412 
FOREST AND STREAM 
[May 21, 1898. 
family grows to its greatest size, but with an increased 
population they do not live long enough to attain their 
maximum weight. The clear waters of the Thousand 
Islands, at the head of the St. Lawrence River, is a 
famous place for them, but their numbers have gi'eatly 
decreased in late years. It is a gamier fighter than its 
relative, the pike, and coming from clearer waters it 
is a better table fish, 
It is mainly caught by trolling the minnow or the 
spoon, with an 8ft. bait rod, a multiplying reel, and 
looyds. of good cuttybunk bass line. The best seasons 
for mascalonge are in June and again in September and 
October. All fish weighing over lolbs. should be 
gaffed; the landing net is too light for them. 
The Maine Season, 
Boston, May 13. — Fishing at the Rangeleys is not yet 
up to expectations. The woods are still full of sno^', 
and snow water is not considered conducive to good fish- 
ing. Camp Prospect, Richardson Lake, is open. Mr, 
Cristie, of Portland, and Messrs. F. O. Walker and W. 
M. Small are theVe. A lady of the party is reported to 
have landed a trout of 4j41bs. the other day. At the Upper 
Dam fishing has" continued rather slow, but will be im- 
proved by warmer weather. The fishermen rather ex- 
pect to be disturbed by the>5luicing of the logs through 
the dam, which will soon begin. The Berlin Mills Co. 
has 14,000,000ft. to go through the lakes and the Upper 
and Middle dajns this spring. It is suggested that the 
log sluicing and towing will "stir up the trout." The 
Tuttle party, including Messrs. R. A. Tuttle, C. A. 
Hutchins and E. H. Sampson, will be on their regular 
spring fishing trip at Lake Point Cottage, Rangeley 
Lake, for the next three or four weeks. Mr. and Mrs. 
C. "W. Porter go to their cottage at the Rangcleys to- 
morrow. Mr. C. W. Barney, of Lynn, is about ready 
to go to his cottage at the Rangeley Lakes. Mr. J. A. E. 
Hall will go to AUerton Lodge, Mooselucmaguntic Lake, 
this spring with the Haskell party. Hon. A. P. Williams, 
of California, has gone to his summer home at Fairfield, 
Me. Soon he will make his annual fishing trip to Indian 
Pond, in the Moosehead region, where he has been for 
so many years. 
The Megantic Club houses and camps are open to 
members and friends. The boats, wharves and buildings 
have been put in good repair, and some of the people 
are already there, though snow is still to be found in 
abundance in the woods, and it will require warm 
weather to make the best of fishing. The buckboard 
road from Eustis to the club's preserve, begun last year, 
will be pushed to an early completion, so that members 
and guests desiring the novel ride through the forests 
will have the opportunity. Mr. L. Dana Chapman, sec- 
retary and treasurer of the club, will start Sunday even- 
ing for the club preserve with a party of members and 
friends. 
Mr. E. H. Wakefield, Jr., and R. O. Harding fished 
Chamberlayn Brook, and the Cape, the other da}--, with 
fair success. Later Mr. Wakefield is a happy man; made 
so by the capture of a trout of pj^lbs. and one of 4j-41bs., 
at Sunapee Lake, on Tuesday. Late reports from New- 
found Lake mention a cold and blustering week. Mr. 
Levi Woodbury has just returned from that lake with 
two trout of II and plbs. respectively. He heard of a 
trout taken there weighing 2olbs., and of two salmon 
weighing 10^ and Bibs. Mr. G. W. Tenney has re- 
turned from the same lake with two salmon and several 
trout. , 
Boston, May 16. — ^The reports of catches of trout and 
salmon begin to come, since the warmer weather. At 
Lake Webb, Weld, Me., the fishing is reported good. 
Fish Commissioner L. T. Carleton'' was high line there 
up to last Tuesday with a trout of 7lbs. He has also 
taken a salmon of slbs., and two smaller trout of 2lbs. . 
and albs. Farmington reports say that fishing is good 
at Varnum's Pond. H. C. Russell has caught two lakers; 
C, H. Mahoney, one laker; Sheriff Blake, two salmon; 
Dr. Hitchcock, one salmon; Dr. Hardy, one salmon; 
Mrs. Ellen Smith, one salmon; Mrs. C. E. Lincoln, one 
salmon. At Clearwater Pond the catches have been 
good. Mr. Francis Hernwood, of New York, has caught 
one laker of 4i^lbs.; Mr. Ben. Woodcock, one salmon 
of 3j^lbs. On another day Messrs. Pierce and Hern- 
wood took three salmon of 5, 4 and 3lbs. respectively. 
The latest reports from the Rangeleys mention a lolb. 
