BROOK TROUT. 
87 
In the Rangeley Lakes region doubtless the trout spawn on every suitable shoal and ascend 
every suitable stream w'hen possible. The most famous spawning places are Rangeley, Kenne- 
bago and Cupsuptic Streams and the outlet of Mooselucmaguntic Lake below Upper Dam. 
Mosquito, Saw Mill, and Metallic Brooks are also of importance as well as Beama and Bemis 
Streams. Kennebago' Stream is stated, sometimes, to be ascended as far as Kennebago Falls, 
which present insurmountable obstruction, but Captain Barker states that the seven miles 
between its mouth and the “Ash Tree” is the usual resort and probably furnishes Mooseluc- 
maguntic and Cupsuptic Lakes seventy-five percent of their trout, but another writer in Forest 
and Stream of November 3, 1894, was of the opinion that nine tenths of the Rangeley trout 
spawn in still waters where the water was affected by springs. 
With the trout frequenting different shoals or streams there are frequently differences of 
size of the fish composing the “runs.” One locality may comprise small fish, another large ones, 
the individuals being of more or less uniform size. Regarding this fact, after speaking of the 
anglers catching out big fish from those coming on to the spawning grounds, Mr. Rich says: 
‘ ‘ I am now referring to the largest brook trout which run together in masses, all nearly the same 
size, or at least of two pounds weight and upward. One-pound trout, as a rule, spawn in 
entirely different localities and by themselves, and commonly earlier in the season by some 
weeks. This is not, however, exclusively so, for many one-pound trout are often mixed with 
larger ones on the spawning grounds.” 
Mr. Rich graphically describes the first run of trout in Kennebago River, in 1884, as follows: 
“We w'ere encamped on the banks of the Kennebago, way up among the trout beds, where, 
from the last of September to the freezing of the river in November, the speckled beauties 
resort to deposit their spawn. Our business was to protect the trout from poachers, and pre- 
pare suitable pens or places on the side of the river to confine the fish when taken until they 
were ripe, or in other w'ords until ‘their spawn would run,’ as it was the intention of the fish 
commissioners to secure trout eggs to the full capacity of the Rangeley hatching house. 
“The 22nd day of September, about noon, we were startled by the splashing of the water 
in front and above our camp, making a noise like a drove of moose wading the river. I caught 
my rifle and ran to the banks of the river to see not a drove of moo.se but the surface of the 
water literally covered with trout, many of them of the largest size, jumping out of the water 
and going through various maneuvers making slowly up the river. 
“This was the first I had seen of trout near these beds, but after this the beds were covered 
with them, mostly males, up and down river. They seemed to come in large schools, and as 
many stopped on each system of beds as could work to advantage, and the remainder continued 
on up river until the places w’ere stocked or the school exhausted. We found the next day plenty 
of trout on the beds and in the pools farther up. 
“The quantity of trout coming up the river to spawn cannot be estimated, and only a 
