EXPERIENCEvS OF CHICAGO SPORTSMEN IN A NEW 

 HUNTER'S PARADISE. 



BY E. GRANVILLE. 



In the pine woods of Michigan, 360 

 miles northwest of Chicago, on the line 

 of the Chicago and Northwestern 

 Railway, is the small village called 

 Watersmeet. And it is justly so named, 

 for it is completely surrounded by 

 waters alive with game fish. Each 

 season the fishing seems to improve, 

 and is ample proof that the Fish Com- 

 missioners of Michigan are doing a 

 great work, as the fish food supply not 

 only affords fine sport and recreation 

 for many anglers, but also supplies 

 many farmers with delicious food. 

 Brook-trout fishing can be enjoyed 

 to the heart's content, as a dozen trout 

 streams flow near the village. 



The Ontonagon River is within ten 

 minutes' walk of town, and for three 

 miles it affords sport enough to suit any 

 angler. We camped on this stream, 

 about two miles from Watersmeet, and 

 the cook caught enough trout from two 

 pools ten yards from camp to supply 

 four htmgry anglers. The trout run 

 from six to fourteen inches in length, 

 but that applies to day fishing. ■ At 

 night, when the largest trout feed, 

 trout weighing from one to two pounds 

 can be caught, and, although I have 

 met many anglers for trout who con- 

 sidered themselves experts, very few 

 of them seemed to know anything 

 about the habits of large trout. 



During the day, when the sun shines 

 bright, the largest trout do very little 

 feeding, but are content to hide, and if 

 you will approach the river cautiously 

 and watch the deepest pools carefully 

 hundreds of large trout can be seen 

 close to the bottom of the stream, yet 



no bait will tempt them to bite, unless 

 the day is very dark and cloudy. But 

 as the daylight fades, and darkness 

 steals over the waters, these large trout 

 commence to stir about, and they swim 

 out of the deep pools and from under 

 sheltering logs and projecting banks of 

 the stream and hunt for their supper. 

 Under cover of darkness they move 

 swiftly about, swimming up on to the 

 shallow rapids, where they capture the 

 small chubs and trout. A trout weigh- 

 ing one-half pound is a great destroyer 

 of small trout, and should be taken 

 from any stream. 



During the day, when the shining 

 sun casts shadows, the small trout were 

 captured by using a small fly, and a 

 six-inch trout is just right to fry, but 

 the fly caster for trout would prefer to 

 hook and fight one large trout than a 

 dozen small ones. So we took a long 

 nap during the afternoon, and with a 

 lunch and lantern, started out at 7 p. m. 

 for a night with the large trout. 



Each man selects a spot at the head 

 of a long reach of rapid running water, 

 which culminates in a deep pool, and if 

 the pool has fallen trees and thick 

 foliage hanging over it, so much the 

 better, as the more dense the foliage 

 the better shelter is afforded, and more 

 trout will gather in the pools. In one 

 long, deep pool, where several large 

 trees had fallen across the stream, 

 affording a great hiding place for these 

 cunning fishes, we cast our flies repeat- 

 edly over the pool, without a sign of a 

 fish appearing, but it being about two 

 o'clock in the afternoon the sun cast a 

 shadow even from the thinnest leaders, 



