of trout, and finally rigged me out with
a wand, line, and hook. The first fish that I caught was a
shiner. The sensation caused by the bite of the fish, and the
sight of the trembling and shining beauty as I cast it over
my head, and when realizing, by running to my hook and
learning that I had actually caught it, were moments as in-
describable as they were ecstatic. I was anxious to return
home at once and show the trophy to the family, and was
not dissuaded until my larger comrades pointed out the pos-
sibility of my taking a long strmg of such jewels.
After practicing a season with this light tackle, it will be
best to procure regular perch-tackle, and the next season a
reel and trout-rod may be added to the outfit. Then grass-
hoppers will be found the favorite bait for trout and young
black bass, and small shiners and white grub-worms will be
found most attractive after a shower for large trout, black
bass, perch, and now and then a sand pickerel, which some of
the fishermen call doree. The lad will soon learn that the
most rapturous sport is realized along a stream and among
the birds as they chirp and sing while flitting from spray to
spray, for they rightly regard the young angler as a friend,
First Sense of Cause and Effect.
201
and so neaiTy a companion that they vie with each other in
melody to charm him on.
After tea both mamma and papa .take a seat with the chil-
dren in the punt, when papa rows out on the pond and an-
chors the punt, and then baits the hooks and takes off the
fish. This is the contemplative philosopher's recreation. It
is simple, innocent, and charming.
"Delicious musings fill the heart, and images of bliss ;
Ah! that all pictures of the past were innocent as this!"
"Like distant music — heard at even,
When the gold light has left the dying day —
Which, like some spirit song from heaven,
Swells softly, then as softly dies away ;
Yet dieth not away within the soul,
But leaves a soothing influence behind,
That oft will in our thoughtful hours control
The grosser, worldly cares that crowd the mind —
Just so the thoughts of dearest friends will steal
Over the pensive soul with fond reflections.
And, waking slumbering chords of love, reveal
Those hidden ties that bind our best affections ;
And — goodness gracious, bless me ! — what a deal
Of good it does to have such recollections !" — C. Bede.
202 Fishing in American Waters.
The Salmon. — Sabno salar.
CHAPTER V.
THE SALMON.
This is the head of a numerous species, or rather of many
families. The body is covered with fine scales ; the fins are
all soft-rayed except the second dorsal, which is composed of
a soft adipose film. It has an air-bladder which extends the
whole length of the abdomen.
The genus Salmo contains those species, such as the salmon
and trout, in which the upper jaw is formed by the superior
maxillary bones — the intermaxillaries being small — situated
between the maxillaries. Usually these bones descend into
the front of the superior maxillaries, and form the upper
boundary of the mouth. The maxillaries, palatines, vomer,
and even the tongue, are furnished with teeth. , The bran-
chiostegous, or gill rays, are about ten in number.
Numerous species of this genus are found in the seas of the
northern hemisphere, one of the largest of which is the com-
mon salmon (Salmo salar. — Lin.), a fish too well known, both
as to flavor and appearance, to require particular description.
Cuvier states that it is found in all the arctic seas, whence it
enters the rivers in the spring.
The Salmo salar, which the inhabitants of the British Isles
appropriately distinguish as both " noble" and " roval," be-
cause it is the fish which affords them their highest degree
of sport in angling, according to their estimate of the value
of field-sports, has been differently esteemed for its esculent
qualities at several periods in modem history, though at no
Anglers the true friends of the Salmon. 203
time have its gamy qualities been questioned; In the eight-
eenth century its shoals became so numerous as to make it
necessary to guard, by a clause in indentures, against feed-
ing apprentices with it more than two days in each week.
This was the case in England and in some of its colonies.
But from many of our rivers, which teemed with salmon at
the beginning of the present century, this delicious and grace-
ful fish has been driven away ; and were it not that — through
the efforts of a few angling philosophers — the public has be-
come sufficiently enlightened to see the necessity for the em-
ployment of means to restock our salmon rivers, it would be
scarcely worth the time and ink necessary to describe the
salmon in its varied aspects for the table, for commerce, and
as an interesting feature in the recreative sports of the coun-
try.
But, thanks to a few public-spirited gentlemen, whose sci-
entific discoveries were derivpd from experiments instituted
at their own expense, the recent reports of the Fisheries Com-
missioners of New England show that the waters are being
restocked with such zeal and alacrity that it will not be more
than five years before most of the rivers north of Pennsylva-
nia will be literally repeopled with salmon. The favorable
prospects thus extended, when coupled with the generosity
of our Northern neighbors, whereby the Dominion permits us
to compete equally with its own people in the leasing of Ca-
nadian salmon-waters, gives hopeful promise that salmon-fish-
ing with the fly will soon engage the attention of our anglers
for striped bass during June and July, and thus add an inter-
esting feature to the sports of the year, without trenching
upon the best season for striped-bass angling.
The Highlander who stated that " no man has any right to
a hunter's badge who has not killed a red deer, an eagle, a
salmon, and a seal," had never been in America, or he would
have made some additions to his prerequisites. If it exhilar-
ates and even astonishes to take a salmon in the modest riv-
ers of the British Isles, with gaffers as helpers, who know
204 Fishing in American Waters.
every cast in a pool, what must the sport be on the large,
wild, and rapid rivers of Canada, with no adequate help ?
Since we have no other choice, if we would go a salmon-
fishing, but to repair either to Scotland, Ireland, or to the Do-
minion of Canada, and as several rivers in Canada are leased
by American anglers, and all sportsmen from the States are
liberally and even courteously treated there, I should give a
preference to Canadian salmon-waters over those across the
Atlantic, even were the fishings oifered at the same price;
but in the matter of expense, Canada is much the most eco-
nomical for our anglers. The fish are also much larger on this
side on an average, the scenery is more majestic, and the riv-
ers more grand. To spend a summer month on one of the riv-
ers which empty on the north shore of the Gulf of the St. Law-
rence is to rest the mind by the most absolute exclusion from
the world. When I essayed the ascent of one of the great
rivers which empty into the Gulf of St. Lawrence north of the
island of Anticosti, the world was tranquil. I rested there
free from the news of civilization. For a month I admired
the grandeur of the mountains, the majesty of the broad and
rapid river, the elegant play of salmon, and the dexterity of
the seals ; and at night the brilliancy of the northern horizon
and gorgeousness of the lunar bow enraptured me. On my
return down the river, I was astonished to hear that a great
war was in progress between Prussia and Austria, and that
the cholera was raging in many places ; but I was delight-
fully surprised to learn that the Atlantic telegraph was in
successful operation, though shocked at hearing of the dead-
lock in Washington and the intention to impeach the Presi-
dent. Neither of these important topics were spoken of when
I left New York to visit the wilderness on the north side of
the Gulf of St. Lawrence. I therefore advise those who de-
sire to unbend the mind and become perfectly Rip Van Win-
klefied, to try the rejuvenating effect of salmon-fishing in
Canada.
Anglers of the LTnited States who desire to fish a salmon-
I
Pkepaking to Start for Salmon. 205
er in the dominion of Canada should club together and
apply for the fluvial parts of rivers. The estuary is usually
devoted to net-fishing, but it would be a better plan to apply
for a whole river, and then have the estuary netted if prefer-
red, or devote the whole river to fly-fishing. As salmon do
not rise to the fly in the tidal parts of rivers, if the river is
well stocked, the company might have the tidal part netted
with sweep-nets to a certain extent, but gill-nets and othei-
nets fastened to ground fixtures should be avoided. A party
of four gentlemen own the lease of the Godbout, and permit
no netting. It is contrary to law to fish on Sunday in any
part of Canada. The government leases the rivers for a term
of nine years, and the rivers unlet on the first day of each
year are advertised by the government to be let to the high-
est bidders. The places of residence of those tendering for
fishings are not considered in letting a river, and if a gentle-
man of the States overbids a Canadian, the river will be de-
clared as his. Rivers are therefore hired by Europeans as
well as by Canadians and citizens of the States. Prior to the
formation of the Dominion of Canada out of the provinces,
the salmon-rivers were under the control of the Minister of
Crown Lands; but now they are managed by the Minister
of Marine and Fisheries, at present the Hon. Peter Mitchell,
to whom all applications should be made for leases of rivers.
Rivers are either let in whole or in parts, each part permit-
ting the use. of a given number of rods, generally four. The
fluvial part of the Moisie, for example, is divided into three
fishings, the estuary being hired for fishing with nets. The
other two parts accommodate eight rods. Parties, on making
application to the Hon. P. Mitchell, at Ottawa, should state
what number of rods they" desire to accommodate, and on
which side of the St. Lawrence they prefer a river. He will
then forward the applicants a list of the rivers to be let, with
such other information as he may deem necessary for their
guidance. After receiving the list of rivers and a note of in-
formation, they should apply to some gentleman of the Do-
206 Fishing in American Waters.
minion to make the tender for them. If necessary, on appli-
cation, I will name a suitable person at the seat of govern-
ment to whom they may apply with confidence.
The course which I recommend to gentlemen of the States
is pursued by sportsmen of Canada. The prices for the flu-
vial parts of rivers are very modest. I belonged to a party
of four anglers who hired the whole of the fluvial part of a
first-class river for three hundred dollars for a single season.
The leases of fluvial parts of rivers vary from two to six hun-
dred dollars a year for from three to eight rods; and the
price for guides or gafifers is a dollar a day. Canoes and pro-
visions are cheap there ; a first-rate canoe may be purchased
for from twelve to fifteen dollars ; and as for desiccated meats
and canned vegetables, with potatoes and eggs, also wines
and difiusible stimulants, they do not cost more than half the
sum demanded for them in the States. Then, as an econom- _
ical summer trip of a month or six weeks, the cost is less than
the expense of staying at a watering-place hotel, which is
similar to a city hotel minus its comforts. If the lovers of
field-sports in the United States can but be induced to try
salmon-fishing, it will not be long before the rivers in the
States will teem with the silver beauties. I have before me
a score of five weeks' fishing in the Godbout lor four rods.
The total count was 279 salmon, weighing 3116 pounds, or the
average weight of each fish 11 J pounds. They did not aver-
age the use of more than three rods daily, or more than five
days each week. I have seen larger takes, but this is a high
score for salmon-fishing in any part of the world.
As I have stated, an application to hire the fluvial or an-
gling part of a salmon-river from the government of the Do-
minion is to be for the term of nine years, and the prices of
the rivers must necessarily advance as anglers multiply in
numbers and America increases in wealth ; for salmon-fish-
ing, on the list of recreations which most deeply interest cul-
tivated men, is esteemed a high art.
To Kenew our Youth. iOT
SECTION SECOND.
outfit foe salmon-fishing.
1 tent, either a marquee, wall-tent, or a common circular
tent.
2 rubber blankets.
2 head-nets.
1 musquito-bar.
1 pair wading trowsers, water-proof and large.
1 water-proof overcoat, large and light.
1 oil-cloth coat and pants, to wear when fishing in the rain.
2 pairs of pegged army shpes for wading.
6 " heavy woolen half hose.
1 pair of heavy woolen blankets.
1 rubber bag, large size.
1 rubber pillow.
1 pint aqua ammonia^ for applying to bites of black flies,
for preventing the secondary effect of swelling.
1 small case of medicines.
To guard against being bitten by black flies and musqui-
toes, carry a bottle of castor-oil mixed with a strong tincture
of camphor. Some salmon-anglers employ a composition of
tar and camphor, which gives them the tawny tint of the In-
dian, though it is one of the best protections against flies.
The black fly is the worst during daytime, while the musqui-
toes and gnats begin their depredations at sundotvn and con-
tinue until sunrise. Your gaffer should fumigate your tent
every night before you retire with a smudge smoke. Both
the head-net and musquito-bar should be used every night.
For constant wear, day and night, supply yourself with a
pair of woolen gloves extending near to the elbows, worn
over the coat sleeve and held up by an elastic str^p ; or sew
a pair of cotton stocking-legs to the wrists of a pair of gloves,
either dogskin, buckskin, or close and thick woolen gloves.
A trip to Canada for salmon-fishing would be the gem of
the year for all anglers, and pven summer excursionists, were
208 Fishing in American Waters.
it not for the flies ; yet they are no worse there than they arc
in the Adirondacks, nor so bad as they are in the wilds of
Maine and New Hampshire.
A fishing-hat like No. 1 is formed of two parts, like 2 and
3, the latter setting on the band of 2 so that the vents will
not meet, but the outer ones alternate with the Tinder ones
just above the brim. The edge of 3 is tacked down on the
brim, which leaves a space between that and the upright part
of 2 of half an inch or more, and cover the sewing to the
brim with a band. The ventilation of this hat is excellent.
The hat is known by name as the Gibraltar hat, while others
call it the Calcutta hat. It is usually made of drab felt, and
worn as an undress hat by European military oflicers when
doing duty in warm climates. It is unquestionably the best
ventilated hat made, except those from India, woven from
grass or platted from bamboo ; but the felt ones are the best
in shape, and lighter than the real Indian hat.
7
Fishing-hat and !Salmon-koi>.
2 Salmon Rods. — The salmon-rod of four joints is indica-
ted by No^. 4, 5, 6, 7. The two upper joints are spliced with
a small ring covering the end of each, as directed for the
modern splice illustrated on another page. The following
explanation I think worthy the attention of fly-fishers :
An excellent Kod. . 209
"Sir, — Not the least pleasure of the angler consists in
looking back upon the summer-time when he 'wandered
dreamily away up among the hills by the side of a tiny beck,
new to the angler, with no sound but the plover or the cur-
lew, or the distant tinkle of the bell-wether ; no incumbrance
but a light rod ; no bother about what flies will or will not
suit ; no tackle beyond a yard of gut and two or three hooks
in a piece of brown paper ; a small bag of moss with well-
scoured worms within ; a sandwich or cold mutton chop —
the latter for preference — in one pocket, and a flask of the
dew " that shines in the starlight when kings dinna ken in
the other," etc., etc. ; and when autumn, with its bracing air,
succeeded summer, to the wild, excited, yet concentrated
thrill that shot through his frame when he hooked the " lord-
ly salmon," and which lasted till he could say to himself, "It
is my turn now ; you shall not have all your own way with
me." '
" Such have been my feelings this cold, stormy winter even-
ing, as I sat over a cosy fire in my easy-chair. I felt inclined
to good fellowship with all anglers, especially such of them
as have arrived at my time of life, when they naturally look
back to what they have been in preference to what they are
now, but are still fond of the sport when strength and oppor-
tunity allow of following it. For the especial benefit of the
latter, if you and they think it worth accepting, I have turned
to my writing-case to give you the particulars of a light sal-
mon-rod, equally good for worm or. salmon fishing, which I
got made at home last year.
"Its weight is li lb. ; length, 15^ feet; first fish killed
with it, 1 8 lbs. weight.
"The first week in September this season I hooked and
[killed a male fish, 11 lbs., and hooked and killed on successive
days seven fish, aggregate weight nearly 90 lbs., without los-
ing any thing once hooked. Two or three had the sea-lice
on them — one especially, a 15 ^-pounder, which for running,
jumping, wheeling round and round in circles, shaking its
O
210 Fishing in American Waters.
head, and lashing the water with its tail, exceeded any thing
I ever had on. An old angler who was on the opposite side
of the river, and has himself killed above fifty salmon this
season, said it was the wildest fish he ever saw.
" Well, not to be prolix, I give you the result Qf many
hours' study in few words, prefacing them with the observa-
tion that the rod is as straight and serviceable now as when
first made, and has never failed or needed repair.
"For the butt, 5| feet of well-seasoned, selected memel,
with the fibre of the wood running straight in the direction
of the rod ; if these conditions are not observed the wood is
useless. For the middle piece, 4 J feet of selected ash. For
top, 4| feet of lancewood. The memel butt is brass-hooped,
has good strong brass hoops for the wheel, and is joined to
the ash middle-piece with the usual brass ferrule. The lance-
wood top and ash middle-piece are joined with a new splice,
which is superior to the ferrule joining for its lightness, im-
possibility of any shifting, and the quickness with which it
is put together. This is the ' modern splice for fly-rods,'
which is illustrated and described on page 160, under the
head of Trouting Tackle.'
" There are twenty rings, graduating in size from the butt
to the top, including the top ring, which is just large enough
to allow the line to run freely. Proper ringing of a rod dis-
tributes the weight of a fish equally over it until it comes to
the ring on the butt end. The rod graduates from the butt
end to the top, is neither stiff nor supple, and throws a long
line. The* weight of the whole rod will give an idea of the
thickness of each piece.
" I wish to draw especial attention to the material of the
butt, the ringing, and the new splice. This new form of
splice obviates the only objections (loss of time in tying,
loosening of splice during use, and the wearing of the ends'
of the splice) against a spliced rod, and renders it incompar-
ably superior to a ferruled rod."
Francis Francis states that " the best wbod is unquestion^
A MOST IMPORTANT IMPLEMENT. 211
ably greenheart, and next to it hickory ;" adding that they
in the British Isles had tried bamboo, and found it a failure.
He also thinks that ferruled rods are better than spliced ones
for general use, and shows, by comparing their weights, that
the ferruled ones are not appreciably heavier. Since Mr. Fran-
cis gave an opinion against a bamboo rod. Dr. Clerk, of the
firm of Andrew Clerk & Co., has visited Scotland in the sal-
mon season, and carried with him a split bamboo rod made by
their house. I have seen the same rod used in Canada, where
it was pronounced, by such competent judges as officers of
the army, the best they had ever seen in use. The doctor
stated that to be the opinion of the anglers and experts in
Scotland. This is the fourth season that it has been used,
and, though it has played and killed many salmon weighing
from twenty-five to thirty-five pounds each, yet it has never
started in any part, but appears as good as new. Having
seen it used by the side of Castle Connell and Martin Kelly
specimens, I frankly confess that the split bamboo is vastly
their superior in delivering a fly at a great distance, and re-
trieving the line ; in playing a large fish while the angler is on
the shore of a wide, rapid river, and in all the essentials
which conduce to elegance and satisfaction in salmon-fishing.
The rod is twenty feet long, and not more than three fourths
the weight of a greenheart or hickory of the same length.
The reel is attached to bands from eighteen inches to two
feet above the end of the butt, as easier to hold while racing
down a river with a salmon. By the use of a couple of feet
below the reel, the angler may place the butt under his left
arm, and, with the rod perpendicular, let the rod and reel do
their duty, while he runs an unequal race along a rocky shore,
tangled with shrubbery and fallen timber. I sincerely be-
lieve that the split bamboo is the perfection of a salmon-rod.
Its make is a secret, but there is no doubt that the butt and
second joint are corked with hickory or some one of our
tough woods. The only part of the rod which is bamboo is
the outside, composed of the outside and tough part of the
212 Fishing in American Waters.
bamboo, and wound at intervals of six inches throughout its
length with waxed silk lashings. Of course the rings are
graduated in number to the length of the rod.
The angler, on visiting Canada for salmon-fishing, should be
armed with two rods, or an extra rod besides his bamboo, but
should expect to fish with the bamboo. I am partial to a
three-jointed rod over a four-jointer ; but either of them may
be balanced well. I am also in favor of the lower joint being
ferruled, and the others fastened with the " modem splice" of
bands at each end of the splice. The bamboo rod should be
from nineteen to twenty-one feet long, ^or a second rod, I
should recommend one rather stiffer than the bamboo, in-
tended, if necessary, for angling from a boat. It should be
from sixteen to nineteen feet long, and the hickory ones made
by Martin Kelly, of Dublin, are preferable to any that I have
seen except the split bamboo. The Castle Council rods are
rather top-heavy, and approximately double-acting, with a
kick in the butt which nearly upsets a person when wading in
a three-feet-deep rapid water. Mr. Johnson, of Boston, makes
an excellent salmon-rod, and so does Robert Welch, of New
York. I suppose that Pritchard Brothers might make a good
salmon-rod, as they are old salmon-fishers.- An excellent sal-
mon-rod is made with hickory butt, next joint of ash, a third
of lancewood, and top of split bamboo ; all of the same pat-
tern as a Long Island trout-rod, only heavier and longer.
The butt should be ferruled, and the other two joints spliced.
2 Click Reels. — Each of these should be large enough to
carry a hundred and fifty yards of English salmon-line ; that
is, a silk, or silk and hair braided line, tapering, and protected
by varnish from becoming water-soaked. Good salmon-reels
are only to be procured at our best fishing-tackle establish-
ments, and it is worse than love's labor lost to use any other.
1 spare line for the reels.
6 casting-lines of twelve feet in length each, made of stained
gut, one fourth three-ply at the upper end, one fourth two-
ply next, both twisted, and six feet of single gut. Let the
Concluding the List of Tackle. 213
gut be round, clear, and perfect, and as strong as you can
procure.
2 horse-hair casting-lines, from eighty to one hundred feet
long each, braided in the form of a whip-lash, and nearly one
fourth of an inch in diameter in the centre. Pritchard Broth-
ers make this upper casting-line to perfection. It is light,
and its shape greatly assists casting, while it is not so liable
to sink and drown as the silk, or silk and hair line, though
protected with varnish. This casting-line is a desideratum
not to be neglected. Before splicing it to your reel-line, cut
off from the latter as many yards as you add by the upper
casting-line.
6 dozen, or nearly a gross, of assorted salmon-flies, and a
quantity of materials to enable you to duplicate the size and
color of either ; for salmon of different pools in the same
river have different tastes, and keep changing so frequently
that a Montreal fly of brown mallard wings, claret body, and
golden pheasant top-knot for tail, which they curved their
velvet tails at yesterday, is the favorite to-day, to be super-
seded to-morrow, perhaps, by a Tweed fly. When the angler
runs nearly out of a favorite fly, he selects a hook of the same
size and combines the same colors to mount it with; and
though it be not artistically tied, it generally proves success-
ful, for salmon do not scrutinize very closely when they wit-
ness the combination of colors which they admire. When yel-
low is the favorite color, and you have run out of flies of that
tint, tie a new fly, or, if in a hurry, add yellow to another fly.
1 hank of round, clear, and heavy silk-worm gut, stained.
GAFF-HOOKS.
A is the salmon-bend gaff, and B the striped bass. The dis-
tance across the bend of the first is 2\ inches, and 2| across
the bend of B. The screws are of steel or brass, to fit into a
handle six feet long, and composed of two joints. The gaffs
should be heavy, and from one fourth to three eighths of an
inch in diameter in the heaviest parts.
214
Fishing in American Waters.
Gaff-hooks.
In addition to the foregoing list, do not omit a couple of
changes of heavy woolen clothing. At the far north, where
it is light enough to read twenty hours of the day, the other
hours are cold enough for several blankets and overcoats.
For the employment of guides, cook, gaffers, and the pur-
chase of canoes, it is best to employ an agent in Quebec or
Gaspe. Mr. "Willis Russell, of the St. Louis Hotel, Quebec, al-
ways takes great pleasure in advancing the interests of an-
glers from the States, and, on application, will name or ap-
point suitable persons and direct them.
Of supplies for subsisting the party, either Quebec or Gaspe
are equally advantageous for the south side of the Gulf, but
for the north side I should prefer to supply at Quebec.
Smokers will find segars and kinnikinnik, with brier-wood
pipes, or a meerschaum, something of a protection against
flies. Parties that prefer may charter a schooner at Quebec
or Gaspe for five dollars a day, including a "navigator and
two sailors, who subsist themselves for that sum, the whole
expense being only five dollars a day for having a vessel
manned at the party's command.
Thus, having studied the subject and made our prepara-
tions, we propose starting for Canada or Labrador on a sal-
mon-fishing excursion, and pray the reader to accompany us
in spirit while we recall our recollections of one of our trips
to Canada.
The Start.
215
Having previously expressed the bulk of our outfit to
Quebec, the banker and myself started from New York in
marching trim, with the few articles here illustrated, to wit :
Water-proof satchels — salmon-reel — clearing ring and reel —
scap-nets — gaff — trout-basket — leather case containing rods
— and a bottle of hartshorn to cure fly-bites.
SECTION THIKD.
DEPARTURE FOR SALMON-FISHIITG.
The noble Northern rivers that pierce the mountain chain,
Where leap the gleaming salmon in their watery domain,
Invite us to their waters, by the fir-tree shftdow'd shore.
Their shoals, and pools, and torrents with fhSh-rod to explore.
s our party consisted of four
gentlemen and two ladies, we
concluded to divide routes,
three going from Quebec via
Gaspe to the St. John River,
while the banker, his lady,
and myself awaited the de-
parture of the government
r steamer Victoria, and, as it
I proved, this was an unexpect-
ed advantage, for the steamer
was employed by government to provision the light-houses
along the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the island
of Anticosti, to assist wrecked mariners, and accomplish the
216 Fishing in American Watees.
double office of charity and police. I was especially thank-
ful for so good an opportunity for seeing the salmon-rivers on
the north shores which come rushing and tumbling down
every few miles from mountain heights, to swell the tides of
the Gulf. It gave me the advantage of conversing with the
government agents who superintend the fisheries, some of
whom had been employed to supervise the fisheries under the
Hudson Bay Company for many years ; and all agreed that
the Company had greatly depleted the rivers of salmon, and
necessitated the exercise of wisdom and care on the part of
the government to restock them with a supply as ample as
would be required for rendering them profitable, besides sup-
plying the needs of the growing population. I was glad to
be thus furnished with data for correctly reporting the con-
dition of the salmon-fishery ; and in that report to the SpiHt
of the Times, having had no pique or prejudice to gratify,
but, on the other hand, entertaining the most lively sense of
gratitude for the hospitality with which I was every where
greeted, I expressed the wish that their people might become
" altogether such as we are, except our bonds."
The week's sojourn at the St. Louis in Quebec was in itself
a great treat. The hotel is first class, and intrinsically good.
Mr. Russell, its accomplished proprietor, is enterprising, and
his guests are as well served as are those of the best hotels
in New York, leaving nothing to be desired. The suburbs
of Quebec are beautiful, besides being interesting from a his-
torical point of view. In sight of the city are the Falls of
Montmorenci, the picturesque islands in the river below the
city. Point Levi on the opposite shore, with a broad belt of
green foliage and pasture lighted up by country residences,
some of which partake — with their surroundings — largely of
the ornate. The weather was highly refreshing, and the
promenade on the Plaza, with the enlivening music belonging
to the military station, made the time pass gayly. I would
here state, parenthetically, that Quebec is a beautiful place to
remain for a few days on a bridal tour. But the day arrived
I
A Settlement of Fishermen. 217
for our departure on the Victoria. Our passage was very
agreeable, and on the morning of the fourth day we were
landed at the mouth of the St. John, some six hundred miles
from Quebec, and with the hazy outline of the island of An-
ticosti in sight to the south.
We were rejoiced at finding a hamlet of huts, where resid-
ed the cod fishermen of the station, who employed some sixty
smacks, and were in full tide 'of operation, fishing with hand-
lines on the banks between the main shore and Anticostl
The salmon-fishers of the estuary also resided there, and were
fishing with gill-nets fastened to stakes which were fixed in
the bottom of the river, but not technically called stake-nets.
Mr. J. Beaulieu, a superintendent or fishery warden, resides
also at the mouth of the St. John during the salmon season.
The doctor, with the general and his lady, haviijg arrived two
days previously, had ascended the river with canoes to the
plateau where we designed encamping, twenty-seven miles
up the river, and had sent back two canoes and guides for us.
While the grocer was preparing our breakfast of fried sal-
mon, with salt pork, bread, butter, and English breakfast tea,
I concluded to reconnoitre, and soon found that curiosity
called the black fly, who left his mark on my nose. I saw
also the salmon -netters land with their boats, containing
many salmon which were either headless or showed signs of
having been bitten in difierent parts of the body, and so mu-
tilated by the seals, and perhaps otters and minks, as to be
entirely valueless. I therefore concluded that either the seals
should be destroyed, or that salmon should not be taken with
gill-nets fastened to stationary stakes in the stream, where
all water- vermin can feast on the struggling salmon, helpless-
ly fastened in the meshes, from whence many of them, bitten
in pieces, necessarily drift down the current to pollute the
river, and warn salmon just entering to seek some other
spawning-ground.
18
Fishing in American Watees.
OUR START UP THE ST. JOHN.
After breakfasting bountifully we repaired to our canoes,
where we found our baggage stowed appropriately, and were
invited to take seats on the bottom and in the centre of the
canoes, our four willing guides manning the bow and stern
of each canoe with paddles, iron-pointed setting-poles, and a
long rope attached to each bow for towing us up the rapids
along the shores, which they call " cordeliering." On the fir-
brush flakes, which bordered the shore and covered acres,
were strewn codfish to dry, whose fragrant aroma seemed to
threaten even the black flies. The water was enlivened by
thousands of sea-trout, foraging in every direction and leap-
ing after flies. But we bade the last signs of human abode
adieu, and started up the river, through deep mountain gorges
of rock, whose summits were sparsely covered with small fir-
trees. It was a pleasant morning in June, and we had not
gone far before our Canadian guides began to chant, without
regard to the time of day, their favorite river music of
AVE MARIA.
A - ve Ma- ri - a ! Car voi- ci I'heure sainte La cloche
'^m^3.
1—^
ve Ma- ri - a ! Car voi- ci I'heure sainte
cres. - - - -s - -- -
r-N—
:e5i?:
-H — h-
?fee
s> —
tiDrte,
Doux.
A - ve Ma- ri - a I Tousles petits Anges Au front radi - eux,
Chantent vos lou- an-ges, O -^ * ^
:f::J
ijfS^iEf-
Reine des cieux!A-ve Ma-ri- a! Car voi-
La cloche tin - te, A- ve Ma-ri -a! Tout
dim. pp
ci I'heure sainte La cloche tin - te, A -
/ dim. pp
-l-r l-j-
eee^;^;
dort sous vo - tre aile L'enfant au ber - ceau, La pauvre hiron - delle Dans
SOENEEY ON THE St. JoHN RiVEE.
219
Et=p:
son nid d'of- seau: A- vc Ma- ri - a! Car vol- ci I'heure
eain-te
^^^iii^Si^igi^^-l^^l
La cloche tin - tc, A - ve Ma - ri -
Vous etes la voile
Du ftauvre marin ;
Vous etes I'etoile
Du bon pelerin;
Ave Maria !
Car voici I'heure sainte
La cloche tinte
Ave Maria !
Vous etes servante
Des pauvre blesses ;
Vous ^tes I'amante
Dos eoeurs delaisses.
Ave Maria I <fec.
Votre nom si tendre
Sur un front mortel,
Fait toujours descendre
La beaute du ciel
Ave Maria !
Car voici I'heure sainte
La cloche tinte
Ave Maria !
Aussi les Maries
En ehoeur gracieux,
A vous reunies
Montent vers les cieux !
Ave Maria 1 <fec.
Having journeyed too far north for the robin and bobolink,
the stillness of the scene, whose monotony was only relieved
by the dashing currents of a mighty river, the leaps of sal-
mon and sea-trout, and the stealthy movements of the seal,
now hiding, and now galloping up a rapid like a race-horse,
at every leap throwing itself half out of water, gave us a fair
chance for reflection, and to wonder that people could be found
willing to settle in that sterile region. But, on inquiry, we
found that none had yet ventured,- not even an Indian, which
furnished me with another evidence of human sagacitj, for
[even bruin's anxious family know better than to settle there
(in great numbers. We passed a late Hudson-Bay fishing-
JBtation, where remain standing their log huts and birch-bark
smoke-houses wherein they cured their salmon; but since
their charter expired several years since — grace to the sal-
tmon — there is not a human soul settled above the mouth,
within fifty miles of it.
On our guides rowed, poled, and " cordeliered" — stopping
only to eat a mouthful of bread and raw onion — until sun-
down, which found us seventeen miles on our journey. Here
220 Fishing in American Waters.
we halted for the night, saw the canoes unladen and hauled
on shore, a fire quickly made to keep off the flies and enable
us to extemporize a supper with scarcely any vessel to cook
in or eat out of, pitch our tent, etc. While these duties were
going forward, a large salmon, of over 20 lbs. weight, leaped
several feet above the pool in front of our tent, and not thir-
ty feet from shore. A^s quick as thought was one of our
guides seen skulking along the shrubby margin df the river,
waiting to see the seal which was the cause of the leap of
the salmon. Presently the seal made its appearance in the
middle of the river, and in the strength of the rapid, swim-
ming with its head above water, and looking like a young
negro bathing. It turned its head and looked all around, ap-
parently in surprise, as if scenting danger, while approaching
the shore in response to the plaintive call of the man with
the rifle ; but the gunner was too slow on the trigger, and
the seal went on its way rejoicing.
Boughs of fir, for bedding, were cut by the guides and laid
in our tent while we were taking supper. Our first night of
tenting in the wilderness was signalized by pleasant dreams,
and we arose early, made our toilets, and watched the salmon
disport in the rapids while breakfast was being prepared,
and canoes launched and reladen.
After breakfast we started for our camping-ground, ten
miles farther up the river. The whole of this distance may
be properly considered a rapid, and one third the' way a very
dangerous one. Salmon were abundant. While many were
leaping above the current in the middle of the river, scores
were seen darting from near the shores where our guides
were tugging along.
All animate nature seemed more than usually active that
morning. The seals were out in force and galloping up the
rapids. Salmon were, leaping and splashing, and even the
silver trout were breaking, as if to demonstrate that they too,
though less important, were gay and happy.
While admiring the mountains of rock, sparsely covered
A Duck of a Mother. 221
with a very thin apology for a forest, the close thicket of
birch and poplar which bordered the river, and the, numer-
ous shoots of a wide river of pellucid waters, in which none
but the highest styles of game-fish found a residence, a duck
shot out from the shore with a little brood of over a dozen
following her. I told Duncan — my guide and gafier — to
slacken the speed of the canoe. I was interested in tliis duck
of a mother with a numerous brood. Her anxiety was ex-
citing. For an instant she would turn toward her brood and
urge them with the most impressive gestures to quack-qua-
qua-ka-qua-qua-ka-ka, and then she would turn from them
and swim toward the middle of the river in utmost speed ;
but, bethinking herself, she would turn again and find the
little ducks a great way behind. Then she would swim back
toward them, and qua-qua-qua-ka-ka-ka until the little things,
beginning to realize their critical situation, would use their
wings as well as their feet, and make many shell-drake splut-
tering demonstrations, until, by the numerous turns of the
mother, her emphatic quacking calls, and their own exertions,
they gained the opposite shore of the river, and we acceler-
ated our speed. But we had not proceeded far before we
ran against a rock, and broke a hole in the bow of our bark
canoe that made us land and unship cargo. A fire, by the
means of birch bark, which is the most ignitable substance
in the forest, heated some pitch, and with a piece of cotton
cloth six inches square, the hole was patched and pitched so
as to render it water-tight and as good as new. In the mean
time our friends overtook us, and we discussed the " cussed"
bard traveling. My friend was on the point of musically ex-
claiming, " Oh, carry me back !" but we changed it into the
following voluntary :
" 'Twixt you and T, I almost think
It's almost time to take a drink,
For we're all nearly home.'
We agreed with him, and, after imbibing a glass of sherry,
once more started to admire the beauties of the water, for
222 Fishing in American Waters.
there were none on the land ; though, to speak candidly, the
hills were sometimes so low along the. river, and the sun and
shade so captivating,. that it appeared as if wemight find or-
chards and gardens over the first small hijl, and I often asked
my friend to -run over and bring us some fruits and melons,
but he reluctantly declined, for fear , of encoimtering Mrs.
Bruin and her anxious family.. But with stout hearts, and
the brawny arms of our. guides, we soon reached our tenting-
ground.
SECTION FOURTH.
THE ENCAMPMENT.
'Twixt the fir-tree skirted ranches,
Where the Kattling Run doth shine,
We erect our hut of branches,
Roof of birch bark, wall of pine ;
Floor it with the boughs of saplings,
. Fragrant, soft as couch of kings,
Rioting in forest pleasures.
And the sleep that labor brings
It was nearly noon when we arrived at our camping-
ground, which is a level piece of bottom-land, covered with
sand and cobble-stones, a mile long, by the river shore, and a
quarter of a mile wide, the base formed by Rattling Run, a
small river emptying into the St. John just below our tents.
It was a very hot day — hot is the word for the middle of a
clear, still day, from the 20th of June to the 20th of August,
even in Labrador, where there is frost nearly every night.
There was only one tent pitched ; but the lady was superin-
tending the erection of a log cabin, while the gentlemen were
away up the river angling for salmon. The lady sent her
servant — a " contraband" that followed the general from Ten-
nessee— to inform them of our arrival.
I noticed with pleasure that the general's lady had not suf-
fered much from the annoyance of flies.
" Oh no," she replied ; " it's perfectly charming here ; one
bit me on the eyelid before I knew what to apply for anti-
dote, and it nearly closed it ; but now, as soon as I am bitten,
Mutual Congratulations.
223
I just touch the bite with ammonia, and it gives me no pain,
and never swells. The black flies do not trouble you after
dark, and that's a great comfort."
I saw a few signs of defaced beauty, but kept mum. In
fact, on looking upon those two ladies, I felt proud of such
specimens. One of them had visited most of the courts of
Europe, and the other had accompanied her triumphant hus-
band throughout our recent great war. We therefore num-
bered six in the party, two ladies and four gentlemen ; and I
am bound to acknowledge that, throughout our month of
camp life, hundreds of miles from a post-office, the ladies ex-
emplified the highest degree of spirit and pleasure, with the
least appearance of annoyance at any discomfort ; and these
were the two first white ladies that ever ascended the great
St. John River.
Having examined the surroundings, and admired the great
contrasts of the heavens with the mountains, and the wide,
224 Fishing in American Waters.
rapid, roaring river, with its tributary of Rattling Run, and
while I was beginning to scan the lay of the grounds for de-
ciding where to pitch tents, behold our comrades ! They
came fishing along, towing four salmon on the gaff', while
the general played a fifteen-pounder all the way down from
the falls, a mile up the river.
It having become midday, we compared notes and took
dinner. At dinner' we discussed the almighty salmon in all
his aspects — from his seclusion in corners of the earth, where
he is protected by flies and an almost impenetrable wilder-
ness, to his high game, and, finally, the epicurean appearance
he lends to the dinner-table. Our dinner consisted of
Saumo7i d la maitre d^ hotel.
Saumon frit.
Saumon au gratin.
Jarnhon hrulee.
Les oignons de Bermude.
Biscuit de mer.
Le pain et du beurre.
Bu the et du sucre.
Having twenty -seven miles of rapids against which to
transport our stores, our potatoes and our claret were left at
the mouth of the river, besides our desiccated meats, soups,
vegetables, and fruits preserved in cans. Even our old Ja-
maica rum was left, and the only diffusible stimulant was gin
— Holland gin ! But, in order that our coffee, milk, and the
numerous luxuries laid in for the campaign should be on
hand for the glorious Fourth of July, we divided our men
and canoes, half to transport our provisions from the mouth
to the camps, and the other half to serve in the way of pad-
dling us to our places for angling, gaffing our salmon, and
pitching our tents, waiting on us, cooking, etc.
The general and the doctor had so excited my friend the
banker and myself with stories of captivating sports, that,
immediately after dinner, we hardly thought of a cigar, but
Pkepaking for the Encounter. 225
forthwith commenced splicing our rods. To save me. that
trouble, as he saw my anxiety, the doctor kindly tendered
me the use of a Castle Connell rod, which, he stated, had
nearly broken his back and used him up, but he hoped it
would behave more generously with me. It was a twenty-
foot rod, by which a long cast could be made ; but it was so
top-heavy, and with a sort of double action, like . a " kick in
the handle," that it came back on me several times, and
made me sit down in the river to cool off; but not on that
day.
The doctor accompanied me, to give an idea where I would
likely find salmon, and how I had best move my fly so as to
render it captivating in that wide and rapid river. I ad-
mired the river ; the breaks of salmon of from ten to twenty-
five pounds each excited me. I soon thanked the doctor,
and told him that I believed myself a match for them, when
he ignited a cigar, and proceeded onward to where he ex-
pected the salmon were^waiting for his flies.
Left alone, with the injunction that if I should hook a sal-
mon, to shout for a gaffer to come to my assistance, as Dun-
can had returned to the mouth of the river for provisions, I
again examined my tackle. " It is true," thought I, " these
fish average from eight to thirty-eight pounds only, and I
liave taken a forty-pound stiiped bass ; but my tackle for
striped bass was a strong line, while here it is only a single
silk-worm gut."
Having intellectually weighed and investigated the theory
of the audacious fish in that river of great power and majesty,
and so examined that I thought all things were right, I made
a cast and let my fly float round from the current to the side.
I continued so to cast and drop down stream a step at each
cast, about half an hour, when a salmon accepted my lure.
The fish did not take the fly as a trout does by rushing at it
from beneath, but rose over the fly and took it on going back.
He soon convinced me that he was there by a jerk and a leap
above water, and out farther into the river where the cuiTent
P
226 Fishing in American Waters.
was- stronger. When he leaped, as he did numerous times, I
lowered the top of my rod as if bowing to his mandate. By-
and-by he suffered himself to be reeled up quite near me, no
doubt because his curiosity prompted him to study the cause
of his difficulty, and to try, if possible, to reach its source. In
the mean time I was shouting for some man to come and gaff
my salmon.
After having scanned "the head and front of the offend-
ing," he turned and ran off moderately until he arrived in the
swiftest part of the current, and then all I could do would
not stop him. I was therefore obliged to follow, and down I
started along the stony shore for a quarter of a mile, when I
became fatigued ; and, as if to spell me, the fish halted and
remained until he rested long enough, and then he rose and
made a quadrilateral leap, or four leaps in as many directions
at the same time. Said I, " My chap, you are some !" " How
many lives have you got, anyhow?" thought I. But there
was no use of thinking or speculating, for he had mounted hie
high horse again, and down the river I had to follow. My
extemporized gaffer advised me to snub him. I replied that
I had, but it was of no use. Presently he halted again, and,
drenched with perspiration, I doffed my head fly-net and pre-
pared to do battle in open air. It was not long before he
gathered strength again, and started for the middle of the
river ; but a little harder play coaxed him to change his mind.
He then began leaping and cavorting, as if he was only in
fun all the time, and had as lief as not come in out of the wet.
In a few more turns, the gaffer made a pass at the fish and
missed him. The fish then showed great vigor, and acted as
if he would never say die ; but after several efforts the gaffer
brought him up, and he weighed only twelve pounds.
With perspiration rolling down me and not a little fa-
tigued, I started back to where I hooked the salmon and com-
menced casting for another. It was not long before I hooked
him, and without much make-believe he started down the
river and I after him. Presently he waited to rest, and then
Going through a Course of Sprouts. 227
turned and ran up the river. Then he sulked. Next he leaped
and dove, swimming rapidly up stream to form a bight in my
line. But, finding all his tricky eiForts useless, he started with
great speed down the river, and I brought him to gafl:* half a
mile below where I had hooked him. He weighed within a
pound of as much as the first one.
Again I retraced my steps to the head of the pool, to where
a long cast would send the fly beyond a submerged rock in
the centre of the current, below which salmon appeared to
rest preparatory to ascending a lengthy rapid which carried
them to the great pool below the falls. Several times I de-
livered my fly so as to sweep the current and eddy without
a salmon putting in an appearance. I therefore walked along
the shore, casting out as far as I could on the rapid stream,
and every time the. fly floated round to the edge of the eddy
at the side I took one step down stream and cast again, so as
to fish over all the ground on my side of the river. I had
not fished more than a quarter of a mile, when, in response tx)
my feathery invitation, a very large silvery fish sparkled in
the air before me ! I admired him with intense interest ; and,
After a short contest, he came up persuasively, seeming to
say, "I'll land without the gafil" Thus he played ofi'and on
shore, in the air and in the water, until I realized a new sen-
sation, and began to regard him as a charming pet. I saw
that he was a very large fresh-run salmon, and much more
tractable than either of the two which came to gaff". Pres-
ently he slackened speed, and even stopped to rub his nose
against a rock, and perhaps try to spring the hook out ; but
these were merely casual experiments to whet his ingenuity,
while on his way back to the sea, to rid himself of hooks and
stake-nets. By-and-by, after he had led me about half a mile,
sometimes fast aud at other times slow, as suited his fancy,
making me appear very like, though less artistic, perhaps,
than Pat with a shillelah in one hand, his hat placed akimbo,
and with his other hand holding a rope fastened to a pig's
leg, the pig too large for Pat to control. About that time I
3S8 Fishing in American Waters.
did not think of black flies, nor rocks and sore shins. My
friend sometimes generously came near shore, and once I
thought I saw him throw his tail up, as a sure sign of grow-
ing weakness, but it was all sham. He was only studying
my tackle, and his means of escape by parting it. He was
up near the gaff several times, and eyed the instrument crit-
ically, but with a whirl of astonishment akin to anger and
disdain, as if in this age of negro suifrage a man so cruel
could be found as to fight salmon with so unequal and hide-
ous a weapon. But he curled on the water, and while he
touched his nose with the end of his tail, he looked askance
for an instant ; then he made a prodigious leap down stream,
and plunged some ten feet under water and came up five
rods above, thus forming a bight in the line, by which he ex-
pected to gain slack and extricate himself. But it was all no
go. I thought he was mine, and preserved great care lest he
should unhook while bringing him to the gaff. He came for-
ward as willing as a pet lamb until within three rods of shore ;
he then made a turn, and with dips, dives, leaps, and other
devices, liberated himself, and took my fly-hook with him. I
felt wilted ; worse, I was outgeneraled ; worse still, I was
vanquished. I once more mechanically walked nearly a mile
to the foot of the rapid, but I could not cast with hope and
confidence, and, as the sun was about setting and the musqui-
toes began their carnival, I repaired to the tent and to sup-
per, used up, though partially successful.
Thus ended my first afternoon's angling for salmon in
Lower Canada.
SECTION FIFTH.
TENTING IN THE WILDERNESS.
Our guides had pitched our tents, and carpeted them with
fir -boughs which they clipped from the shrubbery back-
ground of the plateau. My bed consisted of two breadths
six and a half feet long of canvas, closed by a seam length-
wise up the centre, and hemmed six inches wide at each side
A REFRESHING LuXURY. 2^
for inserting poles. A log at each end a foot in diameter
served to fasten the poles to, thus forming a canvas bed 6^^
feet long, 3 feet wide, and a foot above the carpet or ground
of the tent. If preferred, the foot-log need not be so large as
the head one ; only have regard to stretching your bed high
enough to admit the circulation of air under it. The follow-
ing sketch may help illustrate.
»■
Camp Bed.
The guides had also cut the poles and inserted them in the
hems of the canvas, which I bought and brought with me
from Quebec, and with stretchers across the ends of the can-
vas, they had fastened my bed to the head and foot logs,
made my bed, and had built a smudge fire in front of my
tent. Oh, how refreshing the aroma of a tent carpeted with
fi¥-boughs ! no one, without experience, can properly appre-
ciate the luxury.
After a social supper, we convened in a circle around the
smudge fire before my tent to discuss the mighty salmon,
and to inform the ladies of the changes in the fashions up to
the day we left, being a week after their departure. Of
course the changes had been considerable, and the gentle-
men's forty-eight hours' advance in studying the peculiarities
of the salmon there had entitled them to the honors of Men-
torship. So, after summing up and being summed up, and
the tent smoked out with a smudge fire on a piece of bircli
bark, I laid my rubber blanket on the bed, and was soon
dreaming that I had captured the beautiful salmon that I
had played so long, and was being serenaded by all the oth-
er milt salmon for ridding them of the dandy of the river.
Being vociferously called on for a speech, it so shocked my
erves that I awoke, and the light peering in through the in-
terstices of my tent, I forthwith arose for the morafng.
2<50 Fishing in American Waters.
" The little landscape round
Was green and woody, and refreshed the eye ;
It was a spot which you might aptly call
The Valley of Seclusion."
Bright and beautiful was the weather, and the two birds
which charm the mornings of that wilderness wild were pip-
ing their mellifluous notes, while the only responses heard
were the snores of our guides in a one-sided bark shanty,
where they lay on fir-boughs, toasting their feet before a
smudge fire. As it appeared to be about seven o'clock, I was
surprised to see not a soul moving. I walked a few rods to
the river, where I watched admiringly the salmon's leap, but
looked in vain for a seal. After having been up nearly an
hour, and perceiving that friends and guides were still asleep,
I concluded to call up the gafiers and cuisinier, or cook. As
our cook was perfectly innocent of any language but a lui-
nuck patois, by which tongue potatoes or pommes de ' terre
are known as potacJc, of course I found it difficult to make
him understand either English or French, and that is an un-
pardonable fault in a cook.
Well, as they lay snoring, and not one awake, I thought I
would see what time it was before arousing them ; and on
consulting my watch, I learned that it was precisely half past
three- o'clock ! Well, said I, sotto voce, this is a strange coun-
try, and, lest I should disturb my lodging comrades, I re-
clined outside the tent, and tried to take another nap ; but
the black flies had also awoke, and began paying their dis-
tresses to me, much to the sacrifice of an amount of beauty
too scant to lose any without an exposure of its want. I re-
monstrated at the presentation of bills at such an unseason-
able hour, but they only shouted the louder, and called to-
gether so great a number as to oblige me to decamp. I
therefore resorted to Rattling Run to take a bath. While
bathing it was all very well, but between undressing and
dressing they took me at a disadvantage, and by both mus-
quitoes and black flies I was decidedly worsted. On my re-
Yielding to Circumstances. 281
•
turn to the tents there were no signs of life but an occasional
snore, the noises of hares, porcupines, and squirrels in the
grove hard by, and the two songsters singing so merrily as
to drown the music of the musquitoes. On examining my
watch I learned that it was five o'clock. I therefore deter-
mined on arousing the cook and the gafiers. They arose
with reluctance, rubbed their eyes, washed their faces and
hands in the river, and that was all the toilet-making needed,
for they had slept with their boots and shoes on as protec-
tion against flies. John, the captain of the gang, because of
his superior Milesian intelligence, who could speak equally
well bad English and villainous French, informed me that it
never had been the custom under Dr. Bluff", of the First Fusi-
leers, or any gentleman who had previously fished that river,
to rise before seven, or to commence fishing before nine.
Well, then, I replied, we Yankees will teach you a new lesson.
But, upon ascertaining that my friends were opposed to ris-
ing early, or fishing before breakfast, I yielded; and thence-
forward the cook and guides suited their own comfort about
rising, and we did not get started for angling until the sun
had scorched the toes and dried the whistles of the musqui-
toes.
But it seemed that the noise caused from mustering the
men had awakened the doctor, who crawled out of his tent
with modest care for fear of arousing the other two inmates,
when he mildly saluted me with " Good morning ; how came
your eye out ?" I replied that my eyes were good enough
to perceive that three or four bites from black flies had
changed his phiz into a picture of a Chinese monstrosity.
"You don't say so!" he ejaculated. "Where?" I pointed
to one of his eyes, his bare caput, his face, etc. On examin-
ing them, he forthwith applied ammonia to the bites, and
bathed mine also with it.
Smudge fires were at once made before our tents and ex-
temporized breakfast-place. Our cuisinier was soon engaged
at frying pork and Bennuda onions, broiling salmon, making
2^2 Fishing in American Waters.
tea, etc., etc. As we had not tasted potatoes in a week, we
began to long for them. Our table was set, and breakfast
about ready,, when the general and the banker made their
appearance with their ladies, and, after mutual salutations,
we all seated ourselves for breakfast. Our plates and dishes
were composed of cast-iron outside and porcelain inside ; and,
though nearly as beautiful as sets and dishes of figured china,
they were as durable as iron, and just the kind that should
be adopted for kitchen use in the metropolis. By each plate
a stone about the size of a goose-egg was placed, to use in
cracking our sea-biscuit. Good sea-biscuit is much better
than common bread in the wilderness, and when cracked up
and crumbled into a bowl of tea, or, by being first dipped into
cold water to soften it, is afterward fried in the fat of the
pan after pork and eggs, is excellent, especially in the absence
of potatoes.
I; was almost shocked on perceiving that the right eye of
tl^e banker's lady was closed, and a large lump on her left
temple, almost spoiling her beauty; but I did not allude to
it until she mentioned that the flies had somewhat disfig-
ured me, when I asked her how she had rested. She replied,
" Very well ; but this morning, while bathing my face, I found
that I had a large lump on the left side of it, and my right
eye felt fatty. I called to my husband, and asked him what
it was. He replied by asking me to shut my left eye and
look at liim with my right one, and when I obeyed he said
he was surprised, for my right eye appeared to be entirely
closed. Neither my eye nor my face pain me at all, but the
general's lady has applied ammonia to the bites, and I expect
nothing more serious from them. Hereafter I shall wear my
head-net night and day, and my Esquimaux boots." I com-
plimented her philosophy, and imitated her example by wear-
ing boots every night for a month, though fishing in shoes,
and wet trowsers, and, on returning to the tent twice a day,
dofling my wet clothes, and rubbing down with a crash tow-
el, and substituting dry clothes and boots until ready to start
New Coukse of Traening.
for the river again, when I would doff the dry clothes and re-
place them by wet wading ones and shoes, with thick woolen
half hose — sometimes two pairs — in a very large pair of shoes.
Wide-soled pegged bottoms are the best. This changing of
dresses was our daily modus operandi / and I waded, bathed,
changed dress, whipped,- played salmon, and was bitten by
flies until I reduced my weight more than twenty pounds.
I therefore suggest salmon-angling as the best training that
a person can indulge in whose adiposity preponderates. This
system has the advantage of " Banting on Corpulence," be-
cause, while it reduces the amount of fat or adipose matter,
it hardens the muscles, and thus improves the wind and phys-
ical power of a man. If a person desires training so as to
endure great fatigue, and render him more active and supple,
I advise him to forthwith apply for a salmon-river ; and, aft-
er having secured a lease of it for the usual term of nine
years, to send a good, trusty man there next April, and let
him employ a couple of Canadian half-breeds, buy a couple
of bark canoes, to be had for fifteen dollars each, and let youi-
man build a couple of log huts at the foot of each of the prin-
cipal rapids or falls, and let him cover them well with birch
bark, and line them throughout with the bark, so as to keep
out the flies. A chimney is quite unnecessary, as a smudge
fire in the middle of the cabin will keep the flies away, if
musquito-netting covers each window or aperture left to ad-
mit light. Then I should advise visiting the river as early
IS the 15th of June, and angling until the end of July. This
>lan will insure a month of good fishing, and no trouble
from the effects of flies worth naming. In fact, it will ud-
>end the mind, invigorate the body, and renew your lease
)flife.
