Forest and stream

320 FOREST AND STREAM. ^[May

^9,1889.

OZARK MOUNTAIN TROUT.

THE

^{opinion is pretty widespread}

^among

^ichthyolo-

gists that thereis nonative trout in the Ozark Mountainregion ofMissouri,Arkansas andIndianTerri- tory. Itmustberemembered, however,thataspecies of

Salmo

hasbeendescribedfrom KansasRiver,a tributary ofthe Missouri,emptying^into the latter streamnot far from the

mouth

oftheGasconade. It

may

be thatthis species,

Salmo

stomias, did notreally

come

from Kansas River, butfrom some locality further west.

The

fact that no^additional specimens have been obtained since the typeswere ^collectedwould seemtowarrantthisbe- lief. There is another side to this question,

and we

desire tobringitforward,inorderthatthe truth

may

be discovered.

Some

ofthe anglers'guide booksrefer to several localties in Missouri,ArkansasandIndianTerri- tory,atwhichtrout

may

be caught. In

many

casesit is

certain that theydonot

mean

blackbass,whichisgen- erally called trout in the Southern States,but afishof the salmon family. In the Smithsonianreportfor1864 will be founda ^•'Journal ofanExplorationofWestern Missouriin 1854,"underthe auspices of theSmithsonian Institution,byP.R.Hoy, M.D. Thisisdated April4 to June4, 1854.

Under

date of

May

14 Dr.

Hoy

says:

"Rainedall night,whichputsan endtoourfishinghere;

this Igreatlyregret, forthere are severalspecies offish I

am

exceedingly anxiousto obtain, especiallyonespecies ofSalmo(?)called heresalmontrout. * * *" _{Mr. L.}

M. Turner,

who

gave

me

this extract from Dr. Hoy's journal, alsowrote out for

me

his

own

experiencewith trout in the Ozark MountainsofMissouri in 1872. Mr.

Turner hascaught thousandsoftroutinAlaska,Labra- dorandelsewhere,andhisstatement should receivedue consideration:

"DuringthelatterpartofJuly,1872,Ihadoccasionto travelnearly theentireextentoftheOzark Mountainsof Missouri. * * * Inoneofthe small streams tributary totheGasconadeRiver,near Waynesville,

we

stoppedto allow the horses to drink.

We

observeda

number

of trout in the deeper portions of the gravelly-bedded stream. Followingthecourse

we came

toa place where thewaterran rippling overa bedof small stones.

We

frightened

some

ofthe troutontothe shallow place and killtdseveralbythrowingstones at them.

Two

ofthe fishwerefullyafoot in length,the remainder smaller.

We

friedthemforour supper.

They

* * * had the colorationasfollows:

Back and

uppersides darklead withfaintgreenish shade. The middlesideslighterand the lower sides

much

lighter.

The

middle sides were fleckedwithroundedblack spots,most numerous about and immediately belowthe median line. Idonot

now

recollectthat the larger individualshad anyspotsonthe back,butdo

remember

that the smaller spots were on the posterior portionsofthefish."

IhavebeeninformedrecentlybyMr.Slosson, of

Wash-

ington, D.

C,

that he caught black-spotted trout in mountain streamlets inCrawfordcounty,northwestern Arkansas,aboutten years ago.

He

says theywerenot blackbass,butreal trout,andthatthey are caughtalso in the Ozark Mountain regionof IndianTerritory. I hopethat,

some

ofthe

numerous

correspondentsofForest

and

Stream,

who

are familiar withtheregioninques- tion,will be able to throw

some

lighton thissubject.

Rainbow

trout were planted in 1880 by theU. S.Fish Commission in the headwaters of the Gasconade and Osagerivers,and3,000weredepositedinSpring River, a tributaryofthe Arkansas. In 1885 the Missouri

Commis-

sionerfoundat leastthree generationsof trout inSpring River.

