May 9, 1896.] 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
877 
river the banks rose 200ft. high, in one solid reck, and at 
other places still higher. 
As near as I could ascertain, there is no way by which 
a wagon road could be made from the station to the 
lake without a vast expenditure of money; nor could a 
steam or sailing vessel go up without a like expenditure. 
As our camp equipage had again been stored in the 
canoes, we went up through Lake Maria, and at times 
cast the fly into tempting places; but Fred, as usual, had 
good luck, and made himself the butt of our good-na- 
tured ridicule by catching a wall-eyed pike of about 4lbs. 
weight. We certainly guyed him until he gave it back to 
us for doing the same trick. At the head of the lake we 
again entered the river until we reached Split Rock, 
over which we had to walk, while the Indians looked 
after the canoes and dunnage. The next portage was 
made at Island Portage, and while the Indians were 
making it we investigated the waters, and although we 
saw trout not one of us got a strike, so that when the 
boats were ready for us we got in and paddled away. 
It is not all of fishing to catch fish on one of these trips, 
and this portion of ours was mostly spent in beholding 
the wonders of God as exhibited here, and which opened 
up before us as we passed along. The Judge is skilled in 
botany and geology, and he instructed us in the different 
formations of the rocks and their kinds, showing some- 
times iron, copper and gneiss, while the fauna was pointed 
out in its different characteristics, and the mast of the 
country in its peculiarities of pine, cedar, spruce, etc. 
I have found fault with myself all winter and last fall 
because I did not take a kodac along and take photographs 
of these different points along the trip, and I promise 
myself that from this time on I shall provide myself with 
one even if I fail to take something else. It is a happy 
article to take with you, and in the event of any extraor- 
dinary occurrence you can get indisputable evidence of it 
and produce as many copies as you wish. 
The day was all we could wish, and neither accident 
nor any unpleasantness occurred to mar the pleasure of 
the trip. We are now nearing a fall, as is indicated by 
the roar heard in the distance, but as our Indians do not 
understand our language, nor do we understand theirs, all 
we can get out of them is "Cow- win," meaning, as near 
as I can understand, "Don't know." As it is repeated so 
1 often in our hearing we soon commit it to memory and 
then apply to Joe to interpret. 
As we near the rapids on the west side again we learn 
that we are at Pine Portage and that we have one and 
one-half miles to carry the stuff overland, and this will 
cause delay. Ab we land we find some other people com- 
ing down the river, and soon a half dozen white men 
come in sight with about a dozen Indians, and while we 
introduce ourselves to the whites the Indians fraternize. 
I do not recall the names of these gentlemen except one, 
a Mr. Patrick, a very eminent, prosperous and wealthy 
merchant of Duluth, and to him my party as well as my- 
self are greatly indebted for the loan of a pair of scales, 
so from this time on there will be no guesswork in the 
wt ight of our catch. 
Alter eating our noonday meal, prepared by the In- 
dians on a part of the level ground on the high land over- 
looking the Nipigon, we toasted each other, hail fellows 
well met, and parted, they going down and we up. They 
had the skins of trout dried and fastened upon birch bark, 
with branches tied at the corners for frames — specimen 
catches of the members, taking them home to convince 
the skeptical. They had said that when we got to Virgin 
Falls we would get big trout and as big trout as we 
wanted, so we were in a big hurry to get to the promised 
land, and to make sure of getting there we turned in and 
assisted in making the portage. 
This seemed to be the hardest portage of all. It took 
longer, with everyone working, than it did at the longest 
portage with the Indians alone. Joe seemed to get lazy, 
indifferent or sick, and it needed all our nerve to drive 
him ahead. It looked like a "soldier" on our hands, and 
it required an exhibition of authority to get things mov- 
ing smoothly again; but afterward, to the end of our trip, 
no trouble or annoyance occurred. Perhaps it was not 
intentional on their part, but some of us have seen fisher- 
men placed in such a predicament whenoutin the woods 
that the so-called guides would leave and go home, and 
the fishermen could get home the best way they could. 
Our Indians told us tales of men hiring them and when 
on the home trip slipping away down the river to catch a 
train and disappear and never pay them a cent, and so 
they have grounds sometimes to fear such a trick may be 
played upon them. 
However, our men got into good shape and all things 
were taken across without loss or damage, and as our can- 
oes had again been patched and pitched, we started again 
in dry boats. 
At the landing on the north we indulged in fishing 
above the falls, but not a single trout did we catch; but 
around the rock upon which we stood while casting 
plenty of good- sized trout could be seen in all directions. 
