894 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[June 4, 1891, 



A THREE WEEKS' OUTING. 



WHEN a eportsman sends an account of his trip to 

 your valued paper he is so enamored of the iish or 

 game he has taken that he forgets numberless things 

 that would be of interest and profit to your readers, who 

 are likewise sportsmen. Now, as I go hunting and fish- 

 ing with my husband, I will, for novelty's sake, give 

 your patrons a woman's view of things seen and done 

 during the last three weeks of August, 1890. 



Tip the Hudson by night and over the New York Cen- 

 tral by day brought us to Niagara in time to get a night 

 view of the upper rapids and falls. The next morning 

 gave us ample time so revive all former recollections of 

 this grand scene. During the afternoon we went over to 

 Toronto and took the boat down the St. Lawrence. The 

 early morning found us at the beginning of the Thousand 

 Islands, and the brilliant day showed them to the great- 

 est advantage. We intended to stop over at Alexandria 

 Bay for the fishing, but learned on inquiry there was 

 little or no fishing either there or at Clayton. Either 

 the sewage or the multitude of steam launches or some- 

 thing else kept the fish lower down the river. The 

 novel experiences of the plunges down the various 

 rapids were greatly enjoyed. There is no other place short 

 of the Danube where a similar experience can be had. 

 At Ogdensbm'gh my liusband caught sixteen bass weigh- 

 ing from 1 to 21bs. each in three hours. Axiother man by 

 trolling caught six muscalonge, averaging 5Ibs. each, in 

 the same time, and the middle of August, we were told, 

 is not as good as later, frosty nights having as invigorat- 

 ing an effect on the appetites of fish as of people. 



A few interesting days were passed in Montreal— 

 essentially an American city— where che boodle alder- 

 men and errant bank cashiers have given the citizens the 

 idea that Americans ai-e made of money, and have taught 

 them to charge those from the States about thirty-three 

 per cent, more than Canadians. One of the boodlers— 

 the reputed stakeholder — ^built, and still owns, a fine 

 block of houses in a fashionable street, vieing in archi- 

 tectural beauty and solid construction with the many 

 fine residences of the wealthy. 



We took a night boat down the liver to Quebec. Its 

 beautiful situation, toboggan slide streets, its forts, battle 

 fields, and monuments, and the Montmorency Falls 

 were all visited and greatly enjoyed. The caleche gives 

 oddity and the British oflicer gives color to the scene. 

 The very small scarlet cap stuck on the side of his head 

 helps the caleche in the effect produced. Quebec, Wash- 

 ington and St. Augustine, are said to be the three cities 

 of America worth a journey to see. We did not enjoy 

 so fully its high-priced first-class hotel, which in New 

 York would have been a poor second-class. 



Lured by the highly colored pictures and glowing 

 advertisements of the large trout of Lake Edward, and 

 the ouinanisch of Lake St. John and the Grand Discharge, 

 my husband made particular inquiries about them. A 

 man at the hotel who claimed to be just down from Lake 

 St. John said: "I am no fisherman, and I had no suitable 

 tackle or flies, but I went down on the wharf, a lew steps 

 from the hotel the other morning, and caught fifteen 

 ouininiscb, weighing from 3 to 51bs. each, in a half hour 

 or so." This was the place we had been looking for, and 

 we took the train for Lake Edward next morning. 



We reached there about 2 o'clock, passing on the way 

 through a region extending for 20 or 30 miles formed of 

 a network of streams, that were said to be alive with 

 trout and ouinanisch, but every part of it is controlled by 

 some club. We found the hotel at Lake Edward to be a 

 plain, even rough, wooden building, with no conveniences 

 whatever for ladies. It was poorly kept and not at all 

 clean. There was ouinanisch, but no trout, on the table, 

 which rather surprised us, as there are no ouinanisch in 

 Lake Edward, the advertisements said nothing but trout. 

