Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1866-08-04
Fishing ON the Upper Mis-
sissIppi.

Of Travel" written for the Philadelp his
Evening Telegraph, by OLIVER GIBBS,
Jr.
And here let me correct an error OF
expression, very common with those
who write about Lake Pepin. 1t is fire.
quently called an enlargement of the
Mississippi river" You might as well
call mans body an enlargement of
his neck. The river simply runs into it
sud out Of it. Lake Pepin is a first class
country lake of itself. and is under only
slight obligations to the Fat er of Waters
for its existence. 1t is from three To five
miles wide. aud nearly thirty long. sur
rounded with high bluffs, some of which
rise perpendicuIarly for three or four
hundred feet, and present face of bare
sandstone columns, with green slopes on
the summit, while others show sloping
forest from the waters edge. There is
not in America more delightful lake
than Lake Pepin. either for scenery, for
boating, for heaIthfulness of climate or
for fishing. The bass. wall eyed pike.
pickerei aud mascaluuge abound in its
ky tinted waters, and the speckIed trout
are found in its numerous tributaries.
We have vet to try the trout here.
bur you might have seen us playing a
few of the lake beauties the other day.
Anchoring our skItf off the point in front
of the viilsge one afternoon, we captured
twenty-eight game fish, consisting of
white bass Ohio salmon. yellow like,
1.-THE two last b. l,ngiug TO the pike perch
family and pickereI; also three cftfish
and two skiIjsckS, or hickory shad.-
The average weight was about two
pounds, excluding one of the catfish,
which WAS q fifteen Founder. We play
ed The latter for half AN hour with our
slender tackle, aud were finally compelled
TO round ashore and lead him out upon
the beach. We would be in favor of
calling the cot a game fish if he was not
so stubborn 10 his resistance. You may
reel him ever so gently. hut he will nev
er give up and come in. Deaf to reason.
he mgst be killed by main force. Par
hOilsd aud baked, he is said to he a good
FISH for the table. but we want no more
of them on cur hooks. We fished with
single sinews and small hooks, with
m:nnow. As We did not use the ''tiy. :
The scientific sportsman will of course
turn up his nose at US. There is just
CROUCH uncertainty as TO whether YOU
will get another bite, and just enough
probability that YOU will, TO "balar &c
the emOtIons;" and the fresh cooling
breeze, and the boat gently rocking On
The wave. fill one with a sense OF ex-
quisite pleasure.
And when the fi>h takes your hook
aud minnOw-wben YOU feel the su l.
den tautening of the line, AID see it
spin through the water as the pike or
bass darts right or left. or dives TO the
lowest depths, OF madly leaps into the
air to see what unhesrd of enemy has
cot him now, or perhaps 10 get square
blow at your line with his tail, or the
better To shake the hook from his mouth
you can crowd into few moments
spOat enough to keep tho mind healthy
for year just hy the recollection of it,
provided always YOU have n drop of
wild blood in your veins, interrupted by
city notions Of fy fishing. We have 10
objection TO scientific sportsmep, rs they
call themselves; their methods are,
TO doubt, very fine for those who have
time, money and opportunity to practice
them; 'ut if they do not quit writing
down in there hooks those who some
times fisk with q natural bait ns ''block-
heads" spot fishers" and "poachers,"
some Of US will get after them by-andby
with a sharp stick.
If the last remark is considered at
all severe, we will relieve it, and do JUS
tice TO the f1y. by adding that ON the
following day we stood well out on a
rocky point near Prescott, and cast the
trout fly over the black bass, in swift
water, capturing n bakers dozen in a
cou le of hours. There weight was
about three pounds each. There are
rocky shores along the Upper Mississippi
in every neighborhood, where there is as
fine bass fishing as one could wish.
If one wants to see large fish without
killing any, it is amusing to watch the
bill fish in Lake Pepin. They weigh
from ten to one hundred pounds, have n
short, stout body. AMI a paddle. shaped
bill from Ten inches to two feet Icing. run
ming out from the nose. Their favoute
play is to jump stlaight out Of water
aud stand on their tails for an instant,
and then fall back like stick upon their
side. On a windy day they are also seen
darling from wave to wave around the
steamboats,.
Captain Preston Lodwick. of blessed
steamboat memory, used to amuse bis
lady passengers while watching the bill,
fish jump up away il advance of his
steamer as she plowed through Lake
Pepin, by saying that they were ''ge,ting
up TO see what boat WAS com ng. 1 have
heard fishermen appropriate the idea, and
say they were 'getling up to see who
was fishing"