﻿MANUAL 
  OF 
  FISH-CULTURE. 
  93 
  

  

  The 
  Michigan 
  streams 
  exemplify 
  the 
  practical 
  results 
  attained 
  in 
  

   the 
  introduction 
  of 
  brook 
  trout 
  in 
  new 
  waters. 
  The 
  Au 
  Sable 
  Eiver 
  

   was 
  long 
  thought 
  to 
  be 
  especially 
  adapted 
  for 
  this 
  species, 
  but 
  it 
  

   abounded 
  with 
  grayling, 
  and 
  until 
  this 
  beautiful 
  fish 
  began 
  to 
  disappear 
  

   no 
  movement 
  was 
  made 
  toward 
  introducing 
  the 
  brook 
  trout. 
  The 
  

   lumber 
  iuterests 
  of 
  that 
  section 
  made 
  it 
  necessary 
  to 
  use 
  the 
  river 
  for 
  

   conveying 
  logs 
  to 
  various 
  points 
  downstream, 
  and, 
  as 
  the 
  log-driving 
  

   could 
  be 
  done 
  only 
  during 
  the 
  spring 
  freshets, 
  it 
  came 
  just 
  ai 
  the 
  time 
  

   when 
  the 
  grayling 
  were 
  on 
  their 
  spawning-beds. 
  They 
  were 
  driven 
  

   away 
  and 
  the 
  beds 
  destroyed 
  by 
  the 
  plowing 
  of 
  logs 
  through 
  the 
  

   river 
  bottom 
  each 
  year, 
  till 
  the 
  fish 
  gradually 
  began 
  to 
  disappear. 
  

   The 
  brook 
  trout 
  was 
  suggested 
  as 
  the 
  i)roper 
  substitute, 
  because 
  its 
  

   spawning 
  season 
  is 
  in 
  the 
  autumn 
  when 
  the 
  river 
  is 
  undisturbed, 
  and 
  

   the 
  Michigan 
  Fish 
  Commission 
  began 
  the 
  work 
  by 
  planting 
  20,000 
  fry 
  

   in 
  the 
  year 
  1885. 
  Though 
  additional 
  plants 
  were 
  made 
  from 
  time 
  to 
  

   time, 
  both 
  by 
  the 
  Michigan 
  and 
  United 
  States 
  Commissions, 
  no 
  results 
  

   were 
  observed 
  for 
  some 
  years, 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  thought 
  that 
  the 
  work 
  had 
  

   been 
  a 
  failure. 
  But 
  the 
  natural 
  instinct 
  of 
  the 
  fish 
  had 
  caused 
  them 
  

   to 
  push 
  from 
  the 
  main 
  river 
  into 
  the 
  small 
  tributaries, 
  where 
  they 
  

   multiplied 
  and 
  grew 
  during 
  these 
  years 
  till 
  they 
  finally 
  crowded 
  down 
  

   into 
  the 
  river 
  itself. 
  Here 
  they 
  found 
  as 
  suitable 
  a 
  home 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  

   small 
  streams, 
  and 
  their 
  numbers 
  gradually 
  increased 
  till 
  now 
  the 
  

   stream 
  is 
  completely 
  stocked. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  autumn 
  of 
  1895 
  a 
  camp 
  was 
  established 
  for 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  

   Fish 
  Commission 
  9 
  miles 
  below 
  the 
  village 
  of 
  Grayling 
  for 
  the 
  purpose 
  

   of 
  taking 
  spawn 
  from 
  wild 
  fish. 
  The 
  work 
  was 
  confined 
  to 
  rod-and-line 
  

   fishing 
  until 
  the 
  spawning 
  season 
  opened, 
  when 
  it 
  was 
  found 
  necessary 
  

   to 
  adopt 
  some 
  other 
  plan, 
  as 
  at 
  this 
  time 
  the 
  trout 
  refuse 
  to 
  feed. 
  

   During 
  the 
  five 
  weeks, 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  rod 
  was 
  used 
  exclusively, 
  3,000 
  

   spawning 
  fish 
  were 
  taken. 
  A 
  small 
  seine 
  was 
  then 
  used 
  for 
  capturing 
  

   the 
  fish, 
  by 
  hauling 
  it 
  at 
  right 
  angles 
  to 
  the 
  curi^ent 
  of 
  the 
  river, 
  directly 
  

   across 
  the 
  spawning-beds, 
  which 
  thickly 
  dotted 
  the 
  river 
  bottom 
  in 
  

   some 
  places. 
  By 
  this 
  method 
  a 
  tubful 
  of 
  trout 
  at 
  one 
  haul 
  was 
  often 
  

   taken, 
  and 
  during 
  the 
  period 
  the 
  fish 
  were 
  running 
  between 
  8,000 
  

   and 
  10,000 
  were 
  obtained. 
  This 
  illustrates 
  the 
  abundance 
  in 
  which 
  

   this 
  species 
  is 
  found 
  in 
  a 
  river 
  to 
  which 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  transplanted. 
  A 
  

   conservative 
  estimate 
  would 
  place 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  trout 
  taken 
  from 
  

   this 
  stream 
  in 
  the 
  season 
  of 
  1895 
  at 
  100,000, 
  perhaps 
  25 
  per 
  cent 
  being 
  

   rainbow 
  trout. 
  Other 
  waters 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  have 
  been 
  successfully 
  

   stocked, 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  northern 
  half 
  of 
  lower 
  Michigan 
  now 
  contains 
  a 
  

   network 
  of 
  trout 
  streams, 
  made 
  by 
  introducing 
  this 
  fish 
  into 
  waters 
  

   where 
  it 
  was 
  not 
  indigenous. 
  

  

  In 
  its 
  native 
  haunts, 
  whether 
  in 
  lake 
  or 
  stream, 
  the 
  brook 
  trout 
  is 
  

   usually 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  clear, 
  cold, 
  spring 
  water, 
  and 
  prefers 
  brooks 
  

   or 
  streams 
  tiowiug 
  swiftly 
  over 
  gravelly 
  bottoms. 
  It 
  i)ushes 
  from 
  the 
  

   rivers 
  into 
  the 
  small 
  streams, 
  seeking 
  the 
  headwaters, 
  searching 
  out 
  

  

  