Of biting flies, the following, written by the Bishop of
Quebec while on a journey up the Red Rivei-, in his "Songs
)f the Wilderness," is truthfully expressive :
234 Fishing in American Waters.
" Among the plagues on earth which God has sent.
Of lighter torment is the plague of flies :
Not as of Egypt once the punishment,
Yet such sometimes as feeble patience tries.
Where wild America in vastness lies,
There diverse hordes the swamps and woods infest.
Banded or singly, these make man their prize ;
Quick by their subtle dart is blood expressed
Or tumor raised. By tiny foe distressed.
Travelers in forest rude with veil are fain
To arm the face ; men there whose dwellings rest
Crouch in thick smoke ; like help their cattle gain. *
Oh wise in trials great, in troubles small.
Who know to find mementoes of the Fall."
A morning's experience.
Our two solitary " birdies" were piping the peculiar notes
of the Northern wilderness, the salmon were leaping and
splashing, and I longed to tackle the mate of the silver beau-
ty lost the evening previous.
Having already. soaked my casting-line, I shouldered my
heavy and lengthy friend, the Castle Connell rod, and march-
ed up the river about a hundred rods to where a bend in the
shore threw the current out around the eddy rock. I select-
ed a medium - sized fly with purple body, blue legs, brown
mallard wings, and golden pheasant top -knot for the tail.
Then I commenced casting out toward the middle of the riv-
er, and letting the fly float down and around to near the
shore. About my third cast brought a bite and a leap that
made my heart palpitate with anxiety. I played him about
half an hour, he once and a while running ofi" about two hun-
dred feet of line, and then coming back as tame and cosy as
possible, until by-and-by his patience became exhausted, and
he thought he would start up the river a hundred miles or so
to the spawning-beds. He navigated the rapid about twen-
* It is asserted as a truth by border settlers that, when burning off a sum-
mer fallow, and the smoke no longer protects cattle in contiguous pastures,
that they run lowing to the house to have the fire renewed ; and it is some-
times necessary that they shnll stand in dense smoke to enable them to re-
main still long enough to be milked.
I
Get fairly Vanquished. 235
ty rods above, but I turned him, when he went down stream
much faster than it was convenient for me to follow ; but he
stopped to rest where I hooked him, and glad enough was I,
for the morning was oppressively warm, and my rest had not
been of the most refreshing kind during the previous night.
Here I began to call loudly for a gafter, and presently I saw
the doctor's demijohn form approaching with a gaff, and
closely following was the general. By the time they arrived
my friend had concluded to return to sea, and started ; but
he soon found a resting-place, and, while playing him here,
the general insisted so strongly against playing him too gen-
tly that I put a little more stress on the line. The fish rol-
licked around the pool, and showed his whole size and beau-
ty, when my friends judged that he would weigh over thirty
pounds. I thought so too, and played with great care. But
the salmon became impatient of restraint, and started. He
had not darted more than a hundred feet before the hook
sprang back to me, and he went on his way rejoicing, while
my friends returned to the tents.
I felt as if I needed a strong glass of lemonade with a stick
in it to sustain me ; but, being strictly temperate — that morn-
ing— I sauntered back to the point above the eddy where I
had* hooked my recently-departed friend. There I examined
the fly and hook with care, and found it secundum arteni.
After becoming sufficiently rested, I made a cast, and at once
hooked another salmon about the same size as the one which
had just unhooked. On realizing that my fish was on, with
ia slight jerk I fastened the hook, in order to play him ginger-
t ly if he wanted to " gallivant and cavort" some. Two or three
: times he revealed his enormous size and great symmetry, so
• that I felt quite sure I had hooked the mate of the first one.
[ This also remained half an hour trying small tricks about the
I pool, when all at once he dashed away across the current,
I and, on rising to the surface, I distinctly saw the line wound
three times round him. After this he plunged and leaped
up, down, and across the river, until he liberated himself, and
I
236 Fishing in American Waters.
took my fly. Well, thought I, salmon of such great size, in
so large and rapid a river, should be fished for with leaders
or casting-lines of double gut all the way. I will return to
tent, and try to rig gut leaders to hold them.
The situation of our menage began to look inviting ; and
with the birch bark gathered by our gaffers, and the illus-
trated papers and magazines, our log cabin and dining-room
were cheerfully ornamented by the ladies, and the menu of
our dinner would not have dishonored a metropolitan hotel.
The gaffers' shanty was finished, and the cuisine attractively
arranged in order. • After dinner, numerous sentiments wor-
thy of the day we were commemorating — it being the glori-
ous Fourth of July — were given, and we made the welkin
ring with shouts and music.
The evening was spent in tying flies, and concluded by ex-
amining the lunar bow through the smoke of a camp-fire and
the bottoms of our punch-glasses until the near approach of
midnight, when we retired to fight again the battles of tho
day in our dreams, and to mingle in them the faces of :be-
loved ones far awa.
SECTION SIXTH.
HISTORY AND RUMINATION.
Neither the Greeks nor Romans knew any thing about an-
gling for salmon. The Saxons knew not the real luxury of
angling. A thorough appreciation of angling can only be
known by man civilized. " Catch who catch can" is the
motto by which savages are guided, and the surest means of
killing game is to them the best. Savages kill solely to eat.
They know no better, and lack the genius of the civilized
poacher to invent stake and concealed nets. Civilization en-
ables the true sportsman to adopt suitable means to secure
sport, and as civilized men enjoy a more prosperous condition
than savages, they are not so dependent on the fish or game
they take or kill. Hence the sportsmen of the civilized world
can afford to give the animal pursued some fair-play " law,"
\
Saw the North Pole. 2'^
supposing the nature of the prey' entitled to it. But, in the
opinion of an uncivilized people, to allow a quarry or a shoal
the smallest chance of escape would be considered great folly.
To the ignorance and cruelty of the poacher may be attribu-
ted the reason for the robbing of salmon-rivers of their life
and beauty. Existence could not have been so enjoyable to
the angler in either the palmy days of Greece or Rome, or
during any era since, while robbing the rivers of salmon was
pursued, as it is in our day, when science revives sport aftd
invents generous means for its perpetuity.
Xes travaux sur les Poissons se sont singuli&nnent multi-
plies durant la periode qui s'etend de Vepoque de la mort de
Cuvier an moment actud.
Having flown in my cogitations from Greece to Rome, and
from thence to the British Isles and part way back to France,
where I endeavored to think in French, and as if in danger
of being overcome by a fresh swarm of musquitoes, I supposed
myself aroused by their singing, when, to my surprise, on
looking up, it was the doctor at the door of my tent, insist-
ing in stentorian tones that I should get up. I asked him
the time of night, and he replied that it was beautiful.
There is no use to contend with a doctor, and so I arose,
when, before my tent door, he was complacently seated on a
bench, with a smudge fire and the boiling tea-kettle on one
side, a bowl of loaf-sugar on the other, and a bottle of old
Jamaica before him. Being already dressed, for I slept with
ray overcoat, body-coat, and boots on, between army blank-
ets on an India-rubber one, and yet was generally cold to-
ward morning, I concluded to join the doctor and learn what
new system of philosophy or astronomy he was prepared to
propound. With looks of amazement, he pointed to the bril-
liant aurora horealis in darts shooting up through the lu-
nar bow like streams of gold and fire through a rainbow !
We viewed it with unstinted admiration until he composed
a hot rum punch. We then examined the aurora borealis
and lunar bow through the bottoms of our glasses, and the
238 Fishing in Ajuerican Waters.
sight was really gorgeous ! After three or four similar rejj-
etitions, we agreed that we saw the North Pole distinctly,
heading Sir John Franklin's grave, and the bow, spears, and
stars of the aurora horealis were merely the flag over Frank-
lin's tomb. •
While the doctor was evolving a new theory of mundane
matters, only to be understood by draining a dose of diffusi-
bility, John appeared. He was greatly excited, but breath-
less. So soon as he recovered power of utterance he said,
" Gintlemen, bedad there's a bear just foment yees ! I see'd
him."
" Well, John," we replied, " how did he look ?"
"Bedad he was as big as an elephant, and had a tail as
long as meself, and as big around, be gorrah !"
" How long was he ?" we inquired.
" Bedad he was as long as I can reach with my two arms."
" What color was he ?"
" Be gorrah, to tell the thruth, I couldn't see his color pre-
cisely."
" Was he green ?"
" No, yer honors, not perzactly. I should say he was more
brownish."
" We supposed so, John ; it is a fox."
" No, no, yer honors ! Dr. Bluff, of the First Fusileers, said
h6'd often see'd bears here, an' I think the beast I seed is
won."
" This was at the shoot, twenty-seven miles farther up the
river," we replied; and just then the halo of the rising sun
began to illuminate the eastern horizon, and teach ns to pre-
pare for the fresh-run salmon which had arrived that morning
from their visit to the sea. Having consulted our watches,
and learned, to our surprise, that it was only three o'clock,
and as our gaffers were still asleep, we reluctantly retired to
our tents and to sleep until called to breakfast.
As it was our custom to rest the salmon-pools during the
best part of the day for angling, in order to protect the river
(
i
Racing aix)ng the River.
from too great a depletion by our captivating flies, we start-
ed to fish our several pools at the time of the forenoon when
the salmon seeks the shady side of a rock in the river, and
which had perceptibly fallen during the previous night, so
that, from its clearness, we could distinctly see numerous sal-
mon lying in pairs beside the rocks. They were very inter-
esting to look at, but it was hard to induce a rise. Presently
the general, who had been angling at the falls a mile above,
was seen approaching, and doing some pretty tall walking,
now in the river and then on the shore, following a salmon
as best he could, for the fish seemed determined to return to
sea. Down they came, passing us, while the perspiration
streamed from the general's face, and he was too busy to re-
turn our salutations, but he finally brought the fish to gaff.
In a short time thereafter the doctor was seen coming at
the speed of two-forty on his rejoicing way down the river
from the falls, led by a large salmon. We soop saw that the
salmon was playing the doctor, who, finding that he was los-
ing strength, called lustily for help, wliich was instantly rqu-
dered, and a twenty-four pound salmon was soon p}ayed out
and landed. The doctor retired to his tent and was not seen
again until the next morning, when he said, " It's heaveijly to
play a generous salmon, but when he turns the tables and
plays you, he's worse than the cholera !" .
It was the banker's turn next, and, thoroughly aroused and
divested of his dignity, down he came, skipping over rooks
and through brush at a very rapid rate. Down he came to
Rattling Run, and brought his fifth salmon to gaff that day,
^K the largest twenty, and the smallest eleven pounds.
The doctor's serious intent at evoking a reliable theory
for the brilliant coruscations near the northern horizon pre-
^B vented him from risking the play of another salmon until he
^B^ould quite recover from his last encounter. In the mean
^^Bime, every fresh contest with a salmon increased my respect
^^ppr the fish ; and I lost so many in proportion to the great
«• number hooked, that I began, when my fly was first taken,
240 Fishing in American Waters.
to realize an indescribable sensation of nervous hesitancy ;
and the more gentle he appeared when first hooked, the more
I dreaded the fight that I knew must come, sooner or later ;
for a salmon never surrenders until he faints. As the waters
settled until as transparent as ether, the fish became not only
more shy, but they gave better play and were harder to ex-
haust. They bit gingerly and short. I had ample opportu-
nity for testing some theories which had been told me by an-
glers with great seriousness. One of them is, that " if a sal-
mon rises to your fly and misses it, you should not cast again
immediately, because he is sure to settle back before rising.
You had better, therefore, light a segar and smoke half of it,
or take a glass of sherry, and rest the pool at least fifteen
minutes before repeating the cast." This I ascertained to be
all bosh. Once, in particular, a salmon took my fly at the
fourth cast, though having rose to it at every previous one
and missed it, while I repeated my casts with as little sus-
pense as if angling for brook trout. A salmon will return to
the fly, if he rose to ijt in earnest at first, as often as will a
trout ; but either fish, when pricked by a fly-hook, will refuse
to come again until he forgets it. Again it is said that " if
you hook a salmon and he parts your tackle, taking your
hook and a piece of the gut snell to which it was attached,
he will not rise to an artificial fly again that season." This
is also a mistake ; for the gentleman who awns the " York
River," Gaspe, fished with a friend who» lost a. hook and part
of a leader by a salmon one morning last July, and on the
evening of that day took the salmon with the hook and gut
still in his mouth ; and what appears most singular is that
he hooked the salmon with the same kind of fly that was
then fastened to the jaw of the fish.
I
I
Hot Days and Cold Nights. 241
SECTION SEVENTH.
JOLLY SPORT OX RATTLING RUN.
" Oh ! not in camp or court
Our best delights we find,
But in some loved resort
With water, wood, and wind ;
Where nature works,
And beauty lurks.
In all her craft enshrined."
The days were divided into four hours of night, made sciii-
tillant by the aurora borealis, and the lunar bow more bril-
liant than daylight, but cool and hushed, so that no sounds
remained but the rushing waters, the splashing of the royal
salmon, and the piteous cries of seals ; three hours of morn-
ing, mild and serene, enlivened by the wild music of the birds
of the wilderness and the occasional sounds of animals forag-
ing for breakfast in the mountain forests by which we were
'surrounded ; fourteen hours of a day, when clear, ranging in
the sun from eighty to ninety degrees Fahrenheit ; and three
hours of mild twilight, with light enough to read.
The morning 'was clear and still ; not a zephyr swept
through the gorge by the falls, or came up laden with the
fragrance of codfish from the Gulf. The shrill music of our
two charming birds and an occasional splash of feeding sal-
mon were the only sounds which relieved the monotone of the
clear and rapid river. Our plateau, surrounded by majestic
mountains, steep and rocky, formed a vast amphitheatre.
The river was still falling, and as thin and clear as possible.
Our assembling at breakfast proved that the black flies had
partially desisted from scoring us, and each member of the
party felt relieved of farther danger from that scourge. It
is worthy of remark, that from the almost unbearable annoy-
ance caused by the punishment from black flies on our ar-
rival, we had in one short week become so accustomed to
them that they ceased to elicit our fear or attention.
The morning time to angle for salmon having expired, we
Q
242 Fishing in American Waters.
regarded the river as having been protected, and the pools
rested long enough, and so mounted our toggery and ar-
ranged our flies for the fray. It was the doctor's turn for
the upper pool, at the foot of the falls ; the general's for the
bend to Rattling Run ; the banker's included all the ojDposite
of the river, while my sporting-water was Rattling Run, and
I had never fished it. My gaffer was wanted elsewhere, and
the doctor most generously consented to supply his place.
He led the way with gaff on shoulder, marching up to the
first pool with an elan and energy which meant that he was
determined to show-me where salmon disported. After walk-
ing half a mile through the brush, we emerged opposite a sal-
mon-pool on Rattling Run. The run was about twenty rods
wide, with shallow water three quarters of the distance to
the opposite bank. The doctor pointed to the pool on the
opposite shore, and told me that a salmon made a feint at his
fly there two days previously. The water ran swift over a
pebbly bed, but it was not much above knee-deep on our side
of the pool. I waded to within casting distance of the head
of the pool, and commenced casting while moving slowly
down the stream, until, having made half a dozen casts, and
swept the surface with great care, I delivered my fly just
above a rock near the foot of the pool, where a salmon made
its appearance and rose to take the fly, but missed it. The
next cast, delivered the fly beyond and below the rock, in the
white-water foam, when the salmon accepted the fly, and fast-
ened good and strong. Instead of turning to the falls just
below, he shot up to within a few paces of me. The doctor,
seeing his move, ran below the salmon to prevent it from
dashing down the chute. For a full half hour while the play
lasted, it was so amusing to see the doctor run and flourish
the gaff in his endeavor to drive the salmon to the pool
above that I could hardly restrain my laughter enough to
stand and steady the fish's head occasionally against the cur-
rent. But the doctor finally conquered, and the fish became
so fatigued that the doctor took Mm out of the wet with his
Shakp Contest with a Salmon:. 243
gaff, when it scaled twelve pounds ; and, though not large, it
is something to play and save a twelve-pound salmon with a
single gut in a swift and shallow rapid just above a chute.
We now proceeded to the second pool above, where the
doctor seated himself to rest on shore and watch my move-
nlents. Here also the run was about twenty rods wide, with
the channel along the bank opposite. I therefore waded out
so as to cast across the main current, and let my fly sweep
round to the eddy, some eighty feet below. I had not made
many casts before a salmon deliberately swam up to my fly
and examined it, and then, as if suspicious, turned from it
like electricity, his turn forming a most exciting whirl. In
vain I cast several times more, but the run was too wide to
deliver my fly at the farther shore, where was a deep pool
from which I might have enticed him. But we gave up the
chase and commenced a retuni, the doctor walking along
the shore, and I wading and casting as I went. We had not
gone far when I hooked a very elegant salmon. There was
a pool on each side of the run, and the salmon took the fly
on the farther side. As soon as the fish realized that he was
firmly hooked, he came across the run for the pool near us.
I stood in the water nearly between the two pools, but rath-
|er above them. As the run was very rapid all the way be-
low until it entered the St. John, I requested the doctor to
fall below the salmon, and thus prevent the fish from run-
jning the chute. The doctor waded below the pool on the
tleft, and as he saw the salmon darting for that pool, he ran
[below, to prevent the fish from turning down stream after it
; should learn that it was mistaken in finding protection where
it was going to seek it. The salmon came to the near pool,
and, finding no assistance, it endeavored to sulk a li4;tle, but
finally resolved to run the chute, or return to the pool at the
farther shore.
After a close contest of an hour's duration, in which the
^salmon passed twice between the doctor's legs, the fish was
(brought to gaff", and weighed fifteen pounds. On returning
244 Fishing in American Waters.
to dinner, we learned that our friends had fished hard for
modest results. By the supervisory care of the ladies, the
dinner was served in the following order or ynenu :
Vegetable soup.
Boiled salmon and fried trout.
Roast mutton, green peas, and other vegetables.
Claret wine, tea, bread and butter, etc., concluding with n
dessert of marmalade and dried fruits.
After dinner we concluded to rest the pools, burn some to-
bacco,'and tie some flies. When we first began angling, the
preference by the salmon seemed to be given to the Montreal
fly, or a purple body, brown mallard wings, and tail from the
top-knot of the golden pheasant; but within the last two
days they would not touch it. Their next favorite was a
good imitation of the real salmon fly, body an& wings light
gray; but after a couple of days more they refused all flies
but those with a preponderance of bright yellow and orange,
tied on a very small hook. The double-hook flies were the
most successful in bringing salmon to gaff", but I never tried
them; and it is contended by some that two small hooks fall
better, aiid are more attractive than a single one. Forrest,
of Kelso, is the favorite fly-maker with Canadian anglers, and
he generally ties on a double hook.
SECTION EIGHTH.
FLY-FisHING BELOW THE FALLS.
* ' Below the Falls of St. John, from deep crevice stealing,
The bright salmon watches his prey,
And when mid the white foam some stray fly lies wheeling,
Slyly bears — slyly bears it away.
" 'Tis thus in this bright world, at joys without measure,
Unheeding, we ardently spring,
And forget that oft hid by the plumage of pleasure
Lies a hook — lies a hook in the wing." — Stoddart.
To a man unaccustomed to the broad, rushing, tumbling
torrents which debouch in the Gulf of St. Lawrence from the
north, there are many subjects to inspire wonder, and some
The Angler and his Gaffer.
245
tew to challenge admiration. The bold mountains of gray
rock, from which a few stinted fir-trees struggle into the
light of day above the fissures and dark gorges, are sombre
to see and sublime to contemplate ; and the rivers, tumbling
down frantically in their narrow passage between high walls
of solid masonry, would appear frightful did they not contain
thousands of beautiful salmon and trout, which make their
way with great assiduity to clear themselves of sea-lice by
the action of fresh water, dep.osit their eggs, and, when warn-
246 Fishing in American Waters.
ed by fresh-water parasites, return to sea to recuperate and
fatten preparatory to another visit up the river to their
spawning-grounds.
One day, while fishing the pool below the falls, I felt a
tug, and as my reel spun round whir ! whir ! ! whir ! ! ! I
raised my rod to a perpendicular, when — the reel still con-
tinuing— I saw three leaps at once, each fish leaping fasten-
ed to my fly. Thought I, " If you make three leaps at once
there is small chance of saving you," and so it resulted. By
the manoeuvre, it formed a bight in my line and unhooked.
My captures were very fair that day, and it is a remarka-
bly interesting pool to fish ; but the river was so low, and
its waters so transparent, that I could count scores of salmon
lying in pairs by the rocks, awaiting a rise in the river to help
them surmount the chute.
The next morning I fished the same pool from the opposite
side of the river, and in response to my second or third cast
I hooked a large salmon, which ran out to the middle of the
river and took nearly all the line off my reel, when it made
a leap about twenty feet up the river, and several feet above
the water, and the swiftness of the current made such a bight
in my line that its weight parted the single leader, though I
dipped the point of the rod as I saw the leap coming. As
my line came back I felt despondent at losing such a beauti-
ful fish ; but I venture to state that no angler, under the cir-
cumstances, could have saved it. Such is salmon-angling.
You must use a single gut for the half of your casting-line
toward the end, and tie your fly on a single gut, or you will
be regarded as a coarse angler, and all your large scores will
count you naught as an artist at angling. Here are salmon
in a broad, rapid river, large enough to try the strongest
striped-bass tackle ; and yet they are to be taken on a single
gut, and played from half an hour to three hours to bring to
gaff. Add to the delicacy of play necessitated from the light-
ness of tackle the fact, also, that the mouth of a salmon is very
tender. These are points to be noted if you would angle for
Salmon Leaps and Spray-bows. 247
salmon. No one ever hears of a string of salmon, for the very-
good reason that their bodies are so heavy and gills so ten-
der that they will not sustain their weight.
I put on another fly and cast again. For some time my
eyes were not blest with the sight of a rise ; but by-and-by
a salmon accepted the fly in earnest and fastened. The prick
of the hook gave it such a shock that it bounded and leaped
three or four times, as quick as thoughtf several feet above
the water. Finding itself still hooked, it came toward me,
and I retreated, for fear that too acute an angle of the line
and rod might enable it, by a salmon dash, to break the top
of my rod. I therefore walked backward, and the salmon fol-
lowed me until within five feet of the shore. It then turned
as quick as lightning, and whir ! whir ! whir ! ! went my reel.
Another leap showed it to be in the middle of the current,
with but little line remaining on my reel, and a reef of rocks
rising above the water between me and the salmon. I at
once saw that it might extricate itself and take my fly and
some of the line ; but it misjudged its own situation, and
started to leap the falls. By its failure I turned its head
shoreward, and brought it within a rod of me, when it took
fright again and started down the river. After checking and
turning it, back it came to me, gentle as possible, leaping oc-
casionally, as if it was its nature, for I should have thought a
fish so circumstanced would have swam low; but no — all
game fish are alike in that respect. Although the salmon
had become used to my appearance, it still distrusted me, and
started out into the current again. There he leaped a few
times, and finally consented to be led back ; but when it gain-
ed sight of the gaff it shot off again, though I could both see
and feel that it was losinoj strenorth. After two or three
more visits to the shore it became weakened, and Duncan
gaffed it. The fish weighed only sixteen pounds, but it was
the prettiest salmon that I had ever seen. Above the line,
from gill to tail, it was a light and brilliant salmon color, and
248 Fishing in American WatiIes.
ing how beautiful ! There is nothing more beautiful than a
fresh-run salmon when first taken, neither is there any pen-
cil capable of creating its apparent counterpart. To feel a
salmon fast to your fly and see its leap is alone worth a voy-
age to Canada to experience.
Again I swept the pool with care and got a rise. As I
could not allure the beauty to a second attempt, I concluded
to rest the pool and go to the foot of the plain water, where
I saw the salmon disporting like dolphins just above the
rapid. The bed of the river was about a quarter of a mile
wide, and shallow on my side. I therefore waded out, and
after a few casts hooked a large, vigorous salmon. After a
high leap it struck out to the middle of the river. Then it
made numerous rushes and leaps, with turns and sweeps, un-
til finally the hook sprang back to me, and let the twenty-
pounder go on its way rejoicing.* Very soon I hooked an-
other, and it attempted to run the rapid ; but I checked it a
quarter of a mile below, where it stopped to sulk behind a
rock, and before it formed another plan, my man Duncan
watched his chance and gafied it.
Again, after half an hour's playing, I succeeded in losing a
very large fi*esh-run salmon. I felt mortified, and so con-
cluded on returning to the head of the stretch to learn the
intentions of the large fish which had offered before I left,
and for which I rested the pool. I went to the head of the
pool and swept it along down until I came to where I got the
rise before I left ; but it had either leaped the chute or gone
from home, and after a few rises but no strikes, I returned to
dinner. " Moving large fish, however, is held by every true
angler only second to hooking them ; but many persons are
apt to despise the most skillful and patient efforts unless
crowned with immediate success." This is the exjDerience
of John Colquhoun and every true angler.
Next morning, by dint of perseverance and continued ef-
fort,! finally hooked a salmon at the foot of the pool, and just
at that moment a loud crackling was heard in the thick un-
Day-dreams and exciting Sport. 249
derwood along the shore, and Duncan called my attention to
a bear that, having discovered us, was making off with all the
speed possible. I could not turn to look from my salmon, for
it had not yet decided upon what course of tactics to pursue.
After a few minutes, when the salmon had concluded to run
the hook out, I turned to see, but the bear was no longer in
sight. After several runs, tacks, shifts, sweeps, and leaps, I
brought the salmon home as gentle as a kitten, so that it
seemed a pity to gaff it.
My friends had been fully as lucky as I had, and, as the
flies were disappearing, and we had examined our plateau,
walled by mountains and watered by beautiful rivers, we
concluded to digest a good dinner by admiring the works of
nature and enjoying the aurora borealis and lunar bow.
Rosy were our dreams ; but, be it remembered, one of the
party began to sigh for Susan Jane.
The following day, and for several days thereafter, the
sport was about the same. The river soon began to shrink
and clarify, and as the salmon became more scarce, the num-
bers of sea trout increased. Sea trout are precisely like those
of Long Island. Their voyage to sea renders them as white
and plump as are those of the Willows, below Oba. Snedicor's,
and perhaps cleaner and whiter ; but they are the same fish
in ichthyological peculiarity.
The next day that I fished Rattling Run I took two salmon
at its mouth, where the eddy was formed by the confluence
with the St. John; and I cast again to the foot of the rapid,
where my fly was usually drawn into the eddy, and before
it fairly touched the water a salmon took it, and leaped some
ten feet up stream, dropping it while thus leaping. As I saw
the fly fall, I was in the act of retrieving my line, when an-
other salmon was fast to the fly, and I broke the top of my
rod. This proved to me that the movement of a salmon is
too swift to be followed by the eye. I played and killed the
tlmon after the rod was broken, and my gaffer landed him.
—
250 Fishing in Amekican Waters.
great improvement on the. Castle Connell rod) the shoal had
either passed by, or otherwise had concluded to decline my
flies, and I was obliged to forego the amusement of again
playing a salmon that day.
As there appeared no prospect for the river rising soon, we
began to think seriously of dividing the party, and two of us
taking gaffers and canoes, and going to the upper falls, twen-
ty-seven miles above. The next morning, however, was show-
ery, and the river had risen more than a foot during the night ;
we therefore concluded to defer going up the river until the
prospective rain should have subsided. The fitful showers
of the morning increased to a steady and heavy rain in the
afternoon, and both the general and banker met with fine
sport, taking several salmon of fine size. This day the gen-
eral evinced a commendable perseverance, for, in the heaviest
shower, if a salmon parted his line and carried away his fly,
he would forthwith stop where he was, and tie a fly in a
drenching rain, attach it to his leader, and proceed to casting.
He lost several large fish that day, and saved only three;
one of these he hooked in the pectoral fin of the left side of
the fish, on the opposite side from the general, as the fish
started down stream, leading the general at double-quick
time. I was sweeping the pool at the mouth of Rattling
Run when I saw the general hastening down the St. John,
along the shore. The rain was drenching. He wore rubber
overalls, overcoat, and hat ; the brim of his hat turned under
across the forehead, giving him the air of enthusiasm so fine-
ly represented in the picture of Napoleon when he commenced
crossing the Alps. Of course there was the slight difference
of our general being on foot ; but, with his rod stretching
high in air, the storm catching his loose garment, the hat
with brim turned under and giving it the military chapeau
shape, the tout ensemble was all energy and action. Down
swept the general. Rattling Run had swollen considerably,
and was three feet deep and very rapid just above the mouth,
into which the general dashed and waded across, holding on
(
Very Tall Walking. 251
to his fish, which he thought a forty-pounder at least ! His
gaffer followed close behind, and was about to embark the
general in a canoe to follow the salmon down the river ; but
the fish stopped in the pool where I was angling, and after a
play of less than half an hour the general brought it to gaff,
when it weighed 1 7^ lbs. This feat was the greatest of the
season ; and, had not the fish been hooked on the far side from
the general, so that it was hard to maintain an equipoise, it
would probably have torn away. I shall never forget the
picture of ardor and energy which rushed down along the
shore and dashed across Rattling Run, speechless with won-
der and excitement. At dinner we canvassed the morning's
sport, and, though the rain dripped slightly through the bark
roof of our dining arbor, we began to realize that a home in
the wilderness possesses an indescribable attraction, and the
apparently settled rain seemed an omen for better fishing
than we had yet enjoyed, and we parted that night to our
several camps with a renewed stock of hope and pleasing an-
ticipation.
SECTION NINTH.
THOUGHTS OF RETURNING HOMEWARD.
" 'Tis a midnight fair to see,
Wondrous in sublimity.
Lingering at our cabin door,
Fast beside the river shore,
Dazzled is my gazing eye
With the grandeur of the sky.
Clouds are flying in mad chase
O'er the moon's benignant face ,
In the blue concave of air
Stars like diamonds gleam and glare,
While with weird, celestial glow
Springs aloft the lunar bow.
See ! like arch triumphal, high
How it soareth to the sky ;
See ! like heavenly rainbow, bent
O'er a showery finnament,
How its gorgeous columns climb
With a majesty sublime." — Isaac M'Lellan.
252 Fishing in Ameeican Waters.
Our dreams of home were rosy. Though unlooked-for,
modest flushes of the great St. John, produced by summer
showers at its tributaries, caused temporary hope, yet the
stream kept gradually narrowing and falling so fast that sal-
mon refused to ascend to the fluvial j)art of the river. About
the 20th of July the grilse began to make their apj)earance,
and the j)arr rose to the fly in the most plucky manner,
evincing more courage than their grandparents.
"At length the morning for our departure has arrived,"
said one of our party while returning from enjoying his last
bath of the season in Rattling Run. Instead of learning from
the
*' Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones,"
we were about to exchange the scenes of nature, unadorned
by art, for the crowded mart, and the hurry-scurry of aggre-
gated humanity. The thoughts which made bearable the re-
flections called forth by preparing to leave our home of free-
dom, and felicity of angling for salmon, were the dearest of.j
earth — home, family, and friends. For these we could en-
dure the sights of striking tents, and loading the bark ca-
noes for our departure to the mouth of the river.
Our tents were struck, tents, trunks, and rubber bags
packed before breakfast. None but the experienced can re-
alize how lonely appears the little spot of ground over which
his tent has been stretched for several weeks, but of which
nothing remains except the boughs of the fir-tree which rest-
ed him, and gave him pleasant dreams for many nights. We
still heard the salmon -leaping and splashing in the river, and
the two lone birds piping their merry notes, though our tents
were removed and packed in the canoes. But, shaking off"
the sense of melancholy which I felt to be gaining on me, I
remembered that the lines of true anglers always fall in
pleasant places, and so adjourned to breakfast.
As the general had decided to remain and see the salmon
season out, 'twere wrong to deny the fact that leaving him
A Farewell Yiew. • 253'
and his lady greatly deepened the shade of our feelings at
parting from the peaceful plateau. But we all put on cheer-
ful faces and mixed our coifee with anecdotes. Our break-
fast consisted of fried or broiled trout, broiled grilse, termed
in Canada "f^'ewner," signifying "breakfast." By others it
is called the " white salmon." Then we had ham and eggs,
hot biscuit, etc. We enjoyed our last meal as well as cir-
cumstances would admit under the conflicting feelings of a
hope to soon see our families, and a regret that the lunar bow
and aurora borealis, with the singing birds, would have to
sing and shine without tis.'
As to the salmon which had played us, and at numerous
times sold us, we felt as if we would have liked another con-
test with them; but as that was impossible then and there,
as we had not the time to spare, we promised those of them
which parted from us with our hooks as nose-jewels, and oth-
ers that — having played us long enough — sprang the hook
out of their beautiful mouths, that if we hook them again
they will not get off" so easily.
After breakfast, and all being ready for our departure, the
stars and stripes were raised, and while the general waved
his salmon-rod, we started, and a salute to our honor was
fired from our only cannon as we parted from view of the pla-
teau and disappeared from its remahiing inhabitants around
the foot of the mountain, at the bend of the St. John, just be-
low the entrance of Rattling Run.
Our hearts were full as we responsively shouted hurra !
Ye rivers, so haunted with myriads of flies,
Whose flashes of salmon-breaks gladden the eyes ;
Scenes where the brown bear roams the thick brake ;
Scenes where the seals tlieir gambolings make ;
When shall I tread your fair precincts again ?
When kindle my camp-fires over your plain ?
When again cast my line and my flies.
Charming my senses — feasting my eyes ?
The river was low and the reefs nearly bare, so that navi-
gation was not so safe as when we ascended ; but our guides
254 Fishing in American -Waters.
knew how to manage bark canoes better than to speak any
language, their patois being a medley of French, Indian, and
English. But they were all trusty and industrious, as all
Canadian guides are. It is best that each angler have two
guides and one canoe ; for, though one man only is needed to
attend an angler for gaffing and rowing in the neighborhood
of the encampment, yet for long journeys up rapid rivers
two men are indispensable. Cabins for cooking and for lodg-
ing may also be soon erected, and they are preferable to port-
able tents.
• The River St. John winds like a seVpent between the moun-
tains, and as the fall from our plateau to the mouth — 27 miles
— is more than 150 feet, the rapids are very swift; so that
many times in rounding a bend we surprised a family of seals
teaching their young to catch salmon, wild geese with their
goslings, ducks with their broods, and expected to see Bruin,
but didn't.
The row down the river was most pleasurable. The thin
bark canoe responded to the lashings of the tide, and we felt
as the lobster-peddler said, " All alive ! all alive !" The doc-
tor, who had taken a front seat in the canoe, with his coat on
and broad-brimmed hat, had found the passage so jolly that
— like Obadiah Oldbuck — he had turned over a new leaf by
taking off both his hat and coat, and remarked, as we shot a
rapid, " Let her went !"
The Indians were returning up the St. John to their homes
in the icy regions, having disposed of their furs at the Min-
gan fair, and laid in a winter supply of flour and salt.
It was all vain to look kindly to these Esquimaux squaws,
who are really beautiful, with their olive complexions, raven
locks, and lustrous eyes. They are wedded to the forest. We
met some twenty odd Indian canoes ascending the river to
their homes, who knew enough of English to ask " Salmon
plenty ?" But very few would make so bold as to ask, "Has
you nothing good for me ?" Of course they do not suppose
it degrading to beg from civilized men, for they consider
Welcomed by the Dogs. 255
them as appertaining to the outer world. I was greatly-
amused by their appearances. There were many young men
among them who displayed great taste in the arrangement
of their hair; and some of the squaws had heads of locks
worth diamonds, and for which many of our belles would
swap their eye-teeth, of best manufacture, for similar heads
of natural growth.
On our arrival at the mouth of the river, the dogs came
from some thirty cabins to welcome us. They were of all
kinds, sizes, and colors, and their salutations were most wel-
come. The sight and hospitable bark of our own kind of
dogs gladdened our eyes and ears, producing a charming ef-
fect. Having landed and become hospitably housed at the
quarters of the government agent, while our guides attended
to landing our luggage and cutting fir-boughs for our beds,
we jointed our trout-rods, and walked a short distance from
the cabin to the sandy shore of the river, where, within thir-
ty minutes, we took over fifty sea trout averaging a pound
each. I frequently fastened two at a time on the same cast
of flies with which I had last fished on Long Island.
SECTION TENTH.
THE SILVER OR SEA TROUT.
This fish inhabits for nearly half the year the tidal waters
of the streams in Canada, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland.
It is also taken in the estuaries of rivers in Maine, Massachu-
setts, and Long Island. Being aware of the high authorities
which assert this to be a distinct family of the Salmo genus,
I must beg humbly to dissent ; and from the following de-
scription I invite anglers to decide for themselves whether
the .sea trout is not the Salmo fontinalis, or brook trout com-
mon to the streams of the northern part of North America.
The sea trout is similar to the brook trout in all facial pecu-
liarities. It is shaped Kke the brook trout ; the vermiculate
marks on the back and above the lateral line ar6 like those
of the brook trout ; its vermilion, white, and amber dots are
256
Fishing in American Waters.
like the brook trout's ; its fins are like those of the brook
trout, even to the square or slightly lunate end of- tail. It has
the amber back and silver sides of such brook trout as have
access to the estuary food of the eggs of different fishes, the
young of herring, mackerel, smelt, spearing, shrimp, and even
the young of its own family and those of the salmon. Ow-
ing to this food, it becomes whiter and brighter than those
The Silver ok Sea Tkout. — Trutta Argentina or Trutta marma.
trout which inhabit swampy waters impregnated and discol-
ored by decayed vegetable matter, where the trout are con-
fined without the power of visiting salt water. All the au-
thorities agree that the sea trout spawns at the heads of
fresh-water streams, ascending from the estuary in August,
and not returning until the following winter and spring.
All brook trout visit the heads of streams in autumn, and
return to the lower waters at the close of winter. Brook
trout of mountainous regions, where the streams run through
rocky defiles and mountain gorges, or through a sandy soil,
are always brighter than the black-mouthed trout of hemlock
and tamarack swamps. I am informed that, of fifteen trout-
lakes in a certain part of Scotland, there are not two lakes
which contain trout entirely similar. Even the famous Gil-
laroo trout, which some anglers suppose to have a gizzard,
has merely a lump in its stomach fofmed by the ^peculiarity
of the clay and other substances on which it feeds. In the
United States and the Canadas we have the salmon, the sal-
i
Choice Member of a Fikst Family. 257
mon-trout of the lakes, the brook trout, the silver or sea
trout, which I believe to be the brook trout, the white trout,
or land-locked salmon, the large brown trout (Salmo Cana-
de7isis), the Mackinaw trout, the winninish, and the red trout
of Long Lake. All these fishes have the adipose second dor-
sal, are pinky-meated, and the laminary flakes are separated
by a thin curd or creamy substance.
The real salmon of different waters do not differ so much in
shape and surface-marks as do either the brook trout or the
lake trout, though old fishermen in Canada can distinguish
by the appearance of a salmon to what river it belongs; so
they say, at least. Twenty-five salmon of some rivers will
fill a barrel, while of those from other rivers from forty to
fifty are required ; but the variety in size constitutes the
chief diff*erence.
Our little party continued to take trout daily at the mouth
of the St. John for nearly a week, until a schjooner was pre-
pared to convey us to Gaspe. The silver trout is indeed
[.beautiful, being plump and round, with its polished sides
glistening brightly with a satin sheen which sparkles with
flowing lustre in the light. Its superior condition renders
[it plump, the meat very pinky, and the play very vigorous,
'he only drawback that I experienced in taking silver trout
'arose from too many offering for my flies at a time, and the
little ones generally succeeding in obliging me to play and
;land them, when I had seen larger ones coveting my flies,
land leaping at them for a taste. It was surprising to note
rthe excitement which fly-fishing for trout produced among the
|Cod-fishing families. Men, women, and children followed us
'along the river, and gladly received all the smaller trout.
There was a fleet of some sixty sail of cod fishermen in the
place, and their hired hands " shammed Abram to be idle" in
order to see us take trout on our flies from the surface of the
water. It was an easy matter to take in two hours a barrel
'.of trout running from half a pound to four pounds. The wa-
ter was so perfectly clear that we could occasionally perceive
R
258 Fishing m American Watees.
a lordly salmon move majestically among the speckled beau-
ties, no doubt waiting for a shower to swell the waters, and
enable him to start on his perilous voyage to the spawning-
grounds near the head of the river. As we were fishing from
the beach which forms the breakwater at the mouth of the
St. John, my attention was arrested by a thirty-pound sal-
mon swimming along slowly toward the mouth, and within
easy casting distance for my single-banded trout-rod. As I
was admiring him, he chanced to see my motion in casting,
and dashed away into the sparkling surf at the mouth of the
river.
Taking trout with the fly is always more or less interest-
ing, but, as a branch of sport, it dwindles greatly on return-
ing from a successful trip of angling for salmon. Broadway
is beautiful to those who have never visited Paris ; but on
returning from the Boulevards^ the Champs Elysees^ and the
Bois de Boulogne, the beauties which he contemplated with
admiration before he left New York lack the charm of artist-
ic finish and the picturesque variety which youth always per-
ceives, but which age or experience can not discover even
with the aid of glasses.
THE WHITE TROUT.
While the fog is lifting from Schoodic Lake,
And the white trout are leaping for flies,
It's exciting sport these beauties to take,
Jogging the nerves and feasting the eyes.
This trout inhabits Schoodic and Grand Lakes in the State
of Maine. Although it is eminently a lake fish, yet it is found
in the tributaries and outlets near the lakes named. It is
similar to the hirling in Scotland in the peculiarity of its
meat varying from cream to mallow color. The average size
of the white trout is from three to five pounds' weight, and
in outline it is between the salmon and the brook trout, with
the top of head and color of dorsal and caudal fins black and
lustrous as velvet, the latter crescent-shaped, with jet spots
Gajviy and Beautiful.
259
on the gill-covers like the salmon. The mouth is furnished
with teeth on the palate, tongue, vomerine, palatine,.and max-
illary, like those of the brook trout, or as are nearly all the
young of the JSalmonidcB ; but its head is longer than that
of the common trout, and much larger in proportion than the
salmon's. Its scales are small, and the body is entirely white
below the lateral line, and very light gray above it, all shin-
ing with metallic lustre. It is better game than any other
lake family of the genus Salmo, and will readily take the fly
on the surface of the water. With a two-handed trout-rod,
fifteen feet long, a person unskilled in fly-fishing has taken
over a hundred in three hours of these transcendent beauties.
The White Tkout. — Sal/no albus.
Some persons have supposed this blonde beauty " a land-
cked salmon," than which nothing can be much more ab-
surd, for it has the common egress of a commodious river
which debouches in' Passamaquoddy Bay, while those of the
kes in the provinces have equally favorable avenues of es-
cape. No, it is a comparatively new luxury to the American
angler, and well worthy his attention.
Though many anglers use a two-handed fly-rod for taking
e white trout, yet it is more artistic to use a half-pound fly-
od and single fly ; the cinnamon, Montreal with claret body
d brown mallard wing, with the yellow and blue profes-
ors, are all the flies needed for any weather, though the
coachman of white wing and peacock's herl body is a good
lunset fly, and the red ibis wing with silver body sometimes
kes very well.
The late Rev. Dr. Bethune regarded this fish and its sport-
e ways with enthusiasm, and the borders of Schoodic lakes
260 Fishing in American Waters.
and the St. Croix River still retain many marks of his en-
campments. The approaches to these grounds are via East-
port or Calais, Maine. At either of these places the angler
will find guides to the aromatic groves which overlook the
waters where the white trout disport in shoals of thousands.
THE WINNINISH.
" At early dawn, or rather when the air,
Glimmering with fading light, and shadowy eve
Is busiest to confer and to bereave,
Then, pensive votary, let thy feet repair
To silent lakes, or gentle river fair."
This fish belongs to the geniLS Salmo^ and tenants the up-
per waters of the Saguenay, near the outlet of Lake St. John,
in Canada. The fish runs from three to nine pounds' weight ;
and as no very young members of the family nor the spawn-
ing-beds have been seen by the hahitans and Indians of that
region, it is reasonable to infer that they breed farther north ;
and as they have a dorsal fin like that of the grayling, it is
quite probable that it is the fish written of by an officer of
the expedition in search of Sir John Franklin, whose descrip-
tion made " Frank Forrester" suppose it to be an American
grayling. But it is neither the grayling nor the omhle chev-
alier^ but a rare delicacy of the frozen latitudes of the Cana-
dian forests. Professor Agassiz is said to have named it the
Northern charr.
(
The Winninish.
The fins of the winninish, being large in proportion to its
size, render it very gamy. It sails near the surface, with the
top of dorsal and caudal fins in view, and when it takes the
YeEY rare DELICxiCIES. 261
fly, leaps, runs, and plays more vigorously than a grilse. The
fish is gray on its back and sides, interspersed with white
scales, all of which are small, but brilliant. Epicures regard
the winninish as a higher luxury than either the brook trout
or salmon. Its head resembles the trout, but the mouth is
larger, and equally tough for holding a hook. The meat is
pink-colored. It takes either the minnow or the fly gener-
ously. Fish-culturists might with advantage turn their at-
tention to the winninish and the white trout.
Lake Trout of Moosehead Lake.— This trout is unlike
any other in the American waters. It is round in body, and
resembles the winninish in large first dorsal and large tail.
Its meat is straw-colored, and on each side below the gills are
five or six dark spots the size of peas, and like those on the
shad. It is clad in small scales, dark on the back, orange
sides, and belly like the doree or common river pickerel. Be-
ing so excellent a dinner-fish, it is surprising that the markets
of Maine continue to monopolize it to the exclusion of epi-
j cures in other states. It is caught by the hand-line, as other
bke trout.
red trout of long lake.
*' I see the bright trout springing
Where the wave is dark, yet clear,
And a myriad flies are winging,
As if to tempt him near.
With the lucid waters blending,
The willow shade yet floats,
From beneath whose quiet bending
I used to launch my boats. "
This is the richest and most beautiful specimen of lake
trout known in the State of New York. In outline it resem-
bles the brook trout which have access to marine feeding-
grounds, except in the tail, which is forked. In color it is a
jddish-brown on the back, mellowing to a pink at the sides,
tod a belly of white with pink tinge. The whole of its sur-
)e, except its head and belly, is thickly dotted with orange
jcks about the size of pigeon-shot. Like the trout of all
262
Fishing in American Wateks„
the lakes, its scales are so small as to be scarcely perceptible,
but its body is marked with fine, transverse diagonal lines,
forming diamonds or canvas like the surface of fine drilling
or marseilles. This is an unfailing mark of peculiarity. Its
meat is pink-colored, with rich layers of cream between its
flakes.
Eed Trout of Long Lakl.
The red trout will rise to the artificial fly, take a feathered
spoon or well-dissembled minnow. Trolling is the favorite
mode of fishing for this beauty, whose average weight is from
five to fifteen pounds. It is very gamy, displaying much
muscular force and propulsive power in its runs and leaps.
To angle for the red trout is worth a voyage to the Adiron-
dacks in June and July. It is fine sport to use salmon-tackle
and take him on the fly until fatigued, when the exercise may
be changed to trolling.
There is a universe of pent-up luxuries for the sportsman
in that ninety-two miles square known as the Adirondacks,
in the heart of the State of New York. A hundred moun-
tains shade as many lakes, which teem with living beauties
too rich in coloring and symmetrical in form to be copied by
the painter's art. All the American varieties of the Salmo
genus except the salar are found in these lakes and their trib-
utaries, with the palpitations of busy life shut- out, and naught
but a simple tenting residence on aromatic boughs for a bed,
where the timid deer comes with her spotted fawn to the
margin of the lake to drink, and hesitatingly trusts the cross-
paths of men. The eagles soar aloft in the heavens above
the blue summits of cloud-capped mountains which seem to
jostle each other. Imagination is not sufficiently vivid to
The Home of a Sportsman. 263
realize the sense inspired in the Adirondacks by a sunrise
scene. The owl has ceased to hoot, the whip-poor-will to
sing, the panther to scream, and the wolves to howl ; but the
sun lights up each bush and spray, and the shadows and
mountains form majestic basins. Now the brook trout are
busy, and the day-birds are musical.
Here, in these narrow lakes of pure water, fed by trout-
brooks, the gentle angler takes his morning walk, where the
breaks of speckled beauties enliven the waters with hopeful
expectancy, and naught disturbs the tranquillity, -richness,
and grandeur of primeval nature. Here the poet, painter, or
philosopher may inflate the soul and invigorate the body, so
that, on returning to the busy world, he may be the better
able to endure its chafings and contests for another year.
TEOFT OP SENECA AND CANANDAIGUA LAKES.
' • The generous gushing of the springs,
When the angler goes a-trolling ; ^
The stir of song and summer ^vings,
The light which shines, and life which sings,
Make earth replete with happy things
When the angler goes a-trolling." — Stood art.
This fish spawns in October and November, or when other
families of the genus Salmo do ; is white-mouthed and pinky-
meated. Its qualities, outlines, and superficial marks are as
varied as are its edible qualities. All anglers know that
these depend much on the quality of water they inhabit and
the food they eat. In the latter particular they resemble all
animals and fishes. There are salmon-trout in nearly every
lake within the State of New York ; but the fish of Seneca,
Canandaigua, Skaneateles, and Long Lake are infinitely supe-
rior, both as game and for the table, to those of Lake Onta-
rio and the other great lakes.
The color of this fish is a drab, with pink tinge from the
>ack two thirds down each side, shaded with vermiculate
larks, and covered with infinitesimal scales, like the com-
lon LAKE trout. The fins are like those of the brook trout.
264 Fishing in American Waters.
except the caudal, which is forked. The head resembles the
brook trout's, even to the teeth. By some persons this fish
is supposed to be a land-locked salmon ; but it is a distinct
family of the genus Salmo, though in principal outward marks
of characterization it resembles the salmon-trout of Ontario
and the other great lakes, differing because of inhabiting lim-
pid spring waters with better food.
Trout of Seneca and Cayuga Lakes. — Salmo conjinis.
In May, after the waters become settled and clear, these
fish are taken by trolling with spinning-tackle and minnow
bait. It is necessary to sink the bait near the bottom, and,
as the trout remain near shore until June, a light sinker will
be sufiicient ; but when the weather becomes quite warm
they resort to a feeding-level from fifty to two hundred feet
below the surface, where they are taken by trolling with
feathered squids. The line should be two hundred yards
long, of the size used for catching cod, and from twelve feet
above the hook to twenty-five feet leads an eighth of an inch
thick are rolled at intervals on the line, sometimes to the
weight of a pound. Row slowly, and let out line until you
get a bite, and then calculate the depth to the feeding-level,
as the water in some places is a thousand feet deep.
Baiting the buoy and fishing with a drop-line is also prac-
ticed with success, though none of these methods of taking
lake trout are very attractive to the angler.
THE MACKINAW TROFT.
This trout is the largest of the genus in American waters,
generally running from two to five feet in length, and weigh-
ing from fifteen to fifty pounds, though Dr. Mitchill states
A Luxury of the Noethwest.
265
that it sometimes attains to the weight of 120 pounds. It is
dark colored on the back, sides, dorsal and caudal fins, mel-
Towing off from the lateral lines to a white or creamy belly.
Vermiculate marks cover its back and sides. The second
dorsal, like that of all the Salmonidoe^ is adipose. Pectoral,
ventral, and anal fins light cream color, as are also the irides.
Thk Mackinaw Tkout. — iSalmo amethystus. — ^Mitchill.
As this trout inhabits the jdeep pools in the cold lakes
from Huron to the frigid zone, its meat is firm, and the fish
is highly prized by epicures. It is sometimes taken as far
south as the Ohio shore of Lake Erie, either by trolling with
a minno^or a feathered spoon, or with cisco and young lake
herrings— all captivating lures. There are many taken with
gill-nets and set-lines in deep water, as also with hand-lines,
by previously sinking a large stone with a rope attached, and
at the other end of the rope fasten a buoy, and for several
days cast in butchers' offal by the buoy until it is supposed
the fish are chummed to that place as a feeding-ground, when
— with large hook, heavy sinker, and codfish line — the fisher
with the hand-line takes them as fast as he can bait and land
them. This killing method is a favorite one with many men
who fish for lake trout to sell, but it is very unsportsman-
jlike. In winter it is taken on hooks baited with pork through
holes cut in the ice for the purpose. The best places to an-
;le for this luxury, either with the troll or hand-line, is in
iakes Huron, Superior, the Straits of Mackinaw and Green
5ay ; from the latter water, Chicago, Galena, and many towns
the interior of Wisconsin are supplied. In fishing through
le ice, when a fisherman gets a bite, he throws the line over
is shoulder and walks away from the hole, drawing the fish
266 Fishing in American Waters.
rapidly up and out on the ice, where it is left to freeze. Be-
sides the thousands of them transported every winter in a
frozen state, many are salted and shipped off in the spring.
This trout is the most voracious of all the species, fattening
on such delicate luxuries as herrings, ciscos, and whitefish.
SECTION ELEVENTH.
AMERICAN PICKEREL, OR PIKE.
By blue lake marge, upon whose breast
The water-lilies love to rest,
Lurking beneath those leaves of green
The fierce pike seeks his covert screen,
And thence with sudden plunge and leap,
Swift as a shaft through air may sweep,
He seizes, rends, and bears away
To hidden lair his struggling prey.
This fish, like the brook trout, is almost universally known.
It inhabits nearly all the waters of the north temperate zone,
and varies in appearance according to its food, and the vol-
ume and quality of the water in which it is found, ^he large
pickerel taken in the St. Lawrence River and in many Cana-
dian waters is called by some the " great Northern pike," of
the family Esocidce, supposed to be unlike the common pike
or pickerel, or Esox Lucius ; but throughout twenty years'
experience at taking pickerel, I have been unable to discover
a very marked difference between the Northern pike and the
pickerel south of the St. Lawrence.
American Pickerel, or Pike.
" The pike is the English name of a fish belonging to the
order Malacopterygii, section Abdominales, family Esocidse,
and genus Esox."
The pickerel or pike spawns in March and April, and should
not be caught between January and July. In England it
One of the American Fishes.
26',
sometimes attains to the weight of sixty pounds, and in Nor-
way it occasionally rises to a hundred pounds, and more than
eight feet in length, while in America it is quite rare to take
one of more than twenty pounds' weight.
OF PICKEEEL, AND ANGLING FOR THEM.
iSH of this family are known
in the United States by the
name of pickerel, which is the
name in England for a dimin-
utive pike. All pike, after ris-
ing above the pickerel weight,
and under five pounds, in En-
gland, are known as " Jack,"
probably named after a poach-
er by the name of Jack Pike.
