Junk 13, 1896.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
476 
Ouananiche and its Canadian Environment." The party 
has since been joined at the club house by Mr. Brown, of 
Waterbury, president of the club; Mr. Bradley, of New 
Haven, and Messrs, Elton and Piatt, of Waterbury. 
E. T. D. Chambers. 
Quebec, June 5. 
THE TROUT OF LAKE CRE CENT. — III. 
I made more or less notes in regard to the fish we 
caught, and I will now refer to and shape them up, be- 
ginning with the 
Blde-back.— Blue-back Trout— Lake Crescent, Washington. Speci- 
men female; 28J^in. x bin.; weight llj^lbs. 
Body— Short lor weight; thick-set; short head, ova apparently not 
entirely developed; eggs about half size of salmon of sania weight. 
Bach— Deep indigo blue, deepest on back of head, where there are 
sprinkled many round black spots about the size of No. 4 shot. Gill 
covers smooth and pearly, free from spots. At about medium line 
the blue lightens into a pearly silvery tint which in the sunlight has an 
iridescent pinkish hue which is not visible in the Bhade. The belly is 
white. 
Fins— The caudal is nearly as square as that of a fontinalis, except 
at the center there is a small V-shaped notch; It and the dorsal flu are 
brown, profusely black-spotted. Pectorals, ventrals and anals nearly 
colorless, but with slight brownish hue. No spots and no border color 
on edges. There are eleven rays in the dorsal fin, thirteen in pectoral. 
Flesh— Uncooked, pale lemon color, bleaching to white when cooked ; 
hard, firm and of most excellent flavor, in which the oily flavor of the 
salmon does not occur. 
Scales— Very large for a trout, small for a salmon of the size. 
Habits. — I am told that it comes to the surface, in spring, 
when it feeds on large white butterflies, then abundant; 
it does not leap for these, but will then take salmon or 
bass flies trolled slowly. In summer it seeks the deepest 
water and cannot be, or rather has not been, taken with 
fly or surface lure. 
In fall we found it a deep-water fish, touching none of 
our surface lures; caught at depths of from 30 to 50ft. ; 
hard fighter when first hooked, boring and running deep; 
weakens as it nears surface, and is nearly exhausted when 
brought alongside. Specimens have been put alive in 
creek pools with other kinds; the next morning all alive 
except blue-backs, they always dead. 
Now I am very anxious for more knowledge as to what 
is this trout. I made the great mistake of not sending one 
to Prof. Jordan, president of the Sandford University, 
who is the highest authority for the Salmonoidas of the 
Pacific coast. 
I did send him one of the photographs, but in the letter 
accompanying failed to inform him that the three smaller 
trout in the picture were not blue-backs. 
He kindly answered my letter, and expressed a guarded 
opinion that they apparently most resembled the kam- 
loops, recently described by him; but requires specimen 
before pronouncing positively. He sent me the descrip^ 
tion of kamloops, and between it and that of the Crescent 
Lake trout there are differences. 
Coloration. 
Kamloops, — Dark olive above, bright silvery below. 
Crescent Lake.— Indigo blue above, silvery below. 
Both are marked with a lateral band when fresh. 
Kamloops. — Broad band, bright rose pink. 
Crescent. — Broad band, rainbow hue. 
Kamloops.— Back above, small black spots about size of 
pin head 8 irregularly scattered ; more numerous posteriorly. 
A few faiDt spots on upper part of head. 
Crescent— No spots on back. Back of head profusely 
sprinkled with black spots size of No. 4 shot. 
There are certainly strong points of resemblance, but 
the caudal fins differ greatly and the coloring some. 
Kamloops. — Caudal fin distinctly although not strongly 
forked. 
Crescent.— Nearly square, slightly lunated, with a V- 
shaped notch in center. 
I have arranged, as early in spring as these trout can be 
taken, specimens shall be sent to Prof. Jordan, together 
with others of the various kinds in the lake. 
