SUMMKR ON HIGHLAND LAKE 



3*9 



while angling for bass or for the lake trout 

 (S. namaycush). I have seen the true pick- 

 erel (Lucius reticularius) taken from these 

 waters up to five pounds. I got several my- 

 self up to four. These New England mem- 

 bers of the pike family are bred in very pure 

 water, and their culinary qualities are excel- 

 lent, being firm in texture and , sweet in 

 flavor, and a very fine pan-fish. The tackle 

 for their capture is the ubiquitous spoon- 

 bait and its variations. Of course the pick- 

 erel takes the bait-fish, and I have caught it 

 on the Coachman fly tied on No. 2 for bass. 

 I have also had the two-pound pickerel 

 spring in the air like a bass when hooked, 

 but this is a rare occurrence. The limit of its 

 weight is probably about five pounds. I 

 heard of one seven pounds in weight, taken 

 from Crystal Lake, a lake which also 

 swarms with black bass and pickerel, perch 

 and rock-bass, and is some two or three 

 hundred feet above Highland Lake in a 

 northern direction, but closely joining. In 

 the early spring when the ice begins to thaw 

 out the ice fishing is very good, as it is in the 

 early winter before the ice becomes too 

 thick. There is no ice fishing in the dead 

 of winter in Winsted as there is in Canada. 

 The ice is too thick and the fish are in too 

 deep water, where they retire when the 

 thermometer is down to i8° to 25 below 

 zero. It is good sport, however, at the 

 proper season, when live. bait can be ob- 

 tained from the trout springs and streams. 

 There are many holes and pools which open 

 up in the spring and do not close till Decem- 

 ber, from which shiners and suckers can be 

 obtained, and the pickerel can then be taken 

 with "tip-ups" through the ice, and the fun 



is often fast and furious when the weather is 

 sunny and not too cold. 



In the spring, as early as April 15, the 

 snow begins to pass down the streams of 

 Connecticut from the mountains and the 

 trout season opens with more or less success 

 according to the weather. Worm-fishing is 

 the more in vogue than fly-fishing in these 

 mountain streams, because of the thick 

 brush which prevails and prevents the cast- 

 ing of the fly and, of course, every farmer's 

 boy and inhabitant of village and town goes 

 out with his rod and hook and pot of worms 

 as soon as the season permits. Later on the 

 visitors from the cities and the elite from the 

 near country towns flock to the lakes and 

 large rivers as the snow passes out and the 

 water clears, and reports are then abundant 

 of large fish and many good catches all over 

 the Connecticut valleys. Winsted, so far 

 as the immediate town is concerned, is almost 

 fished out, and the manufacturing plants 

 are destructive of the trout and their 

 homes. 



But further away, at Norfolk, Canaan, 

 Colebrook and Tolland the fishing is yet 

 excellent, and I saw many fine catches taken 

 from streams and lakes not twenty miles 

 from the town of Winsted, which could not 

 be excelled in any other locality of trout 

 waters in New England. Winsted is about 

 130 miles from New York City and is easily 

 reached in a few hours from the W. C. Sta- 

 tion on the N. H. & C. N. E. Railway, and 

 taking all things in consideration I know of 

 no finer spot for the summer tourist and 

 angler and of no more beautiful lakes than 

 those termed the Highland and Crystal of 

 Winsted Township. 



THE POINT OF VIEW 



BY MARGARET ASHMUN 



The Earthworm said: "What stupid folks I 



They really give me pains. 

 They actually don't know enough 



To come out when it rains!" 



