288 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



pNov. 4, 1886. 



m Hnd ^iver ^mhing. 



Add/ress all crmmunicaMons to the Forest mnl Stream Pub, Co. 



IN NORTHERN MICHIGAN. 



A J OLLY party of four left a town of Central Ohio on 

 July 3, 1883, for a month's trip to the lakes and 

 woods of Northern Michigan. At Grand Rapids \re added 

 another member to our party, and reached Elk Rapids in 

 the evening of July 3, stopping at the Lake View Hotel, 

 which is close to the bay, and affords a beautiful view of 

 the water. Here we were told there was good bass fish- 

 ing within 800 yards of the house and trout fishing within 

 easy reach. There are plenty of rowboats and sailboats 

 to be had at reasonable rates and good guides to the fish- 

 ing grounds. On the Foiu-th some of our pai-ty went over 

 to Old Mission, across the Ijay on the peninsula, between 

 East and West Traverse bays. The next morning was 

 beautiful to behold, and we lost no time in getting our 

 traps on board the Queen of the Lakes. 



And now, as we are standing on the cabin deck v/atch- 

 iag the boat get iiuder way. I will describe oiu- party. 

 First, there was Jack, tlie originator and leader of the 

 expedition, and the only one avIio had ever spent a sum- 

 mer among tlie black bass and speckled beauties of 

 Northern Michigan's lakes and streams; a whole-souled, 

 generous good fellow, and a natural-bom fisherman. 

 Next came Paul, the sanguine, who was always just going 

 to catch a big one, but seldom did. Frank was the lone 

 fisherman, wlio always wanted to go it alone and who 

 seldom came back to camp empty-handed. Bob was the 

 ladies' man, with an extra curl ia his blonde moustache 

 and his white, soft fisherman's hat set jauntily on one side. 

 Lastly, your humble servant. 



We moved up through Elk River into Elk Lake, a beau- 

 tiful sheet of water and affording good fishing. Through 

 Elk Lake into Round Lake, separated from Elk Lake by 

 a long sandy point, which is a favorite camijing place for 

 parties from Elk Rapids. From Round Lalie we entered 

 Torch River, and there we acted like boys demented. It 

 was the effect of sometliing we had never seen the like of, 

 and we could only express our emotions by singing, 

 dancing and "monkey shines." The river is" five miles 

 long and from seven to fifteen feet deep, and the water is 

 so clear that you can see every foot of the bottom. It is 

 narrow, only sixty feet wide, and the bottom is of lieauti- 

 ful white sand. We could see perch, bass, sunfish and 



great pickerel darting aroimd through the translucent 

 epths, and we were all nearly wild with excitement. 

 We expressed our feelings in such exclamations as: "There 

 he goes! just look at 'im!" "Ain't he a daisy!" "Oh, 

 here's one, here's one!" "Oh, Frank, shoot that big pick- 

 erel!" "There he is, just behind that big log!" At the 

 same time we were running from one side to the other of 

 the boat, fearful lest we miss sometlimg. The captain 

 was a jolly old tar, and nearly spht Ms sides laughing at 

 our antics; he said we made inore noise than a party of 

 girls on a lark. 



From Torch River we steamed into Torch Lake, the 

 queen of the cliain and the most beautiful inland lake in 

 Michigan. The water is a beautiful shade of green, grow- 

 ing darker in color as the water becomes deeper. It is so 

 very clear that you can see the bottom quite plainly at a 

 depth of twenty feet, and our captain said he had experi- 

 mented witli a white plate and fine, and had seen the 

 plate at a dej)th of forty feet. Torch Lake is eighteen 

 miles long and from one to three miles wide, and is 

 celebrated for kicking up a heavy sea on short notice. Its 

 greatest depth, so far as known from tlie captain's sound- 

 ings every winter through the ice, is 290 feet. At Clam 

 liiver Landing, six miles from the foot of the lake, we 

 disembarked, and the steamer went on her way toward 

 the head of the lake. 



Then came our first piece of bad luck. We had expected 

 to connect with a small propeller for the thirteen miles 

 between us and Grass Lake, our destination. But the 

 boat would not be back before evening, so we decided to 

 leave heavy baggage for the tug, and taking our tents and 

 what we would need to make camp with we embarked in 

 our two clinker boats, brought from Elk Rapids, and 

 started up the river. 



