Great Fish River

“ GREAT FISH, or BACK, RIVER. A river of Mackenzie and Keewatin, Dominion of Canada, rising in a small lake near the north shore of Lake Aylmer (Map: Canada, K 9) . It flows through lakes Beechy, Pelley, and Garry, and enters the Arctic Ocean by a wide estuary, off the entrance to which is King William Land, after a northeast course of about 500 miles. ”

“ A very favourite haunt is at the mouth of creeks and streams running into a lake, or where a large river runs into or out of a large lake. Food is naturally plentiful at such places, and at certain times the fish gather there in great numbers, splashing about and chasing the small fry. They will then take a silver-bodied fly most greedily.
In many of the smaller mountain lakes where fly seems to be at certain seasons the rainbow's sole food, no other lure will attract it, but with the fly great numbers may be caught. ”

“ There are vast accumulations of drift wood on the shores of the lake, brought down by the river, which afford plenty of fuel. The inhabitants live principally on the fish, which the lake at certain seasons furnishes in great abundance; of these, the white fish, trout, and poisson inconnu are considered the best. They also procure moose, buffalo, and rein-deer meat occasionally from their hunters; but these animals are generally found at the distance of several days' walk from the forts. The Indians who trade here are Chipewyans. ”

“ These coal deposits seem almost nature's special provision for the treeless plains.
It is well known that the decrease in white fish in the Great Lakes for the past ten years has been appalling. Northward of Churchill River is a region of chains of lakes—the Lesser Great Lakes, they have been called—and these are the only untouched inland fisheries in America. To the exporter they are ideal fishing ground. The climate is cool. ”

“ Among these are the authors of a recent publication of the National Academy of Sciences—National Research Council, Alternatives in Water Management:
"We create great reservoirs that stop the migration of fish and then provide costly fishways, hatcheries, and other devices to maintain the fishery, and with no certainty of success. We impound water without knowing the effects of that impoundment on its quality. We build an irrigation project and then find salinity increasing dangerously in the river downstream. ”

“ The Admiral with his two Ships, enter'd the Lake the 22d of June, an Hour before high Water, and there was no Fall or Catract, and 4 or 5 Fathom Water, and 6 and 7 generally in the Lake Belle, there is a little fall of Water till half Flood, and an Hour and quarter before high Water the Flood begins to set gently into the Lake Belle; the River is fresh at 20 Leagues distance from the Mouth, or Entrance of the River los Reyes. The River and Lake abounds with Salmon, 5 Salmon-Trouts, Pikes, Perch and Mullets, and two other sorts of Fish peculiar to that River, admirable good, and Lake Belle ”

“ Innumerable streams flowing from the mountains to the central plateau, magnificent lakes, the sources of grand rivers, and a river system divided into four drainage basins, make the region singularly well suited for fish life. Exploration soon developed the fact that, while many of these rivers and lakes abounded in trout, others, above the waterfalls which form so characteristic a feature of the streams between the plateau and the lowlands, were wholly destitute of fish. ”

“ This illustrates how completely man has the destinies of river fish under his control. Suppose that instead of a fish house with movable barriers, an impassable dam had been built. Of course the fish would have been locked out, and their kind exterminated in that immediate region. This is precisely what has happened in almost every river and stream on the Atlantic coast of the United States. Shad and salmon were formerly abundant in every river of New England—and shad and alewives in every considerable stream south to Florida. ”

“ The mossy stream, black in its deeper pools, as if it were a rivulet of tar, contained a good many trout, which had acquired a hue nearly as deep as its own, and formed the very negroes of their race. They were usually of small size—for the stream itself was small; and, though little countries sometimes produce great men, little streams rarely produce great fish. ”

