Oct. 1, 1891.] 



FOREST AND STREAM 



209 



CAMP LIFE ON MUSKOKA LAKE.— II. 



[ConMnwed f rom Page 8S.'\ 



THE next morning the sky looked very threalening, 

 and it vans a que>tioii whether it would be policy to 

 strike c imp or wait until more favorable weather. "Heads 

 wego, taibwe stay," We went, and the weather was 

 with u;-. It W3R a hard paddle, for the nearer we got to 

 the mouth the thiclier the logs bee 'me. Turning one of 

 the river's numerous bends, we sighted the little shanty 

 that gives shelter to the lone logman who guards the cut; 

 as we slowly crowded our way toward the opening a 

 figure emerged from the hut, and then there arose in the 

 air a ysll, such a yell, a combination of a war whoop and 

 the cry of a catamount. I have heard many try to imi- 

 tate it, but nonH to equal it, it is the sole accomplishment 

 of Johnny the Frenchman. There i^ no affectation there as 

 he c-ilh but, "Gentlemen! Gentlemen ! I is glad to see 

 you." We are soon on land shaking hands and com|:>ar- 

 ius notes with Johnny. 



Bidding good bye to Johnny, who had thrown a couple 

 of nice pickerel into the canoe from his well-stocked fi-ih 

 pound, we made our way through the cut and into Mus- 

 koka Lake, Skirting the shore, we made for a bluif about 

 a mile further up, where we expected to pitch a tempo- 

 rary camp, for our intentions were to go back to the 

 shanty as soon as the logman left. The bluff made a poor 

 place for a camp, as it had no trees of any size and caught 

 the full benefit of the wind which is so prevailing on this 

 lake; but the mosquitoes did not bother us, on account of 

 the wind. 



Early next morning, after breakfast, we took one of our 

 American flags and cliiubing to the top of a solitary pine 

 which guarded the door of our tent, tif d it to the topmost 

 branch, thinking that if any Yankees should pass by they 

 would be more likely to give us a call. While here our 

 butter was procured from a farmer, if I may call him 

 such. He is the owner of one thousand acres, of which 

 about fifteen are tillable. Living up the river about three 

 miles, he kepps his cows down at the lake: and each 

 morning and evening rows down the river, makes a 

 portage into Mud Bay, and from there over to the point 

 where the cows are. One would think this was farming 

 under difficulty, but the old man don't mind it, as the 

 boys row the boat and milk the cows, while he sits in the 

 boat and smokes his pipe. 



Bf>fore many days we came to the conclusion that it 

 would be necessary to look for another camping ground, 

 as the wind sometimes made it almost impossible to cook 

 .a meal at the stove. We settled on the southern point of 

 an island about two miles from shore, it seemed to fill al! 

 the requirements needed, and later on confirmed our 

 good judgment, for we stayed there during the length of 

 time we were in camp. The island was called Gowan's 

 after its owner. Years ago he had built a cottage on the 

 point where we intended to pitch our camp; but the cot- 

 tage had gradually fallen to rack and ruin. On tlie east 

 side of the isla.nd high rocky p nnts ran out into the lake, 

 affording excellent fishing grounds. A small wharf had 

 been built nearby in front of an intended camp, but like 

 the cottage was gradually falling to pieces. It was not 

 long before we had here an ideal camp. The tent was 

 pitched under the trees about 30ft. from the water, on an 

 elevation of 5 or 6ft.; as we lay on our cot at night wp 

 could hear the waves dashing themselves on the rocks at 

 our feet. 



