62 RECREATION 
stand ready and willing to concede to the 
mascalonge anything that will further por- 
tray its gameness, but I must add that since 
it has never been my good fortune to witness 
this exhibition I am reluctant to accept it. 
It. is not fair to 
assume that age and 
the consequent in- 
crease of strengthand 
self-reliance incident 
thereto-will promote 
timidity in the ’longe. 
It seems only reason- 
able that the converse 
would obtain. Yet 
the two ideas are ir- 
reconcilably inconsis- 
tent, for seldom are 
big fishtaken in placid 
waters. I have never 
heard even the most 
garrulous guide say 
that a perfectly calm 
lake was favorable to 
mascalonge fishing. 
On the contrary, the 
undisputed. hy poth- 
esis is -that the an- 
gler must have a little 
sea, or else his lure 
well back from the 
boat, if a strike is to 
result. A ’longe will 
sometimes strike in 
pacific waters, but to 
get the much coveted 
big ones it is necessary to have the spoon 
not less than thirty yards away. 
While this fish is sometimes taken in deep 
water, with the bait skimming the bottom, 
the favorite places are the points and bars. 
Here the fresh-water tigers lie in wait for 
the unsuspecting pike, as they dart from lily 
pads to rushes in search of some dainty 
morsel. They feed chiefly, if not entirely, 
upon the wall-eyed pike, when this fish is 
available, and it may be noticed that the 
good pike grounds are to be found near the 
bars where the mascalonge strike may be 
looked for. Guides who have had the 
opportunity of observing and the inclination 
to observe tell me that whenever they found 
undigested fish in the stomach of a ’longe, 
it was usually wall-eyed pike. Whole pike, 

THE AUTHOR AND HIS GUIDE, WITH THEIR 
BIGGEST TONGE. 
weighing as much as a pound and a half, 
have been taken from the stomach. They 
frequently prove an attractive bait, and will 
often yield a strike when the artificial lure 
has failed. 
My friend, Arm- 
strong, and I had 
fished Wisconsin 
waters for several 
days with indifferent 
success. We had one 
six-pounder, with the 
usual pike and pick- 
erel to our credit. 
The mascalonge was 
taken by my fishing 
companion in Lake 
Julia, famous for its 
number rather than 
the size of its masca- 
longe. Big Lake is at 
the head of the Eagle 
chain. It is fed by 
the waters of Eagle 
River, which in turn 
receives its supply 
from several lakes 
many miles above. 
Strikes are not so 
plentiful in Big Lake, 
yet when strikes do 
come the angler may 
look. for a formidable 
adversary. - 
It was a bleak day 
in early September of 
last year. We were ambitious for a “‘big 
one”’—Armstrong and I—and Emile Kloes, 
our guide, had promised it. Our lines went 
overboard at the pier and temptingly trailed 
from either side of the boat, which was 
‘pulled at a fair rate of speed. A frog did 
contortions at the end of my companion’s 
spoon, while a bit of red flannel and a small 
piece of pickerel gullet served as an attrac- 
tion on my own. 
There is a legend, or maybe fish history, 
which, if I mistake not, has been handed 
down by our forefathers, establishing be- 
yond’ controversion the fact that all fish 
have a settled antipathy for an east wind. 
Whether or not this is a sedative for ill luck 
is a matter that addresses itself to the indi- 
vidual .angler..and. his conscience, yet the 
