74 FISHES AND FISHING IN SUNAPEE LAKE. 



The male fish is easily distinguished from the female even in the 

 dark, by touch, when first removed from the water, being profusely 

 covered with tiny tubercles, which feel much like fine sand. 



In 1910 the first run of smelts occurred in Pike Brook on the 

 night of April 13. The runs contmued to increase in numbers of 

 fish until the 19th, on which night the smelts fairly swarmed in the 

 brook. The runs continued constantly large until the 25th, when 

 they rapidly decreased in numbers until the night of April 30, when 

 only a few stragglers were observed in the brook. After April 21 

 those remaining in the pools decreased in numbers. For some- 

 time, however, the brook was so high and roily that had there been 

 smelts there they could not have been seen. Subsequently the only 

 smelts observed during the daytime were not over a dozen in each 

 of the two pools mentioned on the 22d and 23d, only one smelt on 

 the 24th, and a small school in the hatchery pool on the 25th. 



It has been generally supposed that smelts invariably return to 

 the lake on the night of then- ascent, after spawning. The writer's 

 observations on the marine smelt in small coastwise brooks revealed 

 that, when undisturbed during the night, large numbers, if not all, 

 remained in the brook the next day, and often some smelts lingered 

 in the brooks long after the spawning season was over, becoming 

 emaciated and weak. Those remaining after the spawning season, 

 so far as examined, always proved to be males. These facts led to 

 the suspicion that possibly fresh-water smelts might have a similar 

 habit; and at Sunapee Lake it was found to be a fact that if the 

 smelts were undisturbed during the night before, the next day 

 large numbers were found along Pike Brook as far up as they could 

 ascend, but mostly congregated in the deeper pools. On April 16, 

 1910, notwithstanding the fact that there was some "cUpping" during 

 the first of the night before at the mouth of the brook, schools of 

 smelts were found all along the brook, from just below the hatchery 

 up 200 or 300 yards, in every little pool, and the same conditions 

 obtained on the 17th. On the 20th smelts were observed m the pools, 

 but there were not as many as could have been expected from the run 

 of the night before. After the 20th no large numbers were observed 

 during the day, but groups of a few or individuals here and there were 

 sometimes seen. 



It was observed that they, sometimes at least, begin to feed before 

 descending to the lake. On April 20, in a large deep pool, some smelts 

 appeared to be feeding, moving moderately here and there as though 

 picking up or looking for something floating in the water. In the 

 afternoon the writer, using a tiny hook with a small piece of earthworm 

 for bait, caught six of the smelts, which proved to be spent or partly 

 spent males, still having rather large milts. Two were 4, one 4J, two 

 4|, and one 4| inches in length. There were many more bites, but 



