THE WILD LIFE OF LAKE SUPERIOR 



155 



made the steady surge of the receding 

 waves an unsuitable location for a fish 

 particularly disliking turbid or unshel- 

 tered waters. 



Every tributary stream contained trout 

 as the permanent and almost sole occu- 

 pants, with the temporary addition of all 

 in the lake during the spawning season, 

 unless flowing from headwater lakes, in 

 which case the higher temperature and 

 the existence of pickerel or bass discour- 

 aged their presence. 



Consequently, good fishing was within 

 easy reach of every settlement and camp- 

 ing place, the trout occupying a narrow 

 strip within 50 feet of the shore or near- 

 by islets and reefs, for beyond were the 

 giant lake trout, which, while respecting 

 absolutely the riparian rights of their 

 more aristocratic kin, allowed no trespass 

 in their own domain. 



On the other hand, just to the east, 

 Lake Huron, including Georgian Bay 

 and the southern portion of Ontario, con- 

 tained no speckled trout except in an iso- 

 lated case or two, for bass, pickerel, pike, 

 and land-locked salmon abounded, the 

 less abrupt watersheds favoring chains 

 of lakes with sluggish, interconnecting 

 streams of a high temperature in summer. 



A TROUT FISHER OF 70 YKARS AGO 



In 1849 the paternal grandfather of 

 the writer first came to Lake Superior, 

 intent solely on trout fishing, having 

 heard from pioneer business friends of 

 the beauty and health fulness of the re- 

 gion and the wonderful trout fishing. At 

 the time of his earlier visits it was neces- 

 sary to transfer around the Sault rapids, 

 taking a small steamer that had been as- 

 sembled beyond, when visiting any of the 

 few settlements on Lake Superior. 



To one who had fished only the brook 

 trout of the Alleghany Mountains, the 

 size, brilliancy, and activity of those in 

 the lake were in striking contrast, and in 

 the long period following he seldom vis- 

 ited any stream, for the smaller fish and 

 their ease of capture did not appeal to 

 him. 



Accustomed to making his own bam- 

 boo rods, flies, dip-nets, or seines for 

 catching minnows, he either fished from 

 a little rowboat, anchored in a suitable 

 location, or from some of the many points 



Photograph by George Shiras, 3d 



ALBINO DOE IN HEAVY WINTER COAT 



She was brought from southern Michigan in 

 1918; eyes pink and very susceptible to light; 

 hoofs and nostrils white (see page 183). 



separating bays, where there was a steady 

 movement of the larger trout. 



It seems worthy of mention that family 

 records covering 65 years, and supple- 

 mented by other contemporaneous data, 

 showed that the maximum weight of any 

 trout taken was $ l / 2 pounds, the average 

 of the larger ones ranging from 4 to 4^ 

 pounds (see page 131). 



On the northern, or Canadian, shore 

 the larger fish averaged about a pound 

 less in weight, except in the Nipigon 

 River, where specimens reaching ten 

 pounds were not unusual. 



Now that the trout along the southern 

 shore are approaching extinction, a trag- 

 edy assured by the improvident custom 

 of catching the remnant at the mouths of 

 spawning streams, it is rather surprising 

 to learn that occasionally a fish is taken 

 weighing 6 J / 2 pounds, the explanation be- 



