Jan, 15, 1891.] 



FOREST AND STREAM, 



BIS 



delicate morsel, or whether the muskrat, in his desperate 

 struggles for life, had in some way fatally injured it. At 

 any rate, there was no question as to the cause of his 

 demise, and the fact impressed itself upon net as being one 

 instance where the "wolf" had seriously erred in esti- 

 mating his masticating abilities. This fish had a massive 

 head, was of unusual length, and in good condition would 

 probably have weighed 80 to 351hs. What an ignoble 

 death for such a wild, untamed, majestic fish. 



One* evening, as we were sitting by our comfortable 

 fire, Sully informed us that there was a small lake about 

 five mile's to the southwest which was literally alive with 

 muskallonge, and told us in his characteristic way of 

 some big fellows that he had assisted in killing after a 

 hard fight. It was difficult of access and nothing on it to 

 fish from except a leaky old Indian canoe made of birch 

 bark; but he thought the sport there would more than 

 outweigh these considerations, and before we slept that 

 night we determined to make the trip. 



Next morning, leaving Sully in charge of the tent, we 

 climbed in the boat and pulled silently through the 

 gray fog that covered the lake. Following our directions 

 close] v for about two miles we easily found the trail that 

 led off from a little narrow inlet, aud soon had our boat 

 tied fast to an overhanging hough of maple. 



Our route lay through some of the most characteristic 

 stretches of a Wisconsin forest and we enjoyed every 

 moment of our three-mile tramp. In some places our 

 trail lay distinct and sharply defined before us and was 

 easily kept. Then again it would fade away and become 

 so dim and so nearly invisible that once or twice we 

 thought we had lost it. Now we would descend the side 

 of a steep hill iuto a narrow, crooked valley, and anon we 

 would pass through a strip of Norway pine, where the 

 ground was as level as a floor and as soft under foot as the 

 most luxurious carpet. Here we would enter an almost 

 impenetrable thicket of young hemlock and birch, where 

 the range of vision was limited to a couple of feet on 

 either side, and after fighting our way through this tangled, 

 scraggy mass we would suddenly emerge into a forest of 

 sweeping hemlock, whose wide-spreading branches, at 

 times almost touching the ground, shut out the bright 

 light of day and surrounded us with a deep, sombre gloom. 



At times we moved along the high ridges of a succession 

 of hilte whose wooded sides sloped grandly off to the left 

 and right, and many a wild, picturesque spot appealed so 

 strongly to our sense of the beautiful that we could not 

 resist reclining on some gnarled root or weather-beaten 

 log and giving ourselves wholly up to the seductive 

 witchery of the scenes. To the lover of nature, un- 

 touched by the hand of man, some of these views wore 

 simply enchanting. 



Down at the foot of a long, gently rolling hill we came 

 upon the little lake in all the glory of its hidden beauty. 

 A strong wind was blowing and the waves were dashing 

 themselves into a white foam upon the sandy shore, and 

 when we pictured ourselves dancing up and down on 

 those rough waters with no support but a cranky old 

 canoe we inwardly decided that we would not fish very 

 far from land. We hauled the old craft out from its hid- 

 ing place in the bushes, and cut a few armloads of hem- 

 lock boughs which we placed in either end to sit upon. 

 1 Tho canoe was about 12ft. long by 3ft. wide, and was 

 lightly though strongly built. There was one weak spot 

 in it, however, and we had not been afloat five minutes 

 before we became painfully aware of the fact that the 

 thing leaked badly, and every little while we were com- 

 pelled to land and tip it up to let the water run out. One 

 of us sat in the bow, as far out of reach as possible of the 

 little pool in the center, which gradually rose higher and 

 higher, while the other took up a position in the stern and 

 furnished the propelling power through the medium of a 

 short, unwieldy paddle with which we would make a few 

 strokes on one side and then on the other. With the 

 wind, blowing so fiercely we could make but little head- 

 way, and it required continued exertion to keep the spoon 

 revolving. A more experienced canoeist would probably 

 have kept a straight course, however slowly, but in spite 

 of our most persistent efforts the point would veer around 

 from one side to the other so that the one handling the 

 rod would have to keep it moving back and forth to take 

 advantage of these numerous tacks and to prevent the 

 spoon f rom sinking to the bottom. 



A cold, drizzling rain was falling, but to this we were 

 completely indifferent, as our whole time and attention 

 were occupied in struggling with the frisky canoe and in 

 keeping the line free. Bob took first turn at the rod 

 while 1 paddied around close to the south shore, being 

 careful not to snag any more holes in the thin hark cov- 

 ering on one of the many sharp, dangerous looking logs 

 and broken limbs that sometimes lay far out in the water 

 with their points just below the surface as though waiting 

 to wreck the unwary fisherman. 



