March 4, 1893] 
THE EISHING GAZETTE 
147 
it is reckoned that there is an almost unpre¬ 
cedented stock of fish forward, and therefore, 
should conditions shape themselves all right for 
angling, the sport no doubt will prove much 
better than usual, and continue longer in the 
year. Both loch and river have yielded a 
ilO pounder or two during the week.” 
“ The Brora,” writes Colin Gunn, “ did fairly 
well last week, when the takes were as follows:— 
On the 20th, Mr. Hall, three fish ; Mr. Todd, two 
fish; 21st, Mr. Hall, one fish; 22Dd, Mr. Gunnis, 
three fish ; Mr. Hall, five fish ; 23rd, Mr. Gunnis, 
one fish; 24th, Mr. Gunnis, one fish; 25th, Mr. 
Gunnis, two fish. Total catch for week, 18 fish; 
weight not known. Mr. Gunnis, Gordonbush, 
arrived north on Tuesday and has not had, as 
yet, a blank day. River now about frozen, and a 
smart snowstorm on the hills.” 
Loch Ness, Loch A'’ennachar, and Loch Lub- 
naig—all free fishing lochs—are still doing well 
for salmon to the rod, although perhaps not so 
well as last week. _ 
A Sutherlandshire correspondent writes:—“On 
the northern seaboard the angling on the early 
rivers, which are well cared for, is proving good 
now. Regarding the Naver, it is worth bearing in 
mind that there has been no netting in or near 
the river for six years—the first three years by 
generous enterprize of the proprietor, the Duke 
of Sutherland, and since then by arrangement 
with the tenants, who pay £25 for each of six rods 
to buy off all netting—no fixed nets for five 
miles on each side. The river is doing well this 
spring, and so she should, but I consider she will 
never do as well as she ought, until something 
is done at the low end of Loch Naver to keep 
the spring fish from going too quickly into the 
loch where they are utterly lost sight of.” 
The proprietors of the Blackwater and Conon, 
Ross-shire, have, for the last year or two, been 
doing handsomely by this dual river. In two 
W'ays they have worked for the increase of the 
stock of fish—by artificial propagation (from 
maintaining a hatchery) which has done much, 
and by buying up and removing the netting 
which also has had a good effect. The hatchery 
results have been extremely successful and 
through allowing more fish into the river the 
natural resources have been given a better 
chance. There is now no netting higher up than 
about half-a-mile from the river or not higher 
than the march stone of Kildun. 
Already Loch Tummel has yielded some fine 
trout. Before February had ended, a couple of 
anglers, out for a few hours on two different 
days, had between them five trout, weighing 5ilb., 
4|lb., 31b., 31b., and 21b., besides some pike. Loch 
Tummel is the earliest loch in Scotland, and its 
trout, which are few, but large, come into condi¬ 
tion soonest in the year of all Scotch loch trout, 
those of Loch Leven not excepted. 
Angling has now commenced on the Annan, 
the Esk, the Ythan, and, indeed, all the later in 
opening of Scotch rivers. Over thirty anglers 
liave been notified by the Esk and Liddle Fisheries 
Association that they are not any longer to have 
tickets granted them to fish. This is rough upon 
these anglers, and no wonder their backs are up. 
The eggs of the early salmon deposited in the 
autumn in the hatcheries of the north of Scot¬ 
land, are now hatching or have just hatched out 
in all the half dozen or so different localities 
where hatcheries are maintained. Scarcely any 
loss of ova has resulted, and this is attributed by 
most to the more successful impregnation by the 
dry process. Monday last 170,000 Tweed salmon 
eggs were dispatched from Howietoun for ship¬ 
ment on board the Kiakoura, which sails shortly 
for New Zealand. This is the second lot sent 
away this season ; the first, consisting of 100,000 
Teith ova, having gone by the Ionic. 
A GENTLEMAN, fishing Oil Loch Rannoch last 
week, caught three yellow trout, weighing 141b., 
41b., and 31b. These are good weights tor yellows. 
The Hielanman’s aye dry ! an’ likes a drappie 
tae pit doon his saumon. 
ZIG-ZAG ROUTES TO CHICAGO 
FOR ANGLERS. 
