Jmt 1891.] 



FOREST AND STREAM, 



CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 



MUKWANAGO, Wis., July 17.«-The Story of the 

 Phantom Lake. Once upon a time there was an 

 Indian chieftain, of ancient lineage and proud and 

 haughty mien. His name was Muk-a-wani-ago, which 

 being interpreted from the Ojibway means the "Catclier- 

 of-xhe-frog," or Dweller by-the-place-where-a-fellow- 

 can-catch-frogs-easily." Muk-a-wa-gua means frog in 

 Indian. This noble chieftain had a daughter, an Indian 

 maiden, who, like all Indian maidens, was beautiful and 

 good. In course of time she ATOuld fall heiress to all the 

 frog preserves of her noble father. Hence her hand was 

 sought far and wide among the young warriors of the 

 Wis-cont-si. Her hand was not really any wider than 

 any other maiden's hand, but proper description necessi- 

 tates saying that it was sought far and wide. 



Muk-a-wan-i-ago, or Mukwanago, as brutal Saxon, has 

 curtailed the flowing Indian speech, loved his daughter, 

 and gratified her every wish except when that gave him 

 any trouble; but he was a man of stern and unyielding 

 principle. He could not help this, on account of his 

 lineage. ELis intellect was acute, and in natural ability 

 and foresight he surpassed his tribe. When his eye fell 

 upon the lovely sheet of water which, waUed in by noble 

 wooded bluffs, lay clear and sparkling in the natural 

 amphitheater situated about two or three miles from the 

 Indian village, he realized at once its magnificent fitness 

 for legendary piu'poses. "If I am not mistaken, and T 

 never am," said Jlukwanago, "this place will eventually 

 be a great summer resort, and the price of frogs will 

 double. The water is clear, the climate healthful, and 

 the fishing excellent. There is the necessary sulphur 

 spring at the other side of the lake, and the usual iron 

 spring not far from that, and there are no mo?quitoes, 

 not to speak of. They never trouble us. Really, it would 

 seem that nature had lavished all her charms, or some- 

 thing of the kind. Indeed, so far as I am able to tell, and 

 I know I am, we stand in need of only two things. We 

 need a legend and a Lover's Leap," 



Mukwanago pondered long and deeply, and at length 

 called his daughter up to him. 



"Pride-of -my -heart," said he— for sometimes he called 

 her Pride-of-my-heaxt and sometimes Susan — "Pride-of- 

 my -heart, we are shy a legend, and we've got to have it. 

 This lake will never go until we have a name for it, and 

 a Lover's Leap and a legend. Pride of-my-heart, listen 

 to your father. Haven't you got a lover or two lying 

 around in the woods h^re?" 



Pride-of- my- heart— or perhaps we may call her just 

 Pride for short, the more esppcially because pride goes 

 before a fall, and where there is a lover's leap there must 

 be a fall of course — Pride reluctantly admitted that her 

 father's surmises were correct. 



"Then, daughter," sa'd Mukwanago, "we are saved, I 

 wish that you and your Sunday lover would please go up 

 to the top of the bluff on the east side of the lake and 

 leap off into the water. You might chant a song, or 

 something or other, but I'll fix up the legend part. It'll 

 be the makimr of the place." 



"Pshaw, pa," said Pride, "Me jtunp off that place! 

 You're only bluffing!" 



"I'm not. I'm in dead earnest, so help me!" said Muk- 

 waDHgo, "and if you don't jump at sunset to-night 

 you'll have to settle with your parent, now you hear 

 me!" 



"Very well," said Pride, firmly; "I don't jump, now 

 you hear me. It's too blame rocky on that point, and 

 more than one hundred feet above the water. You must 

 be crazy." 



"Then you refuse!" said Mukwanago, bitterly. 



