HINTS ON FISHING 149 



SMALL STREAMS 



By small streams we mean a rapid flowing stream as 

 distinguished from a slow somewhat weedy river dis- 

 cussed in the last chapter. Certain portions of a 

 large stream, of course, may possess fast water or 

 rapids and we will try to cover that phase of it in 

 this chapter. 



Fishing a strange stream is a man-sized job because 

 success depends a great deal on the fishermen's knowl- 

 edge of the stream's bed. Such knowledge of any 

 stream cannot be gained in an hour or a day nor from 

 a survey from the banks. You have to get right into 

 the water and explore it, preferably during a low 

 water period, with, the help of your feet. In short, to 

 know a stream you practically have to touch every foot 

 of it with the soles of your boots. 



Every boulder should be noted during low water 

 and its exact location should be marked down and an 

 entry made in your notebook they make excellent 

 fishing places when the water is normal and then they 

 cannot be seen and are hard to locate. Piscatorially 

 speaking, the typical fast water stream consists of 

 three parts: the pools, the reaches, and the rapids. 



Pools are mostly found at the foot of the rapids 

 or at a turn in the bed of the stream. It is usually 

 quiet water or if any motion is noticeable it is circular 

 what the small boys call "a slow whirlpool." If 

 large and deep the pool is often the place for large 

 fish and if pike and pickerel are native to the stream 