The

Commissionerstatedthat no native species of troutis foundinanyofthestreams thatrisein the

Ozarkrange. .T.H. Bean.

HOW TO CATCH TROUT.

IN

^Mr. Mershons account of his trip on the Flying-

Peggy

Iobservethat,likehundreds ofotheranglers, hefallsintothe

common

errorof believing thatthe

man who

goesfirstistheone

who

catches the most trout. I thinkI

am

justified insayingthis is an error.

When

I

am

fishing for trout,andobserve

"two

or three natives sneakinginaheadof us," Ijustlet

them

sneak; and,in- steadoftaking a short cuttohead

them

off,Iwillfill

my

pipe,sit

down

on astone beside the cool stream,watch the tumbling torrent as itboundsfrom rock torock, listentothebirdschatteringaroundme,and anonstretch myself on

my

back,and between watching the curling wreathsof smoke, observing the grand old oaks

and

pines noddingand bowingso graciouslytoeach other, andcontemplating natureingeneral,avery pleasantand profitablehalfhourgoes speedilyby. Takingup

my

rod and examining theflies,I slipquietly along toyonder pool,castthebaitbehindthatrockorlog,

when

splash!

a fine fellow

jumps

outofthe water,seizes the hook, executesa somersault,and

down

hegoes! Therodbends

and

twists asthe troutrushes hither and thither, I play

him

fora

moment

ortwo, then gently elevate

him and

he

isin

my

hands. Wiggle,wigglety-wig

—

ah,

what

asen- sation

—

andIdrop

him

inthe basket. So it continues.

In the

meantime what

are the natives doing? In their greed they rush pell mell over the crackling brush, bounding overrocks, falling intopools andfrightening the trout outofayear'sgrowth. Occasionallytheyhook afingerling, but

more

frequentlytheydon't,and I tell you, gentle reader, afishof

any

decentsizeisrarely seen ontheir stringers.

Isthisusually thecase?

By

no means,I

am

sorry to say. It is usually reversed. The average sportsman, afterspending ayearat hisdesk,rigs

up

histackleabout thefirstof April,gazes lovinglyupon his split-bamboo rodall

mounted

with

German

silver,patsitonthe back, andexclaims,"Ah,there!

What

a royaltime

we

will have next week!"

He

hies

him

away,and two days are consumedinreaching the grounds.

He

stops atavillage orahouse,threemilesfromthe bestfishing,and

when

he casts his lineitisabout9A.M.,justthetime he should stopandtake a snoozefora

few

hours. Suddenly heob- serves

some

one ahead of him.

"Ah!

thiswon'tdo. I mustgetaheadof thatyawp," lie says.

And

he does, afterskirmishing overrocks,through greenbriers,under laurel,over logs, etc.,and

when

in half an horn- he reaches the stream breathless, exhausted,clothes torn, shinspeeled, tipbroken,fliesgone,helooksbackandob- serves the other fellow a hundred yards below,calmly smilinguponhim,yankingout thefish,withastringof fine big fellows dangling at his side. It isenoughto

make

afellowcuss. InfactI have cussed under such circumstances,andsohaveyou.

The

moralisplain: Don'tgo^{troutfishingif}

you

have buttwoor threedaysto spare. Take

two

or threeweeks

and

takeasmall tentand^outfit.

Camp

near the stream, fishearlyinthe

morning

andlateinthe evening. Don't beinahurrv. Ifthere are half adozenaheadofyou no matter. Let

them

go,onlydon'tfollowthemtooclosely, and

my word

forit,youwillhave

more

fishthanthey.

Pacific.

WINTER FISHING AT POINT BARROW.

THE

_with^{natives ofPointBarrow,Alaska,fishverylittle}

hooks,their fish being taken with gill nets both

summer

andwinter: they axe very expertintheuse ofnetsfortaking bothfish

and

seals; theywill seta net under5or G feet of ice on the rivers where they go to huntinwinterfor reindeer. Their

manner

of doingit is

bydrillingholesthroughtheiceas "indicated in Fig.1.

