FOREST ANID STREAM 
[ June. 2, 1 q 
' State are several of the Little Wolf tributaries. The 
Wildcat runs into the Little Wolf. Silver Creek, near 
Tawas, is an accessible and prolific stream. Reached 
by way of Rose City is Houghton Creek, a very good 
trout stream. The Rifle River is a good stream for May. 
Hale Creek and Smith Creek are two good ones also, 
and so are the two forks of the Pine River, which runs 
into Lake Huron. About forty miles away from us was 
the Au Sable River, one of the grandest trout streams 
in America. Most of these upper streams were barren of 
trout originally, and the stream which we fished had trout 
planted in it only thirteen years ago. 
Later Lock of the Party. 
I did not hear from the pleasant friends at the Little 
Wolf lodge for some days after I got back home, but 
under date of May 12 Mr. Hawks wrote me from Detroit, 
giving some advices of the later operations: 
"I came out with Mr. Sweeney, the last of the party," 
he says. "The weather remained as when you '.vere 
there, but I think the fishing was somewhat better. Oti 
Saturday I filled my basket with seventeen fish; I caught 
ten of them out of two pools, and in size they ran from 
f4 to iJ4 pounds each. Mr. Sweeney caught eleven 
fish the second day he was there, and then put up his 
rod, saying 'That was fish enough.' His first day's tatch 
was in the neighborhood of fifteen or twenty, but he 
said he was having more fun casting than he would have 
if he undertook to catch more fish. Mr. Sweeney is a 
man who does not care so much for the number of fish 
caught as he does for the fun of fishing — unless there is 
an object in view in catching fish, and I believe he could 
catch more than any of us. 
"The boys all said they had a good time, and I guess 
they did. 
"The fires continued to get worse from day to day, and 
probably burned up half of the country before I left. I 
think, however, Monday night they had a rain, which 110 
doubt stopped the fires. If you can do any good in 
rousing sentiment in the destruction of property I hope 
you will put in your best licks. 
"I heard of some very large catches along the line of 
our road. That Alpena party you speak of in the Forest 
AND Stream caught about 400 in two days. I heard of a 
man catching over ninety on one branch of the Pine 
west of West Greenbush. The conductor on our train 
saw this man with three rainbow trout weighing from .? 
to 4 pounds each, which he had brought out to send to 
some friend. This man resides near where he caught the 
fish. I heard of another party on a branch of the Au 
Sable who caught over 200 himself on May i. Report is 
that he filled his basket and then took off his overalls, 
fixed them to hold fish, and tied them around his neck 
and filled his overalls before he quit. This man was an 
official of the Michigan Central R. R., as I understand it. 
"The report from Fontinalis Club May i is that the 
W'eather was pleasant and warm, and fishing very good." 
(Compare Mr. Sweeney's methods with those of the 
railroad official and his overalls, full of fish, instead of 
full of hog.) 
Mr. Whitaker wrote: 
"For a month or more I have been flirting with your 
invitation to open the season with you on the^ first, 
hoping I might, but believing I would not. I find it 
is very pleasant to be remembered, and hope the 'First' 
will prove to be an ideal opening day, and that your 
basket may be reasonably full. But what does it matter 
whether the fishing be fine or not early in the season? 
We feel 
'"The pussy willows now 
Are creeping out on every bough, 
Along the brook, and robins look 
For early worms behind the plow. 
" 'Then weary is the street parade, 
And weary books, and weary trade; 
I'm only wishing to go a-fishing — 
For this the month of May was made. 
'"I think the meadowlark's clear sound 
Leaps upward slowly from the ground; 
While on the wing the bluebirds sing 
Their wedding bells to woods around. 
"' 'Tis not a proud desire of mine — 
I ask for nothing superfine; 
No heavy weight, no salmon great. 
To break the record, or my line. 
"'Only an idle little stream, 
Those amber vvaters softly gleam, 
Where I may wade through woodland shad; 
And cast the fly, and loaf, and dream. 
"'Only a trout or two to dart 
From foaming pools and try my art; 
No more I'm wishing— old-fashioned fishing-, 
And Just a day on Nature's heart.'" 
"All these things I feel, as every true sportsman feels, 
but to make a long story short I am forced to say nd." 
< Herschel Whitaker. 
