110 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Aug. 9, 1902. 
a strike in this ittle place, not bigger than a table cloth. 
I lost him. This made half a dozen bass which I had 
lost in two or three hours. It was a little discouraging, 
but I told Louis that luck did run that waj' sometimes. 
We now ran down the cut-off until we came to the 
mouth of the Beef River. This is not ordinarily a good 
bass ground ; but Louis said he sometimes found one 
under the old bridge which runs across near the rail- 
road track. As we stopped at the mouth of this river, 
meditating whether we should try to ascend it, we saw a 
big swirl close along the planked sides of the bridge 
pier. There was a mass of wreckage in the river which 
prevented the boat going up, so I told Louis to sit still, 
after putting me ashore, while I went on up to see if I 
could raise the bass. I made a dozen or twenty casts 
along the planking before I got a response. Then, all at 
once, there was a most terrifying tug at the line, and the 
rod tip went down sharply. This time the bass was 
hooked solidly, and then we had the biggest fight you 
ever did see. I was directly above the fish and the 
fighting room left me was only about thirty feet square. 
The old fellow evidently had a hole somewhere in the 
plank wall into which he wanted to go. Making a strong 
run for this hole, he bucked into the plank like a ton of 
brick. This stunned the fish a little bit, but presently 
he revived and began to run up and down the sheathing, 
very deep, and onlj^ once in a while jumping. The strain 
put upon him by the powerful rod, added to the injury 
which he had done himself, ended the fight in a few 
minutes, and we put him into the boat; a splendid red- 
eyed, small-mouth bass weighing 4I4 pounds, 
This was something in the way of decisiveness, and I 
began to tell Loiiis Avhat a devil of a fellow I was with 
black bass anyhow. We lost a couple more "strikes and at 
last, just as the next town appeared in sight around the 
bend, we struck the last bass of the day, a little fellow 
of about two pounds. This bass Avhen he struck came 
out from the logs, skipping along the water for about a 
dozen feet. Then he sounded and jumped alternatively, 
making as pretty a fight as any fish I ever felt on the rod. 
In this heavy current he felt as if he might weigh 5 or 6 
pounds. It strained the rod to get him up to the land- 
ing net. 
Total result for the day, more than a dozen strikes and 
only three bass landed, two of them small ones. When 
we werft into shore and told Ira Weeks of our success, he 
looked a little bit incredulous and a little bit scornful at 
the same time. As for me, I did not say .a word. 
As to getting out to this bass fishing. I would sug- 
gest that one go in at Wabasha on the C, M. & St. P. 
R. R., or some point above Lake Pepin. If you go in at 
Wabasha, fish up toward the Chippewa River, and up into 
the Chippewa. La Crosse used to be a good point, but I 
don't believe the-fishing there is as good as it used to be. 
At Wabasha get Ira Weeks and his steam launch, who will 
get for you Louis Longhway, or old Hiram Degneavt, an- 
other local market-fisherman of considerable experience. 
1 am sure Mr. H. B. Jewell, of Wabasha, Minn., would 
be glad to answer any questions as to the stage of the 
river and the like, and so I think would the gentlemen 
mentioned at any of the river points. 
The fishing above Wabasha toward the mouth of the 
Chippewa River is grand at the proper stage of the 
water. In Lake Pepin the sport is not so good, but the 
bass are now beginning to work up above Lake Pepin. 
They tell me^that even above St. Paul on the Mississippi 
River the fishing is good. Personally, I should prefer 
to go below Lake Pepin and above Winona. Mineaska, on 
the C, M. & St. P. R. R., or Winona, or La Crosse, are 
other points where one might go in. This trip is a very 
handy one from Chicago. One can take the evening 
train here, get on the river early in the morning, and 
after one or two days' fishing, take a night train on the 
river which will land him in Chicago in the morning. 
The scenery along the river is bold and picturesque. Dur- 
ing the high waters one can get out into the sloughs and 
traverse what was once a magnificent duck and wood- 
cock country, and which even now occasionally turns out 
good sport. Wabasha is a point very well worth remem- 
bering for quail or <iuck shooting, and I think, indeed, 
that one could get very fair woodcock shooting across the 
river from Wabasha even now, if he had a good dog. No 
one seems to hunt these birds very much, and the 
country looked to me ideal for them. 
At Wabasha I met Henry Trudeau, a French half- 
breed, more than eighty years of age, who comes as near 
being a typical trapper as any one I have met in my life. 
