200 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



(Sept. 7, 1895. 



7/f ^wi/stifiin ^onrint 



CAMP FOREST AND STREAM.— -II. 



Proper Preliminaries. 



IN Camp Forest and Stream all things are done 

 decently and in order. The immediate duty on the first 

 morning, therefore, was not to set forth at once on a 

 mad quest for bass, but to finish all the arrangements 

 about the camp. In due course we built a most excellent 

 table out of pieces of board we found cast up by the 

 waves of our little lake, which seemed to appreciate our 

 wants exactly and to be anxious to supply them. Then 

 We executed some masterpieces in camp stools. Then, we 

 drove certain nails in the trunk of a great oak, against 

 which our table was built, each nail thenceforth to have 

 a certain mission of its own, one to bear the striped dish- 

 towel, one the plain dish-towel, one the approved alumi- 

 num frying-pan, one the camp torch, two the bar of 

 soap, etc.* etc. We lashed the tent lantern to the pole of 

 the house tent, arranged the bed nicely, stowed away the 

 mess box in the exact position it was thereafter to occupy, 

 got a clean board to slice bacon on, and then went into 

 the woods to secure the main fetich of Camp Forest 

 And Stream, the coffee stick. As I have mentioned from 

 year to year, these coffee sticks, being namely the stick 

 used for lifting on and off the coffee-pot at the fireside, are 

 always jealously preserved, only one being used at each 

 camp, and a stick once dignified by this choice being 

 thereafter never by any chance used for another purpose. 

 We attribute much of the success of the annual Forest 

 and Stream camp to the care exercised in this matter. 



Having at length arranged these things to our exact sat- 

 isfaction, having laid the bacon knife and big wooden- 

 handled fork which is J. B. H.'s particular camp comfort 

 duly upon the bacon board, and having finally crowned 

 all our efforts by tacking a nice brown canvas tablecloth 

 across our new tahle, and giving a final touch to the 

 Forest and Stream banner, we at length pronounced 

 the camp complete. By that time it was past noon, 

 although we had not noted the passing of the hours. So 

 then we got our luncheon, and after that put in two 

 hours in thoroughly cleaning out our spring at the foot 

 of the bluff. This we lined nicely with clean stones, 

 giving it for floor a handsome mosaic of many colored 

 pebbles, which shone and glittered as the bright water 

 rippled over them. Below the drinking well of our 

 spring we dug a cold storage chamber for our butter jar, 

 and below the cold storage pool we drove down a sharp- 

 edged board for dam, and thus made a beautiful water- 

 tall, putting in some rocks below the fall so that the 

 music might be better. And this tiny music we could 

 hear at night, wafted waveringly up the hill with the 

 other voices of the lake and of the shadows. 



These things, I say, being all accomplished, we found 

 the sun sinking toward the big trees across the lake, and 

 knowing that it was now coming on the hour when bass 

 go visiting, we concluded to put our little lake to the final 

 test, it having in everything else been found not wanting. 

 Searching in the grass along the edge of the water we 

 picked up four or five lovely frogs, which had apparently 

 been waiting for us, and pushed out into the lake, J. B. 

 H., meantime, with a sigh of supreme satisfaction, put- 

 ting together the favorite bamboo casting rod with which 

 he had fought so many successful battles with the big bass 

 of this region. 



The First Bass. 



We had never been upon this lake before to try the 

 fishing, but we knew exactly where to go, for already 

 from the top of the bluff we had spied out the water. We 

 knew that a sharp drop-off marked the bar for almost the 

 entire circumference of the lake. On the east side the 

 shallow water ran out some distance. In the center the 

 lake was very blue and very deep, one did not know how 

 deep. But beyond, where a little creek came in, we 

 could see wide beds of rushes and occasional beds of lily- 

 pads. It being now well on toward evening, and we hav- 

 ing a great notion for fish for supper this night, we set 

 forth at once across the lake to the rush beds. Here we 

 found a delightful place for bass, with big white weeds 

 growing up in dense cover clear to the edge of the bar, 

 from which it sank suddenly off into the unknown 

 caverns of the earth. 



