Conservation Commission. 195 



The Lock Leven trout is the land-locked form of the Euro- 

 pean sea trout, and in its natural habitat can easily be distin- 

 guished from the brown trout which is a fresh water species. 



Lake Teout. 



Differences in the flesh colors and game qualities of lake 

 trout will be found wherever this trout exists. It is generally 

 supposed that the color of flesh depends upon the food; but this 

 is not settled. The fish experts have reached the conclusion after 

 careful study of large series of specimens from various waters 

 that we have only one lake trout, properly so-called, iu North 

 America. Perhaps there may still be some doubt concerning 

 the form of the fish which is found in certain lakes. The differ- 

 ence in color is not regarded as indicating distinct species of fish. 



In Lake George the most successful trolling bait for lake 

 trout is a small whitefish, locally known as frostfish. In Sun- 

 apee ]ake the land locked smelt is an excellent bait for this 

 trout. For a short time after the ice leaves the lakes, these fish 

 will rise readily to artificial flies; but this mode of fishing does 

 not last long. 



Pikeperch are taken by trolling with a spoon such as we use 

 for black bass. For still fishing live minnows are preferred 

 to all other baits, especially such as are more or less transparent 

 and silvery, for example the fallfish, the corporal, the redfin 

 aud the gudgeon. In Oneida lake the best results have been 

 obtained with large angle worms and crawfish. When the fish 

 are near the shore many are taken by trolling with minnows at- 

 tached to the spoon ; but when they are in deeper water the baits 

 above mentioned are effective. There is usually little difficulty 

 in taking a mess of pikeperch, but the fishing for lake trout is 

 more uncertain. A very nice lake trout was taken in Star 

 lake recently on a small live minnow which was hooked through 

 the body near the base of the tail, so that its movements in the 

 water were rather lively. The principal difficulty in the capture 

 of lake trout is due to the omnivorous appetite of the fish. It 

 is generally so full of food that it is not inclined to take bait 

 of any kind. 



