The Chautauqua Muskallunge. 
I have read with much interest the article in 
Forest and Stream of Nov. 3, by Mr. Louis 
Rhead on the Chautauqua maskinonge [muskal¬ 
lunge], and I can agree readily and fully with 
most that Mr. Rhead says regarding the ex¬ 
cellence of this fish, not only as a game fish, but 
as an article of food. His description of the 
methods by which it is captured is particularly 
interesting. 
Mr. Rhead is quite right in stating that the 
Chautauqua muskallunge is a species quite dis¬ 
tinct from that of the St. Lawrence and the 
Great LakeSj but he is in error in regarding it 
as specifically identical with that of the small 
lakes of Minnesota and Wisconsin. As a matter 
of fact, three species of muskallunge are now 
recognized as inhabiting our northern waters; 
namely, (1) the original muskallunge (Esox 
masquinongy ) which occurs in the Great Lakes, 
the upper St. Lawrence river, in certain lakes 
and streams tributary to the Great Lakes, and 
possibly in a few lakes in the upper Mississippi 
valley; also in certain Canadian waters of the 
Great Lakes. This species is perhaps most com¬ 
mon in lakes Erie and Michigan and among the 
Thousand Islands. (2) The great northern pike 
or unspotted muskallunge (Esox immaculatus ), 
known from Eagle lake and other small lakes in 
northern Wisconsin and Minnesota. This species 
may be distinguished from the Great Lakes mus¬ 
kallunge, in that the body is entirely unspotted 
or merely with vague dark cross shades. The 
tail is said to be a little more slender and the 
fins a little higher. (3) The Chautauqua or 
Ohio muskallunge (Esox ohiensis'). This species 
occurs most abundantly in Lake Chautauqua; it 
is known, however, from the waters tributary to 
the Ohio; namely, Conneant lake. Pa.; the 
Mahoning river, Ohio; the French Broad river 
near Asheville, N. C.; Deckers creek, a tributary 
of the Monongahela at Morgantown, W. Va ; 
and from the Ohio river itself at Evansville. 
This species differs greatly in appearance from 
that of the Great Lakes species; also from that 
of the lakes of Minnesota and Wisconsin. 
As these three species are not known to in¬ 
tergrade, and as their habits are entirely dis¬ 
tinct, they must be recognized as three distinct 
species. They may be distinguished by the fol¬ 
lowing key: 
a. Sides grayish, with round or squarish 
blackish spots, not coalescing to form 
bands . Masquinongy. 
aa. Sides brassy, with narrow dark cross¬ 
shades, which break up into vaguely 
outlined dark spots . Ohiensis. 
aaa. Sides' grayish, unspotted or with very 
vague dark cross-shades. Immaculatus. 
This species was originally described in 1854 
by Dr. Kirtland from a specimen taken in the 
Mahoning river. The real home of the species, 
however, is in Chautauqua lake, only occasional 
individuals having been taken Hs“\'-here in the 
Ohio basin. As early as 1818 Rafinesque ob¬ 
tained it in the Ohio river. He says: “Tt is 
one of the best fishes in the Ohio; its fle c h is 
very delicate and divides easily, as in the salmon, 
into large plates as white as snow. It is called 
salmon pike, white pike, white Tack or "bite 
pickerel and picancau b'anc by the Mis¬ 
sourians. It reaches a length of five feet.” It 
would appear from this that the muskallunge was 
a common, well-known fish in the Ohio too years 
ago, even if we make some allowance for a pos¬ 
sible misapplication by Rafinesque of some of the 
vernacular names. 
As a game fish the Chautauqua muskallunce 
is by many held in very high esteem. Though 
it may not be a great game fish in the best sense, 
its size, which is often enormous, renders its 
capture and landing by means of hook and line 
an undertaking by no means devoid of exertion 
and interest. It is usually taken by trolling either 
with a spoon or good-sized minnow. During the 
last week in September the spoon is chiefly in 
use by local anglers. A comparatively short line 
is used, and the boat is rowed only fast enough 
to keep the tackle in shape, the spoon being kept 
only a short distance under the water. Later in 
the season minnows are used. The “chub” 
(Semotilns atromaculatus ) is the minnow most 
used early in the fall, but later, when the water 
becomes colder the “shiner” (Notropis cornutus) 
is regarded as better bait. The “cisco” (Notropis 
hudso-nius ) is also an excellent muskallunge bait 
and is said to constitute a considerable part of 
the regular food of this fish. As a matter of 
fact, the muskallunge will doubtless feed upon 
almost any species of fish found in the lake. 
As a food fish the muskallunge is a superior 
fish. Dr. Kirtland says that “epicures consider 
it one of the best fishes of the west,” and Mr. 
J. L. Beaman affirms that “as a food fish there 
is nothing superior to it. It ranks with the sal¬ 
mon and speckled trout and surpasses the black 
and striped bass. The meat is almost as white 
as snow, fine-grained, nicely laminated, and the 
flavor is perfect.” The quality of the meat seems 
to improve upon keeping, being found more juicy 
and better flavored three or four days after cap¬ 
ture. 
The muskallunge is as voracious as the pike, 
and 80 pounds of muskallunge represent several 
tons of minnows, white fish and the like. It is 
not a common fish; its great size and voracity 
perhaps account for this. As good old Charles 
Flallock has said, the muskallunge “is a long, 
slim, strong and swift fish, in every way formed 
for the life it leads, that of a fierce and daunt¬ 
less marauder.” Barton W. Evermann. 