Henry says that last fall he caught fourteen otter in the 
Mississippi bottoms across from Wabasha. He asked me 
to come up this winter and see how he trapped otter. The 
old man has a shack of his own hid over in the wilderness, 
and here he intends to spend his next winter, as he has 
for many winters before, trapping and living alone by 
himself. He does not leave the woods until the very cold 
weather of January comes, when the fur does not move 
very much. 
Altogether, I find this upper Mississippi country very 
interesting and well worth investigation by the sportsman, 
either rod or gun. Especially as to these small-raoutlis, I 
most publicly "register a vow to get even with them. I'll 
tell later what happened the next day. 
How to Carry Fly Dope. 
Dr. W, H. Snyder, of Toledo, O., offers the following 
tip on carrying fly dope : 
"To repay my use for Fox fly dope formula, I will tell 
you an easy way to carry it. Have your chemist put the 
stuff in these collapsible tin tubes. One of the smaller 
ones just fits my whistle pocket and lasts nearly a 
week. No glass to break and it can be thrown away when 
empty- I have tried everything, and this is the best I 
have struck." 
Bass* 
Mr. Wm. Johnson, of this city, caught the small-mouth 
bass of Lake Geneva on the feed day before yesterday, and 
brought twenty-two beauties into camp with him. These 
bass were mostly taken by minnows in deep-water fishing. 
Mr. Bert Waldo, of Fox Lake, Wis., caught twenty- 
one black bass we'ghing 40 pounds one day last week. 
The largest bass weighed pounds. 
Mr, J. Bickford, of Excelsior, Minn., caught thirty-eight 
black bass deep fishing with frog in Lake Minnetonka one 
day this week* 
There has been a much-touted fishing match on Crooked 
Lake, Wis., between two teams, two men each, of anglers 
who are not averse to fishing a side match. There was 
$100 up on the result, and the funny part of it is that the 
four anglers together caught less than a dozen fish in 
two days' fishing. The judges called the thing a tie and 
the gentlemen are to try it all over again to see if they 
can catch a mess of fish. I withhold names, because it is 
rot nice to have one's name mentioned in connection with 
.1 side hunt or side fish in these enlightened days of the 
world. 
Mr. F. G. Browning, at Eagle Lake, Wis., last week 
killed nine handsome bas.s, and at the same place Mr. A. 
Ahrend caught six bass, nice ones. Mr. F. Sandahl, at 
Cedar Lake, near Lake Villa, on the Wisconsin Central 
Road, caught thirty-two bass one day this week, his best 
fish weighing eight pounds. 
Bass Bitiagi. 
Chicago, 111., Aug. i. — The big-moutlis are biting 
again in the upper Illinois waters, and most of the 
parties who went out last week had good luck. About 
the best reported was at the old and much over-fished 
water. Lake Beulah, in Waukesha Comity, Wis., where 
Messrs. Chas. Lawrence and H. Miner took 21 bass and 
II pickerel in one day's fishing, the bass running from 
I J/2 to 4^ pounds each. Similar good fortune is re- 
ported from the Fox Lake and Lake Villa region along 
the Wisconsin Central line. Among others to start this 
afternoon for the latter locality were Messrs. Lawrence 
and Miner, F. Doremus, Lester Williams, Chas. Hanson, 
George Harrison, Carl Hurtle, Geo. Warren, Chas. 
Oik, H. Greenwood, Jas. Maloney, Dr. Beeler and oth- 
ers. The weather is warm but not glaring to-day, and 
granted a similar day to-morrow, these gentlemen should 
hit it about right on the big-mouth proposition. Few of 
our anglers are going to Indiana now, it being supposed 
that the best of the angling seasori there is over. The 
bass fishing in upper Wisconsin is better than in the 
lower part of the State, of course, and we hear more of 
the catches from that region than we formerly did, for 
the simple reason that the muscallunge are getting so 
scarce there that the anglers turn to bass fishing, which 
formerly was so common and so easy that no one cared 
for it. The season has not turned out very many good 
'lunge thus far, though we have still the fall to hear 
from, during which season some of the largest fish are 
usually taken, 
Chicago Fly-Casfing Club. 
The following are the records of the last three events 
of the Chicago Fly Casting Club. The records as orig- 
inally reported for June 21 were incorrect, owing to error 
figuring percentages, wherefore the score is rescinded 
by the secretary, Avho offers the corrected sheets as fol- 
lows : 
Long Obstacle Accuracy & Bait- Delicacy 
Distance Fly, Delicacy, Casting Bait 
Fly, Feet. Per Cent, Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. 
