64 ANGLING FOR OUANANICHE 



his mouth leisurely, and the habitants about Lake St. 

 John, in order to make sure of him, usually permit 

 him to swallow both bait and hook. " Never hurry 

 yourself in striking a fish, but give him time to get 

 the bait well into his mouth, and strike as perpendicu- 

 larly as you can," says Howitt, in his curiously illus- 

 trated work of 1808, entitled "Anglers Manual, or 

 concise lessons of experience, which the proficient in 

 the delightful recreation of angling will not despise, 

 and the learner will find the advantage of practising." 

 Like the majority of the SalmonidoB outside of Salve- 

 linus namaycush, the Canadian ouananiche is seldom 

 successfully sought by anglers very far out from shore 

 in the midst of any broad expanse of lake. During 

 the three to four weeks following the disappearance 

 of the ice on Lake St. John the fish are found dis- 

 porting themselves in great numbers in the deep 

 water in and near the mouths of the Ouiatchouan and 

 Metabetchouan rivers southern tributaries of the 

 great lake. Unlike these, the broad, sandy estuaries 

 of the immense northern feeders of the inland sea 

 offer no attractions to the angler, who, when the 

 proper season comes around, must ascend them for 

 several miles to successfully enjoy his favorite sport. 

 In the mouths of both the Ouiatchouan and Metabet- 

 chouan, for some twenty to twenty-five days, the oua- 

 naniche rise freely to the fly. But comparatively few 

 visiting anglers are found at Lake St. John so early 

 in the season, though those who make some sacrifice 

 of creature comforts, by arriving there before the sum- 

 mer opening of hotels, have their compensation in the 

 splendid sport that they enjoy quite close to the rail- 



