FISHES AND FISHING IN SUNAPEE LAKE. 63 



Deep water in this section is affected undoubtedly on account of its 

 coolness, as in the far north the fish are found not only in shallow lakes 

 but in streams. Tlie saiblmg of the far north and as far south as 

 southern Labrador and Newfoundland, and perhaps the north side of 

 the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in common with the "brook trout," has 

 sea-run forms, as have the saiblings (S. hairdii and S. malma) of the 

 Pacific. In fact, in those regions they are best known as ''sea trout." 



That the "sea-running" habit is not possessed by the more southern 

 forms is easily accounted for by the remoteness of their habitats from 

 the sea and the obstructions in the waterways. 



Tlie food of the different forms varies according to locality and 

 size of the fish. In localities where fish are suited to their maw and 

 taste, such form their principal sustenance. They feed to some 

 extent upon insects, especially the larval or aquatic forms. 



An article by S. Garman in a sportsman's journal in 1891 says: 

 "In New England the habits of the saibling would seem to be the same 

 as on the other side of the Atlantic. Of such as were examined the 

 stomachs were filled with small fishes, mainly smelt, and in several 

 cases with spawn." 



The larger white trout examined by the writer at Sunapee Lake 

 always contamed smelts when there were any stomach contents at all. 

 Several ranging from 5h to SJ inches in length caught at The Hedge- 

 hog in about 90 feet of water also contained smelts. 



The following observations on very young white trout were made 

 in 1910. April 23, along the shore of Soo-nipi Park, principally over 

 coarse gravel and over sand beach near the gravel, several young were 

 seen and four of them caught, each about 1 inch long. Wlien dis- 

 turbed they would swim and dart about, hesitating to go far into 

 deep water. But if they went toward shore they would not conceal 

 themselves under the gravel, but seemed to depend for protection 

 upon darting and dodging, at which they were quite adept. Appar- 

 ently becoming tired, however, they swam more slowly and were 

 easily caught. Theii* stomachs contained larval diptera {Chirone- 

 mus) and some minute crustaceans (Entomostraca) . April 28, at the 

 head of Pike Brook deadwater, eight specimens 1 to 1 ^^ inches long 

 were caught. Their stomachs also contained prkicipally Chironemus 

 larva. 



The breeding habits also vary, as they do in the European saibling. 

 Some forms ascend streams in the fall to spawn, others spawn upon 

 shoals in the lakes. 



The white trout of Sunapee Lake, during the summer months, 

 resides in depths of from 60 to 90 or 100 feet, where the temperature 

 is in the neighborhood of 50° F. or less. In the spring it occurs in 

 shallow water about the shores and is often caught from the wharves 

 and piers. In the early part or middle of October it appears on a 



