Trout of Sunapee Lake

Feb. 11, 1886.]

FOREST AND STREAM. ⁸¹

TROUT OF SUNAPEE LAKE.

J*

EditorForestandStream:

1was

much

interested injourarticle announcingthedis- coveryofa

new

species of trout inSunapeeLake,andafter thinking thematter over for awhile itoccurred to

me

that whileIwasa

member

of the

New

HampshireFishCommis- sion

we

bad plantedthe Suhnooquas&ain that lake,and I accordinglywrotetolnyformercolleague,Mr. A. H.

Pow-

er^of Gfrantkam,if.H\, atown Very near thelake, toask hitilabout it, as hewas the superintendent of the State hatcheryfrom the beginning; uutil Mr.

Hodge

succeeded

him

ouhis resignation ofhiscommission.

Mr.Powers ^writes

me

as follows:

"On

June8,1879, 1 planted4,000 uquassa, orHue-backedtrout, inSuuapeeLake, andtheseSahno sumpee(?)

may

havecome fromthat plant;

theyhave a look ^{like the fry.as I}remember them. But could they have multiplied^so,and

grown

tosuch monsters?

1havenodoubt thatsomeof those

we

saw,for Iwaswith Mr.

Hodge

atthe time,wouldweighfromeight10tenpounds;

we

caughtsomeof six pounds,and sawinuch larger ones.

Now

^{thesefisharelake spawners.}

^Not

^{oneof them came}

Upthebrook1plantedthemin,whilethelandlocked salmon ofaboutthesameweightdidso. InMaine itwassaid that theyweresmall, about one-quarterpoundweightyandcame intothe river to spawnOct. 10 to aday. That isasI re-

member

it. ISow thequestion is,could theychange from

minnows

towhales and fromriverto lake spawners in so shorta time?"

Now

1

am

equally puzzled with

my

^friend Powers.

We

know

thatthelandlocked salmonwhich

we

placedinSuua- pee Lake,from eggs procuredatGrand LakeStream,have attained aweightofovertwelve pounds, though the

Grand

Stream fishseldom go over two or three pounds,and the sameseason's fry distributed in

Squam

Lake have gone up tofifteeuor sixteen pounds.

ThisIattribute to the fact of their findingplenty offresh- water smeltsfor food, forone reason, as well as tothe'fact that

we

usually find thesizeof the fishto correspond ⁱⁿ some degree with thatof the water iromwhich they are taken.

This discoveryisaveryinterestingone,and having found a possibleraisond'etreforoqiumatrout,in Sunapee Lake,I sendityouinhopes thatsome othercorrespondent

may

be able tothrowsome lightou the matter,andt-olve Mi'.

Pow-

er»'squeues astothe possibility of such rapid growth and apparentchangeof habit.

Samleu Webber.

Chablebtown, N.H.,Feb.2.1SS6.

A WINTER CHAT.

EditorForestandStream:

"Little Sandy" is sad,and

why

not? Information has just reached us thatthe Legislature has repealedthe State law to preventseining,etc.,inthewatersofKentucky.

For ^years

we

havebeentrying to effectachange in our community bydistributingsomeof thewholesometeachings of

FckesT and Stream

^toshow uptheevil effectsofsein- ingandkindreddevices forcatchingfish.

The

Statepissed alawtopreventseining, andthough badly enforced,ithad agoodeffect. Last spring

we

appealed to theever gallant andgenerous Dr.Ilenshall to furnish us, throughyourcol-

umns, witha description of suitabletiytackle,by whichour sportmightbe heightenedand

made

moreinteresting.

We

were congratulating one anotherafewdays agoasa small nucleus of the

"new

fangled fishermen"^(as

we

aresome- timesironically called)had metarounda plowingfireto talk overoufirstyear'sexperienceinthe mostdelightful of sports,

i.e.,fly-fishing,

when

thesadnewsreachedus of the action of the Legislature. While

we

grieve

we

^have

much

to be thankfulfor.

Acting upon DoctorHenshall's suggestion last spring

we

sentforapair ofsevenounce laucewoodfly-rods, reels, lines, flies,flybooks,andleaders,which came by^expressinafew days,and weresecretedunderlock and key to thatnoun- hallowedeyesmight pryintothose precious packages,forit

hadalready been noised aboutthat

my

frieud Skill(mayhe soon bereleasedfrom hissnow-bound situation and find a fairmarketfor hismules)andI weregoingtousehorseflies and gnats for our fishing baits instead of

minuows

the comingseason. Thatnight

we

were children again,it re-

minded

me

ofthe Santa Glaus days.