It was Mr. Hawks, by the way, who first informed 
me of the death of Mr. Herschel Whitaker, president of 
the Michigan State Fish Commission. The excellent 
work of this fish commission is well known in the West, 
and while on our trip different members of the party 
spoke with the greatest admiration of Mr. Whitaker, both 
in his personal and business capacity. Mr. Whitaker was 
to have been one of the party, and Mr, Hawks incloses 
to me a copy of the last letter which he received from 
him, regarding which he makes the following comment: 
"Mr. Whitaker was invited to go with our party. I 
inclose copy of a letter written to me by him on April 
24; also clipping from the Detroit Free Press, of May 6, 
showing that he died on May 5- Mr. Whitaker's interest 
in fishing and fish was very marked. _ I was going to 
look up the authority of the poem which he quotes, but 
have not had an opportunity to do so. Perhaps you can 
locate same at once. If so, 1 wish you would let me 
know the author or the book in which it can be found." 
The State of Michigan sustains a great loss in Mr. 
Whitaker's death. It is he who has done some of the 
most distinguished work in Western fishctilture. He got 
up the Michigan fish exhibit at the World's Fair, which 
attracted^ the greatest attention. He has been a member 
of the Fish Commission in Michigan for .nearly twenty 
years, and he was an authority on trout and grayling. 
He was well known and universally admired as a man 
and citizen. 
At St, Lotiis. 
The city of St. Louis is a gainer by a loss which 
Chicago sustains this spring. Mr. H. L. Stanton, long 
ktiown here as agent of the Natchaug lines, and more 
widely known as one of the best silk men in the country, 
moves from Chicago to St. Louis, June i. Mr. Stanton 
is one of the best anglers of Chicago, and the new friends 
he will form in the Southern city will no doubt see to it 
that he gets a try at the attractions of that region. 
The Southern season is now pretty well under way. 
A bass was this week taken in the Big Piney that 
weighed "/% pounds. Other good catches were reported 
from Missouri and Arkansas streams, 
A New Bait. 
Surely this is an age of progress. Surely, also, it is in 
the South that we find a great many of our latest and 
best ideas in angling matters. The latest, and the limit, 
is a wrinkle which I saw this week at Rawlings' Sport- 
ing Goods Co.'s new store on Locust street, St. Louis. 
It was a glass jar of embalmed minnows, as fresh and 
bright looking almost as if they were alive. This bait 
is said to be entirely practical, and one is disposed to 
believe it will prove more useful even than the salted 
minnow idea which we saw up in Michigan. Mr. Raw- 
lings tells me the idea is that of a fishing physician of 
that city, who has tried it fully and says it works. The 
bait will be put in jars, and sold under the name of "Pre- 
served Bait." One need not bother about a minnow 
pail, but may take a little flask along, holding a dozen 
baits or so. No danger, even if one does get his flasks 
mixed up, for the preserving fluid is said to be entirely 
harmless— indeed, perhaps less harmful than the fluid 
sometimes found in the regulation flask, and of yet 
greater embalming properties. 
Spring in the South. 
I violate no confidence in stating that Mr. Horace 
Kephart, the urbane librarian of tlie Mercantile Library, 
is back from his first spring vacation, and that he is a 
living testimonial of the industry of the Souther chigger, 
chigre, or jigger. He says these pests are the bane of the 
Southern woods. 
A Good Trout Season. 
ChicagOj 111., May 24. — From all accounts we are having 
a very good trout season in this part of the West, antl 
there is every reason to believe that our trout fishing is 
improving rather than deteriorating, more especially in the 
lower peninsula of Michigan. Ihe southern peninsula 
has been getting better for two or three years, and it is 
to-day a splendid ground for anglers. The brook trout 
are more than holding their own, and the rainbow trout 
are growing bigger and more numerous all the time. 
The Au Sable River continues its reputation as a mag- 
nificent trout stream. I have heard of some good catches 
there this spring, some of thein almost incredibly large. 
This stream is fished very hard. Last summer there were 
literally thousands of trout taken out of it, but it docs 
not seem fished out by any means this year. 
I have already sent in brief mention of the good sporf 
had by the J. D. Hawks party May i, in the country 
northeast of the Au Sable, and referred to several good 
takes of trout made in different streams of that region. 
