32 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[July 31, 18S0. 



CHICAGO BASS WATERS. 



TT) ASS fishing in the waters of this region has been un- 

 -13 usually good this season. The bait-casters have had 

 good luck in the Fox Late system, and the fly-fishing for 

 the small-mouths on the Fox River has been part of the 

 time at least very good, as mentioned in earlier reports. 

 Mr. Loeb, with A. G. Spalding & Bro., was back yester- 

 day from a short trip on the Fox River below Montgomery, 

 and says that his party got very good bass on t ho artificial 

 fly. Not very much fly-fish ing f or bass has ever been done 

 by the angless of this city— more this year than ever be- 

 fore—but it is hoped that there will be a steady growth in 

 this form of sport, which is certainly the prettiest way 

 possible to fish for bass, if not the most killing. 



It is a pleasure to give definite testimony which may 

 bring to the notice of some hitherto ignorant thereof an- 

 other very accessible and extremely good bass water — 

 Cedar Lake, Indiana, on the Chicago & Atlantic Railway. 

 This should not be confounded with the Cedar Lake lying 

 closer to Chicago upon another line. It may be remem- 

 bered that the little party which went down on the Tip- 

 pecanoe in the special car a few weeks ago did not have 

 very great luck with the fish. Indeed, "l should have 

 stated that the total catch was so small that in the even- 

 ing Mr. Donald emptied the minnow cans and made the 

 cook serve up every last bait minnow cooked for dinner— 

 a proceeding which it seems to me is one of the most 

 singular ever recorded of ja party of anglers. "We've got 

 to have a fish dinner of some sort," said Mr. Donald, "and 

 as we've had a lot of trouble getting those shiners, we 

 might as well eat them, if we can't catch any bass on 

 them, You've all got to eat shiners now, and'like 'cm, 

 too." So we all did, though it did look rather hard, gee- 

 in® we had come after bass. It was then tliat we fell 

 talking of the bass at Cedar Lake, and one result of this 

 con versation was that last Fourth of July saw my friend. 

 Mr. Harryman, and myself down in that countrv again. 

 The Tippecanoe was boiling full of muddy water" this 

 time, and we got no fly-fishing, barring two bass which 

 we took early in the morning, so we gladly set forth for 

 Cedar Lake. The entrance point for Cedar Lake is Ora, 

 a little huckleberry station, at which the only north 

 bound stopping train is the afternoon local. After a six- 

 mile ride over a sandy wood road, we reached the head 

 of the lake, whose shores we found sprinkled with little 

 cottages. There are three hotels here, Shoup's, Tanner's 

 and Varns's. We went clear on round to the head of the 

 lake and stopped with Ed. Varns, and were glad of it later, 

 for we found him the only man around the lake who 

 thoroughly knows the bars and other bass grounds. Mr. 

 Varns rowed us, and it was owing to his knowledge of 

 the lake that we had such good sport. On the midnight 

 frog hunting excursions which we found necessary in 

 order to get bait, our host also proved himself an adept. 

 I do not know that I should weary readers by a long ac- 

 count of our trip, but when I say that we brought back 

 with us 16 fine bass, averaging over SAlbs., only a part of 

 the sport has been indicated, for we lost three fish to 

 every one we got. We could not get good bait frogs, and 

 were forced to use large bullfrogs. In striking so large a 

 frog, the bass does not swallow it at once, and the angler 

 must wait a few moments for the "second run" before 

 fastening his fish. By that time we found that our bass 

 were usually so far down among the big "tobacco weeds" 

 that the chance of getting them out, without their tear- 

 ing something loose, was by no means an even one. We, 

 however, caught all the bass we cared for, and we "dis- 

 covered" a splendid lake for bait-casting for large- 

 mouthed bass. The lake is full of bass. The frog is the 

 proper bait. It seems that this water is not much fished 

 by skillful anglers. A great many bass are " jayhawked" 

