802 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Oct. is, 1898. 
Down the Wisconsin, 
I11 Two Parts— Part II. 
{Concluded from fiage 285.) 
On Monday about i o'clock we found ourselves at 
the mouth of Eagle River, and turned our bows up that 
stream. There had been higher land along the banks, 
farmhouses were seen, and there was a bridge over the 
Wisconsin before we came to the mouth of Eagle. We 
had made some inquiries about the prospects for fishing, 
and had learned that there was a big logging dam on 
Eagle River about a mile and a half above its mouth, 
and that there was fine fishing in the pool below the 
dam. 
Wc had now been three days on the river without 
having seen a fish, not so much even as a minnow in 
the shallows, and all hands were agreed if the place 
looked favorable for a camp we would stop here for 
two or three days and have some sport. 
The indications as we approached the dam were all 
favorable for good fishing. The river was some 60 or 
70ft. wide, clear, with a moderately swift current flow- 
ing through channels, among the long water grasses 
and weeds. 
At the dam was a small farmhouse on the north side 
of the stream, with a few acres of cleared ground near 
it; on the south side was an empty ice-house, but the 
town of Eagle River was a mile- or two away and com- 
pletely out of sight. The pool below the dam was a 
couple of hundred feet across, and surrounded by high 
banks of gravel, fringed with pines at the top, giving 
a very pretty effect. 
A grassy "spot on the south side just above, the pool 
was chosen as the site for our tent, and the boats having 
been unloaded, the Professor, accompanied by Ann 
Arbor, set off for town to inquire for mail matter and 
purchase supplies. While they were gone the writer 
and Yale pitched the tent, and put everything in shape 
for a protracted stay in camp. A beautiful spring was 
found not more than 15ft. from where we had pitched 
the tent, and in this we placed our butter and condensed 
cream. 
Only those who have camped in the summer without 
the advantages of a cool spring can appreciate what 
it is to h*we one within a few feet of one's temporary 
home. 
While busy with our camp duties a huge column 
of smoke was seen rising in the air in the direction of 
the town of Eagle River, and from its density and great 
volume we guessed what proved to be the case, that 
it was piled lumber on fire in the immense mill yards, 
but did not go up to see. Having got the camp in order, 
R, rigged up his Bethabara rod, and putting on a frog 
which he had caught on the way up the river and cor- 
ralled in a rubber boot, commenced to investigate the 
fishing possibilities of the pool. In a few moments 
I was hailed in excited tones, and asked to bring a land- 
ing net quick, coupled with the announceiuent, "I've got 
a big one." 
The collapsible landing net with which we were sup- 
plied had not been out of its special sack since our 
journey began, and was in the general rod case un- 
opened. I soon had it out and put together, and was at 
the water's edge, where a 3^41b. small-mouth bass was 
waiting to join the butter and cream at the spring in 
readiness to assist at supper. 
We caught many more bass on the trip, but this first 
fish was the largest, and I do not believe there is any 
more sport to be had in catching bass of from 4 to 61bs., 
uor as much, as where they run from 2 to 3j^Ibs. 
We remained at this camp for three days, from Mon- 
day to Thursday, and no reasonable person could ask 
for better fishing. The Professor and I fished almost 
exclusively with the artificial fly, while R. and T. used 
frogs. Once only I was tempted into putting a small 
frog upon the hook of the fly I was using, and caught 
a wall-eyed pike weighing about 2lbs. With this single 
exception, I used only the artificial fly during the entire 
trip, lasting three weeks, and I caught as many fish of 
as large an average size as any one of the party. There 
was one peculiar thing about the size of our catch: from 
first to last not a bass was caught on the trip weighing 
less than 541b. We returned to the water at least two- 
thirds of our catch, and gave away some, as none 
of the party cared enough for fish to want them on the 
table more than once a day. The people in this part of 
the country call a pike-perch, or wall-eyed pike, a pike; 
and a pike they call a pickerel. I have never read of 
catching wall-eyed pike with an artificial fly, but here 
I did it until it became monotonous. It was no dry fly- 
fishing, however; quite the reverse. I put two or three 
small split shot on thesnell of my fly, so as to sink it Well, 
and then gave it time to get 2 or 3ft. below the surface 
before I began to draw. The bottom being of rounded 
boulders and gravel, without any obstructions, it did not 
make much difference how deep it went. When it was 
deep enough, as nearly as I could judge, I brought it 
in with a succession of little jerks, each bringing it 
through the water only a few inches, and giving it what 
I fancied might be a lifelike similitude to the motions of 
a water beetle. On feeling the least pluck at the fly, I 
struck, and in this way had remarkable success, catching 
fish even where frogs had been dragged through with- 
out result. It was only after trying surface fishing thor- 
oughly, with rather unsatisfactory results, that I tried the 
plan of loading the flies so as to sink them to a consid- 
erable depth. Fishing this way I caught a muskalonge 
weighing about i^lbs., which was returned to the water 
none the worse for his experience in the upper world. 
