The Dream Season, Part 3
By Jim McLennan
Photo by Clive Schaupmeyer
By early September I'd be winding my way back wouth and would take
a detour into Jasper National Park. Presuming the budget was still solvent,
I'd arrange for a packhorse trip up the Snake Indian river near the north
boundary of the park for bull trout. Ever since I was a kid spending
summers in Jasper with my parents, I've been enchanted by that river's
name, and this would be a chance to compare reality with my imagination.
After this trip my legs and rear end would be sore, so I'd stay in Jasper
for a couple of more days to heal and also fish one of the most unique
places in the world. It's actually a lake - that is, except in late summer
when it turns into a river. When Medicine Lake has receded until all that's
left is the Maligne River flowing through the lake bed, the entire population
of fish is concentrated in the river channel, and the fishing for big, strong
rainbows is excellent.
Wait a minute. It's late September already. What about the rest of the
places on my list - places like the Highwood River, Dogpound Creek, the
upper Oldman (and the lower Oldman), the Castle River, the Kakwa and
the Waterton? I'd have to work in some hopper fishing on the Bow and
the Blue-winged Olives on the Crowsnest. I'd want to float the Bow
above Canmore as well as below Carseland. I thought I could do it all,
but there wouldn't be time to do half of it. Can I revise the terms of my
contract? I want a long-term deal. Instead of one season, how about one
lifetime? That's what it would take. ~ Jim McLennan
Credits: Excerpt from Trout Streams of Alberta, by Jim McLennan,
Published by Johnson Gorman Publishers. We thank them for use permission.
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