 After dinner my husband found there were no guides to 

 be had and no fishing except at the foot of the lake, 13 

 miles distant, and then with bait only. Being a fair 

 hand at casting a fly he detests bait-fishing. To get to 

 the fishing ground it would be necessary to charter a 

 steam launch. He drew the line at the launch and wasted 

 the afternoon in catching chubs not far from the hotel. 



The next morning he found a man familiar with the 

 lake and under his guidance fished for two miles the 

 likeliest lookmg places, but did not obtain a rise or see 

 the slightest evidence of fish. Disgusted with Lake Ed- 

 ward, and with the Munchausen stories told of its fish, 

 we took the afternoon train for Roberval, on Lake St. 

 John, where five-f)0und ouinanisch could be caught from 

 the dock, a few yards from the hotel. 



W^e arrived an hour before dark. The hotel is beauti- 

 fully situated and fairly well managed. The broad 

 lake stretches out like an ocean before it, with no 

 land visible on the opposite side. With a strong wind 

 blowing it is very much like an ocean. On inquiry we 

 found that there was no fishing nearer than the Grand 

 Discharge — twelve miles distant— and there never was 

 any exrcept in the spring when the ice was breaking up. 

 Then large firsh could be caught from the wharf with 

 bait. This was a grievous disappointment, and if my 

 husband had not been a very temperate man in speech, 

 the advertisers of Lake St. John fishing would have been 

 forcibly and graphically characterized. Later in the 

 evening we learned that small trout could be caught in a 

 brook that entered the lake five miles distant. He en- 

 gaged a guide for next morning, anticii)ating a pleasant 

 canoe trip if we got no fish. 



At breakfast time next morning a team came to the 

 door with a long wagon and a birch canoe on it, and be- 

 hind another team and buckboard. On inquiry we found 

 they were to take Madame and Mo'siem- to the brook. 

 The fishing was not down the lake, but five miles inland. 

 There was some more suppressed indignation at the de- 

 ception, and then the procession started. An hour's drive 

 brought us to a magnificent brook, almost a river — with 

 falls and deep holes and fallen trees lying in it, running 

 now through meadows and again through woods, an ideal 

 place for fish. If in Maine or the Adirondacks it would 

 have been swarming with big trout. After faithful fish- 

 ing for several miles, using a great variety of the most 

 approved flies, fifteen small trout were the result, the 

 largest a half-pound; and we were told that we were very 

 successful, none larger ever being caught. Another 

 visitor went to a more distant brook and caught one. Dis- 

 gust don't express the state of mind in which we walked 

 home, to meet the teams coming for us at the edge of the 

 village. Holding a mass meeting in our room, after din- 

 ner, we unanimously voted Canadian advertising a delu- 

 sion and s> snare, and Lake St. John a big fraud, 



A quiet Sunday renewed somewhat our enthusiasm. 

 And on Monday morning we determined to go to the 

 Grand Discharge. In Canada the ordinary man don't 

 seem to be able to tell the whole truth. There seems to 

 be always some reserve that inures to his profit. The 

 hotel bill was 50 cents a day more than the advertised 

 charges. The passage to the Grand Discharge was $1. 

 When we got there the steamboat anchored in the middle 

 of the rushing stream, and 25 cents each was charged to 

 take us ashore, which could be done only in a canoe. 

 The best fishing was said to be two miles distant at a 

 camp. Once settled in the camp, things were pleasant 

 enough — for a camp. Of course everything was very 

 primitive. The scenery was grand. The water rushed 

 by like Niagara below the falls or the rapids of the St. 

 Lawrence. And the volume of it was immense. The 

 charges were $2 per day for each pei-son and the canoe- 

 men charged $2 each. Two were necessary for each 

 fisherman, owing to the vei-y rapid current; so it costs a 

 fisherman $6 per day. The ouinanisch seemed abundant. 