 out on long cane poles, but Mr. Varns told us that we 

 were the first men he had ever seen cast the bait with the 

 short rod and free reel, and I noticed that the operations 

 of the latter gear attracted attention as we passed some 

 of the "cottages." Mr. Varns told us that the residents 

 about the lake were trying to prevent destructive meth- 

 ods of fishing, such as netting, spearing and fishing 

 through the ice. Surely it is to be hoped that all such 

 work may be stopped, for, as it is now, there are few 

 better stocked bass waters around here than this same 

 lake. Mr. Varns says the bass are increasing. We saw 

 the shallows fairly swarming with young bass fry. We 

 were told that not much illegal work had been done this 

 year. The gill-net and spearing light which we found 

 by chance in a certain farmer's woodshed did not look 

 that w-ay, but we hope this fellow will use them with 

 cautious infrequency hereafter. 



Cedar Lake is a pretty body of water, timbered on all 

 its shores, with low banks and a broken and irregular 

 outline. It is about three miles by two miles in extent, 

 and has an elbow or angle at its lower end, so that the 

 whole sheet of water cannot be seen at once. It is pret- 

 tier than any of the lakes like Grass Lake, Loon Lake, 

 Silver Lake, etc., etc., which lie in lower Wisconsin or 

 upper Illinois, and are much patronized by Chicago 

 anglers. Indeed the fact that this water was apparently 

 little known and little visited made the chief charm for 

 us. The trip to Cedar Lake is a very cheap one. The 

 hack ride is 50 cents each way. Hotel rates are $1 a day, 

 the charge for boatman and boat being $1.50 additional. 

 We were very comfortable and I don't know when I 

 have had a pleasanter little trip. And we got the bass, 

 too, and didn't absolutely have to eat our bait, though 

 we did eat a few frogs' legs for breakfast. 



Two things our host at the quiet little hotel taught us. 

 One was how to catch frogs. These he hunted after 

 dark with a lantern. A frog, which in the daytime is 

 very wild, will at night let you "shine" him and get so 

 close that you ca,n net or pick him up. The best way to 

 catch the very large bullfrogs is by lantern-light. *Mr, 

 Varns hooked twenty-eight in one night that way. The 

 other "pointer" we got was about winding off a line from 

 a reel preparatory to winding it back on again. If you 

 will try winding the line around tha crown of your hat, 

 you will be surprised to see how much more quickly and 

 n eatly it will work than if you roll it around your hand 

 or about a crotch or bit of wood. That is a good way to 

 dry a line, too, as good as any. I recommend this to 

 "Big Reel" for his practical philosophy. 



July 16.— Mr. A. C. Ely is outfitting for a little camp- 

 ing trip in the North Wopds, and will take his family 

 with him. Dr. Shayne will camp with his family on Loon 

 Lake. 



In the issue of July 10 I am made by the types to say, 

 ' W hen I was a boy down in Indiana we used to be igno- 



rant enough to go seining," etc. This was the statement 

 of Mr. A. H. Harryman, not of myself, and should have 

 been so printed. I think also that Mr. Hirth's conscience 

 would trouble him less over his remarkable fish story had 

 the intelligent compositor permitted him to say he had 

 "laid his rod down" instead of "lain" it down. And so on. 



_ E. Hough. 



ANGLING NOTES. 



THERE is considerable difference of opinion about the 

 proper color of lines and leaders. After trying all 

 kinds and colors, we think a neutral tint, commonly 

 known as "mist" color, the best. Yet some prefer white, 

 while other anglers insist upon black leaders. What the 

 trout think of them we do not know. Mr. Henry [P. 

