﻿18 
  FISHES 
  OF 
  THE 
  YELLOWSTONE 
  NATIONAL 
  PARK. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  McCloud 
  River 
  its 
  spawning 
  season 
  is 
  from 
  February 
  to 
  

   May, 
  but 
  in 
  the 
  park 
  it 
  appears 
  to 
  spawn 
  somewhat 
  earher. 
  Many 
  

   persons 
  who 
  have 
  had 
  experience 
  in 
  anghng 
  for 
  rainbow 
  trout 
  say 
  

   it 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  best, 
  and 
  some 
  pronounce 
  it 
  the 
  very 
  best, 
  of 
  the 
  trouts. 
  

   It 
  often 
  dashes 
  from 
  the 
  water 
  to 
  meet 
  the 
  descending 
  fly, 
  and 
  leaps 
  

   repeatedly 
  and 
  madly 
  when 
  hooked. 
  It 
  has 
  been 
  said 
  that 
  it 
  takes 
  

   the 
  fly 
  so 
  readily 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  reason 
  for 
  resorting 
  to 
  other 
  lures. 
  

   However, 
  its 
  activity 
  and 
  habits, 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  most 
  fishes, 
  are 
  

   modified 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  by 
  its 
  surrounding 
  conditions. 
  The 
  same 
  is 
  

   true 
  of 
  its 
  food 
  qualities, 
  which 
  are 
  ordinarily 
  very 
  good. 
  

  

  Mary 
  Trowbridge 
  Townsend 
  (1. 
  c.) 
  had 
  the 
  following 
  to 
  say 
  rela- 
  

   tive 
  to 
  her 
  experience 
  with 
  the 
  rainbow 
  trout 
  in 
  Firehole 
  River: 
  

  

  The 
  California 
  rainbow 
  trout 
  proved 
  true 
  to 
  his 
  reputation, 
  as 
  absolutely 
  eccentric 
  

   and 
  uncertain, 
  sometimes 
  greedily 
  taking 
  a 
  fly 
  and 
  again 
  refusing 
  to 
  be 
  tempted 
  

   by 
  the 
  most 
  brilliant 
  array 
  of 
  a 
  carefully 
  stocked 
  book. 
  During 
  several 
  days 
  fishing 
  

   we 
  landed 
  some 
  small 
  ones, 
  none 
  weighing 
  over 
  2 
  pounds, 
  although 
  they 
  are 
  said 
  

   to 
  have 
  outstripped 
  the 
  other 
  varieties 
  in 
  rapidity 
  of 
  growth, 
  and 
  tales 
  were 
  told 
  of 
  

   4-pounders 
  landed 
  by 
  more 
  favored 
  anglers. 
  

  

  This 
  fish 
  has 
  been 
  reported 
  from 
  the 
  Gibbon 
  River 
  both 
  above 
  

   and 
  below 
  Virginia 
  Cascades. 
  Regarding 
  this 
  stream, 
  the 
  super- 
  

   intendent's 
  report 
  for 
  1897 
  shows 
  that 
  the 
  fish 
  planted 
  above 
  the 
  

   cascades 
  seemed 
  to 
  have 
  come 
  down 
  over 
  the 
  falls, 
  as 
  but 
  few 
  were 
  

   found 
  above, 
  while 
  below 
  the 
  stream 
  was 
  well 
  stocked 
  to 
  its 
  junction 
  

   with 
  the 
  Firehole. 
  

  

  Grebe 
  Lake, 
  Blacktail 
  Deer 
  Creek, 
  Madison, 
  Firehole, 
  and 
  Little 
  

   Firehole 
  Rivers 
  all 
  contain 
  rainbow 
  trout. 
  Referring 
  to 
  the 
  last- 
  

   named 
  stream 
  in 
  1897, 
  the 
  superintendent 
  of 
  the 
  park 
  wrote 
  that 
  

   several 
  good 
  specimens 
  had 
  been 
  taken 
  near 
  its 
  mouth, 
  for 
  wliich 
  

   he 
  could 
  not 
  account, 
  as 
  it 
  seemed 
  impossible 
  for 
  any 
  fish 
  to 
  ascend 
  

   the 
  lower 
  falls 
  of 
  the 
  Little 
  Firehole. 
  

  

  5. 
  Loch 
  Leven 
  Trout 
  (Salmo 
  levenensis). 
  

  

  This 
  trout 
  originated 
  in 
  Loch 
  Leven, 
  the 
  lake 
  made 
  famous 
  by 
  

   Scott's 
  poem, 
  "The 
  Lady 
  of 
  the 
  Lake." 
  Typically 
  it 
  was 
  peculiar 
  to 
  

   this 
  loch, 
  where 
  it 
  seldom 
  if 
  ever 
  attained 
  much 
  over 
  a 
  pound 
  in 
  

   weight. 
  

  

  The 
  claim 
  has 
  been 
  made 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  merely 
  an 
  ontogenetic 
  develop- 
  

   ment 
  of 
  the 
  common 
  brown 
  trout 
  and 
  that 
  when 
  transferred 
  to 
  other 
  

   waters 
  its 
  progeny 
  can 
  not 
  always 
  be 
  distinguished 
  from 
  the 
  common 
  

   brown 
  trout. 
  On 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  information 
  derived 
  from 
  persons 
  

   familiar 
  with 
  Loch 
  Leven 
  indicates 
  that 
  both 
  this 
  trout 
  and 
  the 
  

   brown 
  trout 
  exist 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  lake 
  and 
  that 
  m 
  that 
  body 
  of 
  water 
  

   they 
  can 
  always 
  be 
  distinguished 
  at 
  whatever 
  age 
  or 
  condition. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  not 
  impossible 
  that 
  confusion 
  has 
  arisen 
  by 
  brown 
  trout 
  from 
  

   that 
  lake 
  having 
  been 
  propagated 
  under 
  the 
  supposition 
  that 
  they 
  

  

  