108 
FOREST AND STREAM 
pleased to have your county papers give this sub¬ 
ject as much publicity as possible. 
Sincerely yours, 
(Signed) F. M. NEWBERT, 
President Fish and Game Commission. 
If the idea is to exterminate the game of this 
slate as soon as possible, then turn loose the mar¬ 
ket hunter. Will the pebple vote to do this? 
On one hand we have thousands of men and 
women trying to advance the interests of all 
California, on the other hand we have an associa¬ 
tion of this kind trying to deplete the state’s as¬ 
sets and to push the state back twenty or thirty 
years Cloaked under this name we see persistent 
avarice, colossal and menacing ignorance ex¬ 
hausting one of the splendid possessions of the 
state of California. Every high and lofty senti¬ 
ment is disregarded, and such an organization 
would in a few years, if unchecked, commit the 
entire Pacific coast to a policy of sordid mendac¬ 
ity, and all for a few dollars. .The danger is 
that their cleverly worded appeals to ignorant 
people may become effective. They would save 
the poor man from the idle rich and from the 
capitalists and rich club sportsmen, knowing very 
well that the poor man’s only way to obtain ducks 
is to go out and shoot them, as he has a right to 
do, as ducks are now so expensive, due to the 
over-shooting of alien market hunters, that they 
bring five dollars a pair in the market. 
Unless the people refuse to sign the petitions, 
the referendum and initiative will be placed upon 
the ballot and voted for in November. The ref¬ 
erendum demands the sale of ducks and wild pig¬ 
eons on the market, annulling the present right¬ 
eous no-sale law. They have secured sufficient 
names on this. REFUSE TO SIGN ANY 
GAME LAW PETITIONS. -VOTE AGAINST 
ANY CHANGE IN SANE LAWS. The initia¬ 
tive demands the placing on the market for sale, 
deer, quail, trout, dove and other game. These 
enemies of the state and people are working for 
the following: 
(1) The idle rich and the good liver who' 
alone can afford to buy ducks at $5.00 a pair, 
deer, etc. 
(2) The plutocratic hotel and restaurant keep¬ 
er of San Francisco who sells ducks, quail, deer, 
etc., at large prices. 
(3) The market hunter and exterminator who 
works for the dealer. 
(4) The market men, commission men, who 
founded the People’s Fish and Game Protective 
Association and who reap the greatest harvest at 
the expense of the poor man. 
It is interesting to note that the southern Cali¬ 
fornia Hotel Men’s Association refused to en¬ 
dorse the People’s Fish and Game Protective As¬ 
sociation. CHAS. F. HOLDER. 
Wonderful Supply of Rainbow Trout in Michigan 
I N these days of too often repeated stories of 
“no fish” and complaints of decreases in 
streams heretofore a source of joy to the 
■angler, the tales that come out of Michigan with 
reference to the increase of rainbow trout are 
In 'refreshing contrast. Evidence seems to show 
that in hoping only to propagate a magnificent 
game fish, Michigan will soon have a commercial 
fishing proposition to deal with, for the Rainbow 
is not only populating the streams, but is in¬ 
creasing rapidly in the lake waters surrounding 
the state. Some of the brook trout anglers do 
not rejoice in this fact, for the Rainbow is a 
bigger and stronger fish, growing to 20 pounds 
or more, and fear is expressed that he will clean 
out and appropriate for himself the trout streams 
of Michigan—at least those of them that flow 
into or are connected with the Great Lakes. 
On the other hand there are enthusiastic 
anglers who say that the Rainbow trout is su¬ 
perior to salmo fontinalis, and that if he comes 
out first best, it will be a case of the survival 
of the fittest. 
A correspondent of Forest and Stream, sing¬ 
ing the phrases of a fish so beautiful as to have 
made it necessary to seize upon the spanning 
arch of the heavens for a distinctive title, writes 
that Michigan can offer in the running waters 
and rapids of the Soo, fishing experiences that, 
will make the angler forget the Ounaniche of 
Lake St. John, the Tuna of Catalina and Nova 
Scotia, and even the Tarpon of the Gulf. As he 
puts it, the man who has ever hooked a leaping, 
fighting Rainbow on light tackle in a canoe in 
the Soo Rapids will have all the thrills that 
should come to the honest fisherman, and if he 
wins, his manly chest is the proper place for the 
pinning of all the medals that are the reward 
of victory. 