"I do, pa," said Pride. "If you want any legend you'll 

 have to do the jumping yourself. As for me, I jump the 

 camp to-night. " 



So Pride and her Sunday lover packed their canoe and 

 went north, up into the Wolf River country, that night, 

 and were never heard of any more. They crossed the 

 lake to the outlet, went down the creek to the Fox River, 

 and ascended that stream at about 10 o'clock in the even- 

 ing. Mukwanago often pointed out to the older citizens 

 of this country the place where the lovers jumped the 

 camp, and even tried to evolve from the plain story of 

 their boat ride down to the Fox a legend of a phantom 

 Indian maiden and a phantom canoe. His efforts met 

 with some success, and to-day the lake, which is really a 

 beautiful one, is known as Phantom Lake, instead of 

 Stockman Lake, as it is mapped, though certain skeptics 

 say there never was any phantom about it, except a little 

 cholera infantum on the west side, where the children of 

 a camping party got into a watermelon patch. 



I don't know just how it was that we came to camp on 

 Phantom Lake. J. B. H. and myself first intended to 

 spend a week exploring the wilds of the Kankakee River, 

 but that stream being too high and muddy when the time 

 came we determined to run the Fux" River instead. 

 Ordering our boat shipped by freight to Vernon, near the 

 Fox, we learned, by accident, just before we started for 

 Vernon, that the firm making the boat had sent it by 

 express. The express comp my agreed to send it, billed 

 it to Vernon and delivered it at the nearest express 

 Station, which happened to be at Mukwanago, about 12 

 miles from where we wished to go. Smt in the wrong 

 way, to the wrong place, we found when we got to it 

 that it was the wrong boat which had been sent. At 

 least, it seemed to my older companion rather cramped 

 for a river trip with full camp luggage. Already he had 

 been charmed with glimpses of wide waters as we passed 

 through the beautiful lake country of lower Wisconsin, 

 and when we blundered in our search for a temporary 

 eamping ground upon the delightful spot overlooking 

 this pleasant little lake he issued a fiat that we should go 

 no further, should make no river trip, but should camp 

 here for the week of perfect rest and leisure which he 

 sought. Therefore up went our tent that night, directly 

 upon the good eminence which might have been called 

 the Lovers' Leap, and Phantom Lake has been our ter- 

 ritory since then, A lovelier bit of country than that 

 which lies in front of us it would be hard to find, and 

 a quarter of a mile from camp we can catcli all the bass 

 we want. The stones hereabout are of the size convenient 

 in making a fireplace, and out of a forgotten fence board, 

 cut with an axe into foiu' equal lengths, a fine table has 

 been made, whose top can be cleaned admirably by turn- 

 ing over the loose boards after each meal. It would seem 

 that nothing further could be desired ia life. 



Mukwanago village is not a bad point to strike for a 

 trip of several days. The summer resort fever has not 

 yet taken hold hef6S 6* ife has on the lower lakes of the 



Fox River system, though the Phantom Lake Improve- 

 ment Co, is trying to bud out into maturity. Phantom 

 Lake is only two miles from the village by water, via the 

 outlet, and the "mill pond," Below town, by the river 

 which runs out of and forms the mill pond, it is only a 

 mile and a half to Fox River, so that for a boating trip 

 such as we proposed, this would be a good point from 

 which to start. Crooked Lake, now known as Beulah 

 Lake, Stuart Lake and other waters of this wonderfully 

 prolific lake country, lie close about. The fishing in all 

 these lakes would be good but for the ice fishing in winter, 

 which is carried on to a simply abominable extent by 

 market fishers and others all through Waukesha county. 

 Phantom Lake is fished to death in this way. We can 

 always go out and catch bass by casting bait, but the fish 

 run very small. We have caught our best bass exploring 

 the Mukwanago River, picking out the channel through 

 the marsh back of the mill" pond. The fish in these 

 hidden and unknown, waters are very large. Yesterday 

 J. B, H, caught a bass which was the largest I ever per- 

 sonally saw taken. There is only one mounted specimen 

 in Chicago wliich ia larger. This fish made no worse 

 fight than many others smaller, but was a veritable mon- 

 ster of a bass. We never had opportunity to weigh it, 

 and could ^only guess it to run between six and eight 

 pounds. We put it on a heavy maniia stringer and it 

 swam beside the boat for an hour and a half. Then we 

 looked and found our big fish and all the others gone. 

