June 4, 1898.] 
V. 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
451 
one catch of 61 lbs. of bass by Mr. Burgess, of Minne- 
apolis, in one day; a very trice string, surely. 
Indiana Bass. 
A season or so ago I found occasion to make mention 
of a new and rather interesting angling country around 
Westville, Ind., where there are several little lakes and 
two or three streams up around the head of the Calumet 
River, where the finest sort of bass fishing may be had 
by those who know the country. In the course of my 
story about the head of the mysterious Calumet River, 
I mentioned the strong tip given me bj^ a friend on the 
lakes near Wolcotville, Ind. This chain of lakes is quite 
distinct from the series of waters about Westville, being 
indeed something like 100 miles further on east and 
northeast, hut in the neighborhood of Wolcotville, I 
have very often heard, there are some of the finest bass 
waters in the State of Indiana. This week a friend came 
into the office of Forest and Stream and offered still 
further confirmation of this line of advice. He says 
the region is all right for fine bass fishing, and thinks 
that any angler would do well to bear the locality in 
rriind for this summer. Pei'sonally I have never fished 
this region myself, but I believe it all that is claimed for 
it. It is mostly big-mouthed fishing. 
A Great Take of Mascallonge. 
While I was at Eau Claire, Wis., a week or so ago, I 
ran across a lot of mighty nice men, who know what 
good fishing is when they sec it, and who often see it. 
One of these gentlemen, Mr. G. F. Winslow, pulled a 
photograph on me which was calculated to take away the 
breath. It showed a row of muscallunge hanging on a 
pole, twenty-seven 'lunge in all, weighing 274lbs., the 
largest going 25lbs. These fish were all singularly sym- 
metrical and shapely, and of such extraordinar}'- size that 
they made a most remarkable showing, it being furtlier 
added that the feat of a good fish photograph had here 
been accomplished, so that the fish showed impressive- 
ly as they must have looked in life. This great take of 
great fish was made by Messrs. Eugene Shaw, G. F. 
Wmslow, A. A. Cutter and Chas. Newell, all of Eau 
Claire. They caught them in a water which I think no 
one has seen much mentioned in the columns of any 
sporting paper, but which none the less must be a most 
fruitful one. This little known spot is in what is called 
the Little Falls Pond, at the "Flambeati Farm," on the 
Chippewa River. This is some thirty miles' drive from 
Chippewa Falls, over a logging road not exactly boule- 
\arded, but a look at the row of muscallunge would 
cause one to forget such a prospect, indeed to exult in it. 
In these days it is not easy to get thirty miles away 
from a railroad in our part of the West, and even if one 
does go so far for his fishing he sometimes misses it. 
But here is the secret of this fish picture. The Little 
Falls Pond is the back water above the great dam across 
the Chippewa, which has been put in by one of the 
great lumber concerns, It is, of course, known that the 
Chippewa, that black and forbidding stream which has 
really the purest waters that flow into the Mississippi, is 
one of the two muscallunge rivers of Wisconsin. How 
the fish get over the big dam deponent saith not. but it 
is certain that at certain times, when the dam is pulled 
open and the flood let down — the head being lowered 
some 15ft. at times — the great submerged countr.y back 
in the forest comes into view, and the actual channel of 
the river becomes traceable. About 7S,ooo,oooft. of logs 
is the ordinarj^ size of this drive. 
The gentlemen above mentioned arrived at just the 
proper time, having advice from the company that at 
such time the flood would be let of¥. They fished along 
the deep channel, where the fish seemed to have been 
living, and from which thy did not move very far. 
They found one deep place near the mouth of a smaller 
stream, and here was where they got the raw material 
for their photograph. They were in about a day and a 
half in all, taking the twenty-seven 'lunge, but the actual 
string does not measure the sport they had. Their fish- 
ing was in timber country, along stumps and snags, and 
the way the big fish smashed up their tackle was a cau- 
tion. They say that they lost more than they took, and 
festooned the snags with their last spoon hook. In such 
conditions they never could tell how big the fish were 
which they had on, but they say that of all the 'lunge 
they saw these were the brightest, the gamiest and the 
hardest fighting. Every fish would go out two and three 
times at least, and the}' worked harder than the average 
large fish on the rod. 