We

putthe rodsto- getherandpraised their fine proportions,spring and work- manship.

How we

longedtobe in some secluded nook on Stoneror Strode'sCreek,where

we

^might rigourfirstcast justtoseeifwhat

we

had been told was really true, "that fly-fishingwaswellenoughup NorthoroutEast wherefish are plenty,butfish hadtoo

much

sense tobiteatafeathered hookinKentucky."

Therodsare laid aside, a bundle of leaders receivebut a passing glance,then the Orvis reels; these fatfirst) look

awkward

comparedto aNo.1Meek,of which thespoolis

notmorethan one inchindiameter,but theuittakesupline Teryfast,andthe perforated plates allow the line to dry -withoutremovingitfrom^thereel. Next

come

the fly-books whicharevervhandsome andwell made. "What,isthisby theside of the little green box marked flies?" asked

my

friend. "_'Fisbiugwiththe Fly,'Orvis-Oheney collections, apresent."

A

hurried glance ^at the index shows articles

fromthepensofa host of writers of

whom we

hadlongago becomefamiliarthroughthepagesof

Forest and

Stream.

Sincethatnight our fondestanticipations have beenreal- ized,and though

we

had entertained somefears thatthe light rods, in inexperienced bandsas

we

were,might ina well-contested battlefail,yet victoryou victory gave usmore confidence,andat theendof theseasonhavesustained their reputation.

The

flies,too,

we

ordered first (from names onlv)proved verysuccessful,and that the notes takenfrom the" different writers on the "most killing flies" were not

made

invain.

We

^have caught fish ofail the representa- tivesofour streamswith thefly, exceptingthe sucker,and

we

canwell afford to leavehim tothose

who

arewillingto taketheir seatsonthe

muddy

andslipperybank,in Febru- ary and March,at a place previously baited with dough

balls, andfishwith thehumble "warn"forbait. Anglers asarule areincredulous,andholdto the doctrine that "see- ingisbelieving."

One among my

first essayswasin com- pany with a friend

who

thought

"minnows

were good enough." But ithappened on oneof those likelyevenings previoustoa shower, withagoodbreeze, andasittook

me

sometimeto rig

my

cast,hebaited hishookwith a

minnow

and

commenced

fishing

down

streamfromthebank.

When

I gotready^Iwadedoutinthemiddleof thecreek, and cast right and left in hiswake; he caught onebass, whileIwasgetting ariseatnearlyeverycast, andatlasthe reeleduphisiineandsaidhe"would^ratherwatch

me

than tofishhimself,it

was

so novel.'^- I

made

a convert right jfihera. This is uot the only instance, for to-day

we

have

quite a

number who

are devoteesof the fly-rodand have enjoyedits seductive pleasures. I received a letter from your correspondent "Vox," fromMt. Sterling,afew days ago,sayingthat "1havejustreceivedasplit-bamboofiVrod.

Iwantafewinstructions.

Come

up and spendaday with me. Itwouldbe likeanexperience meetingof old Metho- dists."

On

thefollowingday

my

genial friendE. P.B., treasurer of the Bourbon

Gun

^Club, met me.

"What

sayyouon going to Mt. Sterling to-morrow?" "I can be readyby 8 o'clock."

The

nextmorningturned outto be one of those Cold, disagreeable,mistydays, theground allcovered with snow and slush, but just right to talk fly-fishing.

We

arrivedatMt. Sterling early,andas

we

sauntered iuto the office

we

found

"Vox"

in hislittleworkshop at the end so busily engaged that he was Unaware ^of ourpresence.

_ 1

knocked onthe door,andturning he hid something which to

me

looked like a fly-book.

And

withthat whole-eoul smilewhichcharacterizes

him

aboveall goodfellows, "hail friends wellmet," introduced us^totheRev. Mr.S.,formerly FishCommissionerof Tennessee. After a hearty greeting heimformedusthattheyhadjust been engagedin a con versationon thesubject offishing. Ceremonies werecast as-ide.

My

friendB. excusedhimself,havingsomebu&inpss intown,whichleftthe

happy

clover leaf in itsglory.

The

rodswerebrought outand I soon ascertained that

"Vox"

haditbad. Fortunatelythe"weatherconditions" were such thatitkeptallthetoothachepatientsathome, which often preventsoneof those pleasanttete-a-tetechats that

we

enjoy somuch, andthenitgave usfullsweepof the100m.