Just at the edge of this bar J. B. H. began to drop his 

 frog, the boat being some 25yds. out iu the deep water 

 skirting along the bar. He had made but a few casts 

 when there came the big whirling splash for which we 

 were anxiously looking, and the line cat swiftly down 

 into the deep blue water outside of the bar, 



"Graciousf I have got a whopper," said J. B. H. And 

 the bend of the rod looked it. But, alas! after a run or 

 so the "whopper" went clear of the water and shook out 

 the hook from his mouth. I saw then it was a bass 

 weighing not more than 21bs., though J. B. H. scoffed at 

 such a statement, bemoaning meantime the loss of one of 

 his prettiest frogs. Yet a few moments later, when we 

 had another strike, the fish using much the same tac- 

 tics, going far down into the deep water, and jumping 

 three times into the air in the effort to get free, J. B. H. 

 was again certain that he had a "whopper," though the 

 landing net disclosed a bass weighing only about a pound 

 and a half. We had never seen a big-mouth bass fight so 

 hard for its size, and indeed I have never seen any kind 

 of bass fight much harder than the big-mouths in this lake 

 when they got into the deep clear water. We went on 

 and caught three or four more fish, the largest not more 

 than 2£lbs., but J. B. B. was delighted and declared that 

 the sport was the best he had ever had in Wisconsin. I 

 was a little disappointed in the size of the fish, but J. B. 

 H. pointed out that they were just the right size to eat. 

 Moreover, he explained, he was going to catch a big one 

 just at a certain point of rushes just a little on ahead. 



The Big One. 

 We approached within 20yds. or so of the aforesaid 

 rush point, and J. B. H. sought to plant his frog close 

 alongside of it. He missed his point by several yards, but 

 he did not by any means miss the big bass which he had 

 mentioned, and which was apparently lying there, a very 

 bass ex maehina, to finish out the drama of the day. The 

 frog fell in shallow water, and when the bass struck there 

 was a vast commotion and a wide deep circle of bubbling 

 water settling down and outward into spreading rings of 

 ripples. "Let him run!" I called out to J. B. H, But 



that veteran calmly remarked, "Never you mind me, 

 young man!" as he tranquilly watched the loose line run 

 out on the first run of the bass. The fish evidently was 

 bound for a deep hole under the grass bank back of the 

 rushes. Just outside of it he stopped and swallowed the 

 frog, and the instant he put on the extra touch of speed 

 which that act always seems to impart to a bass J. B. H. 

 struck him hard and firm, and so began the fight which, 

 of all the big fights we have had with the Waukesha bass, 

 we considered to have been the most exciting. Fearing 

 to tangle the bas3 in the rushes, we tried to work him out 

 into the deep water, to which he obligingly consented, 

 making a run for the boat which left a bend in the line 

 in spite of all both reel and oars could do. Then he went 

 down and kept on going down, about ten miles it seemed 

 to us, and the rod could not stop him, though it went up 

 into a rainbow arch exceedingly good to behold. For a 

 time the arch held rigid, but at length the fish began to 

 move, and then it was ding-dong and see-saw for half an 

 hour, it seemed to me. though it may not have been more 

 than five minutes. We killed this fish out in the open 

 lake over water perhaps 200ft. deep, and I never expect 

 to see a prettier fight with a fish of any sort. This fellow 

 fought deep and did not jump excepting with one short 

 splash, when he hardly went clear of the water. At 

 length we saw him stick his back fin out, and finally his 

 mouth came up, seeing which we shortened line and 

 passed the net under him. We found he weighed 441bs., 

 and he was bright, clean-cut and shapely; an athlete 

 every inch of him. 



"Now we will go in," said J. B. H., his face beaming 

 satisfaction. "This lake's all right." This declaration I 

 was glad to hear, and I knew now that the experiment of 

 moving Camp Forest and Stream to the new lake was 

 an experiment no longer. The aluminum frying-pan had 

 been pronounced a success, the water of the spring had 

 been found of just the right taste and temperature, and 

 lastly, the fishing of the lake had been commended. 

 Thenceforth all doubt left my mind, and I slept that 

 night in comfort. 



We gave our big bass to neighbor Schwartz that night, 

 he having come out upon the lake about sunset to see how 

 we were getting along. Before this we had turned loose 

 two or three of the other bass, all of which we kept alive 

 and kicking in the live-box which was built through the 

 bottom of our boat. This left us two bright, pretty little 

 bass of about a pound and a half each, which J. B. H. 

 had selected with great care, and declared to be the exact 

 articles to furnish the supper which should conclude our 

 first day in the camp. How good these bass were, with 

 the accompaniment of crisp bacon and nicely fried eggs, 

 the whole crowned with a cup of perfect coffee, I shall not 

 attempt to describe. 



Indeed, it is useless attempting to describe the charm of 

 a season of life in camp, and I should not write of these 

 things at all were it not possible that others may wish to 

 know where they may go and do likewise. For camping 

 of the quiet, contentful sort I know of no country better 

 than this of Waukesha and Walworth counties in Wiscon- 

 sin, and I imagine that others who go there will find as 

 we did each day going by too quickly, although each day 

 could produce nothing staitling or heroic in event. 



Fish, Game and Diamonds. 