This choice bit of anglerdom I offer as a special tid- 
bit to those who like to go on strange journeys and try 
new waters. If the spot be approached at the right 
time of the logging operations, the sport is sure to be 
superb. This is a muscallunge pocket which I do not 
think is apt to be exhausted very soon, but which has 
temptation in its description. 
Yet another good 'lunge region, also on the Wisconsin 
Central line, is the Mason Lake chain near Fifield, Wis. 
— something of a lake country, for there is 300 miles of 
shore line. My Eau Claire friends told me they always 
found that point good for 'lunge and bass. Above Eau 
Claire, up the Chippewa, the lakes which are strung on 
that thread are all muscallunge waters, and are known 
by men who live near them, and should be known by 
men who would like to live there, but cannot take up a 
permanent residence. 
Eau Claire Trooting. 
There is something suggestively fascinating in the 
Eau Claire, the "clear water" of the first voyageurs. It 
has a troutful sottnd withal, nor did it belie its title in the 
old days, when it was guiltless of logs and full of trout. 
To-day the Eau Claire, big stream as it is, has trout in 
it, though it does not offer trout fishing to any sporting 
degree. It is only at certain seasons, when the water 
is of the right temperature, that trout are seen in the 
main river, but in the many creeks which run down 
out of the hills into the Eau Claire there are trout to- 
day, much harried by all 3orts and conditions of anglers 
as they are. The Eau Claire flows into the Chippewa 
within the city limits of the city of Eau Claire, yet it is a 
singular fact, noted by the local anglers, that the Chippe- 
wa tributaries do not carry trout to any great extent, 
whereas the Eau Claire waters all have trout. So much 
for a name. Otter Creek, Rock Creek and Pine Creek 
are all streams adjacent to Eau Claire, and they can all 
show trout, sometimes very large ones. Seven-Mile 
Creek is another of these short hill streams, its mouth 
being, as indicated, nine miles from the city of Eau 
Claire, Beaver Creek, being further away, eighteen 
miles, and harder to get at, usually offers better sport to 
those who get to it. Opposite the mouth of the Beavef^ 
is that of the Eighteen-Mile Creek, whose conditions arc 
practically the same. All these short rivers are spring- 
fed streams. Elk Creek, some twelve to fifteen miles 
from Eau Claire, is a fine bold stream which has never 
been logged, and which is perhaps the favorite of all 
the many trout streams of this interesting country. I 
learned of some very nice catches of trout in Elk Creek 
this spring. In all of these streams about Eau Claire 
the farmer boys catch trout right along, and not a 
day passes but good strings of them are brought in and 
offered for sale about the business part of town. 
It may be amtising to speak of a trout trip in which 
three men caught only two trout, but I must tell of that 
experience, which was actually had at Eau Claire by 
Messrs. Chas. L. Smith, R. E. Rust and myself. These 
gentlemen wished to show me a day on one of their 
streams, and very kindly set all things in train for the 
enterprise. We drove out some eight or nine miles to 
Otter Creek, which is known to have some good trout 
in it, though with the reputation of a ticklish water to 
angle over. We ran out in the middle of the day, and 
the weather was fair and warm. I saw a very nice little 
trout river when my friends took me down the steep 
banks to the deep fringe of alders. The stream was 
flat, with sandy bottom and nice pools and bends, but 
the heavy brush made fly-casting impossible. The bot- 
tom was a bit soft in spots also, and all in all it was 
quickly evident that he who took trout in that stream 
must be a good one. It was very hard to make any good 
approach, and the path along the bank proved what 
might be expected in the way of education for the fish. 
We made the best of it and put on a goodly worm, since 
to cast a fly or float it or get it into the water was a 
physical impossibility. I floated a long line with a 
long worm down over a nice reach, and I had a strike. 
"This is going to be easy," I thought, and visions of 
fried trout at the Galloway Hotel came over my soul. 
I was not very particular whether I caught that trout or 
not, so I went on down stream. There was where I 
made a mistake. I ought to have stayed right there till 
I caught that trout. In the next bend I came to a fine 
lot of logs and brush lying in the water, with the alders 
meeting across tlie stream above it. I shortened line 
and poked the patient worm down stream the best I 
could, meantime standing in full sight myself. There 
was a double flash and a rush, and I was at once fast 
to my first trout, a lively fellow about Bin. long, and 
one of the lightest colored trout I ever caught. Him I 
put in my basket and went on rejoicing in what I was 
going to do to those fish before night. I met Mr. Smith, 
and he told me he had taken a trout too, so we both 
concluded we would get a few, though only with hard 
fishing. It did indeed prove hard fishing, and we had to 
admit that the trout were too smooth for us that day. 
