May 3, 1913 
FOREST AND STREAM 
563 
small-meuth put up the prettiest battle imagin¬ 
able, lasting fully twenty minutes. There was 
not a second's lull in the entire period. He 
rushed and cleared the water two feet in sev¬ 
eral instances, and then- would go straight to 
the bottom. After taking forty feet of line, 
he broke for the boat like a flash. Kennedy 
did his best to reel up the slack, but in an in¬ 
stant he again cleared the water not eight feet 
from the boat, shook his head vigorously, and 
again went down and won his fight. Everybody 
felt badly when Kennedy brought up his empty 
hook. The guide ex)flained that the bass had 
fought until he had worked a slot in his mouth 
and turned the hook out. The hook used was a 
blue steel, thin variety, about two inches in length. 
The next morning at 5:30 o'clock, we were at 
it again, casting before breakfast. Kennedy and 
E. K. Crothers in one boat, with the former 
casting and the latter paddling, had the big ex¬ 
perience of the day. At a point forty feet from 
the bank, Kennedy dropped his spoon close to 
the shore. There was a huge wallop, but no 
strike. 
“Missed it," murmured Crothers. 
The words were no sooner uttered than 
there w’as a strike. The fish turned completely 
over, coming half out of the water in doing it. 
It was then that Kennedy got the sensation ■ 
of “some strike.” It really appeared as if there 
was the strength of a man at the other end, and, 
from then on. there was “something doing.” 
Crothers yelled, “Let him go!” and com¬ 
menced paddling vigorously for deep water. 
Kennedy let him take some sixty feet of the 
line before checking, and as he did, the fish 
came out of the water away off to one side. 
Down he went a.gain, taking more line. 
Crothers called to his son Kirk to come on 
with another boat. Crothers was handicapped 
with the small, hewed paddle, but made good 
progress, toward deep water. Kennedy had the 
fight of his life with that fish. After fifteen 
minutes, his thumb began to ache, and he told 
Crothers that he was afraid that he could not 
hold the fellow much longer. He worked from 
one side of the boat to the other, down and up, 
then in and out. Kennedy was getting weak, 
and his face showed a pale hue. There was a 
.22 rifle in the boat and Crothers asked Kennedy 
to haul him in toward the boat. He complied 
and the fish came with steady, short jerks. At 
a point twenty feet from the boat, he came to 
the surface enough to show his shining back, 
but he did not jump, indicating that he was 
weakening. Crothers seized the rifle and put 
a bullet through his spine, back of his neck. 
The shot was a spectacular one and the fish 
turned over on his side. He was then hauled 
to the boat and lifted in by Crothers. The 
monster weighed fifteen pounds and was forty- 
three inches in length. He took up about all 
the spare room in the boat. Kennedy let out 
a whoop like a Comanche Indian and aroused 
the echoes. The prize was a muskellunge and 
was too big to eat. He was packed in ice and 
a week later mounted. He now adorns the 
dining room of Kennedy’s home in Bloom¬ 
ington. Ill, In his mouth dangles the No. 5 
skimmer spoon and little triangle of red flannel 
that lured him to his doom. 
That was but one of many fishing incidents 
that made up a memorable trip, 'W’e sighted 
five wild deer and could have easily secured one 
or more of them but for the season (Septem¬ 
ber) jirotection. Our distance was bift forty 
yards, the group comprising two bucks and 
three does. They made a pretty sight as they 
scampered through the timber, after our ap¬ 
proach. 
Crothers caught two five-pound, red-eye, 
small-mouth bass after a long battle, one re¬ 
quiring forty-four minutes to land. Kennedy, 
who was handling the paddle, attempted to take 
a snap-shot with his camera, but caught him 
just before the leap from the water, his back 
barely showing. 
We caught eighty pounds of wall-eyed pike 
while at Owl Lake. On the return trip from 
the latter lake, we found a porcupine inspecting 
one of our boats at the north end of Long 
Lake, but all films were used in the camera 
and unfortunately we could not photograph him. 
It was with regret that the wagon and 
teamster was descried slowly approaching our 
camp at the appointed time, at the end of the 
week, to haul us back to Mercer, .\fter a fond 
farewell and with warm spots in our hearts 
for Long Lake and Owl Lake, we hastened 
back to civilization and the daily grind of our 
desks. 
Fishing in Louisiana. 
New Orleans, La., April 20 .—Editor Forest 
and Stream: Fishermen, much disappointed by 
hafl conditions of weather and water during the 
first two weeks of April, have been having the 
best sport of many seasons during the past week. 
Bass, croakers, perch and green trout are biting 
well in the bayous, and the streams tributary to 
the lower Mississippi, despite the cooler weather, 
but the apparent increased prevalence of the 
finny tribes, probably is due more to clearing 
water after the rains of early April than to any 
real additions to the fish census. 
Sunday, T. H. Lyons, Sheldon Thompson 
and Teddy Lyons, Jr, caught 300 perch and a 
few green trout at Mr. Lyons’ camp near Dun¬ 
bar. At Chef Menteur, ten boats were out Sun¬ 
day, and all secured good catches. J. W. Bark- 
dull got 185 croakers, probably the record catch 
of the day. The water at the Chef is reported 
muddier than at any of the other fishing resorts. 
On Barataria, Alfred Petit. William .\nderson 
and Ed Putnam got fifteen dozen perch at 
Peach Orchard. P. H. McaugLhlin and .Alfred 
Forno, fishing at Walker’s Landing, took ten 
dozen perch, while James McCan and Sidney 
Rivero, at Bertheud’s I.anding, hooked twenty- 
two dozen. Juan del Sur. 
A Whopping Brook Trout. 
Valentine, Neb., April 15 .—Editor Forest 
and Stream: On Saturday. April 5, while fishing 
in the Minnechaduza Creek, a small spring stream 
tribiuarc' to the Niobrara River, in Cherry 
county, Nebraska. I caught a brook trout (Sal- 
velinus fonlinalis) weighing five pounds and si.x 
ounces. It measured 2 tJ 4 inches from end of 
nose to tip of tail, and 15J4 inches around the 
thickest part of the body. It is a male fish and 
a mo.st beautiful specimen. It is so much larger 
than any brook trout I have ever seen before 
that the thought occurred to me how large do 
brook trout grow and what is the record size? 
It is not infrequent that rainbow trout arc taken 
from the streams in this and adjoining counties 
that will tip the scales at five pounds, but the 
brook trout rarely weighs more than two pounds. 
Perhaps you or some of your readers may 
be able to give some reliable information with 
reference to what size the brook trout do attain. 
The trout I caught 1 have still alive in a tank 
supplied by spring water where I am keeping 
him as a proof of this fish story. 
M. E. O'Brien, 
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