146 Sporting Sketches 



Indeed he will ! Whish ! Zip ! The startled 

 rushes sway and twist as the big, bent tail sweeps 

 through its marvellous stroke ; a swift hollow forms 

 upon the oily surface, the sleepy, vertical shadows 

 suddenly wake and dance in frenzy ; there is a thrill 

 of action for yards about, above ; below, there is 

 bloody murder ! A tiny silvery bubble rises to the 

 surface, bursts, and leaves an iridescent patch. That 

 much slipped out between the gripping jaws. A few 

 feet under, a dim greenish form drifts back from outer 

 shades and lazily noses its way through the cover 

 until it is again headed toward the open. Then 

 silently, like the shadow marking the sun's decline, 

 it rises among the yielding stems till at a certain 

 point all motion ceases. The trap is reset ! 



Perhaps again and again will the drama be 

 repeated, for the 'lunge is a gluttonous feeder. 

 While it, of course, is impossible to figure out the 

 destruction with any like accuracy, it must be no 

 trifle. And the worst part of it is that the bulk of 

 the victims are good-sized fish, old enough to repro- 

 duce their kind, hence of infinitely greater value 

 than mere fry. 



The unsportsmanlike methods of taking the 'lunge 

 are shooting and spearing. The shooting usually 

 is not so murderous as it might appear; in fact it 

 is none too easy when the work is done with a 

 rifle. A slowly moving or even a motionless fish 

 is a very deceptive mark owing to the fact that it 

 almost invariably appears to be about four inches 

 above its actual position. The refractive power of 

 water has caused many a good shot to miss what 

 should have been an easy mark, and of course, the 



