102 REPORT OF ONTARIO GAME No. 52 



is abundant in portions of Lake Nipigon and in most of the rivers and 

 streams which floAV into it. To the west of this, again, in the Rainy 

 River District, the fish does not appear to exist at all in the waters of 

 the Quetico Forest Reserve, the Rainy River, Lake of the Woods or sur- 

 rounding territory, and in the northern and western portions of this 

 district it is doubtful whether it occurs anyivhere in very great abun- 

 dance. Its diBtribution, in fact, in those waters of the Province which 

 drain into James or Hudson Bay. would seem to be more or less con- 

 fined to the regions north of Lake Superior, and it is, apparently, most 

 abundant in the neighborhood of the height of land. There is, indeed, 

 no doubt that many of the rivers and lakes of this watershed in both the 

 Thunder Bay and Algoma districts are as well •stocked with brook trout 

 as almost any of the waters flowing into Lake Superior, It is an un- 

 fortunate fact that already many of these latter waters are beginning to 

 show the effects of illegal netting, and if the brook trout is to be per- 

 petuated in them steps should be taken at once to check this nefarious 

 traflflc. It is certain also that the building of the Grand Trunk Pacific 

 and the Canadian Northern Railways will throw open a great new ter- 

 ritory north of Lake Superior in which excellent brook trout fisJiing will 

 be readily secured. In view of the importance, therefore, of this fish as 

 an attraction to anglers, both from at home and abroad, it would seem 

 that the greatest precautions should be taken both in the Superior basin 

 and in the virgin territory to the north of the height of land not to re- 

 peat the mistakes made in the older portions of the Province, but to 

 ensure that a sufficiency of forest shall be left standing to maintain the 

 steady flow and normal temperature of the w^aters, and that the shade 

 along the banks of the rivers and lakes shall be jealously preserved. 



The brook trout is a voracious feeder, living chiefly on small fishes, 

 insects and crustaceans. The size which it attains depends largely on 

 the nature of the waters in which it lives and the food to be obtained 

 therein. In small streams it may mature at a length of six or eight 

 inches and a weight of only a few ounces, while in larger bodies of water, 

 with an abundant supply of food, it will reach a length of eighteen 

 inches or more and a weight of from 6 to 8 pounds. Large fish such as 

 this are still to be taken in the Nipigon River and Lake Nipigon, and in 

 that region fish of from three to five pounds are by no means uncommon. 



The spawning season of the fish extends from August in the north 

 to December in the south, the trout running up towards the headwaters 

 of streams and depositing their ova on the gravelly shallows. The num- 

 ber of eggs produced by the female depends largely on the size and age 

 of the fish, those in their second year voiding from 50 to 250 eggs, while 

 larger fisih may lay as many as 1,500. The period of hatching depends 

 in great measure on the temperature of the water, varying from thirty- 

 two days in warm weather to one hundred and sixty-five in cold. In the 

 early part of the summer the trout prefers the ripples and shoaler parts 

 of the stream, but, as the temperature rises with the approach of hot 



