Artillery Lake Teems With Trout.
Artillery lake teems with trout, some of large size, and at the foot of the rapids on “Kasba river trout are taken by the troll, some weighing eighteen and twenty pounds. There must be larger ones but we did not secure any.
“At the foot of every rapid on upper Hanbury river trout and grayling can be caught. Some trout are very large, over twenty-five pounds. The best eating are the small ones about two pounds, the flesh of which is very red. They do not rise to the fly, but catch the spoon very well. The ordinary maskinonge pattern proved the most successful.”
As to Thelon river, the Inspector states:—“Fish are abundant. Anywhere where nets are set whitefish of splendid quality are caught.” As to the long reach of lakes above Chesterfield inlet he says:—“Fish are plentiful in all the lakes. On Baker lake we saw some very large trout jumping near the mouth of a small river emptying into the lake.”
The Indians and the few white travellers who have been there report a plentiful supply of fine fish in all the large lakes north of Great Slave lake and about the headwaters of Backs river, which used to be known as Great Fish river on account of the large fish caught in its waters. Mr. Warburton Pike was at Aylmer lake in June 1890 and writes in his book (“The Barren Grounds of Northern Canada”):—“At the head of every bay a stream ran into the lake, and the open water at its mouth was always a sure find for trout; forty or fifty large fish were often caught in a day with a hook and line at these places, and, as we could always kill caribou, even the dogs were getting fat in this land of plenty.”
We have this testimony from Hanbury (“Sport and Travel in the Northland of Canada”) as to the fish life of the lakes still farther north and on the height of land dividing the Coppermine watershed from that of Great Bear lake:—“We all regretted leaving Teshi-er-pi or Dismal lake. It certainly did not appear ‘dismal’ to us, but quite the reverse. I do not remember ever having come across a lake where fish were so numerous. Large trout, some of which ran up to twenty-five pounds, could be seen swimming in the clear water as we paddled along. The tollabies we caught averaged nearer five pounds than four, and as before remarked, were most excellent eating. Arctic trout were numberless.”
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
The reader of the preceding pages will have observed, from the variety of publications from which quotations have been made, that the literature relating to the far northlands of Canada is considerable—quite extensive in fact. Below is a partial list of written authorities consulted in the preparation of this book. It does not pretend to be a complete bibliography of the country by any means, many publications which were carefully read through not being mentioned because they do not throw any direct light upon the natural resources of the region, being merely books of adventure, or publications relating wholly to those topographical features of the country which are clearly indicated in present-day maps. The following list includes works from which enquirers for additional knowledge of the country are likely to obtain serviceable information.
Adam, G. Mercer.—“The Canadian Northwest, its History and its Troubles.”—Rose Publishing Co., Toronto, 1885.