120 HUNTING SPORTS OF THE WEST. 



now and the frog, and in my opinion, as a game fish, are 

 only second to the trout. They are found in great abun- 

 dance at all the rapids in the river, but afforded me the 

 finest sport at the Falls of Saint Anthony. When I was 

 there the water was uncommonly low, so that pool fishing 

 was in its prime, and I enjoyed it to perfection. I cap- 

 tured no less than thirty-five superb bass in the space of 

 two hours, and that too, without once moving the anchor 

 of my boat. I took them with a hand-line, baiting with 

 a minnow, and the majority of them weighed over two 

 pounds apiece. 



The only respectable trout of the region of the Missis- 

 sippi extends from Prairie du Chien to Lake St. Croix. 

 An expert angler may here capture an occasional pounder, 

 out of the river itself ; but the rarest of sport is afforded 

 by all the neighboring brooks, which run through a hilly 

 country, and are rapid, rocky, and clear. The trout of 

 these streams average about eight ounces in weight. As 

 J sailed up the Alpine portion of the river in a steam- 

 boat, my opportunities for wetting the line were not fre- 

 quent or particularly successful, as the following illustra- 

 tion will testify. 



I had just arisen from the breakfast table, when the 

 pilot of the boat informed me that he was about to be de- 

 layed for two hours, and that there was a fine trout 

 stream a little farther on, which I might investigate. I 

 immediately hailed a couple of my traveling companions, 

 and with our rods in prime order, we all started for the 

 unknown stream. Owing to a huge rock that lay on the 

 margin of the river, we were compelled to make an ex 

 tensive circuit over a number of briar-covered hills, and 



