June i6, i$oo.] 
FOREST . AND * STREAM. 
4 71 
summer guests, and this sport will be kept up all sum- 
mer, with fifties and hundreds of iingerlings brought into 
the hotels, to be bragged about. Mr. and Mrs. F. M. 
Tucker, of Boston, took 53 pounds of trout and salmon 
from Wmnepesaukee last week. At that lake and Winne- 
squam the trolling season is nearing its end. The 
Thomas party, of Boston, is off for Moosehead. At the 
head is Commodore F. M. Thomas, the other members 
being T. J. Davis. C. W. Deering, J. Bunting, C. W. Hin- 
raan, Boston; Mr. and Mrs. J. F. Hutchinson, Lexing- 
ton; E. C. Leonard, New Britain, Conn.; Henry S. 
Leach, Taunton ; A. B. Slater, Providence. Judge Charles 
Allen, of Boston, and Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Allen and Miss 
Allen, of Greenfield, Mass., are fly-fishing at Moosehead. 
At the Rangeley fishing resorts the guests are many, and 
the fishing fairly good, with no remarkable catches re- 
ported for the week. C. P. Baker and R. W. Baker, of 
Boston, and J. C. Vandevvater, of New York, took 
twenty-five trout from Quinby Pond one day last week 
with fly and bait. The David Ehrlich party.' of Boston, 
has gone to Kennebago. The party include j. C. Morse. 
J. R. Morse, A. S. Ehrlich, D. P. Ehrlich, S. E. Hecht, 
Dr. Henry Ehrlich and David P. Ehrlich. Mr. A. H. 
Proctor, of Salem, with a party of friends, is registered at 
the Rangeley Lake House. Tuesday the party was made 
happy by the landing of a salmon of pounds by Mr. 
E. H. Northey, one of their number. Mr. Proctor, who 
has fished the Rangeleys for several years, says that he 
was more pleased to have Mr. Northey take that fish 
than he should have been to have landed a 15-pounder 
himself. The party has taken a number of other trout 
and salmon of fair size. Nathaniel Heath, of Boston, 
has taken a salmon of 6}i pounds ; Clarence H. Hayes, of 
Boston, a salmon of 4}4 pounds; E. F. Hayden, of 
Boston, salmon of 4^ pounds. Mr. Henry W. Clark, of 
Boston, js putting in his twenty-sixth season at Moun- 
tain View. There are few anglers like him, both for love 
of the sport and the true love of nature. He is seventy- 
eight years old, and has been an angler for sixty-eight 
years, having caught his first trout when a boy of ten 
from a brook in Princeton, Mass. T, B. Stewart, of 
New York, has taken a salmon of 5 pounds at Upper Dam. 
The last boom of logs for the season has gone through 
and the usual fly-fishing in the pool is expected to begin. 
Special. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
■Wisconsin Muscallunge. 
Chicago, 111., June 9. — The stories which come down 
from the Wisconsin muscallunge country are somewhat 
varying in their nature. Some say that the fun has not 
yet commenced for the muscaUunge fishers, and others 
state that one has as good chances now as he will any 
time before fall. It seems to be without doubt, too, that 
over most of the Wisconsin lake country there has come 
a spell of rather warm weather, which has in all prob- 
ability set the fish down. This is true in regard to the 
bass as well as the muscallunge. This warm wave came 
about the middle of last week. It seems to have spoiled 
the fishing in most of the Fox Lake chain, and I would 
not be surprised if it slackened up the muscallunge fish- 
ing for some time to come. 
Thus far the best catch of which I get word this spring 
is that reported last week by the Von Lengerke- Lester 
party. Their catch of a 38-pounder is one rarely equaled 
in these days. Since that time a very large number of 
parties have gone north after muscallunge, a great many 
going up to Minocqua, Fifield, Woodruff, State Line and 
Hayward. 
Mr. A. S. Trude, of this city, who has had an extended 
experience in muscallunge fishing in Wisconsin, has been 
out for quite a time in the Tomahawk country, working 
chiefly on Big Lake and Clear Lake. At last accounts 
he had not met any very great success, though he had 
taken a number of small 'lunge and a great many bass. 
Mr. R. W. Caldwell, of this city, has just returned 
from Tomahawk Lake, Wis., and for a wonder he did 
not bring back very many muscallunge with him, report- 
ing, upon the contrary, rather poor success, with no good 
size 'lunge to his credit. His party took all the bass 
and pike they cared for. Mr. Caldwell says that not even 
the bass fishing has yet begun in that region, for the bass 
have not yet come out on the spawning beds. In that 
country the bass do not go on the beds until about July i. 