Our plan was to row up to Grass Lake, select a camping 

 place and get fixed up before night should overtake us. 

 We rowed up through the river, which is only half a mile 

 long, into Clam Lake, and soon espied Thayer's Landing, 

 where we decided that Bob should go up and see about 

 dinner, wlrile the rest should try the fish. So Bob put on 

 his most bewitching smile, and giving his hat a tilt and 

 pulling up the tops of his hip boots started up the path 

 toward the cottage on the hill. Jack, Paul, Frank and I 

 were hastilj^ jointing our rods and getting our lines in 

 shape, each inwardly determined to captxire the first fish, 

 yet all trying to appear supremely indifferent. Jack went 

 off along shore hunting for crayfish or clams for bait, 

 Avhile Paul jumped into one of the boats to try his luck 

 trolhng. Frank and I, seeing a woodpecker on a tree 

 near by, grasped our revolvers and commenced shooting 

 at him. He was a very accommodating bird, for lie re- 

 mained stationary until four shots had been fired at him. 

 At the second round we fired simultaneously, our pistols 

 making but one report, and Mr. Woodpecker came tum- 

 bling to the ground. We did not dispute as to whose shot 

 took effect, but hastily dissecting the buxl, we placed 

 portions on our hooks, and standing on a log near 

 shore, cast our lines as far out as we could. 

 Frank's hooks had hardly touched the water when a pick- 

 erel nabbed it, fought for a minute, and was reeled in, 

 to the delight of the luckiest man in tire party. We all 

 stopped fishing then, a,nd standing around our first fish, 

 hefted him and guessed on his weight. He was at least 

 a 4-pounder then, but Avhen Frank held it up on his 

 pocket scale it registered ^Ibs. light. Just then Bob 

 came rushing down to us puffing like a locomotive and 

 declaring that he had just met the ]3rettiest girl in all 

 Michigan. We were rathei; skeptical, and Paul, calling 

 Bob's attention to Frank's fish, remarked, "that it was 

 prettier, in his eyes, than all tlie girls in Michigan." We 

 then walked up to the house and were quite taken aback by 

 Bob's beauty, avIio was indeed s ery pretty, and as fresh, 

 in her white dress with flo vers at her throat, as a May 

 morning. Very soon wg were invited -to partake of as 

 charming a rliniipf us I ever sat down to. The boys after- 

 ward never grow tired of talking of" "those lovely 

 strawberries," "that broiled chicken and cream gravy," 

 ''beautiful bread, honey and cream," and, above all, the 



charming yovmg hostess M^ho waited on us. After dinner 

 we ran shouting and froHcking down to om' boats, and, I 

 suspect, quite shocked the young lady. When we reached 

 the landing we observed that the Avind was blowing in 

 our favor, so we out brush for sails, and embarking were 

 soon speeding up the lake. 



We soon traversed the fifteen miles that lay between us 

 and the head of the lake, and then we were in a quan- 

 dary; we couldn't find the river leading to the next lake. 

 Clam Lake had rushes and grass gi-owing in the water 

 for a distance of a quarter of a mile from shore, and the 

 whole upper end of the lake was boggy and covered with 

 grass, but ^vith frequent openings, winch looked as though 

 they might be the river, but on entering each and explor- 

 ing a little, we would be forced to back: out and try an- 

 other. V/e explored for two hoxu-s, often finding the 

 channel, which always proved to be the one we didn't 

 want. It began to grow rather interesting to us about 

 that time, as" the wind kept increasing in force and the 

 waves splashed into our overladen boats a little too fre 

 quently to be pleasant. We had about come to the con- 

 clusion that our map was a fraud and that there was no 

 channel between Clam and Grass lakes,Avhen what shoidd 

 gladden our eyes but a tug a half mile to our left, steam- 

 ing down the channel we Avere seeking. We fairly 

 shouted for joy and lost no time in directing our bows 

 thither. The channel, Grass River, as it is called, is only 

 about twenty-five or tliirty feet wide and runs quite rap- 

 idly. It took a deal of hard pulling before wc emerged 

 from it into Grass Lake, the haven of rest that we had 

 been to long seeking. But there was no rest for the weary, 

 for as soon as we got into the open lake we found a much 

 heavier sea running tlian we wished to encounter; but as 

 it was now getting late in the afternoon we decided to 

 make the tug landuag, whicli was an old scow with a 

 shanty on it, tr^^o miles up the lake on the east side. It 

 was make the scow or turn back to the river, for the 

 water -v-s-as shalloAv for a hundred yards from sliore and 

 the he-ivy grormdswell would have filled our boats in 

 short order liad we attempted to land. 



