Bkptbmbrb 29, 1881.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



T71 



Trolling in the bay is fair for that class of sport, though a 

 few bass are thus taken, and still fewer of the wall-eyed pike, 

 called dora here, yet the principal catch is pickerel, which 

 have firm atd well-flavored flesh in these cold waters. They 

 Bre in weight from three to ten pounds, though some are 

 taken of twenty pounds and over. My best day was twenty 

 fish from ten o'clock in the morning till six in the evening, 

 stopping two hours for lunch. To insure success your boat- 

 man must row you in the deep water within a few feet of 

 the slioulner of the bank beyond which is the shallow water, 

 say eight or ten feet in depth. If two lines are out the one 

 on the side nearest the bank will take more than twice as 

 many as Ibe other, no matter which is the longest. The 

 lines' Rhould be from 100 to 150 feet long, at least so results 

 have taught me. 



There is no very inviting trout fishing in the vicinity of 

 Eocanaba. Probably the finest that has ever been found in 

 this country was Trout Lake. It is situated in an unin- 

 habited forest, mostly surrounded with high banks, three 

 miles long and three-quarters of a mile wide. It is fed by 

 springs mainly internal. From it issues Whitefish River 

 which empties into the head of the Little Bay De Noquette 

 from which the lake is thirty milts due north. Last year a 

 party visited this lake and caught in a legitmate way, on the 

 first atternoon, 250 pounds of Irout, but a severe illness of 

 one of the party compelled them to leave the next morning. 

 They were all taken from a raft which they anchored near a 

 large bt d of white material which looked like mar) and was 

 literally covered with trout which, when alarmed, they in- 

 sist, would disappear beneath the white surface. If in this 

 they were not mistaken it is, no doubt, a large spring full of 

 white sand held in suspension. 



Like other fish, the speckled trout have their good days and 

 bad days for biting, for which there is no apparent cause. 

 Soon after the same locuity wasvi-ited by a party which 

 found the trout just as abundant as on the former occasion, 

 and as tame, but they could not be persuaded to take the 

 hook. Wot to be balked they attached three large hooks to- 

 gether with heavy sinkers, threw them beyond the trout bed 

 and drew them in quickly. In this way they hooked several 

 hundred pounds before the fish became thoroughly alarmed 

 and disappeared. How often this discreditable affair was re- 

 peated 1 do not know, nor to what extent other illegitimate 

 means, such as netting, in this charming lake we may never 

 know, but it is certain that trout have frequently appeared in 

 the markets, and that legitimate fishirg in Trout Lake has 

 been entirely destroyed. I cannot learn that a pound has 

 been legitimately taken from that lonely lake this year. A 

 party lately visited the lake for legitimate fishing, but found 

 the usual haunts of the trout entirely deserted, and only 

 caught a few small ones in the outlet. It is indeed a pity 

 that the despoiiers cannot be subjected to the penalties of the 

 law which in its letter is ample ; but the letter is dead in that 

 secluded place. 



I was more interested in a fact, which was new to me at 

 least, and that is thai the lake whitefish are eometimes taken 

 wiih the hook. More than twenty years ago I examined the 

 stomachs of a number of whitefish at, Eagle River, on Lake 

 Superior. The principal contenis found undigested consisted 

 of Crustacea and bivalves about the size of the head of a 

 pin. These are, no doubt, found at the bottom of the deep 

 waters of the lake, as I c .uld hear of none which had ever 

 be; n seen in the more shallow waters subject to ordinary 

 inspection. No doubt there is a rich harvest in reserve for 

 those who shall dredge the deep waters of these lakes. 



Since that time many otherB have examined the stomachs 

 of the whitefish, but all go to show that they gather their 

 food from the bottum of deep waters, rather by the process of 

 suction than by an active pursuit of their prey and biting it 

 Nor do I think this was contradicted by the fact that they 

 are. sometimes taken with the hook where the conditions 

 were proper y investigated. 



\\ illiam Hart, a young boatman and fisherman at Escanaba, 

 when rowing me for trolling, told me that he had fre- 

 quently taken hooked whitefish around the iron docks. 

