510 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jtjly 23, 1885. 



h% and Mivw 



Addj'eSB <ill camniiniuaU'ims to the Forest and Stream Pubtixh- 

 '/iy Co. 



BASS, PIKE AND MASCALONGE. 



Editor Foriixt and Stream: 



Going through the market .this morning 1 espied a hiack 

 bass on One of the tables that suited my fancy. "Three and 

 a half pounds," I remarked as I passed it to the huckster. 

 "Yes, more than that," was his reply, as he put the fish on 

 the scales, "four and a quarter pounds and pood weight," as 

 he returned the fish to the table. "I'd take him, hut I think, 

 However, your scales need overhauling." ''No, sir: those 

 scales are correct every time; they were inspected this -week." 

 The fish was soon scaled, finned and cleaned, market fashion. 

 "But good gracious! what is this which I've found in his 

 stomach?" remarked the hoy as he held up to view a bit of 

 ship's bolt. "What does it weigh?" I inquired. "Weigh! 

 oh! it's just thirteen ounces, it's a good foot long aud most 

 an inch thick, genuine iron at that." "The question is bow 

 did it get there? He could not have taken it in the way of 

 food," iTeplied. "Dr, H., our authority on black bass, says, 

 •Its weak and brush-like teeth are not well adapted for such 

 diet. ' " The market boy came to the rescue and explained all 

 by remarking^ "Guess some feller poked it down there and 

 won a bet on its weight, I've seen it done afore." Guess 

 that's so. I send this unusual .specimen of bass food to be 

 placed in the museum of the Forest and Stream. 



The same market had received that morning from Detroit, 

 Mich., 2,700 pounds of tish, mostly whitefish, together with 

 a goodly number of pike-perch and black bass, but what is 

 unusual in these days of fish depletion was eight well grown 

 muscalonge, ranging from 20 to 85 pounds each. One of 

 .25 pounds had in'his stomach a SJ-pound whitefish, another 

 of 35 pounds had For a square meal three whitefish weighing 

 together 6i pounds. 1 did not see the others opened, but 

 from their distended appearance there was evidence that 

 they all feasted off the same feeding ground. I once saw a 

 60 pound muscalonge from Fort Clinton, Ohio, whose 

 stomach was loaded with two well-grown whitefish and a 

 small catfish (Pimehdus). The latter weighed 1$ pounds. 

 The cat portion of the story may be considered a hard oue to 

 swallow on account of the formidable horns he carries, but 

 remember these "fresh water sharks" care not for trifles 

 when hungry, and this little cat, horns and all, was the first 

 tish swallowed. My impression is that these muscalonge 

 came from the Canadian shore of Lake Huron, where fish 

 laws are made to be observed, as I know of no waters in our 

 vicinity in Uncle Sam's domains that can produce such a 

 number of well-grown fish. Muscalonge are not rare in our 

 market, but a 5 or 8-pound one is the rule for large size; 

 more often yon see them ranging from 1 to Impounds, On 

 one occasion I counted twenty-three, tne largest of which 

 did not exceed 2 A pounds. Such small fish are not fit for the 

 table; they do not have the peculiar flavor and firm white 

 flesh of the well-grown of 15 or more pounds, and should 

 never be. taken of much less weight, 



By Forest ant> Stream I learn that Dr. Henshall is 

 soon to visit the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to interview 

 the black bass and trout, also to identify a fish called the 

 muscalonge, found in the lakelets there. Undoubtedly this 

 is the great northern pickerel (Esto liUfius) which in all un- 

 disturbed northern waters attains even the weight of E. uobi- 

 lior. When the Grand Haven and Marquette Railroad was 

 opened through the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, a great 

 many unfished lakes were brought near to our markets. It 

 was not uuusual then to meet with this pike {E. lucius) 

 weighing from twenty to thirty five pounds in early time 

 here. This same tish would average fifteen to eighteen 

 pounds, with occasionally one of greater weight. As late as 

 1876 one was taken in a pound net at Dover Bay, Lake Erie, 

 twelve miles west of this city, that brought the scales down 

 at fort) -one pounds. I know this to be a fact, as I saw it 

 weighed. It was no muscalonge, but a genuine white 

 spotted Eh-o.r hisius. 



