
Fishing the wing dams—a strike every minute. 
“Pete” Boley, born and brought up 
in the Upper Mississippi River bot- 
toms, learning of my interest in the 
outdoors, began to talk about the won- 
derful small mouth black bass “back 
home.” From that first moment I 
never did hear the end of “his” kind 
of bass and all about his familiarity 
with the ferocious Mr. Pink Eye and 
that “pound for pound and inch for 
inch the gamiest fish that swims” stuff. 
Of course, I had read in Forest AND 
STREAM, articles, on several occasions, 
which were great testimonials to this 
same bass locality. Especially had 
Emerson Hough, the father of conser- 
vation, penned similar thoughts a num- 
ber of years ago. 
I argued with “Pete” aplenty, for 
I could not see where his kind of bass 
were any better than those I knew of 
in the wilderness regions of Ontario, 
and some mighty choice spots in the 
States, as well. However, I got the 
worst of it. You can only stand so 
much of that sort of thing, so I reared 
up and called him “guide” for any time 
that he cared to mention. 
Then, too, I sort of had the urge to 
go, for hadn’t his old river bottoms 
just been touched by the magic wand 
of conservation, and turned into the 
Upper Mississippi Preserve, our new- 
est national park? I think Pete, too, 
was all swelled up over the glory that 
had come to his former stamping 
grounds. Perhaps we would pe the 
first to cruise over these waters under 
its new title. 
|: began some three years ago when 
WE set a tentative date, and I was 
told to “just wait.” We were to 
wait for word from one of Pete’s old 
fly rod pals at LaCrosse, who was to 
let us know when the bass were hitting 
the fly. 
“They’re hittin’ hard, have shipped 
boat to Alma,” he wired. That wire 
burned its way to Cincinnati in relay, 
and I hit the steel trail that night with 
596 
a light camping outfit and tackle that 
had been primed for two weeks. Pete 
and his young son, “Chuck,” with some 
much loved rods and favorite flies, 
joined me at Chicago. The Burling- 
ton dropped us at five thirty the next 
morning at Alma, Wisconsin. The sta- 
tion is at the water edge, and the 
boat was at the track side ready to 
shove off. 
The boats used for these Mississippi 
River fishing trips seem very practi- 
cal for the purpose. They are long 
and rakish, 16 feet from stem to stern 
by about 40’ beam, round bottomed, 
lap streaked and double-paired oars. 
There are two models—the square 
stern and the double-ender—the latter 
resembling the St. Lawrence skiff. We 
had the square stern variety, which, 
undoubtedly, affords more foot-room 
for the man with the rod. 
All during the hurried breakfast, 
which was cooked and eaten on the 
bank, between the railroad track and 
the river edge, Pete explained the 
haunts of the bass, the method of han- 
dling the boat, and the general fishing 
program for the day. We were going 
to start fishing right away, and, when 
the bass had us all tired out, we were 
to sit down and row gently with the 
Small Mouth . 
Bass of the 
Upper 
Mississippi 
Angling Possibilities in the 
Original Home of the 
Black Bass 
By JULE MARSHALL 
current until we had rested, then fish 
again, and then rest and row until we 
had finished our twenty-five mile quota 
for the day. We had three days and 
seventy-five miles to go, and fish to 
catch. 
The river surely did look glorious, 
bathed in the light of sunrise. Pete 
said the smell of it had “gone to his 
head.” These Mississippi bottoms must 
average ten miles in width, each side 
bordered with a range of hills and 
cliffs that rise sheer up from the bot- 
toms, 500 feet and more. 
oy Paseeeaetenss this valley twists and 
turns the majestic Father of Wa- 
ters, a clear, cool, fast stream of wa- 
ter. Wherever the river is held by its 
own true banks, the mountain edge 
and the water meets. On the opposite 
bank, the low lands stretch away for 
miles, a beautiful panorama of lakes 
and islands and sloughs, which are 
caused by the spring overflows of the 
main stream. 
Many years ago, the government, in 
an effort to hold the river in its chan- 
nel, caused wing dams to be built and 
maintained. These are to aid the 
steam-boat traffic, which to-day does 
not exist except in a small way. The 

Unforgettable scenery on the upper reaches. 
, 
