May 28, 1898.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
431 
know we caught a great many of the biggest trout on 
Hne not over 8 or loft. from the tip of the rod. We both 
used short leaders. Mr. Taylor explained that while the 
leader is whipped rapidly in the air and not allowed to 
lie on the water, the trout can not see it, and indeed can 
not see anything except the confused break where the 
fly splashes on the Avater. The last cast is made so that 
the fly will handle lightly and float away into the current 
without showing the line .or leader. The first splashing 
wakes up or "teases" the trout, which sees the annoying 
insect at length drawing away from it after alighting 
upon the water near at hand. The lightning-like rush 
of the trout completes the drama. This drama I saw 
enacted a hundred times, always with interest. So we 
came to cover our stream carefully, slowly, inch by inch, 
not hurriedlj'- and with prospective eye. We came to see 
that the trout do not always lie in the "likely holes." 
When we found a place where we thought there was a 
trout covered up, we stayed there until repeated knock- 
ing brought him angrily forth. Naturally we lost a 
number of fine fish. I lost in one -bit of deep water a 
fish which I had played for several minutes and which 
was so heavy I could not get him up so I could see him. 
Finally he made a rush and broke away the entire leader. 
Yet again, in alieavy piece of water, I struck a fish very 
hard and tried to lift him. He made one surge and 
broke clear — perhaps the heaviest fish we struck at all. 
I think either of those fish might have gone ij4 or 
2lbs., judging from the way the other trout fought, but 
perhaps tfiey would not have seemed so big if we had 
seen them. " Mr. Taylor says that the weather is still 
too cold for the big ones, that is to say the very big ones. 
June will be a grand time for that stream, and any warm 
day from now on, provided one does not hit a log drive, 
will surely afford as pretty sport as any one could ask. 
I offer my story of this new way of fishing with the 
fly for what it may be worth to the readers of the anglers' 
paper. I am not sure that the printed description will 
enable an angler to adopt the style effectively, but it may 
give a suggestion for later working out, at the pleasure 
of the fisher who loves the fly. I do not know any bet- 
ter name for this than to call it fishing with the "flutter- 
ing fly," or perhaps "live flj^-fishing." It may be seen to 
be neither wet nor dry fly-fishing. In practice it is much 
more difficult than either of the above, as the wrist is in. 
continual motion all day long, Avhipping the fly up and 
down. It is a st3de naturally adopted, I should think, to 
hard-bottomed and rapid sti-eams. Perhaps it would not 
work so well on highly educated trout in bright, shallow 
streams. All I can say is that on the Prairie River it 
was a success, and the trout did not run away froni it. 
It is an absurd and crazy way to fish, but it gets the fish, 
albeit contrary to the common law ot angledom, cher- 
ished these many generations as the immutable rule of 
correct fishing with the fly. 
The Grayling not all Gone. 
Chicago, 111., May 21.— It seems that the grayling has 
not entirely disappeared from the Michigan streams, even 
in the lower part of the State. The Big Pine River has 
been known to hold a few of these fish, and this week 
Deputy Warden C. E. Bi-ewster, of Grand Rapids, and 
his friend, Deputy Henry, were so lucky as to catch sev- 
eral fine grayling in that stream. Nowadays if one gets 
a grayling it is pretty certain to be a large one. the 
theory being that the trout eat the small ones. One of 
the grayling taken by these gentlemen weighed 2lbs., and 
they will have it carefully mounted by a taxidermist. 
A Big Rainbow. 
Mr. A. C. Merryman, of Marinette, Wis., last week 
captured a 5lb. rainbow trout in the Iron River, Michi- 
gan Upper ^Peninsula. I have heard of large rainbow 
trout in different parts of that region,^ but this, I believe, 
is the heaviest I have ever seen mentioned. Mr. Merry- 
man is an enthusiastic trout fisherman, and his lumbering 
business has taken him into some of the hest of the wild 
streams of the upper pine country. He says he had 
never seen so large a trout as this. 
Herring Biting. 
In the early days of Chicago one could catch all the 
perch and herring he cared for at any of the piers along 
the lake front. Lately the catch has fallen off, so that a 
few small perch are about the only reward. This week, 
for some reason or other, a heavy run of lake herring 
came in, and along the Sixty-eighth street pier they have 
been biting fast and furiously, and offering great fun 
to the favored few who have learned of the fact. 
Muscallonge are Rising. 
