494 NATURAL HISTORY OF AQUATIC ANIMALS. 



The largest individuals on record from this locality relate to one specimen, .caught in 1864 at 

 Grand Haven, which weighed eighty-eight pounds, and one taken at Oconto in 1876 weighing 

 forty-five pounds. At the north end of Green Bay they are reported as very abundant at all 

 seasons, though less common than the white-fish. They are most common about Saint Martin's 

 and Gull Islands. In the fall and spring they are less abundant towards the heads of the bays. 

 About Milwaukee they are abundant, particularly at the spawning season, though not so plentiful 

 as formerly. A little farther north, in the vicinity of Manitowoc, they are plentiful. In 1855 Mr. 

 Patterson caught one that weighed fifty-seven and a half pounds, dressed. Capt. J. Gaguon says 

 that he has often taken a dozen at a single lift which would average twenty-five to thirty pounds 

 in weight ; these were taken in ninety fathoms of water, about fifteen miles from shore, off Two 

 Rivers. The "Salmon-fleshed" and " White-fleshed" Trout are both found, but the former is f;ir 

 the more abundant and sells much more readily. At Racine they are very abundant and of con- 

 siderable importance. During spawning time they are taken plentifully on a reef a short distance 

 north of the city, but it is thought that they are decreasing in numbers. At Waukegan they 

 are abundant in June and July and in the fall months, but, since the pound-nets are taken up in 

 September, few are caught late in the fall. The fishermen claim to be able to tell from which 

 locality any fish has been obtained, those from the clay bottom being short, thick, and fat, resem- 

 bling the Siscowet. Individuals have here been caught which weighed sixty-five pounds. The 

 common weight for a " Racer" is twenty-five pounds, and from this up to forty pounds. 



"In the vicinity of Chicago, according to Nelson, Lake Trout are common in spring and fall. 

 They commence running in the middle of April, and are taken at that time with set lines at a short 

 distance out from the shore. "They are taken most plentifully in spring," continues Kumlien, 

 "when the fishing first begins and before the runs of white-fish come on; at this time they are 

 caught in from twelve to sixteen fathoms. Later they retreat into the lake, where, at a distance 

 out from seven to nine miles from shore, they are found at all seasons." 



"At New Buffalo and vicinity the Trout make up about one-fourth of the entire amount of fish 

 taken. Fourteen years ago fish of from fourteen to twenty pounds' weight were obtained at every 

 lift of the nets, but now they are much smaller. The largest ever kuown here weighed sixty-two 

 pounds dressed. 



"On the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, the Lake Trout is next in importance to the white-fish. 

 At Ludingtou, Manistee County, they are very abundant. The runs begin early in May, but they 

 decrease in number until July, after which none are taken until October. Gill-net fishermen 

 obtain them throughout the winter in deep water. At Grand Haven they are said to be equally 

 common all the year round, possibly because there are no spawning grounds in the vicinity. 



"In the vicinity of the Straits of Mackinaw, in the northern part of Lakes Huron and Michigan, 

 Mackinaw Trout is considered, next to the white-fish, the most important species. There is, how- 

 ever, a general opinion among the fishermen that they are much too numerous, for they are thought to 

 be very destructive to young white-fish. As many as nine thousand pounds have been packed for 

 shipment at Mackinaw in one day. They were formerly bought by the " count," as they ran, at three 

 cents apiece. On Spectacle Reef, according to Captain Ketchuin, two men lifting their nets every 

 two hours, have caught thirty-six hundred pounds in one night. In the vicinity of Spectacle 

 Reef Captain Coats reports them as even more abundant than the white-fish, though he thinks 

 that at least eight times as many white-fish as Trout are shipped from Mackinaw. It is believed 

 by the fishermen of Grand Traverse Bay that, when the moon is full, the Trout are much more 

 abundant than white-fish. 