In the waters of the East-
ern, Middle, and Western
States, as also throughout the
Dominion of Canada, the pick-
erel is found in most of the lakes, ponds, and some rivers ;
especially is it numerous in ponds where surface-water pre-
ponderates, and by reason of which the salmon families are
excluded.
The meat of small pickerel is mealy, fresh, and without de-
cided flavor, when — because of its yellow color — it is called
doree ; but those from three pounds upward, taken in pure
water, may be justly considered a good breakfast-fish. The
pickerel of Greenwood Lake are good, because the food is
abundant, and trout rills drop into the lake from every direc-
tion. As the lake is only 60 miles from New York, I used to
take a seat in an evening train of the Erie Railroad, arriving
in Chester at 7 P.M., and drive down ten miles to the lake in
time to give Jack — the baitman — orders to have all things
ready, and call me at five next morning. Tap-tap-tap at my
amber door announced that it was five, and nothing more.
^nh:
268 Fishing m American Waters.
Forthwith I mounted my toggery, took a cracker, and fol-
lowed Jack to the boat, where all things were in readiness,
and he sculled me out to a raft or float on the lake, which had
been anchored at one of the best feeding-places for the long-
noses. Leaving me with my half dozen poles, ten feet long
each, and a pail of live minnows. Jack returned to the shore.
Among the numerous methods of still-baiting for pickerel,
that from an anchored float is the most quiet and easy. As
I was attaching a line to each pole, a deer, with elegant but
timid tread, came to the margin of the lake and took a drink.
It was September — a month for excellent venison; but^then
he was too pretty and innocent-looking to kill, and, though
within short range, I had no rifle with me. The god of day
had not yet appeared, but the merry songsters made the
copse and fields joyous. To each stout pole I tied a line,
three feet longer than the pole, and at the end of each I at-
tached a gimp-snelled hook, and covered the connection of
line and snell with a small strip of sheet lead. The water
was from seven to nine feet deep, and for a float I tied a piece
of pine shingle, which produced no resistance to a bite, but
merely kept the bait a foot above the bottom. The shingle-
float was ten inches long, two inches wide at the thin, feath-
ered end, and tapered to a point, being half an inch square at
the end where I made the notch and tied the line.
In still-baiting for pickerel, if the fish takes the bait, and
learns that it is anchored or not at liberty, the fish at once
rejects it ; but by means of the sharp-ended float no percep-
tible resistance is ofiered, and the pickerel swims off toward
a convenient place to gorge it. There were places arranged
on the float for properly setting the poles, and arm-chairs at
intervals invited 'to rest between bites. By the time I had
baited Tny sixth hook and set my last pole, I saw the shingle-
float to one of my lines tip up a trifle, and glide along the
surface of the water, sinking gradually as it moved. I gave
a sudden jerk with the pole to an opposite direction from
that which the float was moving, and thus hooked and landed
t
How TO ENJOY A Bkeakfast. 269
on the raft a four-pound pickerel. Before I had baited again,
another float gave signs of agitation, and I landed another.
Jack, who had observed my success, now sculled alongside,
and took the two pickerel to be prepared for breakfast.
I continued fishing and admiring the scenery, with the
tops of the mountains just beginning to be illuminated by
the rays of a bright sunrise, and the pickerel accepted my of-
ferings most voraciously, so that I was in the midst of a most
successful contest when the horn blew for breakfast. After
fastening my rods securely to the float, and seeing that each
hook was well baited, I sculled ashore for breakfast.
On that lovely morning the sun seemed to have decked all
nature in holiday costume. After a refreshing bath, on en-
tering the hall leading to the dining-room, in the fragrant
aroma of the coffee I scented a welcome. The pickerel, whicli
had been first broiled or singed on the flesh side to prevent
the juice from escaping, was turned, and with a renewal of
liickory-wood coals was " done to a turn." Fresh butter, red
pepper, and a dash of black pepper for its aroma, prepared
the melting delicacy for the table. The smoke of the viands,
fish, and of the tureen of mashed potatoes, with the fragrant
coffee, greeted the senses like incense, and filled the measure
of my hope and ambition.
After breakfast, a walk on tlie veranda, the discussion of
a cabana^ and a look at the morning papers, which had al-
ready been received from the city, made me again anxious to
try the metal of those sly and peering long-noses. Adjourn-
ing to the hotel at eleven o'clock, forty-four pickerel included
my mess, and, partaking of an attractive lunch, I returned to
1 ew York City in time to dine at seven in the evenmg.
270
Fishing in American Waters.
SKITTERING* FOR PICKEREL AMONG THE LILY-PADS.
*' Now changed the tackle and the bait ;
For larger prey we're all elate ;
'Mong lily-pads none vainly tries ;
The line runs off — a noble prize !
Give time to poach — now strike !
" Now seeks his haunt the wounded prey,
And then begins the angler's play ;
He lengthens out, now slackens line.
Till struggles past — a welcome sign —
He lands a glorious pike !
Chorus. — The jolly angler's is the life,
Devoid of care, devoid of strife. "
Angling for pickerel among the lily-pads and pickerel-weed
is very exciting sport. ^The angler should use a rod from 13
to 15 feet long, flexible, but strong. For skittering a float
is not used, nor is natural bait the best. Use Buel's or
M'Harg's spoons, mounted with red ibis feather, and white
* Skittering is a word which belongs to an angler's vocabulary, but not
found in a dictionary. It means drawing or jerking a bait along the top of
the water.
I
Quiet Scenery and Active Sport. 271
feathers or hair for the under side of the spoon. Stand near
the bow of your punt, and skitter the lure along the surface
of the water, near the margins of the lily-pads, and if you are
on Sodus Bay, or tempting the fish from almost any of the
bayous of Lake Ontario, you will find cause for surprise that
will force you to ejaculate; for it will be questionable which
will be the most astonished, the novice in the boat or that in
the water. A most important essential is to have a man at
the stern who can use the setting-pole and sculls so as to en-
able you to fish the border of the lily-pads without scaring
the prey into their hiding-places.
Cuffy says, "Uf we had de gun, we might git a mess of
weod-duck." I reply, " Confound wood-duck ! Don't you see
that the large pickerel is going into the weeds, and that I
can not prevent him ? Turn the punt from shore."
In skittering for pickerel with live minnow, the shiner is
the best. Use two or three hooks in a gang, as represented
for " spinning-tackle." Keep your bait in motion, upon the
same principle that you would fish for salmon or brook trout.
It is the favorite plan of angling for pickerel in New England,
and is, moreover, essentially modem, and afibrds active recre-
ation.
still-batting for pickerel.
* ' The angler is free
From the cares which degree
Finds itself \vith so often tormented ;
And although we should slay
Each a hundred a day,
'Tis a slaughter needs ne'er be repented." — Cotton.
The primitive and philosophical method of angling for pick-
erel is with an ash or hickory pole. The bait is a live frog.
Of course, while angling in this way, you may study nature ;
but, lest you should fathom all things too soon, take books
with you, for they are frequently unfathomable. Seek a place
on the margin of a solitary pond, shut out from the habita-
tions of men by a dense grove. Seat yourself on some fallen
272
Fishing in American Waters.
STILL-BAITING FOR PICKEREL.
tree of ancient renown, and there beside you place your books.
Then bait your hook, and cast it off among the lily-pads or
stumps which margin the pond, and gaze away on vacancy.
There is naught set down agajnst smoking at such a place
on such occasions. Let the birds bill and coo in the grove
behind you, and if your mind is intent on developing a new
theory, let your bait creep up on a stump near you, to the
i
The contemplative Philosophek.
273
envy of all kingfishers who may covet it ; and let it partake
of your afflatus while it watches your movements, to be pre-
pared, in case you suspect a bite, lest you should disconcert
it by jerking. If you do not take a mess of fish, comprehend
solitude. It has its charms, of course, for Robinson Crusoe
said that sages had seen them. Disregard the Frenchman's
opinion who stated that the solitude which has charms is al-
ways near cities or large towns. Verbum sat sajnetiti.
S
lX„fe.—T\\c laria or grnb of the diafron-flj lues in the wau i .( n oi t\\elve monthp,
purpuiiifr there its prey, until the time for its metamorphosis .urn es. Then it cra\vls
up out of the water upon the stem of some water-plant; a rent soon api)ears upon its
shoulders, from Avhich comes forth the drapcm-fly. The " coming out" of this winged
tenant of the air may be observed, arouud our ponds and marshes, almost any day
in the months of May and June.]
274
Fishing in Amekican Waters.
CHAPTER YI.
• TROLLING AMONG THE THOUSAND ISLANDS.
Here is the angler's paradise,
A dreaming, Eden-like retreat,
With balmy perfume in the air,
And wild-flowers springing at the feet.
All the charms which angling for pickerel confer are sub-
limated and condensed into trolling among the Thousand Isl-
ands. The pickerel of the thousand lucent streams and rap-
ids, shaded by as many floral islands, are much better flavor-
ed than are those which dream out an indolent existence while
watching for frogs among the lily-pads, or darting, until they
wear themselves thin, after the minnows of ponds and rivers.
The Thousand Islands extend from Cape Vincent to a few
miles below Alexandria Bay, or about thirty miles, and the
average width of river is about five miles. Imagination may
better picture than I can describe the hundred and fifty miles
of trolling and casting the fly on streams dividing picturesque
islands, or islets covered with greensward and enlivened by
I
The Quiet and Beautiful. 275
wild-flowers. Some of these isles are decked w^ith large
clumps of copse and grove, and others with stately trees
which reach sublimely heavenward. This charming scene is
enlivened by the wood-duck and other birds of gay plumage
or melodious song. I venture the statement that it is une-
qualed any where on earth for its beauty, variety, and life of
scenery. Neither the water streets of Venice with their gon-
dolas, nor the Bois de Boulogne with its ornamental drives
and picturesque lakes and fountains, are at all comparable
with the Thousand Islands. . •, . .
From Cape Vincent to within a few miles of Og^ensburg
there is fishing and shooting enough to satisfy all. the epicu-
rean lovers of field-sports in America, did they but know a
tithe of the riches of land and water which their excellent fish
and game offer as attractions.
The Thousand Islands forms the most extensive spawning-
ground between the Atlantic and the great chain of lakes ;
there are numerous eddies and shallow sand-bars amonsr
these islands where the wall-eyed pike and black bass spawn,
but the fishermen are complaining that the annual diminu-
tion in catches calls loudly for a law of reciprocal protection
between the Dominion of Canaela and the United States. If
the myriads of lake and river fishes which resort to the Thou-
sand Islands to spawn were allowed to breed — unmolested by
net or spear — an annual stock of pickerel, black bass, glass-
eyed pike, Oswego bass, and fishes of smaller varieties would
be propagated there in sufficient numbers to stock all the
American waters.
All the little towns along the Thousand Islands have be-
come attractive summer resorts. It was here that Bishop
Hughes and Dr. Bethune used to recuperate body and brain,
while their minds were soothed by the picturesque harmo-
nies of nature.
On visiting the Thousand Islands for a few days' recrea-
tion, my advice is to go in pairs. A gentleman companion
will answer, but a lady is better. Clayton, which is a town
276 Fishing in American Watees.
nearly midway of the islands, on the south side of the river,
is said to be the most convenient point to select for trolling ;
for, in addition to the best grounds being near there, its cen-
tral location enables anglers to make a trip up or down the
river to the extremity of the islands and to return the same
day. The hotels along the Thousand Islands are generally
comfortable, and the landlords reliable. Make known your
wants to the proprietor, and he will engage a man and boat
for you. All the t rolling-boats are superior in model for
speed and comfort. The boatman furnishes rods, lines, baits,
and rows his own boat. I prefer to use my own tackle, even
to spoons and feathered squids. Each row-boat is furnished
with two cushioned arm-chairs, in which yourself and lady
are seated near the stern and facing it. The bottom of the
boat is carpeted, and crimson is the favorite color. The fish-
ing-rods are so set, by appliances in the boat and on the taff-
rail, that the troll follows outside of the track, as the rods are
held at right angles with the boat, like outriggers. The line
is from fifteen to twenty yards long, and the troller lets it
run from the reel as the gaffer rows along. The trollers soon
become so enraptured with the varied beauties of the shifting
scenes that they lose the consciousness of being on a fishing
excursion until the oarsman calls loudly, " Bite on the lady !"
which sufiiciently disenchants them for the lady to reel in a
pickerel or black bass, or perchance a maskinonge ; when
" Bite on the gentleman !" is heard, and he reels in a fish to
the gaff or landing-net.
Parties leave the hotels in couples, agreeing upon a rendez-
vous for lunching on some island. The boatmen take bread,
ice, vegetables, and condiments, and couples sally forth upon
the waters, and adjourn at the appointed time in the midst
of groves of more than Oriental beauty. The fish are cooked
by an artist on an extemporized fireplace, while other gaffers
are spreading the cloth on the greensward, where the repast
is served, and all goes on enchantingly. After luncheon they
repair to their boats, when they continue trolling, or cast an-
I
Leader of the Cl^vn. 277
chor on the shady side of a floral islet, in a narrow, rapid chan-
nel, where they cast the flies for black bass. Thus passes the
day, on waters where the air is laden with perfume from wild
roses and honeysuckles, and where the music of birds chimes
in with the running waters as the troUers alternate between
light and shade, now gliding along in gorgeous sunlight, and
anon tracing narrow channels, shaded by tall forest trees,
where wild ducks and other winged game are rendered al-
most tame by the contiguity of civilization and the frequent
sight of gay and jolly fishing-parties.
SECTION SECOND.
THE MASKINONGI}.
Where'er Ontario's waters chafe
The rocky bluffs that crown its shore,
And where Canadian banks are green,
And crystal tributaries pour,
The savage maskinonge doth roam
The tyrant of the wateiy plain,
No rebel to dispute his claim,
No rival in his great domain.
The maskinonge is the most beautiful specimen of the pike
family. The tribe is confined to the range of large lakes and
rivers of our Northern boundary, and to most of the lakes
and rivers in the vast northwestern wilderness extending to
the frigid zone. The Ojibwa name of this fish is " maskanon-
jil^'' meaning " long-snout." When Canada was a French col-
. ony, the " habitans''* named it masque-longue^ signifying long
visage. I submit that the Ojibwa was entitled by priority to
the right of naming the fish ; but as the Dominion of Canada
has named it again, and in all legal enactments there in ref-
erence to it the name of the fish is written " maskinonge," I
willingly accept the modification instead of either the Indian
or the French name.
Thus much in explanation of naming a fish which has puz-
zled most ichthyologists and anglers, so that they have been
uncertain and dubious on the point. The name is Maski-
nonge.
278 Fishing in Amekican Watees.
Having heard many anglers state that they coulcLnot dis-
tmguish the maskinonge from the pickerel, I invite tliem to
look at the diversities. The mandibles of the former are
longer, the tail more forked and larger, the dark gray back
and light sides are dotted in black, the outline of the fish is
more delicate and elegant, presenting the appearance pf
greater refinement and higher breeding than the pickerel or
pike. The surface differences are palpable, but they ^re^ not
so marked as are the epicurean qualities. The meat.^of the
maskinonge is compact, white, tender, and peculiarly delicate
and rich in flavor, without partaking of any .taint of extrane-
ous substance such as decayed wood and bark, which" so com-
monly affect* the flavor of pickerel, and even trout. This
proves that the maskinonge inhabits springs; and when
taken in lakes where surface-water is supposed to preponder-
ate, is always found at points where the fountains gush from
the bottom.
The MaskinoxNGe.
Rice Lake, twelve miles north of Coburg, in Canada, con-
tains favorite feeding-grounds for the maskinonge. Its nu-
merous springs, its beds of wild rice miles in length, forming
a ground shade, its row of islands rising high above the level
of the lake, covered with dense forests of lofty trees in whose
shade the fish disport near the fountains, make this their fa-
vorite resort. These attractions, and the rivers which feed
the lake and teem with shiners and other tiny baits, render
Rice Lake remarkable for containing maskinonge which are
equal in game qualities to any known in America ; and I be-
lieve the fish has never been discovered in any water of the
eastern hemisphere.
This fish often attains to nearly seven feet in length, and
A Study and a LuxrEY. 279
to tfte -^eight of from sixty to seventy pounds in the upper
lakes, as well as in. Ontario and the River St. Lawrence. But
when so large they are less active than when from ten to
thirty pounds in weight, as in Rice Lake, and the River Oitan-
ab^je, which enters Rice Lake opposite and about four miles
frbm Gore's Landing. The greatest number that I ever took
in one day on this lake and river was sixteen, and as I took
them legitimately — with rod and reel — the gentlemen at Har-
ris's Hotel decided that I had won the spurs, and invited me
to their club. I there learned that it was the greatest num-
ber ever taken fvom the lake in one day with a single rod and
reel ; and as the club was chiefly composed of retired officers
of the English anny and navy, with a sprinkling of civilians
who own charming boxes on the margin of this beautiful
lake of thirty miles in length, I regarded the compliment as
a very flattering one.
Maskinonge are taken on a troll like either of those repre-
sented on another page, under the title of "Spoon Victuals for
Long-snouts." - ■ -
Instructions. — Troll with a striped bass rod about ten feet
long, and on a reel which will carry six hundred feet of fine
bass line place three hundred feet of the largest linen reel
line. To the end of this line attach your feathered squid.
In trolling, let your squid be about sixty feet behind the boat.
The oarsman will regulate the speed. Then the first saluta-
tion that you will probably receive will be a shoek-ing jerk,
and you will see at the end of your line, and about six feet
above the water, a maskinonge suspended like Mohammed's
coffin, only shaking the squid -so that it jingles. In that case,
don't get excited, for it is the last time probably that day
that you will see him. Row on ; do not turn to go over the
ground to retrieve your loss, but be ready for a new adven-
ture. After he hooks himself, do not play him with too stiff
a line, nor yet slack enough to let him get a bight in it. Tire
him out, and bring him gently to gaff, and see that your gaff
be the best of the striped bass pattern. Keep away from
1^80 Fishing m Amekican Waters.
him after your oarsman lands him in the bottom of the boat,
where he always keeps a mallet or billet of hickory wood to
pound the fish on the head and prevent him from leaping
out of the boat, for his saltatory powers surpass those of the
salmon. It is said that a trout will rise a fall six feet high,
a salmon one of eleven feet perpendicular, and a maskinonge
one of nearly thirty feet.
Far where Lake Erie's billows glance,
An ocean-like immense expanse,
The shai-p-teeth'd maskinonge abides,
The shark of the fresh-water tides.
Now in the dark abyss of waves
He glides ; now where the shallow laves
The grassy shore, and crisp waves break
O'er the white sands that gird the lake.
SECTION THIRD.
THE BLACK BASS.
Amid the Thousand Isles that gem
St. Lawrence like a diadem,
Where winds are soft, and waves are calm,
And pine-woods steep the air with balm,
Piscator floats the calm abyss
'Mid scenes of most transcendent bliss ;
Wafted across that teeming flood.
His heart o'erflows with gratitude.
Many anglers think the black bass next to the salmon for
game. It is unquestionably high game. Being numerous in
many waters of the Northern States, it has come to be re-
garded as a commercial fish, and, through ignorance, many
confound it with the Oswego bass, which is quite an inferior
fish as to game and for the table. Some persons have ex-
ported the black bass both to England and France with the
view of propagation ; but w^hether they were the real black
bass is questionable, as they are difficult to export after they
grow to be larger than fingerlings.
The black bass is supposed to belong to the perch family,
or rather order of fishes, because its mouth, gills, fins, and
scales are similar to those of the Fercidce y but, in order to
More Gamy than Beautiful. 281
distinguish it from other fishes of similar color and apparent
organization, it should be remembered that the real black
bass has a red speck in each eye like a dot of carmine. It is
also more delicate in outline, and has a smaller head than the
Oswego and the Southern bass. The black bass spawns in
the spring, and, like most fishes which spawn in that season,
is not supplied with a sac of nutriment attached to the um-
bilical cord. •
The activity and muscular power of the black bass are suf-
ficient to enable it to hold its own and increase its numbers
in waters inhabited by the most ferocious fresh-water fishes,
such as the maskinonge, glass-eyed pike, and the pickerel or
pike of the great lakes.
The Black Bass. — Centrarchus fasciatus. — De Kay.
With a view to giving the angler a list of the. principal
fishes in the fresh waters of the State of New York, I append
the following extract from a letter written by an old, intelli-
gent, and successful angler, who has resided in the central
part of the state, and fished for the most gamy part of the list
of which he writes for more than thirty years. His theory
of the black bass hibernating in clefts of rocks is corrobora-
ted by other authorities, and is doubtless true. But to the
extract.*
* " In the waters of the St. Lawrence, Ontario Lake, Seneca River, Oneida
and Cayuga Lakes, there are found the Oswego and black bass, very similar
in their shape and in some of their habits, so much so that they are often
mistaken for one and the same species. The Oswego (sometimes known as
the ' river bass') is the heavier fish, often attaining to eight pounds' weight ;
are taken at all times during the year, often in winter through the ice. They
are good biters, and are game to the last.
^2 Fishing in Aj^iekican Waters.
THE OSWEGO BASS.
This fish is similar to the black bass in all outward marks,
except that it has a larger head, lacks the double curve at
" The black bass seldom attain to more than four and a half pounds,* I
have taken hundreds, and have never seen one weighing more. They ai-e
distinguished from the Oswego bass by a faculty of changing color in and out
of water — sometimes yellow, or yellow^ with dark bands across, and often
black as ink. All these changes I have seen in the same individual after
landing him ; and they invariably emit a disagreeable musky odor. I have
never known them to be taken in winter, and I think they seek a particular
location and remain torpid during winter. My attention was directed to this
fact about thirty years since. At that time I was in the habit of spearing
fish in a mill-dam on the outlet of the Seneca Lake, at Waterloo, in Seneca
County. From April to November I found numbers of bass ; from Decem-
ber to March I found all other varieties, but no bass.
"In the winter of 1837 the water was shut off at the lake for the purpose
of deepening the channel to improve the navigation. This was considered a
favorable time to quarry the limestone in the bed of the river ; and, upon re-
moving the loose rock in the above-named mill-dam, where the ledges crop-
ped out, there were found hundreds of bass imbedded in their slime, and pos-
itively packed together in the crevices and fissures of the rocks. My subse-
quent experience has done much to convince me that my theory is correct.
The black bass appear in the waters of the Cayuga Lake in April. They make
their beds and spawn between May 10th and June 20th, and disappear in No-
vember. The trolling commences in the early part of May, and continues
until July 1 st, after which time we find great annoyance from the weeds.
"In the Seneca and Canandaigua Lakes the bass make their appearance
at a later date — usually about the middle of May — and spawn between June
10th and July 25 th. This is the best time to take them. They locate in
great numbers upon shoals and bars where there are large boulders. The
Seneca Lake, unlike other lakes in this region, is very deep. It has a clean
beach and bottom ; no weeds or grass except in the little coves and bays. In
these places we find small patches of grass filled with all sorts of small fiy,
and it is about these grass patches that we have the finest sport in August
and the fore part of September. By the 1 st of October the bass have disap-
peared from their usual haunts, and the next we hear from them is at tlie
'Bass Grounds,' near Big Stream, where they congregate in immense num-
bers about the middle of October. The manner of fishing is with the hand-
line and rod and line, using crawfish and minnows for bait, -Hundreds are
taken in a day in this place. This sport continues until the middle of No-
vember, when it ceases. The appearance of the bass in this locality I con-
sider as another fact in corroboration of my theory. The shore is a bold,
rocky cliff, and the water very deep.
The black bass of the great chain of lakes range from three to nine pounds,— G, C. S.
Habits of the Black Bass. 283
the end of the lateral line at the joining of the tail, and has
no red in the eye. Its flaky meat is soft and watery, and its
common weight is from five to ten pounds.
Like the black bass, this fish is taken by casting the arti-
ficial fly, or by trolling with the feathered spoon, with a min-
now impaled on a gang of hooks, and forming spinning tackle.
This fish inhabits most of the lakes in the interior of the
State of New York, and the waters of Ohio, Kentucky, and
"The lakes which are tributary to the Seneca River are not all supplied
alike with fish. The waters are very different. The Cayuga Lake from Au-
rora to the head is veiy similar to the Seneca Lake, and is stocked with the
following varieties, to wit : Lake trout, white fish, herring-salmon, pike and
pike-perch, black and rock bass, perch, suckers, eels, etc., etc. ; while the low-
er end of the lake, very shoal and weedy, tefminating in a marsh, is supplied
with large catfish, small ditto, maskinonge, rock bass, pickerel, Oswego bass,
black bass, pike-perch, perch, etc., etc.
"The Oneida Lake abounds in all the above-named varieties excepting
the trout, whitefish, and herring-salmon.
"The Skaneateles and Owasco Lakes have very few, but excellent vane-
ties, to wit : Lake trout, brook trout, yellow perch, and suckers. The water
cold and spring-like.
"The Seneca and Canandaigua Lakes are supplied with lake trout, white-
fish, herring-salmon, pike-perch, black and rock bass, yellow perch, catfish,
and eels.
"The Crooked Lake has fewer varieties. We find the lake trout, white-
fish, yellow perch, pickerel, catfish, and eels. About forty years since this
lake Avas stocked with pickerel from the head-waters of the Susquehanna, and
they are now very abundant.
"Our finest sport consists in trolling with the fly and minnow, the latter
being preferred. In the Seneca River, at Oswego, the fly is preferred. Great
numbers are taken throughout the season. Many sportsmen throw three or
four flies, and often take as many bass. The manner in which this is done
is to hook one fish, and, while giving him the necessary play, others take the
extra flies.
" A word in regard to our method of taking the lake trout and pike-percli
may interest your readers. We use one hundred and fifty yards of cod-line,
with from six to ten leads — the first attached to the line about fifty feet above
the hook, the others at intervals of from eight to twelve' feet — weighing in
the aggi-egate twelve to twenty ounces, regulated to suit the depth of water.
Pike-perch are taken at twenty to forty feet deep ; lake trout at sixty to one
hundred feet deep — always at the bottom, rowing moderately. We use the
silver spoon or spin the herring.. In the Canandaigua Lake the minnow is
considered tlie best bait. In the Seneca and Crooked Lakes the spoon is the
most successful. "
284
Fishing in Ameeican Waters.
The Oswego Bass.
those of many of the Western States teem with it, as do the
chain of lakes on our Northern border, and the rivers and
lakes in the western part of Canada, and most of the waters
of the Northwestern wilderness. In some places it is known
as the yellow bass, and at others as the white bass.
BLACK BASS OF THE SOUTH.
To the casual observer this fish very nearly resembles the
black bass of the North. Its habits are indeed similar, and
so are its fins and color ; but it has a larger head, and in all
points excepting contour it is like the Oswego bass. The
Black Bass of the South.
rivers in Florida are alive with this fish, and it is not difficult
to take several hundred j)ounds of them in one day. It is
taken there in winter, when the sport may be varied by shoot-
ing deer, ducks, wild geese, an occasional brown bear, and an
alligator, and all from the same trolling-punt.
By some called Strawbeeky. 285
THE SPOTTED BASS OR SPECKLED HEN.
This is a common fish in the fresh waters of the Western
States ; it is also taken in the waters of the western part of
the Dominion of Canada, where it is known as the speckled
hen. This is one of the numerous small pan-fishes of the
Western waters which naturalists have not yet classified. It
ranges in weight from a quarter of a pound to two pounds, is
blackish-green on the back, greenish-yellow on the sides, with
a white belly, and dotted in black similar to some of the dace
genus of Western streams. It is an excellent breakfast-fish,
either rolled in flour and fried in butter, or in sparkling hot
fat of salt pork. Sweet or olive oil is the best juice for fry-
ing fish in, but seldom used in America for the purpose ex-
cept by Israelites.
The Spotted Bass ok Speckled Hen.
EOCK BASS OF THE LAKES.
This is rather better game than the " speckled hen," bites
freely at a feathered squid troll, or to any shiny revolving
spoon bait ; it also bites at the apple-worm, white grub, grass-
hopper, or shiner. This may also be said of the speckled hen.
The Buel feathered spoon of smallest size and brightest feath-
ers is a captivating lure for both the spotted bass and the
rock bass. This fish inhabits all the lakes in the centre of
the state, and is regarded as an excellent pan-fish. It is green
on the back, orange at the sides, and cream-color on the abdo-
men ; the mottled spots are black and green. This is emi-
^6 Fishing in Ameeican Watees.
Rock Bass of the Lakes.
nently a lake fish, where it is found in greatest numbers over
the shallows near the shores, and contiguous to the entrance
of spring streams. It ranges in weight from a quarter to a
pound.
SECTION FOURTH.
THE SUNFISH.
This little fish inhabits nearly all the lakes, rivers, and
ponds in the United States. Its habits are very domestic,
seldom leaving its spawning-ground out of its sight, but seeks
some rock or large stone where it plays about ; and the re-
mainders of shoals of a single j)air maybe seen disporting to-
gether, gay and lively, while watching the bottom for such
ground-bait as angle-worms, and the surface for flies and
grasshoppers. This tiny gormandizer is a great annoyance
to fishers with the fly or worm when it becomes numerous in
a trout-pond, for it will take both the worm and the fly ; and,
besides, it will steal the trout-eggs from the spawning-beds.
But it aflbrds ladies and children much sjDort, and is, withal,
an excellent pan-fish ; and as it aflbrds good sport for school-
boys, it should be tolerated. It never attains to more than
half a pound weight ; but the buffalo, a Western fish, whicli
is similar to the spotted bass, is sometimes mistaken for this
fish, and in some waters ranges from half a poimd to nearly
five pounds. The sunfish is dark greenish -brown on the
back, greenish-yellow on the sides, lower end of gill tipped
Greedy Small-fey.
28^
in; hUNFISH.
with red, and the belly orange and gold. It is to be fished
for with perch tackle and very small hooks. f
THE PEECH.
This fish is the head of the families of the Perddce or Per-
co'ldes of Cuvier. The j^reoperculum is denticulated, the oper-
culum is produced behind into a flattened spine, the infra-
orbitals are obscurely denticulated, and the tongue is smooth.
This is tlie common fresh-water perch — the Perca proper. It
is so common in American waters that a description is scarce-
ly necessary. It is a very voracious fish, will bite to the ar-
tificial fly, and the red ibis is its weakness, while it seems
equally well pleased with any bait which the angler may
adopt or change to. Its weight is usually about half a pound,
though three-pounders are not uncommon, while it sometimes
scales as high as seven pounds, but rarely except in the large
lakes.
The Perch.— Pc
'^88 Fishing in Amekican Waters.
In EurojDe it is found desirable to cultivate this fish, as it
is very prolific and an excellent pan-fish ; but in America,
where it is no trick to take half a bushel a day on the ponds
in the immediate vicinity of the city of New York, it is not
deemed worth while to encourage its propagation. Indeed,
so great a scourge is it regarded on Long Island, that poach-
ers having a grudge against an owner of a trout-pond go in
the night-time and stock it with perch.
Of the fishes belonging to this order there are over twenty
families, including the numerous kinds of bass, and nearly all
of those fishes of fresh waters with the first dorsal sj)iked or
spinous rayed. Of these families there is scarcely a fresh-
water river or lake on earth which does not contain a repre-
sentative.
The ovarium of a perch is one fourth the weight of the
fish; and a pound perch has been known to contain 992,000
eggs.
THE GLASS-EYED OR WALL-EYED PIKE.
This is one of the fishes of the Middle and Northern States.
At the Southwest it is called wall-eyed, while at the North it
is known as the glass-eyed pike, and by other local and un-
important names, such as the pike-perch, sand-pike, etc. But
its eyes being the most distinctive mark, it is more generally
known by the names given at the heading than by any other.
It sometimes attains to a very great weight. Doctor Buel
took one in the Kentucky River which weighed nearly fifty
pounds.
They are found in all the tributaries of the Ohio River, in
the range of great lakes, and most of the rivers and lakes as
far east as New York, south as far as Tennessee, and west as
far as Wisconsin. They also inhabit many of the waters in
the western part of the Dominion of Canada. In Cayuga,
Seneca, and other lakes of the western part of New York they
are often taken, sometimes weighing as high as forty pounds.
In Oneida Lake they are numerous ; in fact, the glass-eyed
Various in Shai>e and Colors. ^^^9
pike is one of the most important commercial fishes of the
lakes.
^m
The Glass-eyed or Wall-eyed Pike.
The glass-eyed pike of the rivers in New York is very sat-
isfying game to the angler. He prefers the live shiner as a
bait, and is generally found at the foot of a rapid, watching
for any lame or disconcerted fish which appears not to know
how to take care of itself. The best way to angle for them,
therefore, is to anchor your boat at the side or above a rapid ;
use shiner bait, and cast to the foot of the rapid, or let your
bait run down the rapid, for they sometimes lie behind huge
rocks in the rapid. Use regular striped-bass tackle and fish
with a float. The pike of the Mohawk River are supposed to
be the best for the table. The meat is hard, and laminates
in rich flakes, possessing a peculiar flavor most tempting as a
breakfast dish. Those fish which run* from three to nine
pounds are the best for the table ; but they have been taken
at the Little Falls .to the weight of nearly twenty pounds,
and proved to be a superior fish for stufling and baking.
The scales of the glass-eyed pike are hard, close, and diffi-
cult to detach. The mandibles are wider and the jaws
stronger than those of the pike or pickerel, while its teeth are
shorter and closer set. It is dark gray, with greenish tint on
the back, gray sides with yellowish tinge, and white abdo-
men. The numerous shoals of this fish in American waters
renders it common and unappreciated, but it is really one of
the best table-fishes of the rivers.
There is another family of glass-eyed pike, known in Ohio
and Western Virginia as the salmon. It resembles the pike
T
or)
Fishing in Aiviericak Water:;
of the Mohawk by being bluish-%lack on the back, bliiish-gray
sides, and white belly. It is found in the Kanawha and Mi-
ami Rivers, as also in many other streams of Ohio.
THE WHITEFISH.
This sucker-mouthed, succulent delicacy is to be found in
most of the small lakes in the middle of the State of New
York, where it forages near the springs which gush from the
bottom, so that its meat is pure, white, juicy, and possessed
of a most delicate flavor. The color of the back is gray, and
the rest of the fish a clear white of most lustrous sheen. The
great lakes from Ontario to Superior produce millions annu-
ally, and it is supposed the fish near the north shores are su-
perior to those on the south side of the lakes, because a great-
er number of cold spring streams debouch in the lakes on the
north side. The whitefish is leather-mouthed, and sometimes
takes the spoon or spinning bait. In weight it runs from
three to nine pounds, and there is less waste in it than in any
other fish of its size. The engraving is a copy sketched from
still life by Walter Bracket, Esq., a Boston artist of merit.
The Whitefish. — Corregomis alosa or albus.
It is eminently an economical fish, requiring no butter to
fry it ; but, of course, those persons who unite a little knowl-
edge of hygiene with gastronomy never fry any but the
Another breakfast Delicacy. 291
smallest kinds of pan-fishes. This is a broiler as truly as is a
shad or a Spanish mackerel.
Though an abdominal, it does not belong to the germs l^al-
mo any more than does the smelt, which some ichthyologists
classify with that genus^ though the smelt spawns in spring,
and the whitefish late in summer or early in autumn.
Whitefish are taken with nets and placed in fish-pounds in
the fall, confined by water-fencing with nets or stone, whence
they are taken with large scap-nets and sent to market. The
new process of dry-freezing is being resorted to at the West,
so as to enable the netters to take them in the season when
they are best for the table, and preserve them in a certain
stage of refrigeration until it is thought desirable to market
them. This is the preferable method, because, when confined
in pounds, closely packed, many of them get frozen, being
thus rendered unmarketable by reason of their slow death.
In the winter of 1868 there were 500 lost from one pound
near Detroit by freezing. The pound system should be abol-
ished by law.
'•Tlie fisher stakes his net and weir
The persecuted shoals to snare ;
The seiner runs his seines around,
Where'er their shining scales abound ;
Then, di-agging to the neighboring shore.
The white sands strew with ample store ;
Yet, spite of foe, and net, and seine.
Unnumbered mjriads yet remain." — Isaac M'Lellax.
THE LAKE HERRING.
The herring belongs to the Clupeidce family of fishes, and
is the fifth and last division of the '"'' Malacopterygiens ahdomi-
naux^'' being the supposed link between the Gadidce and the
Salmonidm, vrithoMt second' dorsal or adipose. fin. The lake
herring is quite similar to that of the salt waters, subsisting
chiefly on animalculae. Its back is dark gray with a greenish
tinge, white sides and abdomen, and covered with large sil-
very scales. It is from nine to twelve inches in length, and,
When fresh is a good broiler; but the world knows that it is
292 Fishing m American Waters.
The Lake Herring. — Clupea harengus.
cured every possible way with salt and smoke, from the deli-
cate bloater to the shriveled, smoky-brown substance of a
smoked herring-box. Nevertheless, it has been truly stated
that " the ancients placed among their gods many a worse
creature than a red herring." It is a great fish of commerce,
and one of the indispensables to the poor in many parts of the
world. Thus far, although the lakes of the United States
swarm with a fresh-water herring which is not inferior to the
best British, yet it has hitherto claimed little attention as a
fish for exportation ; but the demand for it is becoming an-
nually greater, and the fishermen of the Western lakes are
now beginning to study the best net and management for
its capture. The drift-nets will probably be found the best,
and the lake herrings — which are more delicate than those of
salt water — will soon become an important article of com-
merce.
THE CISCO OR CISCOQUETTE.
The Cisco is a small white fish similar to the lake herring,
but difiering from it by the addition of a second filmy dorsal,
and in its meat being more delicate, and, when scaled, trans-
lucent as a smelt. It usually measures from six to nine
inches in length, sometimes twelve inches, but rarely longer.
The scales are white as polished silver except on the back,
which is greenish-gray like the caplin.
The cisco is known in some places, eminently by fishermen
and fish-dealers along the great lakes, as the ciscoquette, and
«s just beginning to be regarded as a commercial fish, great
quantities being taken with the whitefish by the fishermen of
New Sport on Westeen Lakes. 293
Huron and Superior. A letter from one of the principal Lake
Erie fishermen contains the statement that they entertain high
hopes of profitable enterprises in this modern luxury. The
Cisco is found in all the lakes belonging to the great chain
bounding the United States on the north, and in some west-
ern lakes of the interior ; but, while the lake herring — its fre-
quent companion — is numerous in Seneca and Cayuga Lakes,
I have not seen a cisco there ; but the large shiner of Canan-
daigua Lake may be the cisco. Both the cisco and herring
are favorite baits for lake trout, and, as food for game fishes,
the waters should be kept well stocked with them.
The Cisco or Ciscoqdette.
From a recent letter to the Spirit of the Times from Camp
Sterling, on Geneva Lake, Wis., it appears that "ciscoing" is
the principal June sport for man, woman, and child in all the
area formed by a radius of twenty miles round the lake. The
cisco may be taken with bait or fly, though the latter is the
most natural food, as its small, square mouth and soft teeth
indicate that animalculoe or flies are its natural aliment. At
Geneva Lake there is a fly called the " cisco-fly," which ap-
pears to be its natural food ; it is nearly an inch long, of gray-
ish-brown body and light gray wings, with tail and antennce —
probably a Phryganea. The eel-fly is also said to be a favor-
ite lure ; but the cisco and cisco-fly both appear in great num-
bers at the same time.
The cisco is said to be excellent game of its size, an4 will
rise as vigorously as a brook trout, often meeting the fly be-
fore it touches the water. They should be fished for with a
single-handed fly-rod, like the trout ; though a sixteen feet
perch-rod is recommended, as perch and small black bass oc-
2M Fishing in American Waters.
cupy the same feeding-grounds, and often rise to the fly or
take the bait. The cisco of the great lakes resembles, an ale-
wife, and sometimes attains the weight of three pomids.
THE shiner.
This tiny white fish, with scales of metallic lustre, is from
two to four inches long, and the best bait-fish which belongs
to the fresh waters of America, where it is found in most of
the brooks, rivers, and lakes of the north temperate zone. It
is a greedy biter, and with a bit of angle-worm covering the
point of a minnow'hook it is taken as fast as it can be drawn
out with a supple willow wand. While fishing in rivers for
black bass, I have moored one end of my scull-boat at the
shore, and sat my waiter at catching shiners at the shore-end
of the boat, while I took black bass with the shiner-bait at
the other end.
The Shinek.
As a pan-fish, it is the sweetest, most juicy, and delicate of
any fish except the golden mullet ; and when fried to a crisp
in olive oil or fresh butter, it forms a mouthful more delicious
than any other pan-fish. Many epicures in country places
appreciate the delicious shiner ; but as it is too insignificant
in size to form an object of commerce, inhabitants of cities
are innocent of any knowledge of this succulent luxury. But
it is as a bait-fish that I would recommend the shiner, and a
bait-can is necessary for keeping it alive.
SECTION FIFTH.
bait-can and baits.
A simple tin can or pail, large enough to contain from two
Keeping Alive to Take Life. 295
to three gallons of water, with the lid
perforated to let air into the bait, is
generally sufficient ; but some anglers
prefer a double pail, the inner one per-
forated all over in holes the size of
buckshot. In this case the pails are of
equal size at the top and bottom, or
cylindrical, and the inner pail may be
taken out and the water changed be-
fore returning it, without the danger of losing bait. Another
plan is to have a can shaped like the foregoing cut, and, in-
stead of frequently changing the water, insert a siphon, and
draw the water up and let it fall back into the can, which
aerates the water and revives the bait. In carrying young
trout to stock streams, the cans may be of either wood or tin,
but they' should be constructed with a pump to aerate the
water. Clean swamp-moss, and a small piece of ice in moss,
should always be placed in the water for c5nveying live fish
several miles in warm weather.
SPINNING BAITS.
Spinning baits for trolling on all fresh waters have proved
the most successful for nearly all the game fishes which in-
habit them. I incline to the opinion that, if spinning minnow
squids could be made strong enough for trolling with along
our coasts and in our estuaries, all the surface-feeding fish
of those waters might be taken in greater numbers than they
are now by casting menhaden bait, and by all other fish-
ing appliances except the set-nets and pounds, which — as
they take all sizes of fishes — should be regulated by law, es-
pecially as to where they may be used, and under what con-
ditions, etc. Of course, the rig for coast-trolling would re-
quire to be made very strong ; for even the plain bluefish
squid fastened to a heavy hawser-laid line is often parted by
the jaws of bluefish, Spanish mackerel, bonetta, or cero. Even
a fifty or seventy-five pound striped bass, or a twenty or thir-
296 Fishing in American Waters.
ty pound bluefish, would make the line hum some. But how
would it be with a hundred and twenty pound bonetta ? i
have taken large striped bass by trolling for them on the^ Se-
connet River with a bone squid covered with white linen, out
of which I formed the tail. The squid played by means of a
brass swivel. All swivels should be of brass or copper, even
if silver-plated afterward. Steel swivels rust. The leathern
satchel for carrying hooks, screw-driver, pincers, porpoise-oil,
and all the appliances necessary for use in mending rod, reel,
or any. part of tackle, should be framed with brass. Water-
proof canvas satchels are better than the leathern, and in
them hooks and other anglers' implements will take no in-
jury. Water-proof canvas is also preferable to leather for
gaiters, and for boat-fishing they are preferable for shoes. I
prefer Russia leather boots for wear when trolling off the
coast, as the spinous dorsal and pectoral fins of sdhie fishes
are sharp and strong enough to pierce any kind of cloth.
Foreigners have frequently swindled the anglers of this
country by attaching hooks of inferior quality to spinning
baits; but the domestic competition in the fishing-tackle
business has become so strong that first-rate tackle of all
kinds can be had at home ; and the Buel feathered trolling-
spoon, and those of M'Harg, are the best in the world for
taking the principal fishes of our lakes and rivers. The sam-
ples which I submit for the use of anglers on American wa-
ters are supposed to be the best in use. Those just referred
to I know are. If a plain spoon is used, it should be of sil-
ver outside and copper on the concave side.
HACKETT's spinning-tackle, cork, IRELAND.
This piece of spinning-tackle was noticed in the London
Field, and I think it a very good rig for trolling with a live
minnow for maskinonge, glass-eyed pike, black and Oswego
bass, pickerel, and the numerous lake and river fishes which
delight in spoon victuals or captivating artificial lures.
In baiting, put the large hook in at the mouth, and run the
Disguises all the Go. 297
point of hook along the side, under the skin, bringing it out
opposite the d*orsal fin ; then draw up the fish on the shank of
the large hook, and insert the small hook through the upper'
and lower lips, thus closing the mouth ; let the bait settle
back so as to draw on the small hook, and you are ready for
action. The hooks, screw, and swivel should be silver-plated.
If the snells are o'f gimp, they should be made very fine ; but
twisted gut snells, finely made, are better. The minnow
should represent a silver-side or a shiner.
This would be a killing bait to offer along the margin of a
pickerel-pond while spinning it among the lily-pads with a
long rod. Just cast it as far as convenient, without sinker ;
let it sink a trifle, and draw it along, when its spinning will
soon be stopped if there is a pickerel, perch, or glass-eyed
pike, or even a black bass near. Properly made and handled,
it must prove a very attractive lure and successful bait.
Haskell's teolling-bait. — No. 1.
The invention is patented, but may be had at most fishing-
tackle stores. It is made of three sizes. The largest is 5^
inches long ; medium size, 4^ inches ; small, 3 inches. This
troll must prove a successful lure if properly made. A whirl-
ing joint below the dorsal fin must require great care to ren-
der it quite free and yet sufficiently strong. I have heard
good reports of the bait, and should think it would prove
successful' on the lakes of the Adirondacks and among the
Thousand Islands.
298
Fishing in Ameeican Waters.
A 1)
This bait is intended to represent a live fish with a screw tail. Its main feature is an
ingenious combination of the spmmn*; principle with that of the well-known "troll-
ing minnow." It is constructed of thm sheet metal, beautifully and durably sil-
ver-plated. The form, as indicated by the engraving, represents a perfect fish ; the
main portion of the body is stationary, and keeps in a vertical position in the wa-
ter, while the tail portion, D, revolves at the jomt C by means of the turned ends
of the tail, A and B.
It is well to have but two hooks on metal trolls, but they
should be as large as allowable for the size of lure.
Needle-pointed, finely tempered steel hooks, of the Sproat
bend, are as good as any.
Especial attention should always be paid to the quality of
hooks for all kinds of angling, but more especially for troll-
ins:.
The brightest artificial disguises are generally the best for
trolling baits.
This troll, if made strong enough, would be a very success-
ful one for bluefish and Spanish mackerel.
THE PROPELLING MINNOW. No. 2.
This minnow is made from gutta-percha, shaded and colored
to represent a live minnow. The pectoral fins are represent-
ed by screw propellers, which, with the curve of the tail, ren-
der the lure very attractive, as its motion in the water re-
sembles that of a living fish. This may be made of any size,
to suit the kind of fishing for which it is required. Andrew
Clerk & Co. have them of all sizes, from those for use with a
fly-rod to such as are large enough to troll with for the fishes
of our great lakes.
This bait has never been tried in our waters. It is^ similar
to the troll for salmon in the lakes of Scotland, and, I think,
will prove to be excellent for sea trout. It received a pre-
LuEES FOR Game Fishes. 299
mium at the World's Fair in Paris, and the beauty of its
make surpasses any spinning bait that I have seen. A small
brass swivel connects the gimp snell with the line.
buel's patent feathered troll. — No. 3.
Among the many efforts at making captivating metal trolls,
the one with a piece of silver, in the oval or fish-form, revolv-
ing at the head of the shank of the hook, proved, from the
year it was invented, the most successful ; and, when the ad-
dition of feathers was introduced, I trolled with it at the
Thousand Islands, Rice Lake, and on other waters, always
with great satisfaction.
The hooks should be heavy and well tempered. M'Harg's
troll was very popular at the Thousand Islands, chiefly be-
cause it was made with a pair of hooks ; but he tells me that
recently trollers prefer a cluster of three hooks. Mr. Clerk
says the same. It is a great mistake, because lar^e fish crush
a cluster of hooks and disgorge them.
The feathers which I found the most taking were the red
ibis. The best troll that I ever used for maskinonge is a red
ibis feather for the top of the troll, and a small tuft of white
hair from a deer's tail for the under side. The white hair
from a deer's tail is brilliant in the water, and it disguises the
point of the hook, while the attractive red feathers extend
back of the bend of the hook from the top of the shank. I
prefer, also, plain brass trolls, trolls of silver for one side and
of copper for the other, and trolls of pure silver. The troll
for maskinonge should be oval in shape, and from two and a
half to three inches long, playing round from a shoulder on
the shank of the hook. The hooks should be next to the lar-
gest size represented on the plate of implements for taking
striped bass.
spinning-tackle for live baits.
The three desiderata in spinning rigs for trolling with and
playing live bait are, 1st, the strength and applicability of
300
Fishing in American Watees.
Spinning-tackle for Live Baits.
the gangs of hopks ; 2d, the natural play of the bait when at-
tached to the gang ; and, 3d, the delicacy necessary to form
it an attraction instead of a warning. No. 1 represents an
adjustable gang, the movable upper hook sliding, and with a
half-knot fastening at the bend of the hook to the correct
length, to hold the fish by the lips and leave the gills free.
Always use shiners for bait when they are to be had. In
impaling or affixing the minnow or shiner to the gang of
hooks, first insert the bottom hook nearly an inch above the
tail, and run it down and out at the tail, as represented by
No. 2, so as to curve the tail ; and, that the tail may have
precisely the correct curve, fix the next hook, at the top of
the shank of the large hook, in the skin at the side, so as to
hold the tail to the curve required ; then insert under the
skin the two middle hooks, which fasten more firmly the bait,
and confine it to the requisite curve. Then slide down the
lip-hook, or upper one, and insert it through both the lips of
the fish, shutting its mouth, but leaving the gills free for res-
piration. Take a half hitch with the snell round the shank
The Biter Bitten. 301
of the hook at the curve, wind it a few times round the
shank, and run it through the hole at the top of the shank of
tha hook. This completes baiting ; and with a good swivel
at the top of the snell or snood, a few inches (say six) above
the upper hook, the bait will revolve in water, and remain an
attractive lure for hours while trolling, unless a bite inter-
venes, and then the biter is quite sure to be hooked ; for the
triangular gang, playing to a ring on the outside of the fish,
is generally sure to intercept the fish (which aims at the head
of the bait) before it is taken by the tail-hook.
Francis Francis, in philosophizing upon the superiority of
the spinning of artificial baits over natural ones, concludes
that it is " because they are stiff throughout ;" and that is
one of the reasons why they do not get out of proper shape
as do the living ones when not properly impaled and perma-
nently fixed on a gang of hooks so arranged as that nothing
but a bite will disturb or derange the bait. I have not the
slightest hesitation in pronouncing this spinning gang the
best arrangement of hooks that has thus far been presented
to the American angler.
Figures 3 and 4 illustrate what is termed the " dead snap."
Of course, all gangs for natural baits should either be fasten-
ed to single, double, or twisted gut snells, or to the finest pos-
sible silver gimp wire. They are generally wound to the lat-
ter with fine wire, but fresh-water trolls or spinning gangs
should be fastened on silk-worm gut. Regulate the number
of plies of gut to the size and power of fish to be trolled for.
The present gang, No. 3, may be fastened to single gut, if the
gut be round and strong.
In baiting, insert the tail hook firsts then the middle hook
just under the skin, and finally slide down the lip -hook
and insert it through both lips. Sometimes a baiting-needle
is used to insert the snell from the body out at the mouth
through the upper gill-cover. The upper hook should always
slide on the snell by a hole or small loop of gut at the top of
the shank.
302 Fishing in American Waters.
All fishes of the genus Salmo are more readily captured by
trolling with natural baits, such as the shiner or the smelt,
which is the salmon's natural food, to a troll formed- of
burnished silver, with the hook disguised by gay feathers,
while all families of the pike and perch prefer the feathered
squid. For trolling, the black bass prefei's live bait; but in
July he will bite at almost any gay fly, if artistically pre-
sented.
'The troll is the most killing method of angling short of the
net and the pound, and yet it is not nearly so popular in
America as in Europe. An American gentleman would hard-
ly consent to troll for salmon, and yet in both Scotland and
Ireland they cross-fish for them by "two row-boats carrying
each an angler with troUing-rods, and the lines of each angler
are connected at the ends, where a float marks the division.
To each line numerous flies are attached, and the boats are
rowed along at a convenient distance, and when a salmon
bites, the angler on which side of the float the fish is fastened
reels and plays the salmon, while the other angler gives line.
If the oarsmen, who gaff the fish, get nervous, a snarl of lines
and hooks, and a loss of the fish, are results quite naturally
expected and frequently realized.
SPOON-VICTUALS FOR LONG-SNOUTS.
The larger sizes of feathered spoons are preferred in troll-
ing for the maskinonge and the great Northern pickerel, as
also for the glass-eyed pike. The difference in the two styles
of troll is illustrated by A and B. Troll A revolves on a
shoulder, to which two hooks are first wound with brass-wire,
then soldered. On the shank, as represented, feathers are
mounted. Decisive colors are to be preferred, such as red
and white. Sometimes two swivels, one at the shank of the
hook and the other at the end of the gimp snell, six inches
above, are used to prevent the rapidity of the action of the
troll from kinking the line.
Troll B is so arranged that different fly-hooks may bo
Captivating Trolls.
303
looped on by their wires at the joint, as illustrated. It is
supposed by many that this rig is the best, because it permits
free play to the hooks. In all other respects it is similar to A.
Feathered trolls, like A and B, made strong, with stout
hooks, and heavy, strong gimp or wire snells, would be most
killing among such coast fishes as the Spanish mackerel, blue-
fish, and squeteague.
TROLLING WEATHER AND BAITS.
Of weather for trolling there are several opinions. Some
think that the calm after a storm is the best time; others,
that a windy day is best. It is good weather for all kinds of
angling and trolling when the mercury is well up in the ba-
rometer and there is a gentle breeze ; also when the sun looks
with a modest silver face, it is much better than when the •
god of day is red and fiery, or glares with a golden or jaun-
diced stare.
304 Fishing in American "Watees.
Trolling is a luxurious style of fishing. It is not very ar-
tistic until the fish fastens. Then the play of the fish calls
for the deftly-expert handling by an angler whose experience
has taught him the strength and tricks to effect escape pecu-
liar to each family of fishes.
. Of bait-fishes, the river chub probably ranks next to the
shiner. It bites eagerly to a minnow-hook baited with liver.
