26 THE REPORT OF THE No. 31 



fishing grounds to be found anywhere, and one of the best possible adver- 

 tisements for attracting annually a large number of very wealthy tourists 

 to the country, who, on such trips, not only spend large sums of money in 

 the country, but are also incidently the means of introduction of much 

 foreign capital for the development of our resources, which we are in need 

 of so much. 



The construction of a railway from here to Lake Nepigon and the plac- 

 ing of a steamer on the lake itself would open up the greatest field for sports- 

 men the country possesses and would in a short time be the source of a large 

 revenue to the Province. 



LAKE SUPERIOR. 



Overseer Van Norman, Sault Ste. Marie, reports that the fishermen in 

 his division have had a fairly good season. The catch on the north shore 

 of Lake Superior was not as large as that of 1904, but a much better class 

 of fish was taken. In the North Channel of Lake Huron the catch will 

 about compare with that of last season. The returns show an increase in 

 the catch of whitefish of about 14,000 lbs., and a decrease in the catch of 

 trout of about 45,000 lbs. This is attributed largely, the fishermen say, 

 to the very calm weather in July and August, and the fishing was nearly 

 all done in shallow waters where the better class of fish were caught. 



All other kinds of fish will about compare with catch of last season. 



With the exception of a few tons, the fish are exported to the United 

 States. 



The close seasons have been well observed, and no other violation's of 

 the regulations came to his knowledge. 



LAKE HURON (N. CHANNEL). 



Overseer Oliver, Little Current, Manitoulin Island, reports that he 

 commenced operations on May 1st. He got the sailboat "Maud" at Point 

 au Baril on May 24th, which he found in rather poor condition. He fitted 

 her up and put her in commission, and has made a fair season considering 

 the appliances that he had to work with, which in his opinion are not suffi- 

 cient for the requirements of the fisheries. The fishermen have had a fair 

 average catch throughout his division, some parts of it being rather better 

 than last year, while other parts were not so good. Some pound net grounds 

 did better, and the gill-net fishing at Cockburn and the Ducks Islands also 

 showed an increased catch. The latter two are trout grounds, and the catch is 

 principally trout. South Bay and Fitzwilliam Island were about the same as 

 last year, the catch being principally trout. On Squaw Island the catch was 

 lighter, being about 60 per cent, trout and 40 per cent, whitefish, the Bus- 

 tard Islands being about the same. The pickerel catch along the north 

 shore between Bad River and Killarney was considerably lighter than last 

 •year, although in the vicinity of Killarney it was about the same. The 

 pound net catch in the North Channel east of Little Current was also about 

 the same, while on the Manitoulin shore it was less. The prices paid by 

 the dealers averaged about 5c. per pound. The game fish on the north shore in 

 the vicinity of Killarney, Little Current, Spanish River', Cutler and 

 Spragge are plentiful, there being good black bass and pickerel fishing 

 and some maskinonge, and the tourists had good angling for those classes 

 of fish. There was a r ooa number of summer tourists through August 

 and September, and he .believes they were well satisfied with the angling. 

 The weather through October and November was extremely rough, which 



