238 
BULLETIN OE THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
Freeport, Me., April 6, 190 4 .. — Smelts first appeared in this season in the partic- 
ular brook previously discussed, but none had been found in other brooks, as they 
were not yet free of ice. On the night of April 8 some were caught in other brooks, 
and smelts were still running on April 17. 
The breeding season in a given locality of average abundance may last from four 
to six weeks for the species (not individuals), yet individuals may remain in the 
stream for a long time after they have spawned. (As far as observed all individuals 
that seemed so reluctant to leave proved to be spent males.) 
The statement has been made, and it is a prevalent belief, that smelts run up a 
stream, spawn, and return to salt water on the same night. Apparently this is the 
case when the run on ebb tide takes place early in the evening and the subsequent 
high tide occurs early in the morning before daylight. However, the aggregation 
composing one night’s run, if undisturbed, may remain in the stream for several 
days. Especially is this so in case of the later season. 
Concerning the Scandinavian smelt, Smitt (1895, p. 873) says: 
Each shoal completes its spawning operations in a few days; but one shoal follows in the wake 
of another, and thus the spawning continues as a rule from the latter part of March to the first 
weeks of May. 
The only information concerning breeding smelts east of Casco Bay available to 
the present writer is contained in the previously mentioned notes of Charles G. 
Atkins. In his notes of 1878 he definitely mentions the following streams, flowing 
into Penobscot Bay, as frequented by smelts in the breeding season: A brook enter- 
ing Surry Harbor from the west; Browns Brook, in the vicinity of Surry; Lawrence 
Brook and another above it, about 2 miles upriver from Bucksport: Sweetsers Brook 
near Bucksport; and three brooks on Verona Island. 
In 1878 he says that on April 21 what were supposed to be smelt eggs were seen 
on the rocks below the dam at Orland. Some smelts were being taken there then, 
but on May 1 none was to be found. John Whitmore, of Verona Island, a weir 
fisherman, knew of two brooks on the island in which smelts abounded about “high 
tide” of May; and George Small thought that smelts abounded in a brook near his 
weir in June. On May 1 Atkins got two smelts from the island, but they were 
completely spent. On May 20, according to a Mr. Tower, smelts were running in 
Lawrence Brook. On May 23 only three smelts were caught in Sweetsers Brook. 
On May 25 Atkins received some freshly caught smelts from the same brook. On 
May 28 no smelts were found in this brook, and very little spawn, whereas on the 
25th of May, 1877, one got a bushel. Up to May 27 hardly any smelts had been 
seen in the brook at the head of Surry Harbor or in Browns Brook. 
Writing of the smelt of New Brunswick, A. Leith Adams (1873, p. 244) said: 
As soon as the ice breaks up and drifts seaward, sculls upon sculls of this savoury fish push 
their ways up the rivers, where they bite bait readily, and are captured by nets. 
Farther north our available data are still meager. On May 26, 1895, the pres- 
ent writer observed smelts ascending creeks at Owls Head Bay, Nova Scotia. 
Concerning smelts in the St. Lawrence region, Chambers (1903a) wrote that 
there had been very little observation of the habits of the smelt in the St. Lawrence. 
