What's wrong here, a photo from Quebec, Central

Photographer's Note

What’s wrong with this picture….

If you look closely you will notice that to the right there is what looks like a river bank and in the back there’s a bridge. Nothing to unusual about that, your thinking. This is what seems like part of a small Canadian village your still thinking.

Well you are almost right, this is a small village. But the thing is that it stands ON the river . That’s right, I said ON the river. You are looking at ice fishing cabins on the Ste-Anne river.

This is part of the famous ice fishing village of Ste-Anne-de-la-Pérade, better known as the Atlantic Tommy Cod Capital of the world. This small town located on the north shore of the St-Lawrence seaway between Quebec City and Trois-Rivieres (Three-Rivers).
Each winter since the 1930’s, millions of tommy cod swim in from the St-Lawrence river to spawn in the Ste-Anne River. From the 26th of December until around the 15th of February it is possible for fisherman and lovers of the outdoors to participate in a unique winter activity.
The Tommy cod (called 'poulamon' -pronounced 'poolamon'- here) lives from 3 to 8 years, produces approximately 8600 eggs per lay, and weighs 45 gr. in average; the male's length is in average 15 cm, the female 18 cm. It roams the west coast of the Atlantic, from Labrador to Virginia, and takes to many rivers to lay eggs.

What I find incredible about this place, is that there is electricity in those fishing cabins. You can see the electric poles that are put up by the towns people. They spray the bases with water for many days until the pole is at least one feet deep in ice. You can also see in my photo that most people drive up to the cabins with their very heavy automobiles…

I guess that sometimes, the expression “Crazy Canucks” to describe Canadians is well deserved ;-)

xln, Tim, mdchachi, Steely, DiaAzul, Castafiore, johnhopkins, gul791, nwoehnl, robbie9 heeft deze opmerking als nuttig gemarkeerd

Critiques | Translate

maciekda (19895) 2004-01-26 6:23

very interesting place, very photogenic - all those small cabins, very colorful and very well captured, nice picture

henrye (3500) 2004-01-26 6:26

Hi Paul! Very interesting note, and a very interesting photo. This fits perfectly within the spirit of TE! Thanks for sharing it with us.

avigur_11 (22553) 2004-01-26 6:30

Incedible story. A hugh temporary camp. It looks so busy an active. Isn't it easier to buy a fish in the market :-)
Very well captured and cery interesting note. I learned something about Canada and about Canadians. Well done, Paul.

nwoehnl (122) 2004-01-26 6:39

Incredible. There even seems to be a convenience store and a bait & tackle outlet ... It does look like an ordinary busy small village. The trademark splashy colors and blue sky clearly make this a Paul shot. A marvelously detailed note, which made me learn a lot - thanks!

jrj (34843) 2004-01-26 6:56

Interesting story and a fine capture of this very special environment.
Thank's for bringing this very special place to TE.

Guto (1738) 2004-01-26 10:04

Very interesting notes of what seems to be a very unusual scene (for most of us, sure). Did you catch any fish? :-) Though the scene is a little messy, I think this is the better way to report this place.

Michael_Gan (2776) 2004-01-26 10:32

Lovely picture and very good title and note. The Dutch are crazy about ice (because of their enthousiasm for ice-skating on natural ice), but from this picture it becomes immediately clear that the Canadians also know what to do with frozen water!

mimi (2325) 2004-01-26 10:47

Paul -- I'm sitting here laughing because as I started to read your notes (with the end off the screen) the first thought that popped into my mind was "Look at that. Those crazy Canucks!"

Anyway, great daily life shot and very interesting notes.

richtersl (3546) 2004-01-26 11:22

Those Tommy Cod must be awfully good if these folks actually build a village on the ice to catch them...LOL. One can clearly see from your photo that this is quite a river! Terrific note and photo!

Georges (11185) 2004-01-26 15:07

Que de belles couleurs vives dans cette image et la neige en plus fait un beau contraste.
L'image est très bien détaillé et aucune surexposition malgré tous ce blanc.

Bravo Paul

dsidwell (9783) 2004-01-26 15:37

What a fun place--as long as they don't go through the ice! This view shows us both the village and the bridge, which is just right for the information given. Well done!

Clochette (8076) 2004-01-26 17:51

I can't believe it... A crazy festival !! I'm smiling, when thinking about a pic I saw yesterday by one of your compatriots, who was stunned by a French sign (fishing prohibited in a small stream) :-)))

Thank you for sharing, Paul, now everybody will know how crazy you are :-D

Hal (15) 2004-01-26 22:44

Les captures de nuits sont aussi interressante. Sa serait a essayer

je crois qu'il serait bien de dire que pour plusieurs familles la peches au petit poissons des chenaux est une tradition. Se retrouver 10-15 dans une cabane, un peu de biere voila une ambiance unique. Certaines pourvoiries sont la de pere en fils ... moi j'y vais vendredi le 30... j'ai hate en maudit ;-)

Rockyboy (20598) 2004-01-27 1:34

It is incredible your story... All those stands on the ice of a river... The picture is very nice and well framed. Thank you for sharing it on TE.

orme (7219) 2004-01-27 3:05

A great TE shot of an amazing place. Very well framed. I can't believe that they have electricity on a river. I am wondering if there has ever been an accident, and do they have Internet? Thank you for sharing it with us, Paul. Great note.

joseelias (0) 2004-01-27 8:01

Paul... I have no words for what you've shown and wrote...

For whom that comes from a country where the only ice is inside the refigerator this is a stunning image! We really learn about the world on TE!

A favorite.

steeve (1497) 2004-01-27 19:41

As soon as the ice is thick enought, people fom Ste-Anne de la Pérade built a real city. An old tradition turned on a big business for the village. A very good journalistic pic Paul.

femkevdh (2633) 2004-01-28 2:08

haha, good story! Oke, that's a different kind of winter! Amazing place and well captured. Very educational!

Isabelle (9046) 2004-01-28 8:23

fantastic shot and also fantastic notes. thanks a lot for sharing, Paul. You can´t imagine how i feel when i saw the snow for the first time and how canadians deal with it.
thanks a lot for sharing. this is, indeed, the core of TE.

allotfy (1525) 2004-01-30 16:06

Very interesting note and very nice place really i like all what you said because you made us know a lot about canadians .. i like the colors of each Booths ...
you can buy the fish from the supper market much easier than fishing ..
... :0)

Tim (469) 2004-03-23 1:39

Paul, Your photo certainly is UnIqUe enough to qualify for my "AnYtHiNg ExTrEmElY UnIqUe" folder. I love it! Thanks for sharing and God's best to you, Tim

Steely (895) 2004-03-26 4:03

I was thinking that this small village really have spartan facilities until I read the text.
Ice Fishing is really big with these folks, i still trying to spot a diner, cafe, general store and coke machines....
Very TE and Discovery/NatGeo in nature! :)
Lots of constrasts all over, between sky and snow, the cabins
Good Shot!

PS which cabin is yours?