In the upper tributaries of the Ohio River, and especially 

 in Chautauqua Lake, New York, the federation pike {EJ. 

 trcdeeirn, Dr. Mitchell; E. oJnocnm, Dr. i Kirtland) was 

 once found in great plenty. In size it approached either 

 the above species. I saw the preserved head of one at 

 Jamestown, S. Y., said to have weighed 70 pounds. Be 

 that as it may, it certainly was the head of a very large fish, 

 and could not have w eighed less than 50 pounds. The late 

 Dr. Gar-lick of ten entertained me with aceeunts of captures 

 of this fish in the Mahoning and other rivers of the Stale 

 and Western Virginia, all tributaries of the Ohio. Many a 

 one did he take, "30 and 35 pound monsters," as he used to 

 express himself. Sometimes the most of an entire drizzly 

 day late in the fall would be spent before the long-expected 

 "thud" would, come and take the live, full-grown sucker 

 (Oatoslom-its). A'skort time is given for the "monster" to 

 gorge the bait, then came the tussle and^fun, followed by the 

 landing of a "whopper." When laid on the upper end of a 

 barrel the head and tail would touch the ground on either 

 side aud tip the scales at 36 pounds. "Results like these," 

 the Doctor would remark, "more than paid for the time 

 spent in trolling with rod and line along the banks. Why, 

 just think!" as the Doctor would stretch out his hands in 

 illustration of one of his captures, "think of comparing 

 thirty-six one-pound pickerel or any other mess of small fish 

 with such a walloping monster as that. Hump, few people 

 know what real sport iu fishing is.''' 



To finish up with the Esotid® of this region, we will take 

 in the last and least, I he little pickerel (Emx mlr/ionem), the 

 smallest of all the family, seldom over a foot in length and 

 of weight in proportion. They are very numerous in the 

 streams they frequent, mostly in the western, central and 

 southern portions of the State. It has the faculty of crawl- 

 ing up the smallest streams and ditches that drain prairies 

 and oilier wet lands in such numbers and out of the way 

 places, that you are often informed by those who know that 

 "this fish rams down." 



Of the Eso.v nticulaiiix we know nothing here, and, as far 

 as we are informed, is not found west of the Alleghany 

 Mountains. In all our fishing experience we never captured 

 but one muscalonge of size with hook and line, that while 

 fishing for pike-perch off the "pier." This weighed four- 

 teen pounds, and 'twas a great prize and something for a boy 

 to do, especially with ordinary tackle. But when it came to 

 shooting and spearing them or grass pike on their spawning 

 beds or otherwise, we ranked, as the vessel men say, A No. 

 1. In fact, to be an expert fisher for muscalonge (not spoon 

 trolling-) one must know his ways and habits well. We 

 never met with but one who was a success in this line; he 



was a French Canadian, who lived, when I was a boy, on 

 the north bank of the "old river bed," a large bayou of. the 

 Cuyahoga River. He gained his living by hunting, fish- 

 ing and trapping, and if you wanted anything in his 

 line, Old Froushier was the man to supply you, 

 be it fish, fowl, muskrat or moss-back mud turtle. Frou- 

 shier was the only one in these parts that made a specialty 

 of fishing for muscalonge. So well did he understand the 

 ways of this lonely fish that, he could fill an order for one on 

 short notice and without fail. He fished with a rig entirely 

 of his own construction. The hook was large and strong 

 enough to hold a shark, two feet of the line" was "served" 

 with fine wire which answered as the suood, a spindle-shaped 

 float of wood a foot long was attached at each end to the 

 line from six to ten feet above the hook, according to the 

 depth of water to be fished. A pound and a half mullet, 

 two or three frogs well strung on, or a good sized water- 

 snake, as best he could get them, always alive and kicking, 

 was the bait. Then Froushier was ready for work. Quietly 

 he would row his skiff along the outer edge of the lilypads 

 with a hundred or more feet of line astern, always patient 

 and slow; he would remark on starting out: "I get a bite by 

 en by, may be one hour, may be five or six hours, all the 

 same when I get a bite I have a big maskauonge, sure." 