C. F. Brown 70 91 1-3 
H. G. Hascall ... 9-5 2-3 92 
F. N. Peet 95 92 1-3 
H. W. Perce 95 91 2-3 
A. C. Smith 92 1-3 93 2-3 
The scores in distance and accuracy fly hereon are to correct 
record sheet dated June 21. All distance and accuracy scores on 
that sheet are wrong, owing to an error in figuring percentages, 
and are hereby rescinded. 
Winner — Distance and accuracy, fly: H. G. Hascall. 
I. H. Bellows 
93 1-3 
94 1-3 
92 2-3 
91 1-2 
C. F. Brown 
88 2-3 
85 1-2 
W. T. Church 
93 5-6 
94 1-6 
*H. G. Hascall 
89 1-3 
gi 1-3 
98 1-2 
97 1-2 
N. C. Heston 
87 1-6 - 
91 
97 
97 5-6 
94 1-3 
89 1-6 
*F. N. Peet 
94 1-2 
94 5-6 
97 5-6 
97 1-2 
*H. W. Perce 
80 1-6 
81 5-6 
84 2-3 
C. B. Robinson 
95 1-6 
95 
*A. C. Smith 
93 1-3 
92 5-6 
98 2-3 
97 5-6 
*F. S. Smith :. 
92 2-3 
97 2-3 
Re-entries : 
J 
Hascall 
97 1-2 
98 1-6 
94 1-6 
97 2-3 
94 2-3 
96 2-3 
96 2-3 
97 1-6 
A. C. Smith 
89 
98 
Winners — Accuracy and delicacy, fly: 
F. N. Peet; delicacy, bait: 
A. C. Smith. 
I. -H. Bellows 
91 
97 
87 1-12 
96 2-3 
94 5-6 
94 5-6 
*W. T. Church 
96 5-10 
*H. G. Hascall..... 
87 1-6 
86 7-12 
98 
98 2-3 
97 7-10 
99 1-6 
G. A. Hinterleitner, 
91 i-Z 
89 8-10 
96 5-6 
89 1-2 
91 2-3 
86 7-12 
95 
96 1-3 
94 1-10 
90 1-3 
Re-entries: 
Peet 
97 2-10 
97 4-10 
97 2-10 
Winners — Bait casting: H. G. Hascall; delicacy, bait: N. C. 
Heston. 
Back from Minnesota. 
Mr. W. P. Mussey returned to-day from a six weeks' 
trip in the forest country of Miimesota, where he has 
been fishing for bass and having a good time, much to 
his physical benefit. The heavy rains which have pre- 
vailed over the West have not extended to the headwaters 
of the Mississippi River. 
Back from the Mississippi. 
Mr. Byron D. Veatch, of this city, returned this week 
from a two days' trip among the small-mouth bass on the 
upper Mississippi River. Mr. Veatch went in at Pres- 
cott and floated down the river as far as Diamond Bluff. 
He met some rain, but had good fishing m spite of the 
high water. He took some bass on the fly, but also used 
some bait, which is "agin the statoots" of this Mississippi 
River small-mouth fishing. On one Aving dam near Dia- 
mond Bluff he caught eleven grand bass at one station, 
and he was entirely satisfied with the sport he had. He 
found the most killing bait to be a California wabbling 
copper spoon, arranged with two hooks which carried two 
minnows side by side. With this contrivance he caught 
only the largest bass, and had better luck than his friends 
had with any other arrangement whatever. Mr. Veatch 
is infatuated with this Mississippi River fishing, as well 
he might be. His guide was Charles Stapf, of Prescott, 
who charges $2,50 a day. Mr. Veatch says the best fishing 
was above Red Wing, near Diamond Bluff. There is 
nothing in Lake Pepin of any consequence. 
Vhere to Fish. 
Mr. O. D. Wheeler, of the passenger department of tlie 
Northern Pacific Railway, has brought his yearly rail- 
way books to so great a point of excellence that thty 
have come to be awaited with considerable interest by 
sportsmen. His latest hand book of the Northern Pa- 
cific Co. is called "Where to Hunt and Fi.sh." It is 
about as thorough-going and as beautifully illustrated a 
railroad publication as one has ever seen. The horns of 
some of the mountain sheep are curled a little bit ex- 
tensively, but we will let that pass. The best resources 
of the grand sporting country crossed by this railroad 
are placed before the reader in pleasant and effective 
form. 
Called. 
Mr. Calvin S. McChesney, of Troy, N. Y., my old 
Rocky Mountain hunting companion, passed through 
town yesterday, and I grieve very much that he passed 
so quickly that I was unable to see him during his brief 
sojourn here. Mr. McChesney, by card, reports himself 
well and happy. 