Mr. W. S. Sparrow, of Chicago, is just back from a 
long fishing trip in Minnesota and Wisconsin. He 
tried first for trout in Minnesota, but found it too early, 
the trout not taking the fly on the surface. He fished 
with indifferent luck on the famous Willow^ Creek pre- 
serve, not far from St. Paul and Minneapolis. Thence 
he went to the muscallonge country of Wisconsin \nd 
put in a number of days on the Manitowish Chain, east 
of Mercer, on the Chicago & Northwestern road. He 
fished for the most part in Spider Lake, and he tells me 
that for the last few days the muscallonge were rising 
beautifully. He caught a fine lot of them, though none 
of very great size. He says the next two weeks will be 
just right for 'lunge fishing in the waters of the Manitow- 
ish and Turtle chains. 
Minnesota Season. 
The Minnesota bass season has opened very well, and 
good catches are being made in all the bass lakes around 
the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis. I learn of some 
good catches of bass and pike in the lakes near Orton- 
ville, Minn. Messrs. H. C. Jewett and J. H. Jackson, 
of Aberdeen, S. D., with some other gentlemen of Aber- 
deen, had splendid fishing there last week. It is stated 
that they took 257 croppies in a little while one after- 
noon, besides numbers of bass. 
Illinois Bass. 
It may be stated with assurance that big-mouth bass 
fishing Avill be good in all the Fox Lake chain of Upper 
Illinois from now on until hot weather. At Long Lake, 
Fourth Lake, Grass Lake and other waters of that 
vicinity, very fine catches of big-mouth bass have been, 
made on spoon and frog within the past two weeks. 
Early this week Messrs. C. L. Hil_ls and R. E. Miller 
caught twenty-four bass one day in Fox Lake, It is like- 
ly that the fishing will be better now than it will be a 
few weeks later, after the bass have returned to the: 
deep water. They are now working in the shallow water 
and the spawning season is as yet not well under way, 
The spring has been very backward. 
Enefgetic Stocking "Woffe. 
Mr. John Hunter, Jr., of the Hunter Arms Co., Fulton, 
N. Y., writes to convey pleasant news of success in the: 
enterprise of stocking the OsM^ego River. Pie says: 
"Through the strenuous cflorts of tire Plunter Gun 
Club, of Fulton, N. Y.,, the Oswego River has been 
stocked with 1,000,000 pike fry, It required _ a good 
deal of influence and energy to make this a decided suc- 
cess, as the season for sending fry out by New York 
State had already passed, but the boys in the club knew 
which string to pull, and it was decidedly successful. 
Senator Stranahan was the winning influence in the 
case." 
The Oswego River oiTcrs good bas,? fishing even in 
these days, and with its pike supply, so much augmented, 
should certainly soon prove a delectable angling water. 
Angling Club Organising. 
I am in receipt of the prospectus of the So-sa-wa-ga- 
ming Club, which is just .going in at the mouth of the 
Yellow Dog River, Lake Superior, Mich. The ofliccrs 
of this club, Messrs. J. M. Longyear, President; Gad 
Smith, Vice-President; E. H. Towar, Treasurer; M. E. 
Asire, Secretary, will be glad to communicate with any 
one contemplating membership in a good angling club, 
and they invite any one who would like to look at the 
country to come up and make a visit as a guest of the 
club. The Yellow Dog River flows into Lake Superior 
twenty-five miles from Marquette, Mich. This is only 
fifteen miles from tlie Huron Mountain Club, one of the 
most successful sporting organizations of the upper 
peninsula. The new angling club above mentioned has- 
its buildings already erected, and accommodations are 
ample for all who may come. There is fishing for bass, 
pike and trout, both in streams and lakes, and there may 
also at proper season be found a chance at the grand 
sport of rock angling for large brook trout in Lake 
Superior. Brook trout up to 5lbs. have been taken there 
in the lake. There are many trout streams ea-sily ac- 
cessible. It is slated that there is not intended to be 
any profit to any one in running this club, the sale of 
shares to go to the running of the club. Any of the 
above officers, addressed at Marquette, Mich., will no 
doubt be glad to give particidars. 
Illinois Fish Matters. 
That breezy and hustling individual, Mr. Nat H. Cohen, 
of the Illinois Fish Commission, called at the Forest 
AND Stream office this week. Mr. Cohen says that from 
now on all illegal nets along the Illinois River, regard- 
less of ownership, alibis or first offenee.s, wfll be seized. 