In all these streams the trout seem to be bgiger than 
ever, and if anything increasing in numbers. 
The Pere Marquette, of the Michigan w-est coast, has 
often been mentioned in these columns as a grand stream, 
more especially for rainbow trout. I mentioned the fact 
that Mr. F. N'. Peet and his friends had started on their 
annual pilgrimage for the Pere Marquette. Mr. Peet 
told me that he intended to keep on going until he not 
only hooked but landed one of those big rainbows that 
John Waddell tells about. This time Mr. Peet- had his 
heart's desire. He caught one rainbow that weighed 5 
pounds, two others that weighed 4 pounds each, and 
an abundance of lesser fish. This certainly was a most 
satisfactory trip, and it will raise yet higher in the estima- 
tion of our fly-fishers this grand Michigan river. It seems 
to be a toss-up between the Pere Marquette and the Au 
Sable. There are more trout killed on the Au Sable, but 
bigger ones on the, Pere Marquette. 
From the Prairie River in Wisconsin I hear that Mr. 
Taylor is having good luck, and has had two very good 
days. From Mr. Daniels I have not yet heard, but pre- 
sume he is still located on that stream. 
Mayor Carter H. Harrison, of Chicago, has gone trout 
fishing up in the Huron Mountain district on the Superior 
south shore. He took with him Bill Haskell, of this 
city. It will make no difference whether they get any 
fish or not. Bill Haskell will tell his honor enough fish 
stories to keep him entertained. 
Mr. Graham Harris, President of the Board of Edu- 
cation, of Chicago, is at this writing absent at his former 
home in Old Virginia, but he is expected back soon, and 
is billed for a trout fish as soon as he gets here. 
The next meeting of the Chicago Fly-Casting Club for 
practice will be held June 2. Numbers of the club mem- 
bers have been out already trying their skill on the real 
thing. 
Opening of Wisconsin Bass Season. 
To-ttiorrow morning. May 25, is opening day on bass 
in the State of Wisconsin, and it will be celebrated by a 
great many anglers. A big party is going up from 
Chicago to Billy Tuohy's place on Eagle Lake, among 
these Mr, C. W. Meeker, Mr. W. D. Thompson and Billy 
Farmer, with his friends, Messrs. Anderson, McDonald 
and Abendroth. These should have very fair sport in the 
prolific waters^at Tuohy's place. 
Alderman Walter Nelson, of this city, has gone to 
Mercer. W]s., for a session with the bass and muscallunge. 
Mr. D. J. Hotchkiss, of Fox Lake, ^ Wis., seems to be 
having trouble with his bass, and I wish very much that 
I could help htm out, Under date of May 21, he writes as 
below? .'.:~.'xMiS 
"I suppose you are so busy picking dollars off the 
Chicago trees that you won't have time to come up here 
and help me harvest my bass crop, the 2Sth. I need help 
badly, and don't know of anybody I had rather liave than 
you. "We are going to have some great fishing this year— 
in fact, are having it now, though the law says the bass 
must not bite until the 2Sth. If you could manage to- 
run up Saturday afternoon (26th) we could put in a few 
days to great advantage, and I will guarantee to show 
you as many bass as you will want to take care of. We 
get 7-pounders up here, and 4 and 5 pounders are com- 
mon. Of course, if you could stay a week it would sui' 
us better, but even a day would be a pleasure. 
"Our summer season is opening up very nicely, ani 
we expect to have a very nice season. The fishing foi 
pickerel, perch, etc., is good, and the bass are all ready 
for business. I caught four pickerel and a bass on a 
spoon hook trolling less than a mile the other day. 1 
threw the bass back, though they would not understand 
what that meant here. Lots of them are being caught and 
yarded up, as per Representative sent you. The wardens 
have been here occasionally, but seem unable to catch 
offenders. Hope you can manage to get up and see us 
this season, at the opening if possible, later if not con- 
venient then. Want you to see our lake and try our fish- 
ing, and if it isn't first-class you can call me another." 
Col. John S. Cooper and a couple of his armor-bearers. 
Mr. John A. Campbell and Mr. V. L. Cunnyngham, are 
scheduled to leave Friday night for Lake Koshkonong, 
Wis. This, provided that Col. Cooper does not mean- 
while go to Washington on important business. They 
would have good sport at Koshkonong at this season, 
Mr. W. H. Bartlett, of Evanston, a Chicago suburb, has 
a summer place out at Denver, and this summer he pur- 
poses taking out a party of friends as guests, to show them 
some of the Colorado fishing. 
