Page 16 - Sports Energy News, Cornwall, Issue No 12

16
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As I Remember
By Tom Fagan
8 year old Christopher Fagan proudly
display’s the results of his first Walleye fishing
expedition on the St. Lawrence River in 1979.
n the early eighties, I enjoyed small
Imouth bass fishing. I would fish as often
as I could. I entered many fishing derbies in
Lancaster, Summerstown, Glen Walter and
a few in Cornwall.
When I entered these derbies, I usually
bought my live bait from Maurice
Laframboise. I would drive east of Lancaster
to his place of business. He always sold, to
me, the very best of live bait.
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Over the years, I got to be friendly with
him and one day I asked him if he would
like to fish bass in my neck of the woods.
Much to my surprise he accepted my offer.
To have a top notch guide come to my home
and fish was something special to me.
We fished both sides of the river from Glen
Walter to the Summerstown area. Although
I had been fishing these areas since the early
sixties, Maurice pointed out some bass spots
that I had overlooked in all those years.
It is amazing how these famous guides
from the Lancaster area can read the river.
They can interpret the river’s many moods
and define its bottom structure with uncanny
ability. They do this without the aid of
modern electronic equipment.
Maurice came to my home two or three
times and we enjoyed some wonderful bass
fishing trips.
In the fifties, it was not uncommon to see
large coloured floaters on the river. These
were the top part of the sturgeon fisherman’s
nightline.
There were quite a few native sturgeon
fishermen but Abe Lazore was the one who
befriended me. He spent about six months a
year on Canal Island. That island is directly
across the river from my home on old
Number Two Highway.
There were two wooden buildings on the
island. One was a small workshop; the other
was a small cottage. There was a large stone
pen on the west side of the island where
he kept the sturgeon alive for shipping. He
sold fresh and smoked sturgeon to local
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customers. If I’m not mistaken, he told me
that the large sturgeon was shipped to New
York City.
I spent many hours sitting with him on the
island while he checked over his small bait
nets, checked his night lines and sharpened
dull hooks. He told me of when he guided
Americans for musky in the thirties and
forties. What a complete river man and
gentleman he was. He’s been gone many
years now but I still miss him.
Robin Casgrain, a friend of over fifty
years, invited me for an evening of walleye
fishing. According to famous fishing guide,
Art Laframboise, no one knows the upper
St. Lawrence better than Robin. He has won
many tournaments for walleye, small mouth
bass and perch. He has caught many musky
while fishing on the river.
At 6:30 we left his dock and headed for the
center shoal towards Cameron’s Island. By
7:30 we had not caught a fish. He mentioned
that they would probably start biting a little
later. He was right. By 8:15 we had caught
three beautiful walleye. We headed home
and Robin drove very slow while we took
in the beauty of the lake and its’ islands.
At his dock, Robin cleaned the fish and
handed me six fillets, which took him all
of four minutes to accomplish. What a fun
evening I had.
If you have never seen the beauty of Lake
St. Frances by boat, I implore you to do so.
We owe a debt of gratitude to the Mohawk
Nation for keeping most of the islands
in near pristine condition and free from
commercialism.