Aua. 1, 1889.1 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



27 



tn m\& $$tiqr fishing. 



CHICAGO ANGLERS AND ANGLING. 



CHICAGO. July 17.— My late visit of two tt£ three days 

 at Pox Lake has given me an opportunity to learn 

 something more of Chicago angling waters, and also 

 something more of Chicago bait-casting, and I would say 

 something of both. 



While at the Mineola club house I heard that Mr, Chas. 

 F. Hills', of the Fox Lake Club, had taken a very fine 

 string of bass, and on going over to investigate, found 

 the facts to be these: Two boats had taken fifty-one 

 bass on Saturday. Messrs. Charles E. Hyde and R. B. 

 Miller, fishing in the same boat, had taken twenty-two 

 bass and four pickerel, the largest bass weighing 4£lbs. 

 dr. Hills, fishing alone, had taken twenty-nine bass, the 

 largest 4^1b?i. Out of the total catch it was said there 

 were only three or four bass weighing less than 31 bs. 

 The average was very heavy, and the joint string, so 

 great that one man could not lift it from the wharf, was 

 pronounced the best brought in during the season, unless 

 one might except the slaughter by pot-fishers on the 

 spawning beds in May. Mr. Hills is known as probably 

 the most successful bass fisherman of Fox Lake. He is a 

 member of the Fox Lake Club, and is president of the 

 Fox River Fish and Game. Association, the most active 

 and most practical protective organization in Illinois. 

 He said that Saturday's score was the best he had made 

 for four years, and that although he and his friends had 

 recently been leaving Fox Lake for other waters, they 

 were content to stay at home now. It is Mr. Hills's 

 custom never to take over twenty-five bass in a day. On 

 this occasion he thought he had twenty-six, but found 

 the count a trifle long when it came to stringing up. 



These bass were all taken by casting with the frog. I 

 knew Mr, Hills to be the champion and the ablest expo- 

 nent of the art of two-handed casting, and the leader of 

 quite a school of Fox Lake anglers of that style. I wished 

 to study this style, the more especially in order to avoid 

 the imputation of having ascribed to the single-band men 

 all the glory that belongs to Chicago bait- casters in gen- 

 eral. Therefore, when Mr. Hills invited me to go out in 

 his boat with him on Monday, I accepted with a graceful 

 alacrity that must have made his head swim. 



When we put off from Fox Lake Club landing at 7 

 o'clock Monday morning, the lake was quiet, but much 

 discolored from the heavy storm of the day before. The 

 wind was in the north, and the day cool. It was not an 

 especially good prospect for bass, and things did not im- 

 prove when wo pulled up the channel into Grass Lake 

 and found the pockets where Saturday's bass were taken 

 all full of roily and disturbed water. The weather re- 

 mained very quiet during the day until afternoon, and 

 the water gradually cleared. The evening was a very 

 good one for fishing. 



As I had not brought up any casting outfit, Mr. Hills 

 brought out one from his extended stock. He has four 

 butt pieces, nicely made to his own order, with eight 

 sections and tips. The rod he handed me was of rounded 

 split bamboo section and lance tip, 8ft. 3in. long. I do 

 not know the weight, but it was heavy for single-banded 

 casting. In feel the rod was very stiff, but when mounted 

 with the No. 4 reel, which Mr. Hills prefers, the balance 

 was good. Mr. Hills himself used a bethabara section, 

 with a trifle more action than my rod had. His reel was 

 a No. 4 Meek. He gave me a No. 4 Milam. Later on I 

 experimented with a jeweled Meek No. 3, which I found 

 in his tackle box, the best provided one I ever saw a bait- 

 caster carry. There were one or two other reels besides 

 "those mentioned, and a lot of lines, swivels, hooks and 

 what not. This box in annually filled at wholesale, and 

 perhaps this is the reason that it has come to be generally 

 understood in Fox Lake Club that it is Mr. Hills's duty to 

 fit out any stranger who may be within the gates. 