The

office washardly highenoughto

make

the overhead castcommeilfaut,but takingoffthe butt joint

we

managed

tolayout(animaginary)linefairly well. Thricethedinner oHlrang before

we

could find aconvenient stoppingplace.

After dinner followed a long discussion on theaction of legislators,whichclosedwiththehopethat theSenatewould beawaketoitsdutyandsurely "kill thebill"

We

castour eyesacross to thecourt house clockwhose hour handalready pointed alittle afterfive and bade our friends a reluctant anremit with the promise^{that as} soonas thewaterwas in right condition

when

spriug has assertedherrightsagainI

would telephone

them when

theywould meet

me

to try the resultofour meeting.

As we

drove

homeward

throughthe fallingmistandrain I could scarcely think of anything butthe pleasantday spentwithgenialcompanions

when

everythingwaspresent

buttbefish. Little Sandy.

NorthMiddleton,Ky.

Another Wat

to

Carry

a

Landing Net.—

Centralis,

Pa,

Feb.

6.— Any

plan or arrangement that adds lothe pleasure or comfort of a sportsman's "outing" I think should be

common

property, soleti«ne tell of acontrivance thathelpstokeepthisnecessary butcumbersome^articleout of the

way

while always ready^forquickuse. Itakeittobe theinventionofafriend,one

who

can entice motefish into his netwiththe gentle persuasionof hisspringy greenheart rod thananyother fisherman 1

know

: Fastned securly to theshorthandleofthe net is aloopof sayfourfeetof the verybest elasticweb, three-quarters orone inch wide;thisis

wornaround theneck and

when

notinuseisthrownso that ithangs

down

theback;

when

wanted and yourfishisready tobelwnd'edtakingthehandle the

web

will stretch as faras youcanpossiblyreach;

when

thetwo pounderis takencare ofa tossputs^itback overyourshoulders readyfor thenext one. In

my

early fishing daysI

was

sorelybotheredwith thecorkscrewtwist thatwasalwaysin

my

sixfootleaders as I took them out to replace one that

my

largest fishhad cairiedoff;itwasonlyaftersomeminutesdrawing through the water and makingeverytrout in tbe pool thinkmoie aboutawater snake than of the whitewinged coachman, thatitstraightened outfor business;

now when

starting on

mv

trips 1takea

common

^tinovaltobacco box, onethatcan be handilvcarried in thepocket; theu

dampen

aheavypiece ofcottonflannel thathas been cut the width^{of the}boxand twiceitslength; laying it inI place the leadersonitthen foldtheend backover them; very soon theyare as soft and pliable asiftheyhadbeen soaking^inthewaterandareready for immediate use. Both of these plans

may

be nothing

new

tomost of your readers,butperhaps it

may

tosome oneofthemsaveatangledlineoranotherfishfor hiscreel.

—

Spicewood.

Adirondack

Fishes.

—

Iwillagain appealtothekindness of friendsandaskthemtosend

me

suchnotes on the fishes of theAdirondack redonasthey

may

^{h^ve.}

The

fewhun- dredcopies of

my "Memoranda"

forMr.Colvin's forthcom ing ReportoftheAdirondackSurvey,which wereissued in advanceof bis report, arenearly exhausted,anditisproposed toextend thereportonfishes.

The

followingnote,whichis justat hand, explainsit: "Albany,Feb.4, 1886. Mr.

F

Mather,Dear Sir: Ithink that you can relyupon having fully sixmonthsinwhichtoget inalltheaddenda. I shall use every effort to

make

your reportas perfect as possible, evenif

we

haveto cut the electrotype plates. Sincerely yours,

Verplanck

Colvtn,Supt."

My

collectingtourwas ahasty one,and itisvery probable that I missed some species; in fact, I inserted the "Miller'sthumb," Uranidea, on the authority of Dr. Merriam, as Icould not findit.

Some

of the sticklebacks

may

alsobefound there,and then

we

want specimens of those "Morse Lake minnows," and

"SeveuthLake minnows," which^arementioned,but which, owing^totheirdecayedcondition,could not beidentified,and whichProf.Jordanthoughtmightbenew.

Had

^itnotbeen forthe good friends

who

helped

me

outinmakingouttbe listof the distributionof species this portionof thework wouldhave been omitted. Thisisa very important portion of the

work

andisnot complete,and^allvolunteer help in the

work

willbe thankfully received.—

Fked Mather

(Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.).