I was well pleased to see at this place plenty of small 
white silver minnows, which kept close to the rocks and 
near the top of the water. They looked like small white- 
fish, and I nave no doubt that if we had been able to have 
gotten bold of one they would have proven to have been 
the 0. clupeiformis, of which we afterward found in 
abundance. Of this we will relate more hereafter in con- 
nection with the location and incidents. 
Going north at the same time from this point was a 
reverend gentleman whose name I do not now recall, and 
who was the president of a college in Iowa. I think his 
name was Hubbard, and his home Cedar Rapids, la. He 
had one canoe and one Indian to do the heavy work, and 
he took the bow of the canoe and paddled when on the 
move, and fished at desirable points where he knew there 
were good trout. As we stood at his camp he pointed out 
to us across Hamilton's Pool spots where he said some very 
large trout had been taken, and that during his stay there 
that season there had been no one back of the little islands 
to take any of the monBters who lay there undisturbed by 
fishermen. I wanted to go over, but the rest said to wait 
until we should return and then we would all go and get 
them, but on our way home it was neglected. I hope it 
will be my pleasure to meet him there again. 
At White Chute we got out on land again, and the In- 
dians crossed to the east side of the river and poled the 
canoes up. We tried oaating at this point, but got no 
fish. When we got above the chute we were in Lake 
Emma, and we took the east side of the river going north 
and cast our lines out on both sides of the boat, and then 
trolled for a distance to see if a trout could be induced to 
strike; but getting none, we slowly reeled up the lines and 
began a geological quiz by Judge Fitzsimmons, to the evi- 
dent edification of the Indians, who stared at him as he 
explained each peculiarity that we passed, The Indians 
named him Big Chief Big Medicine Man, and afterward 
stood in fear of him. I noticed that the head chief al- 
ways saw that he got everything of the best and every- 
thing that was going, so that we too stood under his wings 
for favors. 
About two-thirds up Lake Emma there is a portage of 
about one-half mile and a camp ground called Camp Vic- 
toria, As it was near night and we felt the need of food, 
we decided to remain here and go into camp, and after- 
ward try the rapids in front of camp. We were getting 
out of fish, the supply taken at the creek below was now 
about exhausted, and it was necessary for us to show our 
skill or fall back on bacon ; so to work we went, and after 
a long time a few fish were caught, but as usual the large 
one got away. 
Fred and the Judge had both gotten bites from mon- 
sters, and flies and leaders were both lost in the shuffle; 
but they saved the rods and parts of their lines, bo that 
repairs can be made. For myself, I was tired and I 
sought the downy underbrush mattress on the rocky floor 
and wrapped myself in slumber, sleeping the sleep of the 
righteous fisherman after a hard day's work, leaving my 
two companions busily engaged in fishing on the bank in 
front of the camp. 
I had slept for some time, possibly for half an hour, and 
the woods were resounding with my snores, when I was 
rudely awakened by screams and blood-curdling yells 
from the bank. Rushing out undressed, I beheld the 
cause of the alarm. Our genial Fred came slowly moving 
up the bank, tugging at his line, and with much effort 
succeeded in landing a large body on the rocky banks. 
By this time the Indians had assembled, bearing in their 
hands large lighted pine sticks, which gave a lurid glare 
over the spot, and by its aid we found Fred's catch to be 
a monstrous wall-eyed pike. Going back after the scales, 
we hung the whale upon it and Fred scored his catch 
81bs. weight. Exhausted by his efforts in providing fish 
for the camp next day, he sought the fireside with the 
assembled camp, and then gently slipped away and was 
soon in the land of nod, and silence came over the camp 
again. 
After breakfast we tried for some of the monsters said 
to inhabit this particular portion of the river, but for some 
reason the morning's work was not rewarded by any re- 
turns, and as we had to march overland to get above these 
rapids, we landed at another camp of fishermen and saw 
hanging upon a tree a monster trout caught the night 
before. Drawing my scales from my pocket, I took it 
down and had the satisfaction of seeing it draw down the 
scales to 61bs. strong. The owner came out of his camp 
and greeted us with a hearty, cheerful "Good morning, 
gentlemen," and we were introduced to Mr. Denby Carr, 
a most accomplished gentleman of world-wide reputa- 
tion as an accomplished and taking fisherman, of St. 
Louis, Mo., who has camped on this point for some years. 
Then the weight of the fish was the subject of discussion 
and we tried his two pair of scales, one an American 
and the other an English make, with the pair I had bor- 
rowed. 