 The serrated rim of the old fellow's lower jaw had worn 

 the stout cord in two and he had escaped. He was 

 strung through the lower lip, and not through both lips, 

 as he should have been. This calamity taught us what I 

 had thought impossible, that the nearly toothless jaws of 

 a bass have a very considerable cutting power. The 

 manlla cord was strong and nearly now. 



Seven miles west of the village is Eagle Lake, out of 

 which trickles the little rivulet called Mukwanago River. 

 This stream crooks along through a pretty country, 

 marsh and motte and wood, fed continually by big boil- 

 ing springs, until tvvo miles west of here, where the old 

 mill dam was washed out thirty years ago, it runs about 

 10ft, on the bends and is a magnificent bass stream. Its 

 mouth is concealed among a hundred islands of grass 

 and rushes at the upper end of the mill pond, and it "took 

 us huurs of patient effort to worm it out. We were well 

 repaid for the labor by the fishing we found. For any 

 who might wish to fish here I would advise taking a boat 

 by team around the head of the mill pond to the bridge 

 by the schoolhouse, then floating down about two miles 

 to the mill pond, The channel can be kppt more easily 

 in that way and thus the fisher can avoid the danger of 

 being pocketed permanently in the fastnesses of the im- 

 penetrable swamp. If any futm-e angler of that stream 

 shall be fortunaie enough to take a monster bass, a very 

 king of the bass, let him examine well his mouth, and if 

 his lower lip be slit he may therein see the proof of our 

 prior occupancy of this stream, and will, I trust, retm-n 

 the fish to the elderly gentleman who caught, admired 

 and lost him, and then generously forgave him for get- 

 ting away, wishing him luck and a still longer life. 



Chicago, 111., July 35.— The very best of the fishing 

 season seems to be over, though bass are still being 

 taken. During the week's fishing at Phantom Lake, 

 Wis., in camp with J. B, H., fi-shing only part of days 

 and some days not at all, we took 54 bass, mostly to his 

 rod, as I fished but little. Last Saturday three anglers 

 fishing at the lake near Mu^kwanago, known indiffpr- 

 ently as Potter's Like, Crooked Lake or Beulah Lake, 

 caught 17 fine bass, three running over 41bs. A 41bs. 

 bass, weighed, is a larger fish than most think, and 

 usually passes for a frlbs. fish. Crooked Lake is about 

 two miles from Phantom Like, the latter is a spring-fed 

 lake. The bass we took were all big-mouths and those in 

 the lake ran small, but they were very gamy. Repeat- 

 edly we thought we had hooked small-mouths. I should 

 say they were about as gamy as small-mouths, more es- 

 pecially the smaller ones. 



Last Sunday Mr. Mussey caught 15 small-mouth bass 

 on Mak-saw-ha club grounds, all on the frog. Mr. J. P, 

 Card caught 13. Mr. Mussey had three bass whose total 

 weight was lOlbs. For small-mouths this is very heaw. 

 It seems singular that these small-mouth bass should be 

 so plentiful in that part of the Kankakee. I do not be- 

 lieve there is any locality so near Chicago where one 

 could expect 15 small-mouths to one rod in one day at 

 this season, and to think of that makes me pretty un- 

 easy. 



Mr. Oscar Blomgren is back from a three weeks' trip 

 with his family at Chisago Lake, forty miles east of Sc. 

 Paul, Minn., and thinks he has found the ideal summer 

 resort spot, where everything is cheap and the fi,shin^ 

 good. Including G een Lake, these waters have 183 

 miles of shore line. Pickerel wore plenty and bass at 

 least numerous. The St. Croix River was only eight 

 miles distant, and several trout streams were near, all 

 leased, however. Mr. Blomgren leased a cottage at 

 Center City, and here his family and friends, nine 

 persons in all, lived at a totai cost of $18 a week! Fine 

 cedar boats clinkers, with spoon oars, rented at |6 per 

 month. Frogs and minnows were abundant. This must 

 be the lost Atlantis bobbed up in Minnesota. 



