FOREST AND STREAM. 
259 
Aug. 18, 1906.] 
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FISH LAKE, A BRITISH COLUMBIA TROUT WATER. 
On our way south we spent a day at Bullion, 
the noted placer mining camp, and were most 
hospitably entertained there by Mr. Hobson, 
the manager of the mine, and his wife. At their 
residence we found all the comforts of civiliza¬ 
tion, including hot and cold water baths, electric 
lights, spring lamb and fresh vegetables and 
fruits grown in their own garden—all these in 
the wilderness but little south of 53 degrees 
parallel of latitude. The mining operations, 
which are on a gigantic scale, are a sight well 
worth seeing—and we saw everything there was. 
On our way back to the 150-Mile House, we 
stopped at a large lake that is noted for its 
fishing at certain times of the year; but the water 
was warm, and not a fish would strike, although 
I tried them in every way I could think of. 
From the 150-Mile House I telegraphed for 
Indians with their horses to meet us at the 
19-Mile House, but on arriving there failed to 
find them; consequently, leaving my relations 
at the 21-Mile House, I pushed on to Ashcroft, 
where I found that my instructions had not been 
complied with. I immediately wired back to 
Clinton and made arrangements with the well- 
known guide, Mr. Pearson, to meet us at the 
19-Mile House, some two days later. Return¬ 
ing I spent the night at the 19-Mile House, and 
for two days fished the Buonaparte River for 
small trout, that averaged about four to the 
pound. There was no trouble in getting sixty 
fish per rod per day, but the sport was rather 
tame. 
Mr. Pearson, with his assistant and ten horses, 
arrived about noon, and we soon made a start 
for Loon Lake, across a mountain range, ar¬ 
riving there before dark, and camping in the 
open. The scenery along this route is ex¬ 
tremely fine, the forest being so open that one 
could easily see a quarter of a mile through it, 
underbrush being conspicuous by its absence. 
At Loon Lake we found the mountainside 
across the water ablaze; and it made a mag¬ 
nificent sight after nightfall. Unfortunately, the 
fire lay directly in our path, but next day we 
were able to work around it, although many 
fallen trees along the trail were still burning. 
A few miles’ journey took us beyond the fire 
region, and early in the afternoon we arrived at 
Lake Hihiume, where we soon put together one 
of the two canvas boats, so as to secure a mess 
of fish for dinner. I rowed, and Mrs. E. trolled 
two flies, catching seventeen beauties in about 
an hour and a half. They averaged in weight 
1V2 pounds, none being much heavier than 2 
pounds. The largest fish that I have taken in 
that lake weighed only 2pounds, and the daily 
average ran from 1 pound 2 ounces to 1 pound 
8 ounces, the finer the weather the lower being 
the average. 
At this lake we spent three or four days very 
pleasantly, then Mr. and Mrs. E. went to the 
21-Mile House, leaving me to take two days’ 
sport alone, which I certainly did, for one 
morning in four hours I caught by casting forty 
rainbow trout that weighed 60 pounds. This 
round trip from New Westminster occupied just 
thirty-one days, and all of us enjoyed it thor¬ 
oughly, notwithstanding the fact that the fish¬ 
ing a good part of the time was disappointing. 
On several occasions I have urged the 
Premier, the Chief Commissioner of Lands and 
\Vorks, the Fish Commissioner and other offi¬ 
cers of the Government to stock with trout all 
lakes m the Province that do not already con¬ 
tain them, especially those along the Caribou 
Road; but as yet nothing has been done in this 
line. The result would be that in a few years 
there would be hundreds of small lakes filled 
with gamy trout, and the Province in summer 
would be overrun with American fishermen, 
whose expenditures of cash there would add 
greatly to the income of the inhabitants. As it 
is, there are a great many good fishing lakes, 
but they are scattered and often rather remote 
from the routes of travel. 
This year, having no time to spare, I had a 
friend make inquiries by wire concerning the 
fishing at half a dozen resorts, and chose from 
the resulting replies Fish Lake, which lies about 
23 miles south of Kamloops. The choice proved 
to be a most fortunate one, as the subsequent 
notes taken from my diary will prove. Un¬ 
fortunately, I was overpersuaded by some friends 
to try first the fishing in the Thompson River at 
Savonas and lost a whole day in consequence, 
catching only one little trout. To console me 
the proprietor of the hotel told me of an 
immense catch of fourteen made in one day two 
weeks previously by a gentleman from Van¬ 
couver. This tale decided me to take the first 
train for Fish Lake, where I had been as¬ 
sured that I would find good sport. 