We finally made the scov/, but our tent and other trajis 

 were well soaked. As Paul, who wa,G not much of a boat- 

 man, set Ms foot on the deck of the scow, he heaved a 

 sigh of relief, and remarked, "Well, boys! they can all 

 talk about life on the ocean wave, and" all that sort of 

 thing, but I've had as much as I want! I know when I 

 get enough! Land's good enough for me!" Of course we 

 all langhed at him, but I think we were all quite well 

 satisfied to be on the dock. It Avas now after G o'clock, 

 and A\'hile avp aa-ovg debating whether to pitch our tent on 

 shore near the landing or to occupy the shanty the tug 

 hoA'e in sight. Vv"e found all our traps aboard, and after 

 consulting with the captain Ave took passage to our pro- 

 posed cahqjing ground. The sandy beach shoaled out 

 so far that we could not get our loaded boats within 

 ten feet of shore. After all our ti-aps were safely- 

 landed the captain and crew bade us "good luck." 

 Jack and Paul went to Avork putting uj) the tents, and 

 Bob and Fi"ank Avere detailed to cut liemlock and cedar 

 boughs for beds. I soon had hot coffee and a lunch of 

 bread and butter, cheese, cold corned beef, chowchowand 

 canned fruit, and ranging ourselves around the cloth, 

 seated on chunks or on tlie ground, as suited our fancy, 

 each with his tin cup and spoon, tin plate and knff'e and 

 fork, Ave partook of o\iv first meal in camp. "Here we 

 are," said Jack, "on the shores of Grass Lake, in the Avilds 

 of Michigan; the very spot Ave have been tMnking and 

 talking about for the last six months," and, raising his 

 coff'ee cup, continued, "I drink to the health, happiness 

 and good luck of this party and tliis camp, and suggest 

 that "we call it— Confound those bloody mosquitoes! 

 Jeeminy CMdstmas! Goodness gracious! Wlio-o-pe-e! 

 Boys, I can't stand this," and jumping up he executed 

 a war dance and his arms fleAv about his head like a A\dnd- 

 miU. We were disposed to make merry at Jack's fiow of 

 eloquence thus cut short, but soon had to tmn all oiu- 

 attention to the unbidden guests; and SAAdnging a branch 

 of cedar around our heads Avith one hand we hastily dis- 

 patched our evening meal. We never found out what 

 Jack had intended to suggest as a name for our camp, as 

 he said the name he had been thinking of "completely 

 vanished under cover of the attack by mosquitoes;'^ so we 

 decided to call it Mosquito Camp. 



We had an 8x10 wall tent to sleep in, and an A tent for 

 stores. Both tents up and boughs enough cut to make a 

 very conffortable beef, we sj)read blankets for one broad 

 bed, and, this finished, had leisure to talk business. A 

 rousing big fire Avas built, the night being chilly, though 

 the 5th of July, and filling our jiipes, Ave thought to smoke 

 the mosquitoes away. But alas! Ave "reckoned Avithout 

 our host," as the "skeeters"' seemed to enjoy tobacco 

 smoke as well as Ave did, and Avould alight on our very 

 pipes and amid a cloud of tobacco snioke sing more 

 cheerily than ever. We tied handkerchiefs oA^er heads, 

 pulled up coat collars, got out pemiyroyal and y)op]3ermint, 

 but it was no go; AA'e couldn't drive them aAvay. Finally 

 Ave craAvled into our tents, andpulling the covers over om 

 heads, tried to sleep, but our rest A\-as muf:]i broken and 

 the first ]3eep of day found us very Avdlling to t'law i out. 

