BAIT-FISHING FOR TROUT 51 



West Arlington, Vermont ; and as we took our 

 horse out of the buggy, we found we were not 

 alone, but several other kindred souls, including a 

 lady and a little girl, were ready to begin fishing 

 also. All the few inhabitants of the village turn 

 out on May Day to fish the lovely Ondawa ; for 

 that is the first day of the season, and the first 

 fishing after the long Vermont winter. But on 

 this occasion it rained, and rained, and rained ! and 

 yet through it all we caught half-pounders and less- 

 sized fish, till our baskets were full to overflowing ; 

 and then, while yet midday, we had dinner at our 

 friend Babcock's, — the redoubtable and evergreen 

 Jim l^abcock, may his shadow never grow less, — 

 and came away. 



Fishing with the bait is greatly practised in 

 mountain streams all the trout year, but there are 

 special features attending it in the springtime 

 that do not appear in the later season. The fish, 

 as the weather becomes warm, are getting hungry 

 after their long winter's fast, and seize the bait 

 greedily ; and very soon one finds that to make a 

 good basket it is necessary to use much strategy ; 

 for the trout, unlike the sucker, is easily scared. 



Oh, how glorious it is to follow some purling 



