398 
ORDERS OF FISHES— TROUT AND SALMON 
these species are found only along the Pacific 
coast, between Washington and southern Cali- 
fornia. 
RAINBOW TROUT. 
The Steelhead Trout , 1 and its group. — 
The fish which represents this group is of com- 
manding size, and of high value as a food fish. 
Its other names are Salmon Trout and Hard- 
head. It reaches a maximum weight of 14 
pounds, but usually its weight is between 5 and 
8 pounds. It “ranks very high as a game fish, 
and trolling for Steelheads in the bays, sounds 
and river mouths along our Pacific coast affords 
excitement and pleasure exceeded among the 
Salmonidae only by trolling for Chinook Salmon.” 
(Jordan and Evermann.) 
This fish is regularly propagated by the United 
States Bureau of Fisheries, by which it has been 
successfully planted in Lake Superior. Great 
numbers are caught every year in the Columbia 
River, and canned for the eastern markets. It 
is found in the streams flowing into the sea along 
the coast of California, from southern California 
to Alaska. Its scales are small, its form is sal- 
mon-like, and its color is silvery, with a wash of 
rose-pink down the sides. 
The Great Lake Trout, or Mackinaw Trout , 2 
and its group. — This fish is the largest of all 
trout. Its usual weight is from 15 to 20 pounds, 
but it reaches a maximum of 125 pounds. Its 
color is dark gray, varying most erratically 
from pale gray to almost black. Its irregular 
1 Sal'mo gaird'ner-i. 
2 Cris-ti-vo'mer nam'ay-cush. 
and very numerous spots of gray mark this fish 
very distinctly, for they cover not only the body 
but all the fins save those under the body. 
As its name implies, this is essentially a fish 
of the Great Lakes, and for many years has been 
the principal source of fresh-fish supply for a 
large area in that region. In its own field its 
only rival in commercial importance is the white- 
fish. Usually the flesh of the latter is supposed 
to be a greater delicacy than the other. 
The Lake Trout has passed through two or 
three very interesting periods. From 1880 to 
1886, commercial fishing for Lake Trout was 
carried on so persistently that the supply showed 
alarming signs of exhaustion. Here the United 
States Bureau of Fisheries stepped in, and along 
with state hatcheries began to propagate and 
distribute this species. ■ This work was continued 
until many millions of fish eggs had been planted 
in the lakes. After that, the supply of Lake 
Trout increased so rapidly that presently the 
markets were overstocked, and the price dropped 
accordingly. 
More recently, however, the pendulum has 
swung the other way. All around the Great 
Lakes the demand for food fishes is now so great 
and so permanent, that the natural supply has 
proven unable to meet it. Nature cannot produce 
food fishes in the lakes in the enormous quan- 
tities required, even though in 1899 the yield of 
Lake Trout was ten million pounds (10,611,588). 
To-day the United States Bureau of Fisheries is 
doing its utmost to help maintain the supply, 
and in 1900 distributed 337,838,000 eggs and 
young of the Lake Trout. 
“Lake Trout spawn on the reefs, and at other 
times live in deep water. In Lake Superior the 
spawning ,season begins in late September. In 
Lakes Huron and Michigan, the height of the 
season is early November, and spawning con- 
tinues until December. The spawning grounds 
are on the reefs of ‘honey-comb’ rock, 10 to 
15 miles off shore, and in water from 6 to 120 
feet deep. The number of eggs produced is not 
large. A 24-pound fish produced 14,943 eggs, 
but the usual number does not exceed 5,000 or 
6,000.” (Jordan and Evermann.) 
The range of this fish is from New Brunswick 
and Maine westward throughout the Great Lakes 
to Vancouver Island, B. C., and northward to 
Labrador, Hudson Bay and northern Alaska. 
