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850 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



spray, and a strong tug at the line told the story. The hum of the reel 

 as the line swiftly spun out indicated a large fish. Checking his speed 

 for a moment, I could see his sides of silver and pearl glistening in the 

 distant waters below. Alas for hutnau expectations ! The log on which 

 I stood, swayed by the current, caused me to lose my balance for a 

 moment. The line slackened for an instant, and the salmon, relieved of 

 the constant strain, disengaged himself quic^ as a flash, and was off in 

 a moment to a safe retreat. 



My companion, however, was more fortunate, and landed a two pound 

 fish. The first glance at this fish indicated a distinct variety from the 

 salmon of the Schoodic and other lakes; for its sides were very much 

 spotted, even below the lateral line, and some of the spots were under- 

 laid with deep crimson, which appeared in rich contrast with the black 

 and pearl of the sides ; the dorsal fin was also very much checked with 

 large and distinct black spots. It would remind the angler of the Salmo 

 trutta marina and the hucho trout of Europe, so distinctly marked was 

 the dorsal fin. But the examination of five other specimens at a later 

 day proved that the spots were not constant; for not one of the five ex- 

 hibited more spots than the fish of the Schoodic, and some of them not 

 so nmny. The appearance of the dorsal fin was also much changed, 

 and in some fish the spots had quite disappeared, which leads me to be- 

 lieve that the excess of spots is due to food and locality. 



Bloch, in his work on the Jmcho, says that all the fins have black spots. 

 Professor Wagner says the same ; yet Davy, who angled in the Danube 

 and its tributaries, the Save, Drave, Thur, and Isar, could not catch a 

 single fish with spotted fins. The fish preserved in the collection at 

 Munich have none. We may account for this diversity of statement by 

 supposing that the fish were taken at different seasons and localities. 

 I have observed that the pike, at certain times and in certain waters, 

 becomes yellow, with black spots, and then again changes to gray, with 

 pale-yellow dots. The Salmo trutta, when confined to rivers and run- 

 ning waters, gains more spots ; it is the same with the hucho. Davy 

 saw fish from some of the lakes in Ireland that were mottled in a singu- 

 lar way, and he ascribed it to the nature of the water, to exposure to 

 light, and the kind of food. Similar peculiarities are observed with the 

 trout of Lough Neah, which the Irish call " buddocks" and "dolochans." 

 Trout in the river Boyle, running up to spawn late in October, have no 

 spots, but are colorecl red and brown, mottled like the tortoise-shell. 

 Hence I am inclined to think that the great number of spots sometimes 

 seen on the Sebago salmon is not a fixed, and should not be regarded as 

 a special, characteristic. I think it very probable that the same pecu- 

 liarity may be observed at times with the salmon of the other lake- 

 systems. 



The most exciting, and by far the most proper, way to catch this 

 splendid fish is by means of the artificial fly ; and after a while the 

 sportsman disdajns to use any other method. 