 Bob, Jack and Paul Avent out to catch some fish fur bre^ik- 

 fast, and Frank and I Avent to work getting things in 

 shape for the reception of their catch. About the time 

 we had a good fire and hadAvashed up our dishes left from 

 the night before, got our coffee groimd, our breakfast 

 bacon "and canned baked beans ready to cook, the boys 

 came in. They Avere much disappointed at not getting 

 any black bass, but had several large pickerel, wliich we 

 proceeded to clean and fry for breakfast, 



Oiu" faces, necks and hands shoAved the effects of the 

 onslaught of the mosquitoes, and Jack's face was so badly 

 swolleir that avc were all more or less frightened. His 

 tM-oat, just mider the jaw, was puffed out as large as my 

 fist, and his eyes Avere s\A"ollen nearly shut. He tried 

 ammonia and camphor without much benefit, and then pre- 

 pared a solution of soda and kept cloths wet with it. on 

 his face and neck, and in a feAv hours was considerably 

 better. He Avas more susceptible to the poison from. bites 

 than the rest of us, although Ave were all more or less 

 swollen and each bite itched so that Ave would continu- 

 ally scratch, even in our sleep. After breakfast we all 

 went fishing for black bass, Bob and Frank in one boat 

 and Jack, Paul and I in the other. We AA'ent-up f>o tlie 

 mouth of ■ Intermediate ' River,' AAdiicli" "we had.' "Ijeen iii- 

 fornled Avas a splendid place for bass, aiid aiicTioriug cbrii- 

 menced casting. We tried frogs," minnows and' pieces of 

 meat for bait. but. didn't get a strike; So we pulled up 

 anchor and started up the north arm of the lake, I rovrin'g, 



Jack casting from the bow and Paul ti'oUing from the 

 stern. Suddenly Paul exclaimed "I'a-c got 'im! I've got 

 'im!" and commenced pulling in his troll as fast as he 

 could, at the same time flopping around so as to nearly 

 capsize us. "Steady! steady! " said Jack, but lie might as 

 weU have talked to the A^diids, as Paul was so excited he 

 wouldn't have heard a cannon shot, and kept on hauling 

 in as for dear fife. When within about five feet of his 

 fish, he jumped up, and giviu'/ a jerk landed a biuich of 

 weeds together with a small piclcevcl about a foot long in 

 the bottom of the boat. Paul way completely disgusted, 

 and said: "Grass Lake may be all right if you are fishing 

 for grass, but if we came here after fish I think we have 

 come to the wrong market." 



We trolled on up to the liead of the ann without getting 

 anytMng better than weeds, and there found Frank and 

 Bob catching sunfish and ring perch. They Avere baiting 

 with Avorms, and already had thii-ty nice fish in their boat, 

 having throAvn all the small ones back into the lake. 



By this time it A^-as nearly noon, and we all started back 

 toAvard canqi, trolling in deep water for lake trout; we 

 soon gaA^e that up, liOAA-ever, as the wind A\'as rising and 

 Ave Avished to get to cam]-) as soon as possible. When we 

 got into the open lake Ave found the wind had kicked up 

 a rather heavy sea, and was blowing dhecth' against us, 

 Avhich made hard Avork getting "oack to camj), and again 

 neaiiy frightened Paul out of Ids wits. We dined on 

 sunfish that day and hked tlirm bctt(>r than piclrerel. 



About B o'clock wc again tried tlie ii 'ii an J. leturned at 

 7 with only two bass, but half u dozen g-o.>d-.=i:iso ! pickerel. 

 During supi)er Ave revicwerl tiio ;itL:;.ii anl came to 

 the conclvision that we liad not struck nearly ho lag a 

 bonanza as we had anticiiuilcd, but that avc would give it 

 another trial before preshing jiidgment. 



Jack then said Ilia 1 Ji' and Bob wanted to go Tip the 

 Cedar River next day after trout. Frank said he wanted 

 to explore a. little and Paul remarked that he had seen an 

 elegant place for bass doAvn below, and if Dick Avould go 

 with him ho kncAv he could catch some. I agreed to the 

 proposal, and so, everything being settled for the niorroAv, 

 we AA'ent to Avork to make our tent j.>roof against mosqui- 

 toes. We made no large fire thai night, as we thought 

 the bright light the evening before liad drawn the pests 

 from other iioints. We fastened the tent down as close 

 to the ground as possible and then piled aan-;l all arouiir! the 

 edge:-: after getting that done to our saiisfactiou Avecbove 

 the 1: J ; 1 : a out of the tent the best we could, and then 

 havi' • I. the fiap down tight managed to pass a 



toleraijiA e. Huiortable night. Next morning Jack and 

 Bob each took a small lunch, and getting into one of the 

 boats were soon on then- way to Cedar River, Avliich emp- 

 ties into Intermediate River, about three miles above Grass 

 Lake. 1^'rank took the othei- lx>at ami started off on Lis 

 expedition, })romibing tolx.' hack liy noon, and Paul and I- 

 cleaned up the kitchen and set things to rights generally. 