The Kinkakee Association at its last meeting of the 

 board of directors, audited and approved State Warden 

 Buck's report and Mils, covering his fishway work on 

 the lower Kankakee, placed §lOO to credit of the com- 

 mittee on fishways, and $300 for the committee on pro- 

 tection. Mr. Organ reported that Mak-saw-ba Club sent 

 in $50 as an unsolicited donation. The secretary wrote 

 Mr. W. T. Dennis, Fish Commissioner of Indiana, at 

 Richmond, of that State, stating that Mr. NichoUs of the 

 Association's committee would call upon him for confer- 

 ence as to action along that portion of the Kankakee 

 which lies in Indiana. The Nickel Plate Club, grounds 

 bptween Mak saw-ba and English Lake clubs, wrote the 

 Kankakee Association, assuring early financial support. 

 It would seem that everything is doing well along the 

 Kankakee. E. Hough. 



MoisiE RiVEE Salmon.— Bethlehem, Pa., July 35,— In 

 your last issue I noticed a salmon-catch average. The 

 next day after reading this I met Mr. R L. Mvers, of 

 our place, who, with foui- other gentlemen, had just re- 

 tm-ned from their leased river, Moisie River, Quebec. 

 The five rods killed 165 salmon, which weighed 8,7481bs., 

 and the a.verage ran 23i'^;i,lbs. Largest fish SSlbs. All 

 eaught from June 30 to JiUy 8.— M. 0. L. 



SUSQUEHANNA FISHING NOTES. 



BASS and "salmon" fishing opened favorably this 

 season. During the first and second week in June 

 some fine strings of fish were caught in this locality, and 

 it began to look as if that "old plague," high water, had 

 ended and the good old times were with us once more. 

 Since the great flood, June 3, 1889, the Susquehanna has 

 been subjected to sudden rises, which have followed one 

 another so closely as to practically ruin the season's fish- 

 ing as a whole; of course, occasionally, during the inter- 

 vals of high water, some fortunate' angWs have made 

 good catches, but the majority have been disappointed. 

 As the water was constantly getting lower the fishing con- 

 tinued to improve during the latter part of June. The 

 water still being about 18in. above low water mark, the 

 ma jority of the bass taken were caught near the edges of 

 the grass and few in deep water. The most successful 

 method of taking fish at that stage of water was by still- 

 fishing, it not being low and clear enough for trolling. 



About July 1 heavy rains caused the water to rise and 

 become roily, thus again seriously interfering with the 

 fishing and practically ending it for about ten days, the 

 catches made during this interval being small. By the 

 Uth the water had fallen and cleared, and the fish began 

 biting vigorously, good catches being reported each day 

 since. A continuation of the fine weather we are now 

 having wnll undoubtedly help to make the fishing the 

 best that we have had for several years. Very few large 

 bass have been taken this season; a large majority of 

 those caught weigh about one pound and under. The 

 old "mossbacks" seem to bite more readily in the latter 

 part of the season and are taken most frequently by trol- 

 Img. 



The bright silver-finned minnow (Notronis megalops), 

 commonly known as the "shiner" or "silver fin," has 

 been principally used this season, and ia a killing bait in 

 this locality. 



This small fish is abundant during the early part of the 

 season, and may easily be obtained with a dip-net in the 

 small patches of grass in the shallow parts of the river 

 and near the grass fringing the shores. During the latter 

 part of the season this bait becomes scarce, and then the 

 angler is obliged to make up the deficiency by using the 

 lamprey eel, stone catfish, helgramite, etc."" I have 'been 

 told by an old fisherman that at times the common frog is 

 preferred to all other baits. He says that on certain 

 occasions, when everything else was favorable for good 

 fishing, much difficulty was experienced in finding a bait 

 suitable to the taste of the wily bass. After trying aU 

 the various kinds of bait to be had, in the extremity the 

 frog was tried and found to be just the thing. The fore- 

 going instance shows that fish, as well as persons, desire 

 at certain times a change of diet, and this is a fact that is 

 well worth remembering. 