Contrary to the code of the single-hand men. Mr. Hills 

 uses no leader above his frog, but attaches the snell of 

 the No. 6 Sproat hook to the swivel at the end of the line 

 by means of a brass snap-link built much like a blanket 

 pin. The single-hand men use no swivel, but do use a 

 split shot for sinker. The double hand men use a swivel 

 and no sinker. This is partly warranted on Fox Lake and 

 Grass Lake waters, where the water plants are so dense 

 and numerous as to make it very desirable to keep the 

 hook on top of the water. I noticed that Mr. Hills never 

 let his frog sink, and he had little or no trouble from foul- 

 ing his line. I tied a short leader above my frog, and 

 found that the knots of it constantly accumulated moss 

 and grass, and this was the : orse if I did not at once reel 

 in the frog along the surface. There would seem to be 

 a reason for this Fox Lake style, therefore. Its chief 

 drawback seems to be the way in which it handles the 

 frog after the cast, and I must say that my late observa- 

 tions would incline me think the single-hand men have 

 the advantage here. The little bullet keeps the frog 

 belly down, an excellent thing in casting, as every angler 

 knows. Our frogs on last Monday often floated on their 

 backs with disgusting persistence. It should be said, 

 however, that these were not the tougher and much 

 superior meadow frogs, but the big yellow lake frogs- 

 young bullfrogs, I believe. These would bloat up after a 

 few casts, and a f ter that they had to be squeezed out, or 

 they never would float belly down. The swivel and link 

 ought to work a meadow frog all right, and we may sup- 

 pose it effective, at any rate, certainly in view of the 

 results. It is results that count, and I don't know of any- 

 body in this neck of woods who gets any more bass than 

 Mr. Hills. 



Besides the casting outfits mentioned, we had every- 

 thing else two anglers could possibly need. There were 

 60 lusty frogs in the pail, and half a ton of lunch just 

 back of the boatsman's seat. A serviceable long-handled 

 landing net reposed at hand, and there was a sack for 

 our bass when we caught them. Mr. Hills offered me a 

 big straw hat which he fished from under the seat, and 

 gave me some glove- fingers to protect the thumb in case 

 the line made it sore. He himself drew on a pair of 

 white kid gloves. I must say that when Mr. Hills is thus 

 fully attired for a bass reception, in trousers, flannel 

 shirt, big straw hat and white kids', he makes an im- 

 posing figure. "There is nothing too good for these bass," 

 said he. 



It transpired later on that nothing we had was good 

 enough. Never were bass so persnickity as these Grass 

 Lake fellows, which on the Saturday previous had fairly 

 jumped out of water to catch, the frog. "They don't 



act like the same fish," said George Drury, the oarsman 

 who pulled us. We only got six in a day's steady fish- 

 ing, one of which was adjudged too small and so returned. 

 Mr, Hills caught all the fish. I had only three strikes, 

 and lost the only fish hooked. I should think Mr. Hills 

 had twenty strikes at least, but he waited for the bass to 

 swallow tlie frog before striking, and as the bass seemed 

 only half hungry, he lost most of his fish by that opera- 

 tion. The bass would whirl down on to the frog, carry 

 it to the bottom, look at it, turn it over, and let it go, to 

 the grief of the waiting trio in the boat. They acted 

 very singularly and gingerly, and all we could do was to 

 ascribe the trouble to the late storm. 



I prefer to attribute my lack of success to the fact that 

 I did not have on any white kids, although I am afraid 

 that my fate would have been the same for any other 

 ordinary bait-caster who might go fishing in the same 

 boat with this casting demon who preceded to cast all 

 over and. around the country between Antioch and Lake 

 Villa. It was my business to watch this, and 1 took so 

 much pleasure in doing so that my own poor luck ceased 

 to concern me. I found my rod heavy for single-hand 

 casting, and was fain to inquire into the method of the 

 two handed men. 