After carefully weighing the fish we found the weight 
to be 6£lbs. after having been out of the water about 
twelve nours. When first taken he must have weighed 
at least 71bs. Whether this was the monster that had 
played havoc with the lines of Fred and the Judge I don't 
know, but I am satisfied and convinced that these waters 
contain some monstrous trout and that they don't all get 
away. Mr. Carr showed ua his gut leader, which had been 
broken the night before by what he claimed the largest 
trout he ever struck, but it got away. I afterward heard 
that he got one that weighed about 91bs. 
The sight of this whale nerved us to desperation and 
that portage was quickly made. We left our camp and 
equipage in charge of the young chief, and taking suf- 
ficient food for dinner we started for Virgin Falls. It 
was a delightful ride up the river in the bracing atmos- 
phere of the morning, and with the thoughts of catching 
all the big trout we wanted we were eager to reach there. 
Every person we had the pleasure of meeting on the 
trip nortn gave us such hopes of big trout that nothing 
could have Btopped us in our desire to get there. 
We became aware of the close proximity of the fails by 
the dull sullen roar, as it fell upon our ears, but we could 
see nothing beyond the mighty rush *of waters that 
frothed and dashed and sprayed until it looked like a 
snow bank, but when we reached it the falls showed up 
in great shape. You do not see them all at once, as it re- 
quires a walk up the trail through the woods to see the 
entire length of them. The portion above the falls proper 
slants northward for a quarter of a mile and carries the 
huge volume of water from Lake Nipigon above. 
I have heard frequently of fish being so plenty that 
their fins would sticis: out of the water, but I never ex- 
pected to see such a sight, as I deemed it impossible; but 
I did see and saw often during my stay at the Virgin 
Falls schools of fish all over the pool below, so thick that 
you could count the dorsal fins by the dozen. So well 
pleased were we with the prospects presented here that 
we quickly shipped both canoes back to bring up the en- 
tire camp, and by night we made our home here in para- 
dise — alongside of the falls, with the pool in front as our 
fishing grounds. 
I had secured a small minnow from the stomach of one 
of the fish taken the night before, and I made up my 
mind that I would experiment with it, and at the falls I 
baited with it and made a cast from a boulder that lies at 
the southern side of the falls, where there is an eddy, and 
where you can look down into its liquid depths some 10 
or 15ft. As the current caught the bait I saw a half dozen 
trout dash after it, and by jerking it a few inches at a 
time I had the pleasure of actually seeing one of them 
swallow my bait. I struck him and the hook caught, and 
I had pleasure with the entire school until I got anxious 
to see the size and weight of my catch ; so I landed him 
by the aid of the dip net, and carrying him back a safe 
distance from the water, hung him on my scales, and 
sa w he weighed 81bs. — the largest and heaviest trout lever 
caught. If my hat got too big for my head I think I was 
excusable. 
I having been so successful, live minnows were in de- 
mand, but neither love nor money could get them, so we 
fell back upon the fly, grasshopper, bugs, etc. In the 
meantime Fred had taken a stroll all to himself, and had 
gone up stream some 100ft. away. When he had been 
there about ten minutes we heard his yell far above the 
roar of the falls, and thinking he had fallen in or a bear 
had grabbed him, the Judge and I dropped our rods and 
ran up to assist him out of his trouble, and when we heard 
the second yell, louder and fiercer than before, we re- 
doubled our speed and reached him out of breath and 
puffing like porpoises, to behold him the picture of con- 
tentment, with a large trout at the end of his line leap- 
ing and dashing in the rapid waters of the falls. The 
sight was such a glorious one and Fred's face glowed so 
like the sun with pride and happiness that we forgot to 
get mad and throw him in. So we left him, retraced our 
step3 and went back to fishing. 
The fish we caught were placed in a pool formed by tak- 
ing a lot of rocks out of the water and making a wall with 
them out into the river. It was about 6ft. in diameter 
and 2ft. deep, through which the water flowed constantly. 
During the day when the sun came out a board or two 
was placed over the center to make a shade and in this 
our trout lived. We could stand there and admire the 
beauties as much and as long as we wished because they 
could not get away. 