We worked hard for over a mile of water, and 
though we saw a few more trotit, never another did 
either of us catch. Then we met Mr. Rust, who had 
been working equally hard below us, and he reported 
still worse luck, inasmuch as he had , not taken even a 
single fish. Thereupon we voted it a nolle prosequi and 
went home. But on our way in we saw a sight worth 
the trip. There is an old picture book mill dam across 
the Otter Creek, with a story book mill alongside, the 
same located in a narrow, rocky dell, which would be 
worth cultivating by an artist. Above this narrow, rocky 
defile of the waters stretched back a broad pond of deep 
black water, with sharp cut rocky banks reaching high 
up above. In this pool a great many trout are planted 
each year, and here there are undoubtedly some very 
large trout. A few days before our trip a man had taken 
here on minnow bait a trout which weighed 3Hlbs. 
Every once in a while such a stray trout is taken, but 
the pond has a weird reputation. In the evening the 
trout can be seen leaping in numbers, but they will 
not connect with any known sort of fly, being of the 
shrewd, shrewdest. Mr. Rust says that he has often seen 
them so rising, but never knew any one to take one on 
the fly. He announced his determination of putting in 
a boat on this pond, and trying for these big trout, un- 
til he compassed their undoing. I hope he may succeed 
in getting revenge upon the fish of the Otter, for surely 
we owe them a grudge for the cavalierly way in which 
they used us. 
Fly-Casting Contests. 
On June 4 some of the members of the Chicago Fly- 
Casting Club will make their last preparations for the 
tournament at Grand Rapids, Mich., the week ensuing. 
The Grand Rapids enthusiasts are expecting a good at- 
tendance and a good time. 
Dipping Bass. 
Eight men were arrested last week at Eureka, Wis., 
for using dip nets in taking bass. The men were fishing 
below the mouth of the fishway in the dam, and were 
doing a land office business, taking black bass and white 
bass. In consequence of the facility of these operations, 
peddlers were hawking good white bass in the streets 
of Berlin and Ripon at a cent apiece. This is cheaper 
than one can go out and catch them for himself, it is 
true, but after the fines have been collected from the 
above violators of the law it is likely that the price of 
fish may go up. 
The War and the Trade. 
Here in the big city of Chicago we would almost for- 
get there was a war waging in any part of the world 
in which we are interested, were it not for the papers and 
the crowded bulletin boards. The many thousands who 
have gone from this city with the volunteers are not 
missed — grim commentary on the heartlessness of war 
and of life. In the stores where sporting goods are 
sold the trade is not so much affected as one Avould 
naturally suppose. At Spalding's, Von Lengerke & An- 
toine's, Fisk's, Van Uxem's and other houses where 
inquiry was made, the report seems pretty unanimous 
(liat local trade in fishing tackle and kindred goods 
has not been seriously affected. My friend, Mr. Hirth, 
at .Spalding's, goes so far as to say that he has a much 
better counter trade than at this time last year. In guns 
the sporting trade here is dead, whether retail or mail 
order trade. The cotmtry trade, or mail order business, 
has fallen off sharply, and dealers here ittfer that in small- 
er communities the hand of the war is heavier, so that 
persons arc not caring so much for sport. When we 
stop to think that in the Civil War many hundreds of 
thousands of the finest men of the country were killedj 
and that the world has gone right on without them, that 
the country has apparently never missed them, but has 
grown just as well, and when we think also that in this 
war, if fortune do not bring a merciful end to it at some 
early day, very many more men will die and not be 
missed, we have great occasion to hope that the trouble 
may soon end, and not put this hard tax on human na- 
ture, accusing it of heartlessness in that it forgets. If 
humanity could not forget, it could not live. 
Along the Illinois River. 