Before leaving Vancouver, I was so fortunate 
as to make the acquaintance of an elderly gent¬ 
leman, Mr. A., who desired a fishing com¬ 
panion for a few days. I found that in spite of 
his seventy-seven years he was a “dead game 
sport,” for he fished faithfully at Savonas, where 
the conditions were strenuous for even a young 
man. 
On the evening of June 24, we arrived at 
Kamloops, and at 8 o’clock the next morning 
started by wagon for Fish Lake, and made the 
23 miles in four hours and fifteen minutes. The 
road was good, but it involved a climb of some 
3.000 feet, the elevation of Fish Lake being 4,100 
feet above sea level. 
On the way Mr. A. pointed out to me a pair 
of extremely rare birds, named “Clark’s crow.” 
One of them flew across the road just ahead of 
the wagon, hence I got a good view of it. It 
appeared to be about half the size of the ordi¬ 
nary crow, or about as big as the “crow black¬ 
bird” (and its breast was of a dull red color, 
which extended well back beneath toward the 
tail). Probably the one I saw so plainly was the 
male bird. The other was some forty yards 
away, and in consequence I could not see it 
distinctly. 
We found Fish Lake to be an ideal spot and 
the conditions for an outing there simply per¬ 
fect. The place is kept by Mr. David Lusk 
(usually known as “Dave”) and his partner, 
Mr. Robert Cowan. Dave is an old bachelor, 
but his partner has a wife, who is mistress of 
the establishment and runs it on correct princi¬ 
ples. The rooms, though small, are comfort¬ 
able and scrupulously clean, and the board leaves 
nothing for a true sportsman to desire. There 
is a new log cabin, which serves for meals and 
lodging, and alongside is a smaller log cabin 
of one room only, which is used as a bar and 
lounging place. There is another cabin at a 
distance of 150 yards, where about four persons 
can be lodged. Then there are a stable, an ice 
house and a carpenter’s shop. The full size of 
the lake is not shown by the photograph, for it 
is curved almost to a semi-circle, its length be¬ 
ing about three miles and its width about half 
a mile. 
The accompanying map of a small portion of 
the Kamloops District, shows the location of 
this and several neighboring lakes. The map is 
far from correct, for the country has never been 
thoroughly surveyed, hence the size and loca¬ 
tions of the lakes are merely approximate. 
Within reach of Lusk and Cowan’s resort are 
the following lakes that contain trout: Wal¬ 
loper (two miles distant), three unnamed lakes 
connected to this, Ridge Lake (three miles dis¬ 
tant), with a smaller lake close to it, Big Fish 
Lake (some sixteen miles away), Face Lake ad¬ 
joining the latter, and two small lakes nearby. 
Fish (or Trout) Lake and Walloper Lake are 
the only ones that have ever been fished to any 
extent, and, in fact, some of those mentioned 
(including Big Fish and Face Lakes) have never 
had a boat upon them. 
The surrounding country is wild to the ex¬ 
treme, and one may journey for many miles 
without seeing a sign of a habitation. The ele¬ 
vation of some of the lakes are as follows: 
Fish (or Trout) Lake, 4,100 feet above sea level; 
Ridge Lake, 4,630 feet above sea level; Big Fish 
Lake, 4,820 feet above sea level; Face Lake, 
4,840 feet above sea level. The elevation of 
Walloper Lake I would estimate to be some 
200 feet higher than that of Fish Lake, or 
4,300 feet. 
Ridge Lake and the adjoining little lake 
have never been fished, excepting by Indians, 
who generally take their fish by damming the 
streams temporarily during the spring run and 
scooping them out of the pools. It is said that 
the trout of Ridge Lake reach pounds, and 
specimens have been taken from Walloper Lake 
nearly half a pound heavier. 
Mr. and Mrs. Cowan are the only ones that 
I know of, except Indians, who have wet a line 
in Big Fish Lake. They tried it once by cast¬ 
ing flies from the shore among the rushes. In 
two hours they took in over fifty trout, not¬ 
withstanding the fact that they spent a good part 
of the ime in climbing trees to disengage their 
hooks from the branches. The largest fish they 
caught did not exceed il4 pounds in weight; but 
it is well known that the big trout lie on the 
edge of the deep water and the little ones closer 
to the shore; hence it is almost certain that Big 
Fish Lake is properly named, and that its adjec¬ 
tive applies to the first and not to the second 
substantive. 
How near Face Lake is to Big Fish Lake I 
