Year: 1874

Inc subject involves three points: tlSh,
Fishermen and Fishing, and l shall prom
ise 10 not do either Of two things-I shall
not tell all know about fishing, and shall
tell some things that 1 do not know about
fishing. So, you see, L am not going TO
follow exactly the text furnished me.


Fish is probably the largest portion Of
the supplies God has furnished for the sub
sistence Of mankind. think


THE AMOUNT OF FISH
consumed by the human family exceeds
the amount of all other supplies put to-
gether. With regard to the views taken by
those who have written upon the subject of
fishing, particularly upon the subject Of
angling, there is not OnesOf them furnishes
the best mode of angling in the valley of
the Mississippi might say in the United
States. These works are written by Eng
lishmen, and in England the fish are sur
face feeders, while in this country they
are generally sbOttOm1 feeders, and in
structiOns for taking the one kind are of no
service in angling for the other. In the
next place, those who have written uT,On
the subject have mainly taken their fish
from oceans and estuaries, and their in
structions do not apply to fishing il West
ern waters.


CAT FISH.


The cat fish is uniformly repudiated, and
uniformly eaten. He is every where con-
demned and always praised vixen he comes
to the table. He is found III nearly every
stream, lake, pond and river where fish are
found. He is not at all nice about what IS
set before him, but eats it and asks DO
questions. He bites freely and decidedly:
pulls earnestly and with q purpose. There
is a great mistake made by many with re
gard to this fish. They say ''give me cat
weighing about three Or four pounds, but
when they get large, they become tough"
This is a mistake. The Buffalo. Drum,
and a good many other semi-hard mouth
fish become tough as they get old, but the
Cat does not. He is good at one pound, at
100 and $50 pounds.


The next most abundant fish with Us is


THE BUFFALO.
He has heavy scale and consequently
can long be preserved without taint. Thcre
is between this fiSh's scales and skin a Sc
cretion, which, unless it is removed, is sure
TO be distributed through the flesh OF the
fish, and it becomes bitter. This fish is
very abundant, particularly in the waters
Of the Mississippi and Alabama.


THE DRUM.


1t has long been q aqueStiOn whether the
drum belongs to the game fish or the soft
mouth fish. 1t is an inferior fish. | be
lieve the people up in DR.. RedfOrd's cOun-
try deceive people By calling them perch.
The next most abundant, probably is


THE SUCKER TRIBE.
There is the la 60 white sucker, the blue
sucker, the yellow horse, the red horse.
They are all the same character of fish and
they are valuable fish, but they are too bony
TO be eaten without great care.


CANE FISH.


Among the game fish there is a great va
riety of salmon. We have the fresh water
salmon which sometimes weighs three or
four pounds, but there is a difference be
tween these and the pure Eastern salmon
in the waters Of the Gaf. Among the fish
belonging to the salmon tribe is the pike
a species Of picksrel. They are line swim
mers, bold biters and hard fighters, and
hard 70 take, vet when taken are exceeding
ly rich and valuable, both as a pan and
boiling fish.


We have a fish peculiar to our waters
that we call


THE JACK FISH.


They are placed at the head of the list
Is a game fish. l have seen them weighing
as high as twenty-three pounds. They are
very much the shape of the Salmon but
not as long; their sides are a little dropping.
How they came to this country we do
not know, but they are rapidly increasing
while other fish are dimishing; the Perch
are disappearing, especially in the Cum
berland River; the Trout are dimishing;
the Drum and Buffalo are in great degree
dimishing.


The next fish in point of value is what
is called


TIE BLACK TROUT.


II inhabitS, mainly. running streams
streams as large as the Cumberland. They
are exceedingly bold and generally put the
angler to his best to land them. They grow
sometimes TO eight or ten pounds. l new
er saw one weigh more than eleven and a
hall. This fish is very valuable and are
found to be exceedingly diSiTable for
table use.


The next is what the boys call


POND Trout.


They grow very large and the meat is eX-
ceedingly delicate and fine. They die
gently and DO not contend SO long or fur
nish that amount Of sport to the angler that
is furnished by the pure black trout.


Next is the buck trout. He is of a sort
Of silver color, and is generally found in
small streams.


Then comes the white perch, which l
think is destined to become a very popular
and numerous fish.


OUR STREAMS BECOMING DEPOPULATED.


The speaker gave an interesting diScrip-
ton of several other species Of fish which
are found i'm this country, and then devoted
some time to showing up the manner in
which our streams are becoming destitute
Of fish, lie said thai after stream had
hSan cleared OF fish the only way in which
it could be stocked again was to carry a
spawn to the upper waters, as tSh wOGid
not come up from the mouth Of thestreams.
lie said that a certain portion OF the French
Broad had ihus been cleared Of fish. When
the speaker first came 20 this section, a
stream ten miles out from Edgetield, which
is entirely destitute Of fish now, was well
stocked then


THE PROCESS BY WHICH FISH ARE DE-


STROYED.


The Doctor said that one Of the most
elFactual means of destroying fish was by
the use of a stset nets which is so arranged
at the mouth Of a stream that when the
water is high the fish can 60 up, passing
under the net but when the water passes
out the net is dTOped 10 the bottom of the
stream so that none Of the fish escape.


Another mode Of destruction is the use
OF a trap. IL was principally by the trap that
the fish were destroyed in the French Broad.
The gill net is another mode Of destroying
them.


4 PLEA FOR ANGLING.


You can neverdes;rOy the fish in 4 stream
by angling. Indeed the speaker thought
that fish might be increased by this method,