NEPIGON TROUT,
a paper by
William McKirdy, 1903
A paper by Mr. William McKirdy, Ontario Government Fishery
Overseer at Nepigon, rad at the annual meeting of the North American Fish and
Game Protective Association, held at Ottawa on the 21st and 22nd January 1903.
The following paper, a carbon copy on yellow copy paper, was found in a
file, in a box with other notes and items left by Jack McKirdy, who died in
1979. I (J G M McKirdy) have typed it in without editing, in January 2017.
So much has been written about the Nepigon and its Trout by
much abler writers than I, that I feel some diffidence in preparing this paper,
but I have the consolation of knowing that each of us handles the subject as it
appears to him, and I trust that my paper may present some new colourings and
facts that have not appeared to others.
The average size of Nepigon Trout has been for many years
two and a half pounds (2-1/2) the largest accredited fish caught on the river,
eight and a quarter pounds (8-1/4), although some larger fish have been
reported. To the angler used to fishing
other streams, these are extraordinary fish.
In fact, many visiting the stream for the first time have said it was a
salmon proposition in the matter of the size of the fish, and the tackle necessary to hold them, which
is really the case. Nor is it to be
wondered at, that the Nepigon is the
home of these beauties. As the
conditions are unique – no more favourable ones could be found in the world –
the Brook Trout, in sympathy with these surroundings, have excelled their kind.
Nepigon Lake, the head waters of the St. Lawrence, is some
eighty miles long by fifty wide, with a coast line equal to that of Lake
Ontario, the water is of the clearest
and (purest), and studded with bold, rocky islands, capped with the stately
spruce and graceful birch. Here the
finny tribe thrive, as the lake is filled to overflowing with Whitefish, Lake Trout,
(some of the latter have been caught weighing forty pounds) and the last, but not least important the Brook Trout (Salvalinus fontinalis) varying with teir surroundings in size and
beauty. It has been stated by old
residents on the lake that Brook Trout, weighing from two to twelve pounds have
been caught on the spawning beds, and to give an idea of the quantity of these
fish, I have mapped out some twenty miles of spawning beds, and in doing so,
have only shown a portion of them. A gentleman
traversing the lake during September told me he passed through an extraordinary
large school of Brook Trout; this was
before the spawning season, which commences on the Lake about the 15th
of October. Most of the streams emptying
into the lake have no trout in them, except in the higher reaches; there is an exception, however, viz. Sand
River, a wide, rapid stream on the Northwest corner. Here, I understand, the stream is full of
these trout, equal in size and beauty to those of the Nepigon River. Lake
Nepigon will, no doubt, become a great tourist resort. Its ideal camping places
on the numerous islands and beautiful bays,
together with the delightful cool nights in the hottest parts of the
season (one can always enjoy a good supply of warm blankets) possessing the
charms of nature untrammelled by civilization, yet within easy reach of modern travel.
The Nepigon River is simply an outlet to the lake, two to
four hundred feet wide, forced in great
measure through rocky formations, preserving its clearness while leaping over
foaming falls, dancing over surging rapids, losing itself in placid lake
expansions, repeating itself thus as it
dashes through towering precipitous rocks, where its deep green water lends a
charm that is not easily forgotten in its forty miles’ course to Lake Superior,
dropping 250 feet in that distance.
The government has preserved the stream in its beauty, only
the necessary camping grounds being cleared for that purpose. An Overseer is constantly patrolling the
river, whose duties are to see that there is no abuse of the fishing
privileges, that all camps are kept clean and all refuse burned, so that when a camp is left by one party, it
is in readiness for the next. His duty
is also to facilitate in any way possible,
by information and courtesy, the pleasure of the anglers. For some years back it has been found that
Pike were on the increase, and threatened to do serious damage to the
trout. Last year a raid was made on them
in their haunts by netting these places.
Thousands of Pike were caught, of weight varying from four to
twenty-five pounds. I have measured them
from four to five feet long.
Your Society aims at preserving the game and fish of
America; I think there is great work for
you. I can look back to the time when I
was a boy, and remember the splendid fishing streams about home, and those days have gone, and so
has the fishing, and the work you have undertaken is to produce those
conditions as far as possible, and preserve those that are as nature has left
them. It seems to me that if there could
be left a small wooded belt along our streams, even a narrow one, this would
not interfere with the general utility of the land, in fact,
would improve it, and would be
the means of preserving our streams to a very great extent.
I have noticed that in every lake and every principal stream
( and smaller ones emptying into it) where Trout ae found that each one has
Trout peculiar to itself. Great care is
taken by breeders of cattle and other domestic animals to raise only the
best, why not so the Trout? And if the Nepigon Trout is the finest and
gamest fish in the world, why not stock
our depleted lakes and streams with it?
There are such possibilities for securing spawn known as in
Lake Nepigon, with its miles of spawning
grounds. Nets couyld be thrown around
them, and spawn could be secured in quantities to stock America, if
necessary. The Nepigon River is itself
one vast spawning bed on all its rapid portions. I passed over a half mile of water at the
foot of Pine Portage where the fish fairly covered the whole stream, shining
out with their gorgeous fall colourings, a sight to be remembered.
After reading this
Post go back to the previous Post and see the You Tube video of our Nipigon
River Before and After the Dams.