FISHES OF THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 



17 



uated black spots on his burnished sides. He is a brave, dashing fighter, often leap- 

 ing salmon-like many times from the water before he can be brought to creel. We 

 found him feeding on the open riffs or rising on the clear surface of some sunlit pool. 



Ralph E. Clark wrote (I. c.) that "the dark, silvergray trout of 

 the West seem to favor flies more in harmony with their own 

 coloring" and mentioned the gray hackle, brown hackle, coachman, 

 grizzly king, Seth Green, black gnat, and white moth. 



It is an excellent food fish when fresh from cool waters. 



4. RAINBOW TKOUT (Salmo irideus) . 



The rainbow trout has its geographical range in the mountain 

 streams of the Coast Range and the west slopes of the Sierra Nevada 

 Mountains, but the natural abode of the rainbow trout of fish- 

 cultural fame is the McCloud River, Cal. In fish books this form 

 is recognized as a subspecies and there bears the name of Salmo 

 irideus sliasta. It has been successfully introduced into many 



FIG. 4. Rainbow trout. 



streams in different parts of the United States where it was not 

 previously found. The following plants have been made in the 

 Yellowstone Park : 



1889, Gibbon River (Grebe Lake 



above Virginia Cascade) 990 



1896, De Lacey Lake, near Mam- 

 moth Hot Springs 



1906, Gibbon River 10, 000 



1908, East Fork of Gardiner River 200 

 1908, Gardiner River 10, 000 



1908, Tributaries of Yellowstone 



Lake 3, 700 



1909, Gibbon River 7, 000 



1909, Grebe Lake 8, 500 



1909, Little Blacktail Creek 3, 000 



1910, Rock Lake 10,000 



1910, Gibbon River 15, 000 



The size attained by the rainbow trout varies greatly and is de- 

 pendent upon volume of water, temperature, food supply, etc. 

 Under certain conditions it reaches an extraordinary size, but in 

 the ordinary environment 6-pound or 8-pound fish are to be regarded 

 as large. In general it may be said that the fish does not overrun 

 2 pounds. Its food is composed largely of insects. 