 Wells made some elaborate experiments in that line, but 

 as the eyes of trout and bass differ entirely from those of 

 the human race, it is a question if such experiments are 

 of any practical value. There is no doubt that the finest 

 leaders show the least, and that cheap, flat and uneven 

 gut shows the most. As to the proper color of lines for 

 fresh-water fishing, we think that a dingy green would be 

 less apt to be noticed than any other color. Fish are used 

 to seeing stems of weeds and blades of grass floating down 

 the streams. In England it is not unusual for anglers to 

 fasten a. bit of grass to their leaders in order to deceive 

 the trout. Therefore we think that color the best. On 

 clear shallow streams, when the sun shines bright, the 

 shadow made by the line and leader looks like a black 

 streak on the bed of the stream. And trout or bass will 

 dart away in terror when they see it shoot out toward 

 them. The remedy for this is to fish up stream; then the 

 first thing they see is a tempting fly overhead. The ang- 

 ler, is easily enabled to locate the fish by their shadows. 



Encouraging reports of salmon having been seen and 

 caught in the various rivers that have been restocked 

 continue to come in. The latest is that Mr. Win. C. Clarke 

 of Plymouth, N. H., has killed five salmon this season 

 with rod and line in the famous Pemigawassett, the upper 

 part of which river Mr. Prime so beautifully describes in 

 his book "I Go a-Fishing." The introduction of the 

 various fish ways in this river has undoubtedly much to 

 do with this happy state of affairs. It is aiso reported 

 that a gentleman killed an 81bs. salmon in the "Aroos- 

 took" just below Caribou. 



Mr. Walter Aiken, President of the Mount Washington 

 R. R., has had the good fortune to kill a landlocked sal- 

 mon in Sunapee Lake that weighed 14flbs. A royal 

 specimen, and probably one of the largest of its kind'on 

 record. 



The following is an authentic score of trout caught by 

 two gentlemen in Canadian waters, all fish under lib. 

 were returned to the water. It represents two days' fish- 

 ing, and the total catch was over 200. Twentv-two of 

 these fish weighed over 21bs. each, and the largest were 

 as follows: one of 5^, one of U, one 4£, one4lbs., one31bs. 

 l4oz,., and so on down to 21bs. 



The great run of blueQsh still continues, and these 

 elegant fish can hardly be given away along the coast, 

 yet in the city we have to pay 10 cents per pound for them 

 just the same, and the dealers will let them rot rather 

 than let the price break. Large weakfish are being 

 caught in considerable numbers by those engaged in blue- 

 fish trolling outside. They take the ordinary large tin 

 squid, but not after the manner of bluefish. The boat 

 must be brought up to the wind, so as to let the squid 

 sink to the bottom, they are then hauled in hand over 

 hand and the weakfish then seize them. 



The Hon. Geo. S. Brandreth, the champion salt-water 

 angler of Rockaway Beach, has discovered a new fishing 

 ground off of Rockaway. A gentleman Avho returned 

 from a trip down there, and who was out with him, says 

 he never saw such fishing in his life. The fish caught 

 were mostly large sea bass, and they hauled them in as 

 fast almost as they would tomcods in the fall. Porgies of 

 lib. weight were so abundant that they were a nuisance, 

 taking the bait before the bass got a chance. 



In regard to the black bass fishing in the Walkill men- 

 tioned in last week's angling notes, two gentlemen tried 

 it after reading the article and report that they caught 

 ninety bass in two days' fishing — mostly on heigrarnites. 



Mr. Taylor of the New York Times says that he had a 

 great experience recently catching a Y|lbs. eel while 

 black bass fishing one evening up the Delaware. He could 

 not imagine at first what he had on, and then when he 

 managed to get him near the boat he had some doubts 

 about taking him in, as he was rather an ugly looking 

 customer; but, being well posted, he knocked him over 

 the head, and was well repaid, for it. It was simply 

 superb on the table next day. 



Illinois Waters.— Quincy, Hi., July 18.— The Missis- 

 sippi River has, for the first time in two years, been out 

 of its banks above the mouth of the Missouri River, 

 and as a consequence all of the inland lakes tributary to 

 the river have been amply restocked and good bass fish- 

 ing is almost sure to follow later on in the season. On 

 the Illinois River the fishing has been fair, fine catches 

 being reported from several places. The river has been 

 very high, also, which has made an unsatisfactory spring 

 for angling at favorite haunts. The white bass have 

 been taken very freely at Meridosia Bay, a hundred to 

 the rod being not an unusual catch. The black bass and 

 pickerel have not taken the spoon this season as readily 

 as in former seasons, owing, I think, to the muddy con- 

 dition of the water during the best months. There is an 

 abundance of black bass, however, in both streams, and 

 with the water within the banks I feel very sure that the 

 Illinois River and adjacent lakes will, prove to be this 

 season the best waters for fishing in the Union.— S. P. 

