2'J2 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin 



lake, and to report upon the possibility of building up and main- 

 taining- good angling. He says : " A careful limnological investiga- 

 tion showed that witJj tJic exception of food and spawning grounds 

 [italics the present writer's], every other condition (both physical 

 and biological) was well suited to either the ouananiche or the 

 steelhead trout or both. The lack of spawning grounds, of course, 

 could not be remedied, as both of these varieties require good sized 

 running streams for reproduction ; but as long as we would have 

 to depend on annual restocking to keep up a good supply for fishing, 

 this was of little consequence. It was found that an ample food 

 supply could easily be built up by the introduction of suitable food 

 fishes, for the water was swarming with the microscopic crustaceans 

 upon which these small food varieties subsist." 



Air. Keil goes on to say that in the spring of 1919 smelt fry to 

 the number of 3,000,000 were planted, and on the 29th and 30th of 

 the following October 2.102 steelheads and 1.264 landlocked 

 salmon yearlings, averaging about 8 inches in length were planted. 

 Again in 1920, 3,072 steelhead and salmon yearlings from 6 to 9 

 inches in length were turned out. In the spring of 192 1 there were 

 planted 3,000,000 smelt fry, and in the fall approximately 3,000 

 more steelhead and salmon yearlings. Mr. Keil reports that in the 

 summer following the introduction of the trout and salmon, many 

 of these fish were taken, weighing as heavy as 2 pounds. '" With 

 the opening of the season of 192 1 wonderful reports began reach- 

 ing us of the big fish that were being taken.'' 



In the middle of June Mr. Keil landed four landlocked salmon 

 running from 2^ to 4 pounds. Later in the summer he secured a 

 steelhead trout which weighed 4^-2 pounds. 



All of these fish, according to Mr. Keil, were gorged with smelt, 

 and " their rapid* growth and splendid condition is an illustration of 

 what can be accomplished by the proper building up of a suitable 

 food supply before desired game varieties are introduced.'' 



From what Air. Keil says it is quite evident that the fish that 

 were caught, whether lake trout, saibling. steelhead trout or land- 

 locked salmon, were simply grown-up individuals from the original 

 plants. Furthermore, it is more than probable that the food supply 

 will need to be annually replenished also, for there appear to be no 

 suitable spawning places for the smelt. 



Such procedure is not reconstruction or conser\'ation, but simply 

 fish farming, akin to raising pheasants on a private estate to be 

 shot by the owner and his friends in the fall. This may be all right 

 as a private venture by those who can aitord it. but where public 

 money in concerned it would amount to extravagant waste. 



The stocking of certain waters with non-indigenous species has 

 already met with an unforeseen serious result. This result w^as 

 possible of prediction, in fact it was predicted by the present writer 

 in connection with one lake and one species of fish several years 

 before it became manifest. The danger of such a result was not 

 recognized by those engaged in fish cultural distribution. In the 

 case of other species in other waters such fish cultural procedure 



