204 Tue Aroostook Woops. 

‘‘boreas” find his way back while we are at the lake, he will 
find we defy him, with our backs turned upon him and our 
faces turned to the sunny south. 
Just in front of the barricade upon some small, green butts, 
laid closely, side by side, to keep the fire above the ice, we 
boil the kettle, and have our dinner, sitting upon a pile of fir 
boughs, over a pine bark flooring, enjoying an elegant sun 
bath as we watch the lines and bobs whilst eating. In the 
afternoon we darken the holes with the ice choppings, as the 
bright sun over them makes the trout wary of approaching, 
and hooking on our small red fins, alive (a choice bait,) 
succeed in taking a nice school of larger trout; afterward 
many smaller trout and fat silver roach were caught; all of 
fair size are packed immediately, while those less than seven 
or eight inches are shown the water, when they quickly scoot 
to the bottom. 
Trouting through the ice is now not so much practiced, 
but in those days, long rows of set lines for togue and trout 
were often seen upon the frozen lakes. The fisherman when 
leaving his lines at night, would run the small hook through 
his live bait beneath the back fin, being careful not to injure 
the back bone, when the bait swims quickly to the bottom. 
Raising the fish up a little way, the loop is hung upon a twig 
of a bush, the slack line is coiled and also laid upon it, when 
the bush and slack line is pushed part way down through the 
ice, or below freezing. Just at night or early in the morning 
is considered the best time to catch a large fish, and coming 
along, he seizes the small chub, and after a bite or two, 
swallows hook and fish, always invariably, head first, moving 
away with the slack line and bush, and either the line frozen 
in at the surface or where tied outside is a dead fast, which 
