The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1903-10-16
PLANTING 10000 FINGERLINGS.

Superintendent w. ]. O'Brien of the
state fish hatcheries at North Bend
has just succeeded in convincing the
government fish authorities that Ne
braska should be included in the
list Of trout states, and has secured
consignment of 10000 rainbow
trout from the government hatchery
at Neosha, Mo, which he will plant
in the Niobrara river and its tribu-
taries. He has been able to secure
fish eggs of almost any kind de-
sired, but this is the first consign-
ment Of trout set aside by the gov
ernment hatcheries for Nebraska.
The 10000 secured are what is
known as fingerlings, which means
that they are from six to twelve
months old and quite competent of
looking after their own welfare.
Rainbow trout were selected because
they do well in Nebraska streams
although brook trout are equally sue
cessiul. An attempt to plant lake
trout in Nebraska has met with fail
ure. OF other varieties in the waters
of North Nebraska, Superintendent
O'Brien is quoted as saying:
THE brook trout have made a bet
ter showing and as a result of their
introduction, practically all the
tributaries of the Niobrara river con-
tain this species. During the sum-
mer of 1901 l had an opportunity to
examine some of these streams, and
have seen many fine trout taken. 1t
is no uncommon sight during the
summer months to see strings of
from a dozen to fifty trout brought
into Neigh, Ewing, ONeill, Atkin-
son, Stuart, Long Pine, Bassett,
Johnstown, Valentine, Chadron, Har-
rison and Crawford. The principal
streams in which they are found are
the Verdigre in Antelope county,
| the Bazille in Knox county the
Eagle, Red Bird and Big Sandy in
county, Evergreen, Minnechaduza,
Boardman, Gordon and Schlegal in
Cherry county, Chadron and Bor-
deaux in Dawes county, Hat, Sow
belly creeks and White river in
Sioux county. Limited numbers are
also taken in the headwaters of the
Niobrara in Sioux county, they are
also found in a few streams in Gus
ter, Keith and Kimball counties.
Like the brook trout, the rainbow
trout have also proven very success
full. They are found in practically
all the streams that contain brook
trout, and specimens weighing as
! high as seven pounds have been Ia
ken from Pine creek, Brown county.
personally caught ten in a small
tributary of the White river in
Sioux county in 1898 that weighed
in the aggregate nearly forty pounds.
AS no trout were found in the state
| question the success of this branch
of the commissioners work Hun
dreds of people go out from Omaha,
Lincoln and other towns to fish in
these clear sparkling streams for
trout, and the money spent in this
way is considerable.
The rainbow trout have made if
anything a better showing than the
brook trout in the streams in the
northwest part of the state, and the
demand for the stocking of streams
with this fish is extensive and insist.
ent,
From about forty brown trout in
the ponds, we collected about $4,000
eggs during the 1901 spawning sea-
son, and about the same number the
past fall, Small plants of these
trout have been made several times
along with the brook and rainbow
trout, but their introduction into the
waters of this state has not been at
tended with the same success, as
has the brook and rainbow trout,