102 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Jan. 24, 1914. 
but all things are great or small by comparison, 
and a two and a half pound speckled trout from 
a trickle is indeed a large fish. 
I found him where a jam created quite a 
pool, at least three feet of water, well shaded 
by low down-hanging trees, and made a veritable 
snare for hooks by out-reaching elm roots. There 
was not current enough to bear my bait into the 
pool, so I snapped it in—you know the method, 
make a bow of the rod tip and suddenly release 
the line—it’s all right unless you happen to hook 
your finger. Well, the hook worked just right, 
didn’t snag anywhere, but struck the surface with 
an inviting “Plop!” Instantly, without any fuss 
or excitement, the big fellow had it. That is 
the way a large trout usually bites upon bait, at 
once or not at all. I know the fellows say that 
there is little sport in fighting a fish in a circum¬ 
scribed area, but I assert that it takes more skill 
to conquer a good fish in such a pool than where 
the angler has lots of room, as upon the Peshti- 
go, for instance. What a rumpus that fish did 
create. How the water boiled as he raved around 
the pool. I remember as though it were yester¬ 
day, a catbird, disturbed by the noise, came out 
of a thicket and scolded most nastily. Today 
whenever I hear a catbird yowl I think of that 
piscatorial battle. I was glad my rod was stiff, 
for otherwise the fish would have secured suf¬ 
ficient slack to gain the refuge of one of those 
elm roots. Well, at last I played him out, got 
him by the gills, and threw him flopping and 
kicking, well back from the pool’s edge. I have 
enjoyed many a triumph on big and little streams, 
on lakes and sea since then, but somehow that 
looms large on memory’s horizon. 
As I said, I kept the secret for four years 
and many a fine basket of fish did I take; then 
I gave it away and the stream was literally 
skinned in two seasons. I visited the water last 
year and took a single little fish. Of course, I 
inquired about the stream, and was told that a 
farmer had secured two cans of fry from the 
state some ten years before I made the discovery, 
and, though he watched the stream jealously for 
two or three years, never saw a trout. I know 
another stream, apparently ideal for trout, into 
which several thousand fry have been dumped, 
but they have never been heard from. Now, I 
have my own theory about them—but the fire is 
out and we must turn in. 
Minnesota’s New Game Preserve. 
Norwood Minn., Jan. 10, 1914. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Just to keep you posted I enclose map of 
Twp. in northern Itasca County, which was 
designated as a game and bird refuge by action of 
the Board at its meeting in St. Paul, Jan. 7th, 
1914. 
After three weeks spent in taking observa¬ 
tions last October, I estimate the Twp. con¬ 
tained at least 400 deer, 30 moose and 2,000 part¬ 
ridge. 
At point indicated by O, I saw two otter 
catching live fish and eating them. At point in¬ 
dicated by X there was a large beaver house with 
new cuttings. The roads indicated on map are 
not much more than foot trails now. 
The refuge system is just fairly started in 
this state. I hope within the next four years to 
be able to dot the state with them. 
GEO. J. BRADLEY. 
There are 16 maples in the United States, 
most of them being eastern species. The most 
valuable, not only because of the product of its 
sap but also of the lumber, is sugar maple. 
Toumsh ip JV° 60 JVC Range, A® 24 JV 4™ Mer 
wt/'SOX 
PUBLISHED er JEWETT &SON ST PAUL 
Map of Itasca County, Minnesota 
How Did “Old Camper” Solve This Problem? 
Forest and Stream Readers are Invited to Send Their Solutions. 
Editor Forest and Stream: As a more or 
less seasoned camper, I 'have dealt with some 
difficult situations, but one that was a little out 
of the ordinary and rather perturbing happened 
last summer while I was on a trip through he 
Canadian wilderness. My party originally com¬ 
prised four, but two had been forced to return 
and left me with one guide, Pete, to carry out a 
long contemplated trip through a series of unex¬ 
plored k'kes. Pete had gone off one afternoon 
to cut a trail on a portage, we were to make the 
next morning to another lake, and was not to 
return until after nightfall. About four o’clocx 
in the afternoon I was surprised indeed to see 
a canoe come around one of the islands and 
make for my camp. On going down to the land¬ 
ing, I found the canoe occupied by an American 
gentleman and two ladies, one his wife and the 
other her sister. It seems that they were of a 
party of five or six city people who had come 
into the wilderness with four guides, and who 
had stopped down the lake a number of miles 
for a stay of several weeks. The gentleman that 
morning had invited his wife and her sister to go 
with him in a canoe up the lake, but under the 
influence of a favoring gentle wind, and the 
beauty of the scenery, they had wandered farther 
than first intended. Following through the 
islands and going in and out of bays and arms 
of the lake, they had become very much tangled 
up, and in fact were completely lost as to direc¬ 
tion of home when they reached my camp. Af¬ 
ter some questioning and explanation, I deter¬ 
mined the approximate location of their camp, 
but it was late in the afternoon, and the party 
were undeniably hungry, as they had had nothing 
to eat since breakfast. 
The least I could do was to extend all the 
hospitality the camp afforded, and I took a men¬ 
tal inventory of what I i. uld do. There were half 
a dozen trout already prepared down by the 
spring, and Pete had dressed four partridges in 
the morning for future use. I had lots of flour 
and “fixins,” about a pound of more or less vig¬ 
orous butter left in a five pound pail, some lard, 
salt pork and bacon, a quart of cold boiled pota¬ 
toes, a peck of “Murphies” still raw, a two-fist 
sized chunk of dried cheese, some tea and coffee, 
and a cooking outfit for four people. The pres- 
-ence of the ladies rendered it imperative tha: 
some “shine” should be imparted to camp cook¬ 
ing and the meal had to be done inside an hour 
How was I to go about it and what could be 
served up in a tempting and appetizing fashiin? 
After thinking the matter over, I decided to- 
[This is too good to go on with. Every 
