

SS 

wing dams are found in series along 
the low or soft banks, which is usually 
on the wide bend of the river. They 
are built of layers of broken stone and 
willow butts and are of lengths vary- 
ing from 100 to 1,000 feet, jutting 
straight out into the streams from the 
banks, and generally spaced about 
250 feet apart. 
HERE may be wing dams on both 
sides of the river in one location, 
but in no case do they reach across the 
channel. While the river will aver- 
age between one-third to one-half mile 
in width, the channel between the wing 
dams is rarely over one-quarter mile 
wide. 
Where the river channel is quite 
straight for a distance of a mile or 
more, the banks will be protected with 
rip raps, which are banks of broken 
stone arranged along the sides of the 
river, or _ protecting 
the banks of a sandy 
shored gem of an is- 
land. These rip raps 
may also be closing 
dams, which are made 
of stone and willow 
butts, and so arranged 
that the current of the 
river is prevented from 
flowing into some huge 
lake-like basins on the 
flats to the side of the 
river. 
In the early months 
of the year when the waters are heavy, 
the wing dams are out of sight under 
water. When the water stage is right 
for fishing, the wing dams will show 
slightly with water, just about trick- 
ling over the top, but swirling heavily 
around the ends. 
As far as we are concerned with 
bass fishing, the construction of the 
wing dams and the rip raps has made 
a clearer, faster stream and, therefore, 
better fishing waters. 
The bass, when they are hitting the 
flies, are working near the surface of 
the water, with head up stream, and 
as close to the rocks of the wing dams 
and the rip raps as they can get. If 
you find them working the rip raps 
only, then you are at the beginning of 
the sporting season. When they are 
working the wing dams, especially the 
ends, you are in the height of the 
season. 
ENERALLY two men work to a 
boat, one at the oars and the 
other with the rod standing in the 
stern. A great deal of your success 
will depend on the way the boat is han- 
dled. The boat is kept pointed against 
the current, and the boat is backed 
down stream at a nice fly-casting dis- 
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4 
tance from the rip raps and wing dams. 
The fly is cast to the very water’s 
edge, a nice trick being to hit a flat 
rock with the fly just above the water 
edge, and allow the fly to drop into the 
water and then start it out with a 
quick jerk. The fly should move quite 
fast over the water, for the bass here 
have a great dislike for a “dead” or 
slow fly. When you start a bass, you 
see the swirl of water in his mad rush 
for the fly. If he misses, get the fly 
back over the swirl as quickly as pos- 
sible. Mr. Bass won’t leave that spot. 
And then when he hits and you set 
him, man o’ man what a battle you have 
before you! The boatman here begins 
to play his important part, and starts 
to row briskly for open water. Then 
your bass takes his usual first and sec- 
and rush and, yes, his third and fourth, 
and even more. Did you ever see an 
angry bulldog in his rush to battle? 

Drawn by Louis Rhead 
Do you recall how “Billy” the Lion 
took his raw beefsteak at the zoo? 
Yes, siree, Bob, I’m convinced that the 
“pyound for pound and inch for inch” 
stuff would not be exaggerated if it 
were raised to the mth degree. When 
you net your fish you generally sit 
down and rest. And to rest is your 
turn to man the oars, for your pal is 
then ready to climb all over you in 
his eagerness to resume casting. 
One cannot make a single fish story 
out of such a trip, for the excitement 
of one battle soon becomes confused 
with another. So game are these fish 
that the true sportsman wets his hands, 
takes the fish gently off the hook and 
deposits him back in the river. The 
taking of more than enough to eat on 
your trip is a crime that can hardly 
be tolerated. 
We tried the old line of bass flies— 
the Montreal, Royal Coachman, White 
Miller, Oriole and Yellow Sally prov- 
ing most successful on our trip. Occa- 
sionally we added a. small spinner with 
equal success. We also worked with 
the new cork body flies, and found 
these to be effective lures, particularly 
Miss Liberty. A plea is made for the 
use of the humane barbless hook; it 
lands your fish without injuring him. 
Let me say right here that these 
are fly-fishing waters only. I took 
along my Leonard bait rod, just to 
prove to myself that what they said 
about “fly fishing only” was a fact. 
It is no place for a bait-casting rod. 
ING dam after wing dam is set be- 
hind as the clear rapid current 
does most of the work on the trip down- 
stream. The heavy swirls at the ends 
of the dams show the biggest bass. 
These Mississippi small mouth run in 
weight from 1% to 4% pounds and 
fight like gorillas. Three days of this 
kind of fishing and you will admit 
anything the natives tell about their 
bass. 
We camped on our trip. There are 
fine camp sites every- 
where. Back of most 
of the wing dams 
there are pretty little 
sand beaches, and back 
of these and under the 
trees is your camp 
site. Bug-proof tents 
are necessary, for 
after dusk the mos- 
quitoes are thicker than 
I have ever seen them 
in the famous Jersey 
swamps. Our baker 
shelter tent, with 
sewed-in floor and pan- 
neled doorway with 
tight-fitting scrim door 
kept them out entirely. The mos- 
quitoes are sce thick that you simply 
have to pass up the cheerful camp fire 
of the evening. When you awaken in 
the morning, the bugs have disappeared 
for the day. 
One need not camp to make this 
trip. Stops can be made at nice little 
inns in the quaint river towns that 
alternate the banks of the river about 
every ten miles. 
The whole valley is extremely beau- 
tiful. To appreciate it, one must see 
from water level the picturesque lime- 
stone bluffs clothed in patches of light 
green swards, and the darker hard- 
woods roll away in the blue distance. 
Not only is there this magnificence of 
scenery, but every mile is replete with 
historic and legendary interest, dating 
from Sioux and Chippewa days, the 
discovery by DeSoto in 1539, the com- 
ing of Jean Nicolet in 1634, the arrival 
of the Hudson Bay Company in 1670, 
and the great fur-trading cra. The 
bulldog tenacity with which the Eng- 
lish held onto it was broken in 1812 
at Prairie du Chien. 
HEN the Black Hawk war, the 
famous logging days, the adven- 
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