80 • FISHES AND FISHING IN SUNAPEE LAKE. 



The smelt is a delicious pan fish and even the smallest fried whole, 

 in the manner of whitebait, are highly esteemed. It is the natural 

 food of the landlocked salmon, and the salmon thrives only where 

 there are smelts. 



Effects wpon fishing for other fi^Ti. — It has been clauned that where 

 smelts abound the fishing is greatly interfered with; the fish will not 

 take the fly and rarely any other bait than live smelt. 



In a letter received by Mr. John W. Titcomb, then fish commissioner 

 of Vermont, and published in Forest and Stream of June 27, 1896, 

 the poor fishing of the preceding May at Sunapee Lake was ascribed 

 to the smelt. Among other things the letter stated that where 

 smelts occur a piece of maple sugar for bait would be almost as effect- 

 ive as any fish other than smelt, and goes on to say: 



There is no doubt but that the smelt is great food, but if it spoils the fishing with 

 rod and tackle, where is its advantage? It certainly may ruin the fly fishing, as it 

 no doubt does the bait fishing, to a very great extent. There is no fly fishing at 

 Sunapee at all and the only way that it is accounted for there is the smelt. 



Mr. Titcomb, commenting on the statement, wrote: 



It would be unreasonable to think of depriving a body of water of desirable fish 

 food for the purpose of forcing a fish to rise to the surface to take flies or other 

 artificial bait. 



This is a very pertinent remark, for where there is not sufficient 

 food the fish can hardly attain a size to make them worth catching. 

 On another page it has been stated that where insects afford the only 

 food supply trout do not grow very large. 



It seems to be a peculiar trait of the mind of man, or at least 

 of the minds of some men, to account for phenomena by the most 

 prominent or conspicuous condition that may be a possible cause. 

 In other words they jump at conclusions without sufficient verifi- 

 cation. 



If in any lake the water is high "or low and the fishing good or poor, 

 it is good or poor because the water is high or low, as the case may be. 

 Good fishing or poor fishing m a lake aboundiag in or free from 

 smelts is ascribed to the abundance or lack of food supply, and those 

 persons have in mind the one body of water and the inmiediate con- 

 ditions obtaining there to base their conclusions upon. 



Smelts abound in Sebago Lake, Me., and they are apparently just 

 as abundant one year as another, but the fishing varies ; one year or 

 at one portion of the season the fishing is good, at another bad. 

 Which is the smelt accountable for ? In Sunapee Lake also there have 

 been seasons of good fishing, notwithstandmg the smelts, and there 

 were times of poor fishing before Sunapee knew the smelt, if the 

 reports of the State commissioners can be trusted. 



As for fly fishing being ruined by the abundance of smelts or other 

 food supply, other waters where the smelts abound and where fly 



