kim. 18, 1893.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



141 



THE RED-THROATED TROUT. 



One of the most widely-distributed and beat known of 

 our native American black-spotted trout until a few years 

 a^o was called Clark's trout, in honor of the great traveler. 

 Then it wa? found that Pallas had previously eriven the 

 specific name pmpuroim to this species of Snlmo and 

 the books carried it along under this designation until 

 the still older name mykisa of W^,lbaum was revived for 

 the fish, which is credited to Kamtchatka as well as 

 Western America, Not having seen specimens of the 

 black-spotted Ivamtchatkan trout, I cannot speak posi- 

 tively as to its identity with the red-throated form of 

 Alaska; but if Pailas's description may be depended 

 upon, there is nothing of importance to separate the two. 



The red-throated trout ranges from the Kuskoquim 

 River in Alaska through British America, Washington 

 and Oregon to Cilifornia, where it has not yet been 

 found common. It occurs in the Utah Basin and on 

 both sides of the R:)ckies in Colorado, Montana and 

 Wyoming. A trout closely related to this form is the 

 most souther Iv species of Salmo in the world, inhabit- 

 ing streams of the Sierra iviadre in Mexico, near the 

 boundaries of Durans-o. Chihuahua and Cinaloa, at an 

 elevation between 8,000 and 9,O00ft. 



As might be expected, this trout runs into many 

 varieties, diff ering in color, siza of the scales and other 

 characters, Until within a few 

 years these varieties were discussed 

 and figured under distinct names 

 and represented abontahalf doz^n 

 nominal species. Perhaps some 

 time in the future they may again 

 be restored to their former dignity 

 as our ideas of species happen to 

 vary. It is worthy of note that 

 the typical red-throat in Alaska, 

 which is shown as one of the illus- 

 trations accompanx ing this article, 

 has comparatively few large, 

 roundish black spots on the body, 

 chiefly above the lateral line and 

 evenly distributed along the sur- 

 face; the head bears a few black: 

 spots; the dorsal and caudal tins 

 have a number of black, usually 

 oblon^r, blotches. In the red-tliroat 

 of the Eocky Mountains the black 

 spots are ufually small specks 

 and abundant only on the second 

 half of the body, while , 

 the scales are small. 



Ih the mountain lakes 

 and streams of Colorado 

 this trout comes down to 

 regions whose summer 

 temoerature reaches 60 

 to 65 \ when it gradually 

 disappears, extending its 

 range much further, ac- 

 cording to Jordan, in clear 

 streams with gra,vel bot- 

 toms than in turbid wat- 

 ers or those with clay 

 bottoms. 



This trout attains to a 

 weight of 35 lbs., but 

 adults will seldom aver- 

 age above 51bB. or Gibs., 

 except among individuals 

 from Lake Tahoe or sea- 

 going examples. 



Spawning takes place 

 as early as March, but 

 usua.lly'in May and .June. 



Nests are made and the eggs guarded by the male only 

 until the spawning is completed, after whicli they are 

 left to work out their own future. In seventeen days 

 after impregnation of the egg, the eye spots show, accord- 

 ing to Gordon Lmd, and the hatching period is twentv- 

 five days in water varying in temperature from 52° to 62 

 at midday. 



The natural food of the trout consists of minnows, 

 insects, water fleas and various small rodents which may 

 fall into the water. Where salmon are plentiful the red- 

 throat consumes vast quantities of their eggs. Dr. Ya,r- 

 row says, "After spawning the trout invariably swim in 

 schools in search of food, and a,re nearly always accom- 

 panied by mullets and suckers. The favorite localities 

 for feeding in the summer are close bo the mouths of 

 rivers, the water of which from the mountains is ice cold, 

 from 10 to 12ft. deep, and the current very swift." In 

 the winter the trout retire to the deepest parts of the 

 lakes, to escape the severe cold. 