“ We crossed many little parks, bright and green, blooming with wild asters and Indian paint brush and golden daisies. The patches of red and purple were exceedingly beautiful. Everywhere we rode we were knee deep in flowers. At length we came out of the heavy timber down upon Big Fish Lake. This lake was about half a mile across, deep blue-green in color, with rocky shores. Upon the opposite side were beaver mounds. We could see big trout swimming round, but they would not rise to a fly. ”

“ None of the high-lying mountain lakes or branches of the rivers above sheer falls had fish of any sort until stocked by the agency of man. In the high Sierra, the only river in which trout exist naturally is the middle fork of Kings River. There are no sheer falls on this stream; some of the rapids, however, are so swift and rough, even at the lowest stage of water, that it is surprising any fish can climb them. ”

“ There is good fishing in almost all of the many streams for cut-throat, Eastern brook, Loch Leven, Von Behr, rainbow, and lake trout and whitefish. The best fishing is, of course, in the streams farthest from the roads. The best fishing near the roads is in Yellowstone Lake and River, Firehole River, Madison River, Lamar Creek and Slough Creek. The fish in Yellowstone Lake are not very game and the quality is likely to be poor. ”

“ Many, and those the largest, do not appear to leave the salt water, and are found in the small bays and inlets. In the fall, when the cold weather sets in, they retire to the salt water coves and lagoons, where they lie imbedded in the mud or hiding near the bottom, secure against danger, or discomfort from cold or storms. Advantage is taken of this peculiarity by the market fish [204] ermen, and there is a pond on Long Island, near Sag Harbor, and others near Point Judith, that are a source of great profit to their owners. ”

“ The result is, that the whole river, or very nearly the whole, except in times of flood, is diverted into the mill-lade, whereby trout and salmon are unable to surmount the weir, and are effectually barred from getting to the upper part of the stream. In plain terms, by the selfishness of a proprietor (or a pair of them, one on each side) , all who dwell on the river above the weir are deprived of the fish which nature had bountifully assigned to them. ”

“ The lush grass of the meadow is ankle-deep with back water from the main stream, and Iron Creek and the Little Firehole lie level-lipped and currentless. As you look quietly on from the shade of a tree, the water breaks into circles in a dozen places, and just at the edge of a bank where the sod overhangs the stream there is a mighty splash which is repeated several times. Move [41] softly, for the ground is spongy and vibrates under a heavy tread sufficiently to warn the fish for many yards, then the stream becomes suddenly silent and you will wait long for the trout to resume their feeding. ”

“ The next day, September first, we rode down along the outlet of Big Fish to White River and down that for miles to fish for grayling. The stream was large and swift and cold. It appeared full of ice water and rocks, but no fish. We met fishermen, an automobile, and a camp outfit. That was enough for me. Where an automobile can run, I do not belong. The fishing was poor. But the beautiful open valley, flowered in gold and purple, was recompense for a good deal of bad luck. ”

“ Others say that the fish-ways were not properly constructed. Perchance, after a few thousands of years, if the fishes will be patient, and pass their summers elsewhere, meanwhile, nature will have levelled the Billerica dam, and the Lowell factories, and the Grass-ground River run clear again, to be explored by new migratory shoals, even as far as the Hopkinton pond and Westborough swamp. ”

“ The general course of the river during the day was very little to the south of east, its banks still maintaining the same rocky and precipitous character, marks of inundation being frequently observed at the height of thirty feet above the present stream, which now was only running gently in a channel not more than thirty yards wide, but when in flood occupying the whole of the valley, which averages a quarter of a mile in width. The larger pools are lined with flags and reeds, and contain numbers of small fish resembling trout, similar to those found in the Lyons and Gascoyne Rivers. ”

“ Limestone streams have in them more species of fishes than do sandstone. All things being equal, the larger of two or more streams will contain the most species of fishes. There are few, if any, rivers as rich in species as the Mississippi river and its tributaries. It drains one slope of each of our two great mountain systems, besides an immense area of wood-land [Pg 163] and prairie, and numerous swamps and marshes. Its upper course and many of its upper tributaries lie in the region once covered by glaciers, though now traversed by great moraines. ”