In a little cove, partly sheltered from the wind, Bob 

 had the first strike, and "the slender rod tremhled as the 

 fish made a rush for the open w ater. It was necessary to 

 adopt different tactics while fishing from a rolling, leaky 

 canoe, that made one feel as though he was balancing on 

 a tight rope, and instead of making for the deeper water 

 I kept in near the shore, where in case of accident we 

 stood some chance of wading out. Bob worked manfully 

 at the reel, and after a lusty fight of some ten minutes, 

 during which he Avas compelled to use ail his strength 

 and skill against the mad rushes and sudden leaps, he 

 drew the still struggling musky up alongside, and the gaff, 

 neatly placed under his shining body, laid him flopping 

 and floundering in the puddle between us — a fine Im- 

 pounder. We emptied the hoat on the bank, shook the 

 surplus water from our drenched garments, and started 

 out. for another turn around the point. We caught two 

 more in a short time, both beauties, each of which afforded 

 fine sport in the capture, and then we again landed to 

 build a fire by which we could dry and devour our lunch 

 at the same time. Nearly everything was soaked by the 

 rain, hut we succeeded in finding some partly dry birch 

 bark, and, by the aid of this highly inflammable material, 

 soon had a roaring fire started in a little hollow formed 

 by the upturned roots of a huge fallen tree. Our simple 

 repast was eaten with a relish, and refreshed ua wonder- 

 fully, for we had the ravenous appetites that come only 

 to those who breathe day after day and night after night 

 the invigorating, bracing ah- of the pine woods. 



A few minutes' delicious rest, while enjoying the 

 soothing effects of a good cigar, and we again dropped 

 down on the wet hemlock quite ready for another skirmish 

 tyjlh the "wol.V Tt was my turn to handle the rod, and 



after a few minutes' experience I found that it was no 

 child's play, for Bob had never before been called upon to 

 propel and steer such a flimsy craft under such adverse 

 circumstances, and he made such poor headway, if such 

 the zigzag, almost imperceptible motion could be called, 

 that considerahle maneuvering was necessary to prevent 

 the hooks from catching fast to the bottom on some sunken 

 log or bunch of weeds. In the course of the afternoon 

 three more good-sized muskies were added to the list, and 

 we began to think of returning to our first landing place 

 at the trail, for we were somewhat tired and very hungry 

 and wet. 



There was one particular place along the edge of a thin 

 strip of land that extended out into the lake that we felt 

 sure must contain some huge specimens, as it was the 

 most likely looking spot that we had yet seen. It was 

 getting late and we were not quite sure that we could 

 follow the trail back in the dusk, but we determined to 

 give it a trial, and accordingly Bob took up the paddle 

 and the little canoe once more began its tortuous course 

 through the drizzling rain and choppy waves. We had 

 enjoyed the sport to our hearts' content that afternoon 

 and were not particularly anxious in regard to the suc- 

 cess of our last attempt, but, when about half way to 

 the end of the peninsula, the rod suddenly plunged back- 

 ward and threatened to jump out of my hands, all our 

 apathy vanished like smoke before the breeze and we 

 were again on the tiptoe of expectancy. 



At the same instant the strike was felt the rod was 

 given a short quick jerk or twist, but alas, the hook 

 failed to catch and the heavy weight at the other end 

 suddenly ceased. But the fish was undoubtedly hungry 

 and determined to capture the glittering decoy at what- 

 ever-cost, and we had not gone three yards before it 

 struck again and this time a sharp turn of the arm sank 

 the barbed steel firmly into the horny mouth, and the 

 fight hegan. From the great strain on the rod I knew 

 that we had fastened on to an unusually big fellow and 

 shouted to Bob to run the canoe in to the shore, for I had 

 no desire to participate in a lengthy struggle, such as I 

 Was assured this would be, over deep water with noth- 

 ing under us but a cranky, unwieldly canoe that already 

 contained three inches of water. 



Bob managed to turn the head around and applied all 

 his strength to the paddle, but in spite of his strenuous 

 effort we barely moved. Just then we heard a loud 

 splash, and, looking up, saw the bro=»d tail and thick, 

 dark back of the angry muskallonge lashing the water 

 into a white foam in its rage. It tugged furiously at the 

 line and the strain on the reel was so great that it was 

 only by exerting all my strength that the crank could 

 be moved a particle, and before I had reeled him in 20ft. 

 my fingers were raw and bleeding where they had come 

 in contact with the sharp edges of the reel. 



