Trout-Fishing in the Rangeley Lakes. 365 



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" STONY BATTER. 



hard labor by the guide in poling or in pulling the boat over the fre- 

 quent shallows, and great caution is necessary to guard against such 

 a mishap as the pencil of that. enthusiastic and scientific sportsman, 

 Dr. F. N. Otis, has reproduced on the opposite page, where an unex- 

 pected push by the guide's pole or the sudden striking of the boat's 

 bow upon the pebbly bottom sends the surprised fisherman, heels over 

 head, into the bottom of his boat, while his leader and flies are sure 

 to become securely hooked in the loftiest overhanging branch within 

 reach. Still, the discomforts of these excursions up the Kennebago 

 or Cupsuptuc streams are sure to be rewarded with some rare sport. 

 Nor is the fishing in the open lake without its occasional sur- 

 prises. I very well remember an incident which happened upon 

 the occasion of my first visit to Camp Kennebago, when I was a 

 tyro in trout-fishing, and had not been fully initiated in the use 

 of the fly. My boat was at anchor some distance below " Stony 

 Batter," and with humiliation I confess that I was angling with a 

 minnow. For a half hour or more there had been no sign of a 

 trout in my vicinity, and I had carelessly laid my pole across the 

 boat, with the butt under the thwart. Suddenly there was a 

 " strike." Before I could seize my pole, the trout had carried the 

 line directly under the boat with such a rush as to snap the rod — 

 which I ought to say, in justice to the professional makers, was a 

 cheap store rod — into two or three pieces. The trout escaped, 

 as he deserved to do, and for once I could not help confessing 

 myself outgeneraled. This mishap, of course, put an end to my 

 fishing for the day ; but fortunately it occurred quite late in the 



