The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1902-05-17
The Streams of Montana to Be
Stocked This Year.
MANY MILLIONS OF SMALL FRY
Will Be Planted in Lakes and Rivers.
GrayIing, SteeI-head Trout, Rain
bow Trout and Brook Trout to Be
Placed This Season by the Govern
ment.

Every sportsman should be directly
interested in the work of the United
States fish hatchery located in
Bridger canyon, Gallatin county. The
place is now in charge of DR.. Hen
shell, man of wide experience in
his special line of scientific work.
During the present season the hatch
cry will turn out several million
grayling, steel-head trout, rainbow
trout and eastern brook trout Most
of these will be distributed in the
streams of Montana. DR.. Henshall,
who is a famous angler, as we'll as
learned writer on fish, gives the fol
lowing outline of the game fish of
this section of the country:
In the Rocky mountain region there
are three distinct groups of trout be-
longing to the Salmon genus-the
cutthroat, the rainbow and the steel
head. They are all black spotted. In
widely separated sections of the
country they may be readily distin-
guished by certain characteristics,
but in other localities where they
may be said to co-exist, naturally it
is a difficult matter to distinguish
one group from another. Indeed, at
one time the rainbow and steelhead
were pronounced by competent au-
thorities to be the same fish,, the
latter being supposed to be. the sea-
son form of the species. AT the pres
ent time, however, they are held to be
distinct
The Dolly Warden or bull trout be-
longs to a different genus and is re-
lated to the brook trout of eastern
waters, having also red spots
While the cut-throat trout inhabits
both slopes of the Rockies, the others
named were Originally confined to the
Pacific slope.
The Great Lake and Mackinaw
trout and grayling are native to Mon
tana. The former is found only in
Elk lake, a mountain lake at the head
of Jefferson river, while the grayling
exists, naturally, only in the tribu-
taries of the Missouri river above the
Great falls. 1t is remarkable that
these two species are found nowhere
else west of Michigan except in the
Arctic regions. Perhaps, as has
ben supposed, it is the result of some
cataclysm of the glacial period.
The small mountain white fish is
abundant in most of the streams OF
Montana, but it Is very lightly es
teemed either as a game or food fish
The cutthroat or black spotted trout
is the most widely distributed of al
the Rocky mountain trout. The cut
throat is commonly called the brook
or speckled trout of the Rockies.
When the cutthroat grows to a large
size it is sometimes called 'salmor
trout" but the only salmon trout is
the steelhead. In gameness and flavor
it hardly equals the eastern red-spot
ted brook trout and its habits are
somewhat different. 1t lies in pools
and holes like the salmon and does
not frequent the rifles as much a!
the eastern trout In size it is some
what larger than the eastern trout
in streams of the same depth anC
width and also grows larger in lakes
The steelhead or salmon trout is the
trinmest and most graceful of al
the trout species, being more salmon
ike in shape and appearance. 1t:
spots are smaller than the othe