FISHING ON THE NISHNABATONA. 



W. H. II. 



Our party was 3 hours behind scheduled 

 time, and so it happened that many scaly 

 inhabitants of the Nishnabatona river, in 

 Northern Missouri, are still living- in the 

 seclusion of their mossy homes who would 

 not be doing so had we left at 8 instead of 

 11 o'clock. 



There were 4 of us in the party, to say 

 nothing of the dog. Dr. W. T. Hathaway 

 was appointed leader, on account of his 

 varied experience in angling. As the 

 worthy doctor remarked, he has fished all 

 the way from San Francisco to Boston. 

 Thoroughly conversant with the signs of 

 the Zodiac, the weather and the moon, and 

 the relation of each to the appetites of the 

 fish, he said the signs were right and that 

 the fish would bite as never before. His 

 prophesy came true.' 



The other members of the party, while 

 less learned in finny lore, were all enthu- 

 siastic sportsmen with more or less ex- 

 perience. They were Fritz Nicklas, Bert 

 Christy and me, the duly elected scribe of 

 the outfit. 



We crossed the sand flats of Iowa, 

 reached the state of hogs and pawpaws and 

 shortly afterward had our hooks, baited 

 with live minnows, in the Nishna. 



From the rustic foot-bridge on which we 

 stood we hauled out some 70 crappies and 

 bass before darkness set in, and after sup- 

 per we slept the sleep of righteous fisher- 

 men. 



Before the sun had fairly risen we were 

 at it again and all day the sport waxed fast 

 and furious. We were interrupted but 



once during the morning. A water snake 

 swam among our corks and Fritz grew 

 wildly excited. He seemed to recognize 

 an old friend, and perhaps had had more 

 experience with snakes than with fish. At 

 any rate, after an exciting skirmish, when 

 we had the slimy creature on the foot- 

 bridge, apparently dead, Fritz seemed 

 greatly relieved. Then all at once, as is the 

 custom of dead snakes, it began to wriggle. 

 Fritz immediately went into fits agafo and 

 shouted " For Gott's sake Christy, sthep 

 on her face." Her face was duly stepped 

 on and the Bavarian again became ra- 

 tional. 



It was a little too early in the year for 

 gamy bass but we caught a few small 

 ones, and at the end of the day's fishing 

 had over 200 fish, all told. The enclosed 

 photograph shows their size and beauty. 



For those who enjoy still fishing I can 

 heartily recommend " Star School House," 

 on the Nishnabatona river, as an ideal place 

 where the sport is always good. 



Here is a typical herd of bristle-backs. 

 The " scribe " says they had over 200 fish, 

 and from the looks of the photograph 

 which he sends with his report they would 

 easily average 3 pounds each; thus making 

 600 pounds, for 4 men! Please note also 

 that they fished with corks. This shows 

 what kind of " fishermen " they are. They 

 should have had a servant to take off their 

 fish and bait their hooks. It must have 

 been a real hardship for these porkers to do 

 all this work themselves. — Editor. 



BY THE LAKE. 



WALTER M. HAZELTINE. 



Softly sleeping, dreamy-whist, 

 By the weeping willow kisst; 

 Not a ripple, not a sound, 

 In the blue of heaven gowned; 

 Lake and Nature-melody 

 Mingling enamouredly. 



Floating languorous a cloud 



Flicks the hyaline blue of lake, 

 Trailing fluctuous- the way 



On the desert lies the snake; 

 Trailing fluctuous and slow 



On the palpitating air, 

 As the dreams of spirits go 

 In their dreamships to and fro, 



Shadow-filmy here and there. 



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