HUNTING AND FISHING GROUNDS, AND PLEASURE RESORTS. 
157 
sumably because of the absence of fish; but 
really we should think as a literal translation 
of its Indian name, as the noble savage could 
not well have navigated it, for of what we 
saw, there was more of rapids than still 
water. But though the main stream may be 
deceptive from a fisherman’s point of view, 
some of its tributary creeks and streams are 
by no means so, for Marengo and White 
Rivers are said to be alive with fine brook 
trout, but of these two streams we will speak 
directly. 
Ashland is the present northern terminus 
of the Wisconsin Central line, and is situated 
almost at the extremity of Chequamegon Bay, 
and has been lauded to the skies of late as a 
fisherman’s haven. There is no doubt about 
there being fish in the neighborhood of Ash- 
land. There sre abundance of whitefish in 
the bay, and fine lake trout also, and over 
under the sandstone cliffs of the north shore 
there are some very fine brook trout; but the 
fishing is not of that surpassing nature which 
the residents of the country about Ashland 
would wish us to believe. Under the bluffs 
on the north shore, a sportsman in luck may 
catch from fifteen to thirty pounds of fine trout, 
averaging one-half pound, and occasionally 
land a heavy fish; but elsewhere in the im- 
mediate vicinity there is no sportsman’s fish- 
ing. There are numerous brooks all round the 
country that contain more or less of brook 
trout of a diminutive description, and very 
hard to get at. The brooks run through the 
forest, and are enclosed in dense underbrush ; 
the fishing has to be done by hard scrambling 
with a four foot switch, and about the same 
amount of line; the only excitement is to 
avoid snags below water and the brushwood 
above, and to see if the likely hole contains 
anything beyond a fingerling. We went out 
with a party to one of these brooks, and cap- 
tured nine trout after an hour’s preliminary 
tramp, and two hour’s hard fighting against 
brushwood and mosquitoes. Six of these nine 
were less than six inches long, and five of 
them were returned to the water as unfit to 
keep, the sixth fingerling being kept asa 
matter of curiosity aud comparison. By 1 
Pp. M., we had had enough of the paucity of 
fish and plentitude of buzzers, so left the so- 
called ‘‘ Pleasant Valley” for the boat by the 
jake shore, where fish bites were as numerous 
| as on the creek, and mosquito bites less fre- 
quent. By 5 p. m., the other two of the party 
arrived with forty-one fish between them, 
followed shortly by another couple of sports- 
.men with twenty-one fish; at least half of the 
sixty-two fish were as small or smaller than 
the fingerling I had reserved. Yet these same 
strings of sixty-five trout swelled to one-hun- 
dred in the notice of the catch which appeared 
in the local paper. From the remarks that 
were passed on the string of our party, and 
from various other strings that came to our 
notice, it was evident that we had not been 
severely out of luck. Now, as Ashland is 
four hundred and thirty-three miles from 
Chicago, and a full twenty-six hours journey, 
it cannot be said that ‘the game is worth the 
candle.” There is some fair sport to be had 
ou the Bruns Wieler Creek, a tributary of 
Marengo River, and he who wants a better 
string than the above should take the train 
down to Marengo, then go down south about 
one mile to the creek, and turn up it to Blad- 
der Lake, and make a fair bag. Again, the 
enterprising enthusiast may take a trip of 
twenty-six miles to Trout Lake, on White 
River, and, according to local tradition, take 
one hundred pounds weight of fish in the day. 
Here, too, we believe a sportsman has a chance 
of casting a fly and having a stand up fight 
with his game. 
As a great fishing resort, Ashland is some- 
what ofa failure, but as a shooting ground 
for deer, bears, &c., and of wild fowl, should 
rank high, for we noticed many fresh deer 
tracks and saw several flocks of ducks, and 
were assured that durizg September, and in 
fact, till snow flies, the wild fowl that abound 
in the marshes at the head of the bay and in 
the bay itself, are not to be counted. 
On the whole, we should recommend the 
Wisconsin Central Railroad and its country, 
to the sportsman because we believe there is 
abundance ot game within easy reach of the 
line and because it has not been overrun by 
sportsmen or pot hunters. It is within easy 
reach of Chicago, and consequently of the en- 
tire sporting community. The Milwaukee & 
St. Paul night train, draws the Wisconsin 
Central sleeper to Milwaukee, whence it is 
drawn by the night mail to the north. Halts 
of twenty minutes are made at Menasha, 
Stevens’ Point, and Phillips’ for meals, and the 
