192 . FISHING IN AMERICAN WATERS. 



Tru tapering^from base to pinnakel, 



Four yards in length. 



Bee it thy care 



Smoothly the bark tew cleave tVom awl the pole 



Save near the springy top. 



Thare leave the natiff kivver two feet or more ; 



Haply thus the game no fear will hav 



When thwart the brook yu stretch the reed." 



Anglers will agree that " Josh" has studied both the rod 

 and the habits of trout, for he describes what a fishing-rod 

 should be for general use in angling along a stream where 

 reels and jointed rods are scarcely ever seen. The favorite 

 baits for such anglers are, 1 st, angle- worms, or common earth- 

 worms, kept in moss a day to scour, and then sometimes 

 sprinkled with milk to feed them, and still not to darken their 

 color; 2d, the white grub- worm, found in great numbers by 

 splitting decayed logs of soft maple or cherry ; 3d, the shiner 

 of the brook ; 4th, the grasshopper. The two latter baits are 

 preferred by members of highest rank in the profession; and 

 in lieu of the shiner, when near the coast, they use smelt and 

 spearing with nearly equal success. 



THE ARDENT ANGLER. 



Our wide acres and free streams are favorable to the cul- 

 tivation of liberal, poetical, and artistic ideas, and I select the 

 following verse from a poem by a gifted student at painting 

 and the fine art of angling : 



"We break from the tree-groups, a glade deep with grass; 

 The white clover's breath loads the sense as we pass. 

 A sparkle a streak a broad glitter is seen, 

 The bright Callikoon through its thickets of green ! 

 We rush to the banks its sweet music we hear ; 

 Its gush, dash, and gurgle all blent to the ear. 

 No shadows are drawn by the cloud-covered sun, 

 We plunge in the crystal, our sport is begun. 

 Our line, where that ripple shoots onward, we throw ; 

 It sweeps to the foam-spangled eddy below ; 

 A tremor a pull the trout upward is thrown, 

 He swings to our basket the prize is our own!" 



ALFRED B. STREET. 



