THE AMERICAN ANGLER. 



Vol. 26. 



JULY, 1S96. 



No. 7. 



ANOTHER WEEK ON THE NANTAHALA. 



BY G. W. GRIFFIK. 



Like the old homestead to the wan- 

 derer of many years, is a favorite trout 

 or bass stream to the angler. A bright, 

 particular spot, about which cluster 

 many of the most pleasing and enjoy- 

 able events of his life, and to which his 

 mind often reverts with eager longing 

 and keenest anticipations. There 

 marches before- his mental vision a 

 long line of brilliant and hotly-contested 

 fights with the wary speckled beauties 

 and the peerless bronze-backers. Each 

 foaming, rushing rapid, each swirling 

 pool, each quiet cove, each shaded 

 nook, each storm-worn boulder, each 

 sunken timber, tell of countless battles 

 lost and won, of broken tackle and the 

 big fellows that so often get away. 

 Outings lived on such waters, be they 

 a day, a week, or a month a-growing, 

 are mile stones along life's journey, by 

 which all other pleasures are measured, 

 and from which all other events are 

 reckoned. To the busy lover of the 

 rod and reel this is dangerous ground 

 to tread. In this danger-land is heard 

 the sweet song of birds ; he scents the 

 odor of wild flowers ; the mellow Spring 

 winds fan his face; the pulsations of 

 his heart quicken and take on new 

 strength ; he gets out his favorite rod, 

 tests its elasticity and backbone; the 

 demands of business grow less obliga- 

 tory; the fever sets its seal on another 



victim; and it is but a step to where 

 the trout hide, and the bass are on the 

 feed. 



Business calling me south last March, 

 I called on my old friend, W. C. Raw- 

 son, of Atlanta, who, on our trip of two 

 years ago to the Nantahala River, up 

 in the Blue Ridge Mountains, in search 

 of brook trout and the seductive Moon- 

 shine, won the proud title of ' ' Young- 

 Man-Af raid-of-the-Water, " and with no 

 more thought of fishing these waters 

 this season than I had of spending 

 the heated term at the North Pole, we 

 talked over the incidents and sport of 

 the week passed on this beautiful 

 stream in June, 1894, and before we 

 separated, the outline of a scheme, 

 looking to the renewing of our ac- 

 quaintance with the trout of the Nan- 

 tahala in May of this year was set on 

 foot, to be filled in and perfected as 

 business would permit. 



Our intentions becoming noised 

 abroad, three of our friends, not to the 

 angler born but with a commendable 

 desire to be adopted into the respect- 

 able famil)- of anglers, were told they 

 might join us. These three friends 



line up as follows, to wit : Col. M , 



of Pittsburg, though the senior of us 

 all by several years — ''Age sits with 

 decent grace iipon his visage" — a gen- 

 tleman of "ye olden time," possessed 



