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with heavy weights on it. The spring lizards are caught in little branches or springs, under leaves and moss and make fine bait. A 'set hook' is just one hook, close on the banks, scattered up and down sometimes a hundred or more tied on willow trees or put on sticks stuck in the bank. Some of these set hooks catch cat fish over night weighing twelve pounds and over. He fishes too with a basket made cone-shape, out of white oak or hickory strips. This is baited with old cheese or peanut meal or sour meal put in the baskets at the bottom of the river or creek bed. A wire is tied to a tree on the bank to hold it. It is made just like a rat trap. If a large fish gets in it, it can never get out. He puts all these lines out at night. His fishing is done mostly at night.
"He has little nigger boys that gets most of his bait; his spring lizards and his stump grubs. They find the stump grubs mostly in old wood, old stumps and old trees. Stump grubs are worms," she explained.
"I'll tell you a secret, missey, I know you won't tell, but that's all right, I ain't gonner call no names. Many a night Sam comes home just a-laughing. A lot of these white gentlemens that goes a-fishing, if they don't have no luck, they buys a string of live fish from Sam. They goes home with a string of fish just a-kicking. They strut up town and tells everybody and their wives and brags about what a fine fisherman they is. That is what you calls 'fish caught with a silver hook.' Sam has the silver jingling in his pocket and he is glad.
"I told you that he don't sell fish in the Summer, but he has his 'fish-frys' from June till September. He makes right good money at it. It depends on how many comes. He gets 50 cents a person. They always lets him know about how many is coming so he will know
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how much to fix for. They brings the pickles, the bread and the beer and 'things.' She winked at me and said, you know what I means when I said 'things,' I means liquor. He furnishes the fish, the onion bread and the coffee. It ain't no easy job. If it is a big fish-fry, say fifty men or more, he fishes two nights all night long straight running. My God, how them men can eat fish! Some eat ten and fifteen apiece. You know a drink or two before eating sho' gives you an appetite. I help him always at the frys; help him cook.
"He has a long wooden table that he made. We have two large coffee pots that hold two gallons apiece. We puts two pounds of coffee apiece in sacks in each pot. That makes enough coffee. We have over a hundred tin cups and use paper plates. We make two fires. Get our wood first thing, then we cleans our fish. That's not hard; we are used to it. Then we make our onion bread, 'hush puppies.' To make 'em you cut up a pair of onions real fine, mix that with meal, add salt, make in small balls and fry in the same pot the fish are fried in. Put 'em together. When they rise to the top they are done, a golden brown, piping hot, and are they good? We uses as much as three and four gallons of boiling lard. Our frys are sho' wuth fifty cents a plate."
I asked Hattie how she liked living near the river. She said: "It's lonely sometimes, when the wind blows at night. Sounds are lonely, the hooting of an owl from away down the river, the whip-o-will, the bull-frogs, crying for rain; and the crickets. I don't like to hear no screech owl; that's a sign of death. When the river
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overflows, Sam checks out. He takes out his traps, boxes and lines. We are too high up on the bluff for it to come to our house. It's a big river and it gets over in Georgia terrible.
"Sam's good and steady now. Before I married him he was one bad man after women in his young days. He ain't no more. We are both getting along.
"Sam was proud of his pa, Ransom Lynn and his ma, Mandy. Ransom been dead 'bout fifteen years. He was born In Virginia and was Lieutenant Lynn's bodyguard. Went through the War with him until Gettysburg. He died on the battlefield there in the arms of Mr. William Bray of Eufaula and as he was dying gave Ransom to Mr. Bray. After the War Mr. Bray brought Ransom back to Eufaula with him and built him a house on the bluff. He was carriage driver and butler for Mr. Chauncey Rhodes. He married Mandy Thomas and they had seven children. Sam being one of the youngest. Sam always likes to talk of his father."
To have one's home on the high banks is pleasant: Sam's home is on such a bank. One can look across the lovely Chattahoochee: see the sun rise and set; see in the moonlight and starlight the deep, swift river and the expanse of fertile savannahs below it.
The Alabama side — all down the steep one hundred and fifty footbank of Sam's home — nature has landscaped lavishly with an abundance of green growth, oak and hickory trees, long and short-leaf pines, white, rare mirica, seven-bark, heart-shaped leaves of red bud, magnolias starred with blossoms, blooming elderberries, mulberries festooned with gray moss; lacy maiden-hair ferns hanging in bunches from the marl banks. In the spring the yellow jasmine, dog-wood, honey suckle and red bud
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give color to the green. All of this glorious beauty spreads to the water's edge.
Sandy beaches reach along the opposite shore. A silvery ribbon of road starts at the filigree-like steel bridge, and runs its way on to the inviting tree-covered rises where the river curves.
Nestled in all this loveliness is the cottage of Sam Lynn, fisherman and 'river rat.'
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Sam Lynn, Fisherman and River Eat — Ala.
Sam — all life, fisherman — no legitimate children — fathered five woods colts —learned trade from good teacher — employs four to five men — has twelve batteau — fanatic for fresh fish — discussion of fishing — white men buy fish to exhibit their prowess — fish fries succulently described.
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