The Mail-Journal, Volume 19, Number 26, Milford, Kosciusko County, 14 July 1982 — Page 14

THE MAIL-JOURNAL—Wed., July 14,1982

14

Summer

’ ■’’’■■'■ ' T; '/•■’’>■■«*• ** • '--*>> _•. —_ _r*T* —— , ? ? ■■ s >* c * < »y *s* - jEml. _ < ' y e tr *-* Tr ’ V _ :, . * - **■ i BON AR LAKE — Though considerably smaller and quieter than her sister takes (Wawasee and Syracuse), Bonar Lake remains popular among area fishermen. Seen here from her shore, the Smith-Walbridge Camp can be seen across the take. (Photo by Doug Walker) SiT' *-- Ig' g- j— • '■■ ',s SYRACUSE LAKESIDE PARK — Originally in an area with a ••mucky” bottom, the Syracuse Lakeside Park on Syracuse Lake is presently one of the most popular swimming spots in the Lakeland area. (Photo by Doug Walker ). Syracuse, Bonar Lakes rich in Indian history

BY DOUG WALKER While neither Syracuse Lake or Bonar Lake comes close to matching sister Lake Wawasee in terms of size, both offer qualities that have made them extremely popular among area residents and visitors Syracuse Lake offers oneof the Lakeland area’s finest recreational facilities in the. Syracuse Lakeside Park Though the shoreline near the park was once very mucky, it now serves as one of the area ’s most popular swimming spots Like Lake Wawasee, Syracuse Lake is rich in Indian heritage Indian Hill, located on the north shore of the lake, was the site Os an Indian bunal ground when the first settlers came to the area in the early 180 us At that time, the

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Indians would carefully wrap ap their dead and hoist them into trees In 1959. an Indian dugout was found at the bottom of Syracuse Lake Historians felt the boat had been in the lake at least since the 1830 s, when the first dam between Syracuse Lake and Wawasee was constructed Longtime residents recall a large cement factory that existed on the south end of the lake froth 1900 to 1920 Bonar Lake was originally named after the Boner family, but the spelling was changed at some point over the years Its original name was Mud Lake. Bonar Lake also has an Indian heritage A shallow waterway existed between it and Lake Wawasee at one time, and was used by area Indians who would

travel to Bonar Lake on fishing trips The southwest side of the lake was once well known for its tamarack timber. Today, Bonar Lake is perhaps best known as the hotne of the Smith-Walbridge Camp, which has been lodated on the west shore of the lake for over 33 years. Slalom skis taken Dee Hinesley, r 1 Leesburg, reported the theft of two slalom skis, valued at $520 from the front porch of her home. According »o police reports the theft occurred Friday evening, July 8, or Saturday morning, July 9.

Kffil K .3r / u B W*’-* <iT<.MK/ Id ■ M|L w If JfllMfinfeZ* F r fi-» *Jir- » ■ • x ■ CROSS COUNTRY BIKER — George Grahn, a mathematics professor from Redding. Calif., is shown with his bicycle after arriving in Syracuse to conclude a 25-day, 2,500 mile trip across the nation. Grahn, who came to Syracuse to visit two staters. Elizabeth Kuhn and Hilda Seifert, who live in the area, spent only three nights in motels during his journey, camping out the remainder of the time. (Photo by Doug Walker) \ George Grahn ready for more after 2,500 mile bike trip

George Grahn arrived in Syracuse last week to cap off a 25day, 2,500 mile bike trip across the United States. Though he encountered deserts, mountains, coyotes, bombs, unfriendly motorists, snow, wind and rain on his journey, he considers it to have been one of the most enjoyable experiences of his life. A mathematics teacher at Shasta Community College in Redding, Calif, (about 200 miles northwest of San Francisco), Grahn decided to make the cross country journey this summer to visit his two sisters who reside in the Syracuse area, Hilda Seiffert and Elizabeth Kuhn. A 61-year-old who grew up in Ligonier, Grahn had prepared himself for such a strenuous venture through early morning running and shorter bike trips. Grahn's first major obstacle was the Nevada desert, but he found it presented few problems. “It was beautiful out there,” he said. “The only real problem was water. You can travel as far as 90 to 100 miles without having access to it, which means you carry it.” Grahn spent all but three nights on his trip camping out. Perhaps his most memorable evening came in Nevada when he camped out on an abandoned corral, in the midst of what he soon learned was a United States Army bombing range. Grahn was DNR to stock Dewart Lake Ed Jonasch, a Dewart Lake resident, informed this newspaper this morning that the Department of Natural Resources was to stock 3,000 walleye in Dewart Lake at 11 a m. today (Wednesday). According to Jonasch Jed Pearson, of the DNR, has been malting a survey of the lake for the last several days. Jonasch commented resident have been trying to get the lake stocked with walleye for years and it’s finally happening The walleye were hauled to the lake by truck and released.

