Sentence:  "<WSD>Skittering</WSD>," continued the Professor, "is practiced with a strong line about the length of the rod, to which is affixed a small trolling-spoon, a minnow, or a piece of pork-rind cut in the rude semblance of a small fish. The boat is poled along, as in ‘bobbing,' but farther out in the stream, when the angler, standing in the bow, ‘<WSD>skitters</WSD>' or skips the spoon or bait over the surface just at the edge of the weeds. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To move or pass (something) over a surface quickly so that it touches only at intervals; to skip, to skite.