 Their fijis could be seen as they rolled over porpoise- 

 fashion wherever the foam gathered in patches; but they 

 were not eager for the fly. The average catch is six a day 

 to each rod, and the largest caught last summer, accord- 

 ing to the record of the camp, was S^lbs. The average is 

 1 to 21 bs. The water was covered with a small fly similar 

 to the Beaverkill, with which they gorged themselves, 

 and so were indifferent to the artificial ones. 



The Saguenay is the outlet of Lake St. John, and the 

 Grand Discharge is the beginning of it. The distance to 

 Chicoutimi, the head of navigation, is given as 42 miles, 

 36 of which are rapids. Some of it very rapid, and there 

 are several miles in which no boat could live. We de- 

 termined to make the descent to Chicoutimi in a birch 

 canoe. We had two very skillful habitans. The actual 

 time in making the descent was five and a quarter hours, 

 not counting a carry of four miles. The scenery is grand, 

 and the whole effect thrilUng, at times the rush almost 

 takes your breath away. Boating in the Adirondacks is 

 tame and flat compared to it, yet with careful men it is 

 not at all dangerous. The birch is a very safe boat, as the 

 passenger sits in the bottom, and it is so light it can be 

 propelled wherever there is a heavy dew. The charge is 

 fifteen dollars, and the expenses of the carry, for the 

 rapids. The last six miles — which seem more like 

 twelve — are made in a carriage, and cost six dollars ad- 

 ditional. From Chicoutimi there is a daily steamer to 

 Quebec, taking about eighteen hours. 



We returned home by the Adirondacks; coming by 

 small.boat from the Upper Saranac to the Eaquette. and 

 thence by steamer to Blue Mountain, and then by stage, 

 rail and river to our city home. 



Eeviewing the trip after six months have passed, and 

 its small vexations have been forgottesi, we conclude 

 that pleasure costs more to the square foot in Canada 

 than in the States; Americans are charged from twenty- 

 five to thirty-three per cent, more than Canadians at 

 hotels, and we suspect the same in the stores. About 

 Lake St. John everything is very dear. This is due no 

 doubt to the Hudson's Bay Fur Co., which formerly had 

 the only store in this region — everything was paid for in 

 barter — and as they charged very high for the goods, 

 farm products were rated high also, and when money 

 came in with the railroad — three or four years ago — the 

 same price was charged in cash that the article was 

 reckoned to be worth in barter. 



Fishing is poor, all the good streams are controlled by 

 clubs. In brooks not connected with deep waters, the 

 fish are probably killed by the long continued and ex- 

 treme eold. The small streams are frozen solid for three 

 or four months of the year. Any one going to Lake 

 Edward or Lake St. John expecting good sport, except at 

 the time of the breaking up of the ice, will be disap- 

 pointed. At the Grand Discharge there are ouinanisch 

 to be caught all summer, but not in any great numbers, 

 the average for the summer being 8 to lOlbs. to the rod 

 per day at an expense of six dollars, without counting 

 the cost of getting there. It would require much enthu- 

 siasm, or a long purse, to enjoy this for any considerable 

 time. 



While at Lake St. John we visited the Hudson's Bay 

 Fur Company's station. They employ the Cree and 

 Montagnais Indians, tribes formerly numerous and pow- 

 erfvil. At the time of our visit they were getting ready 

 to depart on their annual trip to Hudson's Bay. They 

 seemed very poor, being clothed in the cheapest kind of 

 clothing, lodged in miserable tents, with in many cases 

 the ground for a floor, and then- food consisted of thick 

 cakes baked on the top of the stoves, one of which was in 

 each tent. We saw no meat or vegetables; nevertheless 

 they seemed strong and healthy, and their families were 

 large. The company furnishes them in advance with 

 groceries, traps, arms and ammunition — whatever will 

 aid them in hunting and sustain them while doing it. 

