FOREST RECREATION THE MIGHTY ROCKY MOUNTAIN TROUT 



663 



absence of small fishes or minnows along the thin water 

 of streams and in the inlets, is a pretty good indication 

 that the waters do not contain enough plant life to keep 

 the older fish in good condition. Thus, in stocking the 

 streams with young fish, or "fry" as they are known, it 

 is necessary to exercise great care and no little skill in 

 the selection of waters. 



The various State and Federal hatcheries are engaged 

 in producing fry, not in raising them. From the time 

 the little fellows leave the hatcheries until they are 

 freed in the watcs, they receive divers kinds of bad 

 handling. Usually it is up to the citizenry to see that 

 they are planted. Too often these tiny fish are taken 

 and dumped into the waters headlong where they come 

 suddenly in contact with an entirely different temperature 

 and surroundings where there is, possibly, no feed at 

 all. The conse- 

 quent loss is 

 easily appar- 

 ent. 



In the ordi- 

 nary season the 

 rainbow trout 

 will begin lay- 

 ing eggs as ear- 

 ly as April 15, 

 continuing un- 

 til as late as 

 May 15, de- 

 pending upon 

 the elevation of 

 their waters and 

 climatic condi- 

 tions. The na- 

 t i v e follows 

 closely here, 

 spawning from 

 May 15 to June 

 15. The eastern 

 brook delays 

 spawning until 

 late fall, some- 

 times extending the operation well along into December. 



The procedure in natural spawning is the same with 

 all three species. The female will settle somewhere in 

 shallow water where there is sand and slow moving bits 

 of moss and water slime. At a selected spot she sets 

 her fins in motion with the result that, after a time, a 

 small hole is made in the sand, mud, and bits of moss, 

 in which she will deposit a few eggs. The action is called 

 "fanning" by local men. Trout eggs are not adhesive, 

 hence a few may be laid at each fanning point. 



After depositing eggs the female will depart, where- 

 upon a male fish will pause over the fanning nest, deposit- 

 ing a quantity of white, slimy substance which fertilizes 

 them. This done he will fan awhile in order to slightly 

 cover them with bits of moss and slime floating about 

 in the water. It happens though, quite often, that this 

 knightly male will eat the eggs, fan until he has made 



BEFORE THE EGGS ARE FERTILIZED THEY 

 SNOW AND ICE IN THE PANS WHICH WILL 

 WET WHILE THE EGGS ARE IN SHIPMENT 



his deposit in the empty nest, then hie away to other 

 fields of conquest. Should, however, the eggs be prop- 

 erly fertilized and covered, there may be many things 

 yet happen them. The water may raise and wash them 

 out, or it may recede and leave them on dry land, or 

 diving birds or snakes may eat them. There are a hun- 

 dred and one things that may happen to the eggs in course 

 of incubation and something generally happens. It is 

 doubtful if one per cent of the naturally laid eggs pro- 

 duce minnows that reach maturity. Reproduction of the 

 trout is a complicated affair for which nature did not 

 provide very carefully. 



Hatching of trout from eggs is a process covering 

 about three months' time. The method of incubation 

 in artificial state is the same as that in natural state ex- 

 cept that artificial hatching is made highly successful 



through the re- 

 moval of natu- 

 ral enemies and 

 barriers en- 

 co untered in 

 natural incuba- 

 tion. In study- 

 ing the artifi- 

 cial method of 

 hatching.at will 

 be readily seen 

 how almost im- 

 possible it is 

 for eggs to 

 hatch success- 

 fully in native 

 state. The eggs 

 are very ten- 

 der, being com- 

 posed of an 

 amber colored 

 liquid. They 

 are round and 

 about one 

 eighth inch in 

 diameter. Any 

 sudden change of temperature, any rough usage, any 

 abrasion will almost surely result in their loss. Then, 

 following this chance, there is a disease, or animal life, 

 very contagious, which is attacking them constantly. In- 

 fection on one egg will spread rapidly to all eggs in 

 connection in the fanned hole where native hatching is 

 taking place. Just how this feature is overcome in the 

 hatcheries will be explained later. 



During spawning time the male and female fish will 

 crowd into inlets of lakes or follow up the streams in 

 search of suitable hatching grounds that the rough deep 

 waters do not provide. In spawning they "swarm" so 

 to speak. Man has discovered that, in this period, they 

 may be easily trapped and stripped of their eggs. By 

 going up the stream a hundred yards or so above a lake, 

 or into the reaches of some stream where it traverses a 

 meadow-like country in which the fish gather, traps may 



MAY BE SHITPED IN CRATES. NOTE THE 

 BE USED IN KEEPING THE MOSS COOL AND 



