and the Maritime Provinces. 339 



a boat, which can be speedily reached, the chances are more than half in 

 favor of securing the fish. If within casting distance, one is almost sure 

 of securing the trout. 



Often breaks will occur so near the boat that the only thing to be 

 done is for the stern man and caster to remain motionless until the boat, 

 if under a headway, may pass on, when half the chances are in favor of 

 the trout being picked up in the rear. If the boat is not moving, the 

 chances of taking the trout are diminished, as the motions essential to 

 shortening line and the proximity of the trout are likely to alarm the fish, 

 and when alarmed he invariably strikes down. Occasionally the breaks 

 are so numerous that one may take half a dozen fish without moving his 

 boat. I remember an instance a few years ago, when accompanied by an 

 English fishing friend whose experience had been mostly in the dry-fly 

 drop of the Thames, where he had notable success, that we caught, well 

 out on the pond, fourteen trout, averaging nearly a pound in weight, without 

 touching the paddle to the water, and my friend became exceedingly en- 

 thusiastic, as he well might be. 



On my last stalking, in September, 1897, accompanied by my wife who 

 was in a separate boat, she netted twenty-eight trout, which scaled over 

 twenty pounds. 



This fishing must not be confounded with pool fishing, or that which 

 we often find in isolated ponds which are unfrequented, and where the 

 little trout, entirely uneducated to the penalty of the hook, and therefore 

 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 con- 

 ditions 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 in all 

 trout waters, but there are hundreds, I dare say, of lakes and ponds in 

 Maine where it can be most successfully pursued. 