The blue-backs are not the only trout found in these 
lakes, which apparently differ more or less from described 
varieties. 
The following list of local names was obtained: Silver, 
speckled, mountain, cutthroats, Dolly Vardens, rainbows, 
blue-backs and half-breeds. 
We caught only five -of these varieties, viz. : first four 
and last two. 
I took not very complete but accurate notes in regard 
to all of the kinds we caught, which I will give: 
Speckled Trout.— Lake Sutherland, Oct. 29.— Caught 
by Mr. Wilson, proprietor hotel: Length, 194-in.; depth, 
5in.; weight, 4lbs. Coloration: body, back dark brown 
with greenish tinge profusely sprinkled with round black 
spots about size or No. 6 shot, which continue to medium 
line; from this line, for nearly halfway to belly, black 
creBcent-shaped spots which I think are composed of fine 
black spots. Back of head and opercles sprinkled with 
round spots_ like those on back. Belly silvery above, 
growing white below. Fins: caudal very nearly square; 
it and dorsal have many oval black spots on a dark-brown 
ground; these oval spots are also on ventral, pectoral and 
anal fins, which are very light brown tinged with red and 
bordered with orange color. 
Mountain Trout.— Lakes Crescent and Sutherland.^ 
Specimen: Length, 16in.; weight, 22c z, Coloration: dark 
brown above, silvery to white below. Fins: caudal quite 
forked; all above dark brown with black spots, lower fins 
light brown bordered with orange; no crescent-shaped 
spots. 
Silver Trout.— Both lakes. Specimen male: Length, 
IBin. ; weight, 17oz. Coloration: very light brown above, 
with purplish tinge growing lighter toward median line; 
then silvery to belly, which is white. The purplish tmge 
extends into the silvery part below median. Above this 
line the sides and back are profusely marked with fine 
black specks below the median, with crescent-shaped; just 
in rear of anal fin there is a small, dull, orangt-colored 
transverse bar. Caudal fin very slightly forked : fins on 
back dark brown with black spots; lower fins light brown 
bordered with orange. This fish differs from the silver 
trout of Lake Tahoe and Truckee River in one point at 
least: these latter do not have the crescent-shaped mark- 
ings, and their caudal fins are more distinctly forked than 
are those of the Olympian lakes. 
Half-breed.— Lakes Crescent and Sutherland. Sp ci- 
men: 15in. long; weight, ISoz. Sides and back dark green, 
brightest on back; many small black spots above, none 
below median line. Head long*; gill covers pearly, no 
spots; tail quite square. Upper fins dark brown; lower, 
light brown, reddish tinge; all have spots; lower fina no 
bordering. 
The lake people think this to be a c • s between moun- 
tain and blue-back. 
On the whole Lakes Crescent a -1 Sutherland have 
given me the best trout fishing I ever enjoyed; they have 
enabled me to catch in one day more large trout than I 
ever saw caught, and among them the largest I ever saw. 
Had my choice been hunting or shooting instead of fish- 
ing, the vicinity I have little doubt would have served me 
as well. Grouse were plentiful, To get a deer within a 
mile or two of the camp was almost a certainty, for they 
abound on the ridge which separates the lakes, and one 
of our party came back to an 8 o'clock breakfast with a 
fine young buck, and the hunting of it had a spice of ex- 
citement, for a bear — of which there are numbers — was 
encountered. And if my views soared higher I had but 
to accompany Ben on one of his trips to the elk benches, 
about eighteen hours' tramp higher up, and there was 
fair chance for me to participate in a successful elk hunt. 
Piseco. 
OUR HIRED MAN. 
"Goin' fishin', be ye. I had some good fun at it myself 
once, and enjoyed quite a reputation as a fisherman, I 
tell ye. No, 1 didn't catch trout nor perch nor horned 
pouts (same as tbey call bullheads about here); but I used 
ter get the biggest pickerel you ever see, and where the 
chaps with their fancy rods and spinnin' bait couldn't get 
one. 
