2l8 I GO A -FISHING. 



that we have good fish, and the lake is crowded with large 

 and small fish. We have killed a great many pound and 

 some two-pound fish in it, and we see thousands of small 

 fry. 



" Isn't that a beauty ?" 



I was lifting out a small Pemigewasset trout. Of all 

 fish in the world I think they are the most beautiful. 

 They look like translucent fish, or as if there was a light 

 in them shining out through a pearl skin, which has a soft, 

 peachy, flesh tint, with spots of gold and red standing out 

 of it. The clearness of their tints is due to the purity of 

 the water. The color of a trout depends on the water he 

 is in, and on the position of his latest repose. Lying in 

 the dark he becomes dark, and lying in sunshine he loses 

 all his dark tints. The change is effected in a brief time. 

 An hour or two will suffice to change a black trout into a 

 bright light color, and vice versa. A dead trout bleaches 

 rapidly. If you place your trout at night in a flowing 

 stream of water, you will find in the morning that all the 

 dark color in the skin is gone. If a trout just killed is 

 allowed to lie on the bottom of a boat or on a wet board, 

 he will change his color where the skin touches the board 

 in fifteen minutes. The variation in tint is no indication 

 of difference in species. In a pond in the northern Adi- 

 rondack region, known as Bay Pond, the trout have a very 

 singular characteristic. They are sprinkled with small 

 black spots over all parts of the body, as if peppered for 

 the table. These spots are in the skin under the scale, 

 and would seem to be the result of disease. But the 

 trout are vigorous and healthy, fine in flavor and firm in 

 meat, and have the reputation of being very strong for 

 their weight. This peculiarity is found on fish of all 

 sizes, but I have never seen a trout of less than two years' 