 Whtlel was skeptical, I carefully questioned as to the mode 

 in which it was done. He said he had only taken them with 

 the hook late in tk-i fall, and nowhere except about the docks. 

 He baited a small book with a translucent minnow, which 

 does not appear in these waters before the last of October. 

 He never iook them with any other bait, though he had tried 

 many kinds. The bait was sunk to the bottom where it was 

 p. rmitted to rest till picked up rather sluggishly by the white 

 fish, v^ hen hooked it was very active, and quite as gamy 

 as the black bass. he had thus taken the whitefish for sev- 

 eral years in succession, but at no other time of the year and 

 with li'i other bait. He says the whitefish do not now enter 

 J.ittle Bay De Noquite till late in the foil, and only then can 

 the proper bait be procured, two satisfactory reasons why 

 they are only taken then. They may frequent the docks for 

 the food which is thrown overboard from the vessels. If 

 this be so it would show that the whitefish do not depend 

 exclusively upon live food, which is a question I do not re- 

 member to have seen discussed. 



Upon inquiry I found a number of reputable citizens who 

 had seen Hart catch whitefish at various times, a9 he claims. 

 Mr. Winneger saw him take five large ones near his docks in 

 one afternoon. 



E>mi,aba Sept. 1, 1881. 



[That whitefish take the fly is new to us. We should like 

 to know further of it.] 



A LARGE BROOK TROUT. 



New York, Sept. 21. 



IN the Oswegatchie River Inlet to Cranberry Lake, St. 

 Lawrence Co.. N. Y., at the mouth of a spring brook, 

 upon the 17th of July, a gentleman from this city caught a 

 brook trout weighing four pounds and six ounces. It was 

 twenty -one inches long, and everyone in that vicinity united 

 in calling it the biggest trout caught there within the memory 

 of the "oldest inhabitant." There were plenty of wit- 

 nesses to the weighing of it, so that this fish story must be 

 considered as one which can be well substantiated in every 

 particular. 



Angleworms were used as bait, and the number oneSproat 

 hook was attached to a double snood. 



The rod was of medium weight, and its first two joints 

 were badly sprung in the protracted struggle with the heavy 

 fish. The moment it fitlt the touch of the landing net it 

 flopped off the hook, and as the creel proved too small to 

 hold it. it had to be killed and thrown into the bottom of 

 rh" lyit 



We are aware that larger trout nave been caught in the 

 lakes of Maine and at the West, but have any of your read- 

 ers ever caught a larger speckled brook trout in the Adiron- 

 dacks? Sevbm. 



IN NORTHERN MICHIGAN. 



THE writer has the love of htrnanity ingrafted in his con- 

 stitution and it is to aid hia suffering fellow-creatures 

 that he pens the following narrative of a trip that he made 

 last summer into Northern Michigan. Those employed in a 

 great many classes of confining business are given an annual 

 vacation, but do not know how to pass it to the best advantage. 

 Lying around the old home, smoking, reading and sleeping, 

 while it may be enjoyable, is not particularly healthful, and 

 it grows monotonous. It costs considerable money and does 

 not restore the lost vitality to "'splurge" around fashionable 

 watering-places or loaf in the cities. Those who are con- 

 fined by their business most of the year should get, out in the 

 open air, where they can Jive, for a. few weeks at least, in a. 

 pure atmosphere, hunt, boat, fish and swim, and have no 

 greater cares to tax their brains than cooking and avoiding 

 mosquitoes. If they will do this- the exhausted forces of 

 the body will be restored to new strength and the wanderer 

 will return with his body and brain in good condi ion to 

 meet the duties of the long and confining' winter and pro- 

 vokingly \&zy spring. 



Purely through a lucky accident I was last year given an 

 opportunity to join a party on atrip to Higgins' Lake, one of 

 the innumerable little bndies of water found in the pineries 

 of Michigan. Rejecting immediately a contemplated tour 

 through the East, including a swf at at Washington, the view 

 of the earthly elysiitm up in the pine forests completely shut 

 out thoughts of the conquests I might, have made Imd I 

 squandered my time and cash at Long Branch and Saratoga. 

