U-Fish 



THAT sea salmon no longer spawn in Lake Rossignol, 

 Nova Scotia, is beyond peradventure of a doubt. 

 The year that Fletch Wade hooked a wildcat 

 while fly-fishing for grilse is the last season that a salmon 

 was caught in the falls just below the dam at Indian 

 Gardens. It seems that he did not succeed in either 

 gaffing or dipping the wildcat — but that is another 

 story. The following season dams were constructed 

 across the Mersey River that effectually prevented the 

 passage of migratory fish. The great Rossignol water- 

 shed with its innumerable streams and lakes fairly team 

 with trout, big white perch, and all kinds of small fresh- 

 water fish; but outside of some very large speckled trout 

 which have been landed, up to date there have not been 

 big fish of any other species caught. That there are 

 big fish other than trout in the lake is well known to 

 the Indians and guides who frequent this section. Just 

 what they are and how to catch them are still unsolved 

 mysteries. 



Lake Rossignol is really three lakes flooded into one 

 by a dam at Indian Gardens. The upper or Third 

 Lake carries the name of the system, while the other 

 two are simply known as the First and Second Lakes. 

 Through a group of islands near the outlet of the Third 

 Lake runs a very deep, clear water-channel, perhaps 

 a hundred yards wide and half a mile long. One August 

 evening while passing through this channel in my motor- 

 boat, I was startled to see the back and tail of a large 

 fish break water within twenty feet of the boat. As there 



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