Dr. A'arrow found the best baits for this species to be 

 mjunowB and grasshoppers. In Pauquitch Like the eye 

 of a fish is considered a very tempting bait. When the 

 genial "Pieeco" invited me to join him in a fishing ex- 

 cursion at Sitka, we relied mainly on fresh salmon eggs, 

 and usually tied them in a small piece of moF=qaito net- 

 ting. In the small lake back of the village, however, we 

 took all we cared for with pieces of fresh beef. Readers 

 of FOEKST AND Stream will recall an amusing account, 

 under the title "Trout and Mouse," of the capture of a 

 very large and crafty red-throated trout, by floating down 

 near him a small mouse fastened upon a chip. Prof. 

 Gilbert, of the U. S, Geological Survey, recently told 

 me how Mr. Heushaw once vanquished an angler of great 

 local fame in Colorado, by a little judicious study of the 

 stomach contents of a captured trout. There were small 

 trout galore and anybody could take more than enough 

 of them: but the big fellows, although plentiful, were 

 too smart to be caught with the common grasshopper. 

 A match was arranged and Mr. H. stipulated that the 

 local angler should fish the stream one day and he should 

 take his turn the following day. The angler went out, 

 fished all day, and brought back one trout weighing 61bs. 

 Mr. H. was much pleased and volunteered to clean the 

 trout for supper. In so doing he found that the fish had 

 fed principilly upon mice. He carefully saved all the 

 fragments suitable for bait and put them away . for use; 

 be also shot a ground squirrel and added this to his stock. 

 On the next day he fished the same waters, and invari- 

 ably opened the stomachs of the big trout he caught and 

 took out the fragments of mice contained in thsm. 

 When the mice were exhausted he used the ground squir- 

 rel. At the end of the day's fishing he had sixteen red- 



throated trout ranging from 5lbs. to 6lbs. and upward, 

 and was nearly used up after packing in the load; but he 

 had beaten the record, and the local celebrity was 

 "snowed under." 



Willard Nye gives a lively account of his success with 

 Utah trout by the use of extemporized flies. The Forest 

 AND Strbam Trout Supplement contains the story, and to 

 this the reader is referred for the particulars. T. fl. B. 



[The illustrations of this trout were copied from the 

 Bulletin, U, S. Fish Commission.] 



BOSTON FISHERMEN. 



Boston, Aug. 13,— Mr. Clarence M. Reed, of the iron 

 firm of B. P. Cutler & Co. , of Boston, with several friends 

 from Lowell, Mass,, has gone on a fishing trip to Nova 

 Scotia. His Lowell friends are W. P. Edwards, pro- 



Erietor of the Union Iron Foundry, Henry Edwarcfs, a 

 rush manufacturer, and Frederic S Ikes, connected with 

 the Merrimac Corporation, They started on Tuesday last 

 and are to be absent a couple of weeks or more. They 

 go first to a lakH about 20 miles from Yarmouth, noted 

 for bla.ck bass. Here they will stay some days. But it 

 is scarcely possible that so much of a trout sportsman as 

 Mr. W. P. Edwards will allow so much of a good chance 

 t<\ bIid without trying the trout of that part of the world. 

 Mr. Edwards is a frequent visitor to the Rangeley waters, 



Rkd Throated Trout (Yodno). From Coi^orado. 



Rbd-Tiiroated Trout (Adult). From Alaska. 



and he has a record of one of the largest, if not actually 

 the largest, trout taken in those waters last year. It 

 weighed over ten pounds. It was tak^n at the Middle 

 Dam, Richardson Lake. In fact, Mr. Edwards is a lover 

 of angling, and his friends say of him that he " he always 

 has hooks, lines and flies in his packets." Mr, Reed is 

 not so very mucb of an angler, but the party he has 

 started with this time will very likely start him off as an 

 enthusiast. 