One morning while getting breakfast we sighted a boat 

 making around the point of Big Island, about three miles 

 down the lake. As she drew nearer we recognized the 

 Bertha May, the only tug on the lake, and owned by one 

 of the lumber firms, who use her for towing logs and 

 scows of lumber from their different mills. Seeing she 

 was headed for our camp we went down to the old wharf 

 to give her a welcome; as she drew nearer they recog- 

 nized ua by our canoe, and toot after toot of the whistle 

 rang out, proclaiming they were glad to see us once more 

 among them. The Bertha is soon ti^d to the wharf and 

 we are shaking hands with our old friends, Capt, Bill, 

 Old John the engineer, .Jack the cook, and Bob and Hank 

 the hustlers. They tell us they came up after a couple of 

 bags of logs to take to the company's mills at the southern 

 end of the lake, but as there U a head wind blowing they 

 will not be able to do anything until it calms down, so 

 we spend a pleasant afternoon Iving in the shade and 

 listening to tiae stories for which Old John has a remark- 

 able memory. We have heard him tell hundreds of 

 yarns and no two alike; whether he makes them up as 

 he goes along or draws on his memory is a question which 

 he refuses to answer. The Captain told us before leaving 

 that he heard there was going to be a dance on Friday 

 night at a settler's house about twenty-five miles up the 

 lake. He would try and arrange things so they would 

 be up after a big of logs on that day; and (with a wink 

 of his eye) if there was a head wind we would go up to 

 the dance, 



Friday afternoon came and with it the Bertha May. 

 The captain decided the wind would not allow them to 

 start out with a tow, so it was agreed we should go to the 

 dance. 



The crew shaved and cut each other's hair; jumped 

 in the lake and had a swim, and then were ready 

 for the "blow-fiut." We started about 6 o'clock, and had 

 not gone far before the captain made a proposition which 

 showed had he been a financier instead of a tugboat 

 captain he would have made a grand success. It appears 

 that at a dance of this kind whisky is as necessary as a 

 cake at a wedding: so the captain proposed running into 

 Prouse's, where a supply could be bought, and getting a 

 gallon jusc filled; then he was going to take about half of 

 it out and fill the jug up with water. When we would 

 get to the dance they would all want whisky; we would 

 then take up a collection, return part way to Prouse's, 

 and bring them buck the gallon jug, while the boat would 

 have the two extra quarts of pure whisky for nothing. 

 All thought this a pretty good scheme, so the whisky was 

 bought, divided and adulterated; but when we got to the 

 dance and came to take up a collection, not a picayune 

 could be raised ; so the tug had a sujjply on hand which 

 lasted them the entire season. 



We arrived about 9 o'clock and found the dance going 

 on in the barn, this being much larger than the house, 

 which was a one-room log. A few lanterns hung up on 

 convenient nails furnished light for the two sets of 

 dancers who had the floor. We saw at a glance that 

 there was a scarcity of the gentler sex; the contin- 

 gent comprised six forlorn maidens; and one of the sets 

 wa3 danced a la stag. About two dozen fellows were 



standing in front of the big barn doors watching the 

 dance, while another dozen were scattered around the 

 barn, sitting on plows and fanning mills. The next set 

 saw the crew of the Bertha May in line; they had taken 

 time by the forelock by asking the maidi^ns for the next 

 dance while they were still dancing in the first set; we 

 found that this watt quite the proper thing, for we noticed 

 the Bertha's people held the floor for the next two or 

 three dances. Will and I soon joined the crowd at the 

 door, and found them indulging in society topic?, eueh 

 HR the amount of hemlock bark Pete BrpwA was getting 

 out, etc. 



