A Sportsman 39 



freezing over of the lake, when the fresh ice would 

 not be more than two inches in thickness, phenom- 

 enal catches could be made of trout, as they would 

 seem to be exhilarated by the new condition as much 

 as lads would be with fresh skating. After ten or 

 twelve days a noticeable falling off in activity and 

 feeding occurs, which continues to increase until 

 warmer weather comes. 



We kept a careful weight of all our trout, noting 

 down our catch each night, and we found our average 

 to be one and a third pounds ; our largest trout weigh- 

 ing a fraction over eight, and our smallest were a 

 quarter of a pound. Upon our return to Boston I 

 carried out several of the largest to Louis Agassiz, 

 the distinguished naturalist and scientist, then living 

 at Cambridge at the head of the Museum of Compar- 

 ative Zoology, who made careful examination and 

 pronounced them of the true Fontinalis family, but 

 gave them a distinctiveness over other trout from 

 their large size and habitat. 



It would be difficult to find more beautiful and 

 perfect trout than those of the Rangeley waters, or 

 any of higher game qualities. At all seasons of the 

 year they are full and superior in flavor excepting 

 the meagre milters in the autumn, who may be well 

 discarded from the table despite their brilliant hues. 

 But the spawners even up to the time of their 

 emissions are of delicate taste. I have since 1858 

 yearly fished these lakes, and taken many thou- 

 sands of trout there, and have found them in the 

 qualities I have designated more uniform than from 

 any other waters, although no shadow can be cast 

 upon many other localities. 



