Pleasant Days in Michigan. 
Facts About Bass. 
Cheboygan county, the northernmost of the 
southern peninsula, facing the south channel of 
the straits of Mackinac, and bathed in the waters 
of Superior, Michigan and Huron, seems to be 
blessed with more inland lakes and trout streams' 
than any of its sisters. First in size is Mullet 
Lake, fifteen miles long and five wide; then Burt 
Lake, about two-thirds as large; Black, Douglas 
and Monroe lakes, besides some smaller ponds, 
all of which are considered good for various 
kinds of fish and afford good sport for the set¬ 
tlers as well as many a tourist who spends his 
vacation in that delightful region. 
Having been to each lake more than once, and 
having a deeply inrooted love of nature im¬ 
planted, I may be pardoned for expressing the 
preference that I have for that lovely gem, 
Douglas Lake, with its clean sand beaches and 
pure spring-fed water that even the most terrific 
storm leaves unroiled, its attractive shores with 
wooded points and bays that give pleasure to the 
eye, and also its pretty wooded is’and of a cres¬ 
cent shape that with its pines, balsams, birches, 
maples and beeches as well as its lovely trails 
as it were through nature’s heart, is ever “a 
thing of beauty and a joy forever." 
Here I hied me in early August and found a 
number of old friends who had already fore¬ 
gathered from Indianapolis, Chicago and many 
lesser places and were having a.good time gen¬ 
erally with boating, fishing, tramping and nightly 
bonfires, and I was most cordial.y welcomed. 
Ere long 1 took the “Wanderer” from its place 
of storage and was off for a preliminary row 
in my little eleven-foot canvas boat. At the head 
of the island I landed and strolled over the trails 
for an hour, then rowed back to the hotel, the 
pure uncontaminated air having given me an 
appetite to enjoy the good things set out by Mrs. 
Bryant, and the after-dinner society of those 
who like myself had thrown dull care to the 
winds and come here for rest and pleasure. 
Tramps through the island and the woods near 
by, fishing and boating trips, and the evening- 
camp-fires on the beach were of daily occur¬ 
rence, and when some good voices rang out in 
song and glee, everyone felt that i' was good to 
be here, and the sweet sleep that followed was 
truly of the best. 
Last fall one of the best of the lake habitues, 
George Groves, was removed by death, and his 
presence was missed, and many regrets and heart 
felt eulogies were expressed that showed the 
esteem that one and all felt for our some time 
comrade. 
The ba d eagles that have made this locality 
their heme for many years, but last year had 
deserted their old nest on account of the fires 
and proximity of Michigan University students, 
have returned to their former nest and are daily 
seen about the lake I cut a trail to the vicinity 
of the nest, and it afforded me much pleasure to 
remain in concealment and watch them for hours 
and note their peculiar calls and antics. The 
camp of the civil engineering class and biological 
students of the University of Michigan on South 
Fishtail Bay was well attended, and fifty tents 
occupied by over one hundred students and pro¬ 
fessors was quite attractive, and daily classes 
were seen going to various parts of the lake and 
shores pursuing their special occupations. Much 
credit must be given to the officers in charge for 
the strict discipline and order maintained. It is 
very gratifying to find that the large forest near 
the hotel, known as the Big Woods, was but 
little injured by the forest fire that swept through 
it two years ago, and it is still a favorite spot 
for a tramp over the trails and presents some 
very fine views through the undulating ground 
of these open and attractive woods. 
A fc iv days later a friend and I went to the 
famous Big Springs, a hole about eighty-five feet 
deep and perhaps 500 feet across at top and 250 
at bottom, filled with forest trees, and in it are 
fully fifty springs that unite and form Carp 
Creek that flows into Burt Lake, and is full of 
fine trout: It is a remarkable and very interest¬ 
ing spot and many a fine string of trout is caught 
in this stream each year. 
While there are many small-mouth black bass 
and pike in Douglas Lake—and the bass are the 
finest, cleanest and sweetest that 1 have ever seen 
—they were not biting the minnow at all freely. 