.salmon taken by Rev. W. H. Ramsay, of Farmmgton. 
Mr N. F. Prentice, of Worcester, has made the cham- 
pion catch" of the season thus far, in the vicinity of the 
Mountain View House. He took twenty-nme trout of 
the united Aveight of 6s^lbs., among the number were 
trout of S'A, 554. 4, S'A, and 23^1bs. At the Moose- 
lucmaguntic House, on the lake of the same name, Mr. 
•and Mrs. G. H. Heywood, of Gardiner; Mr. and Mr|. 
E R. Lewis, of New Bedford; Mr. and Mrs. A. S. 
Hinds and Mr. Walter Hinds, of Portland, have been 
■having great luck. Mr. Heywood's best day was nine- 
teen fish, weighing 561bs., including one salmon of 7lbs. 
and a trout of the same weight. Mr. Walter Hinds took 
a salmon of 7^1b3., and eight other fish weighing .32lbs. 
Mr and Mrs. Lewis took twenty fish m one day. the 
•string weighing Sii^lbs., the largest a salmon of 6j41bs. 
Mr A S. Hinds also made a big score the same day, in- 
cluding a 61b. salmon, and fifteen trout and .salmon 
weighing from 2 to 4J^lbs. , , 1 
From the Upper Dam come .reports of good catches. 
W D Nelson has taken six trout weighing from i to 
2]^lbs. May 9 he caught six trout, of from i to 3lbs. 
May 10 W. D. Brackett, of Boston, who, with his fish- 
ing partner, Mr. Clark, of Peabody, Mass has fished 
those waters so many years, took a trout of 61bs. weight. 
This fish was taken at the South Arm. May 11, ^■ J^- 
Brown caught six trout weighing from to 2lbs. 
The same day the F. O. Walker party, of Camp Pros- 
pect, from Rumford Falls, took yolbs. of trout and Thurs- 
day they caught forty-five trout averaging lib. May 12 
Messrs Clark and Brackett caught twe.nty-nine trout of 
about lib. average. May 12, W. D. Nelson also took 
a trout weighing 61bs. 
From the Middle Dai^i mi the Narrows come reports 
of good fishing. 
Fishermen are also moving toward other points as 
well as the Rangeleys. A number of parties are off for 
Moosehead, and others will go later. The lovers of fly 
fishing, many of them, prefer to visit Moosehead later, 
rather than the Rangeleys early, for trouting and bait 
fishing. Mr. Walter L. Hill, to whom so much of the 
success of the Sportsmen's Show was due, will go to 
Moosehead the first of June. 
Mr. J. W. Farley is about to go to the Adirondacks 
for a short trip. D. H. Blanchard and his long-time 
fishing friend, V. P. Keeler, will soon start for Maine; 
the location not yet fully decided upon. F. A. Turner 
was to start for the Rangeleys Saturday. He goes to 
the home of the Oquossoc Angling Association. Dr. F. 
E. Greene is about going to his beautiful private camps 
at Winnepesaukee. From Weirs, on that lake, comes a 
report of twenty-four trout caught in one day,' not two 
miles from the station. The Hon. Henry Hitchcock, of 
St. Louis, is about to go to Mountain Lodge, Herkimer 
County, N. Y. Special. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST» 
Trout Boom in the Southern Peninsula. 
Chicago, HI., May I4- — ^There seems to be a veritable 
trout boom in the Michigan south penin,sula this spring. 
Never before have more anglers gone out, and rarely 
since the old original days of plenty before the day of 
replenishment have so many trout been taken. For 
part of my advices I am indebted to that extremely well- 
posted sportsman, Mi^. W. B. Mershon, of Saginaw, and 
I shall ask liberty to use the news of letters he has sent 
me. Speaking of the opening of the season at the club 
house on Kinne Creek, Mr. Mershon says that he was 
up soon after opening day, fishing for one day only. 
He got twenty-two trout, nine very little ones. 
■'There were eighteen club members there opening 
day," he says, "^11 of them satisfied with their catches. 
There were no old lunkers taken, though there were six 
or seven that by actual weight were as good as a 
pound. George Morley claimed to have seen a trout 
in shallow water, well down stream, that he was certain 
would give five pounds. Whether he has got this mixed 
with the jack pot of the night before, or is telling the 
truth, you will have to guess. We think the new club 
house and surroundings are immense, but leave that for 
you to pass judgment on later." 
On May 9 Mr. Mershon writes again regarding the 
sport at the club stream: 
"There were ten of us there and we took 264 trout, 
^^ot a bad average. A slate colored fly, Wickham's fancy, 
on a No. 8 or No. 10 hook, is what you want, with a few 
small professors and any dark fly you can get to imitate 
that caddis fly they were jumping at so when you were 
there. The stream is literally alive with fish, and they 
were doing the same jumping act last night." 
