The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1936-07-24
THOUGHTS OF
A FISHERMAN
By IKE WALTON

| have never yet described my
famous fishing hole. The three
dominating features are the river,
the corn-field, and three big
trees. There is a narrow fringe
of riverside vegetation between
the corn-field and the river. Con-
sisting of small canes, horseImint,
phlox, grass, common weeds, wild
grapes, elder bushes, and anything
else that can get foot-hold. The
level of the bottom-land occupied
| by the corn-field is about seven
feet above the mean level of the
water, and the bank there is per-
| pendicular.
The river is about % feet wide
and it's average depth during
normal years is about three feet.
At the upper end of the hole
there is shoal where the water
runs swiftly over bed of bould-
ers; thanked on one side by an inl-
mense sunken log projecting out
at right angles to the bank for
about 20 feet, and usually barely
submerged, with the result that
there is eddy water below it for
about so feet down stream. This
still water is thanked on the river
side by the swift current, so one
may take his choice Of either
kind of water. For about half
! the year the water is clear as
crystal; for the rest it varies
from red through yellow to coffee
color. The depth varies from two
feet to six under average rain
fall conditions, though occasion
ally the whole valley may be
flooded, and the water in the
centre of the river may be 10
feet deep then.
There are corn-fields on both
sides of the river, extending from
the base of the mountains to
within about six feet Of the steep
banks, where the farmer has left
the fringe of wild vegetation,
partly because of the trouble of
| keeping it down, partly because
of the idea that it keeps the banks
! from sliding. These bottom lands
are among the best in the world.
The field next to my fishing-hole
produces a hundred bushels of
corn to the acre in good years
and it never gets too dry there.
Some of the corn is so high that
| have hung my rod from the top
of a stalk-and so thick that
sometimes have TO go hunting for
a fish if l jerk it out Of the
water instead of Keeling it in.
, Then those three big trees
they are the guardian angels of
the hole; the bright stars of the
terrestrial landscape; the provid-
ers of canopy of shade from the
summer sun; the conservators of
the soil from the foaming torrent;
the anchors for boats and the
means of access to the deep water
without wetting or muddying your
feet. Joyce kilmer would have
written another tree poem if he
had seen them. One is a syca-
more, one beech, and the third
maple. They are about Is feet
apart, on the same bank of the
river, and each is fully grown.
How they keep their grip on long
life when their trunks are exact
ly on the very edge of the bank
! so that presumably only half of
their root-systems are available
for support is one of the myster-
Il les, of nature, But two or, them
| stand up :, perfectly erect, and
straight, with half of their limbs
over the land and half over the
water, while the third, the maple,
leans far out over the river but
keeps its balance through storm
and flood as it has probably kept
it for more than long human
lifetime. But that maple deserves
a paragraph all to itself.