Away he rushed from side to side, now down and then 

 up, and time and again his dripping form rose clear of 

 the water in frantic endeavors to expel the merciless 

 hook. Each time it appeared to view it would shake its 

 head savagely as though in angry menace, then uown 

 again to the bottom it would plunge for another start. It 

 was hard work to hold him in check, but we knew that 

 the tension must not for a moment be relaxed, for the 

 very instant he felt the line slacken he would have 

 thrown the spoon from his mouth and our prize would 

 have been lost. After playing him for some fifteen 

 minutes, now from one side of the canoe and then from 

 the other, all the time reeling as rapidly as possible, I got 

 him up to within 20ft. of us, and by this time, after a 

 heroic effort, Boh had paddled up' quite close to the 

 shore. We could feel the cold water gradually rising up 

 around us and knew that it was only a question of a short 

 time when we would be compelled to abandon our excuse 

 for a boat and continue the fight from dry land, but as 

 this would place all the advantages on the side of the 

 wily muskallonge, we determined to stand by our colors 

 to the last. As the pebbly bottom of the lake immedi- 

 ately under us descended very abruptly, we found it 

 possible to hug the friendly shore quite closely and at 

 the same time he in easy reach of enough water to ac- 

 commodate the highly eccentric movements of our un- 

 willing captive. It would not do to allow him to get 

 into very shallow water as the hook might accidentally 

 be dislodged by striking against some sharp-pointed 

 rock. 



Knowing that we could not retain possession of our 

 craft much longer unless we chose to descend with it to 

 the bottom, and having, thanks to the penetrating rain 

 and the leak hole under us, absorbed about as much 

 moisture as could be comfortably endured, I determined 

 to force the fight to a speedy issue. In pursuance of this 

 firm resolve I exerted myself to the utmost in the en- 

 deavor to reel in more rapidly, but it was without avail, 

 for the stubborn, sturdy monster obstinately contested 

 every inch of ground, and after a few turns my cramped 

 fingers refused to act. There was nothing to do but let 

 him have his way for the present and give him plenty of 

 time and room in which to exhaust himself. 



There was no tree or even a stout hush near the water- 

 line that we could tie to, and Bob, in the absence of any 

 other expedient, was obliged to exercise himself vigor- 

 ously over his paddle to prevent our being bodily dragged 

 out into deeper water, a misfortune which we, under the 

 circumstances, earnestly desired to avoid. Not much 

 force is required to move a light canoe, especially when 

 the wind is favorable, and if musky had been allowed to 

 follow unrestrained the dictates of his own sweet will 

 there is no telling where he would have piloted us. 



A sudden swish of the line to the left and we were again 

 greeted with the vision of a huge, sinewy, wiry body de- 

 scribing a half circle through the air, from which the 

 light drops flew in every direction. No sooner had the 

 water again closed over the glistening form than away it 

 darted in an opposite direction with such lightning-like 

 rapidity that I loosened my grip a little on the reel for fear- 

 that a too sudden check would snap the line. Slowly, 

 but surely, I wound him in nearer and nearer, and it now 

 seemed as though he realized that his chances for escape 

 were growing alarmingly slender, for his struggles be- 

 came fast and furious. 



It was oftener on top of the water now than under it, 

 and the way it would shoot along the surface, throwing 

 the spray to either side like the bow of a swift boat, was 

 calculated to distract the most experienced, and, although 

 we had become somewhat accustomed to their strange 

 | freaks, when our eyes encountered those terrible trap- 

 like jaws surmounted by a pair of hard, glittering eyes, 

 now so close, wh could not suppress j;he cold (Jh'ijjs that 



glided up and down our already half-frozen spines in 

 quick succession. 



There was something in the appearance of that muskal- 

 longe that harmonized strangely with the wild solitude 

 of the surroundings, and this feeling was noticed almost 

 unconsciously as I worked with sore fingers and shortened 

 breath on the almost unmanageable reel. By this time 

 the many lively rushes and high leaps combined with the 

 unceasing strain were beginning to tell on him, and his 

 twistings and turnings were growing les3 and less ener- 

 getic. Believing that I could now reel him in more easily 

 and rapidly, I told Bob to make ready with the gaff and 

 to let the boat drift. He laid his paddle in the bottom, 

 and then such a look of consternation spread over his 

 features that I asked him anxiously what was wrong. 

 There was nothing in particular wrong with him, but he 

 was sorry to say that we had stupidly left the gall' hook 

 at our last tipping up place, and he would like very much 

 to know how we were going to get that whale out. He 

 did not speak as kindly as these words imply, hut embel- 

 lished his remarks with a few choice and highly appro- 

 priate phrases that seemed to act as a safety valve on my 

 own feelings. It was with deep dismay that I received 

 this information, for I was at a complete loss to know 

 how we were going to manage our captive that now 

 seemed like a small elephant on our hands. We did not 

 have much time to think, for the line had been getting 

 shorter and shorter, so I shouted to Bob that he would 

 have to lay him out in some way with the paddle. Bob 

 ran his hand down into the water covered bottom to fish 

 out this useful article, but when it came forth again it 

 was grasping, not the little pine propeller, but a flat, 

 heavy mallet, with a good strong handle, that had evi- 

 dently been made to take the place of the cruel gaff. 

