Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-11
UNSURPASSED AS FOOD FISH
Live Near Bottom Of Lake in the
Coolest Water.
STRONG FIGHTING QUALITIES
Difficult to Catch Them-When a Big
One "Strikes" the Angler
Has His Hands Full.
Written for The Star.

| I have a friend who Is no common man.
| He is by no means eccentric, but he lives
his own life in his own way. and whether
| he edits a paper, writes book, knocks
off" poem or recites limerick. his work
has an individuality which sets 1t apart
| from, and not infrequently above the work
| Of other men. He seldom talks Of his
plans even to his intimates, and even when
I he does, his intimates never waste their
| time specializing on the manner in which
| those plans will be carried out. They sim
ply await results, well prepared for the
unconventional. Thus 1t was that I was
not in the least surprised when. a month
OF two ago. I received telegram from
| his friend, bearing the following legend:
Married Miss Blank at 10 o'clock this
| morning. No fuss, frills. cards, presents
| or other nonsense. Here We are. Come
and see US. I. p.
In due time accepted the invitation.
My friends were at Lake Sunapee, and
! thither journeyed. first making sixteen
| mile carriage drive to Newport, N. H., and
thence over the single track railway to
the Lake station. Here, at the wharf, 1
found a number of little steamers, all
| painting away as though they were out Of
| breath from rapid run down the lake to
catch the incoming train. Most of these
steamers had interesting geographical or
| historical names. "Ascutney,' "Kearsarge'
and 'Weetamo' being among those I re-
| member. Besides these there were many
private Launches winch stopped Just long
enough for the passengers they were wait
| Ing for to step aboard, and then sped like
| arrows for points up or down the lake. 1
| inquired for the steamer for Burkehaven,
| and was directed to "The Weetamo." a
saucy little craft not much bigger than q
good-sized rowboat, but which pulled and
| snorted and whistled with all the assurance
| of an Atlantic liner.
Nobody Was in a Hurry.
Apparently nobody was in any hurry, so
| It was some time before felt quite sure
that we were not going to stay at the wharf
all night. Then q neatly dressed young
man, whose yachting cap bore the device
"purser" in imposing gold letters, took his
stand on the forward end Of the diminutive
girl reciting 'Curfew Shall Not Ring To-
night at a Sunday school Entertainment"
informed us that This boat stops at Edge
| mont; Oakland. Brightwood, Montclare
Woodclyff and Burkehaven." And then,
| with much jgging Of her engine plenty Of
hiss and splash, and an important buzZing
Of the crewlet, the fussy little "Weetamo"
backed away from the wharf and out onto
| the clear water of Lake Sunapee, one Of
| the coolest and clearest mountain lakes in
the world, and the home of the peerless
game fish, the golden or Lake Sunapee
trout.
ly trimmed by wooded hills. which in most
places come down abruptly, nor stop when
they reach the water. All along the shores
are strings of summer cottages, close to
the waters edge and half hidden by the
dense growth Of young white birches and
other leafy trees which wave like tall grass
in the almost constant breeze. For the
greater part of ten miles the lake winds
| In and out, with many capes and points.
making 1t impossible to see more than a
little of it at once. Now and then. on
rounding these points, one sees small wooded
islands, each with it's summer cottage, sur
pd " q Yda nd hay xxyifl a
tall white flag pole, from which ripples the
stars and stripes.
1 soon learned that the formidable array
of names reeled off by the purser did not
mean the series of long waits which had
expected. For the most part they were pri-
vate landings, at which the Weetamo was
not even tied up, and stopped only long
enough to allow passenger or two to
jump ashore.
Famous Sunapee Trout.
Burkehaven is one Of the alf dozen set
Elements around the lake. and like the
others 1t boasts its cluster Of cottages and
fits summer hotel. Far above the other
homes I found my friends house, perched
like an osprey's nest on point overlooking
the lake. Here on the broad veranda we
lay in our hammocks and talked Of many
things, including the famous Sunapee trout
on which my friend Is an authority.
The golden trout of Sunapee as 1t is
known to fishermen. or Salvelinus aureolus,
as my friend calls it, was quite unknown
to anglers twenty-five years agoh and even
now there are few who can boast of hav-
ing seen this beautiful game fish in its ma
tive waters. Its habitat is very restricted,
and so far as is known it is native only
to Sunapee lake, New Hampshire, and
Flood pond, near Ellsworth, Me. Both
these lakes are deep and cold, and each has
a clean bottom of white sand and gravel,
Astounding in various forms of animal life
which serve the trout for food. Sunapee
10 Ia fc Fan ty, o~.Ia
is fed by living springs, and the water is
SO clear that in certain lights one can see
the white boulders in its depths. The trout
live at or near the bottom, in the coolest,
purest water.
These fish, which sometimes attain a
weight Of twelve pounds or more, are won
derfully game fighters, are most gorgeous
ly eolored, and authorities say that as food
fish they cannot be surpassed At first
thought 1t seems strange that so fine a fish
should remain unknown SO long, inhabiting,
as 1t does, a lake SO famous for its other
fish that it has for many generations been
frequented by an army, or, perhaps more
properly, by NAVY of anglers, poachers
and men Of science. But my friend, quot
ing DR.. John D. Quackenbos. showed me
that this was easily accounted for by the
fact that the golden trout remains almost
constantly in deep water, that it does not
spawn until the fall. when fishing is out
of season, and then only on the reefs in
the middle Of the lake.
"A E1Ve-Founo Beauty.
Next morning from the varanda we could
see two boats anchored In little bay,
which learned was one Of the best places
In the whole lake for Sunapee trout There
were men In the boats, and through q ma
rine glass we could see them bait their
hooks. They did not catch anything while
we were watching, but toward 10 O'Clock
we walked down to the landing, took q
canoe and padded round to see what luck
there fishermen had had. They had been
fishing since early morning. and SO far
had cauht but one trout. but this was q
beauty, Weighing possibly five pounds. It
had been cought within the last few min
utes and was still alive It was q wonder
fully beautiful fish, with back Of rich
sea green. and beautifully spotted sides,
square tail, large fms. small head and very
small mouth. I shall not attempt to de-
scribe the gorgeous coloring in detail. but
will content myself with quoting DR..
Quackenbos to whom my friend referred
me later, and who thus describes what he
calls ..phenomenally brilliant nuptial col
oration:"
'.As the October pairing time approaches,
the Sunapee fish becomes illuminated with
the Pushes Of maturing passion.
The steel-green mantle of the back ana
shoulders novv seer, In dissolve into n veil