358 



Trout -Fishing in the Range ley Lakes. 



sented with the three largest, and made acknowledgments duly in the 

 " Evening Post, " the "New York Times, " and the ' ' Spirit of the Times." 

 Then there broke out an excitement among anglers altogether with- 

 out precedent. Scores of letters were sent to the papers which had 

 presumed to call these brook-trout, — some of them interrogative, 

 others denunciatory, others theoretical, and others flatly contradict- 

 ory. The Adirondacks had never yielded a brook -trout which 

 weighed more than five pounds, and that, therefore, must be the 

 standard of brook-trout the world over. But Mr. Page had foreseen 

 the violent skepticism which was sure to manifest itself, and had sent 

 a seven-pounder to Professor Agassiz, who speedily replied that 

 these monster trout were genuine specimens of the speckled or brook 

 trout family, and that they were only found in large numbers in the 

 lakes and streams at the head waters of the Androscoggin River, in 

 North-western Maine. In 1864, several New York gentlemen 

 visited Rangeley, among the number Messrs. Lewis B. Reed, R. G. 

 Allerton, and L. T. Lazell. Upon their return, they fully corrob- 

 orated the report made by Mr. Page the year previous, and 

 brought back with them several trout which weighed from three 

 to eight pounds. In 1867, Mr. Page again visited Rangeley in 

 company with Mr. Stanley, and ten days' fishing by these two 

 gentlemen and Mr. Fields, of Gorham, N. H., showed these 

 extraordinary results : 



No. of 

 Trout. 



Weight of 

 each in lbs. 



2% 



3 



3*A 



2>A 



2>A 



4 



4}4 



\A 



5 



sA 



Total weight, 

 lbs. 



6 



• *tf 



■ lA 



■ sA 



■ 15 



. 10^ 



• 1% 

 4 



• 9 



• \Y± 



■ *5 



• SA 



■ sa 



No. of 

 Trout. 



2 . 



5 • 



2 . 

 1 . 



1 . 



3 • 

 3 • 



2 . 

 2 . 



Weight of Total weight, 



each in lbs. lbs. 



sH «# 



6 3° 



(>% I*# 



ey 2 ey 2 



7 7 



lA 213/ 



i l A 22% 



VA 15^ 



8 16 



8^ 8^ 



sy 2 8^ 



8^ 8# 



9 l A 9A 



10 10 



Average, nearly 5 lbs. 



59 



2 93 



