108 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[March 4, 1888. 



A TRIP TO THE CANADIAN LAKES. 



LAST August my father received an invitation from ODe 

 of Lis friends in Montreal, to spend a few days at some 

 lakes about 125 miles from that city. After a ride of 

 ninety miles on the North Shore Railroad we got off at 

 Trois Rtviere.3, a little French town built on the shore of the 

 St. Lawrence. At five o'clock the next morning, we were 

 again on our way, on a buckboard, while the rain tumbled 

 down in torrent". Our driver was a French Canadian, 

 unable to speak English, and from whom but ooe expression 

 came and that was to his horse, "Marche done." The drive 

 was long, and over an exceedingly rough road, obliging us 

 at times to get out and walk. When eight o'clock came 

 around, we found ourselves at the half way village called 

 Shewanigan. "While breakfast was preparing at the Maison 

 de Pension, we saw quite a number of buckboards outside 

 of the Catholic church across the way, and upon investigat- 

 ing found that a marriage had just been performed and we 

 arrived only in time to see the happy couple drive off. The 

 last twenty miles proved very tedious and it was half past 

 two before we reached the lake near which the cabin was 

 situated. The s-ite was a smooth plateau of perhaps five 

 acres and on this, two cabins and a barn were built. Two 

 short walks from the cabins lead to two boat sheds, each 

 well stocked with Peterborough and birch bark canoes. 

 The lake on which the cabin is situated is nine miles long 

 and one of a long chain, each emptying into the one lower 

 down, thus forming huge st< ps with beautiful waterfalls. 

 The water eventually forms the Shewanigan River and this 

 in its turn empties into the St Lawrence. Small portages 

 from one half a mile to two miles in breadth enable one to 

 fish over many miles of water. None of the lakes are very 

 wide, few reaching half a mile and this only where bays 

 have been washed out. 



We found the keeper, his wife, two daughters and a son. 

 They were decidedly French Canucks, but like all in that 

 neighborhood, exceedingly kind, and in a short time had a 

 dinner waiting for us. Afterward we secured the son's ser- 

 vices and rigging up, started for our first trial at the trout. 

 Many casts but no rises soon made us feel pretty blue, but 

 at last reaching the mouth of a small stream emptying into 

 the lake, we caught our fir't trout, and he was a beauty. 

 Securing enough trout for tea (there were seven boys besides 

 our ; elve-) we stopped fishing and returned home. 



At half past four the next morning we were on our way 

 to a small stream distant three quarters of a mile. This was 

 soon reached, and pushing the boat up among some lily pads 

 we stopped just on the edge of a mass of white foam. 

 Having our rods already rigged we were soon at work 

 casting little white mdler flies upon the foam. The trout 

 seemed to fairly boil after the flies. All around us among 

 the lily pads the fish were jumpiDg-, but whenever a cast was 

 made among the leaves a sitm was sure to be caught and the 

 cast prove a" failure. For some reason unknown, the fish all 

 at once stooped rising and we were obliged to stop fishing. 

 For the few minutes we were there we took twenty-oue, 

 averaging perhaps one-half a pound. It may not be amiss 

 to here state that all the fi J h taken were brook Irout, 

 although caught in a lake. Two trials at the same place 

 that day yielded U9 fifty-three. That night while looking 

 over the journal, I read of one day's fishing there in June in 

 which two gentlemen caught sixteen dozen. 



The next day we arranged to take a trip up the lake fish- 

 ing whenever a suitable opportunity offered. Two canoes 

 were used, a Peterborough and a birch-bark. Having never 

 before had a chance, I cnose the latter, and in the bow of it I 

 sat all day, with Henri the guide in the stern. The scenery 

 all along the lake was beautiful, and rising right out of the 

 water to a heisht of one hundred feet was a bluff a mile 

 long, and gradually melting away as we advanced. On our 

 left were hills rising into mounntnins in the distance. The 

 dies of a bird or the echoes of our voices were the only 

 sounds. We stopped at few places on the way up and when 

 the shore seemed to inclose us on all hides, I ihought the 

 time had come to turn round, but pushing aside some tall 

 grass we glided iuto a small stream. We p> oceeded along this 

 for about two hundred yards when we were again ushered 

 forth into another lake. There we took lunch and as it wa9 



f rowing late the home j mrney was with increa-ed speed, 

 'he fi-hine that day had not proved very good and we only 

 had thirty six. 



