442 Reminiscences of 



This fishing must not be confounded with pool fish- 

 ing, or that which we often find in isolated ponds which 

 are unfrequented, and where the little chaps, entirely 

 uneducated to the penalty of the hook and fearless, will 

 crowd about a raft or boat until a hundred or more 

 may be picked up. 



The fishing I refer to is the stalking of the fish in well 

 frequented waters, where they are sought and followed 

 up under the peculiar conditions which regularly 

 occur where the trout are scattered over the surface, 

 and not in schools, and must be sought for by their 

 feeding breaks; a fishing distinctive in character, and 

 which I am sure is not extensively practised by all 

 fishermen. 



It is not probable that localities favorable for this 

 stalking exist about all trout waters, but there are 

 hundreds, I dare say, of lakes and ponds in Maine 

 where it can be most successfully followed. 



A habit I had much pleasure in, in winter was of 

 watching and teasing the trout in the water below the 

 ice. This I accommodated myself to by selecting a 

 good locality for trout, where the water was not over 

 8 or 9 feet in depth, with a sandy bottom. Lying upon 

 some blankets, with a single one over my head, and a 

 bookless line with a small chub tied at the end and a suf- 

 ficient sinker, I would bob for the trout, which after a 

 while would come swimming along, and noticing the 

 bait would, first indifferently, but afterward more vigor- 

 ously, engage with it. By drawing away the bait at 

 the critical moment, after considerable teasing, the 

 trout would follow up the bait, it being withdrawn, 

 and having a fair-sized hole of something less than a 

 foot square, and two feet or more of ice, I would shortly 



