Brook trout; Speckled Trout 



the world is undoubtedly Salvelinus fontinalis. It is one of the 

 most beautiful, active, and widely distributed of American trouts. 

 Its natural range is from Maine to northern Georgia and Alabama 

 in the Appalachian Mountains, and westward through the Great 

 Lakes region to Minnesota; and in Canada from Labrador to the 

 Saskatchewan. It has been extensively introduced into many 

 waters in which it was not native, in the eastern and upper 

 Mississippi Valley States, in the Pacific and Rocky Mountain 

 States, and in many foreign countries as well. 



With the possible exceptions of the rainbow and steelhead 

 trouts it is the hardiest member of the salmon family and will 

 make a brave struggle for existence even in an unfavourable en- 

 vironment. Not every stream, however, can be stocked with 

 this species; the temperature of the water must not be too high, 

 nor the flow too sluggish, although a high temperature is not 

 wholly prohibitive, if there is a strong current resulting in the 

 proper aeration of the water. The best streams are those with 

 a gravelly bottom, clear shallow water, steady, fairly strong cur- 

 rent with occasional rapids, deeper pools and eddies, abundant 

 natural food, and banks overhung with bushes which afford 

 more or less protection. 



The brook trout spawns in the fall when the water is grow- 

 ing colder. The season extends from late August in the Lake 

 Superior region to October and November or even later in New 

 England, New York and southward. At spawning time the fish 

 will push far up even the smallest creeks where the spawning 

 beds are selected upon gravel bottom in shallow water. There 

 the eggs will lie until the next spring — anywhere from 90 to 210 

 days — when the water begins to grow warmer and the eggs 

 begin to hatch. 



The number of eggs produced varies with the age and size 

 of the fish, yearlings usually producing 150 to 250, two-year-olds 

 350 to 500, and older ones 500 to 2500. 



The size of the brook trout varies greatly; in small streams 

 they may be mature at a length of 6 or 8 inches and a weight 

 of but 2 or 3 ounces, while in larger bodies of water and with 

 an abundant food supply they reach 18 inches or even more, 

 and a weight of several pounds. Forty years ago brook trout 

 weighing 4 to 6 and 8 pounds were not uncommon. 



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