That consistent enthusiast on angling and fish pro- 
tection, Mr. Geo. E. Cole, of Chicago, has just returned 
from a trip along the Illinois River, where he went as 
guest of Superintendent Bartlett. of the Illinois State 
Fish Commission. Mr. Cole says that the water was 
too high for good fishing, though he had a very en- 
joyable time. He speaks in the most enthusiastic terms 
of the condition of protective matters, not only in re- 
grtrd to sporting fishes, but also the food fishes, and 
says that never in the history of this State has the situa- 
tion been so good or the work so well done. Dr. Bart- 
lett has the work of the State fish boat handsomely 
systematized, and the crew is trained to a high degree 
of efficiency, so that the game fish arc quickly handled 
for shipment, and the food fish placed in the waters of 
the main stream' along which tlje work is carried on. 
Fish at Omaha Exposition. 
Fish Commissioner May, of Omaha, thinks that the 
State exhibit of Nebraska, at the Trans-Mississippi Ex- 
position, will compare very favorably with that at the 
World's Fair. The exhibit is nojiV in process of installa- 
tion, and promises to be a feature of the big show. 
The Banks of the Wabash. 
The members of the Terre Haute Fishing Club, of 
Indiana, are this week fixing up their property on the 
Wabash River, and getting ready for a busy season. The 
formal openin.g will be June 5, at which time a good 
party will be on hand. 
The Iowa River. 
The Iowa River, as well as the Cedar, the Skunk and 
the Des Moines, all of which flow southeasterly into the 
Mississippi oittlet, has in its time afforded great sport 
to anglers for bass, crappie and pike. In later years it 
has been over-fished by all sorts of appliances, like many 
other Iowa streams, and the sitpply of fish life has 
been much cut down. Fish protection has never until 
very recently been regarded with much favor by the 
Iowa Legislatures, and probably it has never been so 
well pushed'as under the administration of Commission- 
er Delevan, handicapped as he is by lack of appropria- 
tions. Appeal has been made to the commmissioner to 
do all he can for the Iowa River, and he has agreed to do 
so. I am sure I wish he could restore some of the 
above-named rivers of Iowa to a part of their former 
Eruitfulness, for naturally they are .great streams, as I 
can testify of my own experience. ^ 
At Fox Lake. 
Mr. Oscar Blomgren, of this city, is , just back from a 
little trip to Fox Lake, 111., where he says the fishing for 
bass, wall-eyed pike and pickerel is now very good. 
At Koshfconong Lake. 
Messrs. John Campbell and V. L. Cunningham, of this 
citjf, are back from a fishing visit to Lake Koshkonong, 
Wis. They were at the Blackhawk Club, and had very 
good sport, taking thirty-six black bass from lyi to 
4lbs. weight in their two days' angling. 
E. Hough. 
1206 BoYCE Building, Chicago. 
Tomcod at St. Michaels. 
In the summer months St. Michaels has a large number 
of Eskimo visitors. These natives come from the far 
north in their walrus skin boats, with their families and 
dogs, to trade with the companies. Every evening the 
women of the party will be found sitting on the rocks 
fishing for tomcod, which abound in the bay. Their 
method of fishing is very peculiar and amusing. At the 
end of a long pole is a fish line, at the end of the line is a 
piece of wire bent in three sides of a square and sus- 
pended to the line with the points down. At each of the 
points of this three-scpiare is a small one, making four 
baits to the fish line. Having adjusted the bait, the 
disciple of Izaak Walton throws the line into the water, 
the bait being almost immediately taken, and then the 
rod is quickly drawn over the shoulder with a violent 
jerk, and the fish are thrown off on the rocks. No 
fisherman ever looks behind, or gets up to remove a 
fish. The hook is merely a piece of bent wire, and the 
fish three or four at a time jump at the bait and hold it 
tight enough to be drawn ashore, bttt are seldom impaled 
on the hook. Behind those fishing congregate a num- 
ber of Indian and Eskimo children, who collect the fish 
as they are thrown off, and place them in a basket. There 
may be a hundred people fishing at the same time,_ and 
each fisherman will catch a pail full of fish in fifteen 
minutes. To stand at a distance and see the rods pass- 
ing up and down to the water and then back to the 
land, and innumerable fish wriggling on the rocks, is 
amusing. — Alaska Miner. 
The EoREST AND STREAM is put to press each weili on 
Tuesday. Correspondence intended for publication 
should teach us at the latest hy Monday, and as much 
earlier as praetioable. 