bedding down for the night when bombs began falling as close as a mile away. Later in the evening, he watched as air units went through mock dogfights. After leaving Nevada, Grahn traveled through Utah. The enormous canyons in that state came as a surprise to him, he said. The mountains in Colorado, two of which topped 10,000 feet, came as no surprise to Grahn, although he wasn't anticipating the drop in temperature and snow storms he encountered while scaling them. Grahn experienced his greatest difficulty, surprisingly, in Kansas, where southeast winds made his journey more difficult. He was especially impressed by the friendliness of the people of Kansas, however. “For the most part, people were friendly all through the country,” Grahn said. “Kansas probably had the friendliest people, while the residents of Vail (Colo.) seemed the most aloof .” Grahn said that he had only two bad experiences with motorists on his trip. At one point early in his journey, a soldier tossed an apple at him as he passed in a truck, and the motorists of Saint Joseph, Mo., were on the whole less than receptive to the idea of sharing the roadway with a bicyclist.

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“Overall, 99 par cent of the motorists on the road are very courteous, and I can count those I had any problems with the whole way on one hand,” Grahn said. He said that Colorado had the best bike facilities of the states he passed through. If he had the trip to do over again, Grahn would bypass the major cities he passed through, including Saint Joseph and Denver, because of the time it takes to bike through heavily congested areas. Time will not allow Grahn to return to California on his bike. “I’ll be flying back,” he said. “If I had the whole summer, I’d love to ride back, taking a more northern route.” Grahn said the trip was ‘ ’thoroughly enjoyable. ’ ’ “It’s something that I’ll always remember,” he said. “All the way, it seemed like some kind of a movie I was in.”

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Catch catfish at Bixler Lake

A decade ago, good fishing on Bixler Lake was virtually impossible, unless one was after carp or perch. Today, as a result of a successful renovation and restocking program, Bixler Lake, located at Kendallville in Noble County, is known as one of northeast Indiana’s better fishing lake. A large part of Bixler’s good reputation has been built on channel catfish fishing. Bixler Lake currently offers the best channel “catfishing” in the area. Channel catfish were first stocked into Bixler Lake by the Department of Natural Resources during the fall of 1976. About 4,500 catfish fingerlings, measuring eight inches long, were stocked. By the following summer, a few were already being caught. In the fall of 1977, 5,000 more catfish fingerlings were released. They were four to nine inches long. By summer 1978, local fishermen were establishing consistent fishing patterns for taking channel catfish. They discovered catfishing was best during late summer in the hot month of August and best fishing hours were after dark. That summer, over 300 channel catfish were caught, some reaching

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Old Rood 13A Northeast Side Os lake Wawasee Syracuse k ACROSS FROM ENCHANTED HILLS

lengths of up to 20 inches long. In 1979, 450 more channel catfish were captured. In the fall of that year, the DNR stocked 10,000 four to 14 inch catfish. The summer of 1980 saw over 1,300 catfish being caught at Bixler Lake. During that summer, one out of every five Bixler Lake fishermen went after catfish. In the month of August, this ratio jumped to one in three. During summer 1980, harvested channel cats were 7 to 25 inches long. About two-thirds of the catfish harvested in 1980 exceeded the 10 inch minimum legal size limit. The daily catch limit is 10 channel catfish. Last year DNR biologists tried unsuccessfully to boost natural reproduction of channel catfish in Bixler Lake. Large clay tiles were placed at several shoreline locations to serve as hiding places for adult spawning catfish. The lake lacks native spawning structure, such as under-cut banks or hollow logs. No channel cats used the artificial nesting areas. Only a few bullheads managed to lay their eggs in the tiles. Consequently, a fourth channel catfish stocking was made last fall, bringing 6,400 more channel catfish to Bixler Lake.

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