He thinks that the large fish dealers have not in all cases 
respected or appreciated the courtesy shown them by 
the commission, which has sought to live up to the law 
and yet not injure the commercial industry of taking food 
fishes. Mr., Cohen also says that henceforth the com- 
mission will instruct ah market fishermen in purchasing 
nets to buy them of 2%in. mesh, so that when tarreq 
they will not shrink to less than the legal limit of 2in. mesh. 
At present the great majority of nets on the Illinois 
River are probaialv less than 2in. mesh, and of course 
under the law would be illegal, as it makes no dift'erence 
what size the mesh may have been at an earlier stage in 
its history. The policy of the commission has been 
not to destroy these nets, on the ground that it would be 
an injury to the poorer fishermen. 
INIr. Cohen says that the Fish Commission last week 
sent nearly i,ooolbs. of confiscated fish to the volunteer 
troops now in camp at Springfield. The question of 
v^diat to do with confiscated fish and game often causes 
complications, the latter in some cases of amusing nature. 
Thus this week a local fish -warden was at the commis- 
sion house of George Randall on South Water street. 
Mr. Randall had just received a barrel of fish, and he 
poured these out on the floor in the presence of the de- 
puty warden, whose name is Goetter. Mr. Randall sorted 
out a number of short fish and told the deputy to take 
them home with him, as he was not going to offer them 
for sale. Mr. Goetter took the fish, but soon returned 
with a warrant and arrested Mr. Randall for handling 
fish against the law. This seems pretty tough on the 
dealer^ and Mr. Cohen says he wishes to look into the 
matter a bit. This is really a case of hardship, but what 
are you going to do about such things under the law? 
I am sure that if Mr. Randall is fined he will be apt to 
write a warm letter to the man who sent him these short 
fish. At the same time one cannot approve of such de- 
tective Avork as the above. 
The White Bass. 
Mr. Charles A. Shriner, fish and game protector, of 
Paterson, New Jersey, writes me as below, asking for 
information about the white bass of our Western waters: 
"I take the liberty of suggesting to you to tell us 
something about the white bass of the great lakes. _ Al- 
though information of this nature would be appreciated 
by a great many here, my request is partly selfisli. I have 
tried to learn something about the spawning habits of 
this fish, and although I applied to Dr. Bean, A. N. 
Cheney, the commissioner at Washington, and a great 
many other people, I am still in the dark, and do not 
know whether in spawning the fish takes atter the black 
bass or its salt-water congener, the striped bass. I 
have brought a great many of these fish from Lake Erie 
to our Jersey waters in the past year, and am naturally 
anxious to know somewhat of their habits." 
I must plead an equal ignorance in regard to this fish. 
It is one of which we hear something occasionally here, 
but it does not cut much figure as a sportsmen's fish in 
this region. Yet sometimes it offers great sport, as in 
the heavy schooling runs at Lake Geneva, Wis., or in 
the wonderfully fast fishing it gives at the mouths of 
some of the short rivers, which run into Lake Michigan 
on the Avest coast of the south peninsula. When the run 
of white bass is on in the spring at one of these points, 
the piers are lined by anglers of all sorts. The fish Avill 
bite a bit of rag as readily as anything else, and the 
catches are sometimes remarkably heaAO^. Then the run 
subsides and the fish is hardly heard of again until next 
3'ear. I cannot say much about its spaAvning habits, be- 
cause I have never yjersonally tangled up very much \vith 
it in angling matters, but I .should think it a spring 
spaAvner. It seems to school or band up more than the 
black bass. It takes minnow and fights AVell. The white 
bass is not found in any of oxtr more common angling 
waters around Chicago. We do not take it in the In- 
diana lakes or rivers, nor in the lakes of the F'ox Lake 
chain near Chicago; but it is abundant In the Illinois 
River and often gives good sport tcr the rod. It runs 
to 2lbs. at times, I am told. 
If Mr. Shriner will write to Dr. S. R. Bartlett, of the 
Illinois State Fish Commission and of the U. S. Fish 
Commission, addressing him at Quincy, 111., he will get 
a full description of this fish, so far as the lower waters 
of this Stale are concerned, and no doubt Dr. Bartlett 
can also tell about the habits of the fish in the great 
lakes. Another gentleman who could, no doubt, give 
detailed information would be Warden C. E. Brew.ster. 
of Grand Rapids, Mich. (I understand that State 
Warden Osborne is now not at home.) Oi: all the 
anglers who go out from Chicago, I think I have never 
heard any one mention having taken any of these white 
bass, except that now and then one has told me of 
fishing at some such point as Grand Haven, Mich., when 
the fish Avere moving from the deep water of the lake to 
the mouths of the rivers. 
