408 
FOREST > AND - STREAM. 
[Nov. 24, 1900. 
Proprietors of fishin|r resorts will find it profitable to advertise 
them in Fohest and Stream. 
The Rangeley Lakes of Maine. 
BY J. PAKKER WHITNEY. 
The season has been a favorable one for fishing and 
.shooting. From my experience, extending -over many 
years, I should say that the trout are about as plentiful as 
ever. Of late years the landlocked salmon (Salnio con- 
iinis) have become fairly plentiful, particularly in the 
Rangeley Lake proper, where first introduced, some 
fifteen years ago, and also in the largest lake, the Moose- 
luckmaguntic, though less so as yet, and still less in the 
Richardson lakes. In the latter a member of my family 
caught one weighing yYz pounds this season. The salt- 
water smelt introduced a few years ago has increased 
extensively and extended rapidly to all the lakes of the 
range. This fish seems to readily habituate itself to most 
all fresh-water lakes, and has increased to a very large 
extent in the Rangeley waters, although confined to a 
small size of 3 or 4 inches in length. Although large 
numbers are observed dead floating upon the sui'face of 
the water in the spring time, the increase seems hardly 
to be affected. This fish is apparently an admirable food 
for the salmon and trout, and in the spring would 
seem to be the principal food, as their stomachs seem to 
be crowded with them, and I have repeatedly observed 
from fifty to seventy in a single trout of large size. 
I consider without question the smelt to be the most 
valuable fish for food stocking of fresh-water ponds and 
lakes. 
The landlocked salmon varies in size largely in the 
fresh-water lakes where placed. In the Sebago Lake 
they reach a weight in some instances exceeding 20 
pounds, and in the Rangeleys they arc often caught up 
to 12 pounds, while in the Schoodic lakes, where they 
have been long domesticated, and where I have caught 
many hundreds, they seldom exceed 5 pounds. In Cali- 
fornia, near Point Reys, in Crystal Lake, controlled by 
the Country Club, and where I aided some years ago in 
introducing the landlocked salmon, they gained most 
incredibly in weight in less tlian four years, from a few 
ounces up to 5 and SV2 pounds. In this lake the feed 
was almost entirely insectivorous, and largely — and in 
fact I might say almost wholly — on the larva of the 
caddis fly, which abounded most plentifully, and which 
seemed to be the whole contents of all the stomachs I 
examined at various times. I regret to say, however, 
that the flavor of these salmon is distinct!}^ off from 
any I have ever eaten, arising, I believe, from the almost 
exclusive diet. These salmon, however, will rise well 
to the fly, and are vigorously game like. Crystal Lake is 
infested also with a red salamander lizard, known as 
water devil, quite common in California waters, and 
one of the toughest and most tenacious reptiles of the 
batrachian family, although quite harmless. These 
lizards are 3 or 4 inches in length, and swim rapidly 
about with the aid of their tails, Their sldn and structure 
is so tough that it requires a very sharp knife to separate 
them, and they have a A^ery tenacious life. I found one 
day on the shore of a lake a salmon between 4 and 5 
pounds weight, freshly dead, and upon examining it 
found one of these lizards firmly fixed with a deathly 
grasp in the throat of the salmon, likewise dead. The 
result was plain enough that the salmon had seized the 
lizard and the latter had secured his deadly hold in the 
salmon's throat, from which I had a good deal of diffi- 
culty in parting it. I was told by one of the cattle herders 
that he had seen other instances, and in his opinion the 
salmon fed upon the water devils and the latter in 
the lake had inuch diminished since the salmon had been 
put in. The odor of the water devils when cut up is very 
disagreeable, and it may be that this accounts for the in- 
ferior flavor of the fish. 
While trout are fonder of insectivorous food in prefer- 
ence to any other, and it is a well-known fact that while 
growing will gain doubl}^ in weight on this food over a 
fish diet, it is observable that a deterioration in flavor 
occurs from this exclusive food. I have taken trout in 
ponds at high altitudes in the Rocky Mountains, above 
timber growth, where such waters were hardly free from 
ice in July, where the trout food was exclusively in- 
sectivorous, and decidedly lacking in flavor. 
Returning to the Rangeley waters, there is an existing 
feature which is ordinarily overlooked, and which is one 
in reality of great importance and constitutes the base 
of the superior fishing which exists there. I refer to the 
infusorial element which is so universal and profuse. 
