THE PICKEREL. 395 



away from the stream, found a bank where the Wall-eyes 

 were feeding, and put in the balance of the evening, until 

 nearly ten o'clock, fishing for these with flies and grass- 

 hoppers. 



Fishing in Douglass County, Minnesota, during June, 

 1888, I found a stream running into a lake, and some boys 

 having "dead loads of fun," as they expressed it, fishing for 

 Bass and Pickerel. I secured a boat, pulled out from shore 

 until I found the channel-bank, a shelving ledge, that dropped 

 from about four feet deep down to about twelve feet ; dropped 

 my anchor in the four feet of water, and then run out until I 

 could fish in the deeper part. I had minnows for bait, but 

 wanted to try for Bass with flies, as they took the bait gamily 

 and seemed inclined to rise for it. Putting on a Cheney and 

 Black-and-Gold, I cast out a few times and found the spot 

 where Pickerel were lying. I hooked two fish and played 

 them carefully. When getting them to the boat I found a 

 Pickerel and a Wall-eye on the hooks. I spent an hour at 

 that spot, and caught thirty pounds of fish, distributing them 

 amongst the boys who were fishing on the bridge crossing 

 the stream and who had not caught anything. Then lifting 

 my anchor I drifted out into deeper water, but the Pickerel 

 seemed to follow me, for at every cast a Pickerel rose to my 

 flies. I would skitter the flies along the surface of the water, 

 when flip! swish! would come several fish at the same time. 



I had to pull up my anchor and get! — the only time in a 

 life-time when Pickerel were too many for me. But what 

 was the use of catching them.'' the hotels were full of fish: 

 the farmers caught all they wanted; even the boys cried 

 "enough!" 



Shortly before pulling up anchor I hooked, on a dark 

 brown fly, a Pickerel weighing about one and a half pounds. 

 While fighting him, my gut leader somehow caught another 

 fish; it pulled and tugged, squirmed and twisted, until I 

 expected to lose flies and leader, but by handling them gently 



