TR stories: Fishing at Blackhawk Lake
Charles Hanson from Odebolt, Iowa, wrote to us with the following story:
When I was a youngster living in Odebolt, my dad and uncle enjoyed fishing in Blackhawk Lake. One evening in the 1930s they were trying their luck on the northeast area of the lake and not finding any kind of bait that the fish were taking.
They had tried worms and several artificial lures to no avail. Dad unwrapped a cigar and even tried using the cellophane wrap as a “fly” lure. Again - no takers. My uncle saw a snake with a frog in it’s mouth and tried to take the frog. The snake held tight. My uncle had visited the bootlegger before going to Blackhawk Lake and had a bit of TR in his tackle box.
He poured a couple of drops of TR in the snake’s mouth and the snake coughed out the frog. While they were casting about 20 minutes later, dad felt something brush his leg and there was that snake with another frog in its mouth! I am now 85 years old, and some of the particulars are a bit dim in my memory, but the “facts” are as true as I can make them!
Thanks Charles — we loved the story!