“ When the water goes down, at least half that amount of land is still flooded, though no longer connected with the river, but forming shallow lakes and pools. These are all full of fish. As the pools dry up, everything that is in them dies, and millions of food fish are lost. ”

“ The ponds have their own fascination; not, perhaps, at meal-times, when the water is lashed to froth by the darting, gleaming bodies—that is too greedy a business. But when a passer-by on a spring morning sees a pound fish fall back into the water with a meditative flop, he may pay the pond the compliment of wishing himself elsewhere. One accompaniment of a trout farm he may hope to escape—the sight of a dead kingfisher. Without wire netting, kingfishers find out the young fry only too quickly, and a dead kingfisher spoils all pleasure for a fisherman. ”

“ If the rivers are cleaned up and kept flowing even during times of drought and heavy use of water, they will support better populations of fish and a greater variety of species. If the subtle interrelationships and [Pg 83c] the immense value of the estuary's varied nooks and crannies are recognized, studied out to full understanding, and protected—and in time—not only fish and shellfish but ducks and eagles and herons and all the other wild users of the shores and wetlands will benefit. ”

“ The lake has been a fishing ground for the Indians from time immemorial, and fish used to be brought down by them to Kamloops from a fish trap built in the creek running out of the lake. I have also seen them fishing with bait and spearing fish at night; but the true bait for Fish Lake is the fly, and, contrary to the usual case, the white man with a fly and modern tackle can make catches which far surpass any that the Indian ever made. ”

“ We have a lake—Cold Lake—scarcely noticed on the map, yet I have seen forty teams a day drawing the white fish from that lake for the American market. When the great lakes, such as the Great Slave and the Lesser Slave, are opened up, they will yield inexhaustible supplies of fish, of enormous value. ”

“ The fishing interest, which already gives employment to a great number of people, is in the first stages of development. They are now taken chiefly at the straits, but the business may be made extremely profitable at Duluth, since the head of the lake is their natural feeding-ground, and thousands swarm these waters. We all have eaten of the lake trout and white-fish, which may be had in the most of our cities and towns, and know how successfully they compete with the best of our salt-water article. It is already an important and growing trade, and highly profitable. ”

“ It is from this cause that the banks of the rivers are very open and free from brush, which makes them easy to fish and to travel along; while, for the same reason, the country is generally open rolling hills, covered with grass or scanty pines, affording a great contrast to the moist country at the coast, where the rivers run through thick woods and impenetrable bush, which render them very difficult to approach and fish unless they are shallow enough for wading. ”

“ Drainage, one would be inclined to think, has long ago removed that fatal nature from the water, if it ever existed. Trout throve on it, at all events, red-fleshed beauties, "similar," says the clerical 033writer of the Statistical Account of the Parish of Fogo—a man and a fisher, surely—"to those of Eden Water, which joins Tweed three miles below Kelso. The Eden rises also in a marshy district, which may be the cause of this similarity of the fish." But most Border streams take their rise in more or less marshy districts, though they may not flow direct from a swamp. ”

“ In the mouths of streams or rivers, they take large quantities, by weirs made of bushes, but the most common method is pursuing the fish into shoal water, and spearing them, or as they lie basking on the surface. During calms, they walk over the mud and sand-banks, in search of flat fish, which are easily detected while lying at the bottom. At night, too, they light torches of grass-tree, and thus see the fish at the bottom, apparently asleep, when they very readily spear them. ”

“ The first thing to be done is to give the proprietors on the upper part of the river such an interest in the fisheries as will make them anxious about the preservation of the fish in the spawning season; and to accomplish so desirable an object no one ought to fish or keep a net stretched across a river for more than twelve hours each day, or from sunrise to sunset; and every mill-owner ought to be compelled to facilitate the passage of the fish over his weir by every means consistent with the proper supply of water to his wheels. ”