FISHING IN NEW BRUNSWICK. 



421 



plentiful ; indeed, the entire lake may be 

 called one vast trout pool. 



Our camp at Bathurst was delightfully 

 situated near a beautiful little mountain 

 stream, whose water was clear as crystal 

 and cold as the ice from which it sprang. 

 At the mouth of this brook was an ideal 

 trout pool. I believe we might have taken 

 barrels of fish from that one spot had we 

 so desired. The trout in the lake were not 

 large, ranging from ^ to 1^ pounds in 

 weight. Most delightful was our stay at 

 Bathurst. The days were bright, the air 

 cool, and the fishing such as we had never 

 dreamed of. 



Perhaps the most enjoyable part of our 

 trip was the journey down the Nepisiquit. 

 After leaving Bathurst lake, we passed 

 through 2 smaller lakes connected by 

 streams so narrow as hardly to admit the 

 passage of our canoes. The main river, in 

 its upper course, is rather shallow and 

 swift, but further down there is a constant 

 succession of the finest pools on which a 

 fisherman ever set eyes. There are no sal- 

 mon in the upper Nepisiquit, as they are 

 prevented from ascending by high falls near 

 the mouth of the river; but the trout are 

 abundant and large. Scarcely a pool 

 through which we passed, although fished 

 in the most careless manner, failed to yield 

 several trout running from 2 to 5 pounds. 

 Most of them we returned to the water. 



The fish, no matter what their size, are 

 fighters, every inch of them. The cold 

 water of the river is not conducive to lazi- 

 ness, and when a Nepisiquit trout is tele- 

 graphing through the leader, it is well for 

 the operator to watch his keys closely. 

 These trout take the fly without hesitation, 

 and a cast at any hour of the day will 

 awaken trout life in a manner surprising 

 to anglers in other waters. It makes little 

 difference what flies are used, the most 

 elaborate combination of fancy colors or 

 the plainest hackle being taken with equal 

 readiness. 



The scenery is beautiful beyond expres- 

 sion, and the moose more plentiful than in 

 any other region through which we passed. 

 One moose, at least, seemed possessed with 

 a human vanity, On the trip down the 



river one of our party went ahead with his 

 canoe, saying, jokingly, "I'm going to pho- 

 tograph a moose.'' A few minutes after- 

 ward, while drifting down a quiet stretch 

 in the river, the largest bull I ever saw 

 walked deliberately out of the bushes into 

 the river, stood a minute with his head in 

 the air, while the camera was snapped, and 

 then turned and went slowly back. It 

 seemed that he came out to have his pic- 

 ture taken and for no other purpose. 



After 2 days' drifting down the river, we 

 returned to Bathurst and Nictor. It seemed 

 almost like home to find our little rocky 

 island waiting for us. Once more we 

 pitched our tents in the familiar place for 

 the few days which remained before our re- 

 turn to civilization. 



Soon, too soon, came the hour when our 

 tents were struck for the last time and our 

 canoes headed for the outlet of the lake. 

 We were silent as we glided along the 

 shores we had learned to love so well, real- 

 izing that perhaps we were seeing them for 

 the last time. 



The return trip down the Tobique, 

 though charming, was uneventful. We 

 glided through the rapids up which we had 

 laboriously poled, and were less than 2 

 days in covering the distance which had 

 taken 3 in our ascent. We did not disem- 

 bark at Riley Brook, but made the entire 

 distance to Andover in our canoes. It was 

 well we did so, as we saw on our way down 

 the finest scenery of the Tobique, including 

 the celebrated plaster cliffs and the foaming 

 narrows, the forests now wearing their glo- 

 rious autumn tint. 



If you are a lover of nature and desire 

 a charming summer trip take the jour- 

 ney I have endeavored to describe. If you 

 do not find it thoroughly enjoyable, I am 

 sure the fault will be with yourself; not 

 with the locality. The entire trip up the 

 Tobique, through the lakes and down the 

 Nepisiquit, returning by the same route, 

 need not occupy more than 3 weeks. That 

 will give plenty of time for remaining at 

 the lakes, particularly at Bathurst lake. 

 The expense will be between $75 and $100, 

 including car fares from any New England 

 or New York point, 



v 





"Do you ever think what you'd do if you 

 had Pierpont Morgan's income?" 



"Yes, and I often wonder what he'd do 

 if he had mine." — Philadelphia Press. 