 They leave in August and September and return during 

 the following May and June. The returns of the winter 

 of 1889-90 were tliirteen and a half tons of pelts, varying 

 from the most costly to the most common furs, all of 

 which were shipped to London, The poor fellows that get 

 them probably find very little to their credit when their 

 accounts are settled. C. S. W. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



As suggested, I have carefully read the communication 

 you referred to me with the remark, "What have you to 

 say to that?" The communication is a series of charges 

 against the authorities of the Quebec and Lake St. Johns 

 railroad, the hotel keepers, the guides, and above all does 

 it convey dark inuendoes against all fishermen who have 

 told big or little stories of the fishing in Lakes Edward 

 and St. John. I don't know why you pitched on me 

 specially as the party responsible. Am I to be the scape- 

 goat for aU the big stories of Lake Edward fishing, 

 simply because I have fished there and made some state- 

 ments in regard to it? I do not remember what I said of 

 it, but whatever it was I will stick to it, no true fisher- 

 man ever falls a fish. 



On my first trip to Lake Edward I hired a boat and a 

 guide to row me to the best fishing grounds, and I tried 

 first the fly, then bait, then trolling with feathered sj)oon, 

 with the result of one solitary trout weighing about 21b8. 

 caught trolling, I returned to the hotel at night dis- 

 gusted, packed my belongings, and took the first train 

 home; but I was so charmed with the lake itself and the 

 beautiful scenery that I deteroiined to try it again later 

 in the season. This time I hired a boat and went pros- 

 pecting by myeelf , having learned that my guide on the 



former occasion played upon my verdancy and did not 

 expend his muscle in taking me where he should. He 

 pulled me do\vn the lake about five miles when he should 

 have taken me ten. In the course of a few days' pros- 

 pecting I discovered grounds where I had splendid suc- 

 cess, and thereafter had no cause for complaint. 



My experience on my first trip was, as I say, very 

 similar to that of your complaining correspondent, and 

 had I not made my second trip I should liave held similar 

 opinion. I found, as did "C. S, W,," that there was no 

 good fiy-fishing in the deep waters of the lake, but I 

 could and did get a good many small trout by casting 

 along shore in the shallower waters. To get satisfactory 

 fiy-fishing it was necessary to go to the outlet or dis- 

 charge, called the Jeanotte River. There I found the 

 finest fly-fishing I ever experienced, and caught moi"e 

 large trout than I ever had taken on any waters in a life- 

 time's fishing, running from 1 to4^1bs.,the latter an 

 exceptional size, I admit, but I did get many weighing 

 as high as 31bs,, a true bill and no nonsense. I brought 

 them home, and friends who ate them will indorse my 

 assertions— if a fair and square fish story ever needs sub- 

 stantiating (an insult to the cloth). 



Although a fiy-fisherman from infancy I am not so 

 terribly scientific as to scorn an occasional indulgence in 

 bait-fishing, and any one going to Lake Edward not so 

 thoroughly dyed in the wool as not to disdain that sort 

 of fishing, if acquainted with the best grounds or having 

 a guide that is, can land some splendid fish from a boat 

 fishing oft", the points in about 25 or 30ft. of water. The 

 fish are the true brook trout, gamy, and the most beauti- 

 fully marked I ever saw, even handsomer than the famed 

 rainbow trout of St. Cloud River in California, 



Your correspondent failed to enjoy the fly-fishing from 

 not going to the foot of the lake and fishing in the out- 

 let, and also deep water bait-fishing because the guide 

 did not take the party far enough down the lake. For some 

 reason the fishing is not good at the upper end near the 

 station. Presumably because the water is not deep and 

 there is bottom grass; although fine fish have been taken 

 near the hotel early in the season. 



I caught some good fish trolling from the boat in the 

 lower lake with a small feather spoon, and also by putting 

 a small shot on a fly, letting it sink, and reeling in 

 smartly. 



There are days when fish will not bite well in any 

 waters; and parties should not be discouraged with the 

 indifferent luck the first day. The next may give fine 

 sport. They should give their minds and time to it. 