Then there are the daces, both the homed and smooth heads,
which are good for bait, and bite readily to a red fly, angle-
worm, or liver. The stone-sucker is often used for bait, but
it has no other merit than being firm and lasting ; it is not a
taking lure. I am in the habit, when angling in the interior
of the country, and in want of minnow bait, to cut a two-inch
thick rod, with a fork at the end, trimming the fork, and cut-
ting it down to the length of two feet, and then fastening a
piece of bobbinet lace or musquito-netting into the fork, full
enough to form a bag, and with that extemporized scap-net
I have always been able to scap up enough bait from the
brooks or backsets from the fishing waters. But it is more
desirable to carry a minnow-net on making these country ex-
cursions. The gaff-hook, landing-net, and minnow-net are es-
sential implements toward an outfit for an expedition for
general fishing.
PISH-HOOKS.
In the two rows of hooks represented opposite, the angler
may see the two important betids^ without reference to the
slight bend side wise, and called the Kirhy bend^ which may be
given to either one. Some anglers prefer a Kirby bend, while
others contend that it is not so good for mounting with flies
for either salmon or trout ; but Mr. Hyde, the best amateur
expert in America, generally mounts his flies on Kirby round-
bends. Offish-hooks the shape is important, but scarcely more
• so than are the qualities of metal, temper, and finish. Oh,
how many aching regrets and hopeless* feelings of momentary
desperation have been caused by a flaw in a fish-hook, or in
Importance of Fish-hooks.
305
O
on
'12 ' 13
n
' 14
QQnn
15
I
its deficiency of quality ! As the quality of the hook is the
foundation of the general results for the angler, it may not be
a matter of surprise that I endeavor to impress the embryo
philosopher with the importance of fish-hooks- I remember
that, when a boy of seven summers, an extemporized bridge
for carting hay was cast over a trout-brook in front of our
dwelling, and that I baited a pin with a worm and lay down
on the bridge, which was but a' few inches above the water,
and let the baited pin run under the bridge. In a moment
I experienced a tremendous jerk, and pulled in my line, when
the trout struggled, and finally straightened my pin -hook.
Oh, what would I not have promised at that moment to give
for a real fish-hook! The store was near by, where two
hooks might be had for a cent, but where was the cent ? I
have never forgotten the feelings of that moment, and never
will while life lasts. .1 would therefore plead for paternal
generosity toward youths who early contract a penchant for
angling.
U
306 Fishing in American Waters.
The rows of samples include the useful sizes to mount with
flies for salmon and large brook trout, or to use for bait in
the river fishings for commoner fish. The upper row repre-
sent Adlington & Hutchinson's needle-pointed round-bends.
This is also an excellent hook for small striped bass and black
bass, and generally for fishing when a float is used.
The lower row of Sproat bend hooks are samples of the
manufacture of Hutchinson & Sons, intended for the same
uses as the foregoing. This bend is better than the round
one for fish with a small mouth, like th^ kingfish. The Sproat
bend appears to be the neplus ultra in the form and quality
of a fish-hook. The Virginia hook is quite similar in its short-
ness of nib and low bend, while the Kinsey or Pennsylvania
hook is lower still in the nib and wider in the bend, and, being
shorter from the point of the hook to the bend or centre of
draught, is preferred by many ; but my experience in losing
large fish by their springing the hook out induces me to pre-
fer a hook of larger wire, finer finish, and tempered better.
These hooks enlarge gradually to No. 20, and in quality are
truly superior.
SALMON FLIES.
The flies on the upper row are tied on the Adlington hook
with Sproat hend^ while those of the lower row are mounted
on the round bend, of numbers from 15 to 18.
Fig. 1. Wing of diagonally barred feathers from under side of snipe's wing, in drab
and black ; dark blue and black pig's-wool hackle ; gold tail. Fig. 2. Mottled black
and white wing from a turkey's tail; body of olive-colored mohair and black hackle,
•with brown shoulders, and orange peacock tail. Fi^. 3. Black and drab diagonally
barred wing, blue and claret hackle body, with gold shoulder ; tail of gold and
f'een. Fig. 4. Brown wings and legs, drab body, all of gutta-percha; glass eyes,
ig. 5. Ribbed drab wing and antennae ; legs and body of gutta-percha ; reddish-
brown mohair shoulders, and black bead eyes. Fig. 6. White miller ; white ribbed
wings, drab body and legs, red glass eyes. Fig. 7. Brown gutta-percha wings, pur-
ple body wound with gold tinsel, reddish-brown mohair shoulders. Fig. 8. Black
hackle body wound with gold ; barred duck-wing tail ; argo pheasant wing. Fig.
9. Purple body with gold tail ; blue and purple hackle ; tail of the golden pheasant
top-knot ; brown mallard wings. Fig. 10. Brown and white pheasant wing ; gold
body and tail ; brown hackle shoulders, and black hackle head. Fig. 11. Golden
body and tail ; black hackle shoulders, with pheasant and burnt-brown wings.
Asia has contributed more material for artificial flies in her
numerous families of pheasants than has any other quarter of
the globe. Neither the South American fox, the barred wing
308 Fishing in American Waters.
of the wood-duck, nor the brown mallard feather are equal in
attraction and delicacy to the top-knot of the golden pheas-
ant, or the feathers of the argo pheasant. The two lower
rows of flies are copies of those used with success last year
in Canada by Dr. Clerk, of Andrew Clerk & Co.
FLY DRESSING.
tEOUT-FLIES.
Fig. 1. Preparatory to snelling your hook, which means tying
the hook to a silk-worm gut snell, wind the head of the
shank with several turns of waxed silk. Wax for fly-tying
is the same as shoemaker's, only more clear and lighter col-
ored. Then wind three or four times from near the bend
of the hook up to the first thread at the head, and lay the
end of the gut on the inside of the shank down near to the
bend, and wind with the last silk thread down to the end,
and fasten end as directed on the page of" loops and ties,"
leaving ends as 1. Fig. 3 is the same as 1, only the end of
silk at the bend end of the tie is cut short, whereas the
two threads of 1 are seen on 2 as follows :
Fig. 2. Place two hairs as antennae, and the hackle that you
intend for the head in the direction of the bend of hook,
and fasten them by several loops ; then fasten the end of
the dufiing like 2 or 9, and wind it round the hook to form
the body, winding it afterward with a thread of gold or
silver twist, or a hackle feather like 4, fastened as at 10,
and wind round the body. Then add the wings like 5,
finishing off" like 8 ; or cut from a feather a j^air of wings
like 6, and wind them from the head so they will maintain
their present spread shape. Many tyers of trout-flies tie
only one wing on, but it never falls so naturally as do the
two-winged flies ; and, to imitate Nature perfectly, some
flies require to be tied with four wings. Imitate the natu-
ral fly as shown on the plate of " natural and artificial
flies."
310 Fishing in American Watees.
MOUNTING SALMON-HOOKS.
Fig. 11. Wind on your silk-gut loop, and wind the end of your
duffing and antenna, fastening it all at the head, and form-
ing the head of hackle as shown by 14. The hackle should
be doubled, as represented by 7 ; and, after the duffing is
wound, the hackle should cover it like 1 3 ; or the hackle
may be heavy like 12. Some persons use a vice to hold
the hook, as 14 ; but the best artists at fly-tying do not
use them. After the duffing, the antennae, and hackle are
fastened, the body is usually wound with a cord of silver or
gold, as 13 and 15, when the wings are fastened like 12 and
15, the head and tail finished like the latter, and the ends
of threads covered and closed off with shellac. This also
fastens the tinsel at the head of the antennae ; but with all
your windings of hackle, duffing (the body), cord, or tinsel,
carry with each your thread of silk, well waxed with trans-
parent wax, and as nearly the color of the material you are
winding as possible. First fasten well your hook to the
snell, and then exercise taste and practice delicacy of ma-
nipulation. After all, an hour's instruction from an artist
is worth more than all the books in Christendom on in-
struction for making artificial files. I prefer to purchase
flies from those who follow the art for a livelihood; but
all anglers should be able to tie a fly when in a wilderness.
THE PONDEEATING SINKEE.
This recent invention is not in general use, or known to
many anglers. I have tried it. it may do for river and fresh-
water fishings with a float, but for bottom fishing the hollow
tracing sinker is vastly superior. The object for thus in-
creasing the ponderosity of a sinker is to save the trouble of
carrying numerous sinkers of different weights when going
a-fishing, and to increase or decrease the weight without tak-
ing off the sinker.
Explanation of the Cut. — No. 1 is the smallest size of the
A NEW Combination.
311
set represented. In case a heavier sinker is required, No. 1
is unscrewed, and presents the appearance of Nos. 2 and 3.
The increased weight necessary is found in such wheels as 4
and 5, which are screwed on 3, and then 2 is again fastened
to 3 by means of the screw. The sinkers are of lead, and the
screw of 3 and the hole of 2 are brass, in order that they shall
be strong and not corrode. I can not recommend them for
the heavy fish of our bays and cstuai;Je8, as they are liable to
unscrew on the bottom and in a strong tide ; but as sinkers
for float-fishing, no invention, I think, could be more oppor-
tune. They are to be found at the principal fishing-tflackle
stores.
art tljiri.
COMMERCIAL FISHERIES.
CHAPTER I.
LAKE FISHERIES.
Statistics of a couple of Fisheries on the Western Lakes.
As I have before stated that this is- not a school-book, I will
add that it is not intended for the counting-room. The few
statistics given are mere glimpses at a branch of industry
which is a sealed book to the public. The lake fisheries of
the United States are confined to the southern half of the
range of lakes to which the River St. Lawrence is the outlet.
Later in the history of this country important fisheries will
be established on Lake Superior and at intervals far beyond.
At present the few fisheries are controlled by private indi-
viduals or companies, who have not cared for the publicity
which would enable reporters to make a correct estimate of
this industry.
FOOD-FISHES OF LAKE SUPERIOR.
The catch of fish in Lake Superior averages about ten
thousand barrels, of which nine thousand are whitefish, and
the remainder ciscoquettes (ciscos) ; but this only applies to
the fish which are salted for an Eastern market ; for large
quantities are shipped while fresh, of which no correct ac-
count is kept. In Detroit one firm alone ships annually some
three hundred tons of whitefish, which, however, is a portion
of the harvest of Lake Huron.
The largest whitefis*h are caught below Copper Harbor, in
Lake Superior, and weigh about 8 pounds, or 60 to a barrel ;
those caught above Copper Harbor average 1^ to 2 pounds,
and about 1 30 to the barrel.
From an estimate made in dollars by the dealers in Lake Supe-
rior fishes, the catch of last year, when salted, amounted to... $200, 000 00
300 tons fresh whitefish, shipped by one house, at 10 cts. per lb. 60.000 00
$200,000 00
316 Fishing in American Waters.
My informant — who is one of the most intelligent fisher-
men of the lakes — adds that " ciscoquettes" (or the ciscos) are
supposed to be the finest of the fresh-water fishes taken in the
lakes. " They are something like a Spanish mackerel, very
fat, and becoming valuable. They are never found far away
from copper-mines, and wherever copper is found most abund-
ant there also are found the greatest number of ciscoquettes.
None are caught at the lower end of the lake. Fishing is yet
in its infancy, many places having never been fished before
last season," ^. e. 1867. The ciscoquette is only like the Span-
ish mackerel in its flavor being free from any foreign taste ;
but it is more juicy, and, if possible, more delicate in flavor.
FISHERY OF SANDUSKY, OHIO.
This is one of the principal fisheries on the lakes, and the
following statement shows its annual catch, and the means
employed :
WHITEFISH.
Taken in pounds, 1,800,000 fish ; aggregate weight, 4,500,000
lbs.; price, 10 cents the pound, or $450,000 00
2000 lbs. daily, or over, for 200 days, taken in gill-nets 40,000 00
490,000 00
GLASS-EYED OR WALL-EYED PIKE.
4,400,000 pounds, of sizes running from 1 ^ to 14 lbs. each. The
wholesale price averages 4 cents the pound 1 76,000 00
BLACK BASS.
65,000. Average, 3 lbs. Price, 4^ cents per lb 8,775 00
SAND PICKEREL OR SAND PIKE.
1,200,000. Price, 1 cent each 12,000 00
LAKE HERRINGS.
13,500,000 fish, weight ^ lb. each, at i cent per lb 33, 750 00
WHITE BASS.
1,200,000 fish, at a cent each : 12,000 00
MASKINONGE.
500 fish, 10 lbs. each, at 6 cents per lb • 300 00
LAKE TROUT.
20,000 lbs. caught at Cape Vincent, N.Y., and 40,000 lbs. caught
at Collingville and Greenwood, at 10 cents per lb 6,000 00
Amount total $738,825 00
Fish Pounds and Food-fishes. 317
NUMBER AND EXTENT OF NETS EMPLOYED.
The fishery has 150 pounds or stationary nets, set in waters
from 20 to 42 feet deep. The length of each net is 100 rods,
and the cost $1000 each. Amount total, $150,000. The cost
of fish-pounds are the principal expense, though the company
has in continued use 1000 gill-nets, twenty seines, and numer-
ous small boats. The fishery is very prosperous, and owned
by men of energy and business capacity.
The extensive coast and estuary fisheries of the United
States, having been regularly worked ever since the eastern
border was first settled by Europeans, have to such a degree
absorbed the capital and enterprise of fishei-men and fish-deal-
ers that the lake and river fisheries were not thought of until
within the past twenty years, with one solitary exception.
Prior to that date the establishment of fisheries in the inte-
rior of the United States was not even spoken of Now there
are many, from which I have selected the foregoing exemplars
to illustrate results of this growing industry.
Throughout the interior of our vast territory there is an
ornamental tracery of running, sweet, and healthful waters,
well supplied with food-fishes. The working of these waters
is free to all fishermen, with the unimportant exception of a
few depleted rivers, consequent on their having been over-
worked, but which are now being restocked and protected by
legislative enactments during the process of recuperatio^i.
These are all near the sea-board. The lakes and lengthy riv-
ers of the interior are still free ; and where no regular fish-
eries are established, the inhabitants take what fresh fish they
want, either with t^e angle, net, or spear. The poaching pro-
clivity of some indolent persons has induced them to use the
spear too freely in our small lakes during winter. In the
State of New York there is a law against it, with fine and
penalty attached, but it is still done in defiance of law. These
poachers erect a board shanty on sleigh-runners, furnished
318 Fishing in American Waters.
with a foot-stove, and a hole in the ridge of the roof for the
spear-handle. This shanty they draw out on the lake, cut a
hole through the ice under it, lock the door, and commence
spearing all the fish that come near their hole. If the con-
stable raps at the door, no reply is meant to signify that the
occupant is absent. Thus poachers squat in villages on our
lakes in winter when the ice is thick, and spear the fish at a
season when they are unwholesome for food. In Canada, for
attracting the maskinonge to the spear, in one hand the
poacher holds a line attached to an artificial minnow, which
he keeps playing in the water, while with the other hand he
holds the spear. The maskinonge darts to within a foot of
the minnow, and, while hesitating there, the spear takes him.
The great Western rivers swarm with fish, and all the way
for five hundred miles below the sources of both the Missis-
sippi and the Missouri every tributary is a trout-stream. In
addition to the pike and pickerel, the glass-eyed pike, doree,
or sand pickerel, the gray pickerel, known as the Ohio salmon,
there are some half dozen varieties of bass in nearly every
Western river, besides perch, sunfish, chub, bream, eels, buf-
falo. There are also several varieties of catfish, the most im-
portant of which are the black, yellow, and channel cats.
The Missouri River is justly celebrated for the latter fish,
which runs from five to fifteen pounds each, and, besides yield-
ing excellent sport for the rod, is a choice table luxury, equal-
ing the salure of the Danube, which is also a species of cat-
fish highly prized by European epicures.
The Hammer-headed Shaek.
An important Need of Man. 319
CHAPTER n.
COAST FISHES AND FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES.
The fisheries of the Atlantic coast from Chesapeake Bay
to the Gulf of St. Lawrence are so extensive as to cause re-
gret that statistics in the catches of many important fishes
are not sufficiently reliable to form the data necessary to a
correct report of the numbers and weights annually caught
by the thousands of fishermen who keep no account of their
takes, but sell them at retail or wholesale, and live on the pro-
ceeds, without keeping an account of their expenses.
Coasting New England's rocky shore,
Sailing where Southern surges pour,
The daring fishers spread the sail
To Southern haze and Northern gale.
Thousands of craft the ocean speck,
Thousands of seamen pace the deck,
Eager to follow to the end,
Where'er the mackerel shoal may tend.
This is one of the most important food-fishes of the seas,
as well as one of the most prolific. Nature, in the harmoni-
ous arrangement of the universe, and in turning all things
toward man's good, has made the duration and existence of
numerous families of fishes dependent upon their searching
out brooding-places and depositing their eggs in the neigh-
borhood of man's nipR. By the process of procreation, these
fish form, to a certain extent, home attractions, and dally
about the shoals near shore, where they are fished for with
the hook, and the more sure means of a drift-net twenty feet
deep by one hundred and fifty feet in length, well corked at
top, but with no leads at the bottom, for when mackerel are
320 Fishing in American Waters.
in a biting or a moving mood they rise to the surface. Like
all sea fishes, the mackerel is more easily taken than fishes of
fresh waters. He foolishly dashes at whatever he sees before
him which he thinks will not devour him. But in this pecu-
liarity he does not differ from the royal salmon, which will
snap at flies when out of season, and evince the most culpable
rapacity when just returned from sea, even biting at an arti-
ficial minnow, or a fly unlike any thing in existence.
The Mackerel. — Scombridce — Scomber. — Linn,
It would be difficult to find a fish more exquisite in form,
or more important in a commercial point of view, than the
common mackerel. It is also capricious in its movements.
It is not always to be depended on for visiting us in great
numbers, though it has never entirely deserted us for a sin-
gle season. It is in best condition on our shores in October.
Then it is most succulent, and orders for private tables should
be made of that month's catch. Catches early in the season
are lean. The catch of June is scarcely worth salting ; but
mackerel fatten fast, and by September are very good. Oc-
tober mackerel are preferable to those of any other month in
the year, for, as a singular fact in the nature of the fish, it be-
gins to deteriorate or lose condition in November. In gen-
eral, mackerel move away from shore gradually after the first
frost, and they finally settle off in soundings, not much influ-
enced by the cold weather along our shares. October is con-
sidered the closing month of the mackerel season ; but about
five years since, near the 1st of December, the fishermen of
New Providence, Massachusetts, were surprised by the sight
of the saltatory exploits on the bay of myriads of mackerel
leaping, shining, and gleaming in every direction. The boats
The Conscience of Mackerel. 321
were supplied with bait, and manned in quick time for even
Yankees, and the take that day was almost miraculous. The
catch that season had been short, but that day made up the
deficiency of the year. The next morning indicated that the
shoal had stacked arms and was prepare^ to march. But
few were taken that day, and less numbers each day for a
week that the fleet followed them, when the shoals all sank,
as by one general order, off the coast of New Jersey.
It was matter of great surprise to the fishermen that the
mackerel voluntarily yielded themselves to appease the fish-
ermen and supply the fish-casks of human need ; but, having
done so, the shoals seemed to have retired with a glow of sat-
isfaction at having done their duty, even at the loss of some
of their favorites.
In vain is the intimation to the pious fisherman that mack-
erel are as liable to mistakes in their calculations as men, and
so settled, before the regular fishing season was over, in too
cold a latitude, and rose during a warm term to take a lunar,
and lay their course for more genial winter quarters. No !
The fishermen believe that, smitten by conscience for not fur-
nishing the usual supply, the fish voluntarily yielded them-
selves to the sacrifice for conscience' sake.
Mackerel, to be fully appreciated, should leap as it were
from the water into the hands of the cook, and be made ready
for the gridiron, broiled, and on the table in half an hour aft-
er it has left its native element. Or a salted October mack-
erel can not be depreciated by a person of nice taste ; though,
of course, a fresh fish is better than a cured one, and the soon-
er it is cooked after its last shuddering flutter, and its ultra-
marine tints die away, the better.
The mackerel frequents the Atlantic coast from Belle Isle
to Long Island. It spawns in spring in the bays, bayous, and
estuaries, and comes into season for the table in August.
"Whether from the abundance of suitable food found at such times, or
from some other causes which influence the migrations of fish, it is hard to
sayy but experience shows us that on the coasts of Ireland mackerel are
taken nearly all the year round. They are rarely very abundant on the coast
X
322 FismNG in American Watees.
of Cornwall — although never entirely absent from it — much before March.
A little later they visit the coast of Devonshire, appearing to approach the
land as the season advances. At Lowestoft and Yarmouth the fishing season
is still later, and is at its height during the months of May and June, whilst
in the Frith of Forth June and July are the months when they usually ap-
pear. In the Orkneys few fish are taken until the last week in July or the
first in August.
"The mackerel fanfily have an extended range, and are found most abun-
dant in warmer climes than the British Isles, The Sea of Marmora and the
Bosphorus at times literally swarm with them. It is extremely picturesque
and exciting to see the light and graceful ' caiques' dancing like bubbles
over the clear blue sea, as, propelled by their lusty crews, they shoot here and
there amongst the circling nets. Meantime the cunning old cormorants, un-
dismayed by the bustle and splashing water, ply their occupation most dili-
gently. As they grow audacious from long-continued impunity, they make a
sudden raid over the corks into the thick of the struggling, fluttering fry.
The fishermen shout, and by dint of admonitory pokes, liberally administered
with the oar-blades, the greedy, long-necked throng are ignominiously ex-
pelled, and retire beyond the nets, gobbling down at leisure their ill-gotten
plunder. Some idea of the abundance of fish to be found in this part of the
world, and of the immunity from persecution enjoyed by these birds, may be
formed by watching the countless thousands of them which at times pass, in
apparently endless lines, between the Sea of Marmora and the Black Sea. I
have watched them for hours without seeing any apparent diminution in their
passing hosts. Vast numbers of mackerel also frequent the coasts of the isl-
and of St. Helena, where immense quantities can be captured. I have taken
them with the hook and line until literally tired of hauling up and unhook-
ing, baiting with a little strip of salt pork-rind, and throwing biscuit-dust
overboard as an attraction. These fish, although of excellent flavor, are
rarely more than seven or eight inches long, and are much like the shiners,
or young mackerel, found abundantly on the EngHsh coast during the sum-
mer months ; while in British waters, from fourteen to sixteen inches in
length, and two pounds in weight, is not an unusual size.
"Much importance appears in past times to have been attached to the
sale of mackerel in London, as we find that a law was passed in the year
1698 legahzing their being vended by a 'cry' on Sunday, which custom, as
we know, still continues.
" There are several modes by which the capture of the mackerel is effected.
Seines, or long nets funiished with corks at the top and leads at the bottom,
are dexterously carried by fast boats round the advancing shoal of fish, which
is inclosed as within a ' pound. ' The ends of the net are now secured, and
the fish either taken from within the inclosure with a smaller net, or drawn
to the sm*face in the ' bunts' or bags foimed in the larger seines, when the
leaping, struggling fish are dipped up literally by basketfuls (by mep stationed
on the gunwale of the boat for the purpose) and thrown into a compartment
provided for their reception. Great numbers are at times taken in ground
seines or nets, which, although somewhat like those above described, are
smaller, and so arranged as to be dragged to the beach with their contents.
' Trammel' and ' drift' nets may be compared to curtains suspended in mid-
water, and are moored securely in the places selected for them by heavy
stones fastened to their ends. In them the heedless fish, not perceiving the
treacherous web, dart their heads, become hopelessly entangled, and are ulti-
mately strangled in the meshes.
"Hook-fishing, too, lends its aid in thinning the rainbow throng. As a
matter of sport and pastime, few pursuits, I think, are more thoroughly en-
Yielding Profit and Spoet. 323
joyable than * whiffing' for mackerel, and the following quotation will show
that others are much of the same way of thinking :
" ' It was evident the bay was full of mackerel ; in every direction, as far
as the eye could range, gulls and puffins of the St. Lawrence were collected,
and, to judge from their activity and clamor, there appeared ample enjoyment
for them aniongst the fry beneath. We immediately bore away from the
place where the birds were most numerously congregated, and the lines were
scarcely overboard when we found ourselves in the centre of a shoal of mack-
erel. The hooker, however, had too much way. We lowered the foresail,
double reefed the mainsail, and then went steadily to work. Directed by the
movements of the birds, we followed the mackerel. Tacking and wearing
the boat occasionally when we found we had overrun the shoal, for two hours
we killed these beautiful fish as fast as the baits could be renewed and the
lines hauled in, and when we left off fishing, actually wearied with the sport,
we found we had taken above 500 pounds. There is not, on sea or river, al-
ways excepting angling for salmon, any sport comparable to this delightful
amusement. Full of life and bustle, every thing about it is animated and ex-
iiilarating. ' "
Hook-fishing for mackerel is very exciting sport. A brisk
breeze, sky mellowed by fleecy clouds, gulls swooping and
screaming, every thing apparently in excitement. Under
such circumstances and surroundings, it is not strange if the
troller, whiffer, or still-baiter should inflate his lungs and
feast his soul until the waning sun warns him to desist and
jtire.
Excellent sport is sometimes to be had by rowing or scuU-
\g a boat into a thick shoal, and trolling for them with feath-
ered squid, twirling spoon, or casting to them a white artifi-
^cial fly.
Statistics of Mackerel Catches in the States of Maine and Massachtisetts
from 1863 to 1867, and the average wholesale Prices per barrel.
1864, Massachusetts 306,000 bbls. f 18 00 $5,508,000 00
Maine 100,000 " 18 00 1,800,000 00
1865, Massachusetts 300,000 '• 2100 6,300,000 00
" Maine 90,000 " 21 00 1,890,000 00
1866, Massachusetts 250,000 " 17 00 4,250,000 00
" Maine 80,000 " 17 00 1,360,000 00
1867, Massachusetts *..... 200,000 " 15 00 3,000,000 00
" Maine 70,000 " 15 00 1,050,000 00
1,396,000 " $25,158,000 00
324
Fishing in American Waters.
Scale of Inches.
Hekeing an© Pilchard Family. — 1. The Mossbonker, or Hard-bead, Alosa menhaden
(very abundant on the shores of Long Island and Mass. It is seldom eaten). 2.
The Pilchard, Clupea pilchardus. 3. The Anchovy, Engraulis engrasicolus. 4. Amer-
ican Shad, Alosa prcestabilis. 5. The Herring, Clupea harengus.
SECTION SECOND.
No. 4. THE SHAD.
By the rice-border'd Southern coast,
Where the Savannah River w^inds,
The shad-shoal, an unnumher'd host,
Its earliest feeding pasture finds.
Thence northward where the Hudson sweeps
Connecticut's transparent deeps,
Their gleaming myriads seek a home
Beyoiid the surges and the foam.
The Shad, commercially, is an important fish. It winters
in the ocean, dallies among the nets in the estuaries during
spring, after which it lays its ova in the sands above tide-wa-
ter, and returns to salt water to recuperate. It is very pro-
lific, yielding from a fourth to half a million eggs annually
within the months of April, May, and June. The Connecti-
cut River is supposed to contain the best shad, while those
of the Delaware and Hudson are excellent fish — vastly supe-
rior to those of the British Isles, or to the Alosa vulgaris^
which is numerous in the rivers of France, but so small and
lean as never to be seen on the 'table of an epicure. The av-
erage weight of shad in Europe is less than two pounds, while
Economical Bkeakfast Delicacy. 325
in America it is double that weight. The Alosa Jinta visits
some of Jthe waters in France and Spain, and it is but recent-
ly that it has been duly classified in France. The superiority
of American shad in both size and quality over those of Eu-
rope is probably caused by the purity of our rivers, and the
greater amount of the kinds of food relished by this tooth-
less spring delicacy of the breakfast-table. It feeds on ani-
malculae, and is exclusively caught with nets.
The shad season is comparatively short, but the principal
Northern markets are supplied with them from Southern riv-
ers in March, and sometimes as early as February. They do
not enter the rivers of New York and Connecticut before the
early part of April ; and one of the most peculiar features in
this family of fishes was discovered by Seth Green, while
hatching them by artificial means at Holyoke, on the Connec-
ticut River, where he hatched nearly one hundred millions
of shad in less than six weeks. From the time when he strip-
ped the shad, and the ova and milt settled in the hatching-
boxes, not more than thirty-six hours elapsed before nineteen
twentieths of the eggs hatched, and the remainder within
twelve hours later.
THE SHAD FISHERIES.
Sixty days include the shad season in New York Bay and the feud-
son River, during which time the usual catch is 1,100,000 fish,
averaging each 25 cts. as price, or $275,000
The catch in Delaware about 750,000, 25 cts 187,500
" Connecticut, 400,000, 30 cts 120,000
" Kennebec, 140,000, 15 cts 22,500
" Penobscot, 20,000, 20 cts 4,000
" North Carolina, 500,000, 40 cts 200,000
" Potomac and Chesapeake, 300,000, 20 cts 60,000
" Norfolk and vicinity, 200,000, 30 cts 60,000
$949,000
Although the shad of Southern waters are inferior to those
of the Northern, yet, as the earliest in market, they command
the price of a rarity. The foregoing wholesale prices are
copied from the books of the most extensive dealers in Ful-
ton Market, New York. ,
326 Fishing in American AVatebs.
SECTION THIRD. ^ .
No. 1. — THE MOSSBUNKER OR MENHADEN.
On salt-sea borders, sound, and bay,
The twinkling spring-time sunbeams play,
And white with froth the billows shine
Where the mossbunkers lash the brine.
Above them flocks of sea-gulls swing.
Beneath the hungry bluefish spring,
And, deadlier still, the surfmen strain
The oars, and mesh them with the seine.
The menhaden is a white fish, with large scales of metallic
lustre. It disports, during spring, summer, and autumn, ofi*
the coast and in the estuaries from Delaware to the Bay of
Passamaquoddy. It is from nine to twelve inches long, and
in shape resembles a diminutive shad, though not so wide or
thin for its length. It is a very oily fish, very bony, and
therefore never eaten except by fishermen, who frequently
salt it for winter use. Its flavor is like that of the shad.
The principal estimate of value put upon the menhaden is
for its quality as the best bait for attracting mackerel, striped
bass, bluefish, and even such of the GadidcB as the haddock,
and of the* Crustacea as the lobster. It is either ground or
chopped fine and cast upon the water to attract mackerel and
other food-fishes to the hook, while it is the best bait for lob-
ster-pots. The annual diminution in the numbers of mackerel
taken within the past five years — as shown by the statistics —
is justly attributable to the increase of the manufacture of
menhaden oil. About five years since some person conceived
the brilliant idea of making oil from menhaden by grinding
them to a pulp, putting them under a press, and squeezing
out the oil. He formed a company, which erected buildings,
introduced machinery, and bought sail-boats and nets. For
a couple of years, while menhaden were so abundant as to be
used for manure in some places along the coast, the menhaden
oil companies made generous dividends ; but no sooner did
this fact become known among enterprising geniuses than
Calling for Legislation. 32T
nearly two hundred manufactories were put in operation, and
the sails of menhaden boats enlivened Long Island Sound
throughout its length and breadth, their flocks of white wings
extending along the Atlantic shore for five hundred miles, as
if striving with the numerous shoals of porpoises to see which
could do the most harm to the fishing interest by robbing the
fishermen of the greatest amount of bait. But every year
since the shoals of menhaden have decreased in number, so
that while the fishermen begin to find the price of bait op-
pressive, some oil factories have been compelled to suspend
operations. It may be a question worthy of attention by po-
litical economists and statesmen whether menhaden oil manu-
factories should not be taxed out of existence for the injury
they are causing to the public ; for the oil companies offer in-
ducements which attract fishermen from their legitimate call-
ing, enhance the prices of most kinds of food-fishes, and thus
injure the public.
Laws which should adequately encourage by premiums the
capture of the black porpoise and the puffer would greatly
improve the coast fisheries. This course was deferred until
the porpoises robbed some of the rivers of Ireland of their
salmon, by watching in large shoals at the mouths of rivers
when the salmon were returning to spawn. Already the
black porpoise — the most injurious to food-fishes of all the
mammal tribes — are becoming so numerous along the coast,
and in the bays and estuaries, that the fishermen rightly con-
sider them one of the principal causes of the annual decrease
of striped bass and many other excellent fishes. The valua-
ble oil of the porpoise would be a sufiicient reward for its cap-
ture if the fishermen could be so encouraged as to induce
them to decline catching menhaden for oil mills, and bring
their forces to bear against the porpoise, the oil of which is
the finest in the world for jewelers' use, and the lubrication
of all machinery requiring a fine and pure article.
By some, such means as I have hinted at the shoals of food-
fishes may be checked in their eastern migrations, and in-
328 Fishing in Ameeican Waters.
duced to forage in the waters of the United States, instead
of settling beyond their limits.
MENHADEN FOR BAIT.
The largest fleet engaged at catching menhaden bait along
the coast is at Gloucester, Mass., where twenty fast-sailing
fishing-smacks are engaged six months of the year at netting
menhaden, and their annual sales of bait average in amount
$75,000. Of the pilchard, No. 2, and anchovy, No. 3, they are
European fishes ; but the herring, No. 5, swarms along all the
shores and inlets of the Atlantic during the spring and sum-
mer months ; and whether it is the want of duly appreciating
the fish, or because American fishermen have better employ-
ment during the season which the herring visits our shores,
I know not, but it does not claim its proportionate share of
interest and attention among the numerous families of Ameri-
can food-fishes.
FROZEN HERRINGS.
Late in autumn about fifty vessels sail annually from Mas-
sachusetts to Newfoundland for frozen herrings. Their aver-
age catch is one hundred tons each, and their wholesale price
in the New York markets is three cents a pound, or $300,000.
SECTION FOURTH.
THE CODFISH — CATCHING AND CURING IT.
Far off by stormy Labrador —
Far off the Banks of Newfoundland,
Where angry seas incessant roar,
And foggy mists their wings expand,
The fishing-schooners, black and low,
For weary months sail to and fro ;
Seeking no home, no rest the while.
Till each is freighted full with spoil.
While visiting the mouth of the St. John River, on the
north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, I spent some time in
examining the modus operandi of taking and dry-curing cod.
Industry of wokld-wild Importance. 329
Fishermen from the isles of Guernsey and Jersey, with those
from the British American Provinces, had come from afar,
with their wives and little ones, and early in June settled in
log cabins, to remain during the cod-fishing season, which,
they supposed, would continue until September, when, with
their freighted vessels, they would embark on their perilous
voyage for home and a market. Their fleet numbered sixty
sail, with a scull-boat (in which a sail might be hoisted in
case of necessity) for each vessel. This fleet employed also
two sail-boats, with nets, to catch caplin for bait. Large
shoals of caplin, smelt, and spearing foraged about the estu-
ary and along the bay and coast, wisely intended, no doubt,
as food for salmon, cod, and other members of the Gadidas,
family, besides the more ferocious monsters of the deeji,
which seem to stop at nothing. During my stay of a week
among these fishermen, and from what experience I before
enjoyed with the class, I am forced to conclude, with Victor
Hugo and others who have studied the habits of men, and
deduced therefrom theories for the influence which their
avocations exert upon their dispositions, that fishermen are
the most amiable, patient, and obliging class of men in the
world. They are temperate, industrious, frugal, and afiec-
tionate among themselves, and hospitable to strangers.
The Codfish.
The fleet sailed out of the harbor every morning, each ves-
sel taking a supply of bait as it passed the caplin-netters,
when they would come to anchor at certain distances apart
along the Banks, sometimes within a mile of shore, but more
generally from five to twenty miles, always following the fish
330 FisHESTG m Ameeican Waters.
as they changed feeding - grounds. On their return in the
evening they ran alongside the planked docks, extending into
the river from the salting and packing houses, erected part-
ly over the water. From vessels the cod were pitched up
on the docks (with forks made for the purpose), where they
were beheaded, split, drawn, and cleaned, then pitched into
the salting-room, where salt was rubbed into them for two
days, and on the third day they were spread on the flakes to
dry. The " flakes" are tables of fir-boughs, made by driving
forked stakes into the ground, then laying poles across, and
covering them with boughs of the fir-tree. These flakes were
two yards wide, three feet high, and covered several acres.
The fish, after being salted two days, on the third day are
spread singly upon the flakes to dry. Here they are left four
days, when they are grouped into small piles on the flakes
of twenty-five fish in each pile, and left in that condition two
days to sweat, when they are again spread on the flakes as at
first, and, after two days more, are piled up two days as be-
fore. Then they are gathered from the flakes and formed
into round stacks, their necks at the outer edge of the stack,
which is usually about five feet high, and conta'ins a ton of
fish. After leaving them a week in stack, they again distrib-
ute them on the flakes to dry, and after another week they
again stack them. They are thus continued on the flakes or
in pack about a month in summer, but only half that time in
autumn, when they are considered cured. The cod cured on
the north shore of the Gulf are dried harder than those on
the south shore for the United States market. Those cured
on the north shore are generally sold in South America, the
West Indies, and to ports in the British Isles.
The question of" What luck have you had ?" is more espe-
cially applicable to fishers for the market than to the disciple
of rod and reel ; for, without bait, a perilous voyage and a
whole season's labor produce nothing but disappointment.
The caplin, spearing, and smelt are sometimes prevented by
rough weather from approaching waters where they may be
An interesting Yakiety.
331
taken with the seine, in which case there is no use of thinking
of substitutes for these baits, as the cod follow them and for-
age upon them far away from the ken of fishermen, or their
power to follow. Thus the career of the fisherman is both
hazardous and precarious.
The John Doky.
332
Fishing m American Watees.
CHAPTER III.
WHALES— Cfetacea — an order of aquatic mammals which comprises the largest ani-
mated forms in existence : some of the genera composing it are phytophagous, or
plant-eaters ; others are zoophagous, or animal-eaters.
WHALE FISHING.
" What though the wintry night falls dark,
And icy foes beset our bark,
And stiff our frozen rigging stands,
Enclasp'd with rigid iron bands,
While sheeted ice, like solid mail.
Thickens each spar and stiifen'd sail ?
Yet .brave are whalemen's valiant hearts,
And stout are whalemen's hands ;
And strong the arm the harpoon darts.
And strong the arm that wields the lance,
When o'er the tides our Avhale-boats glance
To battle with the whale.
Leviathan may lash the tide,
But soon his floating, bleeding side.
And soon the spouting streams of gore,
That o'er the ensanguin'd waters pour,
Declare that all is o'er.
Right soon the precious oil is won,
Our dangerous labors all are done,
And homeward — homeward is the ciy,
With all sails spreading to the sky." — Isaac M'Lellan.
Spouting in favor of Gas.
333
WHALE FISHING.
HALING is the most ad-
venturous occupation
known within the cir-
cle of legitimate in-
dustry. It demands
. not only the explora-
tions of most danger-
. ous seas, but a resi-
dence upon them dur-
ing the most inclem-
ent seasons. For
many years very lit-
tle whaling has been
done in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and off the coast of Labra-
dor, but the whales are again returning to their wonted feed-
ing-grounds there, and the walruses or sea-cows nightly ap-
proach, and sometimes rest on the islands.
The Georgia shoals, and banks near Newfoundland gener-
ally, teem with nearly all the fishes of the Northern seas.
Fishes from afar visit those feeding-grounds, which are form-
ed into rich pastures by the settling of the debris washed
down from near the frigid zone. The heavy tides whose
swift currents sweep around Scotland and Ireland are met by
counter tides and strong currents from Baffin's and Hudson's
Bays, and these precipitate vegetable and inineral matters, in-
cluding the drift of large rocks in icebergs, and, being assist-
ed by the backing of the Gulf Stream, they have already form-
ed the island of Newfoundland, the Fishing Banks, and the
small islands which dot those waters, all of which will yet
rise into an extensive territory, connecting Newfoundland
with the main land south of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The
waters of the Straits of Belle Isle, which form one of the prin-
cipal' outlets to the gulf, are so deep, and the rise and fall of
the tides so great, that they have contributed to the forma-
tion of the island of Anticosti, which is larger than Xong Isl-
334 Fishing m American Waters.
and, N. Y. With the great rise and fall of the tides, and the
consequent swift currents, many eddies are thus formed, and
for hundreds of miles to the south of Newfoundland, and ex-
tending to the west end of Anticosti, the feeding-grounds for
food-fishes form a larger fishing area than any other in the
world.
This meeting and mingling of the frosty Northern waters
with those more mild from the Gulf Stream are supposed to
form another attraction for fishes, and the bait-fishes are fol-
lowed thither by the food-fishes, and the latter by most of the
voracious monsters of the deep, and thus procreation and
depletion keep step with supply and demand.
A voyage by schooner from the north shore of the Gulf,
and turning the west end of Anticosti while bound for Gaspe,
gave me some sights of whales in spouting groups which
would be worth a voyage from New York to those waters to
witness. Whales generally swim in pairs, unless they have
a calf, when that swims between them for protection ; but I
saw several groups at a time of more than three in each, all
spouting like politicians. Our tub of a schooner, which kept
" bidding and bobbing" like Mrs. Toodles at an auction, re-
minded me of the following couplet :
" When to the wind we spread our sails,
Along the pathless ocean strolling,
Crammed in a tub stock full of nails,
Like Regulus, we die by rolling."
Having thus spent a few nights and days on the turbulent
Gulf of St. Lawrence, rising one bright morning unharmed in
our tub, which seemed cast to the whales, as they surrounded
us, we were elate with joy at the brilliant display which na-
ture afforded in the bright heavens, sparkling waves, whales
spouting in every direction, the light-house looming on the
Isle of Anticosti, and the appearance of numerous beautiful
birds swimming about our craft, which we learned were puf-
fins, a species of duck peculiar to the Gulf of St. Lawrence
near Anticosti. These birds are about the size of a mallard,
An inteeesting Yoyage. 335
but robed in scintillant plumage of green tipped with purple,
and farther ornamented with a beak shaped like a parrot's,
of a bright vermilion color.
As the sun rose above the snowy peaks of Labrador, the
sails slackened, when half a mile to westward we saw slowly
rise above the waves a white triangular fin, then an enormous
head which spouted a large shower of spray high above the
waves, next a huge back, and finally the enormous tail of a
monster double the length of our schooner.
We were shocked at the appearance of the monster, its
great size, and the enormous volume of water it spouted, and
the wake and roaring splash which its breaking water and
diving produced. The sailors informed us that it was a sul-
phur whale, one of the Mammalia., so vicious and powerful
that whalers seldom or never attack that species.
In the book on ''' Salmon-fishing in Canada,^'' by Colonel
J^ir James E. Alexander, author of an important work on ex-
|)lorations, he devotes a considerable space to the once sup-
posed phenomenon of mirages. Those who have sailed near
the Mingan Islands have doubtless observed the singular
forms assumed by objects at a distance, which is caused by a
peculiar state of atmosphere, and the different degrees of
temperature and qualities of the waters intervening between
the beholder of the mirage and the objects seen through it.
Tlie peculiar mirage along the Mingan Islands is supposed to
be caused by the number of large rivers debouching in the
Gulf there, and, from their rapidity, carrying waters a great
way out on the Gulf which differ in temperature and quality
from that upon which they apparently float on the surface.
It is stated that " the most remarkable mirages over wa-
ter have occurred in straits," as those seen by Mr. Vance at
Dover, and the celebrated Fata Morgana at Messina. In
the St. Lawrence they present greater and more interesting
varieties of ocular deception, as at Bic, Point des Monts, Min-
ixan, and the Straits of Belle Isle.
To return to my subject. The sight of a whale-ship round-
336 Fishing in American Waters.
ing the end of Anticosti, and several game-looking boats row-
ing away from her, increased our anxiety, as the sailors said
that we were in the midst of numerous shoals of commercial
whales, including the "fenners" and " hump - backs." The
white pectoral fin of the sulphur was seen to rise at intervals,
receding in distance, when all at once two huge black masses
arose before us and spouted. They proved to be a mother
and her calf, of the hump-back family. Nearer and more
near approached the boats from the whaler ; and, after the
whales rose to spout, as they descended the boats quickened
their speed toward where they expected the next rise. This
was repeated several times, until at last, just as one of the
monsters rose, the man at the bow of the nearest boat plunged
the harpoon deep in his body near the heart.
" Laugh at fear !
Plunge it deep, the barbed spear !
, Strike the lance in swift career !
Give him Une I give him line !
Down he goes through the foaming brine. "
The instant rush of the infuriated fish drew the boat hissing
through the waters at a speed which soon hid it from our
view, rendering the sight really sublime ; and when adding
that the mother whale followed, lashing the waves with her
tail and leaping like a salmon, the reader may picture to his
imagination — fishing !
The mother whale swam numerous times round her calf,
trying to entice it seaward away from its pursuers ; but its
strength slowly failing with fatigue and loss of blood, it rose
to spout. Then might be seen the mother's tender solicitude
for her young, as she all but caressed it and coaxed it to fol-
low her out of harm's way, and several times persuasively
swam a little distance, and then returned to assist it.
The boatmen were meantime hauling in line and coiling
it carefully in a tub made for the purpose, when, like light-
ning, off the whale started again, more rapidly, apparently,
than at first. The mother cavorted and disported around
Opinion of an eloquent Irishman. 337
lier young, as if to bid it persist and escape the wicked whal-
ers. But the firmly-fixed harpoon held the young whale to
the tether, and after several runs it rose to the surface in or-
der to make its last fight, to which all previous efibrts seemed
tame. It lashed the waves with a noise like thunder, and
the spray caused by it and by the leaps and writhings of the
agonized mother was carried more than a mile, causing a
blinding mist for many rods around. Finally, all efforts fail-
ing, the young whale gave the final shudder and was dead,
lying lifeless on the surface. Then went up the shouts of the
boatmen, in which we joined ; but a hauser, lashed to the
tail of the dead whale, enabled the crews to float it slowly
toward the whale-ship, which had drawn near. But the moth-
er whale continued to lash the waters, as with snorting and
blowing she evinced signs of fury until long after the blub-
ber-spades had dissected much of the body, and a sea of blood
Hurrounded the ship.
I will conclude this chapter with the eloquent peroration
of the gifted Burke, made in the House of Commons in 1774 :
" As to the wealth which the colonists have drawn from the
sea by their fisheries, you had that matter fully opened at
your bar. You surely thought these acquisitions of value,
for they seemed to excite your envy ; and yet the spirit by
which that enterprising employment has been exercised ought
rather, in my opinion, to have raised esteem and admiration.
And pray, sir, what in the world is equal to it ? Pass by the
other parts, and look at the manner in which the New En-
gland people carry on the whale fishery. While we follow
them among the tumbling mountains of ice, and behold them
penetrating into the deepest frozen recesses of Hudson's Bay
■ and Davis's Straits ; while we are looking for them beneath
M the arctic circle, we hear that they have pierced into the op-
■fcposite region of polar cold — that they are at the antipodes,
^■And engaged under the frozen serpent of the south. Falk-
^Hiand Island, which seemed too remote and too romantic an
^■abject for the grasp of national ambition, is but a stage and
I
338 Fishing in American Waters.
resting-place for their victorious industry. Nor is the equi-
noctial heat more discouraging to them than the accumulated
winter of both poles. We learn that while some of them
draw the line or strike the harpoon on the coast of Africa,
others run the longitude and pursue their gigantic game
along the coast of Brazil. No sea but what is vexed with
their fisheries — no climate that is not witness of their toils.
Neither the perseverance of Holland, nor the activity of
France, nor the dexterous and firm sagacity of English enter-
prise, ever carried this most perilous mode of hardy industry
to the extent to which it has been pursued by this recent
people — a people who are still in the gristle, and not harden-
ed into manhood."
THE striped red MULLET.
The striped red mullet, a beautiful fish of a pale pink col-
or, but somewhat larger than the one known to the Romans,
is found in considerable numbers on the English coasts. The
mullets, like the cod and some other fish which feed in deep
water, are furnished with long feelers attached to the lower
jaw, supposed to be delicate organs of touch, by which these
fish are enabled to select their food on the muddy bottoms.
This fish is more gamy than the golden mullet of the Ameri-
can borders of the Atlantic, but it is vastly inferior for the
table.
Striped Red Mullet. — Mullus surmuletus.
The Coast Industries.
339
CHAPTER W.
SALT-WATER FISHERIES.
COD-LIVER OIL.
^ Maine and Massachusetts
make annually about
5000 bbls. common oil,
such as is generally used
for tanning purposes, or
150,000 gals., at 80 cts.$120,000 00
200 bbls. superior oil, used
^^^^^^^^^^^^^ for medical purposes,
^ I ' i^f'j'^^^^^^^^^^^^^p ^^^ made at Gloucester
1 1 v\V3 f^^^^^^^^^S and Rockport, 6000 gal-
lons, at $1 50 $9,000 00
TONGUES AND SOUNDS.
The yearly catch of Glouces-
ter vessels averages 1000
bbls., at $8 $8,000 00
dried codfish.
Massachusetts. The av-
erage annual make is
350,000 quintals, at $6 $2,100,000 00
Maine. The average annual make is 200,000 quintals, at $6.. l,200,00aoo
$3,300,000 00
halibut fishery.
Halibut caught by vessels of Gloucester, Massachusetts, aver-
age annually, for five years past, 10,000,000 lbs., at 10 cts.. $1,000,000 00
Yearly catch by Boston vessels, 2,500,000 lbs., at 10 cts 250,000 00
$1,250,000 00
SMOKING SALMON AND HALIBUT.
One Boston Ifouse smokes 10,000 bbls. annually, at the average
price per bbl. of $38 .$380,000 00
Do., 10,000 bbls., at $10 100,000 00
Do., 13,000 quintals* of smoked halibut, 9 cts. per lb 131,040 00
$611,040 00
THE EASTPORT FISHERY.
Fish caught and cured in the vicinity of Eastport, Maine :
30,000 boxes smoked herrings, 40 cts $12,000 00
' A qnlDtal is 112 lbs.
340 Fishing in American Waters.
Brought forward $12,000 00
1500 bbls. herring oil, $30 45,000 00
8000 quintals dried cod, $3 24,000 00
20,000 quintals dried pollock, $2 40,000 00
10,000 " " hakes, $150 15,000 00
500 bbls. liver oil, $30 15,000 00
3000 bbls. pickled cod, $4 12,000 00
5700 " " herrings, $4 22,800 00
1200 " " mackerel, $15 18,000 00
500 " " haddock, $2 50 1,250 00
$205,050 00
The foregoing statement is made by Captain S. Treat, of
Eastport, and is an average annual catch for the past five
years to 1868.
WHOLESALE FISH DEPARTMENT OF FULTON MARKET.
This includes fourteen establishments confined to the pur-
chase and sale of food-fishes. The average annual sales
by each is $150,000. Aggregate $2,100,000 ©0
In addition to these sales, they employ one hundred and eleven
fishing-smacks, the average annual catches by each amount-
ing to $12,000, or an aggregate of. 1,332,000 00
$3,432,000 00
SCOLLOPS.
The trade in scollops is annually increasing, but, like the other
vast water-fields of Crustacea, the business is still embryotic
and the trade undeveloped. East Greenwich, K. I., sup-
plies 100 gallons daily for half the year, or 18,200 gallons
at75 cents 13,650 00
Southport, Matatuck, Cutchogue, and Jamesport, on Long Isl-
and, supply in the aggregate six months 18,200 gallons at
75 cents ; 13,650 00
$27,300 00
SOFT-SHELL CLAMS.
Comstock & Co., of Fulton Market, sold last j^ear 3,250,000 for $8000. It
is estimated that this is about one sixth of the aggregate annual sale in
• the United States, which would render the sum total .*. . .$48,000 00
I could not get an estimate on the business done in hard
clams, though it is nearly or quite as large as that in soft
shells.
SMELTS.
Trade in smelts is confined to six months, or to the inclement
season of the year, for which time the sales in Fulton Mar-
ket averaged 1,352,000 at 16 cents $216,320 00
I
A Chesapeake Industry. 841
SALMON, FRESH AND SALTED.
One Boston house sells annually 10,000 bbls. salmon, the fresh
and salted fish averaging per bbl. $38 $380,000 00
100,000 bbls. herrings, cured and smoked in the manner of Yar-
mouth bloaters, $10 per bbl 1,000,000 00
THE OTSTEB INDUSTRY.
Of the delicious bivalve which "gets out of bed to be tucked in,"dt is impos-
sible to arrive at an appropriate estimate of all which are canned for the
interior trade, and those sold in the shell for consumption in the Atlantic
States ; but of the trade from Virginia to Massachusetts, it is computed
by the largest dealers in the industry that about 50,000,000 bushels are an-
nually sold at 50 cents per bushel $25,000,000 00
The following, copied from the Baltimore report of the in-
dustry in that single city for the past year, may give some
idea of the importance of this crustaceous bivalve : •
OYSTERS AND CANNED GOODS.
" This trade has been m fair activity throughout the year. The number of
houses prosecuting it now reaches about seventy-three, of which some forty
are strictly in the packing trade. The hands employed equal probably 5000
of both sexes in the various departments of shucking, packing, peeling, pre-
serving, etc. Six to eight million bushels of oysters are consumed, one third
of which are packed raw, and the balance hermetically sealed. The cans re-
quired for these reach about 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 of half to one gallon
each, and require say 300,000 cases to pack them. The balance of the oys-
ters, say some 4,000,000 bushels, are put up in hermetically sealed cans of 1,
2, and 3 pounds each, of which during the active season some 80 to 100, 00()
cans are daily packed, so that some 12 to 16,000,000 of cans are required for
this trade annually. It is estimated that some $14,000,000 to $16,000,000
are invested in this interest in and around Baltimore, and that the annual
product is worth some $6,000,000 to $7,000,000.
The number of vessels said to be engaged in that business
on the Chesapeake is over 1600, which give employment to
more than 6000 persons. Had the trade to California contin-
ued, the industry would have been greatly augmented ; but
in that land of abundance fishes of nearly all kinds are more
numerous than on the Atlantic coast, so that there salmon is
too common for food, and the sardine canning industry bids
fair to supersede that of the Mediterranean.
342 Fishing in American "Waters.
THE CHESAPEAKE BAY FISHERY.
By the following estimate, made by Messrs. Monroe &
Gremeny, of Alexandria — the largest fishery firm in the South
— I am informed that 25,000,000 herrings are caught in about
six weeks, and 5,000,000 shad are taken in the mean time,
being in March and April. These are caught by from 20 to
25 shad fisheries, giving employment to about 1000 men and
from 75 to 100 vessels. Of course, those include the fisheries
along the Chesapeake, in both the states of Maryland and
Virginia ; yet I prefer to submit those samples of individual
enterprise to the state or national reports, because they tell
what may be done by showing what is being done by indi-
vidual industry, instead of trying to deduce from the aggre-
gate estimates in elaborate national or state reports what
proportion of the income of all the states is derived frofn
their fisheries ; whereas these are confined to a small portion
of our borders, and comparatively few men and small means
are employed in them.