While in this camp I caught five varieties of fish with 
• the artificial fly. namely, bass, muskalonge, pike, wall- 
eyed pike (or pike-perch) and ordinary perch; before the 
trip was over I added sunfish and trout to the list, mak- 
ing seven kinds. 
There is one respect in which a fly-fisherman has a 
decided advantage over his friend who uses live bait: 
he does not have to put in any of his time in procuring 
the means of pursuing his sport, his lure is always 
ready. R. and T. spent nearly as much time roaming 
the marshy ground by the river banks looking for frogs 
as they did fishing when they got them. Generally, I 
admit, a bait-fisher will excel his brother of the fly in 
the number of sizable fish taken in a given time, but 
unless one enjoys the sport of catching frogs and min- 
nows the fly-fisherman during the summer months has 
the best of it. 
I regard the Johnson flies as the best style for every 
fish but trout and others of the salmon family. The 
principle on which they are constructed is that you 
do not want your fly to float, but to get under water 
as soon and as quietly as possible. This the Johnson . 
pattern does to perfection, having no hackle and no 
body, just the shank of the hook wound with tinsel, and 
a head from which the wings project close together, it 
cuts easily through the air, so as to facilitate a long 
cast, and enters the water with hardly a ripple on the 
water to mark the spot. The Johnson fancy is my 
favorite for bass. I consider it even better than the 
buck-tail, which was for the time the Professor's pet; 
the changing luster of the peacock feathers, of which 
the former is constructed, seemed much more attractive 
than the unpretentious bunch of gray and brown deer's 
hair; During our stay in Eagle River camp we sup- 
plied the farmer, our neighbor, with all the fish he want- 
ed, and also gave a quantity to a party of three loggers, 
who were getting up "dead-heads," as logs are called 
which have become water-soaked. Lumber is becoming 
scarcer and more valuable, and it is now worth while to 
go to the expense of raising all these sunken logs. The 
loggers made a live box by damming off a little pool 
with a wall of stones, which allowed the water to circulate 
freely between them, while keeping any fish we put in 
secure until wanted* The water was only 3 or 4m. deep, 
just sufficient to keep the fish well covered, and there 
were always more or less in the pool darting hither and 
thither in affright if any one approached. 
One day Sancho distinguished himself by going to 
this pool and catching a 2lb. pike-perch, which he 
brought flopping in his mouth toward the tent with 
every appearance of pride in his achievement. Seeing 
everyone else fishing, he seemed to think he ought to do 
something in that line himself. This is the only time 
it will be necessary to mention the canine member of the 
party: Immediately after this he was taken sick with 
the measles, as we supposed, R. having just recovered 
from an attack when we started; and for the rest of the- 
voyage Sancho passed his days on the river curled up 
in the boat and on land in the most comfortable quarters 
we could give him. He finally recovered, but for many 
days we thought we should have to dig his grave on the 
banks of the Wisconsin River. We left the camp at 
Eagle on Thursday, and in a quarter of an hour were 
again on the main river, which was to be our highway 
for nearly two weeks longer. It is not my intention to 
give a minute itinerary of each day, but if possible to 
give such an idea of the river from its head to where 
we finally left it that any future boating party may know 
what to expect. 
