132 lliirty-mnlh Annual Meeting 



Here as elsewhere the larger rainbows, or those of a spawn- 

 ing" size, do not as a rule run into or invade brook trout terri- 

 tory proper, except during the spawning season, after which 

 they (Iroi) down stream to their old haunts where food and 

 temperature conditions are more congenial. In some cases 

 large rainbows prefer to inhabit deep and moderately cool 

 lakes, ascending tributary streams only during the spawning 

 season. 



"Phere is scarcely a doubt that the rainl)ow in the course of 

 time will rank as a commercial tish of considerable impor- 

 tance in Lakes Michigan, Superior and Huron, and in these 

 waters they should not be regarded or treated as a game fish 

 bu.t rather as a commercial hsh, subject only to the same re- 

 strictions as are applied to the other commercial varieties. 

 Large rainbow trout lose their game cjualities to a great ex- 

 tent anyway after inhabiting lakes for a time. 



Ivegarding the food (jualities of rainbows as compared 

 with br(jok trout, it must Ije acknowledged that they are 

 usually softer and less palatable than the latter when young 

 or immature, that is to say, the iiesh of a 7 or S-inch rainbow- 

 is not so firm and sweet and rich as that of a Ijrook trout of 

 the same size. One reason is that an 8-inch rainbow is not 

 nearly so far advanced toward maturity as an 8-inch brook 

 trout. Rain])ow trout do not spawn in Alichigan waters until 

 they are 3 and most of them until they are 4 }-ears old, 

 whereas brook trout spawn when about 20 to 22 months old. 

 It is, howe\'er, the almost unanimous opinion of anglers and 

 epicures that rainbo^^•s of two pounds and upwards are not 

 in the least inferior to l)rook trout of a corresponding size 

 or age. For this reason, the legal limit for rainlxnv trout 

 should be considerably greater than for brook trout. It 

 should not 1)e less than 10 inches. 



Although the rainl)ow trout has verv man}' firm and e\'en 

 enthusiastic friends, and the list is constantly growing, yet 

 there has been and still is considerable opposition to its fui"- 

 ther introduction into our streams. This opposition is not 

 because it is not recognized as a high grade food and 



