DAYS IN THE OPEN 



she said to her husband, " He's off." Just then 

 the fish broke water less than two feet away from 

 the boat, flung himself into the air, shook the hook 

 free from his jaws, and was gone. Here was one 

 trick with which the fisherwoman was not familiar. 

 Small wonder that she asked pathetically, " Why 

 did he do it?" 



One makes strange catches sometimes. We re- 

 call a gentleman who, on his initial experience in 

 trout fishing, was discovered sitting on a log by 

 the stream, examining a strange-looking fish which 

 furnished the solitary evidence of his piscatorial 

 skill. " Is that a trout? " he asked of his friend. 

 "Hardly," was the reply. "What is it, then?" 

 That question remains unanswered. It was evi- 

 dently a bottom fish of some kind, and resembled 

 a " hammer-head," but with some marked dif- 

 ferences. 



Every one familiar with sea-fishing knows what 

 freaks in form and colouring are brought up oc- 

 casionally when one is fishing for cod or scup or 

 flounders. It remained for Mt. Desert to take a 

 safe lead of all competitors in furnishing peculiar 

 returns to the fisherman's advances. We were 

 fishing off the pier at one of the famous summer 

 resorts of this famous island. The fish were not 

 responsive and it was decided to quit. When the 

 fisherman attempted to pull in his line he found 

 that his hook was snagged. Under a strong but 



