ANGLING FOR OUANANICHE 83 



here to be always quite sure of one's footing, for 

 there are often twenty to thirty feet of water along- 

 side the very rocks from which the angler fishes his 

 pool. To add to the wildness of the surroundings 

 there is the ever-present roar of the rapids that are 

 round about on every side, and the constant rumbling 

 of the grande chute. Immense quantities of the foam, 

 churned up by the rapid succession of violent falls, 

 are continually floating down the various currents of 

 the stream in different-sized patches, either round and 

 round a particular pool, or from one pool to another, 

 according to the nature of the currents that come 

 from neighboring rapids, and the effect of project- 

 ing rocks and points of land. When and where this 

 foam or brou abounds is usually to be had the best 

 fishing for ouananiche. The east wind scatters it, 

 and is always an unfavorable one for the sport. It is 

 usually the aim of the guides, in paddling the angler 

 through the rushing, whirling, seething rapids of the 

 Grande Decharge, to bring him near the edge of the 

 scum -covered eddies, dotted with insect life, where 

 the hungry ouananiche lies in ambush below, waiting 

 to spring upon his prey as soon as his favorite fly 

 floats around. Yery often, however, the fish of which 

 you are in search float about so near to the surface 

 of the water that a number of dorsal and caudal fins 

 may be seen moving through the creamy scum that 

 has come down laden with insect life from the over- 

 flowing churn of yonder rapids. This is a sign that 

 the ouananiche have made a discovery and found 

 themselves so situated that concealment is no longer 

 necessary to their selection of insect food. As Mr. 