 We took the train at Jackson for Bay City, and had a de- 

 lightful ride up through fertile Southern* Michigan — hut then, 

 when there are six lively people in a crowd, rides generally 

 are delightful, no matter where taken. We reached Bay City 

 about ten o'clock, and the sight as we enteied the town was 

 one of the prettiest I have ever witnessed ; scores of saw- 

 mills were in full blast, and aside from the fact that it looked 

 as if the city was' on fire, the reflection of the light on the 

 water made a beautiful picture. Here, through nects- 

 sity — there being no other train— we remained that 

 night. In the morning about eight o'clock we again took 

 the train, and settled ourselves for the last long pull 

 of ninety-eight miles. The common bond of sympathy, 

 which unites all those working in the same cause, attracted 

 to us two other gentlemen, who were also bound for Higgins'. 

 They were very much afraid they would not have a good 

 time, and I am free to confess they did not. All of the four 

 weeks they were out it was grumble, grumble, grumble, and 

 I was led to believo that they lived on codfish and crackers 

 at home, and were mad because they ditin't get something 

 better away from there. These gentlemen made themselves 

 objects of commiseration and contempt among all the people 

 around the lake ; they live in Chicago, and if this meets their 

 eyes, they will see what the writer longed to tell them to their 

 faces. And let him say right here that those who go to camp 

 out with the expectation of finding everything comfortable, 

 and everything to suit them, will be woefully disappointed. 

 If you cannot stand coarse food and rough weather you had 

 better *' camp " in some hotel on the seashore at $4 a day. 



Our ride that day was not through a cheerful country. 

 Michigan, above Bay City, is the most Cod-forsaken piece of 

 land on the American continent. Sand, sand, sand, and oc- 

 casionally a huckleberry bush to break for an instant the 

 monotony of the pine forests. Frequently we would enter a 

 stretch of burned woods five and ten miles long, nothing 

 meeting the eye hut the black, scorched trunks and brown 

 sand. Then we would crawl painfully up a grade at a pace 

 which the proverbially slow turtle coti'd almost shame ; anon 

 fly down an incline at a speed which sent the loose sand up 

 in whirling clouds, which penetrated the cars and got into 

 our ears, our eyes, and our sandwiches. The view on the 

 side was always the same— blackened trees or green forests, 

 and sand — that never failed. It was a long and tiresome ride, 

 and I was glad when we reached Roscommon, got out. and 

 stretched our limbs, secured our dinner, and learned that the 

 railroad could take us but eight miles further. We were a 

 tired set when we reached Perecheney, the station nearest the 

 lake, but our woes were not yet ended. 



We had written on ahead to Mr. G. M. Cheney, who owns 

 property near the lake, to keep for us one of the little pine 

 board cabins he has built for the use of those who do not care to 

 carry tents. Mr. C. was at the "depot," a board platform, and 

 smilingly informed us that he. would immediately cart us to 

 our future residence. So, after leaving our names at the 

 diminutive post office, with instructions to send our mail to 

 the lake, we packed our traps upon the lumber wagon, 

 mounted the same, and began a ride through the forest 

 through sand a foot deep. The distance was seven miles. 

 I know not what the schedule time is, but it took our con- 

 veyance just three hours to make the trip. To add to tlie 

 misery of lame backs— owing to no backing — dark clouds 

 began to rise in the sky and huge clouds of mosquitoes hegan 

 to rise from the bushes. By the time we reached our desti- 

 nation both of these children of nature were well a'ong in their 

 tasks— the execrable insectshadraisednumerousblotche^on our 

 faces which the rain tried to cool. However, the lake finally 

 came into view. Everything was hastily unloided and carried 

 into the cabin, and by the time we had our things well 

 housed the rain came down in torrents. Two rough bed- 

 steads were speedily nailed up, upon which we spread out- 

 blankets and, stretching our tired bodies, fell asleep, soothed 

 by the patter of the rain upon the roof and the mournful 

 sighing of the pine trees. 



