The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-06-16
FISHING IN RIVER AND LAKE
CHOICE FISHING GROUNDS POINTED
our BY IN OLD SPORTSMAN.
Thomas g. AIvord's SummerIn0-A Hundred
Pounds Of fish IA Dny-BInck BRss In the
DeInwnre-Among the Thousand Islands.

ara rather catch black bass than brook |
trout" said my friend. the Major. although |
know the men Of the fashionable clubs consider !
it inferior sport. But l don't see why they |
should. The bnss makes a harder night. is moro /
lively on the hook is stronger and is up to Just |
as many tricks. The fish may not be quite SO /
fine for food. yet have eaten them fresh out Of
the icy waters OF Lake Ontario that were. to my |
taste. better than the average mountain brook |
trout They are not common in the markets. |
and very few of them arc found on tables far
from whore the FISH are caught Tho men who
set nets In the great lakes for whitensh take n
few. but not sufficient numbers TO make them at
all well known in the markets Black bass are
not cultivated as are trout. in private ponds and
MS tho supply for the table depends mainly
upon amateur fishermen, for there is no proies-
sonal angling for them. not n large class Of
persons know even how the fish taste. Prob
ably two-thirds OF the residents Of New York
city never ate n morscl Of one"
" But the FISH is growing in invorw
Very rapidly. Tho sportsmen are begin
ming to understand how gamy he is. The Fish
Commissioners have stocked halt OF the avail
able streams OF the Eastern States. and there Is
better black hass fishing to-day than ever be-.
fore. The Delaware, that n few years ago had
run dry. is now we'll filed with them. and YOU
may get good sport in 1t almost anywhere be-
tween Trenton and twelve miles above Port
Jrrvs Along bv Easton Belvidere Delaware
or the Water Gap the sport is especially good.
and the fish are growing larger every year.
The Housatonic. too has been repenshrd; go
has the Mohawk and the upper Hudson. the
Oswego. Seneca, and Oneida. and many other
streams. You may get very fair fishing in them
now-the season y Just BEGINNING
Tell me why you had rather catch black bass
In the fret place you catch larger fish.
How seldom YOU land in ordinary fly casting.
atrout that weighs more thnn pound Atwo-
FOUNDER. taken wild from lake or river, Is the
event OF your fishing trip and save ia Maine.
or occasionally In the Adirondacks. one OF tnHt
weight Is very rare. Yet how few black bass
you take TINT weighs less than pound and
how often three and four pounds come To your
landing net. A five-pound bass is not such
rarity rs il Il two pound trout nsh for black
bass with brook trout tackle, except that use
leader are the same. | wade into the swift water
OF tho Delaware, above the Water Gap at sun
down. and mike my cast. three pound bass
srizes the n.y. ! straighten the I'm" ana nook
him. Ho shoots twenty or thirty feet to the
right like flash. then zg Tags thirty feet To the
LEFT Seeing he is yet fast. he does whit the trout
never does leaps four feet straight W. into the
air. quiyering and shaking. and then aliEhling
head foremost h. makes another dart ana
another leap. / have had them jump six times
in Qui * succession in their cnucaVOr to shake
the NOOK from their mouths. The trout makes
no such frantic endeaVors although | am say
lng nothing against the sport OF trout cntciin g.
The trout b"ing less strong. gives up the Hight
he turns over on his side OF sheer exhaustion.
ami even then he Is good Tor one or two more
darts anu leaps Mueu De gels SlEut OF IN" llnu-
lng net With my teu-ounce rod and trout He's.
/ have been u half hour baggiuE tllree-
FOUNDER. two pound trout VII give up IN
from eight 10 twelve minutes. In my opinion
there is more sport in catching half "a dozen
two-pound bass than three times tue number OF
trout us they average in ordinary streams.
