THE SMELTS 
325 
A communication in the American Angler for March 7, 1884, stated that the 
fish were called icefish or frostfish and were caught through the ice in great quan- 
tities for about a month, in the latter part of February and the first part of March. 
The question regarding the identity of the icefish again arose in 1886. Someone 
who signed “Peter” to his inquiry sent some specimens to Forest and Stream for 
identification, and they were identified as smelt, Osmerus mordax. 
Again Cheney (1895) stated that about 20 years before he first heard of the 
“icefish” of Lake Champlain, and “found upon an introduction that they were the 
smelt * * * .” The following year (1896a) Cheney again wrote: 
More than twenty years ago I first heard of the “ice fish” of Lake Champlain, and when I 
saw them I found them to be the common smelt; but from that time to this the identity of the 
fish has been questioned at recurring intervals. Last year, when I saw smelts being taken at Port 
Henry, over 1 ft. in length and weighing!^ lb. each, and was told that even larger ones were caught 
through the ice at Port Henry and Westport, I was obliged to admit that I had never seen smelts 
of such great size; nevertheless that is what they were. Last week I was at Port Henry and the 
identity of the “ ice fish ” was once again discussed, with the added information that the fish were 
now sent quite regularly to New York city, where they were pronounced to be different from the 
smelt. I had some packed to bring home with me, and asked to have several of the very large 
ones put in the box to have the matter of species set at rest. The man who furnished the fish told 
me that after Mr. Cobb’s visit to the lake the United States Fish Commission had sent for speci- 
mens to determine just what “ice fish” really were, and that specimens had been forwarded to Dr. 
Hugh M. Smith. I asked Dr. Smith about them and he writes me: “The specimens of ‘ice fish’ 
recently sent us from Lake Champlain were the salt-water smelt ( Osmerus mordax). There were 
five examples, the largest being more than 1 ft. in length and weighing lb. The females were filled 
with ripe spawn. I have never seen such fine smelts on the New England coast, although they 
are sometimes taken in Maine and Massachusetts fully as large as those under consideration. As 
you know, this species is landlocked in some of the Maine lakes, and Prof. Evermann took speci- 
mens in Lake Memphremagog; the fish in the latter lake, however, are quite small. In your opin- 
ion, do the Lake Champlain smelts come up the St. Lawrence River each year for the purpose of 
spawning, or are they permanent residents of the lake? ” 
Concerning the origin and habits of the fish in Lake Champlain, many of those 
who finally recognized it as a smelt thought that it annually ascended the St. Law- 
rence River and thence up into the lake, but as early as 1882 at least one view was 
that the fish was a perennial resident. A reference to the smelt in the American 
Angler, however, attributed their presence to transplanting, saying: “A few* smelts 
put into Lake Champlain several years ago have led to their permanent establish- 
ment.” 
Two years later the same paper (American Angler, 1884) again said: “The Lake 
Champlain smelt is of comparatively recent date, as it is little more than a dozen 
years ago that they made their first appearance.” Then, again, in 1890, the American 
Angler repeated the foregoing statement. 
Cheney (1895) presumed that they must have worked their way up into the 
lake from the St. Lawrence. Again, in 1896, Cheney wrote: 
I believe that smelts are not permanent residents of Lake Champlain, as they are caught only 
through the ice in February and March, and a search for them by anglers in the summer and fall 
months has proven fruitless. In New Hampshire, where the smelt is landlocked, I have caught 
them in June, July, and August, and if they remained in Lake Champlain permanently they would 
be found by those who have peristently sought them. Another reason for thinking that they 
come from the St. Lawrence only to spawn, for it will be noticed that they are caught in the lake 
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