It is a wonderful stream that the members of the Flint 
and Pere Marquette Club have, this Kinne Creek, and 
they are much to be congratulated upon it. Yet the open 
streams of this grand angling region of the south penin- 
sula also offer fine sport. Mr. Mershon writes me again, 
under date of May 13, a very interesting letter: 
"T have just had word from a friend of mine. Dr. 
Richardson, of Mt. Pleasant, telling of an eight days' fish- 
ing trip on the Au Sable, which is something remark- 
able. They (two of them) took over 1,600 trout; they 
fixed their limit at 7in. and above; he said that about six- 
ty of them were from 12 to I4in. long, and about 30 per 
cent, of their catch were rainbow trout; that they got a 
few, I think about half a dozen, grayling. They kept 
them all alive in crates until they wanted to come home, 
and then turned loose back into the river about 800 fish,, 
and gave away about 400 to less fortunate fishermen. I 
like to get sportsmanlike letters of this kind, but they are 
too rare. The majority of those that fish Michigan streams 
gobble everything in sight from the length of your 
finger up, and even if they cannot get the fish out of the 
woods without spoiling, they never think of throwing 
one back. Michigan streams have been filled wth 
anglers this year, who uniformly report good catches, 
but it is going to take heavy stocking and rigid protec- 
tion to prevent the depletion of many of our trout 
streams. I hope to get away for my salmon fishing the 
last ol this month, but cannot count on it for certain. 
If I am home in June, let's you and I run the Au Sable 
from Grayling to its mouth, taking abotit a week to do 
it." 
I have always wanted to see the Au Sable, if only as 
a part in my sporting education. To see it in such good 
company would be an additional and exceptional plea- 
sure. It is really too bad that I have to work any at 
all i could have so much fun if I didn't have to work. 
It 'is pleasant to hear about the grayling. I can give Mr 
Mershon a tip on a stream which I believe will be still 
better for grayling than the once inimitable Au Sable; 
but very likely he knows of the same stream and is 
keeping' it up his sleeve. It is pretty tough when you 
have to go around with a grayling river up your sleeve, 
for fear somebody will get into or onto it and reduce it 
to permanent Au Sableism. 
The town of Baldwin, Michigan, is about as trouttul a 
point as one can head for, albeit, -not so good as it was 
in the-palmiest davs of the Little Manistee, the Pme, the 
Pere Marquette, and any one of a half dozen lesser, ad- 
jacent streams. Baldwin has been well patronized this 
spring by the angling craft, each party heading out from 
that center to the special stream on which they have had 
the strona-est tips. It is a singular thing, this divergence 
of tips on trout. One man tells you to go to a certain 
point. Another, who has been there on a day when 
the mysterious trout was off his feed, gives you equally 
urgent advice to go anywhere else on earth except to the 
place which the first man recommends.- And so forth. 
I expect I have wandered more than four thousand miles 
over upper Wisconsin and Michigan, following tips on 
trout most of which proved too good to be true. It 
was only last week— but that is so long a story that I 
shall have to postpone it till another day 
Among other parties who have tried the lovely Pme 
River in the south peninsula, are J. H. Clement, J. W. 
Gilkey. A. L. Reese. E. J. Aderson, J. J. Howe, and R. 
L Soule, all of Plainwell, Mich. These gentlemen were 
out last week on the Pine and got between 400 and 500 
nice trout. , ^ 
A great number of Grand Rapids anglers celebrated 
ooening day along the streams of the vicinity, many of 
them starting out long before daybreak, in carriages, on 
bicycles, in chaises, and on foot. Mr. W. Melville caught 
fifty-five trout. Mr. A. B. Richmond and party brought 
home 128 trout. These men report that the streams were 
lined from one end to the other with eager anglers. Mr. 
Jack Gibson, of Bennett, is reported to have taken 108 
trout in one day, and that day was Sunday last. 
The local newspaper at Baldwin, Mich., says that seven 
anglers got off the train at Greenwood Club house Sat- 
urday evening, eleven more left at Nirvana, a few stop- 
ped at Baldwin, and over twenty went to the Little 
Manistee. The same paper goes on to say: 
"We have read with much interest many times from' 
many writers that the several trout streams about Bald- 
win were on the wane and not many fish to try for, and 
we give a few names and catches made on the opening 
of the season, and think it is fair, considering the day, 
as it was unsettled weather and rather unfavorable. But 
here is how the boys turned out the trout and all got a 
mess: Maurice Veber 96, David Colton 29, Andrew 
Bradford 28, John Slocum 16, David Moore 16, E. H. 
