FISHING A NEW SECTION OF THE GATINEAU REGION.* 



BY R. NETTLE. 



" Will be home on the 1:2th." vSuch 

 was the wording of the telegram that 

 reached me from my son, dated Peoria, 

 111. He generally visited me during 

 the fishing season, each year, to spend 

 a short time with the "old folks at 

 home," and -amid the lakes and streams 

 in the Ottawa region. 



True to time the train brought the 

 one we were so anxiously looking 

 for, and soon the question of the 

 "when and the where" was discussed. 

 Should we fish our old lakes, the 

 " Derry," that were the habitat of the 

 pure Saliuo fontinalis solely, or should 

 we open up new ground along the line 

 of the new Gatineau railroad ? 



Friends had very kindly placed at 

 our disposal the fishing of waters of a 

 club, of which they had made me hon- 

 orary member. These waters were 

 more easily reached than the Derry or 

 "the Blanche lakes, and as time was a 

 prime factor in the arrangement, we 

 accepted their invitation, and prepared 



* Being: interested, as we always are, in the opening 

 up of a new angling section, we wrote to Mr. P. W. 

 Resseman, General Superintendent of the Ottawa and 

 Gatineau Railroad at Toronto, for information as to 

 the route, etc., of his road, and he responded as 

 follows: 



" This line extends to a point si.xty miles directly 

 north of Ottawa. Next season the line will be com- 

 pleted to the "Desert," eighty-five miles north, and 

 we will have a station on the famous Blue Sea Lake 

 the best black bass fishing in Canada. The whole 

 country, "for a radius of 100 miles from the Blue Sea 

 Lake, is dotted with lakes — all good fishing; in fact, all 

 along our line we have any amount of good. lakes, and, 

 at the present time, sportsmen from all parts of 

 Canada are daily bringing in deer, caribou and moose. 

 We have some twenty, or more, sportsmen's clubs 

 located near our line, with a membership in total of 

 something over 500. This does not interfere in anyway 

 with outside tourists, as the company has leased some 

 seventy lakes, and acts as guardian for same; and we 

 are at present arranging for a reasonable and fair 

 game law, and cheap licenses that can be given to our 

 patrons free gratis." — Ed.] 



accordingly. The one drawback was 

 that in these lakes black bass only (no 

 trout) were to be caught, but the fish 

 were said to be of the purest species 

 and of the largest size. 



We left Ottawa by the 5.30 p. m. 

 train for Wakefield, a pretty village 

 some distance up, on the banks of the 

 Gatineau River (that is even longer 

 than the far-famed Ottawa, into which 

 it flows), thence a drive inland of some 

 seven miles brings one to his destina- 

 tion. Among the passengers were sev- 

 eral of our friends, bound for their 

 summer cottages on the Gatineau. By 

 them we were induced to change the 

 order of proceedings, and to remain 

 their guests at Wakefield for the night, 

 and to fish a lake (Mann's Lake), of 

 which they were the lessees, instead of 

 Johnstone's, where we had proposed to 

 take up our quarters. We were in- 

 duced to do this the more readily from 

 the assurance they gave us that there 

 were parties at Johnstone Lake fishing. 

 Such being the case we thought it best 

 not to intrude upon them. 



We passed a very agreeable evening 

 with our friends, whose Swiss cottages 

 were truly artistic, and fitted with every 

 appliance for comfort and convenience. 

 Their courtesy and attention will ever 

 remain a bright spot in memory. 



The early morning saw us on the 

 veranda, admiring the beauty of the 

 scenery (almost alpine), the river laving 

 the shores of the bay, and studded 

 with islands, like emeralds in silver 

 setting. It is only lately that facilities 

 have been afforded (by means of the 

 Gatineau railway) for the residents of 

 Ottawa, or others, of enjoying the 



