376 
RURAL HOURS. 
fable of tlie Oak and the Reed ; tliis is the tiny roitelet which the 
Oak pronounces a heavy burden for the Reed : 
" Pour vous un roitelet est un pesant fardeau." 
Wednesday, 8th. — November is considered one of the best 
months for fishing in our lake ; all the more important fish are 
now taken in their best state. 
We have one fish peculiar to this lake ; at least, the variety 
found here is very clearly marked, and diflfers from any yet dis- 
covered elsewhere. It is a shad-salmon, but is commonly called 
the " Otsego Bass," and is considered one of the finest fresh-wa- 
ter fish in the world. In former years they were so abundant 
that they were caught by the thousand in seines ; on one occasion 
five tliousand are said to have been taken ; the people in tlie vil- 
lage scarcely knew what to do with them ; some were salted, oth- 
ers thrown to the hogs. They are still drawn in the seine, being 
seldom taken by the hook, but their numbers, as might be sup- 
posed, have very much diminished. An attempt was recently 
made to protect them for three years, to allow them to increase 
again, but after a few months the law was repealed. The best 
months for the bass-fishing are April, May, and June, and in au- 
tumn, November and December ; they are caught more or less 
through the winter, but not during the heats of summer ; or, if 
occasionally one is taken in warm weather, it is out of the usual 
course of things. The largest bass known here have weighed 
seven pounds, but they do not often exceed three or four pounds 
at present. They have a very sweet, fine, white meat, with a dark, 
gray skin. 
The lake trout, or salmon-trout, taken here are also of a superior 
