Trout season opening 1894

Fishermen were eager for trout season to open in 1894.

“The lake trout are making the fishermen mourn at Bolton. The trout are at the surface in great numbers,” The Morning Star of Glens Falls reported on April 5.

“A man who stood at The Sagamore wharf informed The Star that it was a sight worth looking at them to see them. Some of them looked like porpoises in size,” the reporter continued. “One noted fisherman said excitedly, ‘Look! See ‘em! Oh, ain’t it too bad! Confound the law!”

The opening day for stream fishing, however, did not meet expectations.

“A large number of our local fishermen were out along the brooks in this vicinity bright and early Saturday morning, each filled with a desire to bring home a fine bucket of trout on the opening day of the season,” The Morning Star of Glens Falls reported on April 16. “It was a day of disappointment, for though many were called, few were chosen, and the trout did not come forward with the degree of alacrity which seems so desirable for the angler.”

Elsewhere, “It was very evident that fishing was legalized last Saturday. The number who visited the shores in this vicinity was astonishing,” the West Mountain correspondent reported in The Morning Star on April 18.

The Rev. F. H. Gilchrist, who waited until the third day of the season to go fishing, presumably to prepare his sermon on Saturday and preach on Sunday, had better luck.

“Rev. F.H. Gilchrist was among the early risers yesterday morning to go after a few brook trout and returned home before noon with a catch of seven,” the Sandy Hill correspondent reported in The Morning Star on April 17.

“Dr. A. H. Phelps is the most successful trout fisherman heard from so far in this village this season,” The Morning Star reported on April 18. “As the result of two hours’ fishing on Monday, the doctor says he brought home sixteen brook trout, not one of them being short of six inches in length, and the largest weighing three-fourths of a pound.”

A.N. Cheney of Glens Falls, an ancestor to former Vice President Dick Cheney, was a nationally recognized expert on fishing.

“R. P. Ross of Gansevoort, a member of the Fish and Game Club of that place, called upon A.N. Cheney Saturday evening and showed him a brook trout weighing two pounds and nine ounces, measuring eighteen and one-half inches in length and one-half inches in depth. The fish was caught by Mr. Ross in Delgar Bay, town of Wilton, on Thursday,” The Morning Star reported on April 23.

The May 1 opening of fishing season on Lake George brought fishermen from the surrounding region.

“The open season for trout on Lake George begins today, and the lake will be dotted with boats this morning,” The Morning Star reported on May 1. “A great many fishermen have feared that the trout would be in deep water before this, on account of the ice going out so early. In this community, M.O. Brown stated yesterday that the trout were jumping in large numbers off the Sagamore dock.”

Some fishermen arrived a few days early to get set for the big day.

Eber Richards was providing use of his cottage at Lake George and Amasa Howland use of his yacht “Nunana” for a party of fishermen leaving Sandy Hill for Lake George on Aug. 30 that included the two men along with William Warren, Walter Ferriss, G.W. Clark, C.B. Howe and S.L. Finch, The Morning Star reported on April 28.

“Louis Sexton will act as engineer of the yacht.”

The day met expectations.

“The lake trout season opened yesterday with an ideal day of fishing. The weather was warm, to be sure, but there was enough breeze to put a mercury ripple on the water and temper the heat of the sun. … Reports that have come in indicate that the catch of trout was an unusually large one, and most of the fishing participants secured some handsome trophies of their skill as another,” The Morning Star reported on May 2. “On the 11:45 train from the lake yesterday morning a gentlemen named Potter in his possession, which he caught early off Tea Island. This fish weighed a little over ten pounds. Mr. Potter said he caught several others, but they ran smaller.”

Trout fishermen returned home from Lake George with fish — and fish stories.

“Justice C.S. Enches and Deputy Sheriff Earl B. Smith have returned home from a successful trout fishing expedition at Lake George, bringing with them fifteen speckled beauties, the largest of which weighed eight and three-quarter pounds and the smallest four and one-half pounds, all of which were caught in the vicinity of The Sagamore,” The Morning Star reported on May 3.

A party comprised of A.J. Quackenbush and H.D. McQueen of Schenectady, along with J.H. Madden, E.T. Dean and J.C. McKee of Glens Falls, caught 123 pounds of trout over a day and a-half, fishing near Green Island.

“Sheriff George N. Finch and Supervisor N.E. Baker of Salem, and Deputy Sheriff Morrison of Sandy Hill, brought away a large catch of from Lake George last evening. There were thirty-seven in all and the largest tipped the scales at fourteen and a half pounds. They were captured in the vicinity of Dome Island.”

“Mr. and Mrs. John Landon of Glens Falls, who have been stopping at Grove House, returned home Saturday with about sixty pounds of trout, the largest weighing eight pounds,” the East Lake George correspondent reported in The Morning Star on May 6.

“Walter Brayton caught the largest trout so far this season. It weighed fourteen pounds when cleaned,” the East Lake George correspondent reported in The Morning Star on May 7.

In early season fishing news from other communities:

• Horicon — “Charles Duel will keep boats at Lake Pharoah to accommodate those who wish to fish for trout at that place,” The Morning Star reported on May 3.
• Brayton — “John Van Antwerp had a party of fishermen with his steamer Tuesday. We have heard of no big fish stories yet,” The Morning Star reported on May 5.
• Fort Edward — “Manuel P. Quintum of Fort Edward enjoys the proud position of being the boss fishermen in that thriving village just at present,” The Morning Star reported on May 8. “On Saturday last he went fishing in the Battenkill Creek, and fortune shined on him so favorably that he came home with a brook trout nineteen and one-half inches long and weighing two pounds, nine and one-half ounces.”
• Raquette Lake — “Seeing numerous accounts of large trout catches in your valued paper, just let us say a word for Raquette Lake,” the Raquette Lake correspondent boasted in The Morning Star on May 9. “The result of one guide’s fishing last week was an average of about forty pounds a day, the largest catch for one day being sixty-eight pounds. A good portion of these fish were speckled trout, the largest weighing four pounds and thirteen ounces.”
• Shushan — “The fishing in the river in this vicinity for trout has been the largest in years, and has met with great success,” the Shushan correspondent reported in The Granville Sentinel on May 11.

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