(Continued from page 11.) 
By Rux. 
By zig-zag routes I have piloted the traveller 
through the fair vales of the Acadian provinces 
to the shores of the St. Lawrence. Situated on 
the hanks of this noble river are Quebec and 
Montreal, two cities the attractions of which are 
doubtlessly so familiar to the readers of the 
Fishing Gazette as to require no further illustra¬ 
tion. I will therefore presume that the tourist is 
sojourning at the St. Louis Hotel in Dufferin 
Avenue, Q*iebec, and, having visited all the prin¬ 
cipal lions of the old town, is now making his 
final preparations for an expedition to the famous 
Lake St. John. This grand sheet of water, with 
its several streams, contain numerous fish of 
various kinds, whilst game is still plentiful in the 
surrounding wildernesses. Although consider¬ 
ably off the highway to our final destination, 
Chicago, no visitor to the Franco-Canadian 
capital should miss this trip, which, comprising 
some of the wildest and most romantic scenery on 
the Atlantic seaboard, will well repay the most 
ardent sportsman, even should the fates be adverse 
to his casting the line or drawing the trigger. 
To this sequestered region the reader and 1 will 
proceed by train, and, having rambled for a season 
by stream and forest, we will then wend our way 
by boat down the lovely w’aters of the Saguenay, 
and, ascending the estuary of the St. Lawrence, 
will finally reach our head-quarters at Quebec. 
The train leaves Quebec for Roberval, on the 
shores of Lake St. John, from the Palais station. 
At St. Ambrose a magnificent view of the valley 
of the St. Charles river presents itself to the 
tourist, whence, galloping over the iron-way, in 
less than an hour we cross the Jacques-Cartier 
river, and, enjoying the exquisite scenery of the 
sweet vale through which this stream flows, after 
a further jaunt of eight miles we reach Lake St. 
Joseph. This is a fine stretch of water, about 
eight miles long, and twenty-two miles in circum¬ 
ference, surrounded by mountains, which are 
ornamentally wooded with birch, maple, beech, 
and ash. The water is very deep and clear, and 
the hard sandy beach affords every facility for 
bathing. On the opposite shore to the railway 
station, and reached by steamer, stands the com¬ 
fortable hotel, the Lake View House, where the 
angler taking up his quarters should have some 
good sport with the black bass. Resuming our 
rambles by rail, the next sheet of water we arrive 
at is Lake Sergeant, the shore of which we follow 
for about two miles. The Sergeant was formerly 
famous for his “ bass,” but owing to the frequent 
visits of other officers of the line to the “ canteen,” 
the stock in trade is sadly reduced. We therefore 
decline the hospitality of the N.C.O.’s mess, and, 
without tap of drum, descend into the valley of 
St. Anne, and, crossing the river, detrain at St. 
Raymond. This is a charming little town, and 
will be found an excellent centre for either the 
mighty hunter or the Waltonian brotherhood. 
The latter, indeed, may make excursions every 
day in a different direction, always finding some 
new lake or stream, where good sport may be had. 
Once more en route, we pass a few unimportant 
wayside stations, when the railway, after travers¬ 
ing for some distance a rocky ledge cut out of the 
mountain side, descends into the valley of the 
Batiscau, and then follows the course of that 
river for over thirty miles. During this portion 
of the journey we pass through surprisingly 
beautiful scenery, which reaches a climax of per¬ 
fection when the above stream is joined by the 
Miguick and the Jeanette. Beyond the Batiscau 
a chain of well-stocked trout streams has been 
secured by the Laurentides Fish and Game Club, 
whilst other clubs also hold riparian rights in the 
same neighbourhood. 