Pace 15, Art Carr 11, James Carpenter 18, Billy Way- 
man 17, Will Smith 29, Al Allen 29, John Bradford 30, 
Jay Delong 16, William Duffing 14, Walt. Hoooer 6, 
John Updegaaff 16, Luther Griffin 16, Jess Lucas 3, 
Artie Drilling 4. 
"And there were others, many of them, who made 
good catches, but who failed to report. There are trout, 
lots of them, left in Baldwin streams, and in interviews 
we have held with strangers from the south part of the 
State who are here fishing they report excellent sport 
and good catches." 
All in all, we must conclude that there are trout left 
in Michigan yet — plenty of trout for all who are satis- 
fied with a good day's sport and who do not want to 
catch them all right away. 
Trout in Wisconsin. 
Mr. Graham H. Harris and his friend, Mr. HilHard', 
returned Thursday morning from a three days' trip to 
the Prairie River of Wisconsin, they leaving the road at 
Merrill and going to Dudley's place. They brought 
back over 200 trout with them, some very nice ones. 
They think the best of the season has not yet begun, 
though the sport was good enough for them. 
The Menominee Brule is reported to be good again 
this spring, and I know of several parties who are 
speaking of trying it. There are still trout in this 
stream and many of them, but it is one of the most un- 
certain waters ever fished, and if the angler does not 
happen to strike it right he will go away vowing that 
there never was a trout taken from it. If he does strike 
it right, he will be persuaded that never a better water lay 
out of doors. The fish there are exceptionally large 
when they begin to transact business on a working basis. 
Stager, Mich., on the Chicago & Northwestern road, 
is the point most kept in mind by the knowing one for 
this stream. From Armstrong to Stager is about as 
good water as one will find on the river. 
The Fence River, reached by the same road at Flood- 
wood and other points adjoining, is this season spoken 
of very highly by those who have been in there. This 
is a pleasant fishing stream and has trout good enough 
for anyljody. I have fished it and know this to be true, 
though, of course, this stream is like all others, subject 
to revision without notice. It all depends on how the 
trout are working. If one gets two days out of the week 
on a trout stream when the fish are really rising well, he 
has no reason to complain. 
Pratt, Wis., is another point which I must mention 
again as a good one to be kept in mind. The Marengo, 
or "Marong" as it is sometimes called, after the way 
of the old voyagers who first struck it, was once a re- 
markable trout river, and it is still as good, relatively, as 
many other of tlie once noble famous streams, such as 
the Upper Brule, the Fence, the Pike, etc., all of which 
are still fine streams, but which have naturally been 
fished very steadily because of their excellence. I shall 
next week take up the question of yet other Wiscon- 
sin streams, which will this season offer good sport to 
the lovers of the most lovable of all sports, trout fishing 
with the fly. 
Minnesota Fish, 
Reports from Minnesota indicate a rather' cold and 
backward angling season for trout thus far, and I do 
not hear of many heavy catches. The legal bass season 
begins in Minnesota to-morrow. May 15, on Sunday. It 
is legal to catch pike, pickerel, whitefish, and sturgeon 
after May i, and as local papers report that a number of 
parties have been out, "casting all day steadily," during 
the past week, I am led to suppose they were casting for 
sturgeon or whitefish, both of which are known to take 
the frog with exceeding avidity. The bass season in the 
lower part of the State of Minnesota will be early enough 
to oft'er sport from the first legal day, especially in the 
shallower and warmer lakes, where the bass have already 
begun spawning. 
A weird story comes down from Minneapolis telling of 
three muscallunge caught this month at Buffalo, Minn., 
the smallest of which weighed 44lbs., and the largest 
6ilbs. Of course, these weights may be correct; but as a 
44lb. 'lunge is something few men have ever seen of late 
years, and as 6ilbs. is heavier than any weight I ever 
heard ascribed to any 'lunge taken west of the St. Law- 
rence, I think we have license in asking verification of 
these weights. Messrs. Henry Weigand and George Tay- 
lor, of Minneapolis, are the lucky anglers to whom this 
rare good fortune is attributed. 
The northwest corner of Wisconsin offers a favorite 
trout fishing country to many Minnesota anglers. Last 
week Mr. Thomas Kenyon, of Minneapolis, with Dr. P. 
de Mille, Sam Holmes, and John Wolford, of Baldwin, 
Wis., fished the Bolan Creek for two days, using worm 
bait. They took 575 trout between them. 
A friend last week told me that the finest trout stream 
he had ever fished was the Kinnikinnick Creek, of Wis- 
consin. This stream has been stocked repeatedly and 
carries many mammoth rainbow trout as well as the 
brook trout. Many fish of more than 4lbs. have been 
taken in it, and the average size is said to run very 
large. The beauty of the stream is its accessibility and 