Even the Fish Commissioner of the State admits that the 
Wisconsin fish law is not really much of a protection to 
the fish in the upper part of the State. The pike and 
muscallunge spaAvn in March and April, before any hook 
and Hne fishing is done. The bass fishing is legal after 
May 25, or begins to be legal at just about the time the 
bass might be expected to begin their spawning run. 
One peculiarity of the Tomahawk chain this spring is 
that the water is" exceptionally clear, so that one can see 
IS feet deep in some of the lakes. The fish are lying 
very quiet, for some reason or other, and apparently not 
on the feed. Mr. Caldwell tells me that he took a heavy 
weight and was sounding to find a bass hole in the lake, 
when in working along over the bottom he looked down 
and saw two big muscallunge. He dropped the heavy 
Aveight on the back of one of them, but it hardly moved 
away more than 8 or 10 feet. He dangled a spoon and 
a big chub in front of the fish, but it paid no attention, 
and refused to respond to any artifice whatever. 
"Weights of Mascallonge. 
It is a very interesting story which Mr. Caldwell gave 
me to-day on the subject of muscallunge, based upon 
facts which came under his observation on his recent trip. 
There is no more mysterious fish than the muscallunge, 
and but few of our anglers know^ more about him than 
that they sometimes catch one while hauling a spoon hook 
around a ■ while in a lake. 
The common supposition is that most of the big mus- 
callunge were caught out of the Wisconsin lakes some 
time ago, and that this is the reason why we rarely hear 
of a big 'lunge being taken these days. Yet what shall 
We say to these following facts, taken directly on the 
5pot: This week the men of the Wisconsin Fish Com- 
mission are camped on Tomahawk Lake, and have been 
for the past month, taking fish for use in the State fish 
hatchery. These men use pound nets to a large extenf 
jn taking their breeding fish, and he/ice they Jiave ppr 
portunities of learning more about big fish than the 
angler does. What will the average muscallunge fisher- 
man think to hear that in one haul of a pound-net this 
spring, in Tomahawk Lake, the Fish Commission men 
took out one muscallunge which weighed 50I/2 pounds, 
one which weighed 53 pounds, and two which weighed 55 
pounds each ? That sounds something like a fish story, 
but there seems no reason to doubt its accuracy. It is 
all the more remarkable, however, when we remember 
that in all the records of Wisconsin muscallunge, 55 
pounds is supposed to be the heaviest fish taken. 
There are some stories of big muscallunge which come 
down once in a while. Close running down of these 
stories in nearly all cases shows them to be of fish that 
were taken very early in the spring. It is in March that 
the biggest muscallunge come to the surface and move 
about. They are taken then, not with the .spoon hook, 
but are shot or killed with a spear. Ten years ago there 
was a 53-pound muscallunge taken near the Manitowish 
bridge, but the facts are that this fish was shot, and not 
caught on rod and line. My trapping companion Joe 
Blair tells me that he sees plenty of big muscallunge 
around the shores of Big St. Germaine Lake in the 
early spring. It was Joe Blair who once told me about 
a big muscallunge which was killed with a hatchet in that 
lake, which story I reported in the Forest and Stream 
at the time. Thus it would seem that the muscallunge is 
sometimes a very stupid fish, sometimes a very apathetic 
fish, sometimes a very savage fish, and much of the time 
a very shrewd fish. Joe Blair and Mr. Caldwell and a 
good many others think that the continual trolling of 
spoons around in the waters has resulted in educating 
the muscallunge, so that they do not rise as they for- 
merly did. If these stories regarding the nets of the 
Fish Commission be accurate, it would seem that tliis 
throws more light on the muscallunge question, and in 
more reliable form, than any advices obtainable thereon 
for the past several years. It is surely encouraging to 
think that there are big fish in the waters where we are 
fishing, and for the comfort of all intending anglers it 
may be said that all the above big fish were put back in 
the lake after the Fish Commission was through. 
How Moscallonge Fry Is Secured. 
There were still other interesting facts in my inform- 
ant's muscallunge story to-day. He talked for some time 
with the representatives of the State Fish Commission at 
Tomahawk Lake. They told him that it was formerly 
the custom to take the spawners all the way down to 
the State hatchery at Madison, where the eggs were 
planted in the artificial hatching ponds. In this way the 
loss was over 90 per cent, of the muscallunge fry. This 
spring the commission adopted another plan. Observing 
that the muscallunge always spawns out in the overflow, 
in among the roots and tree tops, the Fish Commission 
men made a series of spawning troughs on the spot, 
which they floated out into the natural spawning grounds 
of the muscallunge. These boxes are half in and half 
out of the water, and they are left to rock up and down 
and splash around, as the action of the natural water 
suggests, the temperature being that of the waters selected 
by the muscallunge in its natural spawning operations. 
