64 THE HUXTER AXD TEAPPEE. 



high water of sj^ring has flowed, and you may see them 

 lying, two and two, sometimes with their back fins out of 

 water, and many are caught by shooting and spearing. 

 The best way is to go on to these spawning places in the 

 night in a boat, with a good, bright light, and to pick 

 them up with a spear, which is fine sport indeed. Farther 

 along in the season, you may catch them with a hook and 

 line. A small frog or a small fish makes a good bait, but 

 you can do just as well, and it is more convenient, to 

 have a spoon hook, such as you can buy at any store 

 where they sell fishing tackle. Your line should be about 

 sixty feet long. 



When you have everything prepared, ipui out in your 

 boat, throw out your hook and trolling line, and go ahead 

 just fast enough to keej) the bait dancing or skipping 

 along the surface of the water. Keep near to the shore, 

 on the shoals, especially if the river or lake is skirted with 

 bulrushes. If there are any pickerel or muscalonge about, 

 you will soon have business, especially if your bait is 

 taken by a fellow weighing twenty pounds or so. 



The best time in the day for this sort of fishing is from 

 seven to eleven in the morning, and from two to five in 

 the afternoon. 



It is about useless to go a-fishing for Pickerel in mid- 

 summer, as they bite slowly then, and are, withal, poor 

 and soft, and unfit for food. But during the winter they 

 are excellent, and are easily caught in the following man- 

 ner: 



