| Fishing Lakes | |
|---|---|
| Calling Lakes, Qu'Appelle Lakes | |
 Pasqua (left) and Echo (right) Lakes with Echo Valley Provincial Park and Standing Buffalo 78 Indian reserve in the middle | |
| Location | Saskatchewan, Canada |
| Coordinates | 50°45′N 103°51′W / 50.75°N 103.85°W |
| Type | chain of interconnected freshwater lakes |
| Part of | Red River Basin |
| Primary inflows | Qu'Appelle River |
| Primary outflows | Qu'Appelle River |
| Surface area | 54 km2 (21 sq mi) |
| Frozen | Between November to March |
| Settlements | Fort Qu'Appelle |
The Fishing Lakes, also called the Calling Lakes or the Qu'Appelle Lakes,[1][2] are a chain of four lakes in the Qu'Appelle Valley cottage country about 40 miles (64 km) to the north-east of Regina in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The lakes are in a region called the Prairie Pothole Region of North America, which extends throughout three Canadian provinces and five U.S. states. It is also within Palliser's Triangle and the Great Plains ecoregion.[3] The Fishing Lakes all follow the course of the Qu'Appelle River, which flows from the west to the east and is part of the Hudson Bay drainage basin. The lakes sit in the deep-cut Qu'Appelle Valley that was formed about 14,000 years ago during the last ice age. Meltwater from the glaciers carved out the valley and as water levels rose and fell, alluvium was left in the wake. These piles of alluvium are what created the separations between the lakes.[4]
The name Qu'Appelle is French for "Who's calling?" The name comes from First Nations people hearing their names while paddling the lakes. There has been some inclination to rename the Fishing Lakes as the "Calling Lakes" in order further to stress the legend of the Qu'Appelle Valley as popularised at the turn of the 20th century by E. Pauline Johnson. The effort has met with resistance from historically minded locals with authentic roots in the locale and has not met with success.[5]
The lakes are primarily located in the rural municipalities of North Qu'Appelle No. 187 and Abernethy No. 186. Several Indian reserves also border the lakes.
- ^ Government of Canada, Natural Resources Canada. "Place names - The Fishing Lakes". www4.rncan.gc.ca.
- ^ "Lower Qu'Appelle River Watershed".
- ^ "Drought in Palliser's Triangle | the Canadian Encyclopedia".
- ^ "Qu'Appelle Valley Geolog".
- ^ "Virtual Saskatchewan - Qu'Appelle Valley".