1912 AND FISHERIES COMMISSION. lOS 



weather, it returns to the deeper pools or the vicinity of cold springs, 

 where it remains until the return of autumn urges it once more up 

 stream to spawn. The close season for brook trout commences at 

 present on September 15 and extends to April 30 of the following year, 

 so that over the best brook trout fishing grounds of the Province, namely, 

 in the North land, some of the fish are already ripe, or even commencing 

 to spawn, some weeks prior to protection being afforded them. In this 

 region, however, the latter part of August and the two first weeks of 

 September are undoubtedly, with the possible exception of early May, 

 the most pleasant period for angling, as the fly and mosquito, so pre- 

 valent through the summer, have by that time practically disappeared, 

 and, moreover, this is also the time of year most convenient for vacation 

 purposes to a great number of sportsmen. It would seem, therefore, on 

 the whole, to be inexpedient to shorten the close season, but the fact that 

 spawning commences so early in this region renders it all the more im- 

 portant to lose no time in the institution of hatchery plants in order to 

 ensure the continued abundance of the fish. 



The fame of the speckled or brook trout as a sporting fish is so uni- 

 versally known that there is no need to insist on its merits in that 

 respect, excepting, perhaps, to note that the brook trout of the Province 

 is the equal in this respect of any to be found throughout the Avorld. 

 In the northern waters the fish will, as a rule, rise readily to the fl}' in 

 the early morning, in the evening and for some hours after nightfall, 

 but often decline to do so during the heat of the day. This, however, 

 would not appear to apply to the almost virgin waters entering Lake 

 Nipigon from the north, east and west, nor to those waters to the north 

 of the height of land, where the fish appear to be so numerous and greedy 

 that catches have been made with the fly when the day was already warm 

 and the sun high in the heavens, doubtless owing to the fact that the 

 very abundance of the fish entails a comparative scarcity of food. In 

 general, however, the trout can be induced to strike at a worm, a frog 

 or minnow at almost any period of the day, and although the historic 

 traditions of speckled trout angling condemn such methods and place 

 those employing them without the pale in the opinion of exclusive fly 

 fishermen, there can be no doubt but that both the very early morning 

 and after dark in tbe evening are not times of the day which appeal to 

 the vast majority of those who indulge in this sport either in Canada 

 or in the States, and that by far the greater number prefer to start their 

 angling after breakfast and put up their rods at sundown. Moreover, 

 it is only comparatively few who have the opportunity of becoming ex- 

 pert fly-casters, so that it would seem that much of the brook trout 

 angling of this Province is destined to continue to be effected in total 

 disi'('g;n'd of the ethics of the present day fly fisherman and of the ancient 

 traditions woven around the pursuit of this' splendid sporting fish. 

 While this to a cc^'tain extent may seem a pity, and must inevitably 

 act in the direction of accelerating the diminution of the supply unless 