HADDOCKS.
The sale of^^Jinnan haddies'^ per diem for six months of the year in
New York averages 1000 lbs., at 10 cents '. |100 00
Boston, 2000 lbs 200 00
Portland, 1500 lbs 150 00
|450 00
Thus amounting in six months for those three cities to $81,900 00
It is stated by competent authority that 3000 lbs. of "^?^-
nan haddies''' per day for six months in the year are cured in
Portland, Maine, and that more than half of them are sold in
the Dominion of Canada. It is becoming so large an indus-
try in the United States that a brief account of its origin may
prove interesting.
FINDON HADDOCKS.
The luxury known as " finnan haddies" was first cured at
Findon, near Aberdeen, in Scotland. I can not learn when
I
Yankee Invention of Dey-feeezing. 343
the industry was begun, but am informed that it was such a
favorite dish with George IV. that it was constantly on his
breakfast-table during the winter.
The curing of haddocks by moderately salting them and
then smoking them over a smudge made of smothered peat
was an invention of some pretty Scotch woman with — like
most of her countrymen of both sexes — more brains and loy-
alty than money. She was, withal, a woman with an excel-
lent goilt^ as her invention proved ; for she had not followed
the business long before many persons usurped her invention,
and, instead of smoking them over the pure peat-reek fires,
they used green wood of any kind that would make a smoke.
Thus the Findon haddocks lost favor in some quarters ; yet,
poor as it was made by bad smoking, there was still left a de-
gree of delicacy, and the flavor was still so much admired as
to divide the interest with the Yarmouth bloater as a break-
fast-fish. Finally, as the " schoolmaster abroad" ascertained
that the waters on our Eastern coast teem with haddocks, he
intimated their value as a breakfast luxury, when several mem-
bers of Brother Jonathan's family were not long in seeing the
point of interest in the question. The result is that, within
the past five years, no industry has grown faster, according to
its pasture of short capital, than has the manufacture and
trade in Findon haddocks, the annual amount of which in the
United States is not much short of half a million of dollars.
PRESERVING EOOD-FISHES FRESH.
The Yankee invention for refrigerating salmon in an at-
mosphere of such a degree of cold as is desired, and from
which all dampness is excluded, has greatly increased the
amount of consumption of fresh salmon in the border cities
of the United States within the past three years. Already
the Canadians are profiting by an invention which their prox-
imity to salmon-waters renders of immense utility to them.
This invention requires to be used when the fish are entirely
esh, and have not been much handled. It consists simply
S44: Fishing in American Waters.
in placing the fish in the dry refrigerator the day that they
are caught, and the sooner after they leave the aqueous ele-
ment the better. Already the refrigerating process is in op-
eration on railroads for the transmission of meats, fish, and
fruits.
Of numerous other fishes than the salmon which are sold
in a fresh condition, no reliable estimate can be made. They
include thousands of tons of striped bass, cero, bonita, Span-
ish mackerel, sea bass, blackfish, squeteague, sheepshead, eels,
flounders, flukes, crabs, lobsters, and several other kinds of
coast and estuary fishes. It is, however, safe to state that
they include more than half the number of pounds offish con-
sumed by the inhabitants of the states on the Atlantic border,
and amounting annually to a value of many millions of dol-
lars. Throughout winter the netting of striped bass is pur-
sued along the shores of bays, sounds, and as far up the Hud-
son River as Peekskill, taking them at the latter place from
under the ice. This practice should be inhibited by law.
Those who feel interested in the commerce of fishes will
please excuse me for not condensing the statements by reca-
pitulation. The few examples which I have submitted of the
industry have been those of individual enterprise in a busi-
ness which is destined soon to become one among the leading
industries of the nation.
1
|)art JourtI).
ANCIENT AND MODEEN FISH-CULTUKE.
I
CHAPTER I.
. THE ART AMONG THE ANCIENTS.
MONG the many arts
founded on pure phi-
losophy peculiar to
China, we find that
of propagating fishes
by artificial means to
have been practiced
there for many cen-
turies, as is proven
by their works, and
the intimate knowl-
edge of the art pos-
sessed by so many
of the inhabitants of
the Celestial Empire.
Father Duhalde, one of the earliest missionaries from
France to China, was the first to reveal to the Christian
world that the inhabitants of China might teach those of
Europe the art of water - farming. "In the great River
Yang - tse - kiang," said Father Duhalde, " not far from the
city Kieou-king-fou, of the province Kiang-si, at certain sea-
sons of the year there assemble great numbers of vessels for
conveying away the fecundated eggs of fishes. Throughout
the month of May the river is barred at short intervals for
sixty miles with interlacings of osier and bulrushes, leaving
barely sufficient space for the passage of barks or double
^^ chaloupes^ with lateen sails, which are engaged in transport-
^^ting ova." The reticulated weirs of osier and bulrushes are
348 FiSHLNG IN Amekican Waters.
knows how to distinguish them with the naked eye when nn-
practiced ones perceive nothing in the water. He therefore
dips up the water with a mixture of impregnated ova, whicli
many purchase in that condition, while he dips and fills vases
for others who purchase the fishes when first hatched. Peo-
ple are said to come from all parts of the empire for the
purchase of both eggs and fish wherewith to stock the waters
of their various districts.
Great care is bestowed on the vivified eggs placed in the
vases, and those having them in charge take turns in attend-
ing to them, so that they are never neglected either night or
day. . At the end of some days, as the eggs disclose life, the
difierent species are removed into separate vases, and their
prices fixed and published. Father Duhalde stated that the
nett gain was often a hundred fold on the expense, and the
sale always certain, because fishes constitute a large share of
the food of the Chinese.
Many travelers from time to time referred to this practice
of the Chinese in propagating fishes, but their explanations
were always more or less vague. Father Hue, the mission-
ary, informed the French government that a great many mer-
chants of vivified fish-eggs came to the province of Canton,
and traversed the country for the sale of them to the propri-
etors of ponds and other preserved waters. Their merchan-
dise, being a sort of yellowish liquid, was contained in a cask.
It appeared to be oily water, similar to the color of the vase
(probably terra-cotta), in which it was impossible to distin-
guish with the naked eye the least animalcula or living thing.
For some saf^ques — small coin — they purchase a cup of that
turbid water, which is sufiicient to stock a pond of consider-
able size. They pour the contents of the cup into the pond
or lake, and in a few days the eggs hatch, and by having
their preserves properly divided they keep up their stock of
fish. For the young fishes of the herbivorous families, such
as the cai-p, etc., they throw into the pond tendei* herbs for
food, augmenting the quantity as the fish enlarge. Carnivor-
Growth of Heebivorous Fishes. . 349
ous fishes require some kind of meat, or a mixture in which
meat or ofial forms a part.
The fishes are fed in the morning and evening of each day,
and, as they grow very fast, it becomes quite " a chore" for
the boys and girls to gather them enough herbage, for they
:ire so ravenous as to be appropriately compared to the silk-
worms when forming cocoons. With generous feeding they
attain to the weight of two or three pounds in fifteen days,
when they cease growing, and are sold alive throughout the
great centres of population.
The fish-culturists of Kiang-si I'aise uniquely fishes of a
fjoiXt most exquisite. The sea-rabbit is the name given by
them to a species at once the most delicate and prolific.
Fish-culture, or pisciculture, seems natural to the Chinese,
who conduct the industry skillfully and successfully, culti-
vating numerous species of herbivorous fishes, which they
raise with great facility. Herbivorous fishes acclimatize
much easier than the carnivorous. The French and other
P]uropeans have commenced to import herbivorous fishes from
Kiang-si ; the red and gold fishes, originally imported* from
China, may be considered a luxury to the eye, and their sur-
prisingly rapid increase in numbers without expense has in-
duced the French to import such food-fishes as are prolific
and of excellent flavor. The fresh-water fishes of commerce
in China form much lighter and more digestible food than
any fresh-water fishes of either Europe or America. They
have cultivated their waters, and raised fishes for so many
hundred years, and perhaps thousands, that their system is
said to be much more perfect than any now practiced in Eu-
rope or America ; and as France has sent an agent to China
to study up the subject from an Oriental point of view, it
might be advisable for our government to instruct its embas-
sadors to make all the discoveries possible, and report them
for the benefit of fish-culture in the United States.
350 . Fishing in American Watees.
CHAPTER n.
FISH-CULTURE IN EUROPE IN EARLY TIMES.
The date when fish-culture was commenced in Europe is
not definitely known. Its introduction there is generally at-
tributed to the Komans, among whom, it is stated by several
writers, the art approached a remarkable degree of perfec-
tion. It is known to the student of antique inventions that,
in the palmy days of ancient Rome, great attention was paid
to aqudculture, and, by means of canals cut from the sea and
the Bay of Naples to the ornamental lakes and ponds of the
wealthy patricians, eminently those at Tusculum, and at oth-
er villas near BaiaB, the fishes of the sea were invited by men
of taste to spawn in their preserves, which they did in great
numbers, as is related by Duval in respect to the extensive
preserves of Lucullus. ' But after the spawning season, and
when the spent fishes sought a return to the sea, they were
intercepted by wicker weirs or wire gates, and there cap-
tured and sold in the market ! This last fact is sufiicient ev-
idence to prove to the modern angler or fish-culturist that
the Romans knew little of the nature and habits of fish, or
they would not have purchased spent fish, which is unwhole-
some food.
But in the evidence adduced thus far we see nothing to
warrant the belief that the ancient Romans hatched fishes by
the modern means of mingling the roe and milt of fishes, and
placing them in a situation to be hatched. They did no more
than invite or conduct fish from the sea to fresh-water feed-
ing-grounds and spawning - beds. The Chinese had done
more, for they divided rivers into spawning-beds, and before
the spawn was hatched they removed it to hatching-vases.
Among the articles exhumed from Pompeii and Hercula-
Co:\rMENCEMENT OF Oyster-culture. 351
neum, stored in the Treasury at N"aples, I saw a glass vase of
fish-eggs similar to those of the genus Salmo. Those eggs
and their mode of preservation induced me to believe that a
higher class of men inhabited Italy seventeen hundred years
ago than do now in this iron age of intelligence. Is it not
true that aggregations of high intellects — like celestial nebu-
lae, or the focal coruscation of rays of light and heat — cluster
at diiferent times on difierent parts of the earth, to reflect in-
tellectual light to guide coming generations ?
Well, it is stated that the inventions in ancient Rome, first
devised to pamper the children of luxury, afterward were
employed to supply subsistence to the nation. Des'viviers
having stocked their preserves with many ornamental fishes,
whose graceful gambols, beautiful forms, and colors chatoy-
antes had delighted the ladies of that interesting period, did
not disdain to encourage the increase of food-fishes also, with
which their preserves were richly stocked.
But, if the Romans did not hatch fishes artificially, that
they excelled in the cultivation of Crustacea can not be suc-
cessfully refuted. The removal of oysters from one water
and planting them in another was begun by Sergius Grata at
the commencement of the Christian era, by bringing them
from Brindisium and planting them in Lake Lucrin, which,
according to the evidence of the gourmet chief Crassus,
greatly improved their flavor. Grata finally covered Lake
Lucrin with reticulated paraphernalia made of wood, raised
at one end on stone piers, and placed in numerous positions
for the convenience of the deposit of oyster-spat. The Lake
of Fusaro also, between the ruins of Cumae and the promon-
tory of Misenum — "the Avernus of the ancients" — being salt,
was planted with oysters; and the plans for oyster culture
adopted by the Romans were quite similar to those pursued
in France at present.
My investigations of the rise and progress of fish-culture
by the method of stripping the ova from the female and the
milt from the male fish, and mixing them for vivification, in-
352 Fishing IN American Waters.
duces me to impute its origin to the monks — those men of
genius who invented eau da vie — and who were ever engaged
in investigations for ameliorating the wants of mankind.
They found the waters idle, while the needs of the Church
demanded that they should produce. They therefore ap-
plied themselves to the study of cultivating the waters, and
in the fourteenth century — according to Baron Montgau-
dry, nephew to Buffon — Dom Pinchion, abbe of Beome, had
discovered the plan of hatching fishes in boxes, the process
described being quite similar to that now employed. The
needs of the monastic orders for complying with the require-
ments imposed by their religion may be justly considered the
motive cause which urged to this great discovery ; and the
monks not only cultivated the waters, but they left records
of their progress, and gave us their opinion that the carp is
the most profitable fish to propagate, and next in order is
the tench. The pike is considered very useful to prevent
the excessive multiplication of carps, for otherwise they soon
become too numerous for their healthy condition in a pond.
At divers epochs the idea prevailed of introducing certain
fishes into barren waters. The Lake Lovitel, in the depart-
ment of i'isere, never nourished a£sh before 1670, when M.
Garden placed trout in the lake, and they multiplied so that
the lake has remained stocked with them ever since.
Lapecherie of Comachio, on the Adriatic, is of very ancient
origin. Bonaveri, and, more recently, Spallanzani, professor
in Reggio, Modena, and Pavia, have described the very exten-
sive eel-fisheries there. In spring, when the eels ascend the
rivers, the fish-farmers open communications from the basins
to the lagunes of the sea, and the young eels penetrate in
great masses through all the free passes. Retained in the
basins, where they find nourishment abundant, they grow
rapidly. At the time when their instinct teaches them to
descend to the sea, the fish-farmers lead them by small artifi-
cial brooks whereby they are conducted into chambers from
which they have no power to escape, and hundreds of thou-
Cultivate Eels and Frogs. 353
sands of eels are thus annually gathered and cured for mar-
ket, because there is a greater number of fresh eels than is
necessary to supply the markets of Italy.
At the commencement of the decade of the eighteenth cen-
tury the brilliant discoveries of Spallanzani enriched the nat-
ural sciences, and proved beyond reasonable doubt the possi-
bility of developing the mysteries which theorists had from
time to time mooted, of impregnating the eggs of fishes arti-
ficially. He therefore took eggs of a frog, and impregnated
them with the semen of a male frog. This he did before nu-
merous witnesses, who saw the live frogs, and saw that from
these eggs young frogs were hatched, and the triumph of the
illustrious Italian naturalist was thus rendered complete.
In 1763 Lieut. Jacobi announced through a journal of Han-
over the feasibility of the artificial fecundation of salmon
and trout. Before, however, publishing his successful exper-
iments, he endeavored to promulgate his discovery through
the medium of celebrated naturalists, such as Buifon,De Four-
croy, and Gleditch, an eminent professor of Germany. "Les
savants" of France appeared too much preoccupied to notice
the Hanoverian lieutenant, especially as his writings were in
German. Gleditch, who was not influenced by the same rea-
sons, appeared impressed with the work of Jacobi, and he com-
municated extracts from the work to the Academy of Berlin
through Baron Von Harbke.
In France the experiences relative to the artificial fecunda-
tion of fishes occurred some years later. The work of Jacobi
was published in Paris in 1770. The Marquis de Pezay^m
his Soirees helvetiennes^ signalized the fortunate results ob-
tained at Noterlem, including the information that England
wished to recompense Jacobi by a liberal pension.
Two years thereafter, and twelve years after the successful
■experiments of Jacobi, Adamson, in his course at the Jardin
du lloi in 1772, made known to his auditors the plan and
practicability of artificial fecundation, stating that it was ha-
bitually practiced on the borders of the Weser, in Switzer-
I
354 Fishing in Ameeican Watees.
land, in the Palatinate of the Rhine, and in the mountains and
elevated parts of Germany. For this object, he said, they
take by the head a female salmon in November or December,
or a trout in December or January, the times when these
fishes deposit their ova. These fish are held over a vase with
a quart of water in it, and by a light pressure on the abdo-
men downward, the female vents the roe. They then take a
male salmon, and rub his belly down with the palm of the
hand in the same manner: milt falls on the roe and mixes
with it, when it is placed in a running stream and covered
lightly with gravel, and after several months the fish hatch.
The Course of Natural History, by Adamson, was repub-
lished in Paris in 1845, when its information on fish-culture
first attracted attention to the truths published by him sev-
enty years previously.
The copy of the manuscript of Jacobi was sent to France by
German officials, and thus became finally translated. Those
who are educated to be courtiers or politicians do not always
read. Apropos of this truth : the artificial fecundation of
roe by Jacobi, imparted through his inter mediaires, the Count
de Goldstein and the naturalist Gleditch, became neglected
and forgotten. During sixty years no one dreamed of read-
ing the '^Trccite des peches de Duhamel,'''' the veritable work
of Jacobi. The end of the eighteenth century did not retain
a souvenir of the success obtained at Noterlem for the artifi-
cial multiplication " des Truites et des Saumonsy
If the Chevalier Bufalina, of Cesena, had succeeded in fe-
cundating several fishes, no one saw any novel feature in the
operation not developed by Spallanzani ; and if Jacobi had
invented a successful plan of artificial fish-culture in Germany,
and if, in the region of the Rhine and in Switzerland, where
fishermen "were successfully practicing fish-culture and enrich-
ing their streams by it, yet the world was as ignorant of its
true bearings upon the needs and prosperity of a country as
if nothing had ever been said or written upon the subject ;
so the progress may thus far be counted as nil.
Experiments in Fish-ctjltuke.
355
CHAPTER m.
FISH-CULTURE OF THIS CENTURY.
o D E R N fish - culture is
indebted to only thir-
ty years' practice for
all the wonders it has
achieved. The early
part of the present cen-
tury was unfavorable
to the development of
industry. War en-
gaged the attention of
the civilized world.
Many improvements
known in France, Ita-
ly, Germany, and En-
gland at the commencement of their revolutions, were lost
to this century ; but the calm which peace restored fructified
genius and utilized its discoveries.
In 1820, MM. Hivert and Pilachon, two inhabitants of the
Haute-Marne^ fecundated eggs of trout. After hatching, they
took the " alevins''' (the young, before the umbilical sac is ab-
sorbed) to the waters which they desired to stock. These
facts, though confirmed by M. de Montgaudry and M. Jour-
dier, did not electrify the public mind, or evei^ cause a single
government to put forth an efibrt for restocking depleted
waters to cheapen food. So the matter lay dormant again
seventeen years, when John Shaw, of Scotland, fecundated the
eggs of a salmon, and hatched them by artificial means, which
resulted in a memoir of his experiments relative to the prop-
agation of salmon. But this, instead of causing efforts to be-
356 Fishing in American Waters.
come more numerous and of wider scope, was merged in the
side issue of the " parr question," which absorbed attention,
as indicated by an important article in Blackwood of that
year upon the " Transmutations of the Salmon."
The first person in France who seriously called general at-
tention to the study and practice of artificially stocking the
waters was Baron de JRivihre. He urged the peculiar advan-
tages obtained by leading the young eels from estuaries up
artificial streams, and capturing them, to distribute in con-
venient proportions throughout the waters of France.
In the history of modern pisciculture a little event occurred
without noise in 1844, in the Department of the Vosges, which
gave rise a few years later to much excitement.
A fisherman ofZaJBresse,m the commune of Remiremont,
situated in one of the most elevated parts of the canton of
Saulxures — Joseph Remy by name — having seen the trout,
at other times numerous in the streams of the mountains, di-
minishing so fast as to produce grave prejudice to his indus-
try, the rivers and the brooks in the Vosges having been
dried up by a long drought in 1842, sought from Nature a
remedy. This humble man, endowed with a spirit of obser-
vation, studied with intelligence the habits of the trout from
the moment of hatching, until he arrived at the idea of artifi-
cial fecundation, and, by numerous experiments, finally suc-
ceeded in arranging the hatching apparatus into compart-
ments, as it is done at this day, though commencing, like
Jacobi, by placing the fecundated ova in a trough, with
wire-grating cover and ends in the trout-stream, letting the
natural running of the stream hatch the eggs, which were
slightly covered with gravel in the trough.
Remy, chagrined at not knowing any person with means
from whom he might hope for assistance by communicating
his discoveries, became melancholy and fell sick, when he
confided his secret to the keeper of the little tavern where
he boarded, by name Antoine Gehin. This inn-keeper was
to him a collaborateur, and soon became full of zeal both as
Reasons for Water-faeming. 357
a fisherman and pisciculturist. The names of Remy and Ge-
hin were destined to become indissoluble. They unveiled
the advantages of the discovery to a few notable persons ;
but our two poor copartners met with the difficulties com-
mon to those who discover any strange improvement by
means of a switch from the track of Nature. In the mean
time the inspector of primary schools in the Vosges received
information of the discovery, and communicated it to the
Society of Emulation. This society, being of high celebrity,
occupied itself at once upon the question. In a report by
M. Sarrazin on the recompenses accorded to agriculture and
industry by the Society of Emulation, the proceedings of
Remy and Gehin were described. M. Micard, General Guard
of the Forests, had favored the early efforts of Remy, and
gave him in spawning-time the liberty of the brooks of the
forests.
In spite of the memoir of John Shaw — malgre the results
which were vauntingly promised to England — malgre the
fortunate experiments of Remy and Gehin, encouraged by
the Society of Emulation for the Vosges, all slept again.
The interest in the success of those men, whose ardor and
industry greatly multiplied the number of fishes, lasted no
longer than the transient sound of the murmurs of the rivers
and brooks which had proved the theatre of their exploits.
But on the 23d of October, 1848, M. de Quatrefages, in pur-
suit of the development of certain animals, fished up the com-
munication of Count Goldstein, and read at the Academic des
Sciences a memoir demonstrative of artificial fecundation be-
ing the means for obviating the causes of destruction to the
eggs of fishes.
The lecture of M. de Quatrefages at the Academy of Sci-
ences was published by numerous journals, which ^projected
the subject into the air of public favor, and the assurance of
the lecturer that a pursuit of the subject would be the birth
of* a new industry important to the world, decided the com-
mencement of action. All the world was at once going into
fe
358 FiSHma m American Waters.
the artificial fecundation project, and founded the most bril-
liant hopes of the new art oi pisciculture.
The information of Quatrefages' lecture reached Epinal,
and was seen by the Society of Emulation in the Vosges
about four months after it was delivered. On the 2d of
March, 1 849, the secretary of the society wrote to M. de Qua-
trefages that two fishermen of La Bresse had been engaged
since 1844 at stocking the waters of the Vosges with trout
produced by artificial fecundation.
All at once, loud became the acclamation in favor oiRimy
and Gehin^ as if the echo had gained strength by the years
in which the truth had lain dormant. Next an English en-
gineer, M. Gottleib Boccius, announced the great advantage
which the inhabitants of the Vosges had derived from re-
peopling their rivers by the aid of artificial fecundation, and
hatching fishes in boxes where they were secure from nu-
merous enemies of both water and air. He had published a
small treatise in 1841 with the object of benefiting lar^ded
proprietors in stocking their waters, and more especially their
artificial fish-ponds. But the French philosophers regarded
the discovery in a national aspect. Hence one of the savants
most illustrious, M. Dumas, who was minister of Agriculture
and Commerce, charged the most authoritative naturalist, M.
Milne Edwards, to examine and give an opinion upon the di-
vers essays published in England, Germany, and France upon
the subject of stocking fluvial waters with fish.
On the 26th of August, 1850, M. Milne Edwards addressed
a report to the minister, in which he reviewed the work of
Jacobi, and noticed the success of Remy and Gehin with
marked commendation for their perseverance in perfecting
fish-culture, whereby they had restocked the streams of the
canton, besides having discovered a new industry for France.
He also named a dozen important rivers and lakes which
they had restocked with trout, concluding with impressively
recommending them to government favor. He said they had
done more than to stock the waters with trout, for they had
French Fisheries' Commissioners. 359
stocked them with frogs also, because the spawn of these
time-beaters is an aliment which the young trout search with
avidity ; and the tadpole furnishes an excellent pasture for
trout more advanced in age.
For fifteen years Gehin had been working under the full
knowledge of what now engaged the sages of political econ-
omy. The subject enlarged, as they thought of stocking the
waters of France with all the choice fishes of the world ; and,
conformably with the view explained by M. Milne Edwards,
a commission was named by the Minister of Agriculture and
Commerce, dated September 28, 1850. The commission in-
cluded MM. Milne Edwards, Valenciennes, members of the In-
stitute ; Susanne, Inspector of Forests ; de Bon, Commission-
er of Marine ; de Franqueville, Chief of Navigation and of
the Ports, and Minister of Public Works ; Monny de Momay,
Chief of the Division of Agriculture, of the Department of
Agriculture and Commerce ; Coste, Professor of Embryogo-
ny at the College of France ; Doyere, Professor of Zoology
at the National Agronomique Institute.
The decree was signed by Dumas, and in the spring of 1 85 1 ,
M. Valenciennes — the ichthyologist — received a mission from
the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce to visit and pro-
cure the large fishes of the rivers in Germany wherewith to
stock the lakes and ponds of France. He succeeded in ob-
taining several species, of which he conveyed to Paris the
living individuals, including sandre, genus Jjucioperca^ Lin.,
the silure^ one of the* most voracious fishes in creation, the av-
erage size of which is large enough to dine eighteen persons.
The silures (silurus glanis), with the sandres and a dozen
lotes (eel-pouts), were placed in the reservoirs at Marly. Thfe
selection of fishes speaks unfavorably for the taste ofM. Va-
lenciennes. The sandre grows large enough to dine eight per-
sons, but is a dry fish ; the eel-pouts are detestable, and dis-
gusting to behold ; the glanis is similar to a Missouri River
catfish! Of this selection wherewith to stock the fresh wa-
ters of France, not one lived to leave any posterity.
360 Fishing in American Wateks.
M. Coste then advised that the numerous ponds of Ver-
sailles be employed as " stables" wherein to propagate fishes
for the waters of France, believing that in those spacious ba-
sins fishes which inhabit alternately the fresh and salt waters,
such as the salmon, shad, lamprey, and plaice, might be culti-
vated. The advice was followed with unsuccessful result.
In the mean time, two engineers of hridges, MM. Detzem and
Bertol, made large profits by peopling the Canal du Bhdne.
They had been invited by the prefet of Doubs to verify the
method in use in the Vosges, when, with assistants, they
hatched in four months 3,382,000 eggs of salmon, trout, perch,
pike, etc. On May 7th, 1851, they placed in basins confided
to their ^are 1,583,111 fishes recently hatched.
The facility for hatching fishes by millions induced them to
calculate how many fishes might live in the fresh waters of
France. Estimating the actual population to be twenty-five
millions of fishes, they concluded that by four years' artificial
hatching the number would be increased to three billions,
one hundred and seventy millions, and yield a revenue of
more than nine hundred millions francs.
It was evident that they had consulted but one side of the
question, and that the least difficult. Myriads of fishes may
easily be hatched, but the questions of greater import are,
how are they to be protected, subsisted, and made to grow ?
These are the questions which most seriously address them-
selves to the student of modern fish-culture. The brains of
Bertol and Detzem were made dizzy by ^e presence of a cal-
culation which proved millions of revenue easily obtained,
and they exclaimed, " Is it possible to endow France with
such a revenue ?" On the examination of results so unexpect-
ed, no member of the Fisheries' Commission evinced a senti-
ment of distrust, stating that they were aware the calculation
produces the same impression on all those who examine the
subject.
Bertol and Detzem, encouraged by the Minister of Agricul-
ture and Commerce, followed their work with great zeal, and,
Fish-food for Food-fishes. 361
established at Loechlehrun^ near Huningue, continued the op-
erations df hatching trout and salmon on an extensive scale.
By their second report in March, 1852, they announced that
since the November preceding 722,600 eggs had yielded
700,000 fishes.
From the day when M. De Quatrefages called attention to
the advantages of artificial fecundation for repeopling the
waters of France, M. Coste occupied himself incessantly upon
fish-culture. He explained the experiments on alimentation
and growth of young eels, which ascend the streams every
spring. These fishes, nourished by the debris of the butcher-
shops- cemented into a sort of pie, are fattened and made to
grow very fast, attaining to the weight of several pounds in
a single season.
In 1853, the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, for
the object of founding an establishment of fish-culture at
Huningue, accorded a credit of 30,000 francs. This credit,
M. Coste stated, " is to be used in undertaking one of the
most grand experiments of which the natural sciences have
ever given an example." He also described the method for
preparing the food for young salmon and trout with a pie
formed of butchers' oflal, or of horse-flesh boiled. A knowl-
edge of the advantage of this feed was acquired by the ex-
periments of Dr. Lamy at the artificial hatchings in the pare
du Maintenon.
In 1856, the subject of fish-culture engaged more or less
the attention of a majority of the best minds in France,
whether men of state or of science, or men of wealth and en-
terprise. Though the felicitations and encouragement of the
fishermen of the Vosges had not been cooled or diminished,
yet the book-philosophers, having read up, became aware that
hatching fishes by art had engaged the minds of sages in oth-
er ages ; and as that was the most simple part in the train of
successfully restocking waters, they were studying and exper-
imenting to acquire a more perfect knowledge of the nature,
habits, preferable haunts, and means of subsistence. M, de
362 Fishing in American Watees.
Tocqueville had determined that a strong light was injuri-
ous, and that a lamp or candle should not be thrust before
young fishes. This was one of the reasons for placing the
government breeding apparatus at Huningue under cover;
another was to maintain in the hatching-troughs nearly an
even temperature throughout the winter while hatching
game fishes of the genus Salmo^ that spawn late in autumn ;
for these, while young, are much more delicate than common
fishes, which (spawning in spring) hatch in a few days, and
require comparatively no care in the process or in the kinds
of feed; for, as they come into the world without a sac of pro-
vision to last them a month suspended to the umbilical cord,
nature prepares them for fighting their way for food from, the
moment when they leave the shell.
Gehin had visited Paris in 1850, and was presented to Lou-
is Napoleon, then president of the republic, as quite a person-
age, and received from the government, in compliance with
the promise of M. Milne Edwards, the mission to stock the
rivers of several departments.
There were 50,000 brook and lake trout introduced to the
waters of the Bois de Boulogne in 1866, where they grew
rapidly. At this time many of the public waters through-
out France, which had rested dormant, began to astonish
and delight the neighborhoods with the leaps above water
of amber beauties, which formed miniature rainbows in the
gleams of the sun, and many peasants regarded this novel
gift of life and beauty as a providential blessing on Napo-
leon's reign.
Reports of successes m pisciculture poured in monthly more
numerously from every department. The waters were ev-
ery where stocked with young fishes, which were doing well.
The ponds, lakes, and reservoirs in public parks were each
annually hatching 25,000 to 50,000 of the genus Salmo for
the benefit of the public rivers of France.
In the departments generally, the zeal of the prefets kept
pace with that of the government, and men of science and
Impokting Salmon Ova. 363
the Conseils Generaux voted the sums to successfully operate
the enterprises.
Thus the great work continued to proceed with unvary-
ing success until 1862, when the Minister of Agriculture and
Commerce published a history of the perfect success of Hu-
ningue, which includes seventy acres laid out into artificial
creeks, ponds, and hatching-houses. The statistics in this his-
tory were furnished by M. Courses^ Ingenieiir en chef des tra-
vaux du Mhin^ to whom application should be made for vivi-
fied roe wherewith to stock waters in the United States. By
my advice, Seth Green made such order in the autumn of
1865, and in the spring of 1866 the eggs came to the New
York Custom-house, where ofiicial and other delays detained
them until they died. The French government had gener-
ously presented Mr. Green 20,000 fecundated salmon ova, so
nearly hatched as to show the eyes of the alevins, carefully
packed them in moss, and shipped them gratuitously ! And
then to know that our government was so callous to the ma-
terial interests of the people as not only to have neglected to
make any effort toward reducing the prices of food-fishes, but
to have actually rendered the revenue officers a barrier
against the efforts by men of enterprise who would embark
their own money in it, is humiliating !
I humbly ask. Is it not the duty of Congress to authorize
the Minister of the Interior to appoint a commission for the
improvement of the fisheries in the United States ? Individ-
ual states can not, unaided by the federal government, im-
port either ova or young fishes of choice quality from abroad.
Without the seal of a United States commissioner, the col-
lectors of revenue have no discretion but to destroy the im-
portation by delay, exposure to heat or cold, or to the air.
Any authority given to United States consuls on the other
hemisphere would prove ineffectual, for there are no consuls
near the great piseicultural establishments ; and, in fact, since
the fiasco of the Acclimatization Society in the preserves of
Mr. Francis Francis at Twickenham, there is no establishment
364 Fishing in Ameeican Waters.
of fish-culture left in Europe which supplies fecundated ova
but the national one of Huningue, and by this one all appli-
cants are served — by order of the French government — free
of expense.
The liberality of France in bestowing ova and young fishes
on all applicants did not prevent her from deriving the re-
spectable revenue in 1862 for her fresh-water fisheries of
$4,000,000. In 1861 the Huningue establishment distributed
about 9,000,000 ova, and in 1862 about 12,000,000.
The paramount reason for artificial culture is based on the
known fact that of every thousand salmon or trout hatched
in a stream in the natural way, not more than one arrives at
marketable size ; and as a salmon yields about one thousand
ova to the pound, a pair of salmon would scarcely yield
twenty-five per cent, if hatching in a stream where the eggs
and alevins are unprotected, while if the 20,000 eggs were
hatched artificially and the young salmon protected, the in-
crease to marketable size would generally be two thousand
per cent.
The numerous successes resulting from artificial propaga-
tion, and restocking and newly stocking waters in France, has
had a favorable influence throughout the civilized world, so
that within a few years Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Ger-
many, Italy, and Spain have establishments of fish-culture.
On the British Isles great results have been accomplished
near Galway and on the River Tay, so that the rentals of
some fisheries have increased fifty per cent. Through the
enterprise of Mr. Francis, of the Meld, some of the waters of
Australia have been stocked by ova transported from En-
gland— fifteen thousand miles ! He has also succeeded in
stocking a river in New Zealand in the same manner. The
River Plenty, first stocked in Tasmania, has proved a success
in both trout and salmon.
That the gigantic rebellion has delayed action by the
United States government is quite natural ; but one of the
paramount duties of government is to increase the stock of
I
FisH-cuLTUBE IN Ameeica. 365
food-fishes in the waters throughout the Union. Reports
from the French government have been forwarded to the
President, and by him they have been laid before Congress,
so that the subject will doubtless soon be acted on nationally.
Through the efibrts of individual states, much has been
done within the past three years. Influenced by an intelli-
gent enterprise for which the states of New England are
justly celebrated, each of those states has appointed a Fisher-
ies Commission, and the following extract from a report of
progress in one state may be accepted as a fair sample of all :
" Of the 40,000 spawn recently placed for incubation in the
Cold Spring trout-ponds at Charleston, New Hampshire, for
the Connecticut River, the first salmon were hatched Decem-
ber 11th, 1865. The eyes of the embryo salmon were first
clearly seen in the egg about November 25th. The eggs
were taken from the parent salmon on the Miramichi Octo-
ber 10th, making 62 days as the period of incubation.* The
first trout which broke shell at these hatching-works this
season came out on November 9th, 35 days from the time
when the roe and milt were shed by the parent fishes."
Fish-culture is a success. It is not only triumphant, but it
is almost miraculous. Waters hitherto worse than useless
may be made a hundred fold as profitable as any equal num-
ber of acres of land, and with not a tithe of the labor. But
these truths, so palpably patent to many intellectual minds
of the present day, are almost a sealed book to the mass of
the rising generation. In view, therefore, of these facts, and
the depressing truth that the fishes of the coast and inland
waters are annually decreasing, while by immigration and
natural causes our nation is increasing in population faster
than any other on the globe, is it not advisable to make the
art of fish-culture a study in the agricultural colleges ?
Up to the present time the inauguration of plans for pro-
* Mr. Francis and other fish-culturists are not in favor of employing water
so warm as to hatch in so short a time, believing that the young fish are not
s ) hardy as those hatched in colder water.
366 Fishing in American Watees.
tecting fisheries by laws, and increasing the numbers of fishes
by aqua-culture and fish-culture, are due to the efibrts put
forth by sportsmen's clubs, scattered throughout the United
States as ofishoots from the parent New York Sportsmen's
Club. Too much praise can not be awarded those benevo-
lent institutions, united solely for the public good, for which
they shun no duty through fear of the poacher's hatred or
the malevolence of dealers in stolen goods. The poacher
both hates and fears them, while they are the principal reli-
ance for guaranteeing the public that the laws for the pro-
tection of fish and game will be sustained.
If the national and state governments will unite in stock-
ing and protecting the fresh waters, they will soon arrive at
truths sufficiently luminous from which to form data for laws
adequate to govern the whole question. To the ignorance
of legislators may henceforth be attributed the lack of suit-
able laws for the protection and stocking of water-farms of
millions of acres, which might be rendered a means of recre-
ation for the improvement of health, while offering cheap and
luxurious food to the million.
Cuttle-fish. — Sepia officinalis.
Killing two Bieds with one Stone.
367
CHAPTER IV.
NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON.
Near head of stream, in crystal spring,
Or recess of the strand,
The salmon drops its precious eggs
Amid the pure white sand ;
And here the infant fish disport
Beyond the harm of tides,
Each swarming shoal resplendent
With dotted silvery sides.
the want of data, the
nature and habits of
salmon were a sealed
book to naturalists
until, through the dis-
covery and practice
of fish-culture by ar-
tificial means, some
mysteries in physiol-
ogy were interpreted.
In the natural his-
tory of the salmon,
two questions occur
which have presented
a good deal of difficulty to pisciculturists and naturalists in
arriving at just conclusions. Tlie first is. How long do the
young salmon inhabit the fresh-water streams in which they
were hatched before they migrate to the sea ? The second
is. How long do they inhabit the sea before they return as
grilse to the rivers in which they were bred ?
A salmon has properly four stages of existence. The first
is when it is a parr, or a small bright fish with dark bars
across the sides, which are commonly called the parr marks.
368 Fishing in American Waters.
The second is when it puts on the silvery scales of the grilse,
which occurs when it is about to emigrate to the sea. It ap-
pears as if the little pet, when in the parr state, required some
provision against the novel effects of salt water which it is
about to encounter, for nature furnishes it with a new suit
of scales, bright and silvery as those of the parent salmon.
These begin to develop themselves just previously to the
first migration of the fish. The scales form apparently over
the old skin, and in doing so they obscure the parr marks,
and the fish becomes a smolt, or a miniature grilse ; but that
it is the same fish may easily be seen by rubbing off a few of
those new scales, when the parr marks are plainly seen which
were hidden beneath them. These scales are at this time
very lightly attached to the skin, and can be easily detached,
coming off even by the mere handling of the fish ; and this
insecurity of the attachment of the scales continues through-
out the whole period of grilsehood, or until the fish becomes
a veritable and mature salmon, when whether it develops a
new suit of scales is not known, but the scales certainly be-
come much more firmly fixed to the skin, and are far more
difficult to remove. But the point in debate is how long the
parr remains in the river before it becomes a smolt. Now
experiment has shown us thus much, viz., that a large por-
tion of the parr become smolts in about fifteen months, that
is, supj)osing them to have been hatched from the egg in the
fall, or say in the winter. They live in the river over the
next autumn, and do not become smolts and migrate to sea
until the next succeeding spring. It has been found that a
very large proportion of them do not become smolts and mi-
grate even then, but stay in the river yet another year, and
so do not put on the smolt scale and migrate until the next
succeeding spring. Thus some remain in the rivers altogeth-
er two years and two or three months, and others remain
even for another year still, and do not migrate till the third
year. These facts for a long time puzzled naturalists, and
gave rise to the supposition that there was another fish of
Cleaking up the Question. 369
the salmon species which never went to the sea, called the
" Salmo samulus," because, after the great annual migration
of the smolts, parr were yet found in the rivers, and it was
thought that as all parr became smolts in fifteen months,
those which staid behind must be of another species alto-
gether. But science and fish-culture have dispelled this er-
ror, and it is now known that the "Salmo samulus" is a
myth.
When the smolt went down to the sea for the first time, it
was generally supposed that it returned to the river again in
a period of, from two to four months, and its extraordinary
and unusal increase was always cited as one of the most val-
uable qualities of the salmon ; for, if it could grow from the
weight of only two to three ounces to eight or ten pounds in
three months, it was almost a lusus naturce. But, though
smolts do grow very remarkably under favorable circumstan-
ces, a strong doubt has been thrown upon the fact of salmon
growing quite so fast as this,//*om»^Ae smolt state^ by experi-
ment and experience ; for it has been found uniformly — in '
mU cases where the waters were what are termed virgin
waters^ that is, waters never before inhabited by salmon — that
when such waters were stocked with young salmon fry, or
with ova laid down for hatching, a period of fifteen instead
of three months invariably elapsed before the emigrating
smolts came back to the river as well-grown grilse of six or
seven pounds' weight ; and in the instance of much larger
grilse, as those which are at times met with of even eleven
pounds' weight, that a yet longer period may have elapsed.
This, however, is merely conjecture. In the late remarkable
experiments in Australia, where no such thing as a salmon
ever was known, it was clearly proved that the smolts were
a year and some months at sea before they returned, and in
other waters never before tenanted by salmon the same re-
sult has ensued. This is very strong evidence against the
two or three months' theory, particularly when the evidence
supporting that theory was gathered from well-stocked rivers,
Aa
370 Fishing in Ameeican Waters.
where there could not fail to arise great difficulties in identi-
fying the fish upon which experiments had been tried; for
the uncertainty and difficulty of marking a parr of two
ounces, which is to grow to sixty or seventy times that
weight before it can be caught again and identified, can not
fail to be very great indeed. However, this is still a moot
question, and it has not been as yet satisfactorily determined,
though it would seem that the soundest and most reliable
evidence is in favor of the fifteen months' theory Tather than
the other.
When the grilse returns to the river, it spawns,for the first
time as a grilse, in which, its third stage of existence, it is per-
fectly distinguishable from the salmon ; for not only are the
scales loose and easily detached, but the fish is more slender
and delicate in shape than the adult salmon, and the tail is
much more forked. Having spawned, it becomes what is called
a kelt or foul fish. The flesh is white, and the fish is out of
condition and unwholesouie to eat. It then goes down to the
sea by easy stages, and there, by the aid of the healthful salt
waters and plenteous food, it soon recovers its condition and
grows rapidly, often increasing four or five pounds or more
in weight. In the course of a few months (and this point is
clearly ascertained and settled) it returns again to the river,
but in the mean time it has lost its grilse form and become a
veritable salmon. The scales now are hard and firm, the fish
of a hardier, rounder make, the tail has lost its forked shape,
and it has reached its fourth and last stage of existence.
This change in the form of the fish actually at one time led
to the belief that salmon and grilse were of a difierent spe-
cies, and some few persons stoutly advocated this view ; but
the ova of salmon have been found to produce grilse, and
marked grilse have been retaken as salmon, so that there are
not the slightest grounds for such a wild supposition now;
and, indeed, the belief always was a very partial one, and con-
fined to one or two wrong-headed individuals, so that it is
now entirely exploded. As a salmon, it continues in the same
Protect Fish at Spawning-times. 371
course of existence until it is cooked, or dies of old age, or of
wounds and weakness from incessant fighting at the breed-
ing-time. It seeks the river every year, as is supposed, though
this is but assumption, which it is almost impossible to prove,
and whether it breeds every year or only at intervals it is
hard to say. The general creed, however, is, that it does
breed every year, and all that it requires from man is a little
reasonable forbearance, and better protection at the breeding
season until it again reaches the sea ; and if it is able to reach
the higher ranges of spawning-beds, it will speedily crowd
our rivers with delicious food, and the means of healthful and
magnificent sport. In these respects the capacity of Amer-
ican rivers is second to that of none in the world. Our riv-
ers ought to swarm with salmon ; and when we hear of riv-
ers in England, ridiculously small by comparison with our
own, yielding their $100,000 a year, and enormous revenues
besides, do we not feel it to be a sin and a shame that such
splendid capabilities as ours should be suffered to be behind
them, and to fall into neglect and disuse, and that such im-
portant resources should be lost to the country and to the
consumers throughout the Union ? If an American wants
salmon-fishing, he must go either to Canada or Scotland for
it, and this is disgraceful. We have many good coast and
estuary fishes, but none equal to the salmon in all respects.
Is there any reason why we should not have the best, and
plenty of it ? England and France are both putting their
shoulders to the wheel. Have we less energy and determin-
ation than they ?
DEVELOPMENT OF THE SALMON.
PROCESS OF INCUBATION.
The egg of any fish of the genus Salmo, before impregna-
tion with the milt of the male fish, is the color of the yolk of
I a hen's egg, and apparently of about the same consistency,
being a mixture of albumen and oil. In this particular the
372 Fishing in American Waters.
and Gadidm^ which appear as infinitesimal atoms of albumen,
enlarging tenfold within an hour after impregnation, turning
entirely white, and the fish is hatched in a less number of
hours than it takes of days for the genus Salmo. Incubation
with all the salmon families is slow, the Qgg indicating no
appreciable increase in size by fructification ; but, being por-
ous, with tubes and globules, scientifically termed micropyles^
the milt fills them, and they present the appearance of white
globules in the egg, as represented by Fig. 1, and enlarged
like Fig. 2. After the egg has remained in running spring
Fig. 1. Salmon egg of natural size after fecundation. Fig. 2. Salmon egg enlarged, to
show the vesicles and globules. Fig. 3. Salmon egg in which the embryo is per-
ceptible. Fig. 4. Alevin just hatched, enlarged, and showing the umbilical vesicle.
Fig. 5. Natural length of the alevin.
water of temperatures ranging from 40° to 50°, the egg will
disclose the shape of the embryo salmon in from fifty to sev-
enty days,* as illustrated by Fig. 3. After the embryo be-
comes perceptible, and the eyes tolerably distinct, within a
few days — say from five to fifteen — the salmon will hatch
into the shape of Fig. 4, as enlarged from the natural size, in-
dicated by the length of line. Fig. 5. Suspended to the um-
bilical cord is a sac containing aliment for the alevin, on
which it subsists by absorption from twenty-five to forty
days, when the tiny creature takes its second form. The egg^
* Salmon have been hatched in fifty-five days, and trout in thirty-five days,
in water 55° ; but Mr. Francis recommends spring water of from 40° to 45°,
while the Cold Spring trout-ponds at Charleston, N. H., are excellent hatch-
ing-waters, and they are said to be 60° asrmean temperature.
We Improve with Age.
373
from the date of fructification to the birth of the fish, varies
from 60 to 120 days, the time required being dependent upon
the quality and temperature of the water, with the condition
of quiet and shade necessary to accelerate incubation.
While the umbilical vesicle is attached to the tiny fish it
is called an "alevin" (name borrowed from the French), but
after its absorption it is known as a " fry," or " penk." Now
it sculls along and seeks its food from imperceptible particles,
as animalculae of the stream and the tiny fledglings falling
to the surface, or rising from the bottom to burst from their
embryotic state and take wing at the top of the stream. Like
Salmon Fry — a, the natural length.
*
the young of the fiajjEst' breeds of animals on land, it appears
more delicate and less able to contend for subsistence than
do those of coarser natures. In its second form it is not
beautiful, and few would suppose it a young salmon. Its
trans vcBBe bars are plainly marked, and within three months
after its birth it assumes lighter shades, and carmine spots
begin to develop, when it becomes a parr.
^his specimen is half the natural length, retaining its natu-
ral proportions. Though only between five and six inches in
length, the parr. from which I made this copy was taken by me
A Park Eight 'Months Old.
on the fly and hook with which I had that morning brought
two goodly-sized salmon to gaff. This fact proves the real
374 Fishing in American Wateks.
game of the pet. It was all life — a translucent thing of ac-
tion— having a dark drab back, barred sides, and seven dots
of carmine on each side, which were brighter than any burn-
ished metal or precious stone, and about the size of pigeon-
shot. It was the most anxious and voracious creature that I
had ever captured, and so sat down at once on the bank of
Rattling Run to sketch this liveliest specimen of fish kind
that I had ever seen.^ During the month of August parr of
the last fall and winter's hatch take their places on the reefs,
and nip the wings of flies intended for their parents ; especial-
ly is this so of the part of the shoal intended to visit the sea
with the next spring freshets.
It will be perceived that while this fish has the parr rays,
or the horizontal bars peculiar to the parr, its head is taking
better form, the mouth apparently not so large, and the white
scales are almost beginning to appear; but this parr is not
A Parr Fifteen Months Old.
Half the natural length ; proportions natural.
to visit the sea until it arrives at two years of age or more.
Those of the shoal which do not visit the sea until after hav-
ing spent two autumns in fresh water develop less rapidly
than do such as visit the sea after spending fifteen months in
the river. There being no longer a " parr controversy," the
next specimen, of the same shoal as this one, Avill illustrate
the difference in the development of those intended to become
voyagers on the second spring after their birth.
This fish, of the same shoal and age as the parr, is the part
of the same hatch intended for visiting the sea after remain-
ing only one summer in the stream of its birth. Nature, more
careful than man m protecting the families of animal creation,
Getting Eeady for Sea. - 375
sends only half the shoal to sea at a time ; the remaining
part of the shoal will follow next year, or perhaps a few will
remain three summers in the river before resorting to marine
L
A Smolt Fifteen Months Old.
feeding-grounds. In the mean time we lose sight of the first
detachment, which falls back from pool to pool, and descends
rapids and falls tail foremost until it arrives in the estuary,
where it faces to the right about and prepares to protect
itself from the monsters of the deep. For some days, and
perhaps weeks, it dallies in the lower reaches and estuary,
feeding on small caplin, shrimp, and the roe of coarser fish un-
til its burnished sides form an armor to protect it against the
})riny deep. Where the marine feeding-grounds of the sal-
mon are it is impossible to state from indubitable data. Sal-
mon are sometimes found in soundings off the Isle of Jersey,
several hundred miles from any salmon river, and yet in Can-
ada the netters capture all their fishes approaching their riv-
ers on the north shore of the St. Lawrence from the west,
when the sea is at the east. That this genre of fishes, like all
others habitually visiting fresh-water streams to spawn, re-
turn and enter the rivers of their birth, is well authenticated,
while it has been satisfactorily proven that if scared away
from the estuary by nets or other unnatural fixtures they
will enter other rivers.
In the physical transmutations of the salmon, from the time
it breaks the Qgg and hides about in crevices with a part of
the egg attached to its abdomen, to the time when it fully
matures into an adult salmon, there is no form it takes which
is so graceful and beautiful as that of the grilse, the last stage
376 Fishing in Amebic an Waters.
short of the mature salmon. A shoal of them is like a joy-
ous ball-party in full costume. It lacks the embonpoint of
the salmon as much as the young people of a gay ball-party
do that of their parents. The grilse — when attached to a
hook^plays more gayly and with less judgment than does
the full-grown salmon, skipping about and playing with great
energy, and never stopping to sulk, or, more properly, to study
the cause of its grief, until it gayly darts up to the gaffer and
falls an easy prey, as does the coquette to the practiced skill
of a heart-thief
The Grilse.
The grilse is the same fish which left its river as a smolt. In
its ocean pastures, where it has spent one or two winters, it has
doffed the<jlumsy guise of puppyhood, and the top of its head,
dorsal, and caudalhave become velvety, while the black beads
on its gills and upper mandible begin to appear. It lacks
the jetty intensity which the top of the head and some of the
fins of the adult salmon disclose, but its white is equal in
satiny sheen to the salmon of best condition. Its weight is
from five to eight pounds, and, having never spawned, it fol-
lows the salmon up toward the spawning-pools at the head of
the stream, reaching them toward the end of the spawning
season ; and after spawning, the next spring, during its early
rains, or in winter before, it falls back again over cataract and
rapid until it gains the estuary, to return to sea, and fatten,
and enlarge to a veritable salmon.
Thus the reader may have seen that the fingerling becomes
the parr, the parr develops scales to cover the bars on its
sides and becomes a smolt, goes to sea and returns a grilse,
then returns to sea and comes back a salmon.
SuPEKioRiTY Unchallenged.
377
The Salmon.
I have endeavored to illustrate the marks and forms of the
salmon in its different stages, concluding that pictorial illus-
trations from life are more comprehensible than explanations
in letter-press, especially to the student at angling, who has
not enjoyed many summers since he first wet a line for sal-
mon, and heard the beautiful music of the reel, so charmingly
described by Stoddart ;
" A whirr ! a whur I the salmon's out
Far on the rushing river ;
ite storms the stream with edge of might,
And, like a brandished sword of light,
Rolls plashing o'er the surges white,
A desperate endeavor !
Hark to the music of the reel !
The fitful and the grating;
It pants along the breathless wheel,
Now hurried, now abating."
The Sword-fish.
iJ78 Fishing in American Waters.
CHAPTER y.
FISH PROPAGATION ASSISTED BY ART.
As fish-culture assisted by art has become a business of
magnitude in France, and in England increased the revenue
from salmon-waters over a hundred per cent.,* and as the
Northern and Eastern rivers and lakes of the United States
are well adapted to the rapid increase of the genus Salmo^
being wooded, shaded, and fed by living springs,! what excuse
is there for longer delay in restocking the rivers which used
to teem with salmon and trout, and stocking anew those
many waters wherein fishes of the genus Salmo would thrive ?
It is' true, the inhabitants of the New England States are
hopefully in earnest, and anxious to stock and protect their
salmon and trout waters, and have appointed a competent
Fisheries' Commission, including the following gentlemen :
Maine — Charles G. Atkins, Augusta ; N. W. Foster, East
Machias.
New Hampshire — Hon. H. A. Bellows (chairman), Concord;
"W. A. Sanborn, Weir's.
Yefrmont — Prof. A. D. Hagar, Proctorsville ; Hon. Charles
Barrett, Grafton.
Massachusetts — Alfred K. Field, Greenfield ; Theodore Ly-
man (secretary), Brookline.
Gmmecticut — H. Woodward, Middletown ; James Rankin,
Old Saybrook.
But this question is equally applicable to the State of New
* The fishing rental of the Tay in 1852 was less than $40,000 ; in 1864 it
liad risen to $75,000, and this year il is over $100,000.
t "Let any one look at the map of New England, with its thousands lakes
and rivers, and imagine what riches ought to dwell in those waters. " — N. E.
Fisheries' Report.
Cleab Steea^is and build Fish-passes. 379
York and the vast West, especially those waters running
northward and eastward, all of which may, with a trifling ex-
pense, be made alive with shining shoals of the mighty sal-
mon and the beautiful speckled trout.
It is also important to assist the propagation of other food-
fishes by artificial means. Legislatures should appropriate
sums for these pressing objects, which not only cheapen
meats, but add to the variety of food a source of health as
well as luxury, and so cheapen it as to bring it within the
means of all.
