Sports Afield June 1936

The cover art on the Sports Afield, June 1936 issue is fantastic. In vibrant yellows, oranges and reds, it surely stood out like a beacon on any newsstand of the time. It’s a painting by an unnamed artist of three anglers, two in a boat tied to the shore and one on the shore squatting to take a trophy photo of a big musky cradled in the arms of one of the men in the skiff. The other angler bends over to secure the boat motor, while a small terrier dog sits next to the photographer. Of course each of the men have fedoras; although the lucky fisherman has removed his for the photo. And two of the men smoke pipes, a trait from the last century which, unfortunately, you don’t see anymore (although I’m attempting to bring it back all by myself!). It’s such a fun, joyful image, rendered in an almost comic book style. Even the musky seems to be smiling!

The cover of this old Sports Afield magazine is what initially attracted me. Once I got my hands on it and leafed through its pages, I knew I had to share it with readers of Bass Fishing Archives. The ads in here are wonderful, and while there is only one brief story that focuses on bass fishing, it is by one of my favorite old time writers, Cal Johnson. So, I thought I’d share both a few of the fishing ads and Johnson’s short story, “Bass of the Rocky Bottoms.” That piece by Cal Johnson looks to be part of his regular monthly column, with other portions of the column addressing crappie fishing, musky plugs, and trolling. Since this is Bass Fishing Archives, we’re going to focus on “Bass of the Rocky Bottoms,” a lyrically written account of fishing for smallmouth bass on Lake Ontario. It takes up only ⅔ of the first page of Johnson’s column, so I’ve included the whole page below for you to read word-for-word. But allow me to have a little fun and share some of the livelier parts before you go to the entire story.

As the title suggests, this ode is dedicated to smallmouth bass that inhabit the rocky bottoms of northern waters, where the lakes are cold, deep and spring-fed. As Johnson declares, these kinds of waters breed strong fighting fish that also make for excellent table fare. Johnson writes, “A floating bass-bug or large dry-fly cast naturally from a canoe toward the shoreline usually awakens these lively fish, or a small bait-casting lure of the semi-underwater type, when cast close to the rocky shore, will attract them.” He heralds fishing at dusk, and paints a picture when he writes, “Fishing for small-mouth bass just at dusk is a grand form of fun. The mosquitoes are whining in a sharp musical rhythm, huge night insects zoom and dart around your head, bats occasionally fly too close for comfort, the waters ripple softly against your canoe, shadows form to shroud the shore waters and rounded bays. The silence is broken only by the cry of some night woodland prowler or the hoot of a horned-owl. The ‘swish’ of your fly-line becomes good company as you glide slowly along the shore-line. The ‘spat’ of your floating bass-bug ruffles the stillness of the waters, and then…then…THEN…out of nowhere comes a wild splash, a throbbing rod, a tightened line…and you’ve hooked a small-mouth bass of the rocky bottoms.”

Boy, Cal Johnson had a way with words. He suggests selecting minnow-imitating lures and metal lures that you attach pork strips to. He also talks about floating lures that dive when reeled, declaring that they must be reeled in quickly to maintain consistent depth. When fishing at night he also likes surface fly rod lures, as they imitate bugs that land upon the surface of the water, which smallies find irresistible.

Johnson ends with a simple though delightful recipe. “We carried a gallon can half filled with a mixture of white flour, cornmeal, salt and pepper, and after the bass had been well cleaned, then split in half or fillet(ed), the pieces were dumped into the can and thoroughly shaken. When taken out of the can they were ready to drop into a hot pan sizzling with bacon drippings. When they turned to a golden brown they were ready to serve along with the trimmings. But–forgive me–why should I torment you herewith? Better it is for you to try this stunt when you catch a string of small-mouth bass in a northern lake which boasts a bottom studded with rocks and waters that chill your carcass even when the mid-summer sun is high.”

The ads in the Sports Afield June 1936 issue are great too, and I mean all of them, including the boating, guns and hunting, tobacco, state promotion and odds and ends. How many of us remember those long-running NorthWest School of Taxidermy ads? But here are a few notable fishing ads from the issue. The Pflueger ad shows their Weighted Tandem Spinner and Pal-O-Mine lure, along with the famous Pflueger reels.

I also want to mention a muskie fishing story by the venerable Robert Page Lincoln, for two reasons. One, it comports with what we’ve come to know of Lincoln’s writing. It’s long, detailed and as thorough as thorough can be. And two, because it shows a rare photo of Lincoln that I think is worth sharing here. So this issue of Sports Afield includes at least two great, classic fishing writers.

And finally, here’s a fun cartoon (above) that accompanied an editorial written by Paul K.W. Whipple titled “Some Symptoms of Spring Fever.” You can guess what was on the mind of the writers and editors at Sports Afield in June of 1936. We hope you enjoyed this brief walk-thru of the Sports Afield June 1936 issue.