"It was at Bow Pond (Crescent Lake they call it now), 
right on a farm where I worked. There was big pickerel 
in the pond, but they was mighty shy and I wouldn't 
have got none if it hadn't been for a lucky idee. 
"Before my time of workin' there they kep' a lot of 
geese on the place, but when Squire Locke died things got 
sort of run down about the farm, and when I come there 
was only an old gray gander left of the hull lot. The old 
lady didn't like dogs, and the live stock on the place was 
an old hoss, seven cows, three pigs, three cats and a lot 
of hens and the gander. 
"The gander took notice of me right off and we got to 
be friends mighty soon, and he used ter foller me all over 
the farm. Abner was the name I giv' him, and when- 
ever I was workin' Abner was sart'in to be close by and 
purty soon folks noticed it. 'How pleasant 'tis to see 
brotherin who agree,' Deacon Baker said when he saw us 
in the orchard. Miss Simpkins, the dressmaker, met us 
in the lane and she said, 'Birds of a feather flock togeth- 
er;' and folks would ask, 'How's Abner?' when I went to 
the post-office or store. 
"One day, when I was workin' down by the pond, I see 
a feller in the little punt the Bailey boys owned, and he 
was flingin' his line away out on the pond and makin' it 
skip one side and t'other in litttle jerks till the hook was 
near the punt and then flingin' out ag'in. Abner didn't 
go inter the water, bein' generally shy of strangers, and 
both of us watched the chap. 
"He kep' it up all the mornin', but didn't catch any- 
thing; then he come ashore and left. 'There's plenty of 
good ones in there,' he says to me, 'but they won't bite.' 
Soon's he'd gone Abner slipped inter the pond and went 
paddlin' about. 
"While I was lookin' at him enjoyin' himself an idee 
came inter my head, and when me and Abner came back 
from dinner I had about 10ft. of fishline and some bait. 
I tied the line to one of Abner's legs and hitched on a 
piece of twig near the hook so she'd float, and launched 
Abner inter the pond. He went a-sailin' away, and I 
noticed the line went by jerks over the water same as the 
fancy fisherman's did. 
"Purty soon Abner giv' a squawk and made for shore, 
flappin' his wings and mighty scared. He landed, in a 
hurry and made for me, draggin' a big pickerel arter him. 
He got over his fluster when he found he wasn't hurt, and 
arter a while I shoved him in ag'in. We kep' it up till he 
had landed five good ones and Abner got into the notion 
of the thing and seemed to like it. 
"Arter that we catched 'em often and I got the name 
of bein' a great fisherman ; and they would come to ask 
me about the right kind of bait, and the best way to 
handle the line, and the most sootable kind of weather 
and sich things. I couldn't tell 'em much and the less I 
said the cuter they thought me. But they didn't catch 
no fish. Ye see, the fish wasn't afraid of a gander, but 
was mighty shy of men, so Abner and me had the sport 
to ourselves, and whenever I got the chance and the coast 
was clear we'd go fishin'. As they say sometimes in 
stories, the futur' looked full of promise. 
"But things is so onsart'in. One day when there was a 
fine drizzle and it was too wet to work, but jest right for 
fishin', me and Abner started for the pond and he was 
soon sailin' about in fine shape. I was a little oneasy 
when he went through a patch of lilypads, but he got 
along all right and passed 'em without the line gittin' 
catched. 'All's well,' says I to myself, and jest that minit 
I see Abner stand in' on end gquawkin and flappin' his 
wings, and then drawed down till half of him was under 
water. I put off in the punt jest in time to catch him by 
the neck and haul him aboard. There he was helpless 
and a pitiful objec' in the bottom of the punt, while 1 cut 
the line and tied it to a cleat and keerfully rowed to shore. 