"Why," said Mr. Hills, as he gave a careless sort of a 

 jerk which threw the frog about half a mile over toward 

 the Lotus club house, "it's easy enouerh. It's very easy 

 indeed when you get the motion. You simply steady 

 the butt of the rod with one hand in the cast. At the 

 close of the cast you let go of the rod with that hand and 

 swing the rod on out with the other band. The tip of the 

 rod is pointing toward the frog when it lights, so that 

 the line may run straight out, and the reel is thumbed 

 just as in any kind of casting. Double-handed casting 

 does not require any very great amount of strength. It 

 is done with an easy swing. Yet I think the double- 

 handed men can cast further and more accurately than 

 the single-hand men. The steadying of the rod at the 

 butt with one hand affords a fulcrum, which is a great 

 advantage. It does not make any difference on which 

 side of the boat you wish to cast. You can use either 

 hand on the butt of the rod, and so reverse positions; and 

 you can cast straight ahead of the boat better with two 

 hands than in any other way. If you want to make a 

 quick cast without much change of position you can 

 cast over head with both hands, and that is often a good 

 way to do." 



Mr. Hills gave me practical illustrations of all these 

 different positions, and I was delighted at the ease with 

 which he cast, time and again, a distance which must 

 have been close upon 50yds. He can cast over 50yds. on 

 special effort, and is the" best two-handed bait-caster with 

 light tackle I ever happened to meet, albeit matter of 

 fact and. not boastful in the least; which latter is a pleas- 

 ant fact to add. 



Study of the methods of our two classes of bait-casters 

 leads to the noting of some slight differences in detail, 

 though their methods are essentially the same. The two- 

 handed casters usually stand up in the boat while at 

 work, as Mr. Hills did, his boat being large and steady 

 enough to render that proceeding safe. It is the boast of 

 the single hand men that they can sit down and work 

 their lighter rods as well. The two-handed men retain 

 to some extent the old Henshall pattern of rod, although 

 they have stiffened it a little, and they follow also to 

 some extent what may te called the Henshall style of 

 casting, with the addition that they very freely use the 

 overhead cast, a very effective and useful one. They do 

 not rely so much on the spring of the rod as the single- 

 hand men do, and in the cast with them the rod traverses 

 a larger arc. There is a tendency toward a larger reel 

 with the two-handed men, although Mr. Hills told me 

 that he did not see that the No. 4 gave much actual 

 advantage in distance. He always has his No. 3 reels 

 mounted on No, 4 plates and provided with No. 4 handles. 

 Nothing is more troublesome in reeling in a fish than a 

 meagre little handle from which the fingers are con- 

 stantly slipping. 



Bringing up the question of oil or no oil for the casting 

 reel, Mr. Hills told me that he found the best of reels 

 needed a little oil after two or three days of hard work. 

 He had one reel spoiled by over-heating and friction, and 

 since then had made a practice of watching and occa- 

 sionally oiling his reels, using the oil very sparingly, and 

 only upon the spindle and main cogs. 



In the matter of casting lines, I found that Mr. Hills 

 favored the pure silk line, and had a number of them. 

 He thought the raw silk harsher on the thumb and not 

 superior in any way. The linen line he did not like, 

 because it did not work so well when water-soaked and 

 swelled. 



We discussed all these things as we sat on the shady 

 lake shore and made away with the large and typically 

 luxurious Fox Lake Club lunch, which, like everything 

 else in the boat, was perfectly adapted to the angler's 

 needs. I was more than ever convinced that there is no 

 laying down any absolute law for anglers, since each is 

 bound to exercise his own tas^e and judgment, and since 

 the customs of each angling water are usually based upon 

 reason. There remains, however, no question that the 

 style of casting used by Mr. Hills and his friends is the 

 most perfectly practical and suitable one possible in the 

 shallow, weedy, and yet transparent waters of the lake 

 where they do the greater part of their fishing; neither 

 is there any question that I saw this style of casting at 

 its best when I went out with Mr. Hills. The day was, 

 therefore, a thoroughly satisfactory one to me, and I was 

 only sorry to see it close when, hailing the little yacht 

 Frolic as she was gliding down the channel, we were 

 taken in tow, and so swam gently home in the early 

 evening. 



