RECREATION. 



Volume II. 



JANUARY, 1895. 



Number i, 



TROUTING ON THE NEPIGON. 



John Bowman. 



The sportsman or tourist, who has 

 not explored the northshore of 

 lake Superior, can form but 

 little conception of the unsurpassed ma- 

 jesty and loveliness of its bold and rocky- 

 coast. Its great frowning headlands, 

 projecting into the deep blue waters, 

 with its precipitous shores, seem to pre- 

 sent an impassable barrier to those who 

 would desire to penetrate the vast unin- 

 habited region lying to the north. 

 Range after range of rocky heights, par- 

 tially clothed with birch and cedar for- 

 ests, extend far back into the yet almost 

 unexplored wilderness. 



But from rocky fountains far inland, 

 majestic rivers flow, pouring their crys- 

 tal flood through tortuous canyons, 

 spreading into shining lakes that lie like 

 gleaming mirrors in the sun ; then leap- 

 ing again through rocky gateways, they 

 plunge madly in exultant freedom, to 

 pour their tribute to the mighty 

 Superior. 



' The dripping rock, the mountain's misty top, 

 Swell on the sight and brighten with the dawn, 

 Blue, through the dusk, the smoking currents 

 shine." 



In many of these rivers, the angler 

 •may capture the trout, the genuine '' sal- 

 velinius fontinalis." In the rapids and 

 deep pools they lurk, ready to rush upon 

 the gaudy fly. Amid the most inspiring 

 surroundings, nature in her primeval 

 majesty and beauty, and the ceaseless 

 roaring of the leaping waters, the true 

 sportsman and lover of nature may real- 

 ize the ideal of his dreams of the happy 

 hunting grounds, or of the angler's 

 paradise. 



A few among the many rivers that it 

 would repay the angler to explore, are 



the Steel, the Magpie, the White, the 

 Pic, the Mink, the Black, the Gravel, the 

 Cyprus, the Prairie ; but lord over them 

 all is the mighty Nepigon. It is the 

 finest of all trout streams. The gateway 

 to this great river compares favorably 

 with its course from the mighty foun- 

 tain of rock in the interior. A massive 

 sea wall, some fifteen miles in length, 

 lofty and abrupt, in places rises over a 

 thousand feet in height. The bay, some 

 thirty miles long and twelve wide, is 

 surrounded by the same bold rockbound 

 shores, which, like vast battlements, cast 

 their dark shadows into the emerald 

 flood. On one of these rivers of the 

 north, our party of four ardent anglers 

 determined to take our annual outing. 

 Leaving Owen Sound by the Canadian 

 Pacific railway's iron steamer we were 

 rapidly transported to Port Arthur on 

 lake Superior. It was our intention to 

 visit Gravel river, but the water being 

 low there, we were advised to try the 

 Nepigon. We had not come prepared 

 to ascend the river in the ordinary way, 

 viz, with Indian guides and canoes. A 

 limited supply of provisions, one tent, a 

 Peterboro canoe, a gun and some light 

 camp equipage completed our outfit. 

 Taking the evening train from Port 

 Arthur for Nepigon station, we deter- 

 mined to stop for at least a day, and see 

 if there was any way of getting up the 

 river without guides, and the accessories 

 incident to a large camping party. 



Through the kindness of Mr. Mc- 

 Kirdy, a merchant in the place, we were 

 able to secure a small steam yacht, lying 

 at anchor some two miles above the vil- 

 lage on the shores of lake Helen, an 

 expansion of the Nepigon. With the 

 assistance of some Indians, we trans- 



