FISH AND FISHING. 



THE PASSING OF A MUSKALONGE. 



W. T. DAVIS. 



A great many people have vainly sought 

 for years to capture a " musky," known as 

 the king of fresh water fishes, because of its 

 size, and of the gamy fight with which it re- 

 sists a close acquaintance with the angler. 

 To capture a single specimen is sufficient re- 

 ward for many days of hard work, poor 

 food, nights filled with the hideous noises 

 and sharp practices of the pestiferous mos- 

 quito, miles of travel, and a degree of 

 patience and persistence, which would make 

 the fortune of an advertising agent. 



The particular " musky," whose passing 

 gL^ve our party so much pleasure, was caught 

 in the Wisconsin river, July 7th, 1898, by 

 my son. In the early morning of July 6th 

 we left Tomahawk lake, on the Ashland 

 division of the North Western railroad, 

 with an experienced guide, a boat, tent, food 

 supplies, and fishing tackle, in a wagon, for 

 a portage of 14 miles to Little St. Germain 

 lake, where we unloaded our outfit, and 

 took to water. 



Notwithstanding some large muskalonge 

 have been taken from those waters, we were 

 unsuccessful. We loaded our outfit in our 

 rather small river boat, and, by a succession 

 of portages and creek wadings, we reached 

 the Wisconsin river late in the afternoon. 

 We at once began the search up stream for 

 a good camping place, a spring, and some 

 fish for supper. These 3 luxuries are not 

 often found in bunches. It was after 8 

 o'clock when we found a pike hole. In 10 

 minutes we had caught 7 wall-eyed beauties 

 — enough for supper and breakfast. - We 

 were then content to make camp. 



While the guide prepared the fish, the 

 others made a fire and pitched the tent. 

 The scarcity of room in our small boat pre- 

 vented our carrying tent poles or pins, but 

 with only our pocket knives, and some hay 

 wire left by loggers, we managed to put up 

 a very substantial structure. Then came the 

 best mess of fish we ever enjoyed ; a smoke 

 and a finish fight with mosquitoes, which 

 lasted without a breathing spell from the 

 time we lay down on our single blankets 

 until daylight the next morning, when we 

 surrendered the camp, sleepless though we 

 were, and took to the boat. 



About 5 o'clock we found a beautiful 

 stretch of river 2 miles above camp. Here, 

 when our spirits were at the lowest ebb, and 

 we would have gladly exchanged our loca- 

 tion and chances for glory with Shafter's 

 army in front of Santiago, Mr. Musky 

 took the spoon, made the usual leap out of 

 the water, and was hooked. 



Then came a game fight, between a boy 



of 17 years, with a light lancewood bass rod, 

 costing $1.50, and a 24 pounder. The guide 

 rowed steadily up stream, the t " musky " 

 fought from one side of the river to the 

 other, looking for a chance to break loose 

 on some log or root ; the boy took in his 

 30 or 40 yards of line as steadily and con- 

 tinuously as if it were an every day occur- 

 rence, straining every fibre of his rod to 

 keep Mr. Fish clear of obstructions, and I 

 thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the 

 time. 



The problem of landing the muskalonge 

 was a serious one, for the river was full of 

 obstructions, the boat was frail and light, 

 and there were 3 men in it. A sandy shore 

 appearing about 40 or 50 rods up stream, it 

 was decided to beach the fish. During this 

 excitement the line parted, with the fish still 

 in 4 or 5 inches of water, but the guide 

 promptly jumped in and pushed Mr. Musky 

 up on dry land. This encounter gave us 

 an army appetite, and we took our prize 

 back to Mosquito Camp for breakfast. 



We put in the remainder of the day fish- 

 ing down the river, 35 miles by water, to 

 within 2 miles of Tomahawk lake, catching 

 en route quite a string of wall-eyed pike. 

 Here we were met by a team, and portaged 

 back to the hotel. 



IS MR. CHAPMAN A FISH HOG? 



New York City. 



Editor Recreation: Does it ever occur 

 to you that possibly you might be accused of 

 an over fondness for the use of the term 

 " game hog " and that at times you use it 

 without ordinary discrimination? For ex- 

 ample, in the October number of your maga- 

 zine, you publish an extract from the Hart- 

 ford Times to the effect that Mr. Silas Chap- 

 man, Jr., in a letter to that paper, from his 

 camp in the Rangeley's, said he had caught, 

 in less than a fortnight, over 800 trout. You 

 say "of course Mr. Chapman wears bristles.'' 

 Do you know positively that Mr. Chapman 

 kept those 800 fish? Don't you think it 

 would be a trifle more charitable on your 

 part, to give him the benefit of the doubt and 

 to presume he saved only those he could 

 use, before you brand him as a fish hog, and 

 that he reported the total of his catch as the 

 result of a natural pride? 



I think it would be more to the point if 

 you commented on J. S. Mitchell's, of Ne- 

 gaunee, Mich., communication, to the effect 

 that, by the aid of a Bristol steel rod and a 

 Yawman & Erbe automatic reel, he had 

 taken 14 as nice trout as one could wish? 

 What show had the fish with such appli- 

 ances as these? Had he used dynamite you 

 would have condemned him. For my part 



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