 We had noticed it lying there, but in the excitement of 

 tb« moment had completely forgotten it. 



This find cheered us up considerably, and I now made 

 a strong effort to haul the heavy fish up close enough to 

 come within easy reach of Bob's long arms and the death- 

 dealing mallet. I sat facing him in the end nearest the 

 shore and not fifteen feet from it, and I did not have 

 much trouble in guiding the nearly exhausted musky up 

 within a yard of the canoe. Bob raised his weapon — 

 splash, zip— and down went the frightened fish like a 

 flash directly under us. I soon checked him in his rapid 

 retreat, and' again he was approaching the waiting ex- 

 ecutioner, too much worn out to offer any but slight re- 

 sistance. Bob had his arms raised in readiness, and when 

 the savage head was within a foot of tho boat down came 

 the sharp edge of the hard wood with a crack square be- 

 tween its eyes. At the same instant I released my hold 

 upon the reel, so that the force of the blow, which drove 

 it several feet under the surface, might not tear out the 

 hook. It was a fatal stroke, and the noble fellow hardly 

 moved as we ran the canoe ashore and laid him gently 

 out upon the clean yellow sand. Its back was 5 or 6in. 

 thick and it was the most trimly-built fish that we had 

 yet seen. It looked every inch of it to be just what it 

 was, a hard, strong, gamy fighter. We weighed it it on 

 orrr return to camp and it tipped the beam at exactly 

 301bs. Little wonder that we were nearly played out 

 landing such a specimen, but when we strung our six fish 

 upon a stout pole, with the big fellow dangling in the 

 middle and started back over - the trail we felt that the 

 day had been well spent indeed. 



The killing of a muskallonge .does not require much 

 special knowledge or skill in the use of the rod, but it 

 does imply a certain amount of j udgment, coolness and 

 perseverance. Almost any one, with a stout hand line 

 and a guide to pull him about, find the fish for him and 

 land them safely in the boat, can make a good record if 

 they are at all plenty. But muskallonge fishing is very 

 much like other kinds of sport in that there are many 

 methods of pursuing it. All fishermen are not alike in 

 their tastes and standards, and while some would be more 

 than content to haul them in as they would draw water 

 from a well, the nature of others demands that they resort 

 to higher methods. The degree of pleasure rests upon the 

 sensibilities of the angler and the character of the means 

 employed. To render the sport as pleasurable as possible 

 one should use a medium weight rod some 10ft. in length. 

 Split bamboo is the most serviceable, and anything longer 

 than this or with less elasticity would prove awkward 

 and hard to manage. It must be remembered that but 

 little of the strain comes on the rod, and it should be light 

 and springy, capable of taking on almost any desired 

 curve without breaking. This allows an easy flow of line 

 from the reel and at the same time exerts considerahle 

 resisting power. The reel should be an unusually large 

 one, capable of containing easily ,50yds. of braided silk 

 line, with large powerful handle and other parts corres- 

 pondingly strong. This is the most important part of the 

 outfit, for if it be too small or liable to get out of order, 

 much disappointment and annoyance will be caused, no 

 matter how fine the line, rod or hooks may be. A medium 

 weight braided silk line answers the purple admirably 

 and is plenty strong enough if properly .aandled and 

 cared for. 



The spoon hook must be very strong and well made, aud 

 have on a long, stout wire connection with the line, 

 otherwise it may suddenly disappear to be seen no more, 

 and at a time, too, when such disappearance would occa- 

 sion the keenest regret. Many a strong steel hook has 

 been bent out of stiape and rendered useless by this iron- 

 jawed fish, and the heavy spoon frequently comes hack 

 to the boat dented up so badly as to be scarcely recogniz- 

 able. A No. 8 spoon is considered the best size for this 

 purpose, although a No. 7 is occasionally used with good 

 effect. Sizes larger than these cannot be employed with 

 much success. 



Various plans are pursued to secure or kill the muskal- 

 longe after it has been hooked, worn out and reeled in 

 close to hand. About the best and most effectual way to 

 finish them is to play them until exhausted and then 

 slowly move them up close to the other end of the boat 

 where the guide or companion is in waiting with a small 

 ,22cal. revolver. As the fish comes up the muzzle of this 

 is slowly lowered in such a way as not to startle it, and 

 when immediately over the bead and between the eyes 

 the trigger is touched and over rolls musky as dead as a 

 mackerel. Some objtct to this, claiming that the report 

 is likely to scare away other fish that may be in the neigh- 

 borhood: but as far as my experience goes, such objections 

 are not sustained by the facts. Another method, aud the 

 one generally made use of where a guide is employed, is 

 ' phat kpown a,s galling. A strong steel hook 