Soon's I'd put Abner on the grass I hauled in the line, 
and on it the biggest mud-turkle I ever see— big round as 
a bushel basket. Ye see, the pesky twig had got pulled 
off the line goin' througn them 'tarnal lilypads, and the 
hook had sunk down to the bottom, where the turkle was 
a-lurkin'. 
"I got $3 for him, but what was that? Abner's leg was 
sprained and what was wuss, his nerve was gone, He 
made up with me all right in a few days, but he wouldn't 
go nigh that pond. When my work took me that way 
he'd stop short and look at me with his head bent to one 
side, and I soon see that our fishin' was done for. I 
couldn't keep up my reputation as a fisherman if I stayed 
tiere, so I left." c. 
The Nipigon. 
Port Arthur, Canada.— Editor- Forest and Stream; 
Mr. Noble and Master Winch, two English tourists travel- 
ing around the world, stopped off' at Nipigon on May 15 
to fish the Nipigon River; they spent a week up the 
stream, but the water was too high for fishing; the trout 
would not rise to the fly. They caught a few fine trout 
with the minnow; the largest weighed 51bs. There were 
no black flies to bother them ; the weather was fine and 
they had a pleasant trip. J. E. N, 
P. S. — There will be good fishing this month. 
NEW ENGLAND ANGLERS. 
Boston, June 8.— One has but to go to the Maine waters 
on a fishing trip at this season to be convinced of the 
importance of the rod and line sporting interest 
to everybody. About all the old standbys are going 
or have been therp, and the increase is most re- 
markable. The Rangeleys are actually being over- 
run with tourist fishermen, though the fishermen of 
former years are not all taking that direction. At the 
Birches, Mooselucmaguntic Lake, a week ago Sunday 
night about forty guests were quartered, and prominent 
fishermen bad to be turned away for want of room. The 
next day a still greater number were at Bemis to dinner. 
The New Rumford Falls & Rangeley Lakes Railroad is 
bringing crowds to Capt. Fred C. Barker's camps, and 
from that point they are being distributed over the lake 
region. As previously noted, all are not devotees of the 
rod and reel, though nearly all have an idea that fishing 
is the thing. Guests were found there from many States 
in the Union on the days noted above, though New Eng- 
land was largely in the lead. 
The Col. Rockwell p9rty has returned from Allerton 
Lodge, the pleasant camps of Messrs. Haskell and 
Andrews, senior proprietors of the Boston Herald. 
Fishing was fair, though the weather had been very 
windy, accompanied with a good deal of rain. Three 
handsome landlocked salmon were taken, Dr. Leonard 
being the happy captor of his share of them, One of the 
salmon was served at a dinner of the Boston Merchants' 
Club a day or two after. 
The Camp Stewart Company had good success. Mr. II. 
S. Kempton was high line with a trout weighing 6flbs. , 
which it took him forty-five minutes to bring to the net. 
Mr. C. A. Stearns followed him closely with a trout 
weighing 6£lbs. Both were hooked the same afternoon. 
Mr. Stearns's reel gave out soon after his trout was 
hooked, and the big fellow had to be handled by drawing 
the line through the rod guides with the hand. It took 
a. most an hour to land the fish. Mr, Geo. T. Freeman 
led in numbers, though no very large trout came to his 
creel. Somehow the ladies of the company, Mrs. Stearns 
and Mrs. Moody, were not as fortunate as usual, though 
taking a good many trout, but none of great size'. Many 
small trout were returned to the water, nothing less than 
lib. being retained. But all the time the larder was well 
supplied, with a good number to bring home to friends. 
At the Upper Dam Hotel or Camp, tacked on the walls 
under the piazza, are diagrams of nearly forty trout, pre- 
sumably truthful, and all taken within a year, generally 
the work of the season of 1896. No trout is posted weigh- 
ing less than 41bs., and the weights run up to 61bs. It is 
doubtful if such another record is to be found in the 
whole world. About the best fish recorded were taken 
by the Ackerman party, of Brooklyn. 