Temagami Bass Fishing. 
Washington, D. C., Nov. 2. — Editor Forest 
and Stream: In common with my brethren of 
the angle, my attention for the last two years 
or more has been attracted to the wonderfully 
lurid and pictorial advertisements of the fishing 
possibilities in the Temagami region, Province 
of Ontario, and this year I determined to visit 
the range of lakes about which so much has 
been written, and see for myself if fish were 
as numerous as has been claimed by the various 
persons having houses of call in the region, 
and canvassers for the railroads. 
I may premise by stating that Temagami 
Station is reached by the Grand Trunk Rail¬ 
way from Toronto after a ride of less than 
twenty-four hours. At Temagami Station is 
a very excellent hotel kept by a Mr. D. O’Con¬ 
nor, who has done an enormous amount of work- 
in developing this region. This gentleman has 
built three extremely comfortable hotels, one 
at Temagami Station, called the Ronnoco, an¬ 
other the Temagami Inn, some fifteen or twenty 
miles from the station, and the Lady Evelyn 
Inn, fifteen or sixteen miles from the last. All 
three are of modern construction. At either of 
these hotels one may have comfortable and well 
furnished rooms with bath rooms attached, and 
within three minutes’ row of the fishing grounds. 
I should say, however, that one need not ex¬ 
pect to have all the comforts of civilization in 
the Temagami country without paying corre¬ 
spondingly for them. 
In the month of August there are no flies or 
mosquitoes, and the small-mouthed black bass 
are exceedingly numerous and are taken by 
trolling with live minnows. They will not take 
the fly at this time. The best way of trolling is 
to hire a competent guide, who has a good St. 
Lawrence double-ended skiff, and with a plenti¬ 
ful supply of live minnows, start about 6 A. M. 
for the haunts of the bass. One hook only at 
the end of a four-foot double gut leader is 
baited with a good-sized, well-kicking minnow, 
and the line is allowed to run out from 60 to 
80 feet from the stern of the boat. Enough 
lead is fastened to the line just above the leader 
swivel to keep the line from 4 to 6 feet below 
the surface. The guide pulls leisuraly along 20 
or 30 feet from' the shore and you wait develop¬ 
ments. I noticed that many of my fishing 
brethren lost their fish by striking too quickly; 
it is better if a slight tug is felt to give out a 
little line, 10 or 12 feet, while the boat is still 
moving, and then to strike hard and quickly, 
reeling in fast enough to keep the fish from 
running up on you and leaping in an effort to 
disengage the hook. The last fish I caught at 
the end of my stay at the Lady Evelyn Inn 
when struck leaped about 6 or 8 feet in the air 
and then ran up toward the boat, breaking 
nearly every 10 or 12 feet. Having a quick 
multiplying reel. I was able to land him after 
about 20 minutes’ play. Fie weighed 4V2 pounds. 
We had an excellent opportunity of seeing how 
the bass examined and played with minnows 
during one day’s fishing when there was not 
ripple enough on the water to make trolling 
successful, letting the boat drift over a reef of 
rocks some 15 feet below the surface. We saw 
through the clear water scores of bass feeding 
apparently on the small crawfish, of which 
myriads are found in the lakes. We allowed our 
baits to sink nearly to the bottom and watched 
carefully the movements of the fish. They would 
swim slowly to the bait, smell it and then back 
off a few inches; if the minnow moved a little 
the fish would again approach, moving around 
it with great caution, a dash and the minnow 
was swallowed. We noticed particularly one old 
fish swimming first near the bait on one side 
of the boat and then on the other; in fact, 
three or four times my own minnow was partly 
swallowed and rejected. This venerable fish 
we called “Scar-faced Charlie,” because of a 
white cicatrix on the upper part of his head, 
showing that he had probably been hooked 
sometime. He was very old; too cunning for 
us, so we left him on his reef. 
I remained at the Lady Evelyn Inn eight days, 
and during this time my average daily catch was 
about 24 pounds, but it must be remembered 
that by the law of Ontario a fisherman is not per¬ 
mitted to take over eight fish a day, and all fish 
under 10 inches in length must be thrown back. 
The advertisements that can be seen in the 
newspapers and railroad folders, speaking of 
the great numbers of fish in these lakes are not 
exaggerated. The water is alive with small 
black bass, salmon trout, wall-eyed pike and 
pickerel. During the August fishing season, the 
large salmon trout remain in the deep, cold 
water in the lake, and must be fished for with a 
copper wire line 200 or 300 feet in length, and 
with a large trolling spoon or lure. This kind 
of fishing did not appeal to me, and I did not 
attempt it. but there were a number of parties 
at the hotel who seemed to take delight in 
taking these trout weighing from 10 to 20 
pounds. There was a good deal of work in 
these captures, and it seemed to me like pulling 
in a heavy weight from the bottom of the lake. 
I have fished for black bass in many localities, 
but never had the excellent sport I experienced 
the past summer in the Temagami region. 
As I have before remarked, in the pursuit of 
fishing, the expenses are rather heavy; in the 
first place, the hotel charges are large, and you 
are expected to pay your guides from $3 to $ 3 - 5 ° 
a day, provide him with food and buy minnows, 
which at 2 cents each bring pretty well up the 
items of expenditures. A good many persons 