The results of this experiment have been most gratify- 
ing, and the Fish Commissioners report this spring that 
instead of losing 90 per cent, of the eggs they are saving 
more than 90 per cent. The dead eggs are skimmed off 
from the top of the trough, just as in the hatchery, but 
the loss is not very great. 
The above is very curious and interesting information 
lor most folk, since the popular supposition is that the 
muscallunge has always been a very difficult fish to propa- 
gate artificiallj'. The men of the Fish Commission add 
another bit of curious information regarding the charac- 
teristics of the muscallunge. One might think that the 
operation of stripping the spawn from a big muscallunge 
would be attended with considerable danger to the work- 
men; yet these men say that they find the big fish as 
gentle as lambs. This State fish work has apparently 
met with great success this spring. 
While on the subject of big muscallunge one might 
mention the fact that the gentleman above referred to, 
Mr. W. R. Caldwell, in this same Tomahawk Lake 
caught on Nov. 7 last five fish whose total weight was no 
pounds. There were all taken in two and one-half hours' 
fishing. At that tim.e Mr. Caldwell brought back sixteen 
fish whose average weight here in Chicago was 16 pounds 
12 ounces. This is a better catch than has been reported 
so far this spring from' any quarter. 
The Fifield Chain. 
The Fifield chain of lakes, on the Wisconsin Central 
R. R., is one of the waters which seems always to give 
a good account of itself. It is said that parties this suni- 
mer are opening up a road to a new series of lakes at this 
point, so that anglers going in there will have a show at 
country which has not been fished very hard. This in- 
formation comes to me from two gentlemen who have 
come all the way from Pittsburg, Pa., to fish for muscal- 
lunge in the Fifield country. These gentlemen are Dr. 
Thos. McCann and Mr. R. W. Dickson, and they are 
busily engaged outfitting here in Chicago to-day. They 
go on the advice of a Pittsburg friend, who has fished the 
Fifield countrj' several different seasons, and who always 
goes back there the next time: a very good commentary 
on the excellence of the sport in that locality. Last sum- 
mer I reported the success of Mr. Veatch, of Chicago, at 
that point, the latter building him a cottage and making 
that country his regular stamping ground thereafter. 
These Pittsburg gentlemen arc going in to Feely'.? place, 
on Pike Lake. They will reach a vast variety of coun- 
try from that point, and will no doubt have a very en- 
joyable and successful time. They promise the story of 
their trip Avhen they come out, a few weeks later. 
Mr. Joel Kinney, of Cliicago, is still up at Woodruff, 
Wis., and he is having a hot time after muscallunge. At 
any rate, hi.s last letter says the thermometer is 82 in the 
shade, 
Doiogs of Western Bass Fishcts. 
Our Chicago bass fishermen have been busy as usual 
for the past two or three weeks, and as in the case of the 
muscallunge fishers, they bring back varying stories. Out 
of these conflicting reports we may reach two or three 
conclusions. One of these is that the best of the bass 
flsbfng is now over in the better known of the Indiana 
lakes, and our Chicago anglers are not turning in that 
direction this week. Another fact is that the bass fish- 
ing was very good about the middle of last week, so that 
the many Decoration Day parties had pretty fair suc- 
cess. Upon the other hand, it seems equalh^ sure that 
the parties which went out at the end of last week and 
returned Monday and Tuesday of this week met with 
very poor siiccess, and this seems to apply to nearly all 
the upper Illinois and lower Wisconsin waters, this being 
the region which has taken care of most of our bass fish- 
ers for the past two weeks. 
Mr. A. J. Toolen, Deputy Commissioner of Public 
Works, of Chicago, returned this week from a trip to 
Puckaway Lake, Wis. He caught some fish, but did 
not have a very lucky trip. He saw a great many big 
bass rising and was shrewd enough to suspect the real 
cause of the poor fishing. The sand flies were rising, and 
the fish were gorged on that tender food. Without doubt 
this is the cause of the poor fishing which is complained 
of by all our Chicago anglers this week. The warm 
weather has set the fly to hatching, and the fish are feed- 
ing on the flies. I have often referred to this discovery, 
which was made independently by my dear old friend, 
J. B. H., in our fishing trips in Wisconsin. We turned 
it to very good advantage, and so could the Chicago 
anglers this week if they cared to take to the fly rod, 
and lay aside the bait rod. The fish are feeding at just 
about sundown on these warm days. I should not be 
surprised to hear that some one took advantage of this 
habit of the bass and came back with a very good catch 
one of these days. 
Mr. F. L. Lawrence, of this city, is just back from. 