They

drillusually threeholes;then, by putting aline ontheendofonelong pole

and

ahook on another pole, they get the hook on the line andpullitthroughthe secondhole,andso to the third hole. Communication being thusestablished,it iseasytosetthe netsunderthe iceas

shown

in Fig.2. The holes are small at the top

and

enlarged at the bottom; the middle one through

which

they

draw

the netsandfishthelargest.

Fig.2.

In

making

these holes theyfirstdrilla holeabout 6 or 7in.indiameter throughtheice to thewater,then they enlarge the holeatthebottom. Thehole

now

beingfilled with water, theicebrokenoff

by

theicepickfloatstothe surface,andisremoved by a scoop

made

^open on the bottom, as representedin Fig.3.

With

tliis scoop they also remove the ice from the holewhile sinkingto the water.

The

fishtakenare mostly whitefish. In these netsI

haveseentakenfrom40to 601bs. offishatonesetting of twenty-four hours. Thesizeofthe netsis 15ft.longby

4ft.deep.-

When

Ithinkofpoor

DeLong

sitting

down

and starv- ingonthebanksof the

Lena

River,which,likealllarge riversemptyingintothe Arctic Ocean, teems withfish, justforthe

want

oftheknowledge possessed by thein- habitantsofthese northernregions,it

makes me

feel sad.

Ihave alwaysfeltthatifhehad with his party a couple ofEsquimaux, mostof their livesmight havebeen saved.

I

was

toldbythe natives that trout areto be foundin the largerivers,and^Ihaveseen

what we

callthesalmon

trout. E.P.

Herendeen.

SanFrancisco,Cal.

CALIFORNIA FISH LAWS."

EditorForest

and

Stream:

Iwishto call yourattention to the provisions of the Californiafishlawheaded, "PermanentContrivancesin Fishing;PunishmentforViolationofProvisionsofPenal Code:"

Everypersonwhoshallset,use,orcontinue,orwhoshall as- sistin setting, using,orcontinuinganypound,weir, set net, trap, oranyotherfixedorpermanentcontrivanceforcatchingfishin thewatersof this State,isguiltyof amisdemeanor. Everyper- son who shallcast,extend, orsetanyseine,ornetofanykind, forthe catchingof,inanyriver,stream, orsloughof this State, whichshallextendmore than one-third across thewidthof the saidriver,streamor slough,atthe timeandplaceofsuchfishing, isguiltyofamisdemeanor. Everypersonwhoshall cast,extend, set, use. or continue,orwho shall assistincasting,extending, using or continuing"Chinesesturgeonlines,"or"Chineseshrimp orhagnets,"orlinesor netsofsimilar character,forthe catch- ingof fishintbewatersof this State,isguiltyofamisdemeanor.

Everypersonwho, byseineoranyother means, shall catch the youngfishofany ^species,andwhoshallnotreturn thesameto the water immediately and alive, orwhoshallsell,orofferfor sale,any suchfish,fresh ordried, isguilty of amisdemeanor.

Everyperson convictedofa violation ofanyofthe provisionsof this chaptershallhe punished byfineofnotlessthanfiftydol- lars,andnotmore thanthreehundreddollars,orimprisonment inthecountyjail,ofthecountywherethe offensewas commited, for not lessthan thirty days normore thansixmonths,orby hoth such fine andimprisonment. One-thirdofallmoneyscol- lectedfor finesfor violationofthe provisionsof thischapterto be paidtoinformer, one-thirdto DistrictAttorneyofthe.cottnty inwhichthe actionisprosecuted,andone-thirdtothe FishCom- missioners of the State ofCalifornia. * * * Itshall not be lawful foranypersonto buyoi sell,orofferorexpose forsale, withinthisState,anykindoftrout(exceptbrooktrout) lessthan Sin. inlength,anyperson violatinganyoftheprovisions.of this sectionisguiltyofamisdemeanor.