Next in importance to artificial propagation is the purify-
ing of rivers from the numerous pollutions incident to a care-
less procedure in manufacturing, where poisonous minerals,
tan-bark, sawdust, etc., drain into the streams, instead of be-
ing conducted away from them or consumed. Commensurate
in importance with the purification of the rivers are properly-
constructed fish-passes, to enable a salmon to surmount dams
and falls to reach their spawning-pools at the heads of streams,
for without such means procreation can not go forward, and
of the first stock few may be taken in the same river, but
the greater number will seek more accessible spawning-beds
at the heads of other rivers.
Of the numerous reasons in favor of artificial propagation,
tthe following are not the least important :
It has been proven by experiment that of salmon not more
than one in a thousand hatched naturally arrive at maturity.
Of trout, it is probable that double that proportion mature,
for the present experiment of propagating trout and salmon
side by side in Australia proves that trout thrive best, and
L are what Lord Dundreary would call "the most wobust."
I But the ranks of the speckled beauties in our trout-streams
■ and ponds have been eliminated, and require filling up. This
■ can not be done without the assistance of art. Let us sup-
1. pose that a pond which is supplied by streams suitable for
m' spawning is stocked with five hundred trout, each of which
■ weighs a pound. In the course of one season they will de-
L
380 Fishing in American Waters.
posit 250,000 ova. Granting that a considerable por.tion of
these are hatched, is it ever found that a fiftieth or a hun-
dredth part of the whole arrive at maturity? Far from this
being the case, the number of trout will continue almost the
same for years, without any perceptible increase. The rea-
son is plain. So soon as the fry are hatched, they are exposed
to the attacks of the parent trout. Within the limits of the
reservoir there is not the remotest chance of their ultimate
escape. It is true, if the fingerlings knew enough, they might
ascend the tributaries of the preserve to shoals where the
parent trout could not follow ; but they do not know, and
man, being placed over the kingdoms of inferior animals,
should preserve them for his own good. Salmon which
spawn in the natural waters generally go to the heads of
the streams during the fall floods and deposit their spawn ;
when the waters subside, the ova is sometimes destroyed by
being left on dry land. Other fish deposit their spawn and
cover it on prior beds of spawn. Others spawn in the cur-
rent of the stream, and a freshet carries it down the current
as food for all the inhabitants below. In other cases the fe-
male salmon makes her spawning-bed, and deposits and cov-
ers up the ova, while the male fish is down at the foot of the
pool guarding it from the incursions of an army of water-
guerrillas. Sometimes the place in the stream selected for
the spawning-bed is very good while preparing the trenches
for the spawn, but by the time the spawn is deposited the
stream has become a torrent, and washes away the ova ; and
yet — just like a headstrong specimen of humanity — if the fe-
male makes up her mind that she will spawn at a place, the
rapidity of the flood of water never daunts her, though tlie
swiftness of the current prevents the roe from ever touching
bottom. Long IslanA is formed of a net- work tracery of trout-
streams, and yet there are but ten establishments for the arti-
ficial propagation of trout. Some proprietors and the poach-
ers of the island capture trout in winter to stock ponds which
are kept for the commercial advantages of letting them to be
Subjects for Consideration. * 381
fished by amateurs with the fly, or the trout are fed, and then
netted and taken to market. There is no general attention
paid to the procreation of the speckled beauties. • Many of
the best preserves on the island are depleted of trout by sheer
neglect. They should divide their ponds, and catch their
large trout and use them for stocking subsidiary waters. In
a word, they should tap their dams with pipes, and conduct
water into spawning-boxes. Where their dams are near a
road or turnpike, they should run the pipes underneath, or
place their boxes along the embankment of the dam in such
position as to form a rather swift flow of water throughout
the line of boxes. Nothing can be more simple or safe. The
trout hatched in that way should be placed in small ponds,
each brood by itself, thus necessitating three of these small
ponds. As each brood arrives at two years of age, it should
be turned into the main preserve, and that preserve should
be swept annually with a Urge-meshed net, and all the large
trout so taken should be transferred to the pond of propaga-
tion, which should be watched during spawning-time — in
September, October, and November — and when found ripe
for spawning they should be netted, and the roe and milt
taken from them and laid in the breeding-boxes.
Before proceeding farther, let me say here that what I may
state about propagating salmon is equally applicable to
brook trout, for the only difierence in the treatment of sal-
mon and brook trout is found in the fact that trout will al-
ways prey upon roe and young fish — even its own — while
only the salmon kelt is so unnatural; but this maternal ob-
tuseness is supposed to be acquired from not returning to
sea with her brood, and, thus left to the mercy of fresh-water
insects and the scanty food of the river, she becomes what
the habitans of Canada call a " meagre^'* with no more soul
than a miser.
382 Fishing in American Waters.
BEST WATER FOR HATCHING SALMON.
Spring water from 45° to 55° is probably the best. Spring
water is preferable, as being more pure than river water even
after being filtered, while its temperature is more equable,
being nearer the same throughout the year. Too much sur-
face or rain water is injurious, containing less vitality for
game fish, but more predaceous insects, so that their larvae
may be mixed with the eggs in the hatching-boxes, and prey
on the spawn before it is hatched.
In situations where spring water can not be obtained in
sufficient quantities, the river water should pass through a
filter of sand and gravel. If the spring is large enough and
the ground suitable, it may be divided into artificial rills,
with a pipe of two inches run of water to each. Under all
circumstances, a gentle, equable, and pure current is indis-
pensable.
HATCHING-BOXES FOR THE INCUBATION OF THE EGGS OP SAL-
MON OR TROUT, AS ADOPTED BY THE COLLEGE OF FRANCE.
These boxes are fed from a horizontal pipe two inches in
diameter, by faucets tapping it at every tier of five boxes ;
and to break the force of the jet so that it will not derange
the ova in the first box, and to assist in aeration, a perforated
zinc cap is sometimes placed before it, as the object is to
maintain a regular movement of the current throughout the
tier of boxes, which are about six feet long and two and a
half wide. A constant flow of water, of nearly equal temper-
ature, through the boxes is a necessity. At Huningue, in
France, all the hatching-boxes are in a well-ventilated build-
ing ; and as hatching-time continues from October until Feb-
ruary, a cover to the hatching-boxes is essential ; and in En-
gland, to protect the ova from thieves, Mr. Francis recom-
mended a cover of perforated zinc, with the ends which are
above the water of zinc also ; and in order to regulate the
temperature of the water, the horizontal pipe should be sup-
A Link in animate ]N"attjke.
383
plied from a reservoir by a pipe running through a dry-air
refrigerator (or through a chest filled with ice), by which
modern American invention the temperature may be regu-
lated at any degree required between freezing and ten de-
grees below zero. The pipe should be coiled in the refrig-
erator.
The aquarium presented above is the one selected by the
College of France from numerous samples, and it^as proved
a success; but the object of it is more especially for studying
the eggs during the time of incubation. The water is there-
384
Fishing in American Waters.
fore nearly all husbanded after it passes through the boxes
by catching it in a marble trough and sending it back to the
supply reservoir by a pipe from a hydraulic ram, or a turbine
like that by which many reservoirs are supplied from rivers
or springs. These plans of aeration enable fish-culturists to
run the same water several times over the hatching-boxes ;
but it is thought by some professors that — for perfect safety
to the ova — the water should be continually renewed, and not
flow over them a second time.
In establishments of fish-culture like the government one
at Huningue, they endeavor to imitate nature more perfectly
than it can be done by a tier of boxes. They therefore build
a race-way thirty feet long, a yard wide, and eight inches
deep, as the trout-brook, and the fountain of equal tempera-
ture feeding it by pipes is the spring. 'In this race-way are
placed crosswise numerous trays of terra-cotta, glazed inside
to prevent contact of confervae with the ova, and in which, to
a frame of wood, glass tubes are fitted, and called a gril^ the
French name for gridiron. The tray is six inches wide, four
inches deep, and as long as the race-way is. wide. Both the
tray and the grille may be moved with ease to another race-
way, or the grille may be moved to clean the bottom of the
tray or for other purpose. The following cut may help illus-
trate.
Fig. 1. Terra-cotta Tray, to fit crosswise in race-way. Fig. 2. Grille of glass tubes,
made to fit in tlie tray. Fig. 3. Race-way, as wide inside as the length of the tray.
Prevent evil Contiguity.
385
After the roe becomes fructified by the milt, the case of
grilles, Fig. 2, is placed in the tray, and then deposited cross-
wise in the race-way, where the tray is mechanically confined,
when the ova is emptied on the glass grille, and left for nature
to do the rest, only seeing that the water continues to form a
stream like a natural brook through the race-way, and that
the light be never glaring or the temperature of the water
too high, bearing in mind that there will be several degrees
of difierence between the water at the head and foot of the
way.
The grilles should be examined daily, and any addled or
dead eggs removed from contact with others. This should
be done so as not to disturb the other eggs, as great quiet
during the months of incubation is necessary.
The following cut represents the implements for removing
dead eggs.
Fig.l. The Siphon, used for (jxumiuiu<? the egsxs. 2. Pincers for picking out dead eggs.
3. Fine brass wire for taking up dead eggs.
The siphon is used in France to draw up the dead eggs ;
but, as it generally disturbs so many of the live ones, its gen-
eral use in fish-culture is now confined to examining the eggs,
while pincers with sharp-pointed nibs are often used for pick-
ing out the dead eggs ; but Mr. Francis states in his " Fish
Culture" — a small but very useful volume — "Some use a
Bb
386 Fishing in American Waters.
small needle tied to a stick ; but the toughness of the ova re-
sists the prod of the needle, and goes on slipping about. * * *
The best plan, by very far, is to twist up a piece of fine brass
wire into an eye just big enough to take the ova, tie it to a
fine-pointed handle, bend it to the most convenient angle for
lifting, softly introduce it between the ova and under the one
you wish to withdraw, and fetch it out swiftly, but steadily.'"
special directions about preparing spawning-boxes.
The following explanations were made by one of the fish-
cultijrists engaged on the Tay, in Scotland :
The boxes for containing the ova were twenty-four, in num-
ber, each being six feet long, eighteen inches wide, nine inches
deep, and open at the top. The whole were disposed in a
double row, parallel with the original course of the rill. Each
row consisted of twelve boxes, placed end to end, the beds of
the foremost commencing shortly below the lower end of the
dam. A piece of three inches in depth and nine in width was
cut from each log, in order to allow a free passage for the
stream through the whole series. At the junction of each
box was nailed a sheet of tin, with turned-up sides, to pre-
vent the escape of the water. A couple of pipes, a yard in
length and two inches in diameter, conveyed the stream to
the foremost box in each row, the end of the pipes inserted in
the dam being covered with fine wire gauze to prevent the
entrance of trout and insects. The whole were arranged on
a gentle slope, so as to avoid stagnation, and insure a tolera-
bly rapid flow of water.
The boxes being aiTanged, a strata on which to place the
ova was then formed. It consisted of a mixture of sand and
gravel, of the depth of several inches, upon which were de-
posited pebbles of the ordinary size of road metal. When
properly prepared for the reception of the ova, the stream av-
eraged two inches in depth above the pavement.
At a short distance below the dam two ponds were con-
structed to contain the fiy, the one receiving the stream from
New Rules in Domestic Circles.
387
the double row of boxes, and the other from the bed of the
rill. The superficial area of each was two hundred and forty-
yards, being much too small, as finally ascertained, for the
hosts of fry with which they were ultimately tenanted.
secueing the ova of a salmon.
The process by which a salmon is made to exude its roe or
milt is illustrated by the engraving ; but the abdomen of the
fish should be kept under water, and a napkin is better than
the naked hand wherewith to hold the tail. It being diffi-
cult to hold a salmon, three persons are frequently required.
But what says our authority ?
In order to obtain the spawn in a perfectly mature state,
the fish were taken from the spawning-bed in the very act of
its deposition. They were caught with nets at night. When
taken they were instantly, and without injury, put into an
oval tub one fourth full of water. So soon as a pair of suita-
ble fish were captured, the ova from the female was immedi-
ately discharged into the tub by a gentle pressure of the
hands from the thorax downward. The milt of the male was
I
ejected in a similar manner, and the contents of the tub gen-
tly stirred with the hand. After the lapse of a minute the
388 Fishing in American Waters.
water was poured off, with the exception of sufficient to keep
the ova submerged, and fresh supplied in its place. This also
was poured off, and fresh substituted previously to removing
the impregnated spawn to the boxes prepared for its recep-
tion.
In discharging the ova from the abdomen of the female all
violence was carefully avoided. If, on examination, the ova
were found to be immature, the fish was immediately return-
ed to the river, and others in a more advanced stage taken.
When a sufficient quantity of spawn was collected, it was at
once removed to the hatching-ground. An amount propor-
tioned to the size of the boxes was carefully poured in at the
head of each, the action of the water scattering it pretty
equally among the crevices of the stones. A temporary in-
creased flow of the stream easily distributed it wherever it
might happen to be too closely crowded together. Out of
24,000 roe deposited in the spawning-boxes, 20,000 were suc-
cessfully hatched.
SALMON.
As owner of the " Longland Fishery," the opinion of Mr.
Gillone is received with much confidence and respect through-
out England. " In the first place," he states, " we have one
mill-dam hecked at top and bottom." (As the word heck
means " an engine or instrument for catching fish," we sup-
pose that he means a peculiar net or singularly constructed
weir for preventing trout or salmon from passing it, and ren-
dering them liable to capture in the attempt.) The upper
part of the dam was laid with gravel suitable for salmon or
trout to spawn in naturally. There is also a very suitable
stream for trout or salmon to deposit their spawn, and, so
soon as our fishing season is about to close, we take the num-
ber offish required to fill our breeding-boxes with fecundated
ova, and put them into the dam, and keep them there until
we see them beginning to spawn. (Spawning is sometimes
ClPHEKING SO A£ TO ESTIMATE. 38^
continued for several days, and sometimes weeks, by a single
pair offish. The male trout or male salmon sometimes forces
the female to the spawning-bed before all the ova is sufficient-
ly matured for deposition.) We then shut down our upper
sluice, catch and examine all the fish, and keep in a large
wooden box all the fish ready for manipulation, returning the
rest to the dam till we see them beginning to spawn a second
time, and so on till we get them all spawned.
We spawn them in a box three feet six inches long, seven
inches wide, and nine inches deep, with as much.water as will
cover the fish. We first take the female fish from a large box
filled with water close at hand, lay her in the little box as she
swims (that is, her back up), taking her by the tail with the
right hand, and with the left hand gently press from the neck
to the vent until you get all the roe exuded. We then joour
off about half the water, and use the male fish the same way,
mixing the milt with the water by the hand- After mixing
the ova, we have a large filter that fits the neck of a bottle,
water-tight, with a rim of wire gauze two inches deep. We
then fill the bottle and filter with water; then, pouring off the
greater part of the water in the spawn-box, we empty the roe
and water into the filter. The roe, of course, sinks into the
bottle ; the water runs off through the wire gauze, and pre-
vents any of the ova from being spilled. The bottle is mark-
ed off in divisions, each division holding 800 eggs of an aver-
age size. By this way we count our roe with little trouble
that we deposit in our breeding-boxes. In putting the ova
into the breeding-boxes, I have a tin tube that fills the neck
of the bottle, tapering to about a half-inch circle at the top.
This tube I place below the water in the breeding-box, and
gradually empty the roe into glass jars. Our breeding-boxes
are two in number, or rather a continuation of one. They
are laid quite level, so that the water circulates down the one
and up the other. The boxes are made of wood, four inches
deep, one foot wide, and the length of the two boxes com-
bined is 135 feet. These boxes are supplied with frames in-
390 Fishing in Aa^ekican Waters.
side each three feet long, filled with narrow strips of glass,
with the sharp edges ground off to prevent cutting the young
fish.; The glass is laid across the stream, forming gutters, in
which the ova is placed in rows across the run of the water;
the glass is supported in the frames three quarters of an inch
from the bottom of the box, the water flowing freely both
above and below the ova. These boxes are capable of hatch-
ing at a time 15,000 salmon or trout. This season we have
24,000 salmon eggs deposited in them, and the eggs are be-
coming quite visible. In depositing the ova in the several
boxes, I keep each fish's eggs sej^arate, and marked on the
boxes 1, 2, 3, etc. I keep corresponding numbers in a book,
with a remark on each fish's roe at the time of spawning ;
and during the time of incubation, if I see any thing worthy
of notice, I take a note of the number and what has happened.
I pick out all the dead ova once or twice a week, and keep
an account of the number, and when the hatching is finished
I subtract the number of the dead from the number deposit-
ed, which will show about the quantity we have hatched.
CARE IN obtaining FECUNDATED SPAAVN.
Whenever practicable, it is desirable to take the trout
from the spawning-beds by means of nets, so as to insure the
maturity of the ova. It can best be done in the night. So
soon as caught, the fish should be placed in a large tub, or
other vessel, partially filled with water, till a milter and
spawner are taken. In ejecting the ova, the female should
first be held over a bucket or large tin can half full of water,
the lower end of the abdomen being inserted in the water,
in order to prevent the exposure of the ova to the air. A
gentle pressure of the hand from the thorax down each side
of the abdomen will discharge the ova, if mature, without the
least injury to the fish. The water in the bucket should then
be reduced to three or four quarts previously to ejecting the
milt of the male. In expelling the milt the course pursued
is precisely the same as that just described, the lower end of
Gently urging Nature.
391
blKU'l'lNCr A iiioi r
the abdomen being in this case also inserted in the water.
After stirring the contents of the bucket with the hand, the
water should be poured off and fresh supplied several times
in succession, until no trace of the milt can be seen, always
taking care to* keep the ova submerged. The spawn may
then be moved to the hatching-ground or boxes ; for the arti-
ficial spawning-bed may be made in a ditch, dug for the pur-
pose, and paved, and supplied through pipes with water, as
well as in boxes ; but experiments have given the preference
to boxes, as susceptible of forming thereby a stream more
equal in flood, volume, and temperature. In the removal of
the ova for a short distance, it is unimportant in what man-
ner they are conveyed, so long as they are not much shaken.
.In transporting ova a great distance, it should be done in
the winter or spring, placed in tanks lined with sponge and
swamp-moss, with an aerating pump placed in it for frequent-
ly moving the water, changing it, and exposing it to the air.
Fecundated ova have been packed in moss by Seth Green and
sent by mail a thousand miles, and then hatched with very
small loss.
392 Fishing in American Watees.
A SIMPLE PROCESS FOE PEEPAEING A SPAWNING-BED.
If you have a trout-pond, taj) it at the sluice in the dam
with several pipes of two inches diameter, covering the ends
in the pond with fine wire gauze to exclude* young fish, or
the eggs of such fish or reptiles as are enemies to trout. Con-
duct the water through these pipes to rows of boxes about
two feet wide and six feet long, the boxes from the head one
nearest the dam resting two inches lower than the one which
immediately precedes it, so as to produce a current sufficient-
ly swift in this artificial stream formed of a row, or several
rows of boxes, and each row formed of half a dozen boxes.
One pipe to supply each row of boxes, and then you may
have as many rows of boxes as you have water to supply,
always bearing in mind that the water must run continually.
The waste water, after it leaves the boxes, may be conducted-
by a ditch into the brook below the dam, or into a pond pre-
pared to receive the young trout. The bottoms of the boxes
are next covered to the depth of a couple of inches with sand
and small pebbles, upon which is laid a pavement of stones
from three to six inches in diameter. The water should be
as much as two inches deep above this pavement, and fill the
boxes two thirds full. The boxes are open at the top. Then
pour the fecundated roe equally over the paved bottom of
each box, and it will soon find its way into the crevices of
the stony bottom, and within from sixty to seventy-five days
the trout will be hatched, and a bag connected to the abdo-
men by an umbilical cord contains sustenance sufficient for
forty days, after which the tiny creature begins to seek food,,
and should be removed to its pond.
FEEDING YOUNG TEOUT OE SALMON.
After the absorption of the abdominal vesicle, the fry re-
quire food of a fine and nourishing kind — crumbs of boiled
liver in small particles, minced meat or fish of any kind, or a
pate of the intestines of any animal or fowl ; horse-flesh is
Food of easy Digestion. 393^
very good ; cheese-curd, farinaceous food, may be mixed and
all put in solution, and fed to the tiny things through a syr-
inge ; maggots — called gentles — a bait for sale at all the rod-
fishing places in Europe, and the larva? and flies of the season,
form good food after the fish are two months old.
STOCKING OLD PONDS WITH TKOUT.
Old ponds, even if inhabited by trout, are apt to fill with
weeds, which grow from all parts of the bottom except the
channel cut by the creek flowing through it ; and if the stream
be too small compared with the size of the pond, so that the
water is not renewed sufficiently often, then the eels, sunfish,
perch, and pike are apt to accumulate, to the ultimate exter-
mination of the trout. It becomes necessary, therefore, before
stocking an old pond, that the water be drawn off and the
bottom of the pond thoroughly cleaned. The expense of
cleaning a pond is partially paid by the manure thus ob-
tained. Some persons, after cleaning a pond, sow the bottom
with lime and salt. The creek should also be cleaned up to
its source by sweeping it with small-meshed nets ; but all its
shades on the margin of the stream, and its hiding-places of
rocks and stones in the stream, should be left, and pegs or
394 Fishing in Ameeican Waters.
piles driven into the bottom, leaving the tops of them a foot
or so above the bottom, to prevent poachers from netting the
pond or stream. The dam may or may not be constructed
so as to permit the trout to follow down the stream to its
estuary and return at will. This would depend upon agree-
ment between the different owners of the stream. But when
the stream debouches into a bay or river of salt-water, a tum-
bling dam offers an inducement to smelt, herring, etc., to
spawn in the pond, and thus stock it with the best feed pos-
sible for trout, for those trout which feed on shrimp, smelt,
spearing, young tierring, and the roe of fishes are always su-
perior to such as feed on worms brought down the stream by
a freshet. Although one of the principal charms of the trout
is that he feeds on the flies which swarm on the surface of
the water, thus enlivening and beautifying the water by
breaking to the surface and formirig numerous wakes of large
circles, and sometimes rising above the surface and disclosing
miniature rainbows of amber and gold, yet there are times
when he prefers something more substantial, and will not
touch a fly. In this he imitates humanity, which requires
roast beef, as well as plum-pudding and omelette soufflee. So
the trout requires his piece de resistance of something more
substantial than flies.
Dubravius, Dr. Lebault, and many piscatorial professors,
dwell at great length upon jDreparing fish-ponds and taking
care of them. We therefore extract the gist of their advice,
intermingled with our own, as follows : A pond intended for
either profit or pleasure should be cleansed once every three
or four years, especially if large compared with the stream
by which it is fed, or if sustained by more surface-water than
of spring-water. It should be drained and lie dry six or
twelve months, both to kill the water-weeds and the animals
which feed on trout and its roe. The letting your pond dry
and sowing oats in the bottom is also good, for it purifies the
bottom of the pond.
In reconstructing your pond after drahiing it, and having
Habitations fok Tkojjt. 395
made the earth firm where the head of the pond must be, Le-
bault advises that you drive in two or three rows of oak or
elm piles, which should be scorched in the fire or half burned
before they be driven in the earth, for being thus used it pre-
serves them much longer fr^m rotting ; and having done so,
lay fagots or bavins of smaller wood between them, and
then earth between and above them ; and then, having first
very well rammed them and the earth, use another pile in
like manner as the first were, and note that the second pile
is to be of or about the same height that you intend to make
your sluice or flood-gate, or the vent that you intend shall
convey the overflowings of your pond, or any flood that shall
threaten to break the pond dam. Then he advises the plant-
ing of willows and osiers about the dam, and cast in charred
logs not far from the side, as also upon the sandy places, in
order to protect spawning-beds and form hiding-places for
the small fry. All ponds should contain places of gravel bot-
tom, and places sandy and shallow, where trout may disport
themselves and burnish their sides. Fish should also have
retiring-places, such as hollow banks, or shelves, or roots of
trees, to keep them from danger, and to shade them at times
during the day in the extreme heat of summer, also from the
extremity of cold in winter. If too many trees grow about
your pond, the leaves, falling into the watcB, will impreg-
nate it and injure the flavor of the fish. Although towering
trees form too dense a shade, and the foliage is bad for the
stream, while they yield cover to invite winged game and
the consequent gunner, yet shooting much about a fish-pre-
serve is injurious, and I would advise the planting of willow
and alder to partially shade the stream or pond, and render
firm the shores.
Two trout-ponds are more profitable than one of the same
area as the two, because they may be cleaned alternately,
and the trout turned into one while the other is under clean-
ing process.
In small ponds, or ponds where the small fry of commoi;
396 Fishing in American Wateks.
fish often form food for trout, Lebault advises the feeding of
trout by throwing into the pond chippings of bread, curds,
grains, or the entrails of chickens, or of any bird or beast you
kill to feed yourselves. On the score of feeding trout in pre-
serves, our experience is that they are generally fed too much.
In ponds where feed is scarce, living bait should be thrown
in, such as minnows, mummies, shrimp, and all kinds of fisli
which nature intended for bait by forbidding them ever to
become more than three inches in length. But even this
should be done sparingly. We have known several ponds on
Long Island where the fish died while they were fed sump-
tuously, and when dead were found to be in excellent condi-
tion. "We regret to state that some animals endowed with
the exterior semblance of humanity keep trout-ponds, and pre-
tend that they are waters intended for the propagation of
trout, when, in reality, they are pounds, or liquid bastiles,
wherein to imprison trout until they command a high price
in Fulton Market. When they get orders for them, they at
once feed them with a huge meal of mummies (small fish),
and when the trout have gorged themselves so that, in some
instances, the tails of the fish which the trout vainly endeav-
ored to swallow are seen protruding from their mouths, these
Peter Funks then sweep the pond with a net, and send the
trout thus stuffed to market, and receive therefor the price
which healthy trout command. During the past season one
dollar and a half a pound has frequently been paid for trout
bought at wholesale. It is said that these Peter Funks rob
the trout-streams of their neighborhoods by means of nets
during the close season — between the first of September and
the first of March — and deposit their stolen gains in liquid
pounds, where they feed them until the market opens, for it
is unlawful to catch or sell trout during the close season, ex-
cept for the purpose of science or the object of propagation.
The vkry latest Methods.
397
SECTION SECOND.
ainswoeth's eace and sceeens.
^mmm^^&09iSii
A. Top of Eace. B. Water Level
Bottom of Eace.
C. Upper Screeu, or Sieve
G. Supply Pond. H. Filtering Gate,
D. Under Screen.
The Upper Screen is represented from the gronnd-plan, in order to show the form of
the perforated bottom, and the same after paving it with pebbles. The bottom of
the Kace is also represented from the same view ; but the side only of the Under
Screen is represented. The whole is suggestive, calling for judgment and science
in construction.
The object of this invention is to induce trout to spawn where
the fish-culturist may gather the eggs and protect them
until he can transfer them to the hatching-boxes once or
twice a week, and it is a valuable step on the road of aqua-
culture toward husbanding all the resources of a stream.
The object is to form a race-way of water in a stream of
moderate flow, and divide this race into three compart-
ments. Those are the bottom of the race paved with cob-
ble-stones, E ; a few inches above it, and of the same width,
is the lower screen or sieve, D ; a few inches above which
is the upper screen, C. Trout have access to screen C for
spawning, and as the bottom of it is perforated with holes
twice as large as a trout's egg, of course the eggs laid on
it will run through the bottom of the screen and lodge on
the under one, which is perforated with very small holes
to drain it, but not pass the eggs. Screen C is divided into
trays, with handles at the sides for removing them by the
hand; the bottom is then covered with pebbles, as indi-
398 Fishing in Ajvierican Waters.
cated by the upper half of the screen ; the lower, or left
half, merely represents the perforated bottom of zinc.
Screen D, for catching the fecundated eggs, is the same
width and length as C, divided into trays also*for remov-
ing their contents conveniently.
The engraving represents the race from the supply pond half
way to the outlet of the race into the creek or lower pond.
' Screen C is open at each end, so that trout from the creek
below or the pond above may enter freely, it being an ar-
tificial imitation of a natural spawning-bed. The follow-
ing is the inventor's description :
" This race may be built like the races made for the artificial
impregnation of spawn used by nearly all trout-breeders to en-
tice the trout up from the pond to spawn. It can be made
of any length from 10 to 50 feet, and from 2 to 6 feet wide,
according to the number of trout which are to use it, and the
amount of water for the supply of the pond. It should be
made with plank sides and bottom, so tight as to keep out all
sediment. Paving the bottom nicely with small stones will
answer. The bottom, whether of plank or stone, must then
be covered wath a half-inch layer of fine, well- washed gravel.
"When one has large trout to spawn in the race the water
should be 2 inches deep at the upper or supply end, and 15
inches deep at the lower end where it empties into the pond,
with a gentle current throughout its whole length. This will
give good spawning depth to the water for trout of all sizes
from 6 to 24 inches long. Usually a race 3 feet wide, and
from 15 to 20 feet long, will be quite sufiicient for a pond of
1000 or 1800 trout.
" The bottom of this race must be covered with fine wire-
cloth screens, of about 10 meshes to the inch, made of zinc
or galvanized wire, so as not to corrode, and thus injure the
spawn. Iron wire, if painted^ will answer where zinc can not
be obtained". These wire screens must be nailed to wooden
frames, made of inch-square stuff, the frames to correspond in
length with the width of the race, and to be as wide as the
Abtificial Fish Pkopagation. 399
cloth will permit— say 2 feet. Strips of three-quarter-inch
stuff must be nailed to the bottom of the race for the screens
to rest on, in such a manner that they will be raised one quar-
ter of an inch above the gravel on the bottom. This is done
to give good circulation to the water under the spawn as
they fall on to these wire screens. These screens must be
laid the whole length of the race, side by side, to catch the
spawn as it is deposited by the parent trout.
"Now place over these another set of screens made of coarse
wire-cloth, of about two or three meshes to the inch, so that
the spawn will drop through easily. These screens must be
nailed on frames of the same length as the others, but of two-
inch stuff, and as wide as the cloth will permit. These screens
must be strong enough to hold 2 inches of well-washed coarse
gravel from three quarters of an inch to 2 inches in diameter.
They should be so large that there will be interstices between
the gravel large enough to let the spawn pass down, if neces-
sary, to the lower screen. The upper screens should have han-
dles on each end to lift them by, as they will have to be taken
out and replaced every few days during the spawning season.
"When these two sets of screens are placed the whole length
of the race, and all is complete, the water will pass over all,
2 inches deep at the supply end, and 15 inches deep at the
lower end, with a moderate current through the whole race.
The reader will perceive by the description and diagram that
there is one inch of space between the two screens to hold the
spawn as they are deposited by the parent trout, with a gen-
tle current passing over and under them, and that the upper
screen prevents the spawn from being destroyed by trout
and insects, so that they are perfectly safe until removed to
the hatching-box.
"When the trout is ready to spawn she will enter the race
from the pond and prepare her nest. This she does by whip-
ping all the sediment from the gravel with her tail, and then
she whips or digs a hole in the cleansed gravel about 2 inches
deep, or down to the upper screen, and about 4 inches in di-
400 . Fishing in American "Waters.
ameter. She then bends herself down in this hole and presses
her abdomen on the gravel, and forces out from 100 to 500
spawn, which fall to the bottom of the hole, and down through
the upper screen to the lower one. She then passes up the
race, and the male trout attending her comes over the nest
and spawns, and ejects his milt on the ova ; he then whips the
water in the hole with his tail, sending the water and milt in
all directions, so that the milt reaches all the spawn on the
screen or in the gravel, and, as they are ripe and ready for
the milt, impregnates every one of them. As soon as this is
done the mother trout returns and covers up the spawn and
fills the hole, and soon digs another in like manner, and so on
till she has deposited all her ova, which sometimes takes two
weeks.
" There may be from 20 to 50 trout in the race spawning at
one time, and all, or nearly all, of the spawn will be found
perfectly impregnated and fully matured, so that they will
all hatch if taken out every three days or once a week, and
placed in hatching-boxes.
*' To take the spawn from the lower screens, first take out
two of the upper screens, with what gravel is upon them ;
then remove the lower ones, and wash the spawn off into a
large pan of water carefully, and replace one set behind you,
and then take up one set at a time and place back until all
are returned. Should any spawn remain in the gravel, by
raising the screen up and down a few times they will drop
down through the interstices. The race must be kept well
covered during the time of spawning, all persons must be
kept away, and the fish disturbed as little as possible.
" By this method the spawn are all saved, are perfectly ma-
tured, are all impregnated, and will all hatch ; the young will
be perfect, few or none will die, as their sack-food is complete,
and they will be strong and healthy when they commence
seeking food for themselves. It is much less work to take
the spawn than by handling, and no parent trout are lost."
As salmon and trout spawn along at intervals of several
Latest Fish-beeeding Impeovements; 401^
weeks, it is natural to infer that all the eggs do not mature
at one time. That this is the case has been proven by the
officers of French fisheries. About the time when France
endowed the Institution of Huningue, and when the waters,
which had for many years remained still and dead, all at once
became enlivened by the leaps of trout and the splashings
of salmon, the " habitans" regarded the sight as supernat-
ural, and an evidence that Heaven was pleased with Napo-
leon's reign. About this time, when France had first voted
30,000 francs for the advancement of fish-culture, and then in-
creased the sum to 80,000, the study of all residents along
salmon-rivers and trout-streams was how to proitire the eggs
of trout and fecundate them. They read all about Joseph
Remy's plan, and the result was that all the streams were rob-
bed of game fishes for procuring eggs to sell to the establish-
ment at Huningue. Of course the poor fishes were squeezed to
death in forcing them to exude immature ova, and the streams
becoming thereby depeopled, induced the unbelievers in fish-
culture to set their faces against the wanton destruction.
The French government then advertised that it would pur-
chase no more fecundated ova unless the roe and milt were
exuded by employes of government. Government agents
thereafter were notified by those who had trout ready to
spawn, and the agents visited the place, and took the ova
only which was exuded without pressure, leaving the rest to
restock their streams. Since then, water-farming has been
an uninterrupted success.
pijrman's natfeal hatching-eace.
At Maspeth, in Kings County, which is within or joins the
metropolitan district of which New York City is the centre,
Mr. William Furman has been propagating brook trout arti-
ficially for the past ten years ; and as he is a gentleman of
genius, energy, and means, and, withal, an excellent fly-fisher,
his devotion to the art offish-culture has been rather for love
than profit. In his hatching-race there are millions of fecun-
Cc
402 Fishing in Ameeican Waters.
dated ova far enough advanced to render their eyes distin-
guishable, and they are hatching daily, thus proving its per-
fect adaptability to the objects intended of hatching and pro-
tecting the eggs. It differs from that of Mr. Ains worth in
having but one race, with perforated bottom of zinc, with
three holes to the inch. The bottom is covered with pebbles,
and#accessible to the trout from his pond during the spawn-
ing season, when may be frequently seen a dozen pairs of
spawners at a time. The water flows gently down the race,
and the spawners keep it constantly agitated throughout the
spawning season, so that the fecundated ova falls through the
perforated zimc bottom to the bottom of the stream, which is
made of sand and gravel, on which the eggs hatch.
It will be perceived that this race differs from the Ains-
worth one, which has two perforated races or troughs above
the bottom, from the lower one of which the fecundated eggs
are removed to hatching-boxes, while the Furman race con-
sists of but one perforated race or trough, from which the
eggs fall to the bottom, and remain during the period of in-
cubation, or until hatched.
I have not deemed it necessary to illustrate the form of
the Furman race, as it is similar to the Ainsworth one, only
it has but one screen, and the bottom is not formed of mova-
ble trays, but the eggs drop to the bottom of the stream,
where they hatch as in a natural stream, only that they are
protected from destruction by their parents or other families
of the finny race, which have no access to the compartment
of the stream.
These imitations of the natural stream and spawning-beds
are the latest invention in American fish-culture. Thus far
they have proved successful, and promise to render unneces-
sary the artificial fecundation by handling the spawner and
milter for forcing exudation of the seed. These plans sim-
plify artificial fish-breeding, and promise to prove a greater
improvement on the French grilles and hatching-trays than
were the latter upon the troughs with wire-cloth ends placed
The Napoleon Fish-hatchee. 403
in streams to hatch the fecundated ova by Lieut. Jacobi or
Joseph Remy. Messrs. Furman and Ainsworth being both
gentlemen of leisure, who devote their time to fish-culture
pro bono publico and for their love of the subject, much ben-
efit may therefore be reasonably expected from their experi-
ments in water-farmino^.
For the general managemeijt in propagating salmon and
trout, and the transportation of fecundated ova and the ale-
vins, the following advice, founded upon successful experi-
ment and entirely reliable, may be read with interest by
those who are about to commence fish-culture by artificial
assistance :
" Build your ponds according to the amount of water you
have. If you have but little, build small. The water should
be changed every 24 or 48 hours, and the oftener it changes
the better. The trout can be very plenty if they have suffi-
cient fresh water and food.
" I can send ova a fifty days' journey packed in a box with
moss. I place the moss in a tin pail, filled with sawdust, so
that the spawn will not feel the changes of heat and cold.
^^ Directions for handling the Spawn. — Pick the moss care-
fully oif from the top of the spawn. Then put the box in a
pan of water and turn it nearly bottom-side up, and pick the
moss out very carefully. The spawn will sink to the bottom,
and you can pick the moss out of the pan. If there is a little
left it will do no harm. Then pour the spawn in your hatch-
ing-trough by holding the edge of your pan under water, and
' place' them, without touching the spawn, by agitating the
water with the bearded end of a feather. The dead spawn
will turn a milk-white color, and should be picked out. Your
trough should be so arranged that the water will run in it
about twelve feet per minute. The water should be filtered
by running through gravel or cloth screens, to prevent the
sediment from reaching the spawn. I run about one inch of
404 Fishing in American "Waters.
water over my spawn, and if any sediment gets on them and
is allowed to remain there long, it will surely kill them. Re-
move all sediment with the bearded end of a quill by agita-
ting the water, without touching the spawn.
" Large ponds with but little water get too warm in sum-
mer and too cold in winter for trout to do well. It is detri-
mental to have any other fish with trout. Any kind of fish
or fish-spawn is good for feed. The young should be fed
twice per day, very slowly ; if fed fast, the feed sinks and be-
fouls the trough, and the trout will sicken and die. If fed
regularly, and the trough kept clean, with a good change of
water, and not kept too thick, they will live and do well. If
neglected, they will surely die.
" What is Death to Spawn. — The sun, sediment, rats, mice,
snails, crawfish, and many water insects.
"My troughs are 25 feet long and 15 inches wide. The
water that feeds each trough would go through a half-inch
hole with a three-inch head. Use fine gravel that has no iron
rust in it. My troughs are three inches higher at the head.
The average temperature of the water is 45°} and the fish
hatch in 10 days. Every degree colder or warmer will make
about six days difierence in hatching. Trout hatch the soon-
est in warm water. The sack on their bellies sustains them
for 40 or 45 days after hatching ; then they need food.
" When the fish are hatched, raise the water in the troughs
about four or five inches by putting on a piece of board of
that width on every cross-piece, thus keeping the fish sepa-
rate— about an equal number in each square. If you have
small streams of shallow water near the head of your pond,
put a few in a place in the stream and pond, and they will
take care of themselves better than you can. • The object of
distributing them is that they will get more food. All old
streams and ponds have plenty of food for small trout and
large, which you will find by examining the moss, sticks, and
stones in jour ponds and streams, as they are full of water-
insects.
Amusement for Ladies. 405
" The fish, after hatching, should be fed twice daily for two
or three months, then once a day — the grown fish once a day
or oftener. For the young fish, liver should be scraped and
chopped very fine, and mixed with water, to give it about the
consistency of clotted blood. Toss this to the fish a little at
a time, so that they can catch and devour it before it reaches
the bottom of the trough ; no more should be given than the
fish will eat, because if any is left it will settle on the bottom
and foul the water, and the fish will sicken and die. The fish
may be fed on curds, fish ofial, or other animal matter, pro-
vided it be small enough for them to swallow."
EVERT FARMER SHOULD HAVE A TROUT PRESERVE.
From a perusal of the foregoing descriptions for breeding
salmon and trout by the most celebrated and successful fish-
culturists, it will be perceived that they do not difier much
in the modus operandi. Nearly every farmer has a spring
on his place yielding surplus water suflScient to hatch trout
in boxes. If he does not wish to go to much expense in
erecting a dam to form- a preserve, he might at least hatch
the trout in boxes and sell them, for they are as ready sale as
any product of a farm. Mr. Ains worth, of Bloomfield, N. Y.,
said : " The original stock (of trout) was put in my pond, con-
taining 61 square rods of ground, 14 feet deep, supplied with
springs, three years ago, 1400 in number, age from 1 to 4
years. They weigh now from 1 to 3 pounds each. They are
about as tame as kittens — come at call, and show themselves
clear out of water in their haste for food by the five hundred
at a time, and some take it out of a spoon six inches above
the water. Think of seeing five hundred trout all at the
same instant, weighing from 1 to 3 pounds, and from 12 to 18
inches long !"
A two-pound trout will furnish about 8000 spawn, smaller
ones less in proportion. They commence spawning when one
year old.
In this way they can be increased and grown to any ex-
406 Fishing in American Waters.
tent, and all the ponds and streams in the country stocked to
overflowing.
We conclude with the statement of both hope and confi-
dence that the reader will find fish-breeding in boxes so sim-
ple and sure that he will at once prepare to engage in the
interesting and profitable occupation.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
Upon the breeding-times of different fishes, and their re-
sorts at certain seasons in the year to hibernate, there is no
fixed data. We know that eels spawn in salt waters if they
have access to them, and visit fresh waters to recuperate and
fatten. On the other hand, salmon seek the heads of rivers
to spawn, and resort to unknown marine pastures to gain
strength and fatten.
Most white-meated fishes spawn in the spring, yet the fish
known as the whitefish spawns in early autumn. All mem-
bers of the genus Salmo spawn in autumn.
The striped bass, with which our anglers on the rivers en-
tering the coast are as familiar as with any other game fish,
spawns at indefinite periods. It is known that in the Chesa-
peake Bay it spawns in spring; that in the estuaries and
bays near New York and along the coast of Long Island it
begins spawning in April and continues until July. The late
Judge Morris and myself were once trolling in Hell Gate in
September, and suspecting that a striped bass which we had
taken contained ova in an advanced stage, we had the fish
eviscerated, when the ova was discovered to be nearly ma-
ture. Striped bass taken in the Vineyard Sound in autumn
are frequently found to be big with roe nearly ready to drop.
These facts present questions for solution by ichthyologists.
Do striped bass — like the hens — continue laying for several
months ? Or do they lay twice a year — spring and fall ?
Both the flounder and plaice, or fluke, spawn in winter.
Smelt spawn at intervals from February until April.
The Emperor leads in Person.
m
CHAPTER VI.
SALMON-PASSES, LADDERS, ETC.
.AViNG Studied ancient aquaculture
and fish-culture, and examined the
modus operandi for water-farming,
with its profits a thousand - fold
greater than those from cultivating
the soil, the reader will have ar-
rived at the threshold of an im-
provement as necessary as are all
the previously-named operations.
One of the most important ques-
tions of the day in reference to the
fresh-water fisheries of the United
States — especially to those devoted
to the propagation of salmon and
trout — is how to expand and devel-
op them to the greatest extent, so
as to interfere as little as possible
with existing arrangements as to
mills and proprietaiy rights. That
the salmon should breed, it is ab-
solutely indispensable that it should be able to reach the
heights and shallow portions of rivers, which alone afford
suitable gravel-beds for the operation of depositing the ova
and rearing the young. If it can not get to these, the breed
of salmon is soon extinguished, and this has been the cause
of its extinction in ninety-nine rivers out of every hundred.
Mill-dams, those terrible enemies to the salmon, are the prin-
cipal offenders in this respect. Commercial and manufactur-
ing interests being almost too strong for the salmon, the
408 Fishing in American Waters.
question which has been agitating the minds of the most en-
lightened piscicidturists of the age for years has been, How
we can best contrive that the fish shall have a free passage
up the rivers, in order to continue its species without any loss
of water-power or profits on the part of the mill-owners ? If
we can show them that this is possible, we have a natural
right to compel those who have blocked up our rivers for
their own profit to give the fish a free passage as a public
benefit. The very best passage through a dam is an open
run by means of a good wide pass in the centre of the dam,
or, at any rate, in such part of it as will easily be found by
the salmon, in showers, when the water-power is generally
more than enough for the requirements of the mill and fac-
tory. There can be no great difiiculty about this (proper re-
gard, of course, being paid to the stability of the dam), ex-
cept on rivers where the power is at all deficient, when con-
trivances, such as ladders, etc., etc., are needed to prevent the
waste of any of the water-power. It is true that salmon can
jump up a fall of considerable height. Indeed, salmon have
been known to partly jump and partly swim up falls of ten
or twelve feet in height, and even much more ; but the ca-
pability requires certain conditions for its performance, and
chief of all these is a good deep pool at the foot of the fall
or dam as a starting-place, and the more arched or slanting
out of the perpendicular the fall is, the easier the salmon will
surmount it. It used formerly to be supposed that a salmon
jumped out of the water in the way that mites ane seen to
jump in a rotten cheese, viz., by putting the tail to the mouth,
and then, by the exertion of a sudden efibrt of muscular ex-
pansion, forcing its broad tail to act upon the water so as to
shoot the fish ahead. This is now known to be fallacious, as
it is seen that the salmon is quite powerless to leap any dam
when the waters at the foot of the dam are shallow ; and it
is known that salmon leap like all other animals (except
cheese-mites), viz., by acquiring the utmost attainable veloc-
ity by means of a run, and then, by a sudden and powerful
How Salmon and Trout Leap. 409
spring, giving the impetus. This spring must be made, of
course, by the assistance of every fin that can aid it, but chief-
ly by a strong stroke of the tail. Unfortunately, however,
the majority of mill-dams are so spread out across rivers
that the water runs over them in the thinnest possible sheet,
and the soundness of the dam requires a foundation on the
lower face. This foundation is assisted and protected by a
wooden sheathing called the apron, and this is placed as near
the surface of the water as possible, and extends down stream
for fifteen or twenty feet below the dam, so that the under-
standing of the dam may not be undermined ; and thus it
constantly occurs that while the pool below the dam is of
great depth and capacity, yet it only forms a sort of reservoir
for the fish, which the owner of the dam catches at his lei-
sure, the fish being unable to approach the dam even so as to
swim or pass over it ; and a dam of this sort, if only three or
four feet high, would be as impassable to salmon as if it were
four times that height. A salmon will scull up a pretty swift
stream that does not perhaps cover his back, so long as his
tail and pectoral fins, which are the propelling power, are im-
mersed,* provided in such waters he is not called upon to
make a perpendicular jump. This he can not do without a
run to start him. In considerable depths, for a short space,
a salmon can force his way through extremely rapid and
heavy waters, but there are limits to this capability ; and the
difficulty which pisciculturists labor under is the ascertaining
what weight or rapidity ofvmter a salmon can stem. Some
salmon, of course, can stem a stronger torrent than others, but
the problem must be taken as applicable to the weakest fish,
not the strongest, inasmuch as the object is chiefly to per-
mit the passage of female fish very heavily laden with ova.
A female fish, full of eggs, carries something like a fourth of
its own entire weight in that commodity, and U7iless such fish
* The tail is the most important organ in this proceeding, the fins being
used chiefly for balancing and steering the fish, though they all aid propul-
sion on unusual occasions calling for great and sudden effort.
410 FiSHrNG IN American Waters.
are let up^ there is little use in letting the others up. Therefore
the easier these passages (of whatever kind they may be) are
made for the salmon, the better it will be for the fishery.
Now it has been ascertained that a slope of one in seven
or eight is very near the extreme of steepness which a strong
salmon can make his way through — that is, for any distance.
It may be that by a sudden effort of the tail, for a yard or
^t^o, he can shoot almQSt any thing, but when he has been a
dozen yards or more of such gradient, unless he can somehow
obtain a fresh starting-point, the effort fails, and the fish is
driven back by the weight of the stream.
Therefore it is desirable, in all passes which are long or
full-steep,, to have a resting-place, or a quiet pool whence the
salmon can take wind and make a fresh start. It is impossi-
ble to lay down any definite rule for the construction of all
fish-passes, since the architect must be governed by the facil-
ities or difficulties presented by the dam or fall, and probably
few dams should be treated precisely the same. Various
methods have been employed where the water at the pool be-
low the dam is too shallow to offer the fish a good start to
leap the obstruction. One of the first and most simple plans
constructed on the New England and Canadian rivers was a
series of leaps from pool to pool, with a small dam thrown
across the stream below in order to raise the water enough
to give the salmon a start.
A stone pier is erected above the fall to break the ice in
spring, and to check the force of the timbers and the heavy
debris of the stream during spring freshets.
On small streams, a rough dam of big boulders, logs, etc.,
has been made a few yards below the existing one; this will
probably be almost half the height of the other, and is com-
paratively easy to get over. It returns the water against
the lower face of the original dam, and so makes that much
easier, and by making a pool between them of some depth, it
gives the fish the start it requires. This, on small streams,
has been found very effective, and can not in the least affect
Stone Pier to protect Structure. 411
Salmon Leaps.
the mill-power; but upon large rivers the plan is impracti-
cable. The same principle can be applied to a pass which is
imperfect, and it has been found to answer. A curving pier
has been built out from the dam below, so that the water
falliftg over the dam is thrown back by it, and though it is
open at one end, yet it passes far enough across the bed of
the river just below the fall to so raise the water that fish
get a start to leap the dam. To increase the depth of water
between this pier and the dam, a large beam of wood, in slant-
ing direction from the top of the dam to the pier, conducts a
wide sheet of water from the top of the dam to between the
dam and the pier. This method for a ^salmon-leap can not
injure the water-power. In all cases, the importance of such
vital means of assistance to the salmon requires that the arch-
412 Fishing in Ameeican Watees.
itect should be a man of natural genius as well as learninor
in his profession, and be, withal, a good angler, or know the
habits of his client.
When the mill-power is of so much consequence that no
water can be wasted, and if the fall be great, a fish-ladder is
indispensable. Fish-ladders were first invented by Mr. Smith,
of Deanston, in England, and were employed by him very
successfully, and the great secret of his success was in the
easy gradient which he gave them. His original plan was
something like a fall of one foot in twenty ; but so easy a
gradient as this greatly lengthens the ladder, and adds very
largely to the expense. The chief object of all ladders should
be to deliver the water they carry to the spot where the fish
are most likely to find it and to use it. This is, in all dams,
close to the foot of the dam, and as near as may be conven-
ient to the strong main stream. If the foot of the ladder
should be carried too far down the stream below the dam,
the fish which are at the foot of the dam will be so far above
the entrance to the ladder that they will not find it ; and if
it be in some wide eddy or part of the stream where it might
he more easy to construct the ladder^ the fish will not go to
that part, out of the main stream, to seek it. When it is
necessary, by reason of the height of the dam, to have a long
ladder, it should be turned in the middle like a double pair
of stairs, with a landing or pool half way, so as to deliver the
water close to the foot of the dam. The far-famed fish-lad-
der at Ballysadare, in Ireland, is made upon this principle, and
by the aid of it salmon manage to surmount a fall above thir-
ty feet in height. The opposite engraving will show the
principle.
A stone pier above the entrance of the water to the ladder,
as at D, is essential in American waters to protect the ladder
from the ice and the terrific debris of spring floods. The sal-
mon are all turning their pretty noses toward the ladder, and
many of them are ascending. They must think the Irish a
kind people to have erected such a convenience for them.
Result of Study and G:^ius.
'413
Ballysadare Salmon-pass.
A. Face of Dam. B. Entrance to the Ladder, easily found. C. Resting-pool, of from
one to two feet depth. D. Exit from Ladder above the fall.
The steps in the ladder extend three fourths its width, leav-
ing the stream and eddies represented. This sketch illus-
trates a very important principle, which can be varied at
pleasure. The gradient of a salmon-ladder should really not
be less than 1 in 9 or 10, and 1 in 12 is better still. The
chambers between the steps are greatly improved if the bot-
tom— instead of being all upon the same slope as the gen-
eral gradient of the ladder — is broken into steps, so that the
water is deeper immediately behind the steps, or little steps
4:14 Fisfco IN American Waters.
or falls formed at the passage past the steps. Indeed, if it
be practicable, the more the chambers are hollowed out, so
as to deepen the water as much as possible in places, and
thus to break and deaden the force of the stream, the better.
Excellent results have been obtained by this arrangement.
Of course this adds somewhat to the expense, but people
should consider rent when they are making a salmon-fishery,
which, if it is made, may in all probability be worth a very
large sum of money annually, to risk the loss of which for
the want of any little precaution, which may cost but a very
trifling sum comparatively, is very bad economy, and hence
every possible chance should be given to the fish.
Salmon-ladders can be made of wood, but they are far bet-
ter of stone, being less liable to destruction or damage. It
is a question, however, whether a salmon-ladder could not be
better and more cheaply made and put together of iron.
Such a structure might be supported very easily and firmly
by means of light iron piles driven into the head of the river
below the dam, and made in lengths which could be bolted
on to the dam and riveted together, much easier than stone
or mason's work can be secured.
Among other passes, there is one which is perhaps better
suited to a natural fall, though it was in use formerly upon
navigable rivers, where locks and dams, were placed to suit
the navigator. This was an artificial cut, coming into the
river at the foot of the dam, but let out of the river some dis-
tance above it, so as to make the ascent, which is broken by
the dam, gradual and easy. There are many contrivances
for helping fish surmount falls and dams, and they vary con-
siderably, according to the nature and position of the ob-
struction ; so that, while it is impossible to lay down any gen-
eral rule of construction for all, yet the principle that a cer-
tain depth and head of water is reserved for the passage of
the fish, and that no fall of water up which a salmon has to
pass should have a greater incline than 1 in 9 or 10, are those
by which alone the construction can be guided.
Plain Stairs foe Short Kises.
415
int. ►'5LK;U CiAL.UU.N-bTAIKS.
These stairs, of heavy timbers and mason-work, are intend-
ed to assist salmon and trout up small natural falls or dams,
and for such object are highly successful. A dam may be
necessary across the stream a few rods below, so as to deepen
the water below the fall, and give the fish a swimming start.
The height of this sub-dam should be three feet, and the
whole work well considered, and designed with much atten-
tion to the gradient, depth of water, and place for the foot of
the ladder.
The most important American ladder is the one adopted
by the Dominion of Canada, a sketch of which will be found
on the following page.