We struck up an acquaintance with a young fellow, 

 who asked us if we had a bottle; we replied in the nea;a- 

 tive; he then asked us if we wene himgry, a question 

 which only has one answer in that couatry. He said he 

 heard there was going to be a "feed" la^er on, but he 

 doubted it, for if there was there would have been some- 

 thing said about it before this, but perhaps we had belter 

 go down to the huuse and see for ourselves. So to the 

 hou^e we went, where we found the room occupied by a 

 woman and a couple of men, while a baby lay asleep in 

 a rude cradle near the stove. A bedstead in one corner, 

 a dresser with some crockery on it in another, and a few 

 chairs and table comprised the contents of the house. On 

 the cal)le were a few pies and something else which looked 

 like sandwiches. We noticed that our friend kept near 

 the table, while we talked of the weather, the high water 

 of the lake and other leading topics; but not a word about 

 pie was said. Wdl became discouraged and proposed 

 going back to the barn to see how the dancers were get- 

 ting on. After we got outside our friend began to abuse 

 the folks about inviting people to their dance and not 

 offering them anything to eat. "Why," said he, "if a 

 fellow did not keep his eye peeled he would have to go 

 hungry." With that he produced a pie from tinderneatii 

 his coat. Making an equal division, we left the plate on 

 top of a stump, and made our way to the barn where our 

 friend informed every one that supper was ready, and 

 they wanted the crowd at the house right away. They 

 needed no second invitation. 



AVill and I did not want to see what the outcome was 

 but made for the tug, where we crowded in a couple of 

 bunks and were soon fast asleep. How long we slept I 

 cannot say, but we were awakened by loud talking on 

 the shore; going on deck we found the crowd down by 

 the side of the tug and it looked for a short time as if 

 there was going to be a g-eneral fight. During the sup- 

 per numerous bottles had been produced, with the result 

 of Hank and another man stirring up a quarrel of old 

 standing. About a year before Hank had lost a deer 

 hound; several weeks after it was found dead, shot 

 through the bofiy, lying in a piece of timber belonging 

 to this man. He denied shooting the dog, although he 

 said he had shot dogs for running deer out of season and 

 would have shot his had he seen him. We finally got 

 Hank on board and casting off' our linp started back for 

 camp. It was so dark we could hardly see our hands 

 before u?!, but it made no dift'erence to the Captain, who 

 seemed like another man as soon as his hand touched the 

 wheel. Crowding on all steam, the little tug made her 

 way through narrow channels, twisting in and out 

 among the numerous islands, rounding points which 

 seemed to stretch across our path, threatening destruc- 

 tion to crew and boat alike. Whether the Captain steers 

 by instinct or not wr cannot say, but he claims to be able 

 to navigate blindfolded the lake from one end to the 

 other. It was after 3 o'clock when we arrived at camp 

 and it did not take us long to turn in. Next morning 

 when we arose the Bertha May and her tow were not in 

 sight; they must have pulled out a short time after land- 

 ing to enable them to get the start that they had. 



We began to notice the fish were not biting near so 

 freely as they had been. Johnny, the Frenchman, 

 claimed it was on account of the low water, the lake 

 having fallen ov^r 2ft. since our arrival. We have been 

 doing most of our fishing with the troll, catching princi- 

 pally pickerel, and we knew from experience that as 

 soon as they stopped biting the bass fishing would im- 

 prove, which turned out to be the case. 



For a steady fish diet we would prefer the pickerel to 

 any other fi^h we ever ate. During the twelve weeks we 

 were in camp we had fish once and very often twice a 

 day, and can truthfully say the last meal was relished 

 fully as well as the first. For the other nine months of 

 the year we never have any desire for fish, and should it 

 be placed on the table the chances are it would go away 

 untouched. There are several reasons for this, the appe- 

 tizing zest of the camp life, and the freshness of the fish 

 being the principal ones. Fish caught at night and kppt 

 until morning taste altogether different from those 

 caught, cleaned and put into the frying-pan before they 

 are done kicking. 



Day after day went by, each day having some new 

 adventure to distinguish it from the rest. "Some morn- 

 ings we would start out with our tackle to be gone all 

 day, exploring different parts of the lake, trying new 

 fishing grounds, tilUng a pail with huckleberries fx-om 

 some small island, or lying in the canoe and drifting with 

 the wind. 