I venture to say that here is the only one on earth which 

 can produce bass, pickerel, trout, squirrels, woodcock, 

 grouse, ducks, rabbits and diamonds all within a space of 

 six miles, and all in a pretty country watered with the 

 purest of unfailing springs. Yet all of this is true, at 

 least in a mild and limited extent, about our new-found 

 camping land. As to ihe diamonds, the incredulous may 

 scoff, yet it is absolutely true that not only one diamond, 

 but three or more have been found within two miles of 

 the village of Eagle. It was not many years ago that a 

 boy playing in the gravel back of the old farmhouse 

 which surmounts a certain little hill, near Eagle town, 

 picked up an odd-looking stone. The boy's mother took 

 the bright pebble to a jeweler in Milwaukee, who saw 

 that it was a diamond, and bought it of her for the princely 

 sum of $1. Then the Milwaukee jeweler, to certify him- 

 self, took the stone to a Chicago expert, who pronounced 

 it a rough diamond worth at least $500. Then the Mil- 

 waukee man went out and bought the farm on which the 

 diamond was found, and at once began to prospect for 

 more stones of the same sort. Meantime the former 

 owner of the farm sued the Milwaukee man for obtaining 

 diamonds under false pretenses, and the result was a very 

 pretty legal mix-up. Two or three more small diamonds 

 were found, none of great value, and the sinkers of the 

 prospecting shaft at length, as might naturally be ex- 

 pected, came upon a sheet of pure and bubbling Waukesha 

 water, which put an end to their diamond well and closed 

 out the history of the quest for precious stones. This is 

 no fish story, but a fact. Any one who goes across that 

 singular glacial country, full of odd Bteep hills and deep 

 sink pots, will agree that it is the strangest piece of topog- 

 raphy he has seen for a longtime, and will admit that one 

 might find almost anything in such a looking region. 



An Old Gentleman's First Trout. 

 We did not find any diamonds, but we did find trout, 

 within eighty miles of Chicago. We discovered half a 

 dozen different little streams known to but few where a 

 few trout still can be had by the expert, this information 

 coming largely from obliging Billy Tuohy, of the Eagle 

 Lake Hotel, of whom and of which I cannot say too 

 much in cheerful and thankful praise. Moreover we 

 found a trout preserve fairly swarming with trout run- 

 ning in weight up to 4lbs. This was on the farm of State 

 Senator J. A. Lins, a few miles from Eagle. Mr. Lins 

 has a beautiful little place with about half a mile of fish- 

 ing water. The head of this little stream is the strongest 

 spring in all that great country of springs. A little river 

 gushes out at the foot of the rocks of a tall bluff and 

 runs down over a bed of gravel, where the trout spawn in 

 season. Lower down a great dam forms a pool some 

 100yds. in length, and this pool is a very treasure house 

 of trout. Mr. Lios seems never to have taken a great 

 deal of pains with these trout, and has kept them solely 

 for his own pleasure, once in a while eating a mess of 

 them or giving them to his friends. Although we were 

 strangers to him, when he heard that J. B. H. had never 

 caught a trout, he insisted that we should go out to the 

 pool and catch a few for breakfast. And there one day, 

 down beneath the big oaks which surround the great 

 "Minnehaha Springs," J. B. H., 75 years of age, hooked, 

 played and landed his first' trout, Previous to this we 



had had some hard and unsuccessful efforts along marshy 

 streams, and J. B. H, was disgruntled with the trout 

 question, declaring them a by-word and a snare. But 

 when he saw the darting play of the fish in the water, 

 and witnessed its brilliance as it lay upon the grass, he 

 forgot the past, and, like every other man who sees his 

 first trout, went into open and undisguised raptures. He 

 caught half a dozen more trout after that, and I caught 

 one or two to see if I had forgotten how, but we put 

 them all back except five, which we thought would be 

 just about right for our suppar and breakfast. When it 

 came to the eating of these we thanked Senator Lins yet 

 the more fervently, for this was novelty of the extremest 

 sort to J. B. H., and the eating as well as the catching of 

 one's first trout is a high episode in one's life, even though 

 one be then 75 years of age. Senator Lins wishes to sell 

 his trout preserve, and I am satisfied that if J. B. H. 

 had had the money in his pocket he would have bought it 

 then and there. 



Little Fishes. 

 And so the days wore on, with now and then a lusty 

 trout, and now and then a bass, or a croppy, or a dozen 

 little perch as long as one's forefinger, the latter being 

 the sweetest of all the fishes of the lake. We early 

 learned that our new lake was fairly alive with small fish 

 such as perch, croppies, rock bass, etc., and finally coming 

 to tire of catching bass, we actually laid aside our sports-, 

 manship sometimes, and rejoined the ranks of the derided 

 still-fishers. A sweep of the minnow Beine, in the shallow 

 water near our spring, would give us all the minnows we 

 wanted, and then we would amuse ourselves by hunting 

 out the bars where the croppies and rock bass lay, J. B. H. 

 recognizing in the latter fish the "goggle-eye" of his 

 earlier days, with which he had passed many pleasant 

 hours. These small fish we caught on pieces of minnow, 

 on tiny casting spoons, on flies and all sorts of things for 

 bait. One evening after sundown, when out casting the 

 fly in the shallow water close inshore, we struck two 

 great black bass, neither of which we could hold among 

 the rushes. Had we been of the mind to work hard at 

 fishing, with either the casting rod or fly rod, I don't 

 know how many fish of all sorts we could have caught. 