416
Fishing in American Waters.
Canadian Salmon-stairs.
Fijr. 1. Stone Pier to protect the Dam. 2. Plank and spike Dam, stone foundation.
3. Bed of the Pass or Stairs. 4. Entrance to the Pass. 6. Egress from the Pass.
Stairs foe the Fikst Families. 417
This pass is built into the dam, and constructed of heavy-
timbers filled in with stone, or all of solid masonry. It is in-
tended to be strong enough to resist and break up the acres
of thick ice, and to prevent the huge trees swept down the
stream by the spring freshets from injuring any material part
of the structure, which is so strongly erected, and of such
heavy material, and imbedded so firmly, as to strengthen the
dam of which it forms so important a part.
Fig. 6 is the ground plan, and 1 the side elevation, with
dotted line showing the bed of the pass, and with the ends of
the steps indicated by 8 and 9.
The whole subject of passes and ladders is of extreme im-
portance to our fisheries, and it is one which calls for the
closest, most patient, and most scientific investigation ; for if
fish are not allowed to reach their breeding-places, it is use-
less to look for salmon ; and the difficulty is how to deal with
the vested rights of mill-dams, etc., so as not to arouse the
opposition of the manufacturing sections.
The following account of foreign experience tells with
equal force in America :
" I watched the fish with a race-glass for some ten minutes
before disturbing them, anxious to observe what Nature was
teaching me. There is a very deep pool at the point where
the waterfall joins the lower level of the water. The fish
came out of this pool into the air with the velocity of an ar-
row ; they gave no warning or notice of their intentions, but
up they came, and darted out of the surface of the water with
a sudden rush, like rockets let loose from the darkness of the
night into the space above. When they first appeared in the
air their tails were going with the velocity of a watch-spring
just broken, and the whole body, sparkling as though they
had been enameled, was quivering with the exertion. They
looked as much like flying-fish as ever I saw any thing in my
life. As they ascended their tails left ofi* quivering, for these
tails were machines made to act on water, and not wings to
act on air. Their course was somewhat trajectory in form,
Dd
418 Fishing in American Waters.
but not so much as I should have expected. Not one single
fish, alas ! did I see get over ; some of them jumped into the
body of the waterfall, and were hurled violently back into the
pool, like the pictures we see of soldiers of old thrown down
headlong from the ramparts of a besieged city. Other fish
would put on more steam, and were in consequence carried
by their own impetus right through the sheet of water, dash-
ing themselves with the force of a cricket-ball against the
solid wall which formed the weir. These also, poor things !
fell back into the pool half stunned, and with cut and bruised
noses. While the bigger fish were making these strenuous
efibrts to ascend, their smaller companions were jumping dis-
tances more or less high up. into the falling water. Many
had evidently given it up for a bad job, and were swimming
about with their little black noses projecting out of the white
boiling water, doubtless crying out, ' We can't get up, we
can't get up. Cruel miller to put the weir. Do what you
can for us.' *Wait a bit, my dear fish,' I said; 'the Duke
of Northumberland is a kind man, and he is going to make a
ladder for you ; the plans are nearly settled, and you shall
then jump for joy, and not for pain. In the mean time read
this.' So I pinned a large piece of paper on the weir, which
read thus: * Notice to salmon and bull-trout — no road at
present over this weir. Go down stream, take the first turn
to the right, and you will find good traveling water up stream,
and no jumping required.' "
Passes for trout over common dams may be accomplished
by building a tumbling dam, so that the fish may surmount
it by small leaps. That common fish should ascend dams is
as important as that trout and salmon should, for the com-
mon fish and their roe form food for the game fish. Smelts,
herrings, moss-bunkers, chub, dace, spearing, caplin, sardines,
launces, etc., are made as subsistence for salmon and trout,
and the stairs and passes should be so graduated as to enable
them to pass up and procreate their generations.
In propagating trout, it is frequently necessary that they
A Limit to the Ambitious.
419
should be prevented from running up a stream beyond a cer-
tain point ; hence the following screen is intended to prevent
them from leaping a small cascade.
The Horizontal Screen.
This may be constructed of horizontal bars placed three
inches apart, instead of lattice-work ; or it may be of copper
wire.
The Current Wheel.
This wheel will prevent fish from passing up stream, while
the horizontal screen allows the passage of floating food.
Concluding that enough information has been laid before
the student for enabling him to begin fish-farming and pur-
sue It with success, I will therefore proceed to another topic.
|)art Jtftl).
A GLIMPSE OF ICHTHYOLOGT.
CHAPTER I.
A GLIMPSE OF ICHTHYOLOGY.
LiMPSES at the sciences are
generally worse than
superfluous, and to
" drink deep or taste
not" is the true ad-
vice ; but the angler
and the general fisher-
man may find it an
advantage to knoAv
enough of ichthyolo-
gy to qualify them for
correctly describing
the fish they catch,
and it is for this ob-
ject that the following " glimpse" is submitted. The speci-
men of the pike-perch, being the fish known in Ohio and
some other states of the West as the salmon, is presented for
teaching the names of fins.
The Common Pike-perch. — Lucioperca Americana.
In describing a fish, the size, form, and color are given —
the number, character, and position of the fins — and fre-
424:
Fishing in American Waters.
quently the shape and character of the scales, the character
of the gills, and the number of the gill-openings.
The most important and easily recognized of these features
are the Jins ; and in describing them the names are given,
and the number of spines or rays in each.
FIRST CLASS OF FISHES.
SPINE-RAYED BONY FISHES. {AcantJiopterygii.)
Scale of Inches.
The Perch Family, — 1. American Yellow Perch, Perca Jlavescens. 2. Striped Sea Bass,
Labrax lineatus. 3. Black Bass, or Black Perch of Lake Huron, Huro nigricans. 4.
Growler, or White Salmon of Virginia. Grystes salmoides. 6. Black Sea Bass, Cen-
tropistes nigricans. 6. Mediterranean Apogon, Apogon trimaculatus. 7. Two-band-
ed Dlploprion, Diploprion hifaciatum. 8, One-spotted Mesoprion, Mesoprion unino-
tahis. 9. Ruby-colored Etelis, Etelis carbunculus. 10. Armed Enoplossus, Enoplos-
siis armatus. 11. Lettered Serranus, Serranus scriba. 12. Spined Serranus, Serranus
anthias. 13. Red Surmullet, Mullus barbatus.
THE PERCH FAMILY. (CtenOlds.)
The spine -rayed bony fishes comprise more than three
fourths of all the various kinds that are known. From four-
teen to seventeen different families, some of them embracing
several hundred species each, have been included in this di-
vision. At the head of the whole stands the Perch family,
the most numerous of all. Most of them are salt-water fish,
Aldermen AND Police.
425
but about one fifth of the whole number inhabit fresh-water
streams, or occasionally ascend them from the sea.
Scale o/ Inches.
1. Mailed Gurnard, Peristedion malarmat. 2, Big Porgee, Pagrtm arcfi/rops. 3. Banded
Ephippus, or Three-tailed Porgee, Ephij)pns fahn: 4. The Sheepshead (famed for
its exquisite flesh), Sarr/ns ovis. 5. Streaked or Rock Gurnard, Trvjla lineata. 6. Ax-
illary Sea Bream, Pagdhis acarne. 7. Bearded Umbrina, Umhrina vulgaris. (The
Umbrina is "iven as the representative of the family of the Maigres, Avhich includes
our Weakfisn, Corvinas, the Chub, Kingflsh, and the Drum, the. latter noted for the
loud drumming noise which it makes, and the cause of which is still a mystery.) 8.
Common Mackerel, Scomber scomber.
The several species of the Pilot-fish, of which so many cu-
rious stories have been told, also belong to the Mackerel fam-
ily. The ancient naturalists asserted that the common pilot-
fish, which is a pretty little fish about a foot in length, joins
company with the tempest-tossed bark of the anxious mar-
iner, indicates to him his nearest course to land, and leaves
him as soon as it has fulfilled this kind office.
Others, with much reason, deny this assertion, and allege
that the pilot, like the shark, follows vessels for the pui-pose
of obtaining a share of the garbage which may be thrown
overboard. Certain, however, it is, that their perseverance
in this respect is very singular, as is narrated in the case of
an English vessel which was accompanied by two pilot-fish
1
426
Fishing in Ameeican Waters.
Scale of Feet.
1. Common Swordfish, Xiphias gladitcs. 2. Indian Swordfish, Histiophorus Indicux.
3. Common Tunny, Thynnis vulgaris. 4. Dolphin of the Ancients, Caryphoena hip-
puris. 5, Scabbard-flsh, Lepidopus argyreus. 6. Wolf-fish (a fighting character, be-
longing to the family of the Gobies), Anarrhichus lupus. 7. Fishing Frog, Lophim
piscatmius.
during its entire voyage of eighty days from Alexandria, in
the Mediterranean, to Plymouth.
It is a current opinion among sailors that this fish acts a
pilot's part to the shark, and accompanies and befriends it as
The Pilot-fish. — Naucrates ductor.
opportunity offers ; and certainly there is a great amount of
evidence which goes to show that there is something very
much like a confiding familiarity between these two compan-
ions of the weary mariner. Numerous well - authenticated
The Fate to Purvey for Others.
427
cases like that which we quote from Cuvier, respecting the
habits of this fish, might be given.
With the ancients, however, as described by their poets,
this little fish was the faithful companion of the whale in-
stead of the shark ; and Oppian thus alludes to the services
which these pigmy pilots render to their unwieldy associates :
" Bold in the front the little pilot glides,
Averts each danger, every motion guides ;
With grateful joy the willing whales attend,
Observe the leader, and revere the friend.
Where'er the little guardian leads the way,
The bulky tyrants doubt not to obey,
Implicit trust repose in him alone,
And hear and see with senses not their own,"
Wlien, and on what grounds, the misunderstanding of the
pilot with his " fat friend" took place, history fails to inform
us ; but that he is now the ally of the dreaded shark, which
he escorts in safety through every sea, is matter of general
notoriety and almost daily observation.
In addition to the foregoing spike or spine rayed fishes,
many others of them among the food-fishes and those for the
angle will be found described in another part of the book,
under the names of the fishes.
The Roach and the Dace.
428
Fishing in American Waters.
SECOND CLASS OF FISHES.
SOFT-EAYED BONY FISES. {Malacopterygn.^
Scale of Inches.
The Cabp Family.— 1. Golden Carp, or Goldfish, Cyprintis auratus. 2. The Roach,
Leuciscus rutilus. 3. The Loach, or Beardie, CoMtis barbatula. 4. The Tench, Tin-
ea vulgaris. 5. The Barbel, Barbus vulgaris. 6. New York Shiner, Cyprinus cryso-
lev^MS. 7. Common Carp, Cyprinus carpis. 8. Common New York Sucker, Catosto-
mus communis.
FISHES WITH ABDOMINAL VENTRAL FINS.
The carps may be placed at the head of the soft-rayed di-
vision. They are the least carnivorous of all fishes, and em-
brace, besides the common carp and its kindred, the several
species of the barbel, the gudgeon, the tench, the roach, the
dace and shiners, the minnows, the loach, and the American
suckers. They are the most abundant fish in the fresh-water
streams of Europe and America.
The carp, tench, roach, and kindred fishes are said by the
Abbe Dom Pinchon — the original fecundator and hatcher of
fishes by artificial means — to be the most profitable to stock
ponds with ; and unless they should become so numerous as
not to find suificient feed, introduce a few pickerel or perch.
Yaeieties for Bait Aim Fly.
429
Scale of Inches.
The Pike Family. — 1. Saury Pike, Scomber-esox satirus. 2. Common Pike, Eaox lucius.
3. Common Garfish, BeUme vulgaris. 4. Guiana Garfish, BeJxnve Guianensis. 6. Com-
mon Flying-flsh, ExodVua volitans.
k.
Scale of Inches.
Salmon and Trout Family.— 1, Whitefish of the Lakes, Coregomis albtm. 2. Common
Sea Salmon, Salmo salar. 3. New York Brook Trout, Salmo /ontinalis. 4. Troutlet.
5. Great Lake Trout of Europe, Salmo /erox.
430 Fishing in American Waters.
Descriptions under each fish will be found in another part
of the book, including those of the Shad and other members
of the Herring and Pilchard family.
THE GADID^ FAMILY, OR FISHES WITH THE VENTRAL FINS
BENEATH THE PECTORALS, CALLED Suh-hracMols.
Scale of Inches.
The Cod Family.— 1. Three-bearded Rockliug, or Sea Loche, Motella tricirrata. 2.
The Torsk, Brosmiua vulgarw. 3. The Haddock, Morrhua ceylefimis. 4. Coalfieh,
Merlangus carbonarius. 5. The Ling, Lota violva. 6. Five-bearded Rockline, Motel-
la quinquecirrata. 7. The Whiting, Merlangus vulgaris. 8. Great Forked Hake,
Phrjcis furcatus. 9 Common Cod, ilforrtoa vulgaris.
The cod and haddock are among the most important food-
fishes in the world. They are caught with the hand-line on
the edges of soundings, and visit the bays along the Atlantic
coast to spawn. ■ The Georgia Banks and the Gulf of St.
Lawrence form pastures for millions of them, where they
feed on launces (small eels), caplin, and young menhaden.
The haddock is said to refuse all kinds of bait in stormy
weather.
The cod and haddock, as important commercial fishes, are
treated of in another part of the work.
Luxuries in Disguises. 431
THE flatfish FAMILY. (PleuronectidcB.)
Scale of Inches.
Flatfish Family. — 1. The Ttirbot, Rhornbtia rtmximus. 2. Oblong Flounder, Platessa
oblonga. 3. The Plaice, Platessa vulgaris (similar in form to the Rusti/ Dab of our
coasts). 4 The Halibut, Hippoglosstts vulgaris. 5. Common Sole, Solea vulgaris.
The turbot of Europe is regarded as the aldermanic fish,
answering to our sheepshead. Both the sole and turbot are
great delicacies, and even luxuries. Boiled sole, served in a
napkin on a hot plate, with cauliflower as a vegetable, and
fresh drawn-butter, is not easily refused by the most pam-
pered epicure. These fishes are generally taken with the
hand-line and with the deep-sea casting-net. The meat of
the sole is very white, and the taste pure and of delicate fla-
vor. It is said to feed in deep waters along chalk cliff's.
Fishes 2 and 3 are the common flounder and the fluke. The
lower jaw of the flounder is on the right side of the head, and
that of the fluke on the left side. These are among the first
biting fishes of the early spring season in most of the estua-
ries on the Atlantic coast. They are excellent fishes, but
not sufficiently known or appreciated by epicures.
Until within the past ten years, it was supposed that nei-
ther the turbot nor the sole inhabited "v^aters along the Atlan-
432
Fishing in American Waters.
tic coast of North America ; but recently a few turbot have
been taken off the coast of New Brunswick, and it is thought
their feeding-grounds will yet be found along our shores.
THIRD CLASS OF FISHES.
CAETILAGINOUS FISHES. {Chondropterygii.)
Scale of Feet.
Sharks.— 1. Large-spotted Dog-fish, ScylUum catulus. 2. Tope, or Penny-dog, GaUus
vulgaris. 3. Blue Shark (the most common shark on our coasts), Carcharius glau-
cus. 4. Porbeagle, Lamna cornubica. 5. Small-spotted Dog-fish, ScylUum canicula.
6. Picked (or Piked) Dog-fish, Acanthias vulgaris. 7. Smooth Hound, Mustelus Icevis.
Scale of Feet.
Sturgeon and Chim/eka Families. — 1. Common Sturgeon of the Atlantic, Acipenser
sturio. 2. Northern Chimera, Chimcera monstrosa. 3. American Lake Sturgeon,
Acipenser rubicundus.
Bottom Denizens.
433
Scale of Feet.
The Ray Family.— 1. Common Torpedo, Torpedo vulgaris. 2. Many-?pined Trygon,
Trygon histrix. 3. Thornback Ray, Rata clavata. 4. Angel-flsh, or Monk-fish, Aqtta-
Una angelus. 6. Eagle Ray, or Whip Hay, Myliobatis aquila.
Scale of Inches.
Tub Catfibu Family. — ^1. Brown Catfish, Pimdodus pullus. 2. Common Catfish, or
Horned Pout, Pimelodu8 catus.
The Catfish family embraces the numerous fresh-water fish
which are known in this country by the common names of
catfish, homed pouts, and bullheads. They mostly inhabit
muddy streams and lakes, are destitute of scales, sluggish in
their movements, and, like the famous fishing-frog or angler,
to which they bear some resemblance, depend more upon
Ee
434
Fishing in American Waters.
stratagem than swiftness to seize their prey. The different
species vary in length from three or four inches to four feet ;
and some are said to have been caught in the Ohio and Misr
sissippi Rivers measuring eight feet in length.
In addition to the brown or black and common catfish,
there is one called the " lady-cat," or channel catfish, which
tenants the Missouri River, and is not only a great table lux-
ury, but one of the most gamy fishes of the West. It usually
ranges from five to fifteen pounds in weight, is symmetrical-
ly formed, with smaller head, and finer in general outline than
the others, and is also lighter and brighter in color. This
fish remains in the swiftest waters of the channel, and feeds
on the chub, roach, and other small fry. It is one of the
greatest delicacies of the fish kind, and in play it affords the
disciple of rod and reel a treat long to be remembered. It
is fished for with minnow for bait, using heavy bass tackle
with a tracing sinker. When hooked, its run is very swift,
and it is hard to turn and coax out of the channel, or to the
gaff or landing-net.
The following singular circumstance, going to prove the
affinity between the common horned pout and the bullfrog,
may interest the naturalist :
n a recent occasion,
while with Matte-
son, the artist, he
informed me of the
experience of Dr.
White — one of the
principal physi-
cians in the central
part of New York
State — in fishing
for horned pout,
known throughout the country as bullheads.
The doctor, having a taste for angling, which he indulged
whenever the condition of his patients permitted, was on his
Tetje as Singulak. 435
return homeward from visiting a patient, when a summer
shower reminded him that it would sharpen the appetite of
the bullheads in the river which he was approaching, and he
therefore reined up under a shed near the river, hitched his
horse, cut an ash pole, found a line armed with a hook and
sinker in his pocket, dug some angle-worms, and forthwith
went a-fishing.
There was a punt moored at the shore, and, leaving it an-
chored to the side of the stream, he stepped into it and be-
gan to fish. The bullheads put in an appearance immediate-
ly, so that within half an hour he had taken some two dozen
fish, and as fast as he took them he cast them on the grassy-
bank of the shore. Having a pretty good mess, he cut a
switch and went to string them, when not one was to be
found. This surprised the doctor, and he at once concluded
to solve the mystery, and so commenced fishing again, and
throwing the fish on the shore as he had before done, but
keeping a sly watch of them. After he cast the fourth one,
a large bullfrog leaped from the water, took hold of a bull-
head, and rolled into the water with it ; leaping out imme-
diately, and taking another fish, he rolled in as before, and so
continued until he had returned the four to the water. The
doctor continued fishing, and as fast as he had cast three or
four fish on shore, the bullfrog returned and helped them
back into the river.
As Dr. White is an educated gentleman who enjoys the
confidence of a very wide professional and intellectual con-
nexion, I feel assured of the truth of the foregoing incident,
and therefore report the case for Professor Agassiz or some
other naturalist, with the view to a learned decision on the
nature of the link which connects the bullhead and frog.
The bullfrog could not have helped the bullheads back to
the stream to feed on them, for the spiked dorsal and pecto-
rals of the latter forbid it. Even the pike — the most vora-
cious fresh -water fish in the world, excepting the silurce^
which is a species of catfish — is deterred from the attempt.
436 Fishing in Ameeican Waters.
The important question for the naturalist is, Why did the
bullfrog help the bullhead? Does the celestial quality of
charity influence the lower strata of vertebrates ?
SECTION SECOND.
THE COMMON EEL.
This apode is too common in both the salt-water estuaries,
and in the fresh waters throughout America, to require a mi-
nute description. Though many fishes come into fresh wa-
ters to spawn, the eel spawns in salt water when it can get
to it, going down stream in autumn, and returning in spring.
It is a bottom fish, and winters in the mud at the bottom of
eddies or shallow still waters in streams, where the fisher poles
his boat along with the handle of an eel-spear, and jabs right
The Common Eel. — Anguilh.
and left in the mud, frequently impaling the writhing fish.
The silver eel at the mouths of the trout-brooks on Long Isl-
and is a great luxury when either fried hard or made into a
stew. It is regarded as so great a dish at Vandewater's, at
South Oyster Bay, as to be preferred to a trout in the trouting
season. In skinning the eel and drawing it, cut deeply each
side of the backbone, and from the vent, several inches down-
ward, cut off all the part which appears to be a receptacle of
Offee of a new Industey. 437
clotted blood. Yarrel informs us that " the London market
is principally supplied from Holland by Dutch fishermen."
The cultivation . of eels and lampreys is now rendered very
remunerative in Italy and in some parts of Germany. The
average weight of each is from one to three pounds, but they
have been known to attain to fifteen pounds' weight.
THE LAMPREY.
A member of the Petromyzidce family, constituting the sec-
tion cyclostomi of the " R5gne Animal," distinguished by an
imperfectly developed skeleton and want of pectoral and ven-
tral fins, combined with an eel-like form of body. The mouth
is circular, consisting of a cartilaginous ring formed by sol-
dering together the palatine and niandibular bones. The
branchiae, instead of being pectinated, are purse-shaped, and
open externally by several apertures.
The Lamprey. — Petromyzon marinus.
The lamprey is supposed to be the lowest of the vertebrate
animals. They are usually two feet in length, and the en-
graving is a fac-simile of them. Having no swimming-blad-
der, and being also without pectoral fins, they usually swim
near the bottom ; and, to save themselves from the constant
muscular exertion which is necessary to prevent them from
438 Fishing in American Waters.
being carried along with the current, they attach themselves
by the mouth to stones or rocks, and were, in consequence,
called " Petromyzon," or stone-suckers ; while the circular,
purse-shaped form of the mouth induced the name " Cyclo-
stomes," or round-mouthed fishes.
The lamprey is highly esteemed for the table, and is there-
fore much sought after in the rivers where it is found. Like
the eel, it ascends rivers in the spring, and returns to salt
water in the fall. Sir W. Jardine supposes they spawn in
fresh water, but he probably confounds them with the river
lamprey, which is a more common fish, and less sought after
by the epicure. It is known that the marine lamprey at-
taches itself to vessels for traversing the coasts, rivers, and
canals ; and some Continental natiiralists argue that, as the
lamprey is much slower than the eel, but visits the upper
parts of rivers about the time when salmon and shad appear
there, it must therefore attach itself by its mouth to the sal-
mon and shad, and is by them towed up the rivers. I think
the idea absurd, though it has the sort of sanctional belief
of Doctor Gunther, and that which Professor Agassiz gives
against the turtle's willingness to be turned on its back.
That the marine lamprey is a more active fish than it has
credit for being is probably nearer the truth.
Both eels and lampreys may be cultivated by cutting ca-
nals through soft marsh and swamp lands to connect with
tidal waters, as they redaily enter such inlets for food, and,
after they grow large and fat, and turn toward salt water,
close the copper-wire gates on them, and lead them by other
sluices to chambers from which there is no egress.
, The eel fishery at Comacchio nets annually 170,000. The
Po is a shallow, sluggish river, which debouches into the
Adriatic by its legs of the Reno and Yolano, between which
is a large swamp and numerous lagoons. Here eels, which
enter in the spring and fatten through the summer, are in-
tercepted on their way back to sea in the fall by closing
the main outlets, and leading them by devious channels to
Anothee Fish Aekived. 439
pounds prepared for their reception. They are then salted,
some smoked, some roasted and salted, while the markets of
Milan, Verona, Padua, Venice, and other cities are supplied
with fresh ones. The same could be done along a hundred
rivers on the Atlantic coast ; but we do not yet realize the
scarcity of fish.
QUEER FISHES.
The estuary catfish is an oviparous abdominal, and one of
the recent visitants to our coasts and estuaries from the Ba-
hama Banks. The first rays of the dorsal and pectoral fins
are rigid ; second dorsal adipose ; head broad, and depressed
on the top, with small catfish eyes placed far apart ; long an-
tennae ; two distinct nostrils at end of nose, with ear- vents at
the side, below the eyes. It is without scales, and its blue
back mellows to pink sides and white abdomen. Its colors
and brilliant sheen are like the Spanish mackerel's, without
its spots. It is leather-mouthed, and the mouth small, armed
with a cushion of fine, needle-pointed teeth round the borders
of both jaws, showing that it may forage on Crustacea and
the inhabitants of the waters generally. An individual 20
inches long weighed scant two pounds, and it seldom attains
to a greater weight than ten pounds ; and, from its great del-
icacy, it resembles both the lady-cat of the Missouri River
and the Spanish mackerel of the Atlantic coast. Though
generally captured in fykes, it is a bottom-biter to the angle,
with menhaden or shedder-crab baits.
The silure is a native of the River Danube, and, from the
high esteem in which it is held throughout Europe as a table
luxury, acclimatizers and pisciculturists have introduced it
into most of the waters of Germany, some of France, and a
few of England. Bertram, in his " Treasures of the Sea,"
says of the Silurus glanis that its character is rather under
a cloud, as its capacious maw has been said to contain the
arm and shoulder of a man ; and from the immense weight
to which it attains, of from 200 lbs. to 300 lbs., and the
440
Fishing in American Watees.
knowledge that it is the most voracious of all fresh-water
fishes, the story gains credence.
It is a bottom-feeding fish, like the catfish, and, like that, it
No. 1. Estuary Catfish. No. 2. The Silure, or Silurus glanis of the Danuhe.
is a great gormandizer, thinning off the frogs, and proving a
perfect terror to all young fishes of the ordinary families.
As fattening this fish for market is very expensive, it would
scarcely pay to import it for stocking any of the American
waters but the Mississippi and Missouri, where it would form
one more family of the catfish species, and make up their sum
to six varieties of this ugly-looking delicaty. The London
Times states that the Silurus glanis rises to the ponderosity
of over 300 lbs., and " has been known to reach the enormous
weight of 54 lbs. in four years ; that its flesh somewhat re-
sembles veal in appearance, and partakes of the rich flavor
of the eel."
SECTION THIRD.
FISHES FOR ACCLIMATIZING IN AMERICAN RIVERS.
The Inde, a fish somewhat resembling the shad, grows to
the weight of nine pounds ; subsists on aquatic plants and in-
sects ; affords good sport to the angler. It is found in Scan-
dinavian waters.
Fishes ]yaGHT Impkove by Travel. 441
The Salmo Hucho, or the huchen^ is a very voracious fish,
and would do well in our Western rivers. It can be import-
ed from Huningue. It affords good sport to the angler.
The Mountain Mullet is said by Mr. Francis to be " one
of the most delicious edibles to be found among fish." It in-
habits rapid streams, grows to the weight of two or three
pounds, is fished for with light tackle, and is rapturous sport
for the anglfer. It is abundant in Jamaica, and the streams
of the Southern States may easily be stocked with it.
The Scandinavian Chaer is a delicious fish of from three
to five pounds' weight, is fine game for the fly, and might be
successfully introduced into the waters of the Northern and
Eastern States,
Ombee Chevalier. — This is regarded as the most rare Eu-
ropean fish delicacy. It is found in the Lake of Geneva and
many other waters of Switzerland, its eggs commanding a
cent each at the fish-cultural establishment of Huningue, in
France. This fish, of the genus Salmo, and running from
eight to twelve pounds in weight, may be acclimatized, and
all the Northern waters in America readily stocked with it.
So with the Salmo umhla and the salvalinus. They are rath-
er more nearly related to the families of salmon and trout
than are the charr, and from what I have heard of the Moose-
head Lake trout, I should not be surprised to learn that it is
an ombre chevalier.
The Grayling. — This fish affords the fly-fisher as great a
treat as any fish belonging to the family of the genus Salmo^
provided it be fished for with delicate fly-tackle. It usually
ranges from fifteen to twenty-five inches in length, and from
two to four pounds in weight. The rivers of New England
and New York might be readily stocked with this white-
meated luxury.
A few rivers and lakes south of the St. Lawrence — emi-
nently those inhabited by pike, pickerel, perch, and the fresh-
water families of bass— might be economically stocked with
Maskinonge, which is the head of the genus Esox as well in
442
Fishing m American Waters.
edible qualities as in size, and in saltatory powers and gamy-
habits while playing on the angler's hook.
The WiNNiNiSH, of the upper waters of the Saguenay River,
in Canada, should by all means be introduced to the rivers
of Maine and New Hampshire. It is the richest game for its
size of any belonging to the genus Salmo, and a higher lux-
ury for the table than any other of the numerous salmon
families.
" But, after all," to use an American phrase of emphatic
significance, the brook trout and salmon of our Northern wa-
ters are among the best fresh- water fishes in the world for
both the epicure and the angler. Add to these the numer-
ous delicacies of whitefish, cisco, black bass, and the farther
armies of our lakes and rivers, with the teeming millions of
our coasts and estuaries, and we should be satisfied if we
can continue our present ample store until we can conven-
iently add a few kinds more.
The Short Scnfish.
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX.
COOKERY ADAPTED TO THE RESOURCES OF SPORTSMEN
IN THE WILDERNESS OR ON THE WAVE.
OOKING in the wilderness is a
high art. It is not sup-
posed that these simple di-
rections will be of service
to that class of sportsmen
who take to the woods or
water a retinue of cooks
and attendants, but they
may be of use to those
who have a keen appetite
for the more rugged feat-
ures of such a life.
An officer of the Ameri-
can Army, who made me
several valuable contribu-
tions to this department,
states: "A sportsman ig-
norant of these matters is an entire stranger to that which
constituted in my day one of the most agreeable phases of
fishing and hunting life. With some knowledge of the sub-
ject, he can at least instruct others if he dislikes the practice
himself; othei*wise he becomes a mere dependent on those
who may be more ignorant than himself On the plains of
the West, in the lake region of Canada, in the lower prov-
inces, and on the waters of Maine, he might, and would, of
course, subsist, and so would the Indian and the Esquimaux,
446 Appendix.
but with this difference, that while the latter are ignorant
of any better or more agreeable food, the modern sports-
man would be half his time hankering after his flesh-pots at
home."
BOILING POTATOES.
Wash them, cut off each end, put them in a pot of cold
water, with a tea-spoonful of salt for every quart, cover them
with a lid, and let the water merely cover them ; place them
over a good fire, and boil so fast that the water tumbles, un-
til you can stick a dining-fork easily through them ; then
pour all the water off, and take the lid off, placing the pot
on some embers beside the fire. Do not leave the least wa-
ter in the pot, or it will steam them, and prevent them from
drying mealy.
ROASTING POTATOES.
Wash and cut off the ends of the potatoes (especially the
seed-end) and, when dry, draw the coals of the fire forward
and place the potatoes on the embers, cover them with hot
ashes, then with embers, topping off with coals, and after they
have been roasting half an hour, try them.
QUICK-MADE YEAST.
Take a pint of new milk, a tea-spoonful of salt, and table-
spoonful of flour, and stir well together; set it by the fire
and keep it lukewarm, and it will be ready for use in an hour.
It is necessary to use twice the ordinary quantity of this yeast,
and it must be soon used or it is good for nothing. It is suit-
ed to make biscuits in a hurry, but bread made of it dries
soon.
QUICK-MADE EOLLS.
Mix well together one quart of flour, two small tea-spoon-
fuls of cream of tartar, one tea-spoonful of soda, and one pint
of milk, and bake immediately.
Appendix. M-7
FRENCH EOLLS.
Take one egg, one cup of milk (or water in lieu of it), three
spoonfuls of leaven, one spoonful of butter, a little salt, and
as much flour as will make it a thick paste; then make it
into rolls, and when well risen bake them in an oven, covered
dish, or fry-pan.
A PERFECT OMELET.
Take six eggs, leaving out the whites of two ; beat them till
they are very light, and add pepper and salt to your taste ; di-
vide two ounces of butter into small pieces and put them into
the eggs.
Put a quarter of a pound of beef or veal drippings into a
fry-pan, and when they boil put in the eggs ; fry gently till
of a light brown on the under side ; add parsley if you wish
it plain, and then double it over and serve.
If you wish it of cheese, beat it in with the eggs in an
earthen dish if you have one. For veal, ham, kidney, or oys-
ters, they must.be first cooked, and then put in just before
the omelet is doubled over.
SCRAMBLED EGGS.
Beat six eggs enough to mix white and yolk together ; put
two ounces of butter in a pan set on the fire, and when melt-
ed, take off the pan, and add salt, pepper, and, if you like, a
pinch of nutmeg ; mix it in ; then add the eggs, with a table-
spoonful of gravy or essence of beef; put the pan again over
a slow fire, stir constantly till cooked to suit, and serve warm.
TO FRY SALT PORK NICELY.
Cut it in thin slices, and put it in a fry-pan covered with
hot water ; let it boil up once, and then pour it off; shake a
little pepper over it ; let it fry on both sides in its own fat,
then take out the pieces and add to the gravy a large tea-
spoon of flour ; stir it till smooth and free of lumps ; then add
4:48 Appendix.
a cup of milk ; stir over the fire a few minutes ; shake more
pepper over it ; then pour it over the pork, and serve ; or thin-
sliced boiled potatoes, or fried or boiled cold parsnips, may be
fried in the gravy when the pork is taken out.
CLAM OR OYSTER FRITTERS.
Open and dry them with a, towel; mix two well-beaten
eggs, somewhat less than half a pint of thin liquor and half a
pint of milk (or the same quantity of liquor in addition if you
have no milk), with a pint of flour; beat it thoroughly to-
gether till it is free from lumps ; then stir in the clams or oys-
ters ; cut up some salt pork in small pieces, and try it out in
a fry-pan, and remove the pieces of pork. When the fat is
boiling hot, put in your clams or oysters with a large spoon,
with one or two clams, etc., and batter in each spoonful. Let
them brown, and then turn them over; as soon as done, re-
move them from the pan, and lay them on a gridiron with a
dish under it to catch the drippings. There should always
be enough fat in the pan to cover, or nearly cover the frit-
ters.
SMOKED BEEF AND EGGS.
Shave half a pound of beef thin, and if very salt put it in a
fry-pan and cover it with boiling water ; set it on the fire and
let the water come to a boil, then pour off the water ; put in
a piece of lard, beef drippings, or suet cut fine, about the size
of two hens' eggs ; shake pepper over it to taste, and fry for
a few minutes over a quick fire ; then pour over it as many
well-beaten eggs as you please ; stir up all together till the .
eggs are cooked to taste, and serve. In lieu of eggs, dredge
the beef over with flour, or add a tablespoon or two of canned
tomato, if you have it.
HAM GRAVY AND TOAST.
Take the remains of a ham ; break or saw the bones small ;
put them in a sauce-pan with hot water enough to cover
Appendix. 449
chern ; let them simmer slowly over the fire till the marrow
is extracted from the bones, then take the pan ofi'the fire and
strain the contents ; add a little pepper, fine sage ; dredge in
a table-spoon of flour previously browned in a fry-pan, and a
tea-spoon of butter ; set it over the fire again and stir for a
few moments; lay your toast in a dish, and pour the gravy
over it, and serve hot.
CORN-MEAL FRITTERS.
Beat three eggs very light ; then mix them with a pint of
milk, a tea-spoon of salt, and enough yellow meal to make a
thin batter ; have lard, beef drippings, or pork in a fry-pan
boiling hot, and then put in the batter with a large spoon,
and fry each side brown ; when done, put them in some dish
where the fat on them can drip off.
FRIED POTATOES.
Peel and cut raw potatoes, thick or thin ; let them lie in
salt water as long as convenient ; have your fat very hot ; put
in your potatoes, and as soon as brown remove them with a
skimmer into some perforated dish, or on a cloth where the
fat can drip from them and leave them dry and crisp. The
fat must be as hot as possible.
YENISON SAUSAGES.
Take equal quantities of the odds and ends of rhw venison
(or other fresh meat) and old salt pork ; chop fine ; add pep-
per and sage, or other herbs to taste ; make them into small
cakes, and fry in a pan without any fat, that in the sausage
being enough. Venison is best ; the meat from the neck and
fore-quarters is as good as any other part for this purpose ;
three tea-spoonfuls of sage, one and a half of salt, and one of
pepper to a pound of meat is a good proportion.
450 Appendix.
VENISON SAUCE.
Half a pint of port or other wine made hot, a table-spoon-
ful of pulverized white sugar, currant jelly, and a piece of
butter the size of an egg, will make an excellent sauce.
LIVER AND KIDNEY BROCHET.
Split the kidney (if of beef ) lengthways in four equal parts ;
then cut them crossways into pieces about half an inch thick.
If they are of smaller animals, cut them crossways only, and
in all cases remove the fat and the stringy parts ; then cut
your liver and salt pork as near as may be of a size and thick-
ness of the pieces of kidney ; put a piece of kidney on a skew-
er or stiff piece of wire, then a piece of pork, then a piece of
liver, then a piece of pork, then a piece of kidney, and so on
till the skewer or wire is full; press them well together;
drive two small crotched sticks into the ground before the
fire, and rest the ends of the skewer on each crotch ; put a
dish under it to catch the drippings; turn and baste from
time to time till the pork looks dried ; or bake them in an
oven with the ends of the skewers resting on the edge of a
tin dish. Either kidney or liver alone with pork is just as
good.
SCALLOPED OYSTERS.
Drain a' quart of oysters from their liquor; butter the sides
and bottom of a deep tin dish, and put in the bottom a layer
of bread-crumbs or grated biscuit ; season the oysters with
pepper, salt, and a little mace or nutmeg ; cover the crumbs
with a layer of oysters, and spread over them several small
lumps of butter ; then add another layer of crumbs, and
again a layer of oysters, and so on till the dish is nearly full ;
let the last or top layer be of crumbs, and fill up with the
oyster juice ; cover the pan with a tin plate (if you have
no bake-oven) ; then put live coals on and under it, and bake
brown.
Appendix. 451
Split the fish along the back ; wipe it clean and dry ; pour
over it oil, with pepper and salt, and let it soak in this as long
as convenient — the longer the better ; then boil it first on the
inside (as all fish should be boiled) ; then turn it over, basting
it from time to time with the oil, etc. ; mix thoroughly a piece
of butter, some chopped parsley, salt, and pepper together,
and put it in a dish ; when the fish is done, put it on the mix-
ture and serve hot.
DANIEL Webster's chowder.
4 table-spoonfuls of onions, fried with pork.
1 quart of boiled potatoes, well mashed.
1^ lbs. sea-biscuit, broken.
1 tea-spoonful of thyme, mixed with one of summer savory,
i bottle mushroom catsup.
1 bottle of port or claret.
i nutmeg, grated.
A few cloves, mace, and alspice.
6 lbs. fish, sea bass or cod, cut in slices.
25 oysters, a little black pepper, and a few slices of lemon.
The whole put in a pot and covered with an inch of water,
boiled for an hour and gently stirred.
MAJOR HENSHAW'S CHOWDER.
Cut up a pound and a half or two pounds of old salt pork
into small pieces, and put it in a pot that has a close cover.
Put in four table-spoonfuls of sliced onions when the pork is
nearly tried out, and when the pork is entirely tried out re-
move the pieces with a skimmer or large spoon.
Then take six pounds of sea or striped bass, cod, or any
other firm fish, and cut it in slices ; a pound and a half of
broken biscuit ; twenty-five large or fifty small oysters (these
maybe omitted if out of season); one quart of boiled pota-
toes well mashed ; half a dozen large, or eight or ten small
462 Appendix.
tomatoes sliced (or half a bottle tomato catsup instead) ; one
bottle port or claret, or other wine (the two former are best) ;
half a nutmeg grated, a tea-spoonful each of fine summer sa-
vory and thyme, and a few cloves, mace, allspice, black pep-
per, and slices of lemon. Put the first five articles in the pot
in layers, and alternately, in the order above stated ; sprinkle
over each layer a portion of each of the other ingredients,
then put in water enough to cover all. Cover close, and let
it simmer, and stir occasionally till done. It should not boil,
but simmer slowly, and the cover should be taken off" as sel-
dom as possible ; on this the flavor depends. When the fish
on top is done, serve up the chowder.
CLAM CHOWDEE.
Butter the bottom and sides of a deep tin or earthen dish ;
strew the bottom thickly with bread crumbs or rolled crack-
er (soaked) ; sprinkle over it pepper and pieces of butter the
size of a hickory-nut, and parsley chopped fine ; then put in a
double layer of clams. Sprinkle also over them pepper and
pieces of butter, then another layer of soaked crumbs or crack-
er, and again a double layer of clams, pepper, butter, and so
on, the last layer being of crumbs ; add, finally, a cup of milk,
or, in lieu of it, water. Put a plate over the top, with coals
above and below, or bake in an oven three quarters of an
hour. If too dry, before it is done add enough milk or water
to moisten it.
Fifty clams, half a pound of soda biscuit or bread crumbs,
and a quarter of a pound of batter, is the quantity necessary
for this receipt.
FISH EN GRILLE OU EN PAPILLOTE.
Scale and draw your fish, wipe it dry, but use no water.
Cut ofi" the head, tail, and fins. Take dry, mealy potatoes
boiled and mashed, and mix plenty of butter with them;
when thoroughly mixed into paste or dough, envelop each
fish in a coating of them, and broil it on a gridiron till done.
Appendix. 453
or wrap it in oiled or greased white paper, and bake in hot
ashes. Small fish are best by this process.
FISH SAUCE.
Take half a pound of anchovies, half a pint of port or other
wine, a gill of strong vinegar, a small onion, a few cloves, a
little allspice and whole pepper, a few blades of mace, half a
handful of green or dried thyme, and a small lemon with the
peel sliced. Put all in a saucepan, cover it close, and stew
gently until the anchovies are dissolved ; then strain ofi*, and
bottle the liquor for use when wanted.
WHITE SAUCE FOR FISH.
Mix well together a lump of butter, a little warm water,
and a table-spoonful of flour, and add, if you have it, a little
fine-chopped parsley ; let it simmer slowly a few minutes, and
pour over or serve with the fish.
SAUCE A LA MAITRE d'hoTEL.
Mix and knead well together in a bowl two ounces of but-
ter, a table-spoonful of chopped parsley, and the juice of half
a lemon ; add salt to your taste. Vinegar may be substituted
for lemon, but it is not so good. Pepper, chopped chives, and
some grated nutmeg may be added, if liked.
STEWED FISH.
Clean and wipe the fish; heat from two to six ounces of
butter in a pan (according to the size of the fish) ; heat hot ;
then put in your fish, and let it remain over the fire five min-
utes ; turn it over, and let it remain five minutes more, and
be careful not to let it bum. Take the fish out, and put it in
another stew-pan with a cover ; dredge some flour into the
juice and butter, let it remain over the fire three minutes,
and pour it over the fish. Then take a quarter of a pound
of butter, roll it well in flour, and put it in with the fish also ;
add two blades of mace, ten cloves, a little cinnamon, red
454 Appendix.
pepper, and salt, with just enough water to keep it from
burning; cover close, and let it stew slowly. When half
done, add a pint of port or other wine ; when done, put the
fish in a dish, pour the sauce over it, and garnish with lemon
or horseradish.
BECHAMEL SAUCE.
Mix dry in a tin saucepan two ounces of butter and a table-
spoonful of flour ; when well mixed, add a pint of milk, and
dissolve the butter and flour paste in it ; set it on the fire, and
stir constantly. When it gets rather thick, take it ofl" and
pour into it the yolk of an egg (previously well beaten in a
cup), and add a tea-spoonful of water ; salt and white pepper
to taste. Mix it all well again, and it is ready for use.
TO MAKE DELICIOUS BUTTER EASILY.
Spread out three clean coarse towels one over the other,
and lay a pint of thick cream on the top ; tie up all the tow-
els as close as possible, and bury them eighteen inches deep in
dry earth for twenty-four hours ; then take them up, put the
cream in a cool earthen basin, and stir it for five minutes in
summer or fifteen minutes in winter, and you will have a
lump of as cool, fresh, delicious butter as you could desire.
A ROYAL SALAD.
Let your lettuce be perfectly dry. First boil an egg fully
fifteen minutes ; then take the yolk, a tea-spoonful of salt,
three tea - spoonfuls of pure, dry mustard, a little Cayenne
pepper, half a dozen very young green onions chopped very
fine: this must not be omitted; if not to be got, a due pro-
portion of the youngest onions must be used. Mix all the
above, except the onions, well together ; then add and mix in
well a table-spoonful of vinegar ; then add two table-spoon-
fuls of oil, and mix it in thoroughly ; then mix in thorough-
ly half a tea-spoonful of first-rate brown sugar ; then cut up
your lettuce of a size to taste, and the white of the egg small,
Appendix:. 455
and mix them with the onions, turning them over carefully
till well incorporated ; after which mix all the ingredients to-
gether, taking care not to bruise the leaves of the lettuce, and
serve immediately.
When celery is used instead of lettuce, double or treble
the quantity of mustard is necessary. It can not be excelled
if the different mixtures are thoroughly done.
AMELIA SALAD.
Beat the yolk of a raw q^% with two table-spoonfuls of oil ;
mash two moderate-sized boiled potatoes thoroughly; add
(according to taste) salt, mustard, and vinegar to the oil and
Q^^ (and add more oil if preferred) ; then incorporate the
whole well together, after which cut your lettuce to taste,
and mix it in carefully, so as not to bruise the leaves.
In using celery, a larger quantity of all the ingredients is
necessary.
POTATO SALAD.
Take cold boiled potatoes and slice them ; rub the dish in-
tended for them with garlic ; make a dressing of oil, vinegar,
pepper, salt, and parsley, if you have it, or lettuce, cut very
fine, and mix all together. To the above may be added any
odds and ends of meat, fowl, or fish you have, cut into pieces
of the size of dice. Ham, cold veal, anchovies freshened, or
herrings are eifcellent with it ; also any cold fish that is
coarse-grained and firm, such as porgee, sea bass, salmon, and
salmon-trout.
FRENCH PILAU.
Boil your fowls or other birds in enough water to cover
them, and when done, take them out. Take out also a por-
tion of the liquor ; then put into the rest of the liquor enough
rice (previously well washed) to cover the birds. When it is
done, take it out and butter it well ; put half of it in a dish ;
lay the birds on it ; add the liquor ; then cover the birds with
456 Appendix.
the rest of the rice ; make it smooth, and spread over it the
ijolk of two well-beaten eggs. Cover the dish with a tin
plate, and coals above and under, or bake in an oven, with a
moderate fire.
QUAIL, RAIL, PLOVER, AND OTHER SMALL BIRDS,
lare prepared and cooked as directed for snipe and wood-
cock, except that you cut off the head, and remove the crop
and trail before cooking. Some remove only the crop from
the very small birds.
CRANES AND HERONS,
when young, are oftenv stewed and broiled like chickens, and
are considered very good, but I prefer to make a soup of
them, with gumbo.
Pick ^nd dress them like any fowl; cut them up with a
piece of fresh beef, or a gill of the essence of beef to two or
three birds, and put all in a pot, with a table-spoonful of lard
or pork, an onion, sliced or not, as preferred, and water enough
to cook the meat. After they have become soft, if you have
them, add 100 or less oysters, with their liquor, or soft or hard
crabs previously cleaned and cut in quarters. Let it simmer
a couple of minutes or so, if oysters are used with crabs, till
they are done. Just before serving, stir in, till the soup be-
comes mucilaginous, one or two table-spoonfuls of gumbo.
Okra is commonly called gumbo ; their properties are simi-
lar, but one is a vegetable pod, the other a leaf The only
place it can probably be found at in this city is Coolidge &
Adams's, John Street. It is cheap.
Thoroughly pick and clean them ; make a stuffing of one
Q^^^ one cracker, and an equal quantity of suet or butter,
and sweet marjoram or sage ; make small balls of the stuffing,
and put one of them, with a small slice of salt pork, into each
bird ; dredge the birds well with flour, and lay them close to-
Appendix. 457
gether in the bottom of a pot ; cover them with water ; throw-
in a piece of butter; cover the pot, and let them stew slowly
for an hour and a quarter ; if they are old birds, an hour and
three quarters.
ENGLISH OR JACK SNIPE, AND WOODCOCK.
These birds live by suction, and have no crop, the stomach
being somewhat pear-shaped, and about the size of a bullet.
They should be cooked without being drawn, either by broil-
ing, or skewered, with the ends resting on crotched sticks or
on the sides of a small tin pan. A small, thin slice of pork,
covering the breast, should be tied round the bird, with a
slice or two of toast laid under it to receive the drippings.
Cook fifteen or twenty minutes, according to size, before or
over a lively fire. Those who do not like the trail should
nevertheless cook the bird whole, and remove the trail after
it is served up, otherwise the flavor of'the bird is nearly
lost. The trail, head, and neck are worth all the rest to ep-
icures.
TO SELECT MUSHROOMS.
They grow in open pasture ; those near or under trees are
poisonous ; they first appear very small, round in shape, and
on a small stalk ; the upper part and stalk are white ; as they
increase in size, the under part gradually expands, and shows
a fringe fir of a fine salmon color, and so continues until the
increase in size is considerable, when it changes to a dark
brown. The poisonous kind have a yellowish skin, and the
under part is not a clear salmon color, while the fringe or fir
is white or yellow. The good smells pleasantly, the other
rank.
4:58 Appendix.
GENERAL RULES FOR COOKING.
SOUPS.
Let them simmer rather than boil. Put cold water in the
pot, and let it heat gradually ; only uncover the pot to skim
the soup. A tea-spoonful of salt and a quart of water to each
pound of beef is a fair average. Remove every particle of
scum before you put in the vegetables. If soup is too thick,
always thin it with boiling water. Never put in green vege-
tables till the water boils. Hard or fast boiling makes meat
tough and hard. Put your herbs in when nearly done. All
soups require simmering from four to five hours.
BOILING VEGETABLES.
Cabbage should boil an hour ; beets, an hour and a half;
parsnips, an hour or an hour and a quarter, according to size ;
squashes, the larger end should boil half an hour, the neck
pieces fifteen or twenty minutes longer ; new potatoes, fifteen
or twenty minutes ; old ones, from half an hour to an hour,
according to size: never let them stop boiling (if you wish
them mealy) till they are done ; then turn off the water and
let them dry.
BOILING MEATS.
Hard or fast boiling makes all meat dry, tough, and hard.
Corned beef should, after being cooked, be left in the liquid
till it is perfectly cold, or it will be dry. Fifteen minutes to
each pound of ham is a fair average. Hams and meat should
be put in hot, but not boiling water ; cold water draws out
the juices. Beef tongues of a fair size require full three hours'
boiling.
BOILING FISH.
• 4
Ten minutes to every pound of fish is a fair average ; if
large and thick, a few minutes longer ; cover close ; simmer
Aj'PENDDC. 4:59
rather than boil ; take out immediately when done. A fresh
cod of four or five pounds takes about twenty minutes to
boil. Never put the fish in till the water is boiling hot. Salt
fish should never boil for a moment, as it makes it hard ; it
should lie in scalding water two or three hours, and then be
allowed to simmer, and the less water you use and the lon-
ger it simmers the better it will be. The fish is done when
the meat is easily detached from the bones.
FRYING FISH.
Never put your fish in the pan till the fat is boiling hot.
Always cut your pork small, and don't try it out or otherwise
cook it too fast, as it will lose much of its sweetness. Score
the fish and roll them in flour before laying them in the
sparkling fat. In using lard, a table-spoonful of salt to a
pound is a fair average.
BROILING FISH.
Wipe your fish, and use as little water in cleaning it as pos-
sible. Put the inside of the fish to the fire first. Mix thor-
oughly in a dish a tea-spoonful of salt and pepper with about
four ounces of butter, and melt it. When your fish is done,
turn each piece over and over in the butter ; cover the dish,
and keep it hot till ready to serve.
BROILING STEAKS.
Put the steak on the gridiron for a few moments, and
scorch both sides ; then take it ofi*, and when perfectly cold
proceed to broil it to your taste ; this mode preserves the
juices of the meat.
No sportsman's larder can be complete now without a few
cans of the essence of beef, for making gravies and enriching
a soup, together with a few herbs and spices for flavoring.
4:60 Appendix.
COMPOUNDING FANCY DRINKS.
EGG NOGG.
Take six eggs, a quart of milk, half a pint of brandy (or a
gill each of brandy and rum), or usej any other liquor, and six
table-spoonfuls of sugar. Beat the yolks of the eggs and the
sugar well together, and the whites very hard. Mix in the
brandy with the yolks, then boil the. milk, and add it to the
mixture. When well stirred up, crown the whole with the
whites of the eggs.
SHERRY-COBBLER.
Put in a tumbler a table-spoonful and a half of powdered
sugar and a slice or two of lemon ; then fill it half full of
crushed ice ; then pour on it a wine-glassful or more of sher-
ry. Pour the whole from tumbler to tumbler till well mixed,
and drink through a straw, if you have it.
MULLED CIDER.
Take a pint of sweet cider ; reserve a tea-cupful of it, and
add to the remainder an equal quantity of water. Set it to
boil, with a tea-spoonful of whole allspice added to it ; then
beat three eggs very light, and stir gradually the reserved
cup of cider into them ; then stir this mixture gradually into
the boiling cider and water, and continue stirring till the
whole is smooth; sweeten to taste; grate a little nutmeg
over it, and serve hot in tumblers.
MULLED WINE
is made in the same way as mulled cider.
ARRACK PUNCH.
Mix four tumblers of Jamaica rum (Antigua is best), three
quarters of a tumbler of arrack, half a tumbler of lemon-juice,
and the rind of a lemon and a half; add sugar and water equal
Appendix. 461
to twice the quantity of liquor. Before adding the sugar and
water, let the mixture stand some ten minutes or so.
CLARET PUNCH.
Take one bottle of claret or Burgundy, one bottle of plain
soda (some prefer two), one lemon, one glass of sherry, and
sugar to taste. Mix all well and ice it thoroughly, and at
the moment of serving add another bottle of soda. This
punch is excellent in hot weather.
COMMON PUNCH.
Mix well together one tumbler of crushed sugar, half a
tumbler of any liquor, six tumblers of water, the rind of two
lemons and the juice of one, or half a tumbler of lemon sirup,
and ice if to be had.
AGRAZ.
Pound some unripe white grapes, and add some white sug-
ar and water. Strain till it acquires a very pale amber or
straw color ; then, if possible, freeze it in ice, and use. This
is a Spanish receipt, and is considered by many of that na-
tion the most delicious and refeshing hot-weather drink ever
devised.