This is the primary constituent essential to young fish 
life. The young trout or salmon, when relieved of the 
umbilical sac, is of minute proportion, and is unable to 
live upon the surface ephemera or food of after life, and 
subsists wholly upon the infusoria, as do all the small 
fry generally designated as minnows, of which there are 
a dozen varieties in the Rangeley waters. It is also the 
principal food of the fresh-water smelts. The profusion 
of small fish in the lakes supplying the principal food of 
the trout and salmon accounts for their number and 
superiority, without which they would be lacking, so 
that in reality the primitive cause is the infusorial ele- 
ment. This element abounds in all ponds, lakes, rivers, 
and even ditches where decaying vegetable and animal 
matter exists, and in countless profusion. It is found 
in thermal springs, and rivulets flowing from - snow 
banks and glaciers, and in salt as well as fresh water. 
No form of life can be more universal and extensive, 
while of so minute a character in the sea, and in many 
fresh waters, as to require the strongest magnifying 
power to clearly observe. Even distilled water, upon 
exposure to the air, will exhibit the life. Freezing docs 
not destroy it, nor will a deprivation of its watery ele- 
ment. It may be dried in the sun for many days, but its 
germ form when drifted with the dust to reviving waters 
will again take on active life. Ehrenberg, a celebrated 
German authority upon the subject, estimates the re- 
production capacity of a single one to exceed 200,000,- 
000 in the space of a month. The variety of the in- 
iusoria i§ ej^tensive, more tjian a hundred being classified, 
The remarkable feature of this element in the Rangeley 
Lakes, which by no means is limited to these waters, is 
the comparatively large size of the infusoria, which is 
undoubtedly gained by the large quantities of vegetable 
stain from the adjoining forests. The water is by no 
means clear, but of an opaque character, occasioned by 
the excess drainage from the woods. On a favorable 
day, with the sun's rays aslant, the protozoa element is 
clearly discernible to the naked eye. The most favorable 
occasion for observing it without magnifying power — 
for I have never applied the latter — is in the winter at the 
surface of a hole cut through the ice. Here after a day 
or two the larger infusoria will collect, doubtless at- 
tracted by the light, when those of a large size will be 
observed. My attention was drawn to this many years 
ago when I was in the annual habit of visiting the lakes 
for fishing through the ice with live bait. It was a habit 
1 had much pleasure in, of watching and teasing the trout 
in the water below the ice. This I accommodated myself 
to by selecting a good locality for trout, where the water 
was not OA'er 8 or 9 feet in depth, with a sandy bot- 
tom. Lying upon some blankets, with a single one over 
my head, and a bookless line with a sn>all chub tied at 
the end and a sufficient sinker, I would bob for the trout, 
which after a while would come swimming along, and 
noticing the bait would, first indifferently, but after more 
vigorously, engage with it. By drawing away the bait 
at the critical moment, after considerable teasing the trout 
would follow up the bait, it being withdrawn, and having 
a fair-sized hole of something less than a foot square, and 
2 feet or more of ice, I would shortly get the troiit up 
near the bottom ice, and finally, at a last excited dash, 
rapidly withdraw the bait, with my hand at my side. 
The trout, following to the surface in its excitement, 
would for a moment be too confused to dive below, 
giving me in that moment the opportunity to rapidly 
put my hands below and cast him out upon the ice, un- 
harmed, but much alarmed. This may appear difficult 
to do, but is really quite simple, and I have taken four 
or five trout in a forenoon from a single hole in this 
manner. 
But I am digressing, though it was during these side 
plays that I observed the Poligastrica and Rotatoria, two 
prominent species of the infusoria, white, pulpy sub- 
stances, some of which were of pinhead size. The clear 
sandy bottom, and the thin blanket head cover, which 
by no means excluded the light, gave abundant oppor- 
tunity to observe that the white specks at first mistaken 
for pollen or other foreign intrusion had a motion 
equal to several inches in a short time, and cottld be 
observed in the still water moving in various directions, 
some apparently with a revolving motion, and others 
without visible action. Many have advanced the spon- 
taneity or protoplasm theory concerning the protozoa, 
which is a subject of much discussion, and lately a prom- 
inent Germant savant has advanced the theory that this 
element is the primitive origin of all life — all vegetable 
and animal — which now exists upon the earth. A some- 
what startling theory, but that life must necessarily 
have started upon this once molten mass in a very prim- 
itive form is clearly evident, but how may or may not 
be soWed. 