Fly-fishing reports are very quiet just now from the 

 Maine waters, but occasionally anglers start off, and en- 

 joy the outing, even if no great numbers of fish are 

 taken. There is a complaint that most of the good trout 

 waters are occupied, that is, somebody is located there. 

 At every noted pond, lake or stream— noted for its fly- 

 fishing— there are one or more hotels or camps, and ex- 

 pert trout fishermen are camped there for the summer. 

 No wonder the poor transient complains that the grounds 

 are all occupied. The little fishing left for him is neces- 

 sarily poor. 



Mr. A. E, Aldrich, of A. P. Aldrich & Son, of the flour 

 and grain trade at the Boston Chamber of Commerce; 

 Jerome Hilbourne, president of the Melrose Club; H, J. 

 Pettengil, treasurer of the Postal Telegraph Co., and vice- 

 president of the District Messenger Service Co., and 

 Roswell Taylor, of Boston, have gone an a fly-fishing 

 trip to Kennebago Lake, Me. They will be quartered at 

 the Kennebago Lake Camp for some days. Mr. Aldrich 

 says that he cannot be absent many days, but some of 

 the party will spend considerable time in that region. 

 He was somewhat doubtful concerning the possibilities 

 of trout, especially during the hot weather of last week, 

 but he felt that he could not get away from business at 

 any other time ; so he was bound to make tlie best of the 

 poorest of the season for fly-fishing — the midst of hot 

 weather. 



The Hon. Daniel Gunn, who has been the head of a 

 noted Boston printing house for a great many years, has 

 just returned from his annual outing. This outing be 

 nas made for two or three years in Nova Scotia among 

 the sea trout. This time he fully expected a couple of 

 friends to be with him, one from the city of Brotherly 

 Love, but when the day for the steamer to saU arrived 

 they were not at hand. Mr. Gunn got on board with bis 

 tackle, just the same. He went by steamer to Halifax, 

 and thence by land to Antiganish. Here he hired a team 

 and drove across the country some fifty miles to the 

 vicinity of Island Harbor, Seal Harbor and Coddle Har- 

 bor, it was at Coddle Harbor that he had his best sport. 

 But the fishing was generally good and all that reasona- 

 ble mortals ought to ask for. He took in all over 100 sea 

 trout. The largest ones weighed 3lbs., with a number 



weighing from 2* to 3f lbs. Mr, Gunn is delighted with 

 the country there, and declares ifc to be a paradise 

 for sportsmen. Moose be says are very plenty. 

 He came across an honest old guide at Coddle Har- 

 bor, John McDonald, and learned from him that 

 he had killed in all, since he commenced the busi- 

 ness, over 100 moose. He has on exhibition at this time 

 the most beautiful set of antlers Mr. Gunn ever had the 

 fortune to see. Mr. Gunn did not take bis usual three 

 fish at one cast this time, though all of his trout were 

 taken with the fly, A few years ago he took, on the 

 same cast, a sea trout, a perch and a haddock, and this 

 was told of in the Forest and Stream at the time. Now 

 his only ambition is to take a sea serpent, a shark and a 

 whale at the same cast, and when he succeeds the Forest 

 AND Stream nhall be made acquainted with the fact. 



Mr. A. T Waite, assistant managing editor of the Bos- 

 ton Herald; his brother, C. N. Waite, and Mr, and Mrs. 

 C, T. Odiorne left Baston on Tuesday for a fishing and an 

 outing of a couple of weeks or more. Byron, Me., will be 

 their objective point, though they will make something 

 of a tour through the fishing regions of Oxford county. 

 They will visit the young and booming city of Rumford 

 Falls, where Mr. Waite has a brother engaged in the 

 boom all over. From thence they will go up the moun- 

 tain road to Byron. 



Mr. W. T. Farley, of Farley, Harvey & Co. , dry goods 

 jobbers of Boston, has just re- 

 turned from a most delightful 

 ocean trip to Prince Edward Is- 

 land and Cape Breton. He was 

 accompanied by Mrs. Farley, and 

 by Dr. Clark, of Auburndale, and 

 a Mr. Peabody, with their ladies. 