 Bartlett. 



Lower, Potomac Fishing.— Mr. Chas. Woltz has just 

 returned from a fishing trip to Piney Point, Maryland. 

 He found small croakers, ranging from 6 to 12oz. in 

 weight, very plentiful. With a companion he caught 

 175 in about two hours, using sea clams and hard crabs 

 for bait, 



CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 



CHICAGO, 111., July 15.— A number of Chicago people 

 are absent at this date, among the lakes and sum- 

 mer resorts of Minnesota, but so far as is now known 

 none of them were overtaken in the great calamity which 

 overwhelmed Red Wing and her sister cities near fateful 

 Lake Pepin. There will long linger in the seared memor- 

 ies of the survivors of that great storm a full sense of the 

 blind fury which the smiling skies can at times assume. 

 Perhaps in it all there is a lesson to those who go pleasur- 

 ing on inland lakes, which are always more or less danger- 

 ous to small and poorly-managed vessels in time of sud- 

 den storm. Records of such fatalities are full enough, 

 but the death of over 100 persons upon one pleasure craft 

 — history has no parallel for that in this region. 



The fishing and semi-fishing resorts more directly in 

 the course of Chicago summer travel are unusually 

 crowded this summer. There are more than 250 Chica- 



foans scattered around Oconomowoc this week, and per- ' 

 aps more about Mackinac Island. Waukesha, Wis., is 

 crowded to the utmost. At Devil's Lake about 75 Chicago 

 people are registered. Two or three dozen names are 

 sent down f rom Minnetoka, Minn. , registers. Twin Lakes, 

 Wis., has about 80 Chicago guests at present, and halt 

 that many are attributed daily to St. Joseph, Mich. 

 Closer at home, and in a country whose attractions are 

 more purely sportsmanlike, are' Fox Lake, Lake Villa, 

 Antioch, and a number of other villages much frequented 

 by half camping and half visiting summer parties whose 

 main idea is fish. On Fox Lake, Ed Howard's, The Lake- 

 side, Lippincotts's, Harry Dunnell's and all the other pub- 

 lic places are crowded, and the clubs are also pretty full 

 most of the time. 



By the way, a new club house must be added to those 

 already owning the Fox Lake.country as their home. The 

 Northwestern Pleasure Club, of Chicago, an organization 

 only about a year old, has formally opened its new club 

 house on Pistaqua Bay. The new house is a pleasant, 

 structure, two stories, basement and attic, and points 

 west from a very commanding and well chosen site. 

 There are 30 rooms in the house, and the interior is taste- 

 fully finished in Georgia pine. The total cost was $8,000 , 

 and the building is a worthy and suitable one in every 

 way. Mr. Ostrander will manage the house. The fes- 

 tivities on July 12 consisted of a flag-raising, a shooting 

 tournament, a banquet, a reception and a ball. The mem- 

 bers were represented almost in full, and many guests 

 were present from the Mineola, Fox Lake and other 1 

 clubs. The officers of the Northwestern Pleasure Club 

 are: President, Thos. Webb; Vice-President, Henry Wolff ; 

 Secretary, J. W. Brenckle: Treasurer, L. E. We'ich; Di- 

 rectors, John J. Weber, William Erby, P. O'Malley, 

 Theodore Wilkins, George D. Eddy, Charles Peatern, 

 Charles Gastfield, W. H. Gray and H. Riderberg. Its 

 membership includes among others Judge Murphy , Coro- 

 ner Hertz, David Bayha, Joseph O'Malley, Henry Smith, 

 Charles Etterman, Isadore Aid, John Puhle, Thomas 

 Sweenie, August Wilkens, Erick Stone, J. Fletcher, T, 

 Glassbrook, George Weber, T. Rheil, Henry Slick, Dr. 

