FOREST AND STREAM 
307 
Along 
It is said that rivers, like men, have an in¬ 
dividuality of their own. This is especially true 
of our smaller streams. Some are loud and 
boisterous, others quiet and unassuming while 
still others are fickle and treacherous. Sebastian 
River, like most other small streams of the far 
South, comes under the second classification; 
there being no wild babbling over pebbly rapids, 
no hissing and roaring between large boulders, 
for rocks and pebbles are not plenty, but rather 
a quiet, snaky like gliding about among cypress 
roots and partly submerged logs. The cypress 
grow luxuriously along the low, fern clad banks, 
extending their great moss draped branches far 
out over the waters. Palms wave their feathery 
fronds in the air, while bay, oak, maple and 
willow grow densely along the shores for some 
distance on either side of the stream where they 
give way to forests of long leaf yellow pine. 
The pine woods are beautiful but give me the 
hardwood forests. There is a monotonous same¬ 
ness to the former which is never found in the 
latter. The birds realize this and few but 
ground nesting birds are found where the pine 
predominates, but once among the oak, maple 
and cypress along the river and your ear is greet¬ 
ed by a chorus that would delight the ear of Pan 
himself. Warblers of all description flit merrily 
about among the branches, humming birds dart 
from flower to flower, hawks scream shrilly 
from their nests in the tops of the tall cypress, 
flocks of ibis and curlew circle about overhead, 
snake birds and various kinds of herons sit 
mopily about while from a dead snag nearby a 
pileated woodpecker pounds away an accompani¬ 
ment to the rattle of the kingfisher as he winds 
up his reel. 
As one proceeds down the path along shore 
there is a continual “plunk, plunk” of water 
moccasins and turtles sliding into the water. 
Sometimes an overhanging branch will be liter¬ 
ally alive with snakes and every half submerged 
log is sure to have four or five big leather back 
turtles on it taking their siesta in the sun. In 
a small swamp which surrounds a tiny lake 
near the source of this river a small flock of 
wood-duck have made their home for several 
years but the turkey and deer have retreated be¬ 
fore the settler and with the Seminoles are 
making their last stand amid the lonely, inter¬ 
minable fastnesses of the Everglades, portions 
of which extend quite near the head of the 
Sebastian. Some years ago while walking along 
this path shooting grey squirrels with my 22, I 
espied a dark object among the branches of a 
large tree on the opposite side of the stream. 
After considerable scrutinizing I made it out 
to be a wild turkey and as I had never killed 
a turkey you can imagine my feelings as I drew 
bead on it. It was a long shot but when the 
rifle spoke the turkey tumbled to the ground. 
This was the last turkey, to my knowledge, 
killed along the headwaters of this stream. Fish¬ 
ing is good in the Sebastian but there are vex¬ 
ation aplenty. Black bass, perch and bream 
A Southern 
By C. A. V. 
From Top to Bottom—The Author Fishing— 
Ralph and His Forty-three Pounder—Club 
House on Topsail Inlet. 
River 
swarm in the deep places but there are innumer¬ 
able roots, logs and weeds to entangle your line 
and the fish seem to take pleasure in entwining 
your line among these obstructions. There are 
few places suitable for casting or trolling and 
nearly everyone becomes a “bait fisherman.” 
Minnows and frogs are easily obtained and it is 
hard for the bass to ignore them. 
Beyond yon willow seems a likely place for 
bass. You creep up, toss in your minnow and 
it is instantly struck by a bass but either you or 
the fish are in too big a hurry for your min¬ 
now jumps clear of the water uninjured. Back 
comes the game fellow for another try and this 
time you land him nicely. You add a couple 
more to your catch and then move on. 
There is a pretty place at the ford of this 
stream, near the headwaters. The water spreads 
out in a great shallow, the bottom of which is 
covered with clean white sand and the edges 
are lined with lilies, flags and ferns which offer 
a safe and convenient retreat for the bass when 
frightened, from their play in the shallow 
Waters. You take your stand under some giant 
cypress and are careful to let your minnow or 
frog drop just at the edge of the lilies and 
seldom indeed will you fail to get a strike. 
Many a fine catch have I made at the head¬ 
waters of this tiny river. Like all fishermen 
I have my favorite spots to fish and also like 
everyone else I have had my off days when the 
bass could not be induced to bite, but there is a 
pleasure in fishing these small streams which I 
do not experience while angling in larger bodies 
of water. 
Early in February I accompanied a number 
of Northern friends on a fishing excursion to 
this river. They had been accustomed to fish 
for long, tedious hours with little or no results 
in the depleted waters of their home streams 
and I hardly know which gave me the most 
pleasure, the catching of a nice lot of . bass 
myself or the enjoyment of seeing my friends 
landing the game fellows. At the conclusion 
of the day’s sport we had as pretty a catch as 
one would care to see and those tourists still 
talk of the splendid sport they enjoyed that 
pleasant February day in sunny Florida. 
Micropterus salmonides is a name too formid¬ 
able for “ye common fysherman” and just plain 
bass sounds well enough to him but strange to 
say they are hardly ever called bass in the 
South but flourish under the name of trout, and 
a “cracker” would understand you just as little 
were you to speak to him concerning bass as the 
average Northern angler would grasp the mean¬ 
ing of micropterus salmonides, but no matter 
what you call him he is the same game fellow, 
North or South, except that he grows larger 
here and can accordingly put up a harder fight. 
Specimens have been caught weighing as much 
as 25 lbs. but not of my catching. 
What can equal a nicely fried bass taken 
fresh from the water and cooked on the river 
bank? A few nicely prepared bass, a cup or 
two of hot coffee, added to the cold “snack” 
