446 
FOREST AND STREAM 
October, 1921 
ON UPPER MISSISSIPPI WATERS 
THE RECORD OF A THREE-HUNDRED MILE TRIP THROUGH THE 
BLACK BASS COUNTRY OF WISCONSIN AND MINNESOTA— PART THREE 
I T is probably not hitting far from 
the truth to say that the upper wa- 
ters of the Mississippi from Read's 
Landing above Wabasha down to a 
point above the town of Winona, Minne- 
sota, contain some of the best small- 
mouth bass fishing to be found on the 
North American continent. 
That is a broad statement to make, 
but I am not alone in making it. Some 
of the foremost lights in the angling 
world have rendered the same opinion 
about this locality. If you have read 
the many papers on the splendid fishing 
to be had there, and if you have secretly 
doubted what has been said about it, let 
me add that the authors have not col- 
ored their text at all. If anything, the 
fishing is better than they have stated — - 
which is saying a lot ! 
In speaking of the small-mouth bass 
one is apt to compare the Upper Missis- 
sippi River waters with other famous 
bass grounds holding this precious fighter 
of the running water. 
You may have set your heart on some 
of the wonderful lakes in the Laurentian 
region of the Province of Quebec ; you 
may have your choice spots along the 
sparkling, crystal clear St. Lawrence; or 
you may have fished small-mouths in 
the swift French of Ontario; you may 
have met with them in some of the New 
York waters or the Grand of Michigan; 
you may have found the small-mouth 
fishing in some isolated lake that you, 
alone, know of to be better than any- 
where else, but if you have not fished 
the Mississippi waters you have yet a 
treat awaiting you. 
C UPPOSE you have fished up and 
^ down the St. Croix and you are now 
ready to try the Mississippi. As your 
boat goes under the bridge at Prescott 
the ferryman at that point calls out and 
informs you that that morning he caught 
a five-pound small-mouth on a worm. 
Is it any wonder that you are reluctant 
and would like to turn around .and go 
up that stream again, remembering the 
many spots where you are always sure 
to get them ? But there are other wa- 
ters waiting, so your boat shoots down 
stream and you are on your way for 
more bass — the most famed strip of wa- 
ter of them all. 
Probably you have an idea that the 
Mississippi from Prescott on down is 
all good water for this beautiful fish 
but this is not true. Here and there 
along the river it is true you may catch 
a few small-mouths but it is really not 
worth tackling. The reason is simple : 
the water is muddy and more or less 
polluted; if you have come down the 
river through the stockyard district of 
St. Paul you probably may have won- 
dered that such water can hold any 
fish save carp. And that is true : the 
By ROBERT PAGE LINCOLN 
waters from St. Paul to the foot of 
Lake Pepin are not at all savory, but 
from Lake Pepin on down to Winona 
good fishing is a password. 
Below the mouth of the Chippewa a 
short distance is Read’s Landing, a fam- 
ous point dating back to the time of 
steamboat navigation in the early days. 
Dilg, in his survey or estimate of these 
waters states that small-mouth bass fish- 
ing on the Mississippi practically starts 
at Read’s Landing and ends at Genoa. 
From the cliffs on the Upper Mississippi 
one can look out over the entire 
Small-Mouth Valley 
Genoa is down La Crosse way. I have 
never fished that stretch although N. A. 
Ward, a well-known guide on the river 
at Winona, mentioned to me some splen- 
did findings in the shape of small-mouth 
grounds below Winona. 
Below Read’s Landing is the town of 
Wabasha on the Minnesota side. Any- 
one wishing to become acquainted with 
the upper end of this fine strip of bass 
water will do well to stop in this 
town where guides can be found. Fur- 
ther down rhe river, on the Wisconsin 
side is Alma, Wisconsin, another point 
to locate at; and still further down will 
be found Minneiska on the Minnesota 
side. Any of these points are starting- 
out points for good fishing. Of the two 
last points I should say Wabasha is the 
better for the upper end of the strip 
and Minneiska for the lower end. 
I F one stops at Wabasha he will, o 
A course, want to try the Chippew; 
River going up some distance, for no 
only does the river contain bass bu 
also large pike and an occasional mus 
callonge, although in truth it must bt 
said that the splendid greys, head o 
the tribe of Esox are now very nearly ar 
unknown quantity in Lake Pepin anc 
the Chippewa, although at one time thei 
were found there in abundance. 
Singular to note in passing is the ex 
cellent wall-eyed pike fishing to be hac j 
off of the mouth of the Chippewa, a bar! 
being formed at its juncture point with 
the Mississippi. Trolling along this bai 
is always certain to turn up great num- 
bers of these beautiful greater perch:: 
indeed the bar is famous and you will 
find mention of it in G. Browne Goode’s 
book on fishes, in the chapter on this 
perch. 
Someone has said that the Mississippi 
River in the wing dam country is a place 
unequalled as a home for the small- 1 
mouthed bass. There is much truth ini 
this, for the amount of food to be hadi 
in those waters is prodigious and of a.! 1 
great variety. The principal food of 
the small-mouth bass, the fresh-water; 
crab, is found in the Mississippi in vast 1 ; 
numbers and it is while seeking these 
out along the sunken wing dams, in 
among the rocks, that they often seize 
the angler’s fly and spinner, after which 
they give an exhibition of their ability 
at fighting both in the water and out 
of it. 
It may be a mystery to some as to just 
what is meant by “wing dams.” In the 
early days of steamboat navigation on 
these upper waters it was found neces- 
sary that the stream should be narrowed 
down and the main channel be kept at 
a desirable level instead of being criss- 
cross as it often is on the Mississippi. 
Hence, to keep the great river flowing 
deep on one shore out to the middle, 
these dams were built at right angles 
to the shore to the height of a little 
above normal water. They were con- 
structed of rocks and jut straight out 
from shore about one hundred feet 
apart. Terminating some distance from 
the other shore they have a tendency to ■ 
throw the water into the main channel, 
and at the same time the spaces between 
the various dams are filled with still 
water forming miniature lakes. 
If these dams had been built especially 
for the maintenance of the small-mouth 
army they could not have been arranged 
to better effect. Everything combines 
to make these waters ideal for the fly 
fisherman. 
There are also many so-called 
“sloughs” along the river. In the days 
when logs were being floated on the 
river it was found necessary to store 
them away here and there awaiting their 