Ever since I had been talking with the two Comstock 

 brothers about their catching bass on flies by moonlight, 

 I had had a curiosity to see also this form of bass fishing, 

 and it was with regret that I learned at the last moment 

 that these gentlemen could not go upon the Twin Lakes 

 trip we had planned, for fly-fishing. There was a late 

 moon on at the time of my Fox Lake trip, and I deter- 

 to try after supper if I could not redeem my fortunes 

 among the smaller Percidm, since the big bass had not 

 come my way. Accordingly I jointed up what is after 

 all my favorite rod, a split-bamboo fly-rod, and after 

 dark hied me toward a certain bend of the shore which 

 appeared to have a fishy look. This was just beyond the 

 Mineola boat houses, near the sunken fence. I tied my 

 boat fast to a clump of bulrushes, and began to cast 

 with coachman and professor flies. At first I took sun- 



fish, then as it grew darker the rock bass and croppies 

 took hold, and I caught some good big ones. It was 

 quite dark when I landed my first bass, a gamy little 

 fellow of about three-quarters of a pound, which I put 

 back into the water. A little after this I struck a 21b. 

 wall-eyed pike, which broke my leader and escaped at 

 the boatside. I do not know what this fish was doing in 

 the shallow end of the lake, nor should there have been 

 any bass there. I took another bass, a half-pounder, just 

 after the moon came up, and this one I also returned. 



There were fish rising about the boat continually. It 

 was so dark part of the time that I could not see my cast, 

 which I knew was broken and tangled up, but the fish 

 seemed not particular. I had two angle-worms, which I 

 stuck on the flies, but the sunfish soon got them. As it 

 grew dark the fish ceased rising, and I put some pieces of 

 fish on the fly-hooks and sunk the flies with a spMt shot. 

 I caught some rock bass in this way, and then the bull- 

 heads began to bite, and as every bullhead meant a good 

 fly broken off in his interior, I quit fishing in that way, 

 after having a good deal of fun with one or two of the 

 big ones. The moon was just utp nicely, and I was settl- 

 ing down to comfortable fishing, at about 11. o'clock, 

 when they began to put out the lights at the Mineola 

 ( Hub, at which 1 cut loose from the bulrushes and rowed 

 in. I had thirty odd very nice little fish, all caught pretty 

 resnectably. I always thought it better fun to catch a 

 little fish on a light rod than to catch a big one on a heavy 

 rod, and I am prepared to say now that fly-fishing by 

 night on these lakes is a delightful and fascinating sport. 

 I hailed it as one more addition to tin; many pleasures of 

 the woods and waters I have shared in this region, and 

 as one more face in the many-sided field of legitimate 

 sports so easily accessible, from this city. 



July IS. — State Fish Commissioner Bartlett will be at 

 Fox Lake this week and will then go on down Fox River 

 to make the final arrangements about putting in the fish- 

 ways. It is thought that the work already done has had 

 much to do with the improvement of the fishing this 

 spring. Mr. Bartlett will on this trip also put down some 

 brush for croppy beds in Fox Lake or Grass Lake. The 

 croppies breed and bang about such spots. 



The outlook for angling at Fox Lake certainly appears 

 favorable under the circumstances, although it is simply 

 a wonder that it remains so good as it is. We saw a 

 number of old spawning beds in Grass Lake, and in one 

 little hole in the weeds saw five or six hundred bass fry 

 about fin. long. Grass Lake is a vast natural breeding 

 ground, and the little ones have every chance for their 

 lives among the dense reeds, rushes and mossy under- 

 growth of that remarkable piece of water. It is Grass 

 Lake that has fed Fox Lake and the near-lying waters. 



