R EC RE A TION. 



in lake Tahoe and its outlet, but in 

 Humboldt river, and in every suitable 

 stream and lake in the Great Basin of 

 Nevada, as its cousin virginalis is 

 found in the Great Basin of Utah. As 

 lake Bonneville was drained to the 

 north, so was lake Lahontan to the 

 northeast, and the great Snake river 

 found room for all their waters. From 

 its great resources, it stocked them all 

 with trout, and the falling of the waters 

 has left these trout to isolation and 

 therefore to change. 



Part of the trout in the basin of lake 

 Tahoe have followed the usual habits of 

 river trout, living in the streams or lakes 

 wherever fortune may carry them, but 

 ascending the streams to spawn. These 

 are known as " pogies," or "black 

 trout," to the Tahoe fishermen ; but 

 some of the trout cast their spawn in 



High above lake Tahoe in the Great 

 Sierras, are many beautiful lakes, which 

 when discovered, had no fishes in them. 

 These lakes were made by the great 

 Pyramid Peak glacier, some by exca- 

 vations, some by the formation of 

 moraine dams. When the glacier melted 

 away it left its huge traces in moraines, 

 lake and sheep-back, one of the most re- 

 markable glacial basins in the world. 

 But the disappearance of the ice sheet 

 did not bring in the fish. The Glacier 

 Falls in Glen Alpine creek was a barrier 

 no trout could surmount. Mr. Gilmore, 

 the owner of the valley, some fifteen 

 years ago, helped the trout over this ob- 

 stacle, and now no' better trout lakes 

 exist, any where, than lake Gilmore, 

 Fallen Leaf, Half Moon, Heather, and 

 the rest of the Glen Alpine series. The 

 highest of all of them, Medley lake, in 



rainbow trout. — Salmo Irideus. 



the gravel of lake Tahoe itself, never 

 entering the rivers, and migrating only 

 between the depths of the lake and 

 its shores. 



These have become gradually iso- 

 lated and differentiated from the rest of 

 their tribe. They are changed in size 

 and appearance as well as in habits, and 

 are known as the silver trout of lake 

 Tahoe. This silver trout lives in the 

 depths of the lake. It is much paler 

 than the common Tahoe trout, with 

 fewer spots and less of copper color 

 along the sides. The cut-throat mark 

 has nearly faded away and other changes 

 are seen on close inspection. This is 

 the largest of all our fresh water trout, 

 often reaching 8 to 15 pounds in weight. 

 The largest known specimen, weighing 

 29 pounds, was sent from Tahoe city 

 as a present to General Grant, some 

 fifteen years ago. 



the astonishing " Valley of Desolation," 

 a region which only the pencil of Dore 

 could represent, sends its waters west to 

 the American river, and east to lake 

 Tahoe. This would furnish a race-way 

 for trout from one side of the Sierras to 

 the other, a second "Two Ocean Pass," 

 were it not that water-falls on both 

 streams make it inaccessible to fishes 

 from both sides alike. 



The true mykiss trout inhabits the 

 Columbia and the Snake river above'the 

 Shoshone Falls. Below the Falls, how- 

 ever, according to Dr. Gilbert, a pecu- 

 liar form occurs, as yet unnamed, with 

 the spots and coloration of irideus 

 and the small scales of ??iykiss. This 

 may be the ancestor of virginalis, but it 

 will take years of exploration before our 

 theorization upon it can rise much 

 above the level of guess work. 



Still another great lake existed in the 



