44 FISHES AND FISHING IN SUNAPEE LAKE. 



its introduction into trout waters. The greatest damage has been 

 done in those waters where it was introduced without a preceding 

 or accompanying hitroduction of smelts. On account of the intro- 

 duction of smelts, the damage in Sunapee was lessened or shortened. 

 Nevertheless, it appears to have been great, especiaUy so far as the 

 "native trout" was concerned. The writer may be biased, but he 

 deplores the fact that salmon were ever put into Sunapee Lake. 



Rainbow Trout {Salmo irideus) . 



The rainbow trout occurs naturally in the streams of the west 

 slope of the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Range Mountains, and is 

 found as far north as southeastern Alaska. There are several local 

 varieties or variations which have been given specific names and 

 which in Jordan and Evermann's "Fishes of North and Middle 

 America" are recognized as subspecies. 



The form that has been propagated and distributed by fish culture 

 is the McCloud River (California) rainbow trout, technically known 

 as Salmo irideus sliasta. Its geographical range is stated by Jordan 

 and Evermann as streams of Sierra Nevada from Mount Shasta 

 southward. It is said to reach a weight of 10 pounds. It subsists 

 largely upon insects, worms, insect-larvse, and Crustacea, and although 

 it is not naturally a fish eater, when fish are available it does not 

 always disdain them. 



In its native waters the rainbow trout spawns during the months 

 of February, March, and April, but it has been found to vary from 

 this in the different places where it has been introduced. At Wythe- 

 ville hatchery the spawning season extends through November, 

 December, and January, and, to some extent, into February. De- 

 cember and January are the best months. In Colorado the period is 

 from early May untU July. It is stated that the maximum number 

 of eggs produced in a single season by a 3-year-old fish weighing 



1 to 14 pounds is from 500 to 800; from one 6 years old, weighing 



2 to 4 pounds, it is 2,500 to 3,000. 



This fish has been successfully transplanted into streams in the 

 Eastern States wiiere the conditions seem to be favorable. Rainbow 

 trout will live in warmer water than the brook trout. Probably 

 warmer waters are required and the coldness of New England waters 

 may be the cause of the poor results in stocking them with this hsh. 



Rainbow trout have been planted in Sunapee Lake as such and 

 under the name of ''California trout" as follows: 1888, 10,000; 1889, 

 25,000; 1890, 10,000; 1891, 10,000; 1903, 2,994; total, 57,994. 



No one has as yet reported a rainbow trout from Sunapee Lake. 

 However, the comparatively small number planted in the presence of 

 other fish-eating fish may be the reason for the apparent failure to 



