Where the Trout Leap 



banks of'the Mississippi river above Wabasha. In the spring 

 the water is rather high and the bass go down toward shore 

 to spawn. By the time the fry peck their way through the 

 egg shells the water has receded and the fry finds himself in 

 a land-locked pool, separated from the river by some stretch 

 of dry land which, naturally, he cannot walk over. 



That is where the bass fry are supposed to come from, but 

 there is a well-founded suspicion that the men who make a 

 business of catching these fry do not confine themselves to 

 the land-locked pools, but cast their nets into the river proper, 

 much to the anger of the people at Wabasha where the bass 

 fishing always has been splendid. 



The fry are shipped to the hatchery in St. Paul and from 

 there to the various lakes, but so few of them are caught that 

 the state cannot nearly meet the demand for the fry of this 

 popular and gamey fish. 



23 



