398 



ORDERS OF FISHES— TEOUT AND SALMON 



these species are found only alona: the Pacific 

 coast, between Washington and southern CaU- 

 fornia. 



RAINBOW TROUT. 



The Steelhead Trout/ and its group. — 

 The fish which represents this group is of com- 

 manding size, and of high value as a food fish. 

 Its other names are Salmon Trout and Hard- 

 head. It reaches a maximum weight of 14 

 pounds, but usually its weight is between .5 and 

 8 pounds. It "ranks very high as a game fish, 

 and trolling for Steelheads in the bays, sounds 

 and river mouths along our Pacific coast affords 

 excitement and pleasure exceeded among the 

 Salmonidae only by trolling for Chinook Salmon. " 

 (Jordan and Evermann.) 



This fish is regularly propagated by the United 

 States Bureau of Fisheries, by which it has been 

 successfully planted in Lake Superior. Great 

 numbers are caught every year in the Columbia 

 River, and canned for the eastern markets. It 

 is found in the streams flowing into the sea along 

 the coast of Cahfornia, from southern California 

 to Alaska. Its scales are small, its form is sal- 

 mon-like, and its color is silvery, with a wash of 

 rose-pink down the sides. 



The Great Lake Trout, or Mackinaw Trout,' 



and its grou|). — This fish is the largest of all 



trout. Its usual weight is from 1.5 to 20 pounds, 



but it reaches a maximum of 12.5 pounds. Its 



color is dark gray, varying most erratically 



from pale gray to almost black. Its irregular 



' SaVniii ijawd' ncr-i . 



^ (Jri^-I i-ro' iiicr nan/'ay-cush. 



and very numerous spots of gray mark this fish 

 very distinctly, for they cover not only the body 

 but all the fins save those under the body. 



As its name implies, this is essentially a fish 

 of the Great Lakes, and for many years has been 

 the principal source of fresh-fish supply for a 

 large area in that region. In its own field its 

 only rival in commercial importance is the white- 

 fi.sh. Usually the flesh of the latter is supposed 

 to be a greater delicacy than the other. 



The Lake Trout has [jassed through two or 

 three very interesting periods. From 1880 to 

 ISSG, commercial fishing for Lake Trout was 

 carried on so persistently that the supply showed 

 alarming .signs of exhaustion. Here the United 

 States Bureau of Fisheries stepped in, and along 

 with state hatcheries began to propagate and 

 distribute this species. This work was continued 

 until many millions of fish eggs had been planted 

 in the lakes. After that, the supply of Lake 

 Trout increased so rapidly that presently the 

 markets were overstocked, and the price dropped 

 accordingly. 



More recently, however, the pendulum has 

 swung the other way. All around the Great 

 Lakes the demand for food fishes is now so great 

 and so permanent, that the natural supply has 

 proven unable to meet it. Nature cannot produce 

 food fishes in the lakes in the enormous quan- 

 tities required, even though in 1899 the yield of 

 Lake Trout was ten million pounds (10,611,588). 

 To-day the United States Bureau of Fisheries is 

 doing its utmost to help maintain the supply, 

 and in 1900 distributed 3.37,838,000 eggs and 

 young of the Lake Trout. 



"Lake Trout spawn on the reefs, and at other 

 times live in deep water. In Lake Superior the 

 spawning season begins in late September. In 

 Lakes Huron and Michigan, the height of the 

 season is early November, and spawning con- 

 tinues until December. The .spawning grounds 

 are on the reefs of ' honey-comb' rock, 10 to 

 15 miles off .shore, and in water from 6 to 120 

 feet deep. The number of eggs produced is not 

 large. A 24-pound fish produced 14,943 eggs, 

 Ijut the usual numlier does not exceed 5,000 or 

 (i,000." (.Jordan and Evermann.) 



The range of this fish is from New Brunswick 

 and l\Iaine westward throughout the (!reat Lakes 

 to Vancouver Island, B. C, and northward to 

 Labrador, Hudson Bay and northern Alaska. 



