Oct. 14, 1911.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
579 
flushed the birds, I was somewhat winded and 
got but one, Will bringing down one with each 
barrel. 
The opening date of another hunting season 
is near at hand, but I doubt if I will shoot any 
more over Pete, for last season's work just about 
D URING September and October the upper 
Mississippi River and the smaller waters 
emptying into it are alive with folk who 
appreciate the great outdoors and the recrea¬ 
tions afforded by the river, the fishing and canoe¬ 
ing, beautiful camping and houseboating beaches. 
The waters this season are particu'arly inviting. 
ended his days in the field. Hunted early and 
late when young, he looks even older than his 
fourteen years, with his gray muzzle and bleary 
eyes. Pete was never a fancy looking dog, but 
he had more bird sense than any dog I ever shot 
over. 
a few hours. Rather copious rains have kept 
enough water running to keep the channel clean 
and safe, but in spite of a fair channel, the V- 
bottomed and fantail style boat have had to make 
way for cruisers built purposely for the upper 
river. . 
Disp’acenient below the waterline, broad fiat 
enough to get away from the cares of business 
before the trouting season closes can cruise along 
the St. Croix and find streams full of trout. The 
rock-strewn shores of Lake St. Croix are the 
best haunts of the small-mouth bass during this 
month and into the fore part of the next. In 
the morning they feed along the clear waters 
of the stony points, lying in the sun and watch¬ 
ing for their prey, and the trembling fly of the 
skillful angler. During the afternoon they hide 
among the rocks on the shady shores of the 
lake until disturbed by the approach of the 
angler’s boat or the uncautious flipping of fly or 
bait tossed toward their nooks. 
The Mississippi below Prescott, Wis., is the 
favorite fishing grounds of a number of East¬ 
ern anglers who charter river cruisers to 
make the trip from Peoria down the Illinois 
and then up the Mississippi. Lake Pepin 
is passed through to get up to Prescott, at the 
foot of Lake St. Croix. Most of the cities along 
the river are now the homes of motor boating 
clubs that can frrirsh guides for the river or 
Upper Mississippi Cruising 
By WANDERER 
PRESCOTT OFFERS GOOD LANDING FOR CRUISERS. 
LAKE ST. CROIX FROM THE OUTLET. 
A great deal of Government work has been done 
aiong the river, and the channel is safe for the 
average draft motor boat and cruiser. Follow¬ 
ing a dry season of some weeks that promised 
to extend into the fall, we have had a series of 
rains, and the river, though low, is well chan¬ 
neled. Cruisers from the Illinois River, the 
Southern waters and even the Great Lakes have 
come up as far as the head of navigation. 
Steamers privately engaged have plied the river 
all summer, and now that the greatest of all 
seasons is at hand, the waters teem with human 
life. 
Shallow draft cruisers, drawing from twenty 
to thirty inches of water, have been running up 
to the head of navigation, St. Paul and the 
Minnesota River, with greater ease than last 
summer. For many years the fantail stern 
launch with a lot of glass in the sides of its 
cabins was about the only type of boat seen on 
the upper Mississippi, but during the past five 
seasons many of the broad-beamed, rather flat- 
bottomed boats have been constructed which can 
negotiate the shallow water of the low stage. 
The water this summer has been lower than for 
years, though this stage was reached but for 
sterns with a bit of tucking up to give the pro¬ 
peller shallower draft, a neat tumble-home and 
light upper work on which to fasten the cabin 
walls, are among the demands of the boat owner 
and builder who takes his work to the factories 
to have his ideas turned into a craft. One-man 
control, neatness of design, a bit of originality 
displayed in getting roominess and seaworthi¬ 
ness both into his cruiser, all keep the owner 
on the watch for timely suggestions that promise 
improvement and that will work out well with 
his main ideas. 
To the cruiser who takes advantage of the 
beauties and lavishness of nature at this season, 
no river offers greater returns for one’s sojourns 
along its banks. The ripening plum, the bitter¬ 
sweet grape that hides in deep purple clusters 
under the mass of luxuriant foliage, the many 
species of snipe and golden plover, ducks and 
geese that feed along the swales, bayous and 
creeks all lend an air of sportiveness and make 
the cruise enjoyable. 
No month in the year do the small-mouth bass 
take the fly better than in September. At no 
t'me can one find the mornings and evenings 
better for fislvng. Those who are fortunate 
help the motor boat traveler with his repairs or 
dockings. These courtesies make the cruising 
more congenial than it has been heretofore; in 
fact, the local river dweller or boating man wi 1 
give one help at any and all .times, and if there 
is to be a charge for this, it has been my ex¬ 
perience that same is light. 
Camping privileges are obtained for the asking 
all along the river. This makes the stretching 
of legs after a day’s journey aboard very pleas¬ 
ant. The best of provender, fresh from the 
dairy, hennery, garden and patch can be secured 
for a little change. Acquaintances, made among 
the other campers, cruisers, canoeists and motor 
boat enthusiasts, serve to lighten the time when 
one wants to loaf about camp or needs assist¬ 
ance at tinkering with his boat or engine. The 
first frosts drive the mosquitoes away and the 
evening camp-fire is appreciated. Friends are 
made and acquaintances renewed from season to 
season, and as one slowly wends his way from 
buoy to day mark, to light posts and away from 
danger signals on the homeward trip, the bluffs 
and rocks and scenery gradually drift astern, 
while the fluttering handkerchiefs waft you bon 
voyage. 