The bait was too large for the average pickerel, so when 

 he got a bite it was generally the fish he was after. When 

 the fish struck he would stop his skiff, pay out line as needed 

 and let it gorge, in time it had its meaning and without 

 much ceremony or nonsense playing, a twenty or forty pound 

 muscalonge was hauled alongside, gaffed and tumbled 

 aboard. 



This old Frenchman was acquainted with all the bayous, 

 swamps, open waters, aud tangled underwood, with their 

 inhabitants, in his entire surroundings, he called it his farm, 

 and well he might, for no farmer knew his lands better than 

 Froushier did his water and mud domain. With his single 

 barrel, of caliber sufficient to let a chipmunk in, he could 

 heat us all among the ducks, and it had to be a large and 

 compact flock on the wing to draw out a flying shot from 

 his fusee, as two or three ducks at a. time, according to his 

 idea of gunning, would not pay the ammunition. Sitting 

 was his best hold, aud when you heard that gun roar it was 

 after a tedious time of crawling, wading and waiting. Then 

 six to a dozen, or more birds would tumble to meet the ex- 

 pense of time, ammunition and something over. Six to 

 eight discharges a day was about the extent of his canonad- 

 ing. He deplored the waste of powder and shot by "those 

 fellows that fired away at the ducks a-flying." 



All this was over forty years ago. Old Troushier was then 

 far on the down hill of 'life. He must be now a long time 

 in the happy hunting ground. Dr. E. Sterling. 



Cleveland, O. 



MUSKOKA. 



THIRD taper. 



r I"HIE waters haunted by the speckled trout — the salmon 

 J. of the spring — run through the virgin wilderness. The 

 black bass is more of a cosmopolitan, I have often taken 

 four-pound bass in the mouth of the government canal, at 

 the foot of St, Clair flats, where the water is seldom at rest 

 from the swell of the passing craft. But the four- pound 

 trout — he is the reward of such adventurous iourneymgs as 

 we all sigh for but few achieve, and he flies before the ad- 

 vancing settlements like a shadow. 



The village of Bracebridge, on the Muskoka River, a short 

 distance from the lake of the same name, is the easterly limit 

 of steamboat travel. Here the north branch of the Muskoka 

 River, feeding down through Vernon, Fairy and Morey 

 lakes, unites with the south branch that leads westward the 

 waters of the Lake of Bays or Trading Lake, and the system 

 beyond. The falls of the north branch, very rocky and 

 picturesque, are in plain sight from the steamer landing, 

 while those of the south branch, 150 feet in height and much 

 larger and finer, are accessible by a ride of some two miles, 

 either by water or land. 



The north brauch of the river above Bracebridge is devoid 

 of interest to the fishing tourist, owing to the entire absence 

 of trout, while the south branch is especial y attractive for 

 the opposite reason. None of the natives are able to offer 

 any satisfactory reason for this diverse condition of things 

 in two apparently similar streams, but the facts being sub- 

 mitted, the reader is at liberty to construct a theory to suit 

 them. I am not sure that no attempts have been made to 

 stock the north branch, but think such steps are in contem- 

 plation. But be that as it may, Bracebridge is the starting 

 point, for the numerous streams and lakes to the north which 

 are abundantly supplied with trout, and which give promise 

 of most excellent sport for many years to come. Of course 

 if you are going to the noble Magnetawan, where four- 

 pounders flourish (and heaven grant you that delight), you 

 will retain the steamer as far as Rosseau, and there take one 

 of Her Majesty's stages for a thirty-mile ride across the 

 country. 