Michigan fishermen say that they are catch¬ 
ing both Rainbows and steel-head trout, but 
scientists dispute whether these are two distinc¬ 
tive fishes and the general impression is that they 
are types of the same family—brothers under the 
scales, so to speak. They were introduced from 
the far west in Michigan waters about thirty 
years ago. Writing of their habits, Seymour 
Bower, Superintendent of the Michigan Fish 
Commission, tells us: 
“The natural habitat of these mammoth trout 
is mainly the lower and warmer waters that do 
not attract brook trout, but in early spring they 
head upstream and soon appear in droves on 
spawning shoals near or toward the headwaters. 
“As Rainbow trout spawn in the spring and 
brook trout in the fall, there mating seasons do 
not conflict and there is no strife for the posses¬ 
sion of breeding grounds. Recent investigations 
also show that the breeders take little or no food 
of any kind during the spring run, except per¬ 
haps while drifting back to their usual feeding 
range. True to salmon nature and instinct, their 
breeding period is mainly a season of fasting. 
Nevertheless the increasing number of big Rain¬ 
bows that continue to show up on spawning 
grounds is causing much alarm in some quarters. 
It is claimed that they prey on brook trout and 
take possession of their grounds, driving the lat¬ 
ter upstream; and there is a growing sentiment 
in favor of checking this Rainbow invasion by 
attacking and fighting the spring run with spears 
and nets. Doubtless the destruction alleged dur¬ 
ing the mating season is greatly exaggerated. On 
the other hand the smaller sizes and the young 
that mingle freely with brook trout the year 
round compete for the general food supply and 
thus make some inroads. 
“Viewing the situation as a whole and with¬ 
out bias or prejudice, it is impossible to de¬ 
termine to what extent Rainbows forcibly displace 
brook trout. The natural home of brook trout 
is in waters that are cool. Their range is con¬ 
trolled by temperature. They retreat without 
contest in the face of uncongenial temperatures, 
retiring voluntarily from ranges not sufficiently 
cooled by springs or the combined influence of 
springs and thickets and 'aquatic growth. As 
forests and swamps and lowlands give way to 
agriculture, so do brook trout give way and sur¬ 
render territory to species less particular as to 
temperature. It is a common saying that brook 
trout drove out grayling and in turn are being 
driven out by Rainbows. No doubt brook trout 
are responsible in some degree as charged, but 
the fact is that the only stream in Michigan 
where grayling are now found in considerable 
numbers is also the home of brook trout and has 
been for an indefinite period. Native trout also 
inhabit some of the grayling waters of Montana 
without gaining undue ascendancy. 
“Fortunately for the many who regard brook 
trout as the peer of all food and game fish, 
Michigan is rich in spring areas that insure their 
perpetuation and a good catch in the middle and 
upper waters of hundreds of streams where they 
are now established. Considering their nature 
however we cannot hope in the face of changed 
and changing conditions to maintain them in¬ 
definitely in all of their old haunts, whether 
driven back by a more powerful rival or not. 
Destined as they are to fall back to some extent 
anyway, what species is so well equipped to fake 
their place as the Rainbow, a true salmon in 
food excellence and unexcelled gameness?” 
“I may add,” he writes Forest and Stream, 
“that the principal streams in this state inhabited 
or visited by Rainbow trout in large numbers are 
the Manistee, Muskegon, Pere Marquette, Pent- 
water and Boardman rivers, with their numerous 
tributaries, and all tributary to Lake Michigan. 
The Rainbow is also increasing in numbers and 
becoming an important factor in the Au Sable 
and its branches, flowing into Lake Huron. The 
Pine River, referred to in connection with re¬ 
cent spawning operations, is one of several tribu¬ 
taries to the Manistee. 
“In angling circles there has been and still is 
some prejudice against the Rainbow, based on 
the claim that his rapid rise is responsible for a 
corresponding decljne in brook trout. However, 
it is beginning to be realized that changed condi¬ 
tions have more to do with curtailing brook trout 
territory than the increasing numbers of Rain¬ 
bows. 
“Most trout fishermen are seeking only for 
brook trout and are equipped accordingly, so that 
when they hook a big Rainbow the result is a 
loss of tackle and no fish landed. 
