FISHES AND FISHING IN SUNAPKE LAKE. 



79 



There was a good run on Aj)ril 23. At 8 j). m. some uj) under the 

 overhanging bank on a steep shelving bottom were watclied. Tlieir 

 heads were uj)stream and they were swinging or waving from side 

 to si(k^, theii' bodies oeeasionally, ])erhaj)s, brushing against a neigh- 

 bor, but no other contaet was notieed an<l aj)])arently no ])airing or 

 any api)roach to it took i)hice. 



The smelts constituting the run of the night of A])ril 13 were said 

 to be ''large " fish, but most of those of April 15, as shown by measure- 

 ment of over 100, ranged from 4 J to 5 inches, and there was only 

 one of the latter length. Those taken on the night of April 17 

 ranged from 4\ to 8^, aHhough the majority were from 4 J to 5 

 inches in length. While the larger fish were always ])resent, tlie 

 ])ro])ortion was somewhat smaller toward the last of the season. 

 This, taken with the fact that in the first runs male fish predominate, 

 was thought to indicate that the male averages somewhat larger 

 than the female, although occasionally a female as long as Sh inches 

 was observed. The following table shows that males continue to 

 predominate diu'ing their breeding season and that the smallest fish 

 caught was a male and the largest a female. 



Table Showing Proportion of Male and Female Smelts anu Range 

 OF Each Sex. 



Size 



The smelt is very prolific, an individual 4f inches long carrying 

 5,893 eggs, as ascertamcd by actual count. Doubtless some eggs 

 escape fertilization, but the coimtle.ss numbers of "eyed eggs" ob- 

 served clinging to moss indicated that the yield of the spring of 1910 

 in Pike Brook alone would be a large one. The period of mcubation 

 appears to be short, the eggs hatching in from 10 to 15 days, according 

 to the temperature of the water. The young are tender, threadlike 

 creatures, but grow rapidly and enter the lake at an (>arly age 



Enemies. — The smelt is not free from enemies even in the brook, 

 where large predaceous fishes can not enter, but there, aside from man, 

 by far the most destructive are minks, sheldrakes, kuigfisliei-s, trout, 

 and chubs, all of which were at times observed at Pike Brook iji April, 

 1910. The birds and minks take the adult smelt, as does the trout 

 to some extent, but the trout and chub feed mainly upon the eggs 

 and young, aiul, as has been shown, the smelt is not averse to its 

 own eggs. 