Morning found the air yet misty; discouraging clouds 

 hung above us and threatened rain ; the lake looked dismal 

 enough with the haze rising from it ; the pine trees dripped 

 water from the night's rain, and our ardor was as much 

 dampened as everything else. Notwithstanding these dis- 

 couragements, we worked hard all day and got everything in 

 good shape. Rice straw was obtained from a plain about 

 thiee miles distant, which we broke and made into mattresses. 

 A very primitive-style cook stove— not remarkable for its 

 beauty, but just as useful as a more handsome article Would 

 have been, and not occupying half so much space — was 

 planted back of the cabin. Shelves were put up, fishing 

 tackle and guns put in good order, and when night arrived 

 we were well tired out. More rain and more discouragement. 

 When I awoke the next morning the sun was shining 

 brightly, and for the first time I felt buoyant enough in spirit 

 to look around and see where we were. Never having seen 

 Como or Mark Twain's much-praised Tahoe, I am inclined 

 to thinK that even if that little body of water in Michigan has 

 not a very romantic name, it is the prettiest lake that can be 

 found Hedged in by the dark green pines, which rose in 

 terraces up the banks until they seemed to touch the sky, and 

 with its various colors it looked like a picture in a dark frame. 

 The crystal waters flung back the sun's freah rays with ten- 



fold force ; the water on the tall pines sparkled like thous- 

 ands of diamonds; the blue-jays filled the woods and the 

 air resounded wi'h their loud "caws;" the a'mosphere was 

 pure and invigorating, and a cool breeze blew from the lake 

 with sufficient force to drive the festive mosquito back among 

 the trees. As I lay there on a bench, puffing my old 

 wooden pipe, I thought I had at last set feot in the promised 

 iand. 



From that day our stay was one continued round of fun, 

 pleasure and healthful exercise. Ourcibin was one of a row 

 of about ten, built in the shade of the pine trees upon the 

 gently sloping bank, and we soon had companions to partici- 

 pate in our pleasures. flefore we left, as many as two hun- 

 dred people, mostly from Saginaw, Saginaw City and Bay City, 

 were scattered along the lake within a stretchof two miles. The 

 nearest, postofflco was Perecheney, and our mail was brought 

 us daily. We suffered some inconvenience at first for want 

 of a boat, but everybody is your friend up there, and was 

 perfectly willing to lend until wc secured one of our ovn 

 We were somewhat disappointed in the hunting, but the 

 fishing was splendid. The lake is fairly alive with perch, 

 bass, pike and whitefish. One afternoon two of us rowed 

 out an eighth of a mile and back, and during tie time inter- 

 vening between the journeys, caught teventy-eight perch and 

 bass, and the whole operation was performed in an hour. 

 We fished altogether with minnows, never u-ing flies; the 

 fisu do not take them readily. We rose at dayl'ght, went to 

 bed at dark, fished and hunted, swam and boated, joked and 

 laughed, and when the days of July drew to a close and we 

 pulled up stakes to move homeward, a bi owner, healthier, 

 batter satisfied party could not have been four.d " iu thirteen 

 States." 



Higgins' Lake lies in the southern part of Crawford county, 

 Michigan ; it is 9 miles long, and 4^ miles wide, and is proba- 

 bly as pure a body of water as exists ; in a depth of thirty 

 feet every pebble on the bottom can be clearly seen j the 

 bottom slopes from the shore very gradually for a qoarter of 

 a mile, when it suddenly falls, and in the centre the lake 

 cannot be sounded. About the middle there is an island 

 nearly half a mile long, around which ducks can be found in 

 great, abundance. The lake was first conceived of as a sum- 

 mer resort by Lorenzo Burrows, Esq., a wealthy banker of 

 Saginaw City, Mich., who found it while hunting deer one 

 winter in that region. He went there alone with his family 

 four or five summers, when he prevailed upon some of his 

 friends to accompany him. Last yeir there were fully two 

 hundred people scattered around the lake when xe left. They 

 were divided into two camps, "Burrows' Camp," and the 

 "New Camp," and in the latter many spacious cottages are 

 being built. The two camps are separated by about a mile, 

 and to those who wish to "rough it," Burrows is infinitely 

 to be preferred. We obtained our cabin for 81 a month, and 

 it was much more satisfactory than a tent would have been, 

 being cooler and dryer. 



