Western Oregon Brook Trout 



from the water in quick succession, clearing the surface in each 

 instance from I to 4 feet, and every time doing his utmost to free 

 himself from the hook by shaking his head as vigorously as a dog 

 shakes a rat. Then he would rush wildly about in the large pool, 

 now attempting to go down over the riffle below the pool, now 

 trying the opposite direction, and often striving to hide under one 

 or the other of the banks. It was easy to handle the fish when 

 the dash was made up or down stream or for the opposite side, 

 but when he turned about and made a rush for the protection 

 of the overhanging bank upon which the angler stood, it was 

 not easy to keep the line taut. Movements such as these were 

 frequently repeated and 2 more leaps were made. But finally 

 he was worn out after as honest a fight as trout ever made. 



The rainbow takes the fly so readily that there is no reason 

 for resorting to grasshoppers, salmon-eggs or other bait. It is a 

 fish whose gameness will satisfy the most exacting of expert 

 anglers and whose readiness to take any proper lure will please 

 the most impatient of inexperienced amateurs. 



Western Oregon Brook Trout 



Salmo masoni (Suckley) 



The common brook trout of the tributaries of the lower 

 Columbia and of coastwise streams of Oregon and Washington 

 is very similar to the typical irideus and is readily distinguished 

 from its associates, the steelhead and the cut-throat, by its larger 

 scales. Compared with the cut-throat, it is less slender, the 

 snout is more rounded, there is no red between the branches 

 of the lower jaw, there are no hyoid teeth, the maxillary is 

 broader and shorter, the opercle more evenly convex, there are 

 fewer spots below the lateral line, and the red markings on 

 the sides usually coalesce to form a red lateral band; scales 120 

 to 130. Apparently merging into the ordinary irideus south- 

 ward, if indeed, the 2 forms are distinguishable. 



This trout rarely weighs more than a pound. It is found 

 from Puget Sound to southern Oregon in streams of the Coast 

 Range, and is locally abundant. 



It is interesting to note that the type of this gamy little trout 

 was caught by George B. McClellan. In describing it Dr. Suckley 

 says: "I obtained this species at the Cathlapootl River, August 



197 



