CHAR AND SALMON TROUTS 21 



or Great Lakes trout, while further north it is 

 know by its Indian name, Namaycush; also our 

 sly lover of the rills is first cousin to the seldom 

 fish, Sunapee trout, as well as that famous fisH 

 of the West, the Dolly Varden. In all, there 

 are fifteen chars in America, though the speckled 

 trout alone may be called common. The angler 

 should bear in mind, however, that the char is 

 more highly organized than are the salmon 

 trouts, a wee bit more aristocratic ; and since the 

 Fish Commissions have planted and interplanted 

 trout and chars, it is well for the angler to be 

 able to tell the difference between the two 

 species. 



First, then, the size of the scales are a certain 

 mark of identification; those of the char being 

 so fine and deeply imbedded in the skin as often 

 to be almost microscopical; indeed, one not sel- 

 dom hears the eastern brook trout spoken of as 

 a "scale-less fish" which of course is not true. 

 Upon the other hand, all members of the salmon 

 tribe are possessed of definite scales scales that 

 can be seen with the eye and removed with the 

 finger. A large rainbow I caught some years 

 ago had to be scaled before we placed it in the 

 fry-pan. Another matter, the chars alone are 

 possessed of vermiculations "worm tracks" 