Eels abotmd in the lake, but not very plentifully, and 
I have never known them to be caught with bait — large, 
iustj', white and yellow bellied ones. I have, however, 
seen a few weighing froin 10 to 12 pounds, which were 
caught fast in the narrow spaces between the logs of 
the apron below the Upper Dam during their night 
passage from the lake above. The golden chubs are 
often caught up to 2 pounds in weight. Suckers of equal 
size, and quite a variety of small fry. Turtles of large 
size exist also, but only one have I ever seen with a foot 
and a half diameter, which in a great gale and some- 
what disabled I caught on the shore. 
But the mysterious fish of the lakes is the blue-black 
trout (Sahno oquassa) entirely distinct from the Salmo 
salvelinus, with which it has no affiliation, being, strictly 
speaking, an arctic trout, which in some peculiar manner 
has found its way to the Rangeley waters, as well as to 
a few other Northern lakes. As ordinarily taken they 
weigh about five to the pound, the maximum being near 
half a pound. The fish is quite distinctly a trout, with 
fine coloring and red spots. It has in contradistinction 
to the square tail of the Salmo family a swallow tail and 
a blue back and exceedingly small teeth. The fish is 
long and slim for its weight, and for food purposes in- 
ferior, though claimed by many to be equal to the ordi- 
nary trout, but to my taste soft and muddy. One might 
fish the Rangeley for years and never encounter one or 
suspect its presence, yet they exist in large quantities. 
Rarely — in fact I have never Heard of but one or two in- 
stances where they have been caught with bait, and that 
in deep water. They are strictly denizens of the deepest 
parts of the lakes, and apparently subsist exclusively 
upon ground feed. This ground feed of the lakes is an 
important element with all fish, composed of insectivo- 
rous varieties and largely viscous matter, which settles 
profusely. 
In the latter part of the month of October — from the 
20th to the 30th — the blue-backs find their way to the 
mouths of some streams, and ascend more or less into 
the quick water, where they deposit their spawn. Their 
appearance can be counted upon by the 24th almost to a 
day, and the quantity assembled is immense', and in 
some instances so compact is the mass that barrels full 
can be netted from a small space. During the brief 
period of spawning they are easily taken after dark from 
the shallow quick water by one wading among them 
equipped with a lantern and hand net. I have often taken 
several hundred of them upon an occasion of this kind. 
Their tenacity of life I have noted as a peculiar feature, 
for I have had them out of water for several hours of a 
cold evening and fully revived some of them by placing 
them in a barrel of fresh water, where they have survived 
for several weeks, and in fact would have survived much 
longer but for the freezing up of the water. This fish 
would undoubtedly stand solid freezing under favorable 
conditions equally well if not better than the fontinalis, 
of which I have frozen up scores, and fully resuscitated 
after several days of freezing. The trout as a delicate 
fish must in this respect be handled much more care- 
fully than other kinds. I have given considerable atten- 
tion to the freezing of fish, especially trout, during the 
winters, when I have been at the Rangeleys, cjnd (he 
results I have so far obtained are as follows, relating 
especially to trout: 
That trout may be frozen solid without destroying life. 
That they may be fully resuscitated after several days' 
freezing. 
That they must be frozen quickly and at a temperature 
equal to 10 to 15 degrees below zero. 
That while frozen they must be completely protected 
from the sun. 
That while frozen they must not be submitted to a 
temperature below zero, but in one sufficient to prevent 
any thaw. 
That in resuscitating in water an abundant supply must 
be given. 
That the water must be at a temperature of from 28 
to 30 degrees. 
That the temperature of the apartment must be kept 
at about the same level. 
That the thawing must be so regulated that from 25 
to 30 hours must be given before the fish is restored. 
Upon being numbed and frozen quickly before life is 
seriously affected by exposure out of water, and kept and ■ 
thawed as mentioned, they will resume their natural and 
normal condition, and when returned to the lake will 
swim off at a lively rate. The commoner kinds of fish 
m.ay be frozen and restored with much less care. 
