98 AMERICAN GAME FISHES. 



have seen a Wananishe rise from the bottom Hke a flash and 

 take the fly before I could pull it away. Periodically during 

 the day they move round the pools, going from one to another 

 along the current lines and circling round all the eddies in each, 

 to feed on the flies and other insects that are thick in the 

 broad patches of foam which swirl along in the currents, and 

 sometimes chasing schools of small fish. The number of flies 

 that a Wananishe will thus collect in the course of a day is 

 almost incredible. I have repeatedly seen nearly half a pint 

 of them in the stomach and intestines of a four-pound fish. 



The porpoise-like roll of the fish when thus on the tour is 

 peculiar and characteristic; while their dorsal fins and broad 

 tails, appearing and disappearing with clock-like regularity, 

 make their presence visible at once. It requires a good deal 

 of practice to determine the direction of their movements, 

 still more to time and place the cast properly. All the while 

 the canoe is moving also — perhaps just between the up and 

 down current on the verge of a big rapid. 



As the water gets lower, the largest fish move out to and 

 lie in places to fish which it is necessary to depend on the 

 nerve and skill of your canoe-men, and their quick judgment 

 of the set of the varying currents, to keep the canoe there 

 by the use of the paddles only. Very often this is the sim- 

 plest part of the business, and the return journey means run- 

 ning along rapids or making a tough portage along the face of 

 the rocks. The novice, or a person unaccustomed to the small 

 bark canoes necessarily used in that region, should not 

 attempt this sort of fishing; but it is to other angling what 

 the pursuit of large game is to ordinary shooting. I am 

 speaking here of parts of the Grande Decharge which the 

 average tourist never sees, and is not likely to venture into 

 if he does see them. Though lacking the element of danger, 

 the ordinary fishing in the large rcnious — as the big eddies 

 or pools are called, in the French patois of the region — will 

 prove exciting enough. 



