Adirondack Beaver 155 



the only difference made by the beavers so far as trout fishing went, 

 was that the flooding of the land gave the trout so much food and 

 bottom interest that they did not rise to the fly. He did not believe 

 that it made any actual difference in the number of trout nor in 

 their spawning." Abundance of food must be looked upon as a 

 thing favorable to trout though not necessarily to trout fishing. 



That trout in beaver ponds often do not rise to the fly or take 

 bait seems to be borne out by an experience of my own in Colorado 

 a few years ago. Numerous attempts to catch trout in pools 

 between beaver dams resulted in most discouraging failure, but that 

 trout were there in numbers I had abundant ocular proof. 



In Minnesota, Mr. Carlos Avery, State Commissioner of Game 

 and Fisheries, made a preliminary inquiry into the relation of beaver 

 to trout and concluded that the relation was a favorable one. Mr. 

 Eben W. Cobb, Superintendent of Fisheries there, states that : 

 "Wherever I have heard the matter spoken of by trout fishermen 

 it has been stated that the trout grow larger and the fishing is 

 better in the ponds caused by these dams and that they offered a 

 safe retreat for trout during a period of the year when anchor ice 

 was running, and also during the hot months of summer as the 

 trout are safer in the deeper waters during this period." (Cf., 

 "Beaver make for better trout fishing," Fins, Feathers and Fur, 

 No. 22, p. 10, 1920, and Lawrie '21). 



Balancing of Opinion. On the basis of my own observations, I 

 am inclined to believe that there may be a good deal of truth in 

 both of the conflicting views set forth above. The differences prob- 

 ably are to be sought in the differing local conditions. A shallow, 

 relatively broad stream with low banks and feeble current, if 

 dammed by beaver, results in a series of expansive but shallow 

 ponds. If contributing springs are few, small and far between, 

 dams frequent and the soil composed of humus, unfavorable con- 

 ditions of one kind or another quite probably develop on such a 

 stream. In the original condition with freely flowing water and 

 cool shade, trout may have thrived, but in the altered circumstances 

 one would hardly expect them to do so. On the other hand, a 

 stream of like size with good current, higher banks, and with springs 

 more frequent, might by the same number of dams be converted 

 into a stream in every way more favorable to trout than it was 

 before. There would be an increase in the depth of the water 

 without an undue spread at the sides ; the entering springs would 