Hayward, Wis. He killed forty two bass in one day, but 
did not have any muscallunge fishing. 
Mr. John D. Zimmermann, of the People's Gas Light 
& Coke Co., Chicago, left Friday evening for Minocqua, 
Wis., where he will spend some days indulging in his 
specialty of fly fishing for bass. 
Mr. F. N. Wood, of the Chicago Tribune, leaves this 
week for a trip to Fox Lake, Wis. (not Fox Lake, 111.). 
I have earlier mentioned the very kind invitation of Mr. 
D. J. Hotchkiss, of the Fox Lake Representative, to me 
to come up and have some of his good bass fishing with 
him. Not being able to go myself, I sent up another 
newspaper man as an alternate. Mr. Wood is a lone 
fisherman, and would much rather catch a bass than 
eat a breakfast. 
Mr. S. D. Thompson, of this city, is spending most of 
his summer at Toohy's place, at Eagle, Wis., coming- 
down to the city once in a while. When seen to-day Mr. 
Thompson said he had been having very good bass fish- 
ing indeed, as good as has been known in those waters 
for some years. 
Mr. Thomas Ambrose, of this city, starts soon for 
Hayward, Wis., where he will spend some time in a 
fishing trip, his first of this season. Mr. Ambrose later 
on wishes to take a trip for some of the fly fishing on 
Mississippi River bass, of which he read in the Forest 
.\.ND Stream last summer. Mr. Graham H. Harris and 
Mr. W. K. Wells, of this city, are others who have ex- 
pressed a wish to indulge in the same sport. I have 
promised them all to go fishing there with them, and 
indeed am getting to be a cheerful promiser when it 
comes to fishing trips. 
Mr. Fred Gardner and his friend Mr. Harry Miner, of 
this city, have just returned from a bass trip in those old 
and much fished waters. Deep Lake and Cedar Lake, at 
Lake Villa, 111., on the Wisconsin Central R. R. One 
would think that country pretty much fished to death, 
yet on one day Mr. Miner's boat brought in thirty-two 
nice bass. Mr. Gardner also had very fair fortune. 
Mr. H. English, of Von Lengerke & Antoine, this city, 
returned Monday from a trip to the Grass Lake country. 
He caught some bass, but did not have as good success 
as he has usually had in that region. He goes again to- 
day. 
Mr. J. T. Hastings, of this city, who also visited Grass 
Lake, also complains that the bass were not doing their 
share to make his outing a complete success, not rising 
to the frog as might have been expected. These 
anglers say that the local wise men ascribed the poor 
fishing to the fact that the nights are moonlit now, and 
the fish are feeding at night. Indeed, they say the fish 
have been seen feeding in the moonlight. Had these gen- 
tlemen investigated this nightly feeding of the fish they 
would have found confirmation of the theory above men- 
tioned, that the fish are feeding on the fly, and feeding in 
the evening. I hope they may turn this information to 
good use on their next trip. 
]\Ir. B. Greenwood, of this city, went up to Lake 
Villa this past week, meeting only fair success. 
Mr. Chas. Brocklesby returned from a trip to Sand 
Lake, after fair sport this week. 
Dr. Liddy, of this city, is just back from a trip to 
Nippersink Lake, of the Fox Lake regioo, after fairly 
good sport. 
Mr. J. P. Lybock and wife fished at Lake Villa this 
past week. 
Mr. Chas. J. 01k is another one who went up on the 
Central to Lake Villa this past week. 
Mr. D. M. Brooks, of Chicago, fished the waters ad- 
jacent to Lake Villa this week, and had fair luck with 
the bass. 
Mr. M. P. Riley, of this city, had very good luck at 
Sand Lake, near Lake Villa, this past week, on one day 
killing three of those big pickerel which now and then 
turn up. Mr. Riley's three fish weighed respectively 14. 
Ti and 7 pounds, a very good.showing indeed for one day's 
sport. 
Arkansas Bass. 
Mr. Jos. Irwin writes me from Little Rock, Ark., as 
below, regarding fishing in his part of the world: We 
have discovered a new fishing place in Arkansas, only 
visited previous to this year by local sportsmen of that 
section. This is Lake Chico, on the Hamburg & Western 
R. R., 125 miles south of Little Rock. A beautiful club 
house has recently been opened there. Catches of rock 
bass and croppies have been wonderful. Mr. Gray Carroll, 
of this place, took twenty bass at nine casts. Mr. George 
R. Mann, also of this city, took eighteen at six casts, using 
a leader with three flies. Mr. Mann stood on the club 
house dock, and casting a No. 2 Skinner spoon took 
fifty-two bass as fast as he could cast. Such fishing is not 
equaled at any place I ever heard of in this country. 