Florida

Fish

Killed by Cold.—

St. Augustine, Fla., Jan.31.

—

I havejust returned fromafishing cruise to the headofMatanzisRiver.

The

sightthatI

saw

was enough to

make

the heart sick. Hundreds of large sea trout and channelbasswerelyingdead along the shore, killedby our lastcoldsnap.

One

can understand

how

^{the sea trout}were caught in the shallow water and frozen. But

my

surprise was great

when

I saw

many

shecpsheads

among

them, as

theyare fish which usuallyseek deep poolsandchannels.

The

buzzards are so fulltheywillholdnomore,and such amassofdecayingfishcertainly willnotbe conduciveto the health oftbe country. Inspiteof thiswholesaledestruction Ihadverygood sportwith rodandreel.

And many

a fine fish was replaced in hisnative element for fear of killing morethanIcoulduse.

The

nightshavebeen rathercool of late,andIhavebeen glad whilesleeping in

my

boattoJtiave

my

secondsleepingbag aroundcae,

—

Windward,

i

Bisby

Club.—

^TJtica,N.T., Feb.

3.— The

eighth annual meetingoftheBisby Club washeldhere today, andthf*fol-

lowing trustees chosen: Gen. R. TJ Sherman, Hon. H.J.

Co^kinham, H. Lee Babcock, O. J. Cbilds,

Thomas

R.

Proctor, A. G. Brower. At a subsequent meeting of the trusteesthe followingofficerswere elected: President. G^n.

R. TJ.Sherman; Vice-Presidents,ChristopherRoby,

W. W.

Snow, D.

W.

Cross,

Thomas R

Proctor; Secretary,

Henry

H. Thompson;Treasurer, S. F. Sherman;Legal Counsel, Hon.II.J.Cookinham.

The

club passed a lesolution de- claring agtunst floating for deer,favoringthe limiting of the shooting season beginning

Aug

15 and closing iSov. 1,and advocatinghoundingfromSept.15to Oct.15.

Not an Uncommon

Case

—

''Gotanyfish

f

^{''Naryfi°fi.}

"

"Got anybites?" "Narybites." "Gotanyba.it?"

"Nary

lrut."

"What

are you doing there?" "Fishiu'."— Texas

Sijfi?iffs.

i

THE FULTON CHAIN HATCHERY.

Editor ForestandStream:

At

the annual meetingof tbe Boonville Sportsmen's Club, heldatthe Hurlburt House,Boonville, recently,thefollowing officerswereelected: President, L.

W.

Fiske, Boonville: First Vice-President, S. T. Miller, ConstableviJle;HecondVice- President,H.G.

Emms,

Turin; Treasurer,C.

W.

Colton,Boon-

ville; Secretary,G.A.Willard, Boonville.

Thereportof thecommittee onthe

new

^fishhatcheryjust completedontheFulton chainof lakes,

was

readby Hon. H.

Dwight Grant. The leport stated that thehatching house

was

located near Cold SpringCamp,on FourthLakeofthe Fulton Chain,on therecommendationofStateFishCommis- sionerSherman. The^sitewasselected forthe purityofthe wateranditsconvenienceasacentralpoh-tforprocuringand distributing troutfry. The plansof the buildingand plant were

made

and furnished byMr.

Sherman

on the most ap- provedmethods for hatchins. Thedimensionsofthebuild- ingare 20x36feet. Itis boardedandbattenedon theoutside, andhas aplain,tasty corniceand gabledroofcoveredwith good pine shingles. Itis lighted

by

8windowsof 12 lights each, 9x14 inches, and has onedoor. The insidewallsare linedwith building paperandcoveredwithmatchedspruce ceiling. The rooms are also ceiled overhead with spruce.

Water

isconductedto the buildingthrough a3-incnmain126 feet inlengthfromareservoir built for that purpose. Thein- sidereservoirsandhatching troughs are on thegroundready for setting up. Necessary wirecloths forhatching trayshas beenpurchasedandtheframes areinprocess of construction.

Owing

to late

commencement

of operationson the building andtheearlyformingof iceon thelakes,the managers were unabletotransport and setupthe hatching appaiatus until afterthetimethat the

spawn

hadreached maturity, thereby makingitunsafe toremove

them

fromthe State hatchery.