The n< xt morning it was too cold for me, (there was ice 

 on the buckets in the kitchen), so the boatmin was my 

 father's only company. He soon found that casting flies 

 with a cold stiff hand was not much fun and only staid long 

 enough to supply all of us with breakfast. That day was 

 our last at the club and making the most of it we each took 

 a different post, both of which were at the mouths of small 

 streams. First I tried a little bay but having no luck started 

 across the lake. On the way over I let my flies drag in the 

 water and when about, half way had a terrible j rk on the 

 line; turning around I was just in time to see tne whiil of 

 water made by a trout which had jumped after the flies. 

 Thiukiug this rather queer, for the water was over one 

 hundred feet deep, I again crossed the same place and this 

 time caught the trout. I tried that little game several times 

 and got four. Reaching the other shore at last, I got ouj- 

 and walked out on a log to cast in a little pool. Havirfg 

 taken three I was just beginning to get happy, wheii Jt 

 mosquito bit me on the nose; 1 hit at him and losiij^-JjTy 

 balauce fell into the water Pulling myself out I a/ain 

 tried to fish but the trout had disappeared. The oilier boat 

 met with better luck and in the few minutes preceding sun- 

 down, casts could not be made fast euough,.but the minute 

 the sun disappeared so die! the trout. 



That day the grand total was fifty -five. The next morn- 

 ing after oacking one hundred and twenty odd in a box, 

 aud bidding farewell to all of our recent companions, we 

 started ou our journey homeward. At two o'clock we 

 reached the Pension and desired to stay there over night so 

 that we might go to see the Shewanigan Fulls, rivaling, we 

 were told, our Niagara. A drive of six miles took us to the 

 station at the loot of the tails and there we embarked in a 

 larga i-owboat, with two rowers and a helms man. A row 

 of a mile brought us to the cliff underneath the falls where 

 a landing was made. We expected to see a large volume of 

 water falling over a ledge of rock, but instead we found a 

 huge rapids. Above the river ran smooth, when suddenly 

 losing its smoothness it was turned into a boiling, surging 

 mass, first tumbling over large boulders aod then running 

 like lightning through a smail passage twenty yards wide. 

 This river is used as a passageway for logs on their way io 

 sawmills further down the river. About a mile above the 

 falls thf re is a way built for the logs to go. Noring the 

 falls this way grows smaller until it airain opens into a slide, 

 built of larce hewn logs in the shipe of a square Irough. 

 This trough is built Over rocks at an angle of 45", with 



water four inches deep continually running through it. The 

 need of this is evident, for if the logs were allowed to go 

 over the falls they would split and break to pieces. For our 

 amusement a dozen or two were shot tbrouuh, but the time 

 they took to come down is not worth mentioning. An hour 

 was spent there very pleasently and it was with reluctance 

 that I departed. The falls and all connected with it belong 

 to the Canadian Government. Our drive back to the inn 

 did not take long and not many hours after tea we were fast 

 asleep. All of the next day was employed in getting to 

 Montreal, which place was reached by m'iduight. Monday 

 at 10.80 A. M., we stepped ou the platform at Highgate 

 Springs, having been gone just seven days aud two hours. 



G. F. Blandt. 



READ IN A FLY-BOOK. 



HOW pleasant it is of a winter evening while the storm 

 dashes against the pane without, by the light of the 

 lamp, fire burning brightly, to get out one's tackle and look 

 it over, a pipe showing in its smoke wreaths pictures of hard 

 won fights on lake and stream. How often has this been 

 repeated in angling literature and yet what a comfort to re- 

 peat it again. 



But of all these winter pleasures the greatest of all is, I 

 thiuk, that of looking over one's fly-books. To me they are 

 not only a book for keeping flies, but one in which 1 can 

 read many past adventures, many hopes and fears, some gone, 

 some yet present. 