The "trout fishing in the territory designated is of two 

 kinds, that found in the rivers and other rapid waters and 

 that of the waters of the small lakes. Making allowance for 

 the season of the year, \he first is principally fly-fishing, and 

 the last-named after the middle of June is mostly bait fish- 

 ing. For the former there is probably not a finer piece of 

 water available to the modem angler than the south branch 

 of the Muskoka River from the lower end of the Lake of 

 Bays to the great fads near Bracebridge. The total length 

 of this portion of the river, from Baysville (at the foot of 

 Lake of Bays) to Bracebridge, is about thirty miles; but the 

 river in this distance is diversified by thirteen falls and 

 rapids of greater or less extent, making capital feeding and 

 lurking places for trout, and it ranges everywhere from forty 

 to sixty feet in width. This gives ample room for casting, 

 and the water is nowhere too deep to prevent ready and ap- 

 preciative responses from the trout beneath. The river can 

 be fished either ascending or descending, since nearly all the 

 rapids must be portaged in either case. But our own expe- 

 rience has proved so satisfactory that I venture to give it for 

 the benefit of those who may choose to try the stream here- 

 after. The time of our visit was the last half of August, and 

 our party, as intimated iu a previous letter, was the perfect 

 number— two. Providence, who has a special care for 

 children, idiots and fishermen, was especially kind to us in 

 spite of our desserts. For never did two voyagers drift into 

 a country knowing less of it in advance than did we of the 

 Muskoka country, and never were a like number more for- 

 tunate in the outcome of their journeyings. 



From Bracebridge to Baysville overland is a matter of 

 eighteen miles, and a Canadian stage makes the trip on 

 alternate days. This brought us to the latter place in time 

 for a good diuner one pleasant day in the middle of the 



week, and after testing the fishing above and below the dam 

 at the village, we set out with the help of the Landlord to 

 arrange for a trip down the river. It was a very essential 

 part of our good fortune that on this very afternoon we dis^ 

 covered Tom Salmon and "Jeff" Avery, and as each man 

 had a first class birch-bark canoe at hand, nothing absolutely 

 indispensable was lacking. As our subsequent experience 

 proved, the combination was a happy one. Both w r ere ex- 

 ceptionally good canoe men, and while Avery was a superior 

 cook and camp man, Tom Salmon was a very magician with 

 a fly-rod, and his lessons at intervals during the trip will not 

 be readily forgotten. It isn't every man that becomes a suc- 

 cessful fly-fisher, cast he ever so finely. There is an easy yet 

 adroit placing of the flies just where they should "be, a 

 mysterious and indescribable handling of the cast in the 

 water, and a peculiar, untaught instinct that knows with- 

 out seeing just to the fraction of an instant when to make the 

 stroke and fasten the hook. All these Tom had in their per- 

 fection, and not unfrequently where we had troubled 

 the water in vain, they proved potent in bringing the wily 

 trout from his lurking place and landing him in the creel. It 

 was a striking fllustration of the old saw "set a thief to 

 catch a thief," it was putting a member of the Salmon family 

 to the capture of the Salmo fontinalis*. 



Perhaps this is a good point to mention that venerable and 

 hard-ridden joke about the fisherman with the latest im- 

 proved tackle and the boy with tow string and pin hook. 

 It is always amusing, and I never fail to greet it with a 

 smile, partly for old acquaintance sake, and" partly out of 

 politeness to the man who introduces it. But bke a great 

 many other things, it is funny, but it isn't true. It certainly 

 is not true in fly-fishing that the man with the poorest tackle 

 gets the most fish— other things being equal ; and if the man 

 with fine tackle fails to hold his own in any contest, the 

 fault is his own ignorance, or inexperience, or lock of adept- 

 ness, and not in his outfit. Success in fishing isn't the result 

 of luck; it comes from a combination of knowledge, experi- 

 ence and mental and physical adroitness exercised through 

 the best available forms of angling appliances. Your boy 

 aud your bungler may at some time stumble upon a good 

 catch, for which they deserve no more credit than for being- 

 born. But take the scores dayafler day and season after 

 season of any two representative fishermen of the opposite 

 classes, and' the average will show conclusively where the 

 joke lies. Go to! we will have no more of it! 



We went over from Bracebridge to Baysville, flying light. 

