St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1896-05-29
Trout and FRESH Water Salmon.

water of its Ashuanip branch in the
interior of Labrador, came the skin
of a fish that unfoIds novel and
interesting story to anglers and ich-
thyologists alike. In its ad'pose I'm
the fish whose skin this was wore
the badge of royalty amongst fishes
the evidence Of kinship to the king
ly family of the salmon. In its
shapely beauty and brllliancy OF
coloring, from the deep blulsh-green
of its back, through the various
shades of its silvery sides, to the
pure white Of it's under surface, and
in the number and disposition OF its
fine rays, it scarcely differed from a
grilse of equal size. But its habitat
was above cataract having a sheer
fall of 300 feet, so that this fish could
not possibly have been salmon
from the sea. The large number and
the distinctness of the Xxx marks
upon it's sides, the large size Of the
eye and of the dark spots upon the
gill-covers, and the strength and
thickness of that portion of the body
adjoining the caudal fin, all stamp 1t
ouananiche, or fresh-water salmon
of nor. anadromous habits. Prior
to the discovery of this fish in several
of the large streams of the extreme
northern and eastern river basins Of
Labrador, by Mr.. A. P. Low, of the
Geological Survey of Canada, who
brought this skin back with him to
civilization upon his return from his
overland trip of 1894 5 to Ungava
Bay, the ouananiche was popularity
supposed to be peculiar to lake St.
John and its tributary waters. Now
it's Canadian environment is known
to include the whole Labrador PENN
sula, excepting perhaps that part OF
its westerl y slope drained into Hud-
son bay; and the angler who would
find it, aud fight it under the varying
conditions in which it may be found,
must traverse vast region of noun.
tain and lake and forest and stream
as practically unknown as the interi-
or of Africa, save to the Montagnais
and Nascapee Indians, whose hunt
ing ground it is.
The earliest spring fishing for
ouananiche is to be had in Lake St.
John. The railway ride of 100 miles
thither from the city of Quebec car
ries the tourist through one of the
most fascinating regions OF northern
sport, and across the entire belt Of
the Laurentian mountains, which
thousands of years before Noah's ark
groundedupon the summit of Mount
Ararat, or the fiat had gone forth
which first shed created light upon
a world of chaos, lifted aloft their
hoary heads, white with SHOWS of a
thousand years. Most of the stop
pages made along the greater part
of this railway line are mainly fol
the accommodation of fishermen
belonging to the different clubs O
sportsmen, whose Lighthouses are
sometimes the railway stations, anc
the headquarters of private pre-
serves, of 200 to 400 square mile.
each in extent. Ouananiche hav,
been planted in some of these pre-
served waters, and brook trou
abound everywhere. Marvellous
stories are told of the monster fon
tinalis that inhabit the deep cole
waters of the lakes and streams O
the Triton, the Lake Edward, tn
Momentum, the Metabetchouan
and the Batiscan systems. Five ant
six pound specimens are not rare i
either of these, and OCCASIONAL,
eight Founders are taken. The bril-
liancy of their coloring has draw
from Kit Clarke the declaration tina
God never made a more beautiful
object" An English magazine write
has said of the same fish, "Neve
have we seen such gorgeous an
brilliant coloring in any 6nny Great
ure, except perhaps in some of tn
quaint tropical varieties from tn
Caribbean sea, which are shown t.
the traveller by negro fishermen i
Jamaica.
In gameness this beautiful trout
excelled in its Canadian home by tn
ouananiche alone. From its lair b,
meath some lily-pad or under tn
shadow of an overhauging tree c
; rock, often within the margin {
heavy rapids, where the floods ella
their hands in froicsome glee, tt
leopard of the brook has had its a