What's a Dawg to Do?
By Kenny - Jonquiere Quebec Whoof
Well, seeing as the tall one (aka FCCH) has writer's block
this week, I'll try out this new Laptop he left lying on the
coffee table. This is Neat 'cause there's no password,
there's a Paw reader instead (Levono product) Whoof!
We haven't been back to the nice quiet place in a long time.
I'm not really sure why?
I remember the last time we went though...
We went back to the quiet place. We didn't unpack the boxes
and the food in the same spot, but we were away from the City
just the same. There was a new trail to explore too.
Exploring the trail along Big Pool
Things seem different now. The hills are a different colour,
the fur (editor: Leaves) on the trees are all golden, red and
tan coloured.
Watching some Parr
The air is different too and the "fly fishermen" are dressed
differently. They are all wearing extra sweaters 'n wrapping
long bits of cloth around their necks.
That's Mom, all bundled up against the October chill
We met lots of new people this time. They were from all over,
some of them even spoke different languages. From what I could
hear, these new people were here to try to get some "Blues."
Funny I thought Blues were a hockey team, then again, I'm just
a Dawg, Whoof. Maybe Gundo could explain it to me.
Aha! Blues are the young anadromous Salvelinus fontinalis, an
old name for char, (Salvelinus from the same root as the German,
Saibling, (little salmon) and fontinalis, from the Latin, "living
in springs," Brook Trout, (ya didn't know a Dawg could use Google eh?)
Apparently, because these young fish are fresh from the salt
they have a nice metallic blue hue to them, thus the name Blues.
We met up with Sophie, the Biologist as she was explaining to
some students why these young fish come into the river.
The river is connected to the fjord and when it gets really
cold and white out, the salt water gets too cold. According
to the specialists, these young sea trout come into the fresh
water to come in from the cold. They come into the river in
the thousands.
These fish are smaller than the adults which we see in the
summer. The biggest ones being only about 1 or 2 pounds.
They do make a tasty shore lunch though.
Well, whatever the reason they have, I think they're neat.
Unlike their adult brethren, they seem to EAT. They jump
and splash and chase the flies on the surface and in the
pools. We also get to sleep in, have a BIG breakfast and
start the day late. The water is REALLY cold and there is
ice in the water bowl in the morning. The tall one tells
some visitors to wait until the sun starts warming up the
water.
Once the water warms a few degrees, WOW did we have fun.
Hang on Mom
It's cold here now. To keep up our strength we get to EAT
lots. Hot soup on the beach, toasted meat pies over a camp
fire and hot sweet chocolate drinks. All of this before lunch.
We got to stay a long time this weekend (how come a weekend can
have 4 days? Maybe Rusty can explain THAT to me).
Then, we started to put stuff back into the truck. The family
seems sad or longing. They seem to be packing EVERYTHING!! The
light making things, the food warming thingy. Hmmm, doesn't look
good. The Tall one is saying to come along. I don't want to leave.
Well, do we really have to leave?
When we got back home, the Family unloaded everything as usual,
but they even took the big cage off the top of the truck and
washed EVERTHING. No! I want to go back to the quiet place.
OK, I'll just stay in the truck until we DO go back.
Until Next Year. ~ Kenny, Jonquiere Quebec Whoof!
Note: Kenny really wouldn't get out of the truck and we
had to entice him to climb out with some treats and his
favourite toy. ~ Chris
About Chris:
Chris Chin is originally from Kamloops,
British Columbia. He has been fly fishing
on and off ever since he was 10 years old.
Chris became serious about the sport within
the last 10 years.
"I'm a forest engineer by day and part time
guide on the Ste-Marguerite River here in
central Quebec. I've been fishing this river
for about 10 years now and started guiding
about 5 years ago when the local guide's
association sort of stopped functioning."
Chris guides mostly for sea run brook trout
and about 30% of the time for Atlantic Salmon.
"I often don't even charge service fees, as
I'm more interested in promoting the river
than making cash. I like to get new comers
to realize that salmon fishing is REALLY for
anyone who cares to try it. Tradition around
here makes some of the old clan see Salmon
fishing as a sport for the rich. Today our
shore lunches are less on the cucumber sandwich
side and more toward chicken pot pie and Jack
Daniel's."
Chris is 42 years old as of this writing. He
is of Chinese origin although his parents were
born and raised in Jamaica. He has a girlfriend,
Renée. "She and her 12 year old son Vincent
started fly fishing with me in October 2002."
To learn more about the Ste-Marguerite River,
visit Christopher's
website http://pages.videotron.com/fcch/.
~ Christopher Chin
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