Below the junction with Eagle River the banks are 
high—from 5 to 10 or 15ft. above the level of the water 
on both sides— and occasionally large boulders are to be 
seen. Three or four miles below begin a series of rapids, 
which make navigation difficult for heavily loaded boats, 
such as ours. We did not want to take any chance of 
losing part of our cargo, and in anticipation of en- 
countering such obstacles had brought along 60ft. of 
y 8 'm. diameter rope, with which to lower the boats down 
any awkward places. One of the party would stay in 
the boat, keeping it in the desired channel, while others 
walked along the shore or waded a little where neces- 
sary, holding back on the rope, so as to lessen the shock 
of a collision with some hidden rock, or helped to pull 
it off if the boat stuck fast upon one. 
Most of the time we went through all without resort- 
ing to the rope, which was only used in two or three of 
the worst places. By I o'clock we were through the 
rapids, and for the remainder of the day our course 
lay through a rather low-lying timbered country, with 
a little fringe of marsh land along one or both banks, 
where hay had been recently cut and lay curing or piled 
in cocks. 
Sometimes the strip of grass which was considered 
suitable for cutting was not more than half a dozen feet 
in width, in other places it extended back from one 
to two rods. Just before it was time to make camp we 
came upon the merry hay-makers, a couple of Canadian 
Frenchmen, with their hay-rack moored close to the 
bank, where they were loading it for transportation 
down stream to their farm. The hay-rack was made by 
fastening a couple of very long dugout canoes together 
by cross-pieces 5 or 6ft. long, and near enough to- 
gether to furnish a good foundation for the hay. A 
mile or so beyond them we passed a small log house 
and still smaller barn on a rise of land close to the 
river which we concluded, from a new hay-stack and 
the quantity of fresh hay littering the bank, was their 
home. A quarter of an hour later we went ashore, hav- 
ino- found a high, airy spot, and carrying our tents and 
other needed supplies up a steep bank made camp among 
huckleberry bushes, scrub oaks and dead pines. We 
had no spring near us, but as our canteens had been 
filled during the day we were well supplied. Shortly 
after dark the two Frenchmen paid us a visit, having 
seen the light of the roaring fire we had built. They 
were brothers, one about twenty-five years of age, the 
other perhaps ten years older. Both were armed; one 
with an old bored-out musket, the other with an axe. 
These warlike preparations the elder of the two ex- 
plained by saying he had been followed by three large 
wolves a few nights before, and since then they did not 
either of them like to go. out without being armed. 
The gun was the property of the younger man. I 
asked to look at it, and gratified its owner by pro- 
nouncing it a fine piece. He was immensely pleased at 
my commendation as soon as he was certain that I was 
in earnest. Indeed those old Springfield muskets' are 
excellent shooting guns. 
Our visitors told us how much land they had .cleared 
and that they had two horses and two cows. A sugges- 
tion to the younger brother that a good-looking man 
like him ought to get married, and that those two cows 
should have a woman to look after them, met with the 
ready approval which a Frenchman accords when the 
fair sex is brought into the conversation. 
They were out of salt, and when we gave them a liberal 
supply and would accept no compensation were profuse 
in their acknowledgments. In answer to inquiries about 
fishing, they told us the Little St. Germain River was an 
excellent stream. Fine fishing just below the logging 
dam, about a mile above the mouth of the river, where 
it empties into the Wisconsin. 
They were so enthusiastic on the subject of the splen- 
did fishing there that we decided when we reached the 
place the next morning at about 11 o'clock to go up 
the river as far as the dam and make another camp, so 
that we could enjoy a few hours of the sport. There was 
plenty of water in the Little St. Germain for the first 
quarter of a mile, but the current was so swift that wc 
soon decided it was easier to get out and wade, and 
drag and push the boats, than to try to row. 
There were innumerable fish in the stream, which we 
could see darting hither and thither as we splashed our 
way along, but we had no time to fish just then. The 
further we went the more difficult it became to make 
much progress, and the volume of water continually de- 
creased, so that our boats were aground half of the time, 
and it took hard work to get them off the gravel bars, 
pulling at one end and pushing at the other, only to get 
fast again a rod or two further on. The Frenchmen 
had told us the dam was only a mile above the mouth 
of the river, and by the time we had gone as we esti- 
mated about three miles and spent as many hours in 
hard work we concluded it about time to find out where 
we were. For once one of the eternally recurring gravel 
bars served a good purpose, and while our boats were 
fast upon it we got out our lunch and found a trip 
up the Little St. Germain was an excellent appetizer. 