The Bertha May was often tied up at our camp, one 

 time waiting a day and night for a change of wind. The 

 nights they were with us Johnny would come over from 

 the mouth, and we would all gather around the cheerful 

 blaze of an immense camp firp, while old John would spin 

 his yarns, the Captain would play the fiddle and Johnny 

 wake the night with his fearful yells. 



Johnny was a great character, take him all in all. 

 Having a mixture of French-Canadian and Indian blood, 

 he was supersttiious, and had an utter disregard for the 

 truth, especially in his fish and hunting stories. Never 

 have I seen him throw his hook in the water without 

 carefully spitting on it. He also carried a bone which he 

 claimed was taken from the back of a sttu-geon caught 

 while the moon was at a certain fullness, and this he 

 carefully rubbed on the spoon before starting out for a 

 troll. 



The Prized Grayling, of Michigan, is by no means 

 extinct. One of our Michigan correspondents reports 

 "some good times with the grayling, too. Do not know 

 as I said anything to you about that. Was up on the 

 Manistee River twice and had good success each time. 

 I have taken several large grayling this year, two that 

 weighed l^lbs. each, and one that weighed good plump 

 Iflbs." 



SOUHERN CALIFORNIA ANGLING. 



THE devotee of the art of angling may find very satis- 

 factory sport in several of our streams. While in 

 northern California all mountain streams are tributary 

 to streams flowing into the Sacrnmento or San Joaquin 

 and thus aff >rd a passage to the sea during at least a por- 

 tion of the year, the streams of southern Calif ornia never 

 reach the sea except during the winter freshets in vol- 

 ume large enough to be passable for spawning trout. 

 During these freshets the streams are very muddy and 

 move with great velocity, the fall from the footV'ills of 

 the Sierra Msidre being 1,400ft. and the longest river 

 course, the Santa Ana, not exceeding 70 miles. During 

 the spring and summer the water is nearly all taken for 

 irrigation and the remainder sinks in the loose sandy and 

 gravelly soil of the various wide valleys which lead to 

 the sea. There are, however, two streams — the Santa 

 Inpz and Santa Clara — which are passable for trout at 

 all seasons; they drain the western spur of the Siprra 

 Madra — the Santa Inr z mountains. In all of these rivers 

 the trout are uniformly the rainbow {Salmo irideus) 

 with variations on account of location, which I shall now 

 detail. The trout in the Santa Inez and Santa Clara, 

 whose tributary — Sespe Creek — is supposed to be one of 

 our best fishing streams, are coarser in meat and have 

 larger scales than elsewhere in southern California. The 

 trout average about 6in. in length, very rarely reach Sin. 

 and are extremely wary. In the main ranere of the 

 Sierra Madre the" Arroyo Sfco. San Gabriel River, San 

 Antonio Creek and Bear Valley Reservoir, with its feed- 

 ers, are the principal resorts for anglers. The larges 

 and longest running of these streams is the San Gabriel; 

 its greatest width is about oOft., depth possibly 4ft. in 

 summer stage, and its bed is filled with immense 

 granite boulders, between whose shady shoulders, in 

 deep pools, the knowing and agile Salmo finds a home. 

 As in the Santa Clara, the trout are small, but are said to 

 furnish cipital sport. In all, the fishable branches of the 

 San Gabriel comprise about 80 miles of the toughest 

 climbing to be found in this vicinity, noted for its 

 precipitous granite mountains. But when we come to 

 Bear Valley Reservoir, we find the rainbow at his largest, 

 and epicures say, too, that his flavor is in proportion to 

 his size. This reservoir is maintained for irrigation pur- 

 poses, and supplies 50 000 acres of land. It is an artificial 

 lake, formed by building a rock wall across the course of 

 Bear Creek where it flows through a gorge 300ft. wide. 

