50 HASTINGS LAKE. 



an introduction to a sweet little girl cousin of mine, at 

 the same time hinting he was a young gentleman of 

 wonderful parts and great expectations. She bit right 

 away, and married him three days afterward, thus 

 earning my everlasting gratitude. 



I am aware the above is not in any manner con- 

 nected with the avowed subject of this article, and I 

 merely introduce it as a warning to those weak-minded 

 brothers of the angle whom the delightful environ- 

 ments of their pursuit might seduce from the dutiful 

 path of angling to that of the sinful and unpardonable 

 practice of bad verse making. 



Hastings Lake lies about half a mile east of Crooked 

 Lake, and although fairly well fished of late years, it 

 still holds its own in the matter of sport to the angler. 

 There are plenty of good-sized bass and pickerel within 

 its waters, and big catches are often made by those 

 fishermen acquainted with the locality. Hastings Lake 

 is a trifle further from Lake Villa Depot than most of 

 the lakes in the vicinity, hence comparatively few of 

 the anglers who stop off at Lake Villa ever fish it. 



There is but one slight bar in the lake; it is in the 

 deepest water, leading to the rush line on the east side. 



The lake, all round inshore, affords excellent bass 

 fishing. Off the point of the bar is good perch ground. 

 The pickerel ground is all around the lake line leading 

 to the deepish water. Small frogs are the best bait 

 to use when fishing for bass near inshore, and minnows 

 when fishing for pickerel in the deeper waters adjoin- 

 ing. The best trolling water will be found on the 

 north and east shores. 



The sportsman who has never hunted or fished in the 

 vast tangled wilderness of the Far West can form no 

 conception of the arduous work and appalling diffi- 

 culties he has to surmount in his journeyings. My old 

 friend Cap' Riley of Portland, Ore., one of the best 

 known elk hunters in the state, has often remarked it 

 was worth a hundred dollars to get a pair of elk's 

 horns out from the wilderness into the confines of 