Dr. Bingham, of this city, says that he will probably 
try Kabekona Camp tliis summer. He says he has never 
had better bass fishing anywhere. 
The bass law in Wisconsin has apparently been ex- 
tensively violated. Mr. Hotchkiss, of Fox Lake, says 
that he thinks there will be fully 1,000 pounds of black 
bass tnarketed in that town on May 25. The fishermen 
have been catching them for weeks and keeping thetn 
penned up. It is stated that some ministers of the gospel 
from towns near Fox Lake were seen with illegal black 
bass in their possession last week. Local sentiment doe5 
not seem to be strong enough to stop this sort of thing. 
Where to Go, 
Mr. W. S. Hendrixson writes to Messrs. A. J. Spald- 
ing & Co., of this city, as below, the letter being referred 
to me for reply: 
"Grinnell, la.. May 20. — The trout fisherman's mania 
has struck me again and struck me hard. This year I 
have no one to go with me, and I desire to arrange to 
join some camping party going to some good fishing 
region, preferably the North Shore, the Yellowstone,- or 
even as tame a place as northern Minnesota. It would be 
quite satisfactory if I could arrange to stay at some 
club house in a region of large trout. 
"I should be exceedingly obliged to you if you would 
put mc in correspondence with parties who could give me 
information regarding the fishing in those regions and the 
possibilities as to bed and board." 
If Mr, Hendrixson wishes a splendid trip for trout he 
could not do better than go to the Yellowstone Park, 
where he would not only get grand trout fishing, but have 
a delightful trip in every way. The army officers af 
Fort Yellowstone will tell him where to go, and if Lieut. 
Elmer Lindsley is still stationed at that post he will get 
advice ex cathedra. Perhaps Lindsley will point out some 
of his favorite pools on Nez Perce Creek. 
I would rather go to the Yellowstone than the Nepigon, 
but if one cares to go to the latter place it is perfectly 
simple. You take a shawl strap full of money and plenty 
of mosquito dope, and the natives do the rest. It really 
is not so much pleasure to go where everybody can catch 
big trout as to go to a place where one can catch a 
big trout now and then. Thus, I opine that Mr. Hendrix- 
son would have more tun on the Pere Marquette tlian 
he would on the Nepigon. Should he feel that way aboui 
it, he might write to John Waddell, at Grand Rapid- 
Mich. John Waddell is yard master of all the rainbow^ 
iti the Pere Marquette system. 
If Mr. Hendrixson- does not care for trout fishing ex- 
clusively, he can go up to Walker, Brainerd, Park Rapids 
or any one of a dozen towns in northern Minnesota, and 
get all the fishing for bass and muscallunge that he wantS; 
He perhaps could not do better than go to Kabekona 
Camp. 
From Dakota, 
My friend. Clint Smith, of Fargo, N. D., passed 
through Chicago on his way to Washington, D. C, last 
week, when I was out of town. Mi. Smith says that the 
fishing at the Detroit lakes of Minnesota is very good, and 
that he has a lot to tell me when he sees me. 
From Massachusetts. 
Mr. A. B. F. Kinney, a naturaUst and sportsman, of 
Worcester, Mass., very well knowm in the Forest anp 
Stream family, paid this office a pleasant call the past 
week. 
In Wisconsin. 
I picked up one of the big Chicago dailies the other 
morning, and in it happened to see a two-column por- 
trait, the features of which seemed familiar. It was 
none other than Mr. Neal Brown, the stalwart sportsman 
with whom I shot chickens last summer, and with whom I 
am going trout fishing this summer if I have luck. The 
picture is printed in connection with an article telling 
about the city of Wausau, where Mr. Brown lives. It 
seems that this is a literary center, and that there has 
recently been started there a fine literary publishing 
house, which is putting out some beautiful books. Mr, 
Brown, as has previously been mentioned in the Forest 
ANt) Stream, is himself an author, as well as a very good 
shot. Wausau is certainly a very good place whereat to 
live. E. Hough. 
Hartford Btjiilding, Chicago, 111, ^ . 