 They left Boston by steamer, and 

 actually made the steamer their 

 home a good part of the time, 

 Mr. Farley had intended that this 

 was to be a good deal of a fishing 

 trip, but the attractions of ocean 

 voyaging in summer in good 

 weather were almost too great. 

 They landed at Charlottetown, 

 and from that point they took a 

 carriage over to Rustico and Sea- 

 side, there intending to have some 

 fun fishing. On the way over 

 and near the church at Rustico 

 they came into what is actually 

 almost an Arcadian village. The 

 inhabitants are almost 

 entirely the descendants 

 of the Arcadians. As 

 they neared the little 

 church of the village on 

 Sunday morning they 

 saw that everybody was 

 out in gala a* tire. The 

 men all wore Derby hats, 

 and the women, many of 

 them, had white ker- 

 chiefs pinned over their 

 shoulders and wore poke 

 bonnets, in true Arcadian 

 style. As the carriage 

 neared the church the 

 priest headed a procession 

 and came out to meet the 

 carriage. He came along 

 with all dignity till he 

 saw he had made a mis- 

 take. He had mistaken 

 Mr, Farley for Cardinal 

 Gibbon, of Baltimore, 

 who was expected to 

 visit the church that day. A carriage that would carry 

 six was no usual sight in that country, and very natur- 

 ally the priest had thought that it was the grand turnout 

 of the Cardinal. He explained his mistake in a most 

 genial manner, however, and invited the excursionists 

 inside the church and to wait and see the Cardinal, who 

 was expected every minute. The party staid and saw 

 his holiness, and were much pleased. They wished him 

 joy and that he might be the next Pope. Then they 

 continued on their journey witbout further adventure 

 than the delights of a summer drive over a country of 

 such primitive loveliness. They stopped at Seaside, 

 which is something of a summer resort. Here Mr. 

 Farley and Dr. Clark engaged passage with a boat's 

 crew of Arcadian fishermen, who were going out after 

 mackerel at the unreasonable hour of 1 o'clock on Mon- 

 day morning. Mr. Peabody and the ladies wisely, as it 

 proved, concluded that it was too early for them. The 

 sail down to the fishing grounds was a fine one, but alas 

 the wind sprung up and there was a sea on. The moon 

 had not gone down in the west and the sun was rising in 

 the east. The boat was first down in the trough of the 

 sea and then on top of the billows, and the Cardinal 

 begun to be dizzy-headed, and concluded that he did not 

 care to see the sun and moon both at once. They came 

 to the mackerel fishing grounds and two anchors were 

 thrown out, one at each end of the boat. These soon 

 "brought her up standing," and in the worst position 

 possible for landsmen of light stomachs. The Arcadians 

 lighted pipes that were truly Arcadian. Then they 

 threw out bait— clams and fish mixed— that was begin- 

 ning to get Arcadianed very fast. Occasionally they 

 would pump bilgewater from the hold, as almost every 

 sea would let a little too much clean water into the 

 craft, and this bilge water was worse than Arcadian. It 

 was terrible. Mr. Farley and the Doctor begun to catch 

 mackerel. The Doctor enjoyed the sport, but his friend 

 soon gave in and begun to put his head over the boat on 

 the lea side. The Cardinal was seasick. SPBCiAb. 



Curious Catcbes. 



In the fish trap at St. John's Island, Yarmouth, Nova 

 Scotia, a whale and three albicores were taken July 13. 

 About six years ago the same trap took at one time a 

 whale, four albicores and sixteen barrels of mackerel. 

 A black calf whale about five feet long and weighing 40 

 lbs. was caught in a net about twelve miles oS shore 

 recently by a Cape Elizabeth fisherman. The calf died 

 before reaching port; its mother was not seen.— 'Gloucester 

 Daily Times, 



