36 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
nately together, the presence of this fish in any particular locality being indicated by the presence of 
flocks of birds hovering over the water. 
Large captures are easily made with a hook, and I have taken 30 to 40 pounds weight in a single 
hour’s fishing. The hooks used are large steel ones, with a snood or snell of piano wire, which is strong 
and flexible. The best bait is minnow and grasshopper, although this trout will bite at almost any- 
thing. In Panquitch Lake a fish’s eye is considered a very tempting bait. — (Dr. H. C. Yarrow, Report 
Wheeler Survey, vol. v, Zoology, pp. 686-691.) 
The Rainbow Trout ( Salmo irideus). Plate v, Figs. 2 and 3. 
The rainbow trout is not known to extend far into Alaska, but specimens have been 
obtained at Sitka by Gapt. L. A. Beardslee, U. S. N. It is sometimes found in salt 
water, but spends most of its life in the streams. It is a valuable food -fish and grows 
to a large size, reaching 2 feet in length and about 8 pounds in weight. 
At the Baird station of the U. S. Fish Commission spawning takes place in the 
small creeks tributary to the McCloud River, from January to May. The eggs are 
about one-fifth of an inch in diameter and vary in color from light straw to deep 
salmon-red. A 2 pound trout yields about 800 eggs. In water at 54° F. the eye-spots 
show in 12 days and the period of incubation lasts 26 days. The outline of the embryo 
can be seen through the shell four or five days before the eye-spots appear. 
The rainbow trout derives its name from the broad red or crimson band which 
extends along the side and on the head; this contrasting with the rich silvery gray of 
the body and the iridescence of the sides gives the fish a beautiful appearance. In the 
spawning season the color of the body becomes much darker, the flesh paler, and the 
red stripe turns to crimson. 
This species feeds chiefly on salmon eggs during the season and upon dead 
salmon. It is very fond, also, of the larvae of the caddis fly. Mr. Loren Green 
believed that these trout stir up the bottom of the river with their tails when search- 
ing for food. According to Mr. Stone they have the peculiarity of swimming partly 
on one side when in search of food, with one eye inclined downward, so that they see 
what is on the bottom. In very hot weather they feed chiefly at night. 
The fishing lasts from the middle of May to the last of November, June and July 
being the best months. 
A disease has sometimes appeared among the rainbows, which has caused great 
mortality. Specimens of the diseased fish were examined by Prof. S. A. Forbes, who 
attributed the deaths to encysted parasites located principally in the kidneys, but 
also affecting the liver and spleen. 
The Lake Trout ( Salvelinus namaycush ) . Plate vi, Fig. 1. 
The lake trout is the largest trout of the world and one of the largest, if not the 
largest, of the salmon family. It is indigenous to North America, occupying the 
northern portion of the continent, extending south to Silver Lake in Pennsylvania 
and Henry Lake in Idaho, and most highly developed and most abundant in the 
Great Lakes region, and extending northward to the Arctic Ocean on both sides of 
North America. In Alaska this trout is very abundant in the rivers and lakes of the 
northern part of the Territory. It has been found as far north as the Putnam or 
Kuwuk River, which falls into Hotham Inlet, and extends southward to the peninsula 
of Alaska. In color, the Kuwuk specimens resemble examples of the same species 
from Labrador, differing only in being slightly darker. 