Judge Ermston, Dr. Ayres. Mr. Geary, Mr. Sher¬ 
wood, Dr. Geiger and several others who were 
out every day had poor luck, seldom bringing in 
over a half dofcen bass. I caught a few on arti 
ficial flies in September and Gen. McKee and I 
took a few in October on minnows, but as a rule 
they would catch the minnow, kill it and drop it. 
Mr. Hickman, of Chicago, an expert bait-caster, 
however, caught in a little over two weeks as 
many as eighty, using only a light colored wood 
minnow, casting persistently in the same place 
three or four times. The lake is full of food, 
minnows being quite abundant. It struck me that 
the bass became somewhat belligerent at the re¬ 
peated casting in their vicijiity and went for it 
with malice. Be that as it may, he got them, but 
1 long ago gave up using phantom minnows and 
similar lures, for I would much prefer to get a_ 
single bass on a fly in fair fight than a dozen on 
such a contrivance. 
A few years ago the ques'ion whether 1 ass 
spawned in the late fall as well as in spring came 
up, as so many bass were taken that were full 
of what seemed almost r’pe spawn, and I men¬ 
tioned the matter in Forest and Stream, but 
never saw a reply. This season many were so 
found, notably one caught by Mr. Gear}', of 
Terre Haute, which weighed four and a quarter 
pounds and seemed to he so ful 1 of spawn that 
at the suggestion of the fishermen present he 
liberated it, and the ques'ion again came up and 
I was asked to try to have it answered. I wrote 
to Mr. fieeman ,of the Waramaug black bass 
hatchery. New Preston, Conn., in the interest of 
oilr coterie of fishermen, feeling sure that he 
could intelligently give the information desired. 
I have just received his reply and take pleasure 
in giving it to the readers of Forest and Stream, 
believing that it will prove of general interest, 
as he has been engaged in propagating black bass 
since 1903 and knows of what he writes. He 
says: 
“Small-mouth bass so far as we know never 
spawn in the fall or winter months. The spawn¬ 
ing takes place in late May and June in this lati¬ 
tude, according to water temperature at this 
time. A water temperature of about 60 degrees 
is necessary to ripen the eggs, and only when 
this takes place will they spawn. Even before 
the bass are ready to spawn in the spring the 
eggs, that are to be deposited a year later, are 
beginning to develop. By the following fall this 
development is nearly complete. When the water 
temperature has fallen to say 50 degrees, the fish 
become less active and finally at the approach 
of winter enter into what is called the hibernat¬ 
ing period. In this state they remain until the 
following spring, when the water temperature 
rises to a point sufficient to start their activity. 
“During the hibernating period the fish take 
no food, make no growth, and lose very little 
so far as relates to their general condition. For 
this reason it is apparent the eggs should be 
fairly well developed before they enter the hiber¬ 
nating state, since there would not be sufficient 
time after the)' become active in the spring be¬ 
fore their spawning time arrives. The bass have 
but one spawning season during the year and 
that is always in the late spring or ear y sum¬ 
mer, when the water temperature is about 64 
degrees. 
“The period of spawning may extend over 
some fifty days, in which time a single female 
may make three separate deposits of eggs. A 
single male quite frequently may hatch out three 
separate schools of fish during the spawning sea¬ 
son. I have record of one male here at the 
hatchery that hatched out four broods in a single 
spawning season, but that is unusual. Nearly all 
of our males hatch three broods, or at least give 
their attention to three different lots of eggs 
during the fifty days that make up the spawning 
period.” 
I am very grateful to Mr. Beenian for his fu l 
response and important information. In his cir¬ 
culars lie gives much valuable information be¬ 
sides which would interest anyone, particularly 
so if intent on stocking lakes or streams, or 
desirous of knowing more of the habits of the 
1 ass. 
As usual, my sojourn in the Noi“h con irued 
long after all other hotel guests had departed, 
for I 'ove the October weather that is usually 
enjoyed in this latitude. The family moved out 
Oct. 10, and I was the sole occupant thereafter 
for three weeks, getting my own meals as in 
earlier days of camping out. Gen. McKee and 
Major Compton, of Indianapolis, were still 
camping at the cottage of the former, and the 
evenings were genially passed together, and 
three-handed King Pedro was very thoroughly 
exploited, until Mr. C. had a telegram calling 
him home, after which we two who were left 
spent most of our time together on the water. 
