224 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 



happy days. At the present time 

 one has to go quite a distance for 

 real good fishing, but the trains 

 and automobiles bring us in a 

 short time to the beautiful forest 

 bottoms of the Guadalupe or to 

 the Medina and other fishing 

 places of renown. Eel fishing in 

 olden times was especially en- 

 joyed by the younger people, and 

 most of our rivulets contained 



live at New Braunfels can get all- 

 the eels he wishes at any time 

 asked for. An eel is considered 

 delicious eating when properly 

 prepared. 



As stated, eel fishing, to be suc- 

 cessful, is always done at night 

 time, and usually with the aid of 

 a lantern, as the pathways along 

 the fording places are often diffi- 

 cult to find at night, and the Ian- 



An Eel Head (Atove) and a Moccasin's Head (for Comparision) 



more or less of them, and it affords 

 much sport in pulling an eel 

 out of its watery element. They 

 are generally and nearly exclusive- 

 ly caught at night time and with 

 preference during rainy days, when 

 they are very lively seeking their 

 food. The Guadalupe and Medina 

 rivers are quite full of them and 

 a friend of mine whose parents 



tern also serves to help in baiting 

 the hooks and keeping a lookout 

 for water snakes and various night 

 prowling animals along the. creek 

 or river banks. An interesting 

 event it is when an eel is caught, 

 as the eel is one of the most pow- 

 erful of fish species, considering 

 its usual size of only two or three 

 feet, and it takes a very strong 



