FISHING FOR SMALL FRY. 95 



After dinner we started in a buggy, driving 

 his old black mare named "Maud" with her 

 colt tied along her side. Slowly we drove down 

 the valley of Walnut Creek, down where I 

 learned my first lessons in nature loving, though 

 then I knew it not. Arriving at the pool below 

 the second bridge we hitched. My old cane pole 

 and line were ready and in less than three min- 

 utes I had a goggle-eye and two long-eared sun- 

 fish. J. M. wished to try this hole for bass so 

 I went farther down stream, wading the creek 

 at will and trying every little pool or eddy by 

 the side of bank, log or submerged root. In 

 three hours I had more than twenty sunfish, 

 goggle-eyes and log perch. 



After a time J. M. caught up with me. He 

 had not had a bite and did not get a fish dur- 

 ing the afternoon. He was fishing with a large 

 hook for big fish, I with a little hook which the 

 small fry could easily take. On almost any day 

 from April to December I can go out along a 

 stream like this with such a hook, baited with 

 worms, and catch a good mess of sunfish, war- 

 mouth, catfish, goggle-eyes, etc. When properly 

 fried in hot bacon grease no fish are better 

 tasted. "Many a mickle makes a muckle." 

 Why then should I seek, perhaps in vain, one 

 big one when I can get twenty small ones which 

 in the aggregate will weigh as much or more? 