About 9 o'clock a native came into camp, and after tlio 

 usual salutations and Aveather talk told us about a bear 

 that had been seen tliat moi'uing about a mile from our 

 camp. It seems that a farmer had started out quite early 

 that morning to his Vvor!-:, and, \s'alking along absent- 

 mindedly, almost before lie was ;[A\'a:e of it stood face to 

 face Avitli a nearly grown bear. He was unarmed, and 

 thinking to frighten the t;ear avcay.he gave a sudden yell 

 and sAvinging iiis liat, ma le a jump toward the bear; but 

 the bear, instead of being tnghlened, met him half way. 

 and administering a blow with his jiaAv that knocked the 

 farmer nearly senseless, turned anil walked off into Lh© 

 Avoods. A neighbor liappeued along just in time to see 

 the grand finale, so I think it wiU be many a day befoi'e 

 the Adctim hears the last of Ms trying to scare a black 

 bear. 



About 11 o'clock Frank returned -with, a fine string of 



sunfish, great large fellows that would Aveigh three- 

 quarters of a ] )oinid apiece, and reported having fomid a 

 ncAv trout stream doAvn the lake. Ho bad no trout to 

 shOAV for it, but said the mosquitoes were so numerous he 

 couldn't fish it. "When v\'e spoke of the gun shots Ave liad 

 heard he said that he had been trying to kill a loon, but 

 had come to the conclusion that loons Avere not made to 

 be killed Avith a sliotg-un._ 



After diu'ier Pael and lAvent to his "elegant bass hole," 

 and to a good many oilier ' -elegant holes," hnt not a bass 

 did Ave catcii; and after 1 got tired rowing him around (lie 

 said he couldn't row) Ave Avent baci: to camp. Jack and 

 Bob got back about G o'clock Avith thirty-five nice trout. 

 Frank and I liad never eaten any fresh briiok trout before. 

 At supper tfie boys gave us an accotmt of their trip. 



We all decided to gotrouting next day,Fi-ank and Jack 

 to the stream Frank had found that day. Paul, Bob and 

 I rowed up to the tug landing and Avent up to a barn that 

 Avas near to dig some bait. We had brought a cigar bos 

 full of Avorms from Elk Rapids, but they Avere almost 

 gone. Well, Ave commenced digging, and dug and dug, 

 but got no worms; we thought it strange we did not find 

 any, for it aiipeared to be just the place for them, but we 

 still kept digging, not giving up imtil we had dug nearly 

 all over the Avhole clearing in spots. Disgusted we re- 

 turned to tlie bo.it, intending to send to Elk Rapids by tho 

 tug for more A\a3rms. We had been told that there were 

 no' Avorrns in Northern Michigan, but we con-sidered it a 

 yarn; but the captain told us that morning there A\'ere 

 .some worms, but oulj- Avliere they had been planted by 

 someojie. We heard"^ a siiout, and. looking in its direc- 

 tion, saw a, boat emerge from Intermediate River and 

 come toAvard us; and on its closer approach wo recognized 

 a gentleman Avho had come up on the Queen the same 

 day we did, and had gone on up Torch Lake on 

 her. He told us that he had gone up to the head 

 of Torch and then crossed over to Central Lake, pro- 

 ciu'ed a boat and guide there and had been fishing Central 

 Lake for two days, catching all the black bass they 

 wanted; had caught nearly a boat-load Thursday, fre- 

 quently taking two at one cast. The guide coiToborated 

 aU the gentleman said and added that there was a 

 splendid camping place on an island about a mile from . 

 the foot of Central Lake, and on this island tliere were 

 fish worms. We concluded AA^e Avould not go after trout, 

 but tm'iied back and were soon at camp. Frank and 

 Jack came in about noon, and Avhen Ave had acquainted 

 them Avitli what Ave had heard it was unanimously de- 

 cided to go to Central Lake. Bob and I went to Bellau-e, 

 three miles up the river, to engage a tearn. to haul our 

 .stuff up. opposite the island where we intended camping^ 

 When we aiTived' at" Bellaire we learned that all the 

 teams in toAvh (there Avere only three) were teaming lie- 

 tAveeh Bellaire and Mancelona.'maTdn^ daily trips, and. 

 obuld not be procured for an outside job unless it was on 