Where are black bass 10 be found in great
est numbers p
" The best ground easy Of access 10 New York
city Is unquestiouahly IN lower Lake Ontario
and the ~. Lawrence River for twenty miles be-
low where Il flows from the lake. All along the
Jefferson County shore. and ut the islands OBJ
loSitr. bass are very plentiful There are most
excellent shoals on Grenndior Island. .near
Cape Vincent. ut Calico Island. nj the Duck
Island. and at the head OF Amherst, Long Island,
and Carleton Island all Of which cluster around
the olening Of the river. The ish run larger
thcr" than in the rivers OF the Stnte All the re-
gion II lower LAKE Ontario Is famous fishing
ground; You may 10 10 Chamamnt Bay. i'm
rrirk Tire. Mile Bay. Sackctts Harhor Hem
derson Harbor or Cape Vincent, and hire boat
men TO take you t. the grounds. Going down
famous Thousand Islands begin. and among
them the bass fishing - especially good. al
though 10 becomes worse the further down you
~. There Is little use in gong much below
Alexandra Bay. Ncur Clayton good sport may
be- had, hut not so excellent as about the islands
" Clayton is Thomas G. Alyord's favortc
lshing GROUND -
| In. lie fishes win not ltss thah Tour hooks ul
a time, and oitrnrr with six or eight. lie hus
/ hand lines hanging over the sides oi tiir boat
and lines dragging Hsteru while he angles with
| two poles and his oarsman with two more.
/ Fishing with bait a.one he can manage as
many limos rs he can nud places To hitch them
/ 10. He uses minnows. and very frequently
] catches hundred pounds ot fish m day. His
/ summers catch amounts 10 several tons; igr he
/ sticks tp II Dor Two months ana hnll, from
/ early morn until dewy eve. seven days IN the
/ week, rain or shine.
/ lake waters ~ IN the ~. Lawrence RIVER; but
| they take balt readily, and may be captured ON
ir,o.!ainE r,ss have known w? eooSs To- Iake
] twelve hours. on the Grcnadicr Island shore.
! An average catch there by ordinarily sktful
! anglers Is from thirty TO iiny fish IN dag ;
| sport. just rs good grounds may be found
Al the Duck Islands. which are some
/ twenty miles from Cape Vincent. directly
! Club OF Utica that goes TO tue island from
| which It takes us name four miles below Cnue
/ Vincent has frequently numbered 800 l-h us
! the dhy : eaten ny us nan u9zrn Doals. lnero
l. lair fishing about Sacketts Harbor and Hen
dcrson liarbor. where, from twenty TO ioril fish
! a day If sample chtch. The ACCOMMODATIONS
/ for fishermen are especially good NJ Hrnder-
| son. The same may ge snid OF Chuumont.
| Three Mile Bay. and Limerick. all OF which
! humlcts are populated chiefly 10y men VINO st
nets for whitchsh. who, in the summer months.
| take fishing parties to the bnss grounds. There
! Lake George. and the nsh are taken IN almost
all Of the Central New York lakes, Cayuga sem
/ let into the Srne'a River The Oswego River
| has been one OF the most famous black bass
| streams 81 the country. II breaks into
rnpids ut Phpnix. nj Horseshoe Dam. at Os-
| wcgO Falls. aud at Mncto, and at these
/ points there has been some oil tho nutst sport
! known 10 fly clusters. There is very good fl~h-
ing yet but hundreds Of persons hooking tuerr
have thinned ont the game, The head waters
! of the Potomac River also afford most excellent
| sport. Bass may ho taken too. from the Niagara
liver close To the foot Of Lake Erie. and on the
shoals OF the lake near whore the river forms.
| The season begins about the first Of June and
lasts until tue middle Of September. June is
| probably the best month in the streams. and
! July in the lakes but | have tnken larger fish
| from the lakes about the first OF September than
at any other time. II you 20 to the Delaware
| or the Potomac you may stop IN hotels or farm
houses. In the hamlets that border on Lake
| Ontario there are hotels. while If Il camping
party Is made up it is better TO 20 10 some Of the
islands named. on each Of which there ARE
farm houses whence ordinary supplies may be
! had Ny iavorite way Of doing the Thousand
| Islands If TO hire small yacht from some one
| Of the lako ports and, with tent and camp
| equpngr. cruise among the islands Of the lake
and then among those OF the ST. Lawrence
| River stopping when night comes ON mt some
! pleasant spot and camping there. 1t costs less
| Tor party Of four to 80 in that manner than 10
| make their headquarters in hotels and you
| may enjoy every part OF the famous region,
whereas under the hotel system only a small
| portion Of II Is seen"
Complicntions In New KocheIIe