 As it was, our main concern was not to catch more fish 

 than we could use. One time we found a bathing party 

 of children visiting our beach, and to these gave away a 

 good string of fish, much to our mutual satisfaction. 

 Another time a minnow pail full of fish found its way 

 down to a family of cottagers on Eagle Lake, and several 

 times we found it necessary to carry over a pail full of 

 fish to neighbor Schwartz, who, blessed by a large family 

 of his own, was entertaining a dozen or two of visitors. 

 Our hearts rejoiced in these visitors, for while they 

 remained we caught fish for them all. I do not know 

 whether this could be called market fishing or not, but 

 anyhow we used to receive at our camp baskets of eggs, 

 bottles of milk, etc., for which we could not pay, neighbor 

 Schwartz insisting that a fair exchange was no robbery. 

 From all of which it may be seen how ideal was our 

 situation. 



Cooking in the Camp. 



One evening J. B. H. coaxed the two youngest of Mr. 

 Schwartz's family, Susie and Nellie, down to camp to eat 

 supper with us, and they were joined by a young lady 

 boarder from the city, who was escorted by the five-year- 

 olds acros3 a certain dangerous territory infested by 

 woolly sheep. To Susie and Nellie we fed abundant 

 strawberry jam, and the messbox being further called 

 upon, we brought off this social occasion with great eclat 

 and to the abundant satisfaction of our guests. On still 

 another occasion we invited our family of cottagers to 

 dine with us at sundown, the event to be ambitious in the 

 way of a camp dinner. The tiny creek connecting our 

 lake with Eagle Lake being too crooked and too full of 

 weeds for night navigation, our guests took team and 

 came around to the west side of our lake, whence we fer- 

 ried them across in our boat, six of them, four adults and 

 two children. We were to have fish that night for sup- 

 per and when the signal for the ferry came we had not 

 caught any fish; but in half an hour we had a dozen or 

 two of just the right size. These we forthwith fried be- 

 fore the wriggle was all out of them, and our guests 

 called them excellent. Also we had bacon and eggs and 

 soup and preserved fruit and Maryland beaten biscuit and 

 a great many other things. I mention the soup incident- 

 ally, for though we intended to have the courses of our 

 dinner come in due sequence,^ the soup unfortunately 

 did not get done until toward the close of the meal, 

 although it was just as good as it would have been any 

 other time, so far as we could see. But the crowning 

 work of art for that dinner was the pan of biscuit baked 

 in our Buzzacott oven, and served red not, with butter 

 fairly frozen from our cold storage spring. These bis- 

 cuits, I regret to state, were brought by our eldest lady 

 guest already measured out in a meal bag. But we mixed 

 the flour in a clean towel on our table, rolled out the 

 dough, cut out the biscuits and cooked and ate them then 

 and there in camp, so that light should not be made of 

 this achievement. Our dinner lasted well into the night, 

 so that between our guests and their waiting team there 

 extended half a mile of black and pathless woods, much 

 to their terror; nor could they ever see how J. B. H. and I 

 led them through so easily. 



In fact J. B. H. and I were following our usual course 

 of spying out the country, and when we were not fixing 

 things around camp or taking Mr. Schwartz's lady boarder 

 out fishing on the lake — which we loved to do, it was such 

 a pleasure to hear her squeal when a fish bit, and to see 

 her run her hand out under the tip of the rod "to keep 

 the fish from breaking it" — we were wandering around 

 over the countryside hunting for springs and lakes and 

 streams. One day we found two beautiful springs which 

 emptied into the creek across the lake from us. Indeed 

 this stream we found spring-fed throughout and quite 

 capable of carrying trout. Later we learned that trout 

 had been planted in it higher up, and some day we are 

 going to see about these trout for ourselves. 



Many Waters. 

 On another day neighbor Schwartz took us out riding 

 over about ten or fifteen miles of country, and showed us 

 a few more lakes. We went entirely around Beulah 

 Lake, and saw Potter's Lake, Brady's Lake, Mud Lake, 

 Booth's Lake, Pickerel Lake, etc. , crossing the very head 

 springs of the waterway which makes down through 

 Beulah Lake into the Mukwonago River and so into the 

 Fox. Yet, although neighbor Schwartz had lived in that 