Chickens and Ducks. 
Mr. James K. Boyd, of Hempstead, N. Y., wants, to 
knov/ where he can find duck and chicken shooting 
.Sept. 15. That date is a little late for the best of the 
chicken shooting in the lower latitudes, but not too late 
for a certain amount of sport. I would sitggest that he 
try the country in the neighborhood of Detroit, Mich,, 
where he could get a few ducks and possibly a few chick- 
ens. By the way, I believe that if any gentleman wanted 
to find out about the shooting points in Minnesota, he 
might do much worse than write Executive Agent S. 
F. Fullerton, St. Paul, Minn. Mr. Fullerton is, of 
course, in close touch with the game supply all over the 
State, and his advices would be more direct and authen- 
tic than anything I would be apt to have. Mr. Sher- 
wood is busy but good natured, and I would like to 
make him a little trouble if I could. 
For North Dakota, nearly all the little stations as far 
north as Larimore on the Great Northern, will be found 
good. Dawson has lost something of its earlier glories, 
but can undoubtedly furnish duck shooting and some 
small amount of chicken shooting in season. The Turtle 
Mountain country will be found good for ducks, and for 
geese later in the season. 
As to prairie chickens, I dislike very much to give 
definite advice, because this bird is very uncertain. In 
general it is well to be on hand on opening day if pos- 
sible. The State of Wisconsin will have about as good 
prairie chicken shooting as any State in the Northwest, 
this fall. Sept. i in these latitudes is usually pretty hot, 
and the sport is pleasanter later on, but the difference 
of a week or two may mean the difference between birds 
and no birds. 
Sells Frogs. 
The train butcher on the Wisconsin Central fishing 
trains which run out of Chicago to the Lake Villa dis- 
trict, has worked up a fine trade in live frogs, which lie 
sells in bags or baskets on the trains to the anglers 
who are going out for bass fishing. In the better part 
of the season this man has sold as much as 1,000 dozen 
bait frogs in the course of one week. 
Mr. E. E. Bliss, formerly of Saginaw, Mich, (but later 
of Denver, Colo,), writes regarding the .sporting resources 
of his newly adopted home: "The dove season opened 
on the iSth in Colorado, I went out on my wheel on 
the morning of opening day and got 19 nice birds. Fish- 
ing is, of course, the popular theme now. Early in the 
season it was good near here, but for two or three weeks 
now has been poor on most of our trout streams." 
E. Hough. 
Hartford Building, Chicago. III. 
Guileless Lo! 
A FRIEND just down from a fishing trip in northern 
Minnesota, within the boundaries of the new Minnesota 
National Park and Forest Reserve, tells the following 
story : 
"We had thirty miles to make by the team before we 
reached the lake we intended to fish. My friend and 
self occupied the rear seat, the half-breed driver sitting in 
front, A short distance down the forest road we espied 
a Chippewa buck, rifle in hand, and a gunny sack over his 
shotdder. 
"Ride? Yes, he could ride, and he jumped into the 
front seat, carefully resting the gunny sack upon the 
bottom of the rig and between his feet. When he turned 
our way and replied to our queries regarding inoose and 
deer, we became fully aware of the fact that he had run 
across John Barleycorn when in town. 
"Presently he reached down into the depths of the 
gunny sack and brought out a full pint flask of whisky and 
at once proffered it to us. Having scruples against in- 
dulging in Lumber Jack's whisky, we declined. The half- 
breed driver threw back his head and allowed the amber 
liquid to guggle-guggle-guggle down his throat, and our 
Indian brave did the same thing, and when the two drinks 
had been scored and the cork replaced, but half the 
original contents remained in the bottle. The flask was 
carefully replaced in the gtmny sack. 
"Realizing that the Indian was inclined to talk, we plied 
h.im with questions and learned more or less regarding 
the Indian customs of his tribe. How much was truth 
and how much plain, unadulterated lie was left for us to 
determine. It was a long, rough drive and a correspond- 
ingly long time between drinks, for Lo reached into his 
sack and produced a second fresh bottle filled to the neck. 
Again was the cork drawn and a tender made to and 
refused by us, but due justice was done to the situation 
by the driver and the Indian, the half-emptied bottle being 
corked and again returned to its resting place. 
"The Indian now began to talk on his own account, and 
was given to bragging as to his marksmanship, and volun- 
teered to give us a demonstration. We let him, and, as we 
imagined would be the case, he did not come within a 
rod of his target, at which he was somewhat crestfallen. 
"We continued to pound along in_ and out and around 
stumps. It v/as a long, tiresome ride, and appreciating 
