FISHING IN MAINE. 151 



After these fish had disappeared from the river, I dis- 

 covered that they could be taken in the deep waters 

 in the lakes, either with minnow or natural fly, the 

 bait being sunk close to the bottom ; and the places 

 where I was generally most successful in this fish- 

 ing was where, our guide affirmed, were situated the 

 springs that partially fed these lakes ; his reason for 

 this statement being that this portion of the lake al- 

 ways remained open in winter, while the balance 

 every year froze up. 



Again, after these fish had deserted the river I 

 had some admirable sport with them by going to the 

 top of the lake and coming down on the annual lum- 

 ber raft. I was put up to this by the guide, he for 

 years had followed lumbering, and the rafts as they 

 floated down, he assured me, were always followed 

 by swarms of trout. His information was correct as 

 to the numbers of fish, but instead of the trout of 

 the river, I found my beautiful-brilliant colored 

 friend. This habit is peculiar, to say the least of it, 

 and untrout-like, and I could only account for it in 

 two ways, viz., either the shade afforded by these 

 immense logs formed the attraction, or the con- 

 stant immersion of the timber in the water caused 

 the insect denizens of the bark to be drowned out of 



