ANGLING FOR OUANANICHE 101 



fly out of its raouth. He is far more likely, however, to smash rod 

 and tackle, unless you lower the tip smartly. Some more runs 

 may follow or a sulking-fit. The more he is kept moving the 

 sooner he will tire. It is well to keep him in hand with as heavy 

 a strain as can be risked, for he fights to the last, and there is no 

 knowing what he may do. Even when he comes to the surface 

 and shows his white side, the sight of the landing-net nerves him 

 to what the pugilists call ' a game finish.' Three-quarters of an 

 hour have gone when Narcisse slips the net under him with a quick 

 but sure scoop, and kills him with a blow from the paddle. ' C'est 

 serieusement grosse,' he says, as he holds up a twenty-five-inch fish. 

 Really the balance does seem wrong when it marks only five 

 pounds." 



And "Adirondack" Murray contributes this to the 

 literature of the subject : 



"In Lake St. John that wonder of game-fish, the noted ouana- 

 niche, is freely taken. In one of the rivers flowing into the lake, up 

 a short distance from the mouth of it, over six hundred of these 

 magnificent fish could be counted in one pool as I passed through 

 the neighborhood last fall. In look they are much like our land- 

 locked salmon, but heavens, how they rise to our flies ! And how 

 stout and stubborn they are ! How they fight it out with the rods- 

 man ! Many an American rod will be smashed, I fancy, next sum- 

 mer, and many a stout, and trusty tackle broken by these stubborn 

 fighters, that yield not even to the salmon in the fierce energy of 

 their play." 



The Rev. Dr. Henry Yan Dyke has written of a 

 pool in the Grande Decharge that was full of fish of 

 various kinds. To quote his own words : 



" But the prince of the pool was the fighting ouananiche, the lit- 

 tle salmon of St. John. Here let me chant thy praise, thou noblest 

 and most high-minded fish, the cleanest feeder, the merriest liver, 

 the loftiest leaper, and the bravest warrior of all creatures that 

 swim ! Thy cousin, the trout, in his purple and gold with crimson 



