HABITS OF THE LAKE TROUT. 493 



The Togue or Lunge of our northeastern boundary is held in much higher favor by the angler. 

 Hallock states that the young fish rise freely to trout-flies in rapid water, while the adults are 

 extremely voracious, particularly in May and June, when they can be taken near the surface. 



Prof. Arthur L. Adams, in "Field and Forest Rambles," gives a vivid picture of the habits of 

 this peculiar type: "It repairs to shallows to feed on Trouts, smelts, and the like; indeed, the last- 

 named fish would appear to constitute its favorite winter subsistence. It preys extensively, also, 

 on eels and cyprinids, and is in fact a tyrant with an appetite so voracious that quantities of twigs, 

 leaves, and fragments of wood are constantly found in its stomach. The great monster will some- 

 times rise to spinning tackle, but in so sluggish and undemonstrative a manner that the troller 

 may fancy he has caught a water-logged pine or stone. In this way I had my line checked in 

 Scboodic Lake, when, striking gently, I found I had missed a large Togue, whose trenchant teeth 

 had made a series of deep furrows in the chub with which the hook was baited. It is naturally 

 sluggish and inert, and apparently much of a bottom feeder. As we glided along the shore of one 

 of the islets, composed more or less of granitic bowlders, our attention was directed by the guide 

 to a large black object on the bottom, among a mass of stones. This he asserted was a monster 

 Togue, which, if such was the case, must have exceeded three feet in- length ; moreover, he showed 

 us two notches on the side of his canoe, representing the dimensions of an enormous individual 

 which an Indian had speared in the same waters during the spawning season, the admeasurement 

 being no less than four feet"five inches." 



TROUT IN THE GREAT LAKES. The following facts concerning the abundance of the Lake 

 Trout in different partjs of the Great Lakes were gathered by Mr. Kuuilien in 1880: 



"In the western part of Lake Superior, according to common testimony, the Lake Trout is 

 second in importance to the white-fish; they constitute about one-half of the catch of the gill-nets. 



"In the vicinity of Wliitetish Point the Lake Trout is more abundant than any other species. 

 The average size is from ten to sixteen pounds. About the Apostle Islands they are abundant at 

 all times and in all places; one was caught at Oak Island weighing fifty-seven and one-half pounds 

 when dressed. In the fall the best fishing grounds are off Isle Royale, and nearly all the gill-nets 

 are fishing there ; it is not unusual for a single net to take one or two barrels at a setting. In 

 Huron Bay and vicinity Lake Trout are abundant everywhere, except in the most shallow bays, 

 especially about Stanard's Rock. On this reef, in 1880, one Mr. Egerton caught with one hook 

 enough Trout to weigh, after dressing, six hundred pounds. In the winter of 1878 one specimen 

 was caught through the ice, in a gill-net, at Porte Gentre, that weighed seventy-four pounds. 

 Thirty-five and forty pound fish are common on the ofl'-shore shoals. On the southern shore of 

 Lake Superior, from Grand Island to Sauk's Head, this species is more abundant than any other. 

 They are caught principally in September, October, and November. In the vicinity of Grand 

 Island, in the opinion of Mr. Parker, a local authority, there has been no marked decrease in 

 numbers during the past fifteen years. Individuals weighing from forty to fifty pounds are by no 

 means unusual, and much larger ones are reported. 



" In Green Bay, Lake Trout are reported to be far less common than formerly. In the 

 southern part of this bay, in the vicinity of Bay City, they are now rare; somewhat more 

 abundant from Ocouto to Peshtigo, though not taken to any considerable extent, and north of 

 Meuoinonee they are less plentiful than about Ocouto. Seven to ten years ago, at Washington 

 Island, it was not an unusual thing for men trolling for Trout to fill their boat in a short time, but 

 this cannot now be done. The decrease is accounted for, by local observers, by the injudicious 

 use of small-meshed pound-nets, which are supposed to capture great quantities of young Trout. 



