288 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
HABITAT 
According to Reuter (1 883) the smelt of the inland waters of Finland always live 
in “shoals” (schools) and prefer, except during spawn time, deep water on sandy 
bottom. 
Nordqvist (1910) states that in the lakes of Finland the smelt is found chiefly 
at a depth of 12 meters (about 39.37 feet), but that it occurs in shallow lakes as a result 
of introduction. He says that it appears to do better in lakes that have dark or 
turbid water than in those of clear, colorless water, and that it occurs at the same 
depths summer and winter, just as they do in the Gulf of Finland. 
During the summer and fall the smelts affect rather deep water, or cool water. 
The depths at which the smelt is found in the larger lakes vary from 60 to 100 feet, 
more or less. They do not thrive in shallow ponds unless the water is cool enough 
for them, but are known to occur in ponds not over 30 or 40 feet deep. According 
to George Moses, who has for many years fished for smelts in Sebago Lake, the smelt 
is caught in just as deep water in the winter as in the summer. Mead (1883), quot- 
ing Jesse Plummer of Raymond, Me., says: 
When fishing for cusk at the “Images” in the month of June I have, while sitting on the 
rock, run my line to the depth of seventy-five or one hundred feet, and in a cusk caught I have found 
fresh smelts, which goes to prove that they resort to the very deep water during the summer. 
Cheney (1894b) stated that the smelt of Sunapee Lake, N. H., were caught in 
deep water in June and July, with hook and line. The water was from 58 to 63 feet 
deep. He took the bottom temperature at this place in August, 1890, and found it 
52° F., while at the surface it was 68° F. He said that in many places the bottom 
temperature was 42° F., and in one place it had been found to be as low as 38° F. 
In 1910 the present writer caught smelts in Sunapee Lake with hook and fine in 
about 90 feet of water, where the temperature on August 16 was 52° F. at the bottom. 
The surface temperature was 69.5° and that of the air was 65° F. The smelts ranged 
from 4)4 to 7)4 inches in length. The character of the bottom was not ascertained. 
On February 16 and 17, 1911, the present writer found smelt fishermen at Port 
Henry, on Lake Champlain, fishing at various depths. One man was fishing in 38 
feet of water and said that the largest smelts were found in deeper water, down to 
about 70 feet. Another man was fishing in about 25 feet of water and was doing 
very well in number of fish caught, but they were not very large, running about 8 
or 9 inches. It was said that smaller fish could be caught near shore where the 
water was only 8 or 10 feet deep. 
At a place called “ The Reef ” they were fishing in about 40 feet of water. This is 
in accord with the statement of Cowen (1900) to the effect that larger smelts were to 
be found in water 40 to 60 feet in depth. 
While the present writer has caught smelts with hook and line during the sum- 
mer and fall in water as shallow as 60 feet and as deep as 100 feet in Sebago Lake, 
it was found that the best fishing was at a depth of about 70 feet over a bottom of 
gray clay. Seldom were very large smelts taken at the lesser depths, but not infre- 
quently small smelts were caught at a depth of 70 feet or more. On one smelt ground 
on July 8, 1911, where the water was 90 feet deep, the temperature at the bottom 