The lake is reached by way of Jackson, on the Saginaw 

 extension of the Michigan Central Railroad. Tickets are 

 sold at excursion rates and the road checked everything for 

 us without extra charge. We took everything with us nee 

 essary for camping out, as nothing can be purchased at the 

 lake, or could not be then. We believe a small eating house 

 is to be erected this year iu the New Camp, but it is more 

 fun to cook one's own grub. All the wearing apparel I took 

 with me was a stout pair of pantB and hoots, two blue flan- 

 nel shirts, a broad-brim hat and a close-Stting cap and sev- 

 eral pairs of cheap hose. I never spent a more enjoyable 

 month in my life, and the fresh a'r, regular sleep and exer- 

 cise, put me in a healihy condition, which a year's rest at 

 home would not have done. I left Ohio we ghing 115 pounds, 

 and returned weighing 125. When there are six or seven in. 

 the party, as there were in ours, the trip can be made very 

 cheap. My share of the expenses, including railroad fare 

 above Jackson, was but $25.00, and I was gone a month. 



Abthub Jay. 



HOW TO KILL A MTTSKALLONGE. 



I was much interested in reading Mr. BisselPs account of 

 his muskailonge fishing in Sparrow Lake, as it vividly 

 recalled my experience thirty years ago, when I used to fish 

 for "lunge" in the Scugog watery and take them in num- 

 bers which would now be thought fabulous. I then learned 

 the method described by your correspondent of taking them 

 out of the water by the fingers pressed into the orbits, and 

 have since often instructed my fellow sportsmen how to do 

 it , but had n ver seen it in print. 



My object in writing is to supplement from my long expe- 

 rience in handling hundreds of these sp'endid fish, what is 

 wanting in his instructions. Your correspondent says : "As 

 with one hand leveling the line you draw the fish close to 

 the side of the boat, paBs the other along his back to see that 

 he will remain quiet, and so up to his head, until the thumb 

 and fore-finger are over his eyes, where the pr> jecting bones 

 give you firm hold, if you grasp him tightly, and thus with 

 both hands you neatly and quickly draw him over the side 

 and ino safe quarters b. fore he has time and consciousness 

 to struggle. For his struggles when in the boat you must 

 be prepared, though it is not advisable to do as one Doctor 

 recently did onth is lake with his first twelve pounder — got 

 one band into his gi Is and the other into his mouth, to be 

 cut and sliced by the sharp teeth, and require two weeks' 

 burgery." 



The "flopping and floundering" which I can easily imagine 

 was "astonishing to behold when the fish was lifted into the 

 canoe" would have been entirely prevented if he had. before 

 relinquishing his hold in the orbits, passed a narrow-bladed 

 knife down into the spinal marrow just behind the head. 

 The orbits communicate so freely with the cranial cavity 

 that pressure through them completely paralyzes the fish, 

 and it the spinal cord is severed while the pressure is kept 

 up, the fish will lie in the canoe incapable of moving even a 

 fin, and all clubbing or gaffing or floundering is certainly 

 prevented. 



In the same number of your journal I am pleased to see a 

 letter from my dear old friend, Dr. Garlick, whose claims to 

 have first practiced pisciculture on this continent have at last 

 been fully recognized. It was my privilege to have made 

 his acquaintance over twenty-five years ago, and to have 

 heard then from himself of his success in breeding trout at 

 Cleveland. At a very large expense of time, money and 

 trouble, he demonstrated in 1853 the practicability of fish- 

 culture, and the recognition of his labors, though tardy, will 

 cheer his generous ht art and help him to bear with more for- 

 titude the sufforing he has been compelled to endure through 

 so many weary years. 



During one of my visits to Dr. Garlick he showed me a 

 plaster east of a "luuge" which weighed between fifty and 

 sixty pounds. As far as I know, he was the first to practice 



