A MINNESOTA MUSKALONGE. 



;63 



5 miles long, wc could have loaded our 

 canoe any day with bass and we used no 

 bait but a spoon. Those were the most 

 beautiful green bass I ever saw. They 

 bore no relation to the razor-back variety, 

 but were extremely plump. They aver- 

 aged 4 pounds, and several that we caught 

 weighed 6 pounds. 



We spent 2 days there, but having no use 

 for more than 2 or 3 fish a day except to 

 turn them back into the water, it soon 

 grew monotonous. It was too easy; 

 besides, they were not muskalonge; so 

 we went on, passing scores of beautiful 

 lakes and much inspiring scenery. 



Many moose crossed our path, all about 

 2 minutes ahead of us. The nearest 

 we came to seeing one was eating a piece 

 of his steak at a friendly homesteader's 

 shack on the bank of a stream. We saw 

 many deer, but did them no more harm 

 than to frighten them from among the 

 lily pads, their choicest food, by our war- 

 whoops, rejoicing to see them prance away, 

 switching their tails in farewell as they 

 scudded into the bushes. There, knowing 

 they were secure, they would snort and, 

 in apparent mockery, give us the laugh. 

 On one occasion, a huge black bear stopped 

 on the bank long enough to give us an in- 

 quisitive glance. Luckily for him we 

 had nothing but a shot gun, with light 

 shot. 



As the days and weeks passed, our tour 

 seemed too uneventful. We had only 

 caught 2 muskalonge and those in the 

 Mississippi river. Our 60 days passed 

 and we pulled up at Walker, a small town 

 on the shore of Leech lake, for a day's 

 rest. When we expressed our discour- 

 agement to the man at the Walker Boat 

 Livery, he said, 



"Why don't- you go down on the Elbow 

 Lake chain and catch some sand trout? 

 It is great sport." 



"Sand trout" was a new name to us, 

 so we asked a description, and finally 

 concluded they must be muskalonge. 

 At any rate, we wished to see what it 

 was that "breaks up everyone's tackle and 

 in some instances weighs 40 or 50 pounds." 



We started by train early the next 

 morning, October 2, for Dorset, launched 

 our canoe in Elbow lake about 9 o'clock 

 and started trolling. In less than 30 

 minutes there came a vicious tug at our 

 line and the light steel rod bent double. 

 Both of us being anxious to set eyes on a 

 "sand trout" for the first time, we turned 



our gaze in the direction of the hook. 

 Our line was at a high tension and rising 

 gently toward the surface, when an im- 

 mense fish vaulted out of the water his 

 full length, gnashing his teeth and shaking 

 his ponderous jaws with a mighty effort 

 to rid himself of the hook. Alas, he 

 was successful! The hook fell into the 

 water several feet to the left. This con- 

 duct we knew only too well ; and as he had 

 exposed his silvery side to our full gaze 

 and had dived back into the water with an 

 awful splash, we both shouted in one voice, 



"A muskalonge!" 



Then followed great sport. This ex- 

 perience was repeated at surprisingly 

 short intervals till, at one o'clock, we 

 landed for lunch with one 10-pounder; 

 but we had thrown 7 back into the water 

 unhurt, only keeping them long enough 

 to gently take the hook from their mouths. 

 The largest one weighed 25^ pounds. 



After lunch we started to investigate 

 the chain, which consists of 13 lakes. 

 All are clear as crystal, with sand bottoms 

 and many beautiful sand beaches, and 

 surrounded by lofty, rolling hills, covered 

 with a massive growth of pines. 



It took 2>£ days to go through the chain. 

 During that time we simply dragged our 

 spoon behind the canoe and we caught 

 in all 29 muskalonge, the 25^ pounder 

 being the largest. Of those we kept 

 only 2, which we ate, releasing the others. 



About 3 o'clock one afternoon we 

 passed a boat with 2 occupants fishing 

 and to our inquiry regarding their luck 

 they said, 



"They are not biting much to-day, 

 we have only caught 10 so far." 



Those lakes possess many peculiarities. 

 There are no fish in their waters except 

 muskalonge and perch,notwithstanding the 

 fact that the chain is surrounded by 

 many lakes full of bass, pike and pickerel. 

 Another peculiarity, to me the greatest, 

 is that the chain is all connected and 

 flows into Elbow lake, which has no vis- 

 ible outlet. 



I know some of my statements here will 

 meet with doubt, criticism and be called 

 "fishy"; but I only ask that those wiio 

 doubt will visit those lakes. A few days 

 of this royal sport will convince them of 

 the truth of my story; and if it does 

 not cure the most ardent angler of any 

 case of muskalonge fever, at least tempo- 

 rarily, I will report him at once to Recre- 

 ation where he will get what he deserves. 



Barber — "Your hair will be gray if it 

 keeps on." 



Scantylocks — "Well, I hope it will keep 

 on." — Baltimore World. 