Among the catches made this season at various points 

 in this locality I record the following: 



June 3- Bernard Doyle, 4 wall-eyed pike, one weighing 

 5-ilbs. 



June 3— David Davidson, of Harrisburg, Pa., at Collins 

 Station, 40 wall-eyed pike, the largest weighing 9lbs.,the 

 remainder ranging to 31bs. and under. 



June 10— Master Harrison Hippie, a juvenile angler ten 

 years of age, landed a bass weighing nearly 31bs. This 

 fish was taken at Bainbridge, and was a fine one. 



June 15— Master Will Kuntzelman, 3 pickerel measur- 

 ing 16 and 17in respectively. 



Fr.»m the lOth to the 3(jth Squire Bare caught 150 bass, 

 an average of fifteen per day. On June 33, while the 

 Squire was returning from across the river, he noticed a 

 number of bass jumping and sporting about in the water 

 near a small seining battery. Having neither tackle nor 

 bait he went home and soon returned with his rod and a 

 supply of bait. Then the fight began; in two hours time 

 he landed twenty-two bass, the largest weighing ahout 3lbs. 



On June 34 Bernard Doyle took eleven bass, the largest 

 weighina: lib, 



June 37 Messrs. Fred Ebel and John Bracken, of Har- 

 risburg, caught thirty-one bass, ranging from -J to S^lbs. 

 each. 



July 1 Messrs. Melie Russ and Jerome Long, of Harris- 

 burg, took in one day thirty -three bass, the lai-gest 

 weighing 31bs. The last two catches were made on the 

 arrounds of the Red House Gunning and Fishing Club, of 

 •Harrisburg, and the latter was the largest catch made in 

 the vicinity of Harrisburg up to the above date. 



July 1, Frank Doyle, twelve bass, Frank McNeil twelve 

 fine bass, the smallest weighing -^^Ib. 



July 6, Frank McNeil, eleven bass, running about the 

 same in size as the above. 



July 11, Squire Bare, nineteen bass, the largest weigh- 

 ing 1-i^lbs., Mr. McNeil thirteen bass. 



The prospects for a good fishing season are very en- 

 couraging; the fish seem to be plentiful enough, and all 

 we want is suitable weather in which to catch~them. 



Persons desiring information concerning the fishing at 

 this locality can obtain it at any time by addressing either 

 of the following parties: Frank Doyle, Frank McNeil, or 

 J. T. Bire. These are reliable persons and will cheerfully 

 furnish any information desired. Stehman. 



BaiivBbtdgb, Pa., July 1.3. 



Hand? Pocket Maps.— One of the first and most 

 pressing needs of the traveler who goes into a region 

 which is new to him is a good map, and no traveler re- 

 quires this so much as a sportsman, because, whether he 

 is a gunner or an angler, he carries on his pursuit alone, 

 and usually at a distance from people of whom he can 

 make inquiries. All general maps ar->, as a rule, too large 

 to be of much use to the sportsman; they do not give the 

 details which he is anxious to know, For this reason tlie 

 county road maps, published by G, W. & C. B. Colton & 

 Co., of this city, several of which are now before up, seem 

 to especially commend themselves to our readers. They 

 are drawn on a uniform scale of two miles to the inch, 

 and are printed in colors; the roads in red, water courses 

 and ponds and their names in blue, other geography and 

 names— towns, villages, post offices, hotels, railroads, 

 etc.— in black. The maps are finely executed, are ac- 

 curate, are of a convenient size for the pocket, and cost 

 only 50 cents each. They cannot fail to be useful to those 

 who desire to acquaint themselve.'^ with the roads, streams, 

 hotels, or fishing and shooting resorts in the regions which 

 they cover. The maps which we have seen are those of 

 Orange and Rockland, Sulliv.an and Ulster counties — at 

 h;ast two of which are grpafc resorts for sportsmen, who 

 will be glad to aYail themselves of these handy and cheap 

 "mapa. 