Fishing through the ice is carried on to a frightful! ex- 

 tent at Fox Lake during the winter time. There is no 

 law against it. The maudlin, wretched, cowardly 

 pseudo-sentiment of our State Legislature still, accords to 

 our poor, dear farmers to catch some fish "for food" dur- 

 ing the winter. As a matter of fact, the farmers and 

 others fish for the market. Stop the sale of fish or 

 game, and you preserve it. The two Dutchmen who last 

 winter loaded a wagon box full of game fish in one day 

 at Fox Lake did not want the fish for food. They sold 

 them. When will the time come when we can get three 

 sensible and courageous men in the same Legislature! 

 Never, I fear, while there is any money in politics and 

 the same old selfish fear in the politician's heart. Speed 

 the quiet efforts of our strong and growing organization, 

 the Fox River Association! This society is gathering 

 strength all the. time, and is spreading quietly all over 

 the State through the efforts of its able officers. I hope 

 to live to see the time, and I believe the time will come, 

 when this organization will dictate terms to the politi- 

 cians. Their selfish fear may then be on the angler's 

 side. This is the deliberate plan of the organization, and 

 if it succeeds, its success will be a notable one for angler- 

 dom. 



There is ar other cause of terrible destruction of fish 

 life in the constant use at Fox Lake of young black bass 

 for bait. Thousands and thousands of this noble fish are 

 destroyed thus every month and every week. It is im- 

 possible to use the seine for catching minnows in those 

 waters without taking out as many young bass as min- 

 nows. These are offered for sale by the boatmen, and 

 are bought by the city people who ought to know better. 

 There is one boatman, whose name I know, who has re- 

 peatedly sold pailfuls of yeung black bass in this way, 

 knowing them to be such. What should be done to such 

 a man, and what- to the people who would buy his spoil 

 of the waters? Let Fox Lake anglers watch this, and 

 spread a better sentiment about the lake. It is easy at 

 least to empty the minnow pail of every such inhuman 

 offender, and it is to be hoped that this will be promptly 

 done upon occasion. The wonder is that there is any fish 

 at all left in this lake system, 



There has not been much night spearing done this sea- 

 son on Fox Lake waters, although what was taken to be 

 a spearing light has been seen on two nights on Grass 

 Lake. There is only one man suspected of having ata 

 illicit set net. Such rewards have been offered by the 

 clubs and protective society that open violations of the 

 law are now infrequent. The fault now lies with the 

 law itself. 



Mr. Hills tells me he saw a dozen muscallonge of this 

 year's spawn, i believe in Pistaqua Lake. They were 

 six to ten inches in length. They were in shallow water. 

 He also saw some pickerel of this year's spawn, which 

 were much smaller. 



The gentleman above named has been spending a week 

 or so at Fox Lake, and he relates one odd experience of 

 the week, in which he took, on last Saturday, a bass 

 which on last Thursday had broken eff his hook and 

 swivel, with a part of the line. On Saturday he lost 

 another cast, with a red-ibis fly attached, and this he is 

 confident of recapturing yet. Hr, Hills has thus retaken 

 bass on four different occasions at Fox Lake. Oraee in 

 Lane's Bay he lost a frog and 8in. of line, and within fif- 

 teen minutes caught the same bass with the hook in his 

 mouth, and within 10yds. of where he first struck him. 

 From this he would infer that the bass feels little pain 

 from taking the hooks, and fights merely against the re- 

 straint of the hook and line. 



Mr. Chas. E. Hyde caught twenty bass in one day over 

 in Nippersink Bay earlier in the season, and twenty-one 

 another day. He has also been with Mr. Robt. Miller, 

 Mr. Hills and Mr. John Wright, of Lincoln, Neb., over 

 at Loon Lake on one or two of the successful trips men- 

 tioned earlier, Mr. Hyde's largest bass for this year is 