Ofcoursethisdoesnot applyto the Fish Commission-

ers. This is only asmall part of the law, butitcovers

what

Ishallallude to.

Now,

as willhave beenseen,thelaw strictly prohibits

any

permanentcontrivanceforcatchingfish. Thatbeing thecase,

why

werenot thepartiesthatbuilta trapacross the

San

JoaquinRiver last fall toshut the salmon off fromcoming upthe

Tuolumne

River arrested?

A dam

wasalso builtacrossthe

mouth

ofthe

Tuolumne

River, andpersons spearedas

many

asfortysalmoninonenight, and kept their traps there for over a week.

Some

of thosesamepartieshavesince

made

theirbragsto

me

that

it

was

electiontimesand the officers

would

not notice

them,for-they wereafraidthey would losea

few

votes.

Imention no names,butwill call attention to the fish laws of this State, and perhaps through Forest

and Stream

the attentionoftheFishCommissionetsof this State

may

be

drawn

to thismatter.

The wardenthat waslastherein this district

was

no good.

He

would arrest Chinamen,

Frenchmen and

Italiansforviolatingtheabovelaws,but citizens of the Statehe neverarrested,andyou can form anopinion why.' Ihave no especial love for Chinamen, but

when

it

comestoa questionoflaw and order, arrestone

man

for violatingthelawsaswellasanother. R.

Modesto,Cal.

FISHING NEAR CHICAGO.

C ^CHICAGO,

;

away

last^Aprilweek.^29.—

^A

It^littleseems^{of the}that^fishingthe season

^news

has*^{go^}

alreadyopenedat

Fox

Lake,and inright good earnest, too.

A ^week

^agoyesterdayalarge

number

of good fish,

were takeninFox,Petite and Nippersink lakes, includ-l ing bass,pickerelandwall-eyed pike.

One

p'ckerelof 71bs.

was

killed, andtwobass of over 41bs. each. Mid

Wm.

White,better

known

asBillyWhite, had twenty- sevenbass,pikeandwalleyes. That

was

a pretty good showing for one day,surely. Itwillnot be long

now

till

we

begintohearoffunallalongthe fishing line.

The following item, taken from a dailypaperhere,/

may

beanold"rounder"forallIknow, butit isofsome]

interest:

"The

largestpair ofblack bass evercaughtin Missouri waters or inanyother waters of theUnitedStates,irri

fact,were caught byJ.

W.

Petersand son, of St.Louis, inPeter'sLake,Pemiscot county, Missouri,on

March

3 last. They weighedlllbs.and12oz.,andlllbs.and10oz.^

respectively,sevendaysafter theyweretakenfrom the!

water.

The

largerfish

was

28fin. inlength from the lowerliptotheextreme endofthetail,andISfin. in oil*

cumferenceatthelargestportionofthe body. It

was

an least31bs.heavier than any one specimen of blackbas8>

evercaughtinthe United States before.

The

heads o#

these monstersofthe black bass schoolhave beenbeauti^J fully

mounted

inelegantframesand weregiventoCapt»

H. C.West,the Fish Commissionerof Missouri,

who

iri

turn will present one to President Harrison,and th^

othertoexPresident Cleveland.

They

willbeexhibited;

ina

Broadway show window

forthreeweeks."

The aboveisafairsample of

what

the average daily paper does notkno

w

about sporting matters. Personally, Ineversaw abass thatweighedover71bs.,butIdo not believethat thebassabovementioned weighed31bs.morei thananybassevertakeninthe United States,nordo I believethat these bass are thelargestever taken,because

I

am

very crediblyinformedthatthey have been taken, ontheSt. Clair flats weighing over 121bs.,and I have, heardonprettyfairauthoritythat 121bs. bass havebeett takenin Florida.