As I do not smoke, the Judge would invariably inflict 
upon me a second-hand smoke by getting to windward 
of me, and enjoy himself by watching tho fumes come 
my way and seeing me dodge and change position to 
avoid them ; but there came a time when peace and con- 
tentment came over me like a dream, and the air became 
pure and undented, and he was gone. As I regained 
consciousness, I heard a noise down the eastern shore 
below the camp, and looking up perceived the Judge in 
one of the canoes coming ashore, and making great ado 
with his arms motioning me to come to him. I laid 
down my rod and went down to him, when he asked me 
for the scales, and in the bottom of the boat lay two 
monsters— two 51b. trout as I weighed them upon the 
scales — and when he danced a war dance upon the rocky 
shore I forgave him for the second-handed smoke. Nor 
do I think the Indians felt less reverence for him when 
he stuck his thumbs in the armholes of his vest and 
threw his head in the air and walked off, the hero of the 
hour of that day, and finally of the trip, because none of 
us came anyway near equaling his catch on the entire 
trip, either in weight or size. I have the skins of these 
two fi3h, and to-day I measured them and found the 
trout was 26in. long, and half the skin measured at the 
dorsal fin 5|in. and the tail 5in. wide. 
When night came on the clouds began to gather in the 
east and west and moved toward each other, silence 
overspread us, everything hushed, and when the clouds 
came together, apparently right over the falls, the crash 
of thunder came, and peal after peal until everthing 
shook; then the rain descended in sheets and the wind 
drove it into every chink and in every direction. It 
struck our tent and we flew to the corners and held it 
down until the rain was over, and then went outside 
and anchored it down with the largest rock we could find 
loose. Inside the tent all was nice and dry, but the wet 
air caused it to feel damp, so a fire was built in front of 
the tent, and under its soothing influence we soon 
wrapped ourselves in warm woolen blankets and went to 
sleep. J. W. Hague, 
[to be concluded.] 
NEW ENGLAND ICE AND FISHING. 
Boston, May 2.— The ice went out of Lake Auburn, 
Me., earlier than anticipated, but the fishermen were not 
long in getting ready. There were several electric car- 
loads of fishermen going up to the lake by 6 o'clock in the 
morning on the first day of the ice being out. The lake 
was covered with boats and all sorts of rigs. Over thirty 
trout of good size were taken on the opening day and 
several landlocked salmon, some of pretty good size. 
Since that time the lake has been thoroughly fished, and 
more trout and salmon have been taken than would seem 
possible, considering that the lake is within a short elec- 
tric car ride of two cities. It is a fact that the male in- 
habitants of State of Maine cities and towns are nearly all 
fishermen and hunters. But restocking and re-restocking 
is doing much to keep up the supply in Lake Auburn at 
least, 
The ice is out of Swan Lake, near Belfast, Me., and 
some of the trout for which that lake is celebrated are 
being taken. 
The ice went out of Grand Lake, in Maine, or the 
Schoodics, on Tuesday last. Mr. D. W. Field, of Boston, 
received a telegram on Wednesday, saying that the ice is 
out. With a couple of friends he is off for landlocked 
salmon, though earlier than he had anticipated. They 
expect to take their share of fish. It is understood that 
these fish rise to the fly earlier m the Schoodics than in 
any other Maine waters. The ice is out of Sunapee Lake^ 
in New Hampshire, and Newfound Lake is clear. But 
the weather has been most too cold for the fishermen to 
start off. Still a landlocked salmon weighing l7*lb8. was 
taken at Sunapee, Monday, according to a letter "received 
by Mr. George D. Appleton, of Appleton & Bassett. Mr. 
Appleton, with Mr. Arthur Soden, the noted baseballist, 
put eff their trip to Sunapee till Tuesday of this week, 
wholly on account of the cold weather. Parties for New- 
found Lake have done the same. The fishing party for 
Dan Hole Pond, INew Hampshire, mentioned in the 
Fobest AND Stbeam last week, came back without a fish. 
The weather was too cold and the smelts were not run- 
ning at all; conditions against the taking of landlocked 
salmon. Messrs. A. J. Selfredge and W. B. Hastings went 
to Dan Hole Friday, determined to further try the salmon 
there. Their success is not yet reported. T here has been 
only fair fishing at Sebago thus far. Mr. John G. Wright 
came back without a salmon; it being against the law for 
a non-resident of the State to fish that lake till after May 
1. A Portland lawyer took a salmon of good size the 
second day of fishing and other Portland parties have 
been successful. Indeed Sebago is fished by people of 
Maine a great deal. 
Mr. D. H. Blanchard is planning for his summer salmon 
fishing trip. He says that he shall make that trip as long 
as he is able to go anywhere, and his present hale and 
hearty appearance would indicate a good many salmon 
taken from his branch of the Mirimachi. He is planning 
for a trip to Winnipisaugee with his daughter, undoubt- 
edly the guests of Mr. E. R. Jones, with his family, who 
has a cottage there. A steamer is used, and the ladies 
troll for lakers, and the gentlemen — all salmon fishermen 
— only deign to bait the hooks. 
At this writing the ice still hangs in Moosehead and the 