The committee recommendsthatthe apparatus besetupin earlyspringandeverything^be.putinorderforfutureuse.

A

better buildinghas been erected thanCommissioner

Sherman

contemplatedanditwillbe better equipped. It hasalready cost$572.44,and$50or$60morewillbe required tocomplete

it. Thereport

was

accepted. The treasurer's report, which showeda balance ot $90.95on hand, was alsoread andac- cepted.

Hon. H.DwightGrant,Geo.H. Beck,JohnBrinckerhoff, F.

A.BarrettandC.

W.

Coltonwereelected manageis. L.

W.

FiskewasdelegatedtogotoAlbanytoconferwith represent- atives inregardto securingaid forthe

new

hatcheryandto voice thesentimentsof theclubontheproposed changes in

the

game

laws. Poktsa.

TJtica,N.Y.,Feb.3, 1886.

BLACK BASS

IN"

GERMANY.—We

have received a pampuletof eight pagesfrom Herr

Max

von

dem

Borne, on theblackbass. This gentleman,itwillberemembered, has introducedthetwospecies ofbassinto

Germany

andhassent us accountsof his success inbreedingthem.

He

hascalled the small^raouth der Schwartzbarsch,andthebig-mouth der Forellenbarseh, Forelle being the

German word

for tiout.

Thegreat success inbreeding thesefish,togetherwiththeir growth and game,qualities, causes Mr. von

dem

Borne to valuethemhighly,andto

recommend

theirintroductioninto suitablewatersinhiscountry.

AddressallcommunicationstotheForestandStreamPublish- ingCo.

FIXTURES.

FIELDTRIALS.

Nov. 23.—Eighth annualfield trialsoftbeEasternField TrialsClub, at HighPoint, N. G. W.A. Coster, Secretary, Fiatbusb, Kings couBty, N. Y.

DOG

SHOWS.

March16. 17,18and 19.—Western Pennsylvania Poultry Society's

DogSnow,atPitisburgh. Pa. C. B.Elbei,Secretary.

March^23.24and25-FirstAnnual Dog Show of the

New

Jersey Kennel and Field Trials Club. Newark,N. J. A.P.Vredenburgn, Secretary. BergenPoint,N.J.

March30 toApril2.—TbirdAnnualDog Showof the NewHavsn KennelCmb. 8.

K

Hemingway.Secretary,NewHaven,Conn.

April6, ?,8and y.—SecondAnnual DosShowof tbe

New

England Kennel Club. EdwardA. Mbseley, Secretary, Boston, Mass.

AprilIS,14.15and16. FirstAnnual Dog ShowoftheHartford KennelCiub. A. C. Collins,Secretary, Hartford, Conn.

May4,5,6and 7.—Tentu annualdog snow of the Westmicster Kennel Club,atMadison SquareG'irden, KewYork, James Morti- mer, Superintendent.P.O.Bos1812,

New

York.

A. K.

R.-SPECIAL NOTICE.

THE ^{AMERICAN KENNEL}

^{REGISTER,for the} registration of pedigrees,etc.(withprizelistsof^allshowsand trials), ispub ishedeverymonth. Entriescloseon the1st. Shouldbein early.

Entry blanks sent on receipt ofstamped andaddressed envelope, ftegistration fee(50cents)must accompanyeach entry. No entries insertedunless paidinadvance. Yearlv subscription$1.50. Address

"American KennelRegister,"P. O.Bo., 2832,

New

York. Number

of entriesalready printed

3185.

EASTERN ^FIELD TRIALS CLUB.

THERE ^was

^{an important meeting oftheBoardofGov-}

ernors ofthe EasternField Trials Clubattheat.James Hotel on Tuesday evening, Feb.9. TheTreasurer'sreport showinga balanceinfavorofthe club of S838.60wasaccepted.

Messrs.J.L. Breese,

New

York;C.L.Dick, Pittsburgh,Pa.;

O.H.Denny,Pittsburgh, Pa.,audJ. T.Perkins,Brooklyn,N.

Y

, were electedmembers, Theconditions of theMembers' Stakewere changed so as toallowany

member

tohandle a dog

owned

byanothermember. The committeeonimining rules reported several amendments which

we

shallpublish next week. Thedateof birth of entries for theDerbyof 1886 was changed back irom

May

1to Jan.1,tbeentries to close

May

1,with $10 forfeit and 810 additional to starters. The stakewillbe$700,with$400 forfirst,$#JDfor.secondand

$IW

fox third.