sport fishing. Both will accept all 

 types of lures — flies, spinners, or 

 bait. 



The Dolly Varden trout is the 

 most abundant trout in Alaska. It 

 is a native of virtually all the coastal 

 streams and lakes from Alexander 

 Archipelago bordering British 

 Columbia to the islands of the Aleu- 

 tian Chain and Bering Strait. 

 Golden fin, bull trout, and mountain 

 Dolly are local names for this fish 

 which may vary widely in appear- 

 ance owing to local conditions. 



This species is distinguished by 

 its light or pink spots — other trout 

 have dark spots — and by its larger 

 mouth. It ranges in length up to 

 30 inches, although there are stories 

 of measurements of 4 feet or more. 

 The Dolly is usually anadromous, 

 spawning in fresh water and spend- 

 ing most of its life in the ocean ; an 

 arctic variety, the so-called arctic 

 char, stays in fresh-water lakes, 

 except when ascending tributary 

 streams in the fall for spawning. 



The Dolly has suffered consider- 

 able abuse through the years. 

 Many sport fishermen won't try for 

 it because of its supposed lack of 

 fight. Commercial fishermen and 

 salmon packers have long de- 

 manded its destruction on the 

 ground that it is harmful to salmon 

 runs because it feeds on salmon 

 eggs and young. Substantial sums 

 in wages and bounties have been 

 spent by salmon packers and the 

 Territory of Alaska for eradication 

 in westward areas, particularly in 

 Bristol Bay. 



Actually the Dolly has every bit 

 as much fight as the eastern brook 

 trout or the lake trout, and few peo- 



ple would be able to distinguish the 

 cooked flesh from that of any of 

 the preferred game species. Al- 

 though it is condemned for destroy- 

 ing salmon eggs, studies indicate 

 that it usually eats drifting eggs 

 that would be lost anyway. This 

 trout will strike almost any lure, 

 and is at its best for food when 

 taken at sea or on its way upstream. 



One of the finest game and food 

 fishes in Alaskan waters is the 

 coastal cutthroat trout. This trout 

 has a salmonoid shape with silver 

 sides, white belly, blue, green, or 

 brownish spots, and a profuse cov- 

 ering of black spots, even over the 

 tail region. The cutthroat is one 

 of the two black-spotted trouts in 

 Alaska (the other is the rainbow; 

 neither the Dolly Varden nor the 

 lake trout has black spots on the 

 back). Two red lines on the jaw 

 give the cutthroat its name, al- 

 though on fish just in from the sea 

 these marks are often greenish or 

 yellow, or occasionally missing. 

 Cutthroat will run as much as 25 

 inches in size. They are found in 

 many of the coastal streams from 

 the southern end of Southeastern 

 Alaska to the western end of Prince 

 William Sound. 



The cutthroat generally spawns 

 from February to May, though it 

 may be as early as December. 

 After a summer at sea, adults re- 

 enter the streams in the fall, and 

 it is then that the gi^eatest numbers 

 are taken by sport fishermen. 



Though not as large as other 

 trout, the coastal cutthroat puts up 

 a spectacular fight when taken on 

 light tackle. A variety of lures, 

 such as flies, spinners, and salmon 



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