At a distance of 112 miles from Quebec, we 
arrive at Lake Edward, which, for obvious 
reasons, is also known as Lac des Grandes Isles ; 
it is twice the size of Lake Joseph, and is well 
stocked with fine trout. The fishing rights of 
this sheet of water are held by the railway 
company, who have an excellent hotel, the 
Laurentides House, situated at the water’s edge, 
and anglers who patronise this establishment 
are granted tickets that enable them to follow 
the craft. Several steamers ply on the lake, 
but the deep bays and inlets on its hundred 
miles of shore line, are for the most part un¬ 
explored, and are nothing less than an intricate 
maze of islands, the mysteries of which are known 
to but few. From Lake Edward the railway 
continues to Lake Kiskisink, which is the source 
of the Metabotchouan river, a famous angling 
stream, emptying into Lake St. John, and also 
rented by the railway company. Leaving Lake 
Kiskisink, the scenery becomes somewhat mono¬ 
tonous, there being nothing but a continued 
chain of lakelets on either side of the railway 
till we reach Chambord Junction. Then a change 
comes o’er the spirit of our dream, and the 
panorama is one that will be long remembered, 
the stranger in the land experiencing fresh sur¬ 
prises as we rapidly pass over the remaining 
thirteen miles that carries us to the terminus 
of the line at Roberval, situated on the shores 
of Lake St. John. Roberval is only a small 
village, with a good hotel that stands close to the 
water’s edge. Lake St. John, called Iiy the 
Indians “ Flat Lake,” is a large expanse of water 
twenty-eight miles long, twenty-live miles wide, 
and having a depth of nearly eighty feet. It 
receives the waters of nineteen rivers, some of 
them over a mile in width; the principal of 
which are the Mistassini, Benbonca, and tbe 
Ashouapmouchouan, each about 150 miles 
in length, flowing from the Hudson Bay 
watershed. The outlet of these streams is La 
Dccharge du Lac St. Jean, which at Chicoatine 
becomes the Saguenay. For the first eight miles 
of its course the river is divided into two branches 
by Alma Island, known respectively as Grande 
Decharge and Petite Docharge. The form- r 
shares with the Penbonca the honour of being 
the favourite resort of the game onauaniche, 
trout, pickerel, perch, and pike being also abun¬ 
dant in these waters. On the shores of Lake St. 
John at Point Bleue is the reservation of the 
Montagnais Indians, who being experienced 
hunters and excellent canoeists, their services 
will doubtlessly be appreciated by visiting sports¬ 
men. The proprietor of the hotel at Roberval 
has the exclusive fishing rights of the lake and 
its tributary streams, and besides the above 
establishment is also the landlord of the Island 
House, situated on an island in the midst of 
several good fishing pools, where a supply of 
camp outfits are kept for the use of guests. 
The return trip by water to Quebec can be 
taken by two different routes. For the first a 
couple of Indians with their canoe are necessary 
when starting from the Island House, the rapids 
of the Grande Decharge are descended to 
Chicoutimi. The trip is thrilling in the extreme, 
but although unsuitable for travellers of a 
nervous temperament is, nevertheless, under the 
pilotage of skilful Redskins, free from any real 
danger. The more pacific course, however, is to 
take a conveyance from the Roberval Hotel, over 
a good highway to the same point (Chicoutimi), 
a distance of about seventy miles, whence the 
remainder of the journey is continued by one of 
the river steamers. Taking it for granted that 
we reach the head of navigation in safety, we now 
board one of the vessels of the St. Lawrence Steam 
Navigation Company, and in tranquil waters pi’o- 
ceed down the Saguenay. As we quietly glide along, 
the scenery is of remarkable boldness, though less 
startling than on the lower reaches of the river. 
After passing Cape St. Francois, situated on the 
left bank, the steamer runs between the frowning 
promontories of Cape East and Cape West, and 
enters the beautiful Ha Ha Bay. In this inlet is 
the small French village of St. Alphonse, where 
we call and disembark passengers who are proceed¬ 
ing to the Gravel Lakes, which are three miles 
distant, and famous for red trout. After leaving 
Ha Ha Bay and regaining the Saguenay, the real 
solemn grandeur and loveliness of the river is 
felt—the weird and desolate scenery almost op¬ 
pressing one. As the vessel forges her way down 
stream, the shores of which are almost unin¬ 
habited, to the right we behold La Tableau, a 
sheet of limestone rock 900 feet high. Farther on 
we pass Statue Point, where, some thousand feet 
above the water, a huge arch gives ingress to a 
cave untrodden by man. The steamer next steers 
close to Cape Eternity, a narrow cove between 
the majestic heights of Cape Eternity and Cape 
Trinity, where the water is 150 fathoms deep and 