Here, as 1 turn over the leaves, I see with a smile my first 

 attempt at fly -tying. A bungling monstrosity, in green, red 

 and gold. A pair of wings that would cause a decent fish to 

 go into convulsions. Sadly was it tucked away, never has 

 it been removed. Yet it still remains a landmark from 

 which one can s(jp the length of his journey. 



Then here is the first fly on which I ever caught a trout. 

 An alder, with wings bedrabbled and gut all worn and 

 roughened with hard service. Well did that alder serve me, 

 one cloudy July morning, breaking into vivid flashes of sun- 

 light which checkered the woods with the delicate tracery 

 of the forest leafage above. How the spotted denizens of 

 the brook leaped to its coy advances and how pioudly I 

 placed the first captive in the creel, a victim to my art from 

 tying the fly to the cast. Ah! the angler who never makes 

 any of his own tackle loses half the joy of the gentle art. 

 What hopes and fears are then woven into rod, leader and 

 fly and what a double thrill of joy attends a capture. 



"And here is a fusty red ibis wnich took the first bass that 

 ever fell a victim to my fly-rod. And as memory recalls 

 that morning 1 turn over another page of the old book and 

 note witd satisfaction the stretcher that went with it. And 

 thinking further I recall what a splendid double these two 

 flies took for me that day. How they fought and leaped, 

 and how the rod again and again nearly yielded to the strain. 

 And what a shout of triumph as the lauding net held them 

 up to the admiring gazs tf the party of patient still-fishers 

 anchored near. 



How aggravating it must have been to have seen these two 

 fish taken from almost under their noses by a stroller corn- 

 ing idly along, when they had waited patiently with lutle 

 luck. 



And here in a corner I find nothing but a gut loop to tell 

 me of that splendid fish who leaped iuto the air and then dis- 

 appeared, carrying the fly streaming from his mouth to some 

 dark rocky haunt beneath the wave. 



And here I turn to another fly-book, a present from an old 

 angler, one who has seen many famous streams and catches 

 in his day, who has fished with Webster and has seen some 

 of our most famous angling clubs in their faintest inlancy. 



It is an old English book of many vellum leaves and 

 pockets, all stout and meant for service, no modern clips or 

 sprinas. It is too bulky for the pocket, and one should have 

 a keeper or gillie to carry it. 



And as I turn over its pages, I note with wonder the 

 myriad delicate flies, on gut almost invisible, tied in many 

 and delicate shades. Here are d- zens of duns and midges 

 and spiuners of varied hue and size. 



And now I turn again the pages of another book and note 

 with delight the varied colors, the straight and slender gut 

 held by the clips. And here I see my latest efforts and my 

 hope for the iuture. Here are a row of coachmen, when I 

 tied them 1 had glimpses of a tumbling lapid, shaded by the 

 declining sunlight into the dusk of a summer evening. 1 saw 

 the trout leap as they skimmed the rippling water. And here 

 are a row of sober alders and here another of brovvu hens. 

 As the feathers turned beneath my fingers I saw the sun- 

 light shining on the stream. The wattr was quiet, save 

 where some veteran fish rose ben< ath the bank aud sucked 

 iu an unsuspecting fly with a gentle dimple of the pool. And 

 here are pages of glowing crimson, yellow gedd and shiuiug 

 green, which seem to tell me of sparkling waves aloug the 

 Jake and seme bronzed-back bass leaping madly above the 

 water he so gayly del I a moment before. 



And thus I go ou turning the pages and recalling a thou- 

 sand incidents by field and flood, many faces of familiar 

 friends and all the old associations that double aud endear 

 the pleasure of an angler's reminiscences. Percyval,. 



Codfishtng in the Flood — The late flood in odr city 

 was not without its incidents. In addition to those which 

 excite our sympathy for the suffering class were many lu- 

 dicrous scenes and one at least that showed ingenuity and 

 wit and which may puzzle many good anglers who always 

 ppit on their bait. As the incoming traiu on the B. & P. 