 No tent, beloved reader, no provisions, no canned goods! no 

 bottled supplies. We carried each a summer overcoat and 

 our fishing tackle, and when we were ready to start in the 

 morning for a three days' trip down the river, we had added 

 a frying pan and a flat basket containing some bread, butter, 

 salt pork and tea. There are about three houses on the river 

 between Baysville and the little settlement above the great 

 falls, and none of these (thank heaven) is either a hotel or a 

 summer boarding house. But we did stop at one of these 

 houses on the evening of the second day, and got a dozen 

 fresh eggs and a bucket of milk. Do you happen to know 

 the flavor of a trout just caught and cooked in new milk? 

 If not, we will pass on to the next rapids. No amount of 

 diagrams and font notes and wordy explanations will do the 

 subject any sort of justice. But in dismissing the hill of 

 fare, I may be pardoned for saying that from the first din- 

 ner out of Baysville to the last meal on the river, we were 

 never lacking a smoking birch-bark platter of trout. They 

 flavored the tea, they permeated the bread aud butter, and 

 glorified the salt; pork, aud their delicate aroma mingled 

 with the smoke of our corncob pipes like the odor of the 

 clover blooms with the mists of a June morning. 



As already stated the distance by river from Baysville to 

 Bracebridge" was thirty miles and we had undertaken to 

 cover it in three days. This was hunting through space at 

 the rate of ten miles a day, or one mile per hour, including 

 the stops. We did not find the pace a kiUing one, but 

 we had previously determined to take three times three days 

 if it were necessary in compassiug the distance to preserve 

 the average rate ot travel. As it was we found this method 

 of procedure altogether delightful. When we chose we 

 fished, when we were tired we rested, when hungry, we ate 

 and we either traveled or clung earnestly to the shadows on 

 the shore at our own ungoverned and ungovernable caprice. 

 We did not have to hurry to get to any certain place at any 

 specified time, and if we had made any such arbitrary and 

 absurd engagement we would not have" kept it. Ultimately 

 we reached again the country of clocks and railroad sched- 

 ules, but had there been no current to the river we might be 

 still upon its waters. 



The Muskoka River is not a continuously rapid stream. 

 There are loug stretches of smooth deep water, followed by 

 falls or rapids, and these two varieties of water alternate dur 

 ing the whole trip. All the fishing is found in the livelier 

 water, but the placid reaches between afford some delightful 

 canoeing, and make an agreeable spice to the day's adven- 

 tures. It was generally at the most picturesque of the rapids 

 that we beached our canoes for dinner, or turned them bot- 

 tom up for the evening camp, la this way we secured the 

 cream of the morning and evening fishing, and never had 

 more than a short half square's walk to get it. (The "square" 

 is the unit of measurement for distances in the wilderness.) 

 We did not reap exceptionally good results from the very 

 early or the very late fishing. Our experience was that as a 

 rule* an hour after sunrise and an hour before sunset marked 

 about the best time for the day's fishing, which was, how 

 ever, never poor except for two" or three hours in the middle 

 of the day. But trout seem to be governed more by moods 

 than by regard for any particular time. 



If 1 were limited to a single fly, in fishing for trout that 

 fly would be the brown hackle. (Hasn't somebody said that 

 before?) And in the same way, if I were limited to a single 

 fly-rod and only one tip, that rod would be made of Betha- 

 bara from end to end. A Bethabara fly-rod (three joints) 

 which I bought five years ago, has been my constant com- 

 panion in all my various expeditions on the grayling streams 

 of Northern Michigan and the trout waters of Canada, It 

 has endured no end of grief and hard usage, and done liq 

 end of good, honest work. The action has a great deal of 

 life, the rod is •"springy" but quick, very tough aud not 

 easily affected by the weather, aud it takes less "set" than 

 any material I have ever used. (This last trouble is one 

 cause of complaint with split-bamboo rods). It may be that 

 my rod is better than the average, but I am still surprised to 

 find that Mr, Wells, in his book on "Fly-Rods aud Fly- 

 Tackle," now on my table, has so poor an opiuion of Betha- 

 bara. Perhaps a better acquaintance may modify his 

 opinion, since he says he has never tried an all-Bethabaia 

 rod. 



■Copyright applied for. 