The Produce party is back in Boston again with reports 
of fair fishing. The weather was cold and windy a good 
deal of the time, however, a condition not favorable for 
trolling on a big lake like Moosehead. Often a lee shore 
had to be sought when it was fully intended to fish in an- 
other dirf ction. Brook trout of fair size were taken and 
some big lakers. It is reported that one of the party got 
a laker of 171bs. weight. Mr. Dennen has a laker mounted, 
at the Kineo House, caught last winter through the ice, 
that weighed 291bs. , I hear. 
Messrs. Tallcot and Heintzleman are at Belgrade Ponds 
for black bass. Wm. B. Smart, First Assistant Assessor 
of the city of Boston, will go to Reddington, Me., this 
week for trout fishing and rest. He finds fine sport in 
that region. The narrow gauge Phillips & Rangeley Rail- 
road passes some of the best trout brooks in that region, 
and is very accommodating about letting off and taking 
on sportsmen. 
Mr. Mathew Luce is the champion catcher of codfish 
among the residents of the South Shore who make salt- 
water fishing a pastime. A week ago he landed eighty- 
two cod in a few hours' fishing, and on Wednesday last he 
took forty-seven. His fishing is done off Cohasset with a 
local fisherman who takes out parties. The fishing on 
Wednesday did not begin till 10 o'clock. In the wool 
trade Mr. Luce is called the champion fisherman as well 
as an expert in his own business. 
The Col. Fuller fly, a new fly with yellow wings, red 
shoulders and bright gold body, is pleasing the black bass 
fishermen very much. Col. C. P. Fuller, the inventor of 
this fly, is now at Belgrade, and says that nearly all the 
bass he takes are on his fly. He has taken some of 2 J 
and even up to 4lbs. He writes Mr. R. 0. Harding that a 
native took a 41b. trout there the other day, and he 
learns that some of even 5 and 6lbs. have been taken. 
He says that the natives took over 300 large trout from 
the Belgrade waters through the ice last winter. He is 
satisfied that the pickerel are being driven to their death 
by the bass. Commissioner Stanley is also satisfied as to 
the same point, especially in the ponds in Winthrop and 
Readfield. Mr. Fuller believes that the pickerel are 
doomed, and that with the proper protection, including 
the stopping of the fishing through the ice by the inhabi- 
tants of the State, the Belgrade, Winthrop and Readfield 
ponds will return to their former prestige of excellent 
trout ponds, as they were before the introduction of the 
deadly pickerel. Those bodies of water are said to have 
been once fully equal to the Rangeleys for trout. 
Gardner Hammond, P. V. R. Ely and Dudley Fogg will 
leave for Belgrade ponds on Monday, for bass fishing. 
Mr. C. Z. Bassett and Mr. G. W. Smalley are back from 
the Rangeleys, having had a very successful trip. They 
fished B Pond for a couple of days and landed a good 
many trout. Mr. Bassett's largest was 2*lb3. on a fly. 
They also fished Kennebago and Kennebago Stream. 
Here Mr. Smalley took a very fine trout. While they 
were at the stream a landlocked salmon of about 3 lbs. 
was taken way up the stream from near the Broken R jck. 
This would suggest that the landlocked salmon are work- 
ing up from Rangeley Lake. Mr. Bassett says that trout 
are being taken in Mooselucmaguntic and Cupsuptic lakes 
this season that are full of smelt, though no smelt have 
ever been put into those lakes. They must have worked 
down from Rangeley Lake, which has been stocked with 
smelt for the food of landlocked salmon. But it was not 
supposed that the trout would prefer these smelt to the 
minnows which are so very abundant in the Rangeleys. 
In the vicinity of Rangeley Lake there was a good deal 
of concern manifested among guides and others at finding 
a great many dead smelt along the shores of that lake. 
The suggestion is that some disease has broken out among 
them, but no one is at all certain yet. Mr. D. H. Blanchard 