REGAL PUNCH.
Peel twenty-four lemons ; steep the rinds for twelve hours
in two quarts of Jamaica rum ; squeeze the lemons on three
pounds and a half of loaf sugar ; add two quarts of dark
brandy and six quarts of water. Mix all together ; add two
quarts of boiled milk ; stir until the mixture curdles ; strain
it through a jelly-bag until clear; bottle and cork.
FLIP.
Put the quantity of ale, porter, or beer you wish in a tin
cup, and add sugar to taste ; heat the end of a thick piece of
iron red hot, plunge it in the liquor, and stir round till the
462 Appendix.
liquor ceases to bubble, and drink hot. This is the most re-
freshing and strengthening drink either before or after a
hard day's hunt that I know of. A piece of iron of the shape
and size of a large soldering-iron is the best.
GENEKAL REMARKS.
Although sportsmen and mariners do not seek either the
wilds or the waves for the luxuries of the table, yet they set
a higher estimate on heaven's bounties than to suppose meat
and drink given to sustain life only. They consider them
rather as bestowals for strength and enjoyment to man, and
as such they are to be used intellectually and in moderation.
In the foregoing list of edibles, there is not a rare article
named, or one which is cumbrous to convey on fishing excur-
sions. Meats, sauces, and vegetables of nearly all kinds are
now canned or desiccated, and put up in convenient packages
to carry, so that for a camp life of only a fortnight on the ar-
omatic boughs of fir or hemlock it will pay to provide them.
Persons who have never enjoyed camp life out of the reach
of primary elections are not expected to realize the great lux-
ury of satisfying the cravings of real hunger caused by sport-
ive exercise in the forest, and especially are those creature
comforts -double blessings when storm-bound and confined
to the camp.
Thus much I have considered necessary to state as an ex-
cuse for adding the culinary and bibulous part as an appen-
dix, for there are not wanting those who consider eating and
drinking undignified duties.
Bermuda onions, potatoes, and salted side-pork are neces-
saries in the wilderness ; these, with eggs and flour, are about
the only articles to be sent in bulk. Trout are cooked only
four ways in the wilderness : the large ones are boiled, or
rolled in a sheet of paper which has been well buttered, then
protected farther by four or five thicknesses of brown paper,
when it is placed on hot ashes, and covered with hot ashes
Appendix.
463
topped off with live coals, and thus left twenty minutes for
every pound weight. When taken from the fire the wrap-
pers are removed, including the skin, which will adhere to
the paper, and it is placed on a hot plate and seasoned to the
taste. The third way is to draw the trout, clip off the fins,
score it across on each side, roll it in flour, and place it in
a pan of sparkling hot butter, or fat tried from salt pork ;
dredge with flour, and turn it several times for a thick crust.
The fourth way is to spit it, with a thin slice of salt pork
along one side, on a birch fork, turning it by hand over a
camp-fire until done. Lemon-juice is a refreshing luxury on
salmon or trout. In using sea-biscuits, soak them previously
in cold water; they are then good when fried in the gravy
left from frying ham and eggs.
To those who can explain the recondite harmonies which
subsist between the velvet calipash and the verdant calipee,
nothing farther need be added; and for those who do not
comprehend them, words would prove superfluous.
NOTEWORTHY ITEMS.
Drying Lines. — Fishing clubs provide posts and hooks at
headquarters for drying lines, but
in wet or foggy weather they are
useless. Experienced anglers there-
fore generally carry a small reel
with them, for linen bas»-lines, when
in use, should be dried every even-
ing.
This reel, which is formed of 24
narrow slats, tied at the ends in
threes, and moving by a double
button or screw in the centre,
closes like an umbrella, being light,
and occupying very little room in
Reel for Drying Lines. a trunk. For using it, fasten the
464 Appendix.
foot by a screw to a board or table-leaf; open it by sliding
up on the staff the lower base to which the slats are fastened,
and fasten it, by the screw represented, to the centre-shaft or
staff. Hold the line with one hand and turn the reel with
the other. The reel may be bought at most of the fishing-
tackle stores, such as Clerk's, Conroy's, Bates's, Pritchard's, in
New York, or at Bradford's, in Boston.
Copal Varnish. — This is the best varnish for tackle, hook-
dressings, etc.
White Wax. — This is made like cob^^ler's wax, and
stretched until it becomes nearly white, dry, and brittle ; or
mix beeswax, resin, and tallow ; pour into water, and stretch
and work it with the hands.
Spermaceti. — Good to dress lines. To take the kink out
of linen lines, darken their color, and not weaken them by
preparation, dip them into tanner's or lamp oil, and, when
saturated, hang them up until they dry, when pack them in
mahogany dust, and leave them several days, or until the
dust has absorbed the oil.
India-rubber Dressing. — This is recommended both for
dressing lines and for patching India-rubber boots. For
lines, cut into small pieces some white rubber and dissolve it
in turpentine — about -^^jj rubber and -j%^^ turpentine. Set
the vessel containing them in hot water, as you would glue ;
or rubber may be dissolved in chloroform. Rubber dressing
for lines is not liable to crack, and is therefore preferred to
varnish ; but spermaceti is preferred by our best fishing-tackle
manufacturers. Boiled linseed oil with a lump of resin, or a
little gold size, is preferred by some.
To DRESS Leather Wading-boots. — Cut into shavings
some black India-rubber (the vulcanized is not good for these
preparations), and place them in a vessel containing double
the amount of spirits of turpentine ; place the vessel in hot
water until the rubber dissolves, when mix, and let it cool so
as not to burn the leather, and rub the uppers and creases
above the sole, and they will be water-proof.
Appendix. 465
Some sportsmen cut black rubber into shreds and mix it
with hot tallow until dissolved, when the mixture is supposed
to keep the boots both dry and soft.
To dress wading-boots in summer, rub them over every
morning while they are in use with a piece of bullock's scro-
tum. It will prevent them from leaking, and render them as
soft as chamois-skin.
To KEEP Moth from Feathers. — Place them in a close
case with the gum of camphor, or, what is better, with vanilla
beans ; what is still better is scrapings of Russia leather.
Boxes made of cedar or sandal- wood are the best. Tobacco,
and both black and red peppers, are good to sprinkle the
feathers with, or to place in large amounts in the boxes of
feathers.
To PRESERVE Silk-worm Gut. — Keep it neither wet nor
dry. A dry cellar forms the best store-room for it. Keep it
packed and out of the air.
Oil for Hooks and Reels. — Tliat from the head or jaw
of the porpoise is the best.
Clearing Ring should be about two inches in diameter,
and half a pound weight for coast-fishing ; one fourth pound
for fresh-water fishing. The line attached to it should be
wound on a spool or reel, as shown on the cut in the title-
page, or that in salmon -fishing. In case the hook gets fast,
let the ring run down to dislodge it ; or if a salmon or striped
bass sulks, let the ring glide down on the line to his nose, and
he will generally change quarters.
To Stain Gimp. — ^Mr. Francis quotes " Book of the Pike"
in stating : " Bright brass gimp is easily seen by the fish. To
discolor it, soak it in a solution of bichlorate of platinum
mixed with water — one of platinum to eight or ten parts of
water ; then dry before the fire."
Marine. Glue is recommenced for covering splices and
securing ties.
Silk, Tinsel, etc. — To preserve them, keep them dry, and
away from the fire and air.
Gg
4:66
Appendix.
Peeserving Water-proofs. — Do not hang them on a nail
or peg ; either hang them over a chair-back, or spread them
out on the tent floor. Do not dry either boots or coats near
a fireplace or a stove. At our principal club-houses there is
a drying-room ; but on fishing excursions it were better not
to dry boots and coats than to injure them.
feet dress for field-sports;
Figures 1, 2, 3, represent the sole, front, and side views. A and 13 show the laced lap-
ping at the ankle, C the wide tongue, and D the sole.
I copy these designs from a communication to the Mdd by
" The Forester," who is one of the leading sportsmen in En-
gland and Scotland. By the wear of these boots it is intend-
ed that the ankle shall not be easily sprained, and that the
alternate lacings on each side of the instep keep the shoe
more natural and firm than if laced on one side only; and, be-
sides, the lacing is less liable to gape.
In the first place, the last on which the boots are made
should be a shaving all round wider than the naked foot, and
then the sole should be a trifle larger than the bottom of the
last. The heel should be low, and extend forward in line
with the front of the ankle-bone. The straps should be made
of soft leather, and, being broad and flat, they gather the heel
portion of the boot well up, and support the ankle and instep.
The boots should be large, to admit a heavy ribbed stocking
of wool, rather loose, for a weft too close causes .the feet to
be too warm. This writer objects to water-tight boots, and
at night, after a day's sport, he drains his boots, wipes them
out, greases them to keep them soft, sets them in a dry place
Appendix. 467
very remote from the fire, and the next morning' he dons
them over a pair of heavy, ribbed, dry stockings, and is again
ready for the fray. Use small tacks, placed in threes on the
soles, and as they lose, replace at evening.
" The Forester" is doubtless right for a shooting-boot, or
for a boot to fish along the stream for trout, or from the rocks
for striped bass ; but for wading, in summer weather, the
pegged shoe of the American army regulation is the best cov-
ering for the feet.
Stifi" leathern leggins, like those worn by the Zouaves, are
useful to protect the shins when threading rough under-
growth of thorns and briers along a trout stream. For wad-
ing-boots I have found alligator-skin the best uppers for the
feet, and Russia leather the best for the legs.
Getchell's rubber boots, lined with cloth, and with silk ex-
tensions above the knees, are the most perfect articles of the
rubber kind.
AMERICAN GAME-LAWS.
AaiERICAN LAWS FOR THE PROTECTION OF FISH, GAME, AND
INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS.
The leading features of these laws are included in those
for the State of New York and the Dominion of Canada, and
I therefore give them for the benefit of the remaining part
of North America, as the laws for regulating the protection
and capture of game and fresh-water fishes should be similar
throughout the United States and their borders.
GAME-LAWS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
An Act to amend and consolidate the several acts relating to the Preservation
of Moose, Wild Deer, Birds, and Fresh-water Fish, passed May 13, 1867.
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly,
do enact as follows :
MOOSE AND DEER.
Sec. 1. No person shall kill, or pursue with intent to kill, any moose or
wild deer save only during the months of August, September, October, No-
4:68 Appekdix.
vember, and up to and inclusive of the 10th day of December, or shall expose
for sale, or have in his or her possession, any green moose or deer skin, or
fresh venison, save only in the months aforesaid, and up to and inclusive of
the 10th of December.
WILD FAWN AND GRAY RABBITS.
Sec. 2. No person shall at any time kill any wild fawn during the periods
when such fawn is in its spotted coat, or expose for sale, or have at any time
in his or her possession, any spotted wild fawn skin, or any gray rabbit, from
the 1st of February to the 1st of November.
WILD PIGEONS.
Sec. 3. No person shall kill, or catch, or discharge any fire-arm at any wild
pigeon while in any nesting-ground, or break up or in any manner disturb
such nesting-ground, or the nests or birds therein, or discharge any 6re-arm
at any distance within a quarter of a mile of such nesting-place at such pigeon.
WILD-FOWL.
Sec. 4. No person shall kill, or expose for sale, or have in his possession
after the same is killed, any wood duck (commonly called black duck), gray
duck (commonly called summer duck), mallard, or teal duck, between the 1st
day of February and the 15th day of August in each year. No person shall
at any time kill any wild duck, goose, or other wild-fowl, with or by means of
the device or instrument known as swivel or punt gun, or with or by means
of any gun other than such guns as are habitually raised at arm's length and
fired from the shoulder, or shall use any such device, or instrument, or gun
other than such gun as aforesaid, with intent to kill any such duck, goose, or
other wild-fowl. No person shall in any manner kill, or molest with intent
to kill, any wild ducks, geese, or other Avild-fowl, while the same are sitting
at night upon their resting-places. But this section shall not apply to waters
of Long Island Sound or the Atlantic Ocean.
PENALTY FOR VIOLATION.
Sec. 5. Any person violating the foregoing provisions of this act shall be
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall likewise be liable to a penalty of
fifty dollars for each offense.
INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS.
Sec. 6. No person shall at any time, within this state, kill, or trap, or ex-
pose for sale, or have in his possession after the same is killed, any eagle, fish-
hawk, night - hawk, whippoorwill, finch, thrush, lark, sparrow, yellow- bird,
brown thresher, wren, martin, swallow, tonager, oriole, woodpecker, bobolink,
or any other harmless bird, or any song-bird ; or kill, trap, or expose for sale
any robin, blackbird, meadow-lark, or starling, save during the months of Au-
gust, September, October, November, and December ; nor destroy or rob the
nests of any wild birds whatever, under a penalty of five dollars for each bird
so killed, trapped, or exposed for sale, and for each nest destroyed or robbed.
Appendix. 469
This section shall not apply to any person who shall kill or trap any bird for
the purpose of studying its habits or history, or having the same stuffed and
set up as a specimen ; nor to any person who shall kill on his own premises
any robin during the period when summer fruits or grapes are ripening, pro-
vided such robin is killed in the act of destroying such fruits or grapes.
PINNATED GROUSE.
Sec. 7. No person shall, at any time within ten years from the passage of
this act, kill any pinnated grouse, commonly called the prairie-fowl, unless
upon grounds owned by them, and grouse placed thereon by said owners, un-
der a penalty of ten dollars for each bird so killed.
WOODCOCK, RUFFED GROUSE, QUAIL, RAIL, AND PARTRIDGE.
Sec. 8. No person shall kill, or have in his or her possession, except alive,
for the pui-pose of preserving the same alive through the \Ndnter, or expose for
sale any Avoodcock or ruffed grouse, commonly called partridge, between the
1st day of January and the 1st day of September, or kill any quail, sometimes
called Virginia partridge, between the 1 st day of January and the 20th day
of October, or have the same in possession, or expose the same for sale be-
tween the 1 St day of February and the 20th day of October, or have in his
possession any pinnated grouse, commonly called prairie-chicken, or expose
the same for sale between the 1st day of February and the 1st day of July,
under a penalty of five dollars for each bird so killed, or had in possession, or
exposed for sale. Provided, however, that in the counties lying along the
Hudson River, and Susquehanna River and its branches, and in the counties
lying south of the north line of the county of Greene, and the county of Co-
lumbia, and in the counties bordering upon the waters where the tide ebbs
and flows, it shall be lawful to kill, or possess, or expose for sale any wood-
cock, or rail, or ruffed grouse, commonly called partridge, between the 3d day
of July and the 1st day of January.
TRAPPING PROHIBITED.
Sec. 9. No person shall, at any time, or in any place within this state, with
any ti-ap or snare, take any quail or ruffed grouse, under a penalty of five dol-
lars for each quail or grouse so trapped or snared.
VIOLATING THE SABBATH.
Sec. 10. There shall be no shooting, hunting, or trapping on the first day
of the week, called Sunday, and any person offending against the provisions
of this section shall, on conviction, forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding twen-
ty-five dollars, or be imprisoned in the county jail of the county where the
offense was committed not less than ten days nor more than twenty-five days
for each offense.
TRESPASS.
Sec. 1 1 . Any person who shall at any time enter upon the lawn, garden,
orchard, or pleasure-grounds immediately surrounding a dwelling-house, with
470 Appendix.
any fire-arm, for the purpose of shooting, contrary to the pro\-isions of this
act, or shall shoot at any bird or animal thereon, shall be deemed guilty of
trespass, and, in addition to the damages, shall be liable to a penalty of ten
dollars.
POISONING FRESH-WATER STREAMS.
Sec. 12. No person shall place in any fresh-water stream, lake, or pond,
mthout the consent of the owner, any lime or other deleterious substance,
with intent to injure fish ; nor any drug or medicated bait, with intent there-
by to poison or catch fish ; nor place in any pond or lake stocked with or in-
habited by trout, black bass, pike, pickerel, or sunfish, any drug or other dele-
terious substance, with intent to destroy such trout or other fish. Any per-
son violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misde-
meanor, and shall, in addition thereto, and in addition to any damage he may
have done, be liable to a penalty of one hundred dollars.
BUILDING AND MAINTAINING DAMS.
Sec. 13. Every person building or maintaining a dam upon the rivers emp-
tying into Lake Ontario, the River St. Lawrence, or Lake Champlain, which
dam is higher than two feet, shall likewise build and maintain, during the
months of March, April, May, September, October, and November, for the
pui-pose of the passage of fish, a sluice-way in the mid-channel at least one
foot in depth at the edge of the dam, and of proper width, and placed at an
angle of not more than thirty degrees, and extending* entirely to the running
water below the dam, which sluice-way shall be protected on each side by an
apron at least one foot in height, to confine the water therein.
speckled brook trout.
Sec. 14. No person shall at any time, with intent so to do, catch any speck-
led brook trout or speckled river, trout with any device save only with a hook
and line ; and no person shall catch any such trout, or have any such trout in
his or her possession, save only during the months of April, May, June, July,
August, and September, under a penalty of five dollars for each trout so caught
or had in his possession j but this section shall not prevent any person or cor-
poration from catching trout in waters owned by them to stock other waters
belonging to them. But the counties of Kings, Queens, and Suffolk shall be
exempted from the provisions of the above section so far as to allow the tak-
ing or catching of trout in the counties last named during the month of March.
salmon-trout.
Sec. 15. No person shall take or have in possession any salmon-trout be-
tween the loth day of October and the 1st day of Febraary in each year, un-
der a penalty of five dollars for each fish so taken and had in possession. But
this section shall not apply to the waters of Otsego Lake.
black BASS OR MASKALONGE.
Sec. 1 6. No person shall take or have in possession any black bass or mas-
Appendix. 471
kalonge between the 1st day of January and the 1st day of May, under a pen-
alty of five dollars for each fish so taken or had in possession.
NETS, TRAPS, ETC.
Sec. 17. No person shall at any time take any fish with a net, spear, or
trap of any kind, or set any trap, net, weir, or pot, with intent to catch fish, in
any of the fresh waters of this state, except as hereinafter provided ; and any
})erson violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a mis-
demeanor, and shall likewise be liable to a penalty of twenty-five dollars for
each offense ; but suckers, catfish, eels, whitefish, shad, and minnows are ex-
empted from the operation of this section ; Provided, however, That nothing
in this section shall be so construed as to legalize the use of gill-nets in any
of the fresh waters of this state. But in the waters of Otsego Lake, seines
may be used from the first day of March to the last day of August, and gill-
nets may be used during the months of July and August ; but no such seine
or net shall have meshes less than one inch and three quarters in size.
VIOLATION.
Sec. 18. No person shall sell, expose for sale or purchase, or have in his or
her possession, any fish taken contrary to the provisions of this act, under a
penalty of five dollars for each fish so sold, exposed for sale, purchased, or had
in possession, with intent to violate the provisions of this act.
TRESPASSING.
Sec. 19. Any person trespassing on any lands for the purpose of taking
fish from any private pond, stream, or spring, after pubUc notice on the part
of the owner or occupant thereof, or of said lands, not to so trespass, shall be
deemed guilty of trespass, and in addition to any damages recoverable by
law, shall be liable to the owner, lessee, or occupant in a penalty of twenty-
five dollars for each offense.
HOW PENALTIES ARE RECOVERED.
Sec. 20. All penalties imposed under the provisions of this act may be re-
covered, with cost of suit, by any person or persons in his or their own names,
before any justice of the peace in the county where the offense was commit-
ted or where the defendant resides ; or when such suit shall be brought in the
City of New York, before any justice of any of the District Courts or of the
Marine Court of said city ; or such penalties may be recovered in an action
in the Supreme Court of this state, by any person or persons, in his or their
own names ; which action shall be governed by the same rules as other ac-
tions in said Supreme Court, except that in a recovery by the plaintiff" or plain-
tiff's in such suit in said court, costs shall be allowed to such plaintiff" or plain-
tiff's, without regard to the amount of such recovery; and any District Court
judge, justice of the peace, police, or other magistrate, is authorized, upon
receiving sufficient security for costs on the part of the complainant, and suffi-
cient proof by affidavit of the violation of the provisions of this act, by any
person being temporarily within his jurisdiction, but not residing therein, or
472 Appendix.
by any person whose name and residence are unknown, to issue his warrant,
and have such oflPender committed or held to bail to answer the charge against
him ; and any District Court judge, justice of the peace, poUce, or other mag-
istrate, may, upon proof of probable cause to believe in the concealment of
any game or fish mentioned in this act, during any of the prohibited periods,
issue his search warrant and cause search to be made in any house, market-
boat, car, or other building, and for that end may cause any apartment, chest,
box, locker, or crate to be broken open and the contents examined. Any
penalties, when collected, shall be paid by the court before which conviction
shall be had, one half to the overseers of the poor, for the use of the poor of
the town in which conviction is had, and the remainder to the prosecutor.
On the non-payment of the penalty, the defendant shall be committed to the
common jail of the county for a period of not less than five days, and at the
rate of one day for each dollar of the amount of the judgment, where the sum
is over five dollars in amount. Any court of special sessions in this state
shall have jurisdiction to try and dispose of all and any of the off'enses arising
in the same county against the provisions ot this act ; and every justice of the
peace shall have jurisdiction within his county of actions to recover any pen-
alty hereby given or created.
POSSESSION OP GAME PRIOR TO PROHIBITED PERIOD.
Sec. 21. Any person proving that the birds, fish, skins, or animals found
in his or her possession during the prohibited periods were killed prior to
such periods, or were killed in any place outside of the limits of this state,
and that the law of such place did not prohibit such killing, shall he exempt-
ed from the penalties of this act.
COMMON carriers AND EXPRESS COMPANIES.
Sec. 22. In all prosecutions under this act, it shall be competent for com-
mon carriers or express companies to show that the inhibited article in his or
their possession came into such possession in another state, in which state the
law did not prohibit such possession, and such showing shall be deemed a de-
fense in such prosecution. No action for a penalty under the provisions of
this act shall be settled or compromised, except upon the payment into court
of the full amount of such penalty, unless upon such terms and conditions as
may be imposed by the district attorney of the county in which such action
shall have been brought. . .
LAKE ONTARIO.
Sec. 23. Nothing in this act contained shall apply to fish caught or to the
taking of fish in the waters of Lake Ontario, or any of its bays or estuaries
within the counties of Oswego, Jefferson, and St. Lawrence, nor to the catch-
ing of fish in any way in the St. Lawrence River.
ONEIDA LAKE.
Sec. 24, The provisions of this act shall not be deemed to apply to or af-
fect the taking offish in Oneida Lake, at a distance of one mile beyond the
shores thereof.
App:gNDix. 473
KENNTETTO CREEK AND SACANDAGA VLAIE.
Sec. 25. It shall be unlawful to use or draw, for the taking offish of any kind
whatever, any seine or net in Kennyetto or Fondasbush Creek, in the county
of Fulton, or in the Sacandaga Vlaie, or in any part thereof in said county,
above the covered bridge, near the village of Fish House, commonly known as
the "Vlaie Creek Bridge," or in any of the streams emptying into the said
Vlaie.
VIOLATING THE PROVISIONS OP THE PRECEDING SECTION.
Sec. 26. Any person violating the provisions of the preceding section shall,
upon conviction thereof, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and also liable
to a penalty of twenty-five dollars, which may be recovered in the manner
prescribed in section twenty of said chapter eight hundred and ninety-eight,
hereby amended.
REPEAL OF PREVIOUS ACTS.
Sec. 27. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this
act are hereby repealed, except chapter one hundred and seventy-three of
laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-one, which is hereby continued in full
force and effect.
Sec. 28. This act shall take effect immediately.
Passed May 9, 18G8.
State of New York, \
Office of the Secretary of State, ]" ** ''
I have compared the preceding with the original law on file in this office,
and do hereby certify that the same is a correct transcript therefrom and of
the whole of said original law. Homer A. Nelson, Secretary of State.
The following is the act of 1861, referred to in section 27 :
An act for the Preservation of Fish in Canandaigva Lake and the outlet there-
of lying in the Counties of Ontario and Yates.
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly,
do enact as follows : *
Sec. 1. It shall not be lawful for any person or persons to take, catch, or
procure, in or from Canandaigua Lake, or the inlet thereof, lying within the
Counties of Ontario and Yates, any fish, with or by means of any seine, gill-
net, or other net.
Sec. 2. No person shall knowingly sell, or offer for sale, any fish caught in
or from said lake, or inlet thereof, contrary to the provisions of the first sec-
tion of this act, and it shall be unlawful for any person knowingly to purchase
any fish so taken in or from said lake or inlet.
Sec. 3. Wlioever shall violate any or either of the provisions of this act
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall also be subject to a pen-
alty for each offense of not less than ten nor more than twenty-five dollars,
to be recovered in a civil action, with costs, as hereinafter provided.
474: Appendix.
Sec. 4. Any person may bring or prosecute an action in his own name for
the recovery of the fines or penalties imposed by this act, before any justice
of the peace of either of said counties, upon first giving to such justice of the
peace security for costs, satisfaotory to such justice, in case he shall fail to
recover ; and in case of a recovery, the amount thereof, when collected, shall
be paid to the court before which such an action shall be prosecuted, together
with costs of such suit. The court before which such action shall be brought
shall certify the reasonable costs and expenses thereof, and pay the same out
of the moneys so received, and shall pay the residue thereof, if any, to the
treasurer of the county in which such action is brought, for the support of the
poor of said county.
Sec. 5. All laws inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed.
Sec. 6. This act shall take effect immediately.
Passed April 12, 1861.
THE GAME AND EISHERY LAWS OP THE DOMINION OF CANADA
POK EIGHTEEN HUNDEED AND SIXTY-NINE.
(By Edwaed C, Bakbeb, Esq., Ottawa, Author of "The Crack Shot," etc., etc.)
ONXARIO AND QUEBEC. •
Since the last issue of the Year-Book, very considerable changes have been
made in the game-laws of the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The fish-
ery-laws of the Dominion have also been revised to some extent, and it is now
believed that if sportsmen will respect the provisions of the acts, and aid in
enforcing the penalty against the poacher for infractions thereof, game and
fish will again become plentiful.
It is greatly to be regretted that the Legislatures of the different provinces
have not provided the means for carrying out their various enactments on the
subject of the protection of game, and herein is felt the inconvenience of these
matters being dealt with in detail by the various pro\dnces instead of by the
Dominion. Had the Dominion Legislature been vested with the power of
legislating upon the subject of game as well as upon the fisheries, the fishery
overseers might have been made efficient aids to the different game-clubs
throughout the country. To those of Quebec and Montreal much praise is
due for their efforts to protect game ; but it is absurd to suppose that indi-
vidual effort can stay the devastating hand of the pot-hunter. Much good
would be accomplished if the municipalities could be induced to afford their
aid.
In Ontario, the close season for deer or fawn, elk, moose or cariboo, extends
from the 1 st of December to the succeeding 1 st of September, not to be trap-
ped ; the close season for wild turkey, grouse, pheasant, and partridge is be-
tween the 1st of January and the 1 st of September ; for quail between the 1 st
of January and the 1st of October ; and for woodcock and snipe from the 1 st
of March to the 1 2th of August ; and no wild swan, goose, or any description
of duck is allowed to be killed between the 15th day of April and the 10th
day of August ; neither is it to be trapped, or taken by means of traps, snares,
or springs, or killed by any other method than by shooting. It is also un-
Appendix. 475
lawful to use sunken punts or batteries, or night lights.^ No eggs of any kind
of the birds above enumerated are allowed to be taken or destroyed at any time.
No beaver, muskrat, mink, sable, otter or fisher, is to be taken or trapped be-
tween the 1 St of May and the 15th of November.* There is also a clause pro-
tecting any particular kind of game that may be imported by parties desirous
of breeding the same. The fine varies from $2 to $25 for each head of game
illegally killed, and in default of payment offenders are imprisoned in a com-
mon jail for a term not exceeding thirty days.
Speckled trout can be taken between the 1st of January and the 1st of Oc-
tober, but only by angling by hand with hook and line. Whitefish or salmon-
trout are not to be taken by any means between the 19th of November and
the 1st of December, nor by means of any kind of seine between the 30th of
May and the 1 st of August. The close seasons for bass, pickerel, maskinonge,
and other fish are to be fixed by the governor in Council, to suit different lo-
calities.
In Quebec, the close season for elk, moose, cariboo, deer, fawn, or hare, is
from the 1 st of February to the 1st of September ; for grouse, ptarmigan, part-
ridge, woodcock, or snipe, between the 1st of March and the 1st of September.
No wild swan, wild goose, or any kind of wild duck is allowed to be shot at,
trapped, or killed between the 20th of May and the 1st of September, except
in that part of the proWnce east of the Brandy Pots, where the inhabitants
are allowed, for food only, to kill the same between the 1st of September and
the 1st of June. Neither is it lawful to kill any of the above between sunset
and sunrise. All the game animals and birds mentioned in the act except
hares and partridges are protected from trapping. No eggs of any of the
kinds of birds mentioned, or any species of wild-fowl, are allowed to be dis-
turbed, injured, or taken.
No lynx, wild cat, mink, or marten to be taken or killed between the 15th
of April and the 1st of November ; no otter between the 1st of May and the
1st of November ; no beaver between the 30th of April and the 1st of Sep-
tember ; no muskrat between the 1st of June and the 2rst of October. Nor
shall any person buy, sell, or have in his or her possession any unseasonable
skin of any of the said animals.
Fines vary from $1 to $50, and in default of immediate pajrment the penal-
ty is imprisonment in the common jail for a term not exceeding three months.
No proceeding under this act can be set aside by certiorari, an appeal only
lying to the Circuit Court of the chief place of the district wherein the offense
was committed. The jurisdiction is very summary, and the general provis-
ions very stringent. No kind of trout (or lunge) can be taken between the
1 st of October and the 1 st of January ; whitefish and salmon-trout are not
to be taken in any way between the 1 9th of November and the 1 st of Decem-
ber, nor by means of any kind of seine between the 31st of July and the 1st
of December; between the 31st of October and the 31st of December it is
unlawful to kill shad or whitefish in Missisquoi Bay, Lake Champlain ; sal-
mon can not be fished for in Ontario and Quebec, or the River Restigouche
(N. B.), between the 31st of July and the 1st of May, except by fly surface-
* The close seasou for hare is from the 1st of March to the let of September.
476 Appendix.
fishing, which extends in Ontario and Quebec from the 30th of April to the
31st of August.
It is believed that much good has already been accomplished by the recent
act for the protection of insectivorous birds. By its provisions it is made un-
lawful to kill or snare, between the 1st of March and the 1st of August, any
kind of bird whatsoever except eagles, falcons, hawks, Avild pigeons, kingfish-
ers, crows, and ravens. This act applies to both Ontario and Quebec.
NEW BRUNSWICK.
The law in this province is very strict as regards moose, the only galne-laws
of the province being those relating to the protection of moose and partridge.
The close season only extends from the 1st of February to the 1st of May:
fine $40 ; and any one is empowered to kill any dog found hunting within
the prohibited time. No one is allowed to kill more than two moose within
a period of twelve months : $12 for each oflTense. The killing, except for
food, is prohibited ; and leaving the carcass in the woods subjects the offend-
er to a fine of $20. Partridges are not to be killed between the 1 st of March
and the I st of September. There was an act making it unlawful to kill deer
on the island of Grand Menan for a period of three years, but it expired June
8, 1 8G8. The fishery regulations are the same as those of Quebec and Onta-
rio, except that the close season for salmon is, for net-fishing, from the 15th
of August to the 1st of March, and fly surface-fishing from the 15th of Sep-
tember to the 1st of March.
NOVA SCOTIA.
Chapter 92 of the Revised Statutes of Nova Scotia has also been amended,
and now reads that no moose shall be killed between the 1 st of January and
the 1st of September ; no cariboo between the 1st of March and the 1st of Sep-
tember. The close time for partridge is from the 1st of January to the 1st of
September ; and for woodcock and snipe, from the 1st of March to the 1st of
September. The pVohibitions respecting the killing of cow moose, and the
limitation of the number allowed to be killed, have been removed. Pheasants
are not allowed to be killed. The export of moose and cariboo hides is pro-
hibited : fine from $20 to $50, and forfeiture of the game or hides. Otters,
minks, and muskrats are not allowed to be killed between the 1st of May and
the 1 st of November, under a penalty of $8. It is absolutely forbidden to kill
robins, swallows, sparrows, etc., and birds of song. Penalty $1 for each bird
so killed.
The anomaly of the game-laws being dealt with by the various provinces
in detail is strikingly apparent when the close seasons are considered, e. y. :
In Ontario the legal time for killing deer ends on the 1st of December; but
in Quebec it is lawful to kill until the 1st of February. The same with re-
gard to ducks : In Ontario the sportsman is debarred from knocking them
over after the 1st of March, but his Quebec brother can pop away at them
until the 20th of May ; and so in other instances. This causes, and will con-
tinue to cause, a gi-eat deal of trouble to secure convictions against parties for
illegally killing game. These provinces being only separated by the River
Appendix.
47'
Ottawa makes it difficult to establish the fact of the illegal killing. Would
it not be well to have a convention of sportsmen agree on close seasons that
would answer for all the provinces, and press the adoption of them in their
respective Legislatures ? Of course there are difficulties in the way, but these
could easily be got over if sportsmen would only approach them in a candid
and conciliatory spirit.
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND.
The game-laws of Prince Edward Island prohibit the killing of partridges
between the 1st of March and the 1st of October, and sabnon in the fall.
NEWFOUNDLAND.
There is only one game-law in this island, entitled "An act for the Protec-
tion and Breeding of Wild-fowl and Game. " It prohibits the killing, taking,
purchasing, selling, or possessing of partridges from the 20th of February to
the 25th of August, and applies a similar prohibition in the case of snipe, or
any other wild or migratory birds frequenting for the "purpose of incubation
(except wild geese), from the 1st of April to the 20th of August.
BRITISH COLUMBIA.
It is unlawful to buy, or sell, or exhibit for sale, any deer or elk between the
1st of March and the 1st of August ; or any grouse, prairie-fowl, or partridge,
or to destroy or collect their eggs, between the 1st of March and the 10th of
August. Fine $50, or three months' imprisonment.
4o78 Appendix.
A WORD IK CONCLUSIOK
And now, brethren of the angle — students in fish-culture —
men anxious to develop American fisheries and establish ef-
fective game-laws — farewell. If true anglers, you are sure to
be gentle ; and as the truly gentle are always virtuous, you
must be happy. But the best friends must part.
I have endeavored to throw together some pleas in favor
of the "gentle craft," and to hint at the importance of water-
farming. If my mite, contributed to the general stock for
the promotion of rational enjoyment and useful occuj^ation,
shall be found worthy of those readers whom it is my pleas-
ure to honor, it will be a source of gratification to know that
my labors have not been in vain.
Let neither prosperity nor adversity deaden "the fresh
feeling after Nature" which the use of the rod and reel al-
ways heightens or confers. Whether overladen with good
fortune or sufiering under the shocks of adversity, forget not
to take the magic wand and repair to the murmuring waters.
" The music of those gentle moralists will steal into your
heart ;" and, while invigorating physical energy, your souls
will be charmed, and your minds soothed and tempered by
the music of birds, the sights of nature, and the sounds of in-
ferior animals above, around, and beneath the enlivening
waters.
With rosy dreams and bright streams, breezy morns and
mellow skies, a light heart and a clear conscience, may "God
speed ye well."
INDEX
Abrams, Captain, 91.
Acclimatizing fishes, 440,
Adirondack boats, 162.
Ainsworth's race and screens, 397,
Albicore supposed to be bonetta, 134.
Alexander's "Salmon Fishing" in
Canada, 335.
Amphion and the dolphins, 38.
Ancient and modem fish-culture, 347.
Anderson, John, Esq., 75.
Angel-fish or monk-fish, 433.
Antiquity of the "gentle art," 143.
Apogon, the Mediterranean, 424.
Ardent angler, the, 192.
Austin, George, 63.
Australia, the salmon experiment in,
369, 379.
"Ave Maria," Canadian version, 218.
Axillary sea bream, 425. s
Bait-box, 174.
Bait-can and baits, 294.
Bait-fishing for trout, 189.
Baits, 36, 37, 67.
Ballysadare salmon-pass, 413.
Bamboo rod. Dr. Clerk's, 211.
Banded ephippus, the, 425.
Barbel, the, 428.
Barker an authority on angling, 179.
Barren Island, fishing at, 97.
Basket, trout, 174.
Bass, angling for striped, 48 ; trolling'
in Hell Gate for, 52 ; still-baiting
for, 58 : casting bait for, 64 ; an-j
gling at the clubs, 69 ; the sea bass,
106 ; the black, 282 ; the Oswego, |
282 ; the black of the South, 284 ;
the spotted, or speckled hen, 285 ; i
the rock bass of the Lakes, 285 ; the
striped sea, the black of Lake Hu-
ron, and the black sea, 424.
"Bass grounds," 282.
Bearded umbrina, 425.
Beardie or loach, 428.
Bellows-fish, 111.
Bergen Point, reef-fishing on, 61.
Berners or Barnes, Dame Juliana, 143.
Bethune, Kev.Dr., 259, 275. ,
Big porgee, the, 425. •
Black bass of Lake Huron, 424.
Black flies, antidote for, 207.
Black sea iDass, 424.
Bluefish, the, 117.
Bliieshark, the, 432.
Bonetta or bonito, 132.
Borelli, Professor, 45.
Bory St. Vincent, M., 34.
Bottom fishing, rig for, 59.
Brackett, Walter M., 146, 290.
Bradley, Professor, 38.
Breeding times of fishes, 406.
Brook trout, 146.
Brown catfish, 433.
Brown's, Dr., Angler's Guide, 109.
Buel feathered spoon, 285.
Buel's patent feather troll, 299.
Bullfrog and horned pout, 435.
Camp bed, 229.
Canada, hiring rivers in, 205 ; salmon
fishing in, 206.
Canadian salmon-stairs, 416.
Canandaigua Lake, trout of, 263 ;
black bass of, 282.
Canarsie, fishing at, 90.
Caplin, the, 105.
Carp family, the, 428.
Carps at Rotterdam, 38.
Casting bait for bass, 64.
Casting-lines, straightening, 175.
Castle Council rods, 212.
Catfish family, the, 433.
Caving Channel, fishing at, 98.
Cayuga Lake, trout of, 263 ; black
bass of, 282 ; pike of, 288.
Cero, cerus, or sierra, 134.
Characterization of fishes, 17.
Chars, M., 37.
Chesapeake Bay fishery, 342.
Children, angling for, 198.
480
Index.
Chimaera family, the, 432.
Chinese fish-culture, 348.
Chinese fishing, 29.
Chinese hook, 22.
Chowder of sea bass and clams, 107.
Churn-spoon, 67.
Cisco or ciscoquette, 292.
Clams, trade in, 340.
Clergynfian's contribution, a, 1 89.
Clerk (A.) and Co., 63, 179, 184, 211.
Clubs, bassing, 69.
Coalfish, 430.
Coast and estuary fishes, 46.
Coast fishes and fisheries, 319.
Codfish, the, 328.
Cod family, the, 430.
Cod-hver oil, 339.
Colquhoun, John, on moving largefish,
248.
Commercial values — Squeteague, 81 ;
sea bass, 108 ; of Lake fisheries, 315 :
of mackerel, 323 ; of shad, 325 ; of
menhaden, 328 ; of salt-water fish-
eries, 339.
Coney Island, fishing at, 80.
Connecticut Kiver, 49.
Cookery for sportsmen, 445 ; general
rules for, 458.
Coste, M., French commissioner, 40.
Crooked Lake, fishes in, 283.
Cross-fishing for salmon, 302.
Cruelty of fishes, 43.
Current wheel, 419.
Cuttle-fish, 366.
Dace and roach, 427.
Daniell, Rev. W. B., 28, 36, 37.
Dav3% Sir Humphiy, 28.
De Blainville, M., 40.
Diploprion, the two-banded, 424.
"Doctor, the," fishing with, GO.
Dogfish, the large-spotted, the small-
spotted, the picked (or piked), 432.
Dolphin of the ancients, 426.
Dressing flies, 308.
Dried codfish, 339.
Drops, knots, and loops, 166.
Dudong, the, 25.
Duhalde, Father, on Chinese fish-cul-
ture, 347.
Dumeril, M., 36.
Eagle or whip ray, the, 433.
Eastport fishery, statistics of, 339.
Eel, the common, 436.
Egyptian fishing, 1 9.
Elizabeth Islands, 77.
Encampment on St. John River, 222.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, extract from,
31.
English Neighborhood bridge, 49.
Enoplossus, the armed, 424.
Estuary catfish, the, 439.
Etelis, the ruby-colored, 424.
Europe, great lake trout of, 429.
Fecundated spawn, 390.
Fecundity of fishes, 41.
Feeding, times for, 44.
Feeding young trout or salmon, 392.
"Field, " the London, 159.
Findon haddocks, 342.
Finn, Mr., Sa
Fire Island, the fishing at, 94.
Fish-culture, ancient and modern, 347;
in Europe in early times, 350 ; of
this century, 355.
Fish propagation assisted by art, 378.
Flatfish family, the, 431 .
Flies, artificial, 30 ; natural, for sal-
mon and trout, 31 ; for trout, 176 ;
select artificial, for trout, 1 84 ; for
salmon, 306 ; fly-dressing, 308.
Florida, black bass in rivers of, 284.
Flounder, the, 116 ; the oblong, 431.
Fly-fishing for trout, 1 54 ; on Massa-
piqua Lake, 162 ; on St. John Riv-
er, 244.
Flying-fish, 429.
Fly-rods, 1 73 ; modern splice for, 1 59.
Francis Francis on rods, 210 j on spin-
ning baits, 301.
French commission on fish-culture,
359.
French hatching-boxes, 382.
Frog, the fishing, 42(j.
Furman's hatching-race, 401.
Game laws, 151, 467.
Garfish, common, 429.
Gaspe, horse mackerel in Bay of, 135.
Gaylor, Charles, 1 23.
Ge'hin, Antoine, fish-culturist, 24, 356.
Geneva Lake,Wis., cisco in, 293.
Gibson, Sandy, guide and gafier, 56.
Gillaroo trout, the, 256.
Gillone's (Mr. J.) process of propaga-
tion, 388.
Gilsten, Mr.,123. .
Glass or wall-eyed pike, 288.
Index.
481
Gloves for trolling with, 121.
Golden carp or goldfish, 428.
Golden mullet, 100.
Grand Lake, trout of, 258.
Grayling, the, 441.
Greek poem — the Halieutics, 19.
Green's (Seth) "general directions,"
403.
Greenwood Lake, pickerel of, 2G7.
Grilse, salmon, 376.
Growler, the, of Virginia, 424.
Grunter, the, 1)9.
Guiana garfish, 429.
Gurnard, the mailed, 425; the streaked
or rock, 425.
Habits of fishes, 22.
Hackett's spinning tackle, 296.
Haddock, the, 430.
Hake, the great forked, 430.
• Halibut fishery, statistics of, 339.
Halibut, the, 431.
Harlem River, fishing in, 49.
Haskell's trolling bait, 297.
Hat for fishing, 208.
Hatching salmon, 382.
Haunts of fishes, 44.
Hell Gate, trolling in, 52.
Hibernating black bass, 282.
Hogfish, the, 98.
Hooks — Theban, Pompeiian, Chinese,
O'Shaughnessy, Pennsylvanian, 22 ;
for bass, 55, 62 ; for sheepshead,
87; round-bend fly, 185 ; fish-hook
philosophy, 185 ; " Salmoniceps's"
opinions on, 187; fish-hooks, 304;
mounting salmon-hooks, 310.
Horizontal screen, 419.
Homed pout, the, 433.
Horse mackerel, 135.
Hue, Chinese missionary, 348.
Huchen, the, 441.
Hughes, Archbishop, 275.
Hughes, boat-builder, 56.
Pluningue, fish-culture at, 362.
Hunter, Dr., 39.
Hutchinson's Sproat-bend hooks, 306.
Ichthyology, a glimpse of, 421.
Inde, the, 440.
Intelligence of fishes, 18.
Jamaica Bay, fishing in, 94 ; trolling
in, 123 ; Spanish mackerel in, 129.
Jardine, Sir William, 42.
Johnson's, Dr. Samuel, plagiarism, 156.
Johnson's, of Boston, rods, 212.
Jones, William Floyd, 163.
Josh BiUings, lesson by, 191.
Kelly's, Martin, rods, 212.
Kingfish, the, 95.
King's Bridge, fishing at, 49.
Knots, loops, and drops, 166.
Ladder, fish, 407.
Ladies, fishing for, 52.
Lady, catfish, 439.
Lake herring, 291. /
Lamprey, the, 437.
Landing nets, 173.
Leaping of trout, anecdote of, 417.
Lebault, M. , 39.
Lines, 64 ; for troUing, 121 ; salmon
casting, 212.
Loach, the, or beardie, 428.
Long Island trout, 147.
Long Lake, red trout of, 262.
Loops, knots, and drops, 166.
Lycoming Creek, anglers on, 1 93.
M'Harg's troll, 299.
Mackerel, the Spanish, 1 26 ; the horse,
135 ; the common, 319.
Mackinaw trout, the, 264.
Mailed gurnard, 425.
Malay emblem of constancy, 25.
Marshfield trout, 147.
Maskinonge, the, 277, 441.
Massapiqua Lake, fly-fishing on, 162.
Menhaden or mossbunker, 326.
Mesoprion, the one-spotted, 424.
Middle Dam camp, 181.
Mirage on the St. Lawrence, 335.
Mitchell, Hon. P., of Ottawa, 205.
Mitchell, Professor, 83.
Modem fish-culture, 347.
Mollychumkemunk Lake, 181.
Monk-fish or angel-fish, 433.
Moosehead Lake, trout of, 261.
Morland, Thomas, 135.
Morrison, Captain, 123, 1 24.
Mosier, the gaffer, 69.
Mossbunker or menhaden, 326.
Mountain mullet, 441.
Mounting salmon-hooks, 310.
Mouth, the, of fishes, 34.
Mullet, the golden, 100; the striped
red, 338 ; the mountain, 441.
Musquitoes, antidote for, 207.
Hh
.48^
Index.
Nerves of fishes, 26.
Nets employed in Lake fisheries, 317.
New York Bay, fishing in, 58.
Ombre chevalier, the, 441.
Oneida Lake, fishes in, 283, 288.
Oppian, the poet, 19, 111,427.
Outfit for salmon-fishing, 215.
Ova of the salmon, securing, 387.
Owasco Lake, fishes in, 283.
Oyster industry, the, 341.
Parr, salmon, 373, 374.
Pasque Island, fishing at, 76.
Perch, the, 287.
Perch, the white, 101.
Perfume bait of M. Chars, 37.
Philosophy, fish-hook, 185.
Pickerel, the American, 266 ; skitter-
ing for, 277; still-baiting for, 271.
Pike, the American pickerel, 206 ; the
glass-eyed or wall-eyed, 288.
Pike family, the, 429.
Pike-perch, the common, 423.
Pilot-fish, the, 425.
Pine Creek, Penn., anglers on, 192.
Plaice, the, 431.
Poachers and poaching, 152.
Poetry of angling, 141.
Poisoning fish, 34.
Pompeii, hook exhumed at, 22.
Porbeagle, the, 432. ,
Porgee, the, 108.
Porgee, the big, 425 ; the three-tailed,
425.
Porpoise, the black, 25.
Porpus, the, 25.
Portugal, a fish-pond in, 39.
Prerequisites for fishing, 22.
Preserving food fishes fresh, 343.
Pritchard Brothers, 184, 212.
Propagation of fishes, 21, 378.
Propelling minnow, the, 298.
Propulsive power of fishes, 23.
Pugne Island, 75.
Queer fishes, 439.
Rapid River, trout fishing in, 181.
Rattling Run, salmon fishing in, 241.
Ray family, the, 433.
Reels, 64 ; trout reels, 172 ; salmon
reels, 212.
Remy, Joseph, fish-culturist, 356.
Rennie, J^mes, 28, 33.
Rice Lake, the maskinonge of, 278.
Roach, the, 427.
Robinson splice, the, 159.
Rockfish or wrasses, 111.
Rockling, the, 430.
Rods, 54, 58, 66 ; modem splice for
fly-rods, 1 59 ; fly-rods for trout, 173 ;
for salmon, 208, 212.
Rogers, Sir Walter, 39.
Ruggles, Judge Philo T., 30.
Russell, Mr. Willis, of Quebec, 214.
Rusty dab, the, 431.
Salmon and trout family, 429.
Salmon, the, 202 ; outfit for salmon
fishing, 207 ; departure for fishing,
215 ; fishing in the St. John River,
218 ; a morning's experience, 234 ;
natural history of, 367 ; feeding
young salmon, 392 ; salmon-passes,
ladders, etc. , 407.
Salmon-hatching, 382 ; securing the
ova, 487 ; Mr. John Gillone's pro-
cess of propagating, 388 ; feeding
young, 392.
Salmon, trolling for, in Scotland, 302.-
Salmon leaps, 411.
"Salmonia,"28.
" Salmoniceps" on liooks, 187.
Salt-water fisheries, 339.
Saybrook, 49.
Scabbard-fish, the, 426.
Scaling fish, instructions for, 99.
Scandinavian charr, 441.
'Schoodic Lake, trout of, 258.
Scollops, trade in, 340.
Sea bass, the, 106.
Sea loach, the, 430.
Sea salmon, the common, 429.
Sea snipe, the, 111.
"Secrets of Angling, " by J. Davors, 37.
Seneca Lake, trout of, 263 ; black bass
in, 282 ; pike in, 288.
Senses of fishes, 24.
Serranus, the lettered, 424 ; the spined,
424.
Shad, the, 324.
Sharks, 432.
Shaw, Mr., of Scotland, 24.
Sheepshead, 84 ; angling for, 92.
Shiner, the, 294.
Shiner, the New York, 428.
Sierra, cero, or cerus, 134.
Silure, the, 439.
Silver or sea trout, 255.
IXDEX.
483
Sinker, the ponderating, 310.
Sinkers for sheepshead, 88.
Skaneateles Lake, fishes in, 283.
Sligo salmon-stairs, 415.
Smell in fishes, 36.
Smelt, the, 102.
Smelts, trade in, 340.
Smoking salmon, statistics of, 339*
Smolt, salmon, 375.
Smooth hound, the, 432.
Snedicor's, Oba, preserve, 158.
Sole, the common, 431.
"Songs of the Wilderness," extract
from, 234.
Southern sea trout, 82.
Southside Club, 158.
Spanish mackerel, 156.
Spawning-boxes, directions for, 386,
392.
Spawning times of fishes, 406.
Spearing, the, 103.
Spinning baits, 295.
Spinning tackle for live bait, 299.
Splice, modern, for fly-rods, 159.
Spuyt;pn Duyvel Creek, bass fishing in
49, 52.
Squeteague or weakfish, 79.
Squids — forbluefish, 120; for Spanish
mackerel, 131.
St. John's River, fishing on, 222.
Stain, how to, silkworm gut, 170.
Statistics of Lake fisheries, 315 ; of
mackerel catches, 323 ; of shad fish
eries, 325 ; of menhaden, 328 ; of
salt-water fisheries, 339.
Stocking old ponds, 393.
Stoddart, Thomas Tod, on worm-fish-
ing for trout, 194.
Stoddart's directions for obtaining silk-
woi'm gut, 171.
Straightening casting lines, 175.
Streaked or rock gurnard, 425.
Stream, how to fish a, 1 65.
Striped bass, 48. See also Bass.
Striped sea bass, 424.
Stripping trout, 391.
Sturgeon and Chimaera family, 432.
Sucker, common New York, 428.
Sulphur whale, 335.
Sunfish, the, 286 ; the short sunfish,
442.
Superior, food fishes of Lake, 315.
Surmullet, the red, 424.
Swordfish, the common, and the In-
dian, 426.
Tackle for taking small bass, 50 ; for
kingfish, 97 ; for sea bass, 108 ; for
bluefish, 120 ; for trouting, 159 ; for
salmon, 207; for pickerel, 270 ; for
maskinonge, 279.
Taste in fishes, 33.
Tautog or blackfish, 113.
Tautog, the American, 111 ; how to
cook it, 1 14.
Teeth of fishes, 34.
Tench, the, 428.
Thebes, hook exhumed at, 22.
Thomback ray, the, 433.
Thousand Islands, the, 274.
Thumb-stall, 67.
Tongue, the, of fishes, 34.
Tope or penny-dog, 432.
Torpedo, the common, 433.
Torsk, the, 430.
' ' Transmutations of the salmon," 356.
TrolUng — in Hell Gate, 52; among
the Thousand Islands, 274; troll-
ing weather and baits, 303 ; differ-
ent kinds of tackle, 53, 54, 65, 295,
296, 297, 298, 299.
Trout, the Southern sea, 82 ; the
brook, 146; fly-fishing for, 154;
bait-fishing for, 189 ; silver or sea,
255 ; the white, 258 ; the winni-
nish, 260 ; the red of Long Lake,
262 ; of Seneca and Cayuga, 263 ;
the Mackinaw, 264 ; stripping, 391 ;
feeding young, 392 ; stocking old
ponds with, 393 ; the New York
brook, 429 ; the great lake trout of
Europe, 429.
Troutlet, 429.
Trumpet-fish, 11 1.
Trygon, the many-spined, 433.
Tunny, the common, 426.
Turbot, the, 431.
Tusculum, ancient fish-ponds at, 350.
Umbagog Lake, 181.
Umbagog range of lakes, trout of, 147.
Umbrina, the bearded, 425.
Vision in fishes, 26.
Voracity of fishes, 42.
Walcott's (Dr.) verses, 43.
Wall-eyed or glass-eyed pike, 288.
Walton, Izaak, 36, 37.
Weakfish or squeteague, 79.
Webster, the late Hon. Daniel, 158.
484
Index.
Welch's (Robert) rods, 212.
West Island, fishing at, 69.
Whale fishing, 332.
Whip or eagle ray, the, 433.
Whitefish, the, 290.
Whitefish, frozen, 291.
Whitefish of the Lakes, 429.
White salmon of Virginia, 424.
White's CDr.) story of a bullfrog, 434.
White trout, the, 258.
Whiting, the, 430.
Wilkes, George, fishing with, 62.
Winninish, the, ^60, 442.
Wolf-fish, the, 426.
Worm-fishing for trout, 1 94.
Wrasse, the blue-striped. 111.
Wrasses or rockfish. 111.
Wright, Sile, the guide and gaiFer, 56.
Xenarchus, " the purple of," 20.
Yellow perch, the American, 424.
Zodiac, signs of the, 18.
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