New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-08-11
FISHING IN THE MAINE WOODS.
A spoRTsMAN,s STORIES OF GRAND LAKE
GAME TROUT AND LAND.LocKED sALMoN-AN
M,

GAME TROUT AND LANDLocKED sALMoN-AN
ARCADIAN REGION.
"The finest catch OF genuine wild brook trout
ever saw" said a New-Y City sportsman u maze
a few summers ago in stream in Washington county,
Mane in the isolated and then almost UNKNOWN
Grand Lake region. There were fifty trout In ue
catch, and not one Of them weighed less than wv"
pounds The biggest one weighed four pounds trout
plenty then In the streams in that region
they possibly could have been before there was
white person in the State. had not visited the
Grand Lake country TO kill trout however, Dut han
accompanied Boston friend OF mine to fish for land
locked salmon. At the time 1 paid my first Visit 10
Grand Lake its possibilities known only to
few New-York and Boston sporsmen, one OF whom
had discovered the fishing 1t afforded while on
business trip to OF the great anneries the famous
Shaw Brothers had erected in that part OF the Maine
wilderness. Loeb LomOnd In WORKMANSHIP, Sebago
and Sebce Lakes in Maine, and half dozen or so Oh
lakes In Canada had been. and are STILL noted hshng
grounds for land locked salmon and fishermen were OF
the opinion that there was no other water III the
country where it worth while to try and hnd that
fish. These lakes are annually overrun with anglers
the through. and fishing in them IS somewhat
capncous, to say the least. l had hshed in all Oh
them, but after l introduced 10 tho waters OF
Grand Lake l had for any Of the others,
although ! have never had the opportunity to enjoy
locked salmon fishing anywhere else would not seem
like sport to
That region, when l visited it; about as near
Arcadia as one could be made. village had grown
up around the tannery and was Inhabited by about
seventy-lve families. half Of them Canadian-French
and the made up of Indians and native Yankees
There was no postoilce than forty miles away
There was no doctor any nearer than that, and no
lawyer within fifty miles. The people were log
drivers bark peelers woodchoppers hunters. rappers
and fishermen They lived a wild life, yet peace
able that there had never been anything there
for constable or a justice of the peace to do. No
tax collector ever introduced his unwecOme presence
at Grand Lake. and the candidate never bored Its easy
going citizens. There church or preacher
there and | found but person there who had ever
seen or heard a religious service Of any kind. Yet
not one of the Inhabitants touched a drop Of
liquor. and there only four persons in the settle
ment who knew the taste of any ntoxicant l can't
imagine how much nearer Arcadia one might hope TO
get
"The nd-locked salmon IS of the gamest fish
that swims 1t Is closely allied TO the true salmon,
but it never seeks salt water, II It has the
opportunity The Grand Lake landlocked salmon, or
sebagos, tho natives call them, seemed to me to Dc
quicker in the water than wild brook trout. and
there are few more sudden things than one OF these
| think. A three pound sebagO will show greater
strength and mako sitter fight than FIVE pound
!
TO get one of these his hook with light tackle TO
handle him with, knows how much like a steam engine
he can perform. The land locked salmon rarely eX-
ceeds four pounds in Grand Lake but have caught
them Weighing ten and twelve pounds In sebago. IL
| were of getting my fill of that Size In
SebagO, and of succeeding equally well with the
four-pOunders In Grand Lake. I'd take the latter.
They better in quality and great deal the gamer
of the two
"The best tlmo for fishing. and in fact the only
time IMAM stand 1t TO fish for landlOcked salmon
I'm Grand Lake, is during the month Of June, unless
he to fish for them with live bait in October,
when they 60 into the deepest OF the water and will
not take the fly Even if the fishing good after
June there is pestferous black fly that things
up there from July on till cool weather. and its bite
is a blood cousin a hornets sting There Is Al. In
dcstructible mosquito there too and his ad7ent may
be looked for with nfable regularity on the Fourth
Of July. That mosquito deiieS smudg' smoke, tar.
mrpenne Kerosene and all the OdorlfeIOus oinnenis
man has Invented 20 clrcumYent the assaults OF or
binary, everyday mosquitoes and gnats. Ie VIII Dite
through buckskin shirt glove. and every dip he
gives you leaves lump like an egg within hall a
minute after the bitter was inserted, consequently,
after the last of June the land locked salmon get,
long rest IN Grand Lake.
"A long yellow or yellow and black fly is the most
tempting for tho salmon in Grand Lake, and, "a for
that my experience has been the same in all waters
They can also be taken on a troll, with or without
rod but tho true sport IS tempting them with the fly:
They rise most eagerly about shutdown; and found
cising not only good skill. but was playing in first
class luck When hooked the sebago adopts much
the same tactics that characterize the black bass. and
their leaps from the water aye tremendous ana numcl-
GUS To sit in Of the light birchbark canoes fur
nished by the Indian guides-whO handle the frall
craft with wonderful dexterty-and battle with four
pound fish of this kind. IS Joy that never expert
cnced with any other fish and guess | have put
hook I'm about every kind that swlms. II took me
forty minutes one day conquer OF these land
locked salmon, and nearly as much used up as
TIE fish was when he at last turnel hi, side and
submitted 10 the net. II Is rare that a Grand Lake
salmon can be overcome In less than fifteen minutes
and IL ofcner requires thirty The consequence Is
that a davis catch may not be large a. 10 number
If you have fish on your hook all the time, but
il will be big with the finest sport the rod can be used
in 4 good angler with the fly will not be many
seconds idle when he fishes for Grand Lake salmon,
unless they have been spoiled since l had my bouts
with them.
1.-THE trout streams IN the Grand Lake region are
numerous and the fish they contain average larger
than any true brook trout I saw. the catch |
mentioned | assured, not being one Of unusual
average for the caught them in small, but
bosterous one known ~ Reeds Run"