The sun., 1916-12-10
KING OF SPECKLED
BEAUTIES 141-2 LBS.
The Largest of the Brook Spe-
cies Caught by j. w.
Cook.
HOME IN NIPIGON RIVER
Dy EDWIN w. sANBORN.

l4ff pound trout taken last year In the
Nipigon River. I beg leave to send some
additional notes.
The fish was caught by DR.. J. w. Cool
Of Fort William. Ontario. on the eve
ming of July 20. 1916, at the foot Of
the Mcdonald Rapids. The bait used
was n live minnow. With the other
sportsmen Inc the gdides there were ten
or more In the party.
On hearing OF the catch last year I
found by correspondence that q photo
graph OF the nsh had been taken Just
after it's capture. II was weighed and
examined In The presence of a large
number of sportsmen at Nipigon and at
Fort william.
II was then skinned. the skin was
srl't along the hack into two halves and
each half was mounted after the manner
or the Niplson Indians, by stitching the
skin Hat on the birch bark panel
bne mount was photographed. and
while IN the photographers charge was
damaged 80 as to he without value. The
other hall was sent to a gentleman at
Ottawa. whose son was one OF the fish,
ing party. WI; not give the address
without obtaining permission. as the
Canadians have enough war on their
hands already.
Owing to the way the skin was han
d!ed IN mounting II IN deeper than the
original fish aud not so long. In Ottawa
;he skin was submitted to Alexander
~Finlayson. Inspector of Fish Hatcheries
Of the Dominion. who reported:
Convinced lish u SpeckIrd Trout.
II am convinced Il II a speckIed trout.
Tho square tail. short head and the alb
rurt curve Of the lateral line all go to
show this
The owner OF this mounted skin wrote
me:
1T has the absolutely square tall, and
large yellow spots, but II did not have
the red dots IN the sides. although the
nns have n reddish tinee.'
Among those who actually saw the
hsh the only question as 70 It's being a
f%ontinalis was due to this absence of red
or pink dots. Upon that point Mr.. Fin
layson said:
The absence OF the pink markings on
the sides does not count for much, rs
many OF the large, old fish lose these
markings"
When in the Nipigon country again
,as, sumine l took pains to Examine this
feature OF Nipigon trout In large FISH
taken from the river the red dots were
sometimes almost entirely lacking.
! saw trout caught In small brooks
OWL into Lake Nip!gon. some OF them
weighing up TO two pounds. and Others
caught In the streams running into the
river, Some had the most brilliant dots
and splashcs Of red. scarlet and crimson
! nave ever seen IN art or nature Others
had on their sides almost no markings
except the yellow spots which go with all
speckled truot OF the NlpIgon basin.
As We know. brook trout vary amax-
ingly In color-almost from black to
white. The COOK trout followed closely
the Nip'gou fashion OF "A light color
scheme, with large yellow spots.
There II no need to argue before the
all behol'iing L that the product Of
Newcastle Is coal or that the yellow
spotted trout OF the Nipigon are true
specklcd trout, There are also lake trout
In those waters, hut they are entirely
distinct In appearance. having the long
head, forkcd tail, Grayish spots and mar
rowing body Of the common phase of
3 Mackinaw trout.
While out there 7 talked with Andrew
I.eNic, the head guide OF the party who
were present when the fish was caught.
Also made inquiries of q large number
OF witnesses at Nipigon m Fort Will
lam who had examined the FISH and had
seen II weighed. They were sportsmeu
living at the headquarters for lake trout
and speckled trout and familiar with the
characteristics Of both species.
Agreed as Ia weight.
Tho only feature which suggested
doubt to any OF them was the absence of
the bright red markings above referred
10. They all agreed as to weight and
dimensions. Didn't ask for anidavits, as
the only object was to satisfy my own
curiosity. .ANidavits In such a case are
only useful AS memoranda. A notary's
seal cant add anything to the sacred
solcmnity Of a FISH story.
I found tha, pr. Cook was not inter-
ested in establishing a record. | judge
that he is a busy professional man, more
disposed 10 cutting up other people than
to being tomahawked himself.
There is An inspiring aud anectIona'c
sentiment about the brook trout which
makes It's yotarjes Jealous Of the rights
~ their pet records. A. tho eloquent
harristcr reported hy Samuel Weller re-
marked 40 the court In ia" wife beating
case. "Ari.i al. ~" l.uI. it's an am'ablc
Weakness: bur any body who commits
sacrilege ia respect TO trout records is
sure to get the gam IN his interior decori-
toms.
The value Of FISH re- ords depends upon
the accuracy Of instruments and the
compstcnrc of Witnesses, For a real
record the fish should he examined by
eXperts It's stomach hould be explored
for the customary ~post-mortem accumu-
latlou Of stones and bullets. Scales and
measuring tape should hc carefully
tested. The skeleton and structural
, characteristics Of the 'isl should Ice oN-
amiued Where there Is danger of Con-
fusion between a fontinalis and namay-
cush, Investigations should he made as
to tine presence or absence OF teeth upon
the hyoid bones OF the mouth.
A.. ht. st,t. AEa fArtBl a lang N.1L.