FisJiino; in the Blue Earth River 



29 



landish rig did the business, for the 

 bass were plenty and vmsophisticated. 

 It was sometime, however, before I 

 learned how and when to fish. It will, 

 of course, be clear to the reader that I 

 had had no experience in fly-fishing-, 

 and there was no one who could teach 

 me. Scarce another man in the settle- 

 ment had even heard that fish could be 

 taken in that way. They used to laugh 

 at my tackle. For one thing, they 

 thought it was ridiculously light ! 



I soon found it useless to fish the 

 deep pools, though sometimes I would 

 substitute a pickerel spoon for my flies, 

 and casting as far as I could, troll from 

 the shore. I took a 4 ft. bass once in 

 that way, and it was pretty easy to 

 catch pickerel, but they were too com- 

 mon and I did not care for them. 



I soon discovered, however, that the 

 place for me was just below the logs 

 which formed the apron of the dam, 

 and that the best time to fish was 

 toward evening, and that on some days 

 the fish would rise freely, and on others 

 I could not tempt them. I fell into 

 the way of going to the dam, whenever 

 I could spare time, about 5 o'clock in 

 the afternoon. 



I would climb out on the logs of the 

 apron, and make short casts into the 

 rapid water just below. If I had no 

 rise within ten or fifteen minutes it was 

 of no use to try longer. If the fish 

 were rising I soon knew it, and then in 

 an hour's time I seldom had less than 

 half a dozen bass. Sometimes I would 

 take two at a cast. It is needless to 

 say that I missed more than half the 

 fish that rose to my string of flies, and 

 also hardly worth while to remark that 

 with my tackle I had no use for a land- 

 ing net, and that when a fish was 

 hooked he had short shrift. The bass 

 from the swift, clear water below that 



dam were not large. They were sing- 

 ularly imiform in size, as nearly as 

 possible a pound each in weight. Often 

 I weighed my string of six or eight 

 bass, and found I had as many pounds 

 as I had fish. But even in the heat of 

 summer they were always solid and 

 fine flavored, which could not be said 

 of fish from the lakes. 



Beside bass I occasionally caught at 

 the dam with my flies a fish which was 

 a stranger to me. Even the local fish- 

 ermen, who always used bait and sel- 

 dom or never took these fish, did not 

 know what to call them. They were 

 bright, silvery fish, more slender than 

 the bass, and rather smaller. 



Pleasant memories cluster about that 

 old dam. A little way below, two logs, 

 or old dead trees, hung out from the 

 high bank on the deep pool. These 

 were favorite seats for bait fishermen. 

 They were occasionally occupied by 



Bill H and his wife. Bill was a 



character and so was Mrs. Bill. He 

 was wood -sawyer, well-digger, grave- 

 digger. She ' ' took in washin'. " 



He coatless, with old straw hat; she 

 in well-worn calico gown and sun-bon- 

 net ; each with long cane fish-pole, and 

 each with an old pipe in their mouth; 

 then they would sit perched on adjacent 

 logs with their feet hanging down, 

 making a striking picture of combined 

 connubial and piscatorial bliss. 



I believe I am the first person who 

 ever cast a fly upon the waters of the 

 Blue Earth river. It is possible that 

 even yet I am not only the original, 

 but the only fly-fisher who has tried 

 that river. From all I hear from old 

 friends in that region, those who fish 

 there still keep to the good old ways 

 of cane poles, and worms or minnows 

 or frogs for bait ; and they catch some 

 large fish, larger than any I ever took. 



