KAWARTHA LAKES-“This is sucker fishing off the dam on Big Bob. I can still remember that. The suckers came up to the dam, looking for little rivers to lay their eggs in flowing water, but they couldn’t get there because they were stopped by the dam and the water below the dam used to be just loaded with them. Younger people would be standing there, side by side, catching fish in the water by the dam. When I first remember, we were allowed to catch them with a hook. Some people were standing there with pike poles, some of them had hay forks, you could take them out any time at all and in any way at all. Of course, some pickerel that came into the suckers got taken too. In those days we had a Game Warden—Bruce Molyneaux was the deputy game warden—and he put a stop to it. He would come down there and he had a great big long pole and a big net on it, he used to dig them out and you would hold your bag up and he would fill your bag up for you. I used to take bags home and put them around the rose bushes for fertilizer. They were great for that. I don’t know whether you ever tried eating a sucker, they are full of little bones. This square timber dam was replaced in 1923 with one built out of concrete which was in turn replaced by the present dam in 1971.”
This story is part of our partnership with Maryboro Lodge, The Fenelon Falls Museum.
If you want to make a donation to the museum, you can e-transfer to: curator@maryboro.ca or mail a cheque to :
Maryboro Lodge Museum
Box 179
50 Oak Street
Fenelon Falls, ON
K0M 1N0
