The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-04
ANOTHER FISH STORY
FROM LAWRENCE COUNTY
BY J. ii. NUNSEI EE

While up at Courtland, Lawrence
county. the other day 1 was the guest
of Hon. Hector d. Lane for couple
of days. He asked me If l would not
like to go fishing and l replied that
nothing would delight me more. He
got out his fishing tackle, put couple
of biscuits in his pocket and We got
in his buggy and started to the pond,
two and a half miles from Courtland.
He drove along through one of the
finest farming sections in Alabama,
beautiful rolling land and finally drew
up at a ilitching post and in what ap
peared an old field. / asked him where
the pond was and he replied that it
was right down there under the hill.
noticed that about 10 acres of the old
tation on 1t. but looked like it had been
covered with water. the sun having
dried the land where the water had
been standing on it and at the time
l saw IL the ground was sun parched
and as dry and barren as the Sahara
desert We walked down to what Mr.
Lane called the pond. 1t consisted of
three holes of water, the largest pond
being about 20 feet in diameter. al
most round About 10 feet from the
largest pond was a smaller one about
10 feet in diaemter, while about so feet
away was another pond about 20 feet
long and 10 feet wide.
About 100 yards to the east of these
three little pounds was a big spring. gush-
ing from under rock at the base of a
crescent shaped HILL which rose to q
height of about 30 feet. This stream ran
down a gentle incline within about rs
feet of the little pounds, when it sepa-
rated the larger stream flowing into the
big pound, while little stream about
eight or 10 inches across flowed into the
middle sized pound This spring was very
bold, running a stream between three and
four feet wide and three or four inches
deep.
Mr.. Lane put the biscuit into the min
now net in the little pound, some 10 feet
from the big pound and let 1t remain
there until We had put our lines on the
poles He then drew it up gently and we
had about 100 of the pjrettiest minnows
for bait that you ever saw.
The hooks were baited and dropped into
the largest pound. the floats being placed
about IS feet from the snker. Pretty soon
the corks commenced TO go under and
the prettiest black perch and Dream were
caught that you ever saw. Some of them
weighed as much as a half pound or more
and they put up game fight for their
size before they reached the top of the
water.
Mr.. Lane told me that as many as
hundred and fifty to two hundred fish
have been caught out of the pond in the
course of an afternoon and the next day
the feat could be repeated, without any
apparent diminution of the catch.
This pond was a curiosity to me- 1t is
on the land of Judge Ballentine of Hunts
Vile and Is a natural curiosity that is
worthy of being written up. 1t seems
that there is fissure in the rock at the
bottom of the pond through which the
water of the big spring makes its exit.
This crevice Is not sufficiently large to
carry off the storm water that drains to
this depression from several hundred
acres. so 1t spreads out over perhaps 4G
acres of land, and the little hole in which
/ was fishing gets under water from Is
to 20 feet deep in the rainy season. There
was boat in the pond. which is used
when the water is up They get in the
boat and anchor over the hole and the
fun goes on the same as it did when we
were standing on the dry bank fishing in
Is feet of water.
This spring is supposed to be the out
cropping of one that rises on General
Wheeler's place, mile or so away, which
disappears in the ground and comes out
again at this pond on Judge Ballentine's $
place. This pond is leased by dozen
or so gentlemen of Courtland, and de-
lightfu fish fries are had among the
oaks on the hill about 100 yards away.
There are good many turtles in the
pond, but not a catfish has ever been
fish are caught, all of the perch and