That was the case after the Civil War, when William Dunn - known as Pickerel Billy to his friends and clients - would launch his boat near James Madison Park. He routinely caught 100 pounds of bass or pike in a day, for sale to downtown hotels. During the 1880s and 1890s, he even had a state contract to supply the kitchen at Mendota State Hospital.

He was Madison's premier fisherman, even guiding President Cleveland on Lake Mendota in 1887 (and sharing his flask).

Billy once caught five pickerel on five successive casts, each weighing more than 20 pounds. That may be the origin of his nickname, though he was most proud of catching Speckled Dan, a 33-pound pickerel that had teased and tempted anglers off Tenney Park for years until Dunn snagged and stuffed him.

He claimed that one day in about 1890, off the end of Brearly Street, a creature "with a body as large as a man's and with two long arms" appeared alongside his boat. As it threw a slimy tentacle over the side of his little craft, almost upsetting it, he grabbed a hatchet and chopped off the arm.

The monster and its amputated limb then disappeared beneath the waves of Lake Mendota. At least that's how he told the story for decades.

Pickerel Billy died in 1925, after a laceration from a dirty hook became infected.

- Wisconsin Historical Society
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org

Odd Wisconsin Look for Odd Wisconsin on Wednesdays in the Local section. Let us know what you think: justaskus@madison.com; 608-252- 6192; Just Ask Us, P.O. Box 8058, Madison, WI 53708.