BLUEBACK TROUT. 
29 
above named fish. They called it simply ‘blueback,’ and did not class them with trout. At 
that time all that was known of this fish was that about the 10th or 20th of October of each year 
they ran up what was called ‘Toothaker Cove’ from Rangeley Lake into a small brook, the 
outlet of Quimby Pond. 
“The blueback was never seen in any of the other lakes until after the building of the 
‘Upper Dam,’ about the year 1858, when hunters discovered them below the dam, where they 
stayed until the river was entirely frozen up. This was above the Mollychunkamunk Lake, into 
which they probably finally went. At no other time of year are they now, or ever have been, 
seen, except the late fall months. About this time ( 1 858) they were discovered in the Kennebago 
River, and Rangeley Stream (outlet of Rangeley Lake) above Indian Rock, but I believe were 
never fished for there. I have fished all of the lakes from Rangeleys to Umbagog, winter and 
summer since that time (1844), but have never seen a blueback in any other place than the 
above, or at any other time of the year. And I have never seen them in any river or stream 
Contiguous to these lakes, although I have fished-AIagalloway, Parmachenee, Cupsuptic, Beema, 
Kennebago, rapid rivers and smaller streams for the last thirty-five years.” 
In a later article in the same paper of the same year, Mr. Rich states that in 1842 they were 
taken in nets at only one place, then known as Dodge Pond Outlet, which emptied into Tooth- 
alfgf Cove, since called Alings Cove. In the previous article the statement that the brook was 
the outlet of Quimby Pond was a reference to the same brook as it is the joint outlet of both 
ponds. 
Further on in this article Mr. Rich said: “In later years they have made their appearance 
in other localities, probably forced to scatter by the obstructions to the free course of their 
original spawning place. They now appear each year about the same time as formerly, in 
Rangeley Outlet, Upper Dam, and (I am told by some person who sent me a postal and signed 
his name ‘Informer’) below the Middle Dam.” 
A correspondent of Forest and Stream of December 15, 1887, p. 408, wrote; ‘It is a fact 
worthy of note that the little bluebacks, usually seen in great numbers at the Upper Dam during 
the autumn run of these fish, have been very much less than usual at that point. Still it is also 
curious to note that a new spawning ground of these trout (bluebacks) has been discovered this 
fall. The point is at the mouth of Sawmill Brook, at the head of the Upper Richardson Lake; 
or rather the trout were found well up in the narrow rugged stream.” 
Size. 
Girard stated that it was from 8 to 10 inches in length. In the Maine Fish Commission 
Report for 1874 it was said to attain a length of 8 inches, and the Report for 1878 .says they are 
quite small in size, usually averaging about four or five to the pound. In 1883, Mr. Rich stated 