The bullheads or hornpouts, which have a great 
tenacity of life, may in cold weather be frozen up and 
thawed out to life very readily. I remember an instance 
of some being caught in another locality from the lakes, 
where they were left carelessly on a boat house floor, 
and speedily froze up together, which in a week after- 
ward were all, but one or two, fully restored to life and 
activity by the cold-water cure. The bullhead is a good 
liver out of water if kept moist and cool. I vvell re- 
member when a boy catching them on a misty night, and 
after leaving some of them in the wet grass behind me 
finding them alive in the morning. 
Most fishermen are familiar with the mansh grass 
chub netted along the seashore, which retains life so 
long out of the water. In former years, late in winter I 
have frequently carried them up to the Rangeleys for 
liA'e bait, packed in cigar boxes, with flannel between 
layers. They will keep lively for some days if kept cool 
and put in water over nights. 
I am of the opinion that all kinds of fish in the lakes 
hybernate more or less as frogs do during the winter 
months, and certainly become dormant to a considerable 
extent, and I do not doubt that trout in a limited way go 
into the fluffy mud somewhat as about all the chubs and 
small fr}' do. In the open season the waters fairly swarm 
with the latter, while they are difficult to find after 
January. 
I have given some attention in this particular during 
former years, when the season was open for winter fish- 
ing through the ice, and made many excursions to the 
Rangeleys for this pleasure, and especially to enjoy the 
many attendant auxiliaries. These excursions were made 
during all the winter months, from December to May, 
from the first making of the ice to its going out. In 
December and January there is a notable scarcity of livs 
bait, and in Februari^ and March very difficult to find, 
although I have sought for them in dozens of places, 
both in deep water and shallow, and those places where 
1 have obtained any in the late months were in the 
vicinity of springs, and hardly to be obtained, excepting 
in the early hours of morning and those preceding sun- 
down. I have frequently had to go out fifteen or twenty 
miles in the adjoining country and fetch them from 
spring holes. Yet the trout caught are seldom empty 
of small fry or chubs, and it is quite likely that the trout 
root them out to a considerable extent from the mud, and 
that trout do root in the mud a good deal is indicated 
by the earth and often lumps of clay found in their 
stomachs. I have caught large trout often with a small 
handful of clay balls in their stomachs, which have re- 
mained after the probable exudation of loose earthy 
matter. The parasites attached to trout fins so noticeable 
in the winter and early spring, and which soon disapear 
in open water, indicate their earth frequenting. While 
in December and early January the trout are compara- 
tively plentiful in a few feet of water below the ice, they 
are mostly off in from 15 to 40 feet of water afterward, 
but I have seldom found them below, So feet. In winter 
they are mostly at the bottom or within i or 2 feet of it. 
In this season the contents of their stomachs are quite 
miscellaneous — glutinous ground feed, chubs, varieties 
of small fry, rarely blue-backs, suckers, and in a few in- 
stances I have found whole clams in shell up to 3 inches 
in length. 
Insensible to Cold as the Rangeley fish seem to be, they 
will invariably die in a short time when confined in a car 
and pushed down under and next to the ice, while they 
will live a long time in a weighted car if sunk to the bot- 
tom. The sluggishness of the trout is clearly apparent 
in the last part of the winter, and I have often caught 
them in this advanced condition, when I have wondered 
at their ability to take the bait. I am of the opinion 
that many of them go into the mud alongside of the othei 
fish. 
Trout vary greatly, and have more distinctiveness 
than most animals, and a personality which is quite 
clear. They group in families, and have their home 
grounds apart from others. This is quite apparent in 
winter fishing, when lines are set in half a dozen different 
localities. The distinctiveness would be surprising to 
one who has not given attention to this feature. Al 
most all the fish from the different localities in a catch 
of thirty or forty trout in a day if mixed together can al- 
most singly be separated, as caught without much diffi- 
culty. They will vary in weight as to length particularly, 
and almost as much so in coloring, and also in several 
ether features. If one in a particular season is removed 
unhurt to another locality it will return almost imme- 
diately to its original place. I have often experimented 
in this respect. One day in the winter I removed four 
trout, all exceeding a pound in weight, from a locality 
and transported them a distance of three miles from 
where caught. Two days after I caught again three of 
the four trout at the first place. There was then about 
2 feet of ice, covered with over a foot of snow. The 
trout were most distinctly marked. They found theif 
■Wtiy back ?is readily as a man familiar with Nevv York 
i 
