424 Reminiscences of 



eggs after the spawning season is over. It is not un- 

 common in the late autumn before the ice makes over 

 the deserted beds, near the shore, to find half a dozen 

 speckled chaps digging over the bed for some egg 

 which may have escaped observation. It is not 

 uncommon to see them digging into the beds from a 

 horizontal position with their heads down and their 

 tails flapping above the water surface, which occasions 

 the first observation. Last of all comes the Chinaman 

 of the lake, the sucker, who works patiently at lower 

 wages than the dominant race, who with his porcine 

 snout makes havoc with the bed, and fairly roots it 

 apart for the last lingering morsel which remains. 



Probably nine-tenths of the Rangeley trout spawn 

 in still water, where a moderate freshening occurs from 

 springs. The same quarters will be occupied year after 

 year, unless physical changes occur. 



Nearly all the trout spawn between the middle of 

 September and the middle of December, although excep- 

 tional cases occur throughout the year, and there is no 

 time during the year but what trout can be found in 

 spawn in a fonn of more or less development. I have 

 observed them through the ice spawning well into Janu- 

 ary, and not very long ago I caught a 7 -pounder in the 

 first part of August which was full of ripe spawn, and 

 dripping. This fish was caught at a depth of about 30 ft. 

 on a slow troll, with a heavy sinker, with a No. 2 fly. I 

 know of a good many spawning beds about the lake 

 and ponds where after the ice first freezes over I have 

 taken much interest in regarding the trout below. 

 One of these, situated opposite a landing at one of my 

 adjunctive camps on a pond, I had an amusing incident 

 when accompanied by an enthusiastic friend and sports- 