 The depth at the dam, which is constantly overflowing, 

 is 53ft., gradually diminishing toward the upper end of 

 the lake, which covers 4,000 acres. There is plenty of 

 food for trout in the reservoir, its water supply is con- 

 stant, plentiful and icy cold, so with no cares to fret him 

 the trout grows very large and lazy. The largest so far 

 caught weighed ISjibs., and individuals of 7 and 81bs. are 

 quite usual. They do not vary much in appearance from 

 the smaller trout of the running streams, and are said to 

 maintain all their delicacy of flavor. Fishing in the 

 i-eservoir is by ]3<^rmission, so the fish are protected from 

 indiscriminate slaughter. The close season for trout 

 is from Nov. 1 to April 1. Besides trout fishing, the sea 

 fi'hing at the present time is excellent. Good catches of 

 barracuda and Spanish mackerel (Sarda ehilensif) are 

 made daily. The y ellow- tail (SerioZa dorsaZ/s) ip just com- 

 ing in. Good catches of rock cod (Sehcislichthysj and bass 

 {Serraniis clathratus) are made from the rocky points 

 along the shoi-e. The best season here is usually from 

 Aug. 15 to Christmas. At other times fish are not plenti- 

 ful, so the fishermen say. Franklin Booth. 



Loe AxGELES, Cal., Sept. 8. 



ANGLING NOTES. 



GEN. LOUIS FITZGERALD with a party of friends 

 visited Barnegat Bay last week in search of weak- 

 fish and bluetish. They did fairly well, particulaily 

 Major A. P. Montant, who covered laimself with glory. 

 The party were drifting outside of the beach when the 

 Major struck a big fish. He was rigged very light, only 

 expecting weakfish, and was using an 8oz. Abbey & 

 Imbrie split-bamboo rod; fortunately his reel held plenty 

 of line, for the fish was at first utterly uncontrollable. The 

 General had the deck cleared for action and timed the 

 fight. The great fish made four complete circles around 

 the boat and finally when the General called "time" a 

 magnificent channel bass lay on his side, used up, plnyed 

 out by the skillful Major, who was almost, if not quite, 

 as much exhausted as the fish. Time, oTmin.; weight of 

 fish, 381bs. Major Montant was a happy angler and is 

 havino: the fish mounted as a trophy of his skill by Wal- 

 lace. Every season one or more of these Southern visitors 

 are caught in our waters. This is the second heard 

 from this fall, Last year, the readers of Forest and 

 Stream may remember, fllr. H. C. Wilson, of 28 Beek- 

 man street, caught one off Fire Island on a light black 

 bass rod: this fish weighed 351 bs. The season before 

 T. H. Stead and party landed two large ones and lost 

 three or four — also while fishing cff Fire Island. No 

 doubt more could be caught if people only fibbed for 

 them at this time of year. 



Mr. Watson Tomkins, of Stony Point, N. Y., caught a 

 fine shad one day last Aveek while fishing in the Hudson 

 River. Unfortunately he had no landing net and only a 

 single snell hook. When he lifted him in the boat the 

 gutpartfd and the fish st^ruck the edge of the boat and 

 fell in the water. He thinks it would have weighed be- 

 tween 3 and 4lbs. 



I suppose it is ui=e1ees to prevail upon anglers to have 

 their rods put in order before putting them away for the 

 season, but if they only would do so it would be far 

 better for the rods. Most people will put them away just 

 as they last used them, often badly bent and out of shape, 

 until a few days before they start out in the spring. The 

 result is, that the pieces having been so long crooked re- 

 main so, and it is almost impossible for the workmen to 

 get them back into shape again, to say nothing of the 

 diificulty in getting the varnish to dry "in so short notice. 

 It takes 'from four to ten days for good rod varnish to get 

 thoroughly hard, and anglers generally want their re- 

 pairs ready the same day. Scarlet-Ibis. 



Seneca Lake Bass.— Watkins, N. Y., Sept. 26.— This 

 promises to be a great bass season in Seneca Lake. I 

 have caught a number of two-pounders already, and 

 after the frost brings the big ones will send you a stick 

 full of fishing notes.— M. M. C, Jr. 



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