 R R slowed up at Cbickermg station in the Hooded district, 

 the passengers saw a young man sitting on a fence near the 

 depot sunounded by four to six feet of water, with his at- 

 tention riveted on the fisbiug tackle which he held in his 

 hand, for he was evidently Paving "a bite." Soon came the 

 strike with a "twi^t of the wrist," and after "giving him the 

 butt" and playing his fish in good Waltonim style a short 

 time he landed and raised to the view of the wondering 

 spectators an immense codfish that must have weighed eight 

 or nine pounds. He had evidently struck a school, and the 

 passengers failed to account for their being so far inland. 

 Some thought it reasonable that such new feeding grounds 

 as the bacic yards in the outskirts of the city should entice 

 them, while one elderly gentleman thoughtfully suggested 

 "Ihpy couldn't have come overland, they must have come 

 up through ihe sewer." However, the cold fact stood be- 

 fore them— the hoy caught the fish. M. (Noah's Ark, 

 Boston, Feb., 1880.) 



Mixii, Log, Saw, Bass.— Tn a mill at Milton, Pa., on the 

 Sutquthanna River, Sawyer Ha?ler sawa fish in a hollow, 

 water-soaked log, Just as it was b^ing pushed to the saw. 

 Eight large bass were found iu and taken from the log. 



_ Canadian Ftsn Laws.— The Canadian Fportaman pub 

 Hshe- the followb g items which maybe of interest to our 

 readers. The last one bears upon ths question of concurrent 

 legi-lation between the State of New York and Canada and 

 deserves to be considered : "The Dominion Government has 

 issued an Older in Council amending' the fish laws as 

 follows: No person shall fish tor, catch, kill, buy, sell, or 

 possess any pickerel between April 15 aud May 15, both 

 days inclusive iu each year; nor any bass or maskinonge be- 

 tween April 15 and June 15, bot h days inclusive in each 

 year. Under the previous law the maskinonte and bass 

 fbbing^season opened ou the same day as for pickciel, viz., 

 May 15. We have put ourselves on record many times 

 wiitnn the past five 3 ears to t'>e effect that a change was 

 desirable, but we do not think it was necessary to prolong 

 the close season for bass and maskinonge up to the 15ih of 

 June. In twenty years experience bass and lunge fishing 

 we have, of course, like every other old tiSherman, found fish 

 on their spawning beds later in some seasons than others, 

 but we caunot remember a single season when it would not 

 have been proper to fish on the l"«t of June. By reference 

 to our Angling Department it will be seen that the Governor 

 of the State of New York has also ordered certain changes 

 in their fishery laws, aud in looking over the provisions of 

 the new law, we regret to see that he has made exceptions 

 in connection with fishing in the river St. Lawrence. 

 While the close season holds" in all the waters of ISew York 

 State up to the 1st of June, he has iu the St. Lawrence, 

 Clyde. Seneca, and Oswego Rivers, Lakes Erie and Ontario, 

 and Niagara River above Niagara Falls, shortened it to May 

 15. The trouble now will be, especially along the St Law- 

 rence, that residents on the Ameiican side cau start fishing 

 for bass and lunge on ihe 15th of May while their Canadian 

 brethren on the north shore are tied up for a month later. 

 This is practically giving a month s exclusive privilege to 

 American citizens, inasmuch as it is simply impossible to 

 keep them soulh of the boundary line. There is also the 

 danger that, owing 1o the close season in Cauadian waters 

 being prolonged so late as the loth of June, there will be 

 many more attempts to evade the law than if the date had 

 been the first of the month." 