Your correspondent complains of the accommodations. 

 This T can hardly understand, as there has been a good 

 hotel at the lake the last two years, with good rooms and 

 a good table. The original hotel was rather a rude affair 

 it is true, but has been relegated to the employees of the 

 railroad for the last two or three seasons. The present 

 hotel is good enough for any one not expecting to find a 

 Windsor or Murray Hill in the wilderness at $2 a day. 

 The beds are good, the rooms neat and clean, and the 

 terms reasonable. 



So much for Lake Edward. As for Lake St. John, I 

 am not as familiar with the fishing, as I have not ex- 

 ploited it. 



There is a fine hotel on its banks at Roberval capable of 

 accommodating 300 giiests. I spent several days there, 

 but at that time the steamer was undergoing repairs, and 

 there was no means of reachinia; the outlet or Grand Dis- 

 charge, where the best ouinanische fishing is found; but 

 friends who have been there and fished are enthusiastic 

 on the sport they had. 



Recently a large hotel has been erected on one of the 

 islands in the outlet, where the fishing is as it were at the 

 doors, and there should be no difficulty in enjoying the 

 sport without having to go far. This new hotel solves 

 the problem of convenience and good accommodations 

 within easy reach of this so-ealled ouinanische or land- 

 locked salmon fishing. A new and larger steamer has 

 been built, which will run from the Roberval Hotel to the 

 Grand Discharge daily ; fare one dollar, reasonable enough 

 for such a pleasant trip. 



There are several large rivers emptying into the lake 

 that have as yet not been tried and are scarcely known, 

 which doubtless do abound in large trout and afford fine 

 trout fishing. This season the steamboats will carry 

 guests to them, and will doubtless open up a new field for 

 the fisherman. There is said to be good fishing in the 

 lake for dore, pike and other varieties including the oui- 

 nanische, but the railroad and hotel people disclaim hav- 

 ing made any promise that fine fishing can be had from 

 the shore or wharf and decline to be held accountable for 

 the yarns of irresponsible persons. It surely looks as if 

 some one had imposed upon your correspondent in telling 

 of the fishing from the wharf. 



It is promised that every facility will be afforded tour- 

 ists this season in the way of steamers on the lakes, boats, 

 guides and camp outfits at reasonable rates and no extor- 

 tion permitted. The railroad company is the lessee of 

 lakes Edward and St. John and their tributaries and out- 

 lets except the Jeanotte River, the outlet of Lake Edward, 

 which has been secured by a club which will make a 

 reasonable charge for fishing in that river. All the waters 

 under lease to the railroad and hotel company will be free 

 to the public, the Jeanotte River Club alone making a 

 charge. At Lake Edward the hotel people will give 

 attention to the question of good men as guides and good 

 boats; and will have a small steam yacht to tow boats 

 down to the foot of the lake, which will be a great con- 

 venience, and what has been greatly needed, as it will 

 enable parties who do not care to camp out to get down 

 to the best fishing grounds early and back in time for 

 dinner, giving ample opportunity for fishing — at least six 

 hours. The charges for all these accommodations will be 

 reasonable — hotel charges, $3 per day, or $10 per week, 

 at which no one can cavil. The railroad will run draw- 

 ing room cars, and more frequent trains at excursion 

 rates. 



The trip is a delightful one, the scenery fine, and as 

 for Lake Edward it is one of the most beautiful to be 

 found in any country in the world, with its limpid 

 waters, bold shores wooded to the water's edge, inter- 

 spersed with islands like emeralds on its placid bosom. 

 It is well worth a visit, aside from the fishing. A sail 

 down to the outlet twenty-two miles and back is about 

 as delightful an excursion as any lover of scenery could 

 ask for; and as for fishing, I will guarantee that if your 

 complaining correspondent will follow my example and 

 try it again, giving several days to it, she will change her 

 opinion and oecome a convert to the beauties and the 