At

anyrate,Ishouldlike tohearfrond the bass record asunderstood by

Forest and

Streai^

readers,orbetterstill,byfishdealers

who

handlenetted:

fish.

May

^st.

—

The maskallonge season has opened,and_J wishsome one wouldtellus

how

to spellit.

At

least one;

goodfishhas

come down

fromEagle Waters. Itsweight is421bs.,and it is very thickand stocky. It ison exT^: hibition at one of thefishmarkets,andIdonotknow,

who

caughtit. Theiceshouldbythistimeallbe outof theWisconsinand Michiganlakes,andthe

much

-spelled fishwill soon be in his glory. Doubtlessitisgenerallyl

known

that

May

andearlyJuneisthebesttimeto catch:

thisfish unlessonewaitsuntil afterfrost. Inmidsum^.

mer

the"bloom"of the lakeskillsthefishing. Eastern'' fishers

who monkey

withtroutat$4aninchwilldowell!

to

come

out herethisspringandjustgofishing for once,/

One

or two 40-pound fingerUng maskallonge,ormaski- nonge,or muscallonge, willconvince

them

that Gilead liesjustnorthofChicago.

May

4-

—

Additionalreports

show

thefishingseason

now

well begun,

and

theendofthe

week

will seenorthbound trains crowdedwith anglersen routefor Silver Lake,i LakeMaria,

Twin

Lakes,

Wauconda

andotheraccessible watersnearby. Messrs.David Oliphant andGeo.Haz-

litt start to-dayfor

Wauconda

Lake,pursuant toth^t adviceof Geo. Pratt,a residentof-the lake,

who

writes thatthefishingisgood. Mr. Pratthassent

down

a very finepickerel.

Wauconda

^isworthythe attentionof our anglersthisseason. Thelakehasbeenhighandtheout- let full,andfish have been runningup from

Fox

River in great numbers. Itissaid of this lake thatone can.

always take astring offish there,no matter

what

the!

weather.

The

fishingisbetterthere earlyinthe season, asitswatersare quite full ofvegetation in the summer.

Everybodylooksvery

happy

herenow. E.

Hough.

FISHING NEAR ST. LOUIS.

EditorForest

and

Stream:

St.Louis, Mo..

May

4

—

Croppiefishingismost excel- lent in thispartofthe country. Reportsto

hand

fromall thelakes,sloughsandsmallriversaretotheeffectthatthe sport

was

neverbetter. Basshaveasyet notbegunopera- tions,forvery

few

have been caught.. Croppie,though, are taking the

minnow

in a most ravenous way, and largestringshave been brought in byparties

who

were out. CreveCoeurLake,which issituated twentymiles westofhere,isfurnisning splendidsport tothedisciples ofIzaakWalton.

Two

gentlemenfromthis cityspent a dayout there the past

week

and returned with nearly 200,averagingabout three-quartersofa

pound

each,and yesterday another gentleman

showed

up seventy-two croppieastheresultofa day's anglingonhis part. Judge P.S.

Langham

and a friend

came

backfrom

Murdock

Lake,

which

islocatedtwenty-twomilessouthofherein Illinois,and theyhad over 250fishon their string,all

caught inaday and ahalf.

Among

the

number

were a

few

bass,oneof

which

weighedalittle less than 41bs.

Murdock Lake

isoneof theoldest fishing places in this vicinity,and, usually,

more

bass arecaughtthere than croppie. Thisseason,though,justthe oppositeistherule

A

^telegram

was

receivedfromthesuperintendentofthe Kings

Lake

Clubstating that thefishingwasexceedingly fineupthere,andseveralofthe

members

havestartedup theretotakeadvantageofthesport. Unsk.R Fritz.

The

Fly-Casting:

Tournament

willbeheldinCentral Park,this city,

May

23-24. ThesecretaryisMr. G.Poey P. O.

Box

3049,

New

York.