Strange FrsH.—Monakawaye. Conn.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: A week ago I shot a fish which 1 mistook for a 

 duck. It was about 250 yards off and its fins were above 

 water. 1 fired two rifle shots at it and both balls lodged in 

 its back. It is a very peculiar looking fi-h, and we have 

 never seen one like it. Tne color is dark brown ; light fawn 

 eyes as large as a calf's; mouth 14 inches wide and in shape 

 of a horseshoe; a row of ivory white teeth all around and 

 a row down the middle of the tongue. It is 4 feet 6 inches 

 long, has a small fin of 5 inches on back, and two paws like 

 bands; arms, 4 inches; weight, 96 pounds. What is it'?— 

 A. R Kyle. [The descripiion lacks many important par- 

 ticulars, such as scales, present or absent; character of fins 

 and their position; comparative length of jaws, etc. It may 

 be the "angler" or "fishing frog."J 



Good Fishing m Maine. — Some of the favorite resorts 

 of Maine's summer visitors enjoy two seasons a year. The 

 second one is now at its height. Around the lakes in 1he 

 center of the State the cottages and hotels are occupied by 

 fishing parties, who fiud good catches and lots of fun. If 

 anybody is cheri-biug the delusion that Maine, like Ceres's 

 daughter, is underground half the yi ar or buried under a 

 snowdrift, he ought to h-ke a trip to some of the busy places 

 just now. Maine is not only a summer resort but a resort in 

 winter. — Lewiston {Me.) Journal, Feb. 25. 



Address all communications to the. Forest and Stream Publish- 

 ng Co. 



AN OLD CARP. — The following from the Fischei-ei Zeilung, 

 Stettin, tells of a carp whicn should have been retired on had 

 pay long ago. The account says: "On the evening; of Jan. 3 1, 

 so says a reporter, the brothers Danuhaus, fish masters, caught 

 a mighty carp by the Kurliirsten bridge, fieri n. On the 

 under jaw it carried a ring on widen was found an inscription. 

 With aifficulty there was deciphered through the rust the 

 statement that tbis carp was liberated at Hazelhorst in the 

 year 1018 and was consequently ^'66 years old. The fish weight d 

 oG pounds, was 10J ceut meters (o9 inches) Jong and 78 centi- 

 meters (8J mche.-) in eircumfereuce. Tne fish was living at 

 Lipp^'s restaurant at the mill dam long enough lor all to see 

 it who wished, free of charge. The ring which the carp carried 

 was deposited in the Markisehen Museum." We regret having 

 to accuse this reporter who wrote the above a< coait of cneac- 

 iug this aged carp out of two years which rigLtly belonged to 

 it. According to our figures the fish had lived 5J68 years 

 after being planted, and as there is no way of telling how old 

 he was when he was deposited in the waters at Haz^ih /rat we 

 are inclined to be liberal with him and allow him 100 years 

 more, we are not inclined to be ungenerous to a poor old carp 

 in the matter of a century or two. 



THE AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY.— At the last 

 meeting of this society (late the American Fishcultural Asso- 

 ciation) a committee was appointed to decide upon the time of 

 the next meeting, which was voted to be held in Chicago, and 

 to make such other arrangements as might be neces-ary. This 

 committee, of which Mr. Frank N. Clark is chairman, have 

 decided to hold the meeting on April 13, 14 and 15, in that 

 city. The United States Fish Commission will have one of 

 their transportation cars there on exhibition to show how 

 whitedsh and other fish are moved. The Michigan Commis- 

 sion will have a display ot hatching apparatus in the exposition 

 budding, where other fishcultui al exhibits will be open to the 

 public. Au interesting and important meeting is promised. 



THE COLORADO COMMISSION. -Interest in fishcu'ture 

 in Colorado, is rapidly awakening. Besides the State hatch- 

 ery there are the following private oues: Land's hatchery at 

 Nathrop, -Chaffee county; Grant's, Smelter, and Bogart's, Cen- 

 tral Far*, besides four that are owned or controlled by Gen. 

 John Fierce, the Commissioner of Fisheries for the State. 

 These hatcheries have in the aggregate 1,( 00,000 brook trout 

 eggs, and one has a few eggs of the lake trout. Many carp 

 have been introduced by the U. S Fish Commission and are 

 doin<* well. The State appropriation is small, but much good 

 wo , k is done by the Lake Archer Fish Company aud by indi- 

 viduals, _ 



Over Eleven Mi won Dollars has been paid to i»s policr-ho'dore 

 by tne Travelers, or Hitrt.fo U. (Joan.. &>a- oils wgauizauoa. Present 

 payments are over a million a yt&r.— Adv. 