Confiscation, 
At Prairie du Chien, Wis., on May 16, deputies Miller 
and Wing burned 3,ooort. of nets and three fishing boats, 
just to show there was no coldJiess. 
E. HouGir. 
1206 BoYCE Building, Chicago. 
Quebec Waters* 
Lakk Edward, P. Q., May 12.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: The ice left Lake Edward on the 2d inst., and 
at this time most of the larger lakes of the Triton and 
Tourilli clubs are clear. I have been spending a few 
days on some Avatcrs recently leased by Robert Rowley, 
of the Laurentides Plotel, of this place; and even as 
early as the 6th inst. I had excellent sport. These vva- 
ters consist of the Vermillion River and the lakes trib- 
utary to it, some thirty in number. I visited five and 
fished only tAVO of them, taking some tAventy trout, 
averaging 2lbs., including a double of 2]^^ and 3.!4lbs. 
respectively. This is virgin Avater; not a fly had ever 
been cast on it before I did so. 
I used scarlet-ibis, brown hackle and Montreal, the 
ibis proving the most killing. 
The morning of the Sth I fished the Vermillion River 
and took many quarter and half-pounders, all of which 
I returned to the waters uninjured. This is undoubtedly 
the best territory for fly-fishing in the vicinity of Lake 
Edward and it is very easy of access. 
Leaving the hotel early in the morning, a small steam 
launch lands the angler at the half-mile portage leading 
to Lac Boquet in an hour's time. This lake furnishes 
excellent bait-fishing, but has never been thoroughly 
tested Avith the fly. From the foot of the lake a half 
mile portage leads to Lac Eugene, a beautiful sheet of 
water, which has never been fished. From Lac Eugene 
an hour's paddle on the outlet carries one to Lac Al- 
gonquin, Avhich is four miles long and said to contain 
very large trout. 
The portage from Lac Algonquin to Lac St. Stainislas 
is not over 200yds. long. In the outlet of this lake I 
did most of my fishing. This outlet is short and 
rapid, containing iwo excellent pools, the lower one 
being at the head of Lac Ecarte, Avhere a substantial 
log camp has been built for the accommodation of 
sportsmen. From the camp trails are being opened to 
all parts of the tract, and most excellent spoi't is to be 
had by the angler who is fortunate enough to visit it. 
In the fall and winter the shores of these lakes 
are much frequented by caribou. 
I intend visiting some of our Triton Club lakes next 
Aveek and hope to be as successful as my father AA'as last 
September. He killed a 7->4lb. trout Avith a 454oz. rod 
on a bucktail fly after an hour's Avork. The angler 
visiting this country in the spring should equip himself 
Avith large gaudy flies, those on No. 4 hooks Avith re- 
inforced snells being the best. His outfit should also 
include. a few bass flies on No. r-o hooks to short treble- 
twisted loops. Parmachenee-Belle, ibis, brown and 
black hackles, professors, yeilow-drake. and Montreal 
are the most killing in the order named. 
I have designed two flies that are more succes.sful than 
the standard patterns, and described as follows for the 
benefit of your readers: 
Lake Batiscan. — Wings, equal parts scarlet and Avhite; 
legs, black; hackle, wound entire length of body. Body, 
black mohair; tail, yelloAv. 
Moise. — Wings, equal parts of scarlet and yellow; legs, 
brown hackle; body, silver tinsel; tail, scarlet. 
I will report my luck when I return from the Triton 
waters. W. F. J. McCormick. 
Fishing: Near New York. 
■ Long Beach, L. I., May 23. — Tlie fishing season at 
Inner Beach and Wreck Lead is now fairly open, and 
parties AA^ho haA^e gone off to the fishing banks have 
had fine sport. One party who went to the spot known 
as the wreck of the Iberia, in front of Long Beach, 
canght over half a barrel of blackfish (tautog), and ling. 
They also caught the first sea bass of the season taken 
with hook and line. Weakfish are plentiful in the bay, 
and the net fishermen haA^e made a good week's work. 
No large catches of weakfish by hook and line have been 
reported. Crabs are quite plentiful, but they Avill be 
more plentiful and in better condition later in the season. 
There are plenty of fluke and flounders in the creeks and 
channels of the bay. G. 
