126 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



"About the 1st of January these fish are found congregated together 

 at high-water mark, and seem to have come down the stream for the 

 purpose of locating tliemselves in the marshes, where they can obtain i j 

 food. So uniform are tliey in this that, for a number of years it was J 

 my custom to visit one particular stream during this month, and I was -il 

 always sure to find them assembled in waiting for me within a few rods si 

 of the same spot, in number I cannot say how many, but I would take :i 

 of them varying from sixty to seventy-five. 



" During the months of February, March, and April they become sepa- 

 rated and are distributed the whole length of the creeks, and about the ■ 

 1st of May begin again, in small numbers, to ascend the stream. This i 

 they continue to do as the season advances, and this means of sustenance 

 increases (which is principally insects and flies) till about the middle of 

 October, when they are found in great numbers, as near up as they can 

 conveniently get to the origin of the stream. This is their spawning ; 

 season, and having deposited their spawu, they begin to wend their way • 

 down the stream, for the most part in a body, till they reach again the 

 marshes. 



"These fish were formerly taken in considerable numbers with a kind 

 of net used in the herring fishery; but this mode of taking them is, I 

 believe, prohibited by legislation. They are now taken, for the most 

 part, with Hue and hook, baited with minnow, shrimp, or earth-worm; 

 or, at some seasons of the year, witli the artificial fiy, more especially 

 in the fresh ponds. Two other methods of taking them have been 

 resorted to in the small streams, both of which deserve a passing notice. 

 The first is by titillation, so-called; and the secoud, hooking them up by 

 the caudal extremity, decidedly the meanest way of taking them. 



" The method of taking them by titillation is this: About the spawning 

 season they are found, for the most part, in the small and narrow 

 head streams, and seem more sluggish than at any other season of the 

 year, and less inclined to take the bait. Having arrived at the edge of 

 the stream the hand is carefully and gently passed along under the 

 banks until it comes in contact with the fish, generally near the tail. 



"The titillation then commences, and the hand is made to approach 

 toward the head till sufficiently forward to prevent slipping through 

 the fingers, when by a sudden grasp it is landed upon the shore, the fish 

 remaining perfectly quiet during the process. This mode of taking 

 them I have practiced in one stream three years in succession, and 

 taken many fine trout. The unscientific mode of hooking them up by 

 the caudal extremity is also practiced at the spawning season, when 

 they are averse to taking the bait, and where the stream is deeper and 

 wider. The manner is as follows: A large-sized hook, made very 

 sharp, is fastened to the end of a loug straight stick or piece of whale- 

 bone. The fish is then sought and generally found beneath the root of 

 an old tree, or under the shadow of a log, with the head and part of 

 the body out of sight; the hook is then carefully introduced near the 