After our meal it was decided to send T. on up the 
stream in light inarching order to see how much further 
it was to the dam, and what the prospect was of water 
enough to float the boats. In about half an hour he 
returned carrying a 2lb. pike, which he had killed with 
a stone as it lay basking near the surface, and reported 
that there was a dead musk-rat on a sanflbar a little 
further up, which he had killed in the same manner. 
"How about the dam?" "Oh, yes, it's up here about 
half a mile. I went so I could see where it was." 
Thus encouraged, we pushed on, literally, for the 
water became so shallow that our progress was mostly 
pushing ana pulling. Finally we left the. boats aground 
as usual, took our rods, and walked up to the pool 
below the dam to investigate; and here we found the 
explanation of the decrease in volume of water in the 
river while we were on our way up, which had caused 
us so much trouble. Three or four men from some 
lumber camp had arrived a few hours before to fish be- 
low the dam, and thinking they would be more success- 
ful if the water was shut off had closed the waste gates. 
They were very sorry when they found what trouble 
it had caused us. Had they caught anything? we asked. 
"Not yet; have only been fishing a little while." That 
did not sound very encouraging, but we jointed up for 
a trial. I made three or four casts from the shore with 
a Johnson fancy without success, and then fastened to 
som-ething — nothing large, I knew, but a fish. It did 
not take long to bring him in. A common sunfish! I 
sadly dropped him back into the water, took off my 
leader and fly, reeled up, and began to unjoint my rod. 
"Come, boys, let's get these gates up, so that we will 
have water enough to float out boats, and get back to 
the Wisconsin again as soon as we can." No one ob- 
jected except R., who had caught a pike weighing 
2 or 3lbs., and always preferred the present joys of fish- 
ing to promised delights of any kind. With the help 
of the men who had closed the gates, we pried them 
open and were soon on our way down, with a swift 
current and plenty of water, where a few hours before 
we had been laboriously pushing and pulling at our 
stranded barks. 
Our camp that night was not far below the mouth 
of the Little St. Germain, upon a grassy spot, close to 
the river and 6 or 8ft, above it. Behind us was a green 
stretch of country, from which the timber had been cut 
away, all but a few dead and fire-scarred trunks, which 
had not been worth the labor of cutting. 
While we were sitting around the camp-fire after 
supper, night having closed in, making the little spot 
we occupied the only cheerful place in the wilderness 
which lay unseen around, Sancho created a little ex- 
citement by barking furiously at something in the bushes 
only a rod or two from the tent. As he was not given 
to such demonstrations without good cause, an examin- 
ation was made with the aid of a lantern, but revealed 
nothing, and we were forced to the conclusion the dog's 
eyes or ears or both had deceived him. The next 
morning was Saturday. A couple of bass were caught 
in the river just in front of the camp, and we were sat- 
isfied this place just below the mouth of the Little St. 
Germain is a good fishing locality, but having practically 
lost a day, and being anxious to get a good Sunday 
camp, we packed up and started shortly after break- 
fast. About 6 o'clock that evening, at a bend in the 
river, where there was a pretty grove of pines, which had 
for some unaccountable reason been left when the lum- 
bermen destroyed all their fellows, we decided to land 
and remain over Sunday. There had been an Indian 
camp here, and the frames of their "wickiups," as we 
used, to call these temporary shelters in Nevada, were 
still standing. For good and sufficient reasons we 
located our tent a few rods away from the Indian camp, 
and here we remained until Monday morning. There 
was no spring near the place that we could locate, but 
our canteens had been filled during the afternoon of our 
arrival and furnished an ample supply of drinking water. 
We could catch no fish, but had plenty of provisions 
in the boats, and delicious blueberries were to be had 
for the gathering. 
The occasional puffing and snorting of a locomotive 
engine, which we heard during the nights, told us we 
were within two or three miles of some railway station 
or side track. Monday morning we got an early start 
and portaged the big dam at Rhinelander at about noon, 
getting a dray to haul our boats and baggage through the 
