Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1921-12-07
The Best MuSky WaterS
I KnO0V i'm WiSCOnSin
Reprinted by Permission,
Cutters RecreatiOn)


Big Woods turning over IN his
mind various ways 20 keep the
ten-pound musky off his hook for
the two or possibly three days 1t
may take 10 catch one weighing
thirty or forty pounds. How ne
wakes up
He wears out his arm casting
at every likely pocket in the best
weed-bed Of the lake at the best
hour of the most favorable day.
He gets an occasional thrill as an
old-timer swims in fifty feet or
more. level with his spoon but
without the slightest intention to
strike. and he cusses muskles and
weeds and tackle without distlnc-
ton. The next noon he makes a
practice cast from the boat land
ing. and the prize fish Of the
season strikes
If, on the other hand, the fish
are striking freely, the first may
seize the lure like a tiger; the
next. twice as large, merely in
veigles himself upon the hook,
and the angler cant tell for five
minutes whether he has a fish or
a weed.
After ne is hooked firmly, he
NAV fight half an hour before he
Is within gaffing distance, and
then 90 off for another ten-min-
ute battle to prove he isn't a quit
ter: or he may give the angler a
calculating look and say TO him
self: oh, hell. what's the use?
turn over on his side and let him
wind him up TO the side of the
boat without a struggle.
Temperamental? Deedy yes
He's the most temperamentalfish
that. swims-and thass his charm.
Once you've proved the fish are
in the lake, but failed to hook
him, you're lost. It's like hunt
ing grizzlies. Once you've sight
ed the big one. you've got TO
stick. Every failure makes you
madden and more determined.
Then you're a musky fan, indeed.
Northern Wisconsin, of course,
has the widest reputation as the
best muskie country. Put one
leg Of a compass on any lake IN
northern Wisconsin and draw a
ten-mile circle. and you'll include
a dozen lakes famed for big or
fighting muskies. Ten out of the
twelve will be good pike lakes,
too. which is a good thing for the
fisherman who gets tired Of Mr.
MIskie waiting two or three
DAYS 20 make up his mind. With
the same tackle.but a minnow IN
stead of a spoon for lure, he can
drop down beside a weed-bed and
fish for wall-eyes-and probably
pick up a big muskie on the first
strike.
This is true of the muskie
lakes I've fished. and want to
made famOus-those within five
or ten miles of Boulder Junction
postoffice and station, which Is
about twenty miles north of
Woodruff. The real center of
this region. would say, is White
Sand Lake. the second deepest IN
Villas County. Trout lake being
the deepest. Within ten miles are
Ballard. Star, Boulder, High,
Fishtrap and a dozen or more
little lakes, TO say nothing OF
puddle" from which big mus
kies are freely taken.
I've said IL was the muskie' S
temperament that makes a man
a muskie fan. George ID. LOvick,
who runs a resort on White Sand
lake, at Boulder Junction, took a
day off last summer 10 guide per
sonally a party of eight infiuen-
tual OhiOans who had gone north
for big ones and whose walls were
almost being heard back home
after they had spent a week with
out seeing a gray fin. He had
them fish Boulder till they were
prepared TO swear there wasn't a
fish in the lake. And then, not a
hundred feet away from the three
boats, a woman got a strike and
after fifty minutes she had the
fish in her bOat-twenty-two
pounds Of pure steel-wire muscle.
Were the Ohio fishermen sore,
but convinced? Well. not quite
convinced. The final argument
came the next day. They had