74 FIRST OE GAGE'S LAKE. 



Wright made the first cast, and simultaneously with 

 his minnow lightly reaching the surface four big bass, 

 from as many different corners, dashed to the center 

 of the pool in a mad race for the minnow. The lucky 

 . winner of the race, or rather the unlucky one as it 

 turned out subsequently, had no sooner seized the bait 

 than he protruded his head and shoulders fully one- 

 third of his length from out the water and commenced 

 to gulp the minnow down, while the other three bass 

 literally climbed over him in their frantic efforts to 

 take the minnow away from him. We plainly saw 

 the whole proceeding and Wright giving him but little 

 time for deliberation struck, and as the surroundings 

 admitted of no delay laid his rod down and by the 

 aid of the line yanked him away from his quarrel- 

 some companions, and had him in the boat before 

 he could realize what had happened to him. 



I made the next cast and the same scene wa.s re- 

 peated with three bass, instead of four, the fishes, 

 owing to the slight depth of water and the stillness 

 of the surface, making a wake like that of a muskrat 

 swimming across. This fish I hooked and he also 

 came in hand over hand. 



Wright made another cast, and the two remaining 

 bass went for his minnow. He hooked one, but at 

 the last minute lost him. Again I tried the remaining 

 bass with a frog, which one took and after hooking 

 him I lost him in just the same manner that Wright 

 had the previous one. The two bass we had captured 

 weighed four and a half pounds and five pounds, 

 respectively, the larger one falling to Wright's rod. 



This day's fishing was an eventful one, for shortly 

 afterward, when making a cast in rather deepish 

 water, my hook befouled something and after about 

 fifteen minutes' patient wriggling and judicious pull- 

 ing we unearthed from the bottom a small iron pot 

 heavens knows how many years it had been buried 

 there with my hook firmly fixed in the curl of the 