 Wickersheim, G. Kimball, Henry Zitt, Gus Broberg, R. 

 Knight and John Stephens. 



July 17 '.—Mr. Charles F. Hills and Mr. Charles E. Hyde, 

 of the Fox Lake Club, on last Thursday and Friday found 

 some excellent bass water in the little fished lake' known 

 as Duck Lake, one of the lakes of the Fox Lake system. 

 On Thursday Mr. Hills took 26 bass alone in this lake, 

 and on the day following he and Mr. Hyde together took 

 22. None of the bass were below 21bs., and one reached 

 4flbs. Mr. Hills says that these bass were as gamy as 

 any small-mouths he ever saw. They were large-mouths 

 and were all taken by frog-casting. 



In the report of the little Yorkville trip, last week. I 

 had occasion to mention Mr. J. E. Reddock, of that vil- 

 lage, a very ardent fly-fisherman, who did what he could 

 to show us some fishing while we were. To-day Mr. Red- 

 dock sent up to Mr. Hirth, at Spaldings', a magnificent 

 small-mouthed bass, which weighs 3flbs. Modesty pre- 

 vents my saying very much about it, because this par- 

 ticular bass was caught on the fly whose jiattern I de- 

 vised myself this spring— a Professor body, Montreal 

 wing, red and ginger hackle. This fish was taken at 

 Yorkville. It is a pleasure to add that since our visit to 

 this village a sportsmen's club has been organized, which 

 will try to prevent illegal methods of fishing and so pre- 

 serve to its rightful uses what is naturally a very good 

 bass water indeed. 



Mr. Hills informs me that the "jumping" of bass as 

 practiced along the lower Fox, will be noticed as one of 

 the destructive illegal methods described in the circular 

 synopsis about to be issued by the Fox River Association. 



Mr. W. W. Tabberner, general agent of the Milwaukee 

 and Northern railway, says that trout fishing has been 

 backward this season on account of the singularly pro- 

 longed high waters. Mr. Tabberner informs me that his 

 company has this year planted over 1,000,000 trout in the 

 streams along their lines. Himself and Mr. Rollins, 

 president of the WausaukeeClub, have superintended the 

 planting of numbers of the rainbow trout, butthevdo not 

 think the latter have done well. 



The Wausaukee Club, of which Mr. Tabberner is sec- 

 retary, mention of which was promised earlier in the 

 season, will hold its formal opening of the club house on 

 Saturday, July 26, which event will be celebrated by a 

 trout dinner, among other things. An attendance of the 

 entire membership is expected, and there will be many 

 guests; Forest and Stream among others. A full report 

 will be made duly. 



July 18.— Governor Fifer, on the 8th of this month, 

 appointed Thomas B. Mullens, of Anna, and James P. 

 Campbell, of Browning, as fish wardens. It is to be 

 hoped that in these appointments his excellency has been 

 more fortunate than in that of the dead and alive crea- 

 ture, Brunsewitz, he lately inflicted on this city as a 

 "warden." The latter was supposed to have some trifling 

 "influence" with a class of ignorant foreigners. Thus it 

 may be seen that politics may affect fishing. 



Mr. W. H. Comstock, who is the guest of Mr. Ely, at 

 his cottage on the north shore of Lake Superior, has de- 

 parted with his host for the scene of hostilities. The 

 point to which they go affords some of the finest lake 

 fishing for big brook trout to be had anywhere. This is, 

 of course, understood to be the fly-fishing along the rocks 

 and riffles of the shore. There is" no fly-fishing that sur- 

 asses it, in the minds of those who have tried it, and 

 oubtless these gentlemen will have delightful sport. 

 July 19— Mr, Joel Kinney and Mr, Chas. E. Pefcrie. 



