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The Lake Trout of Cold Stream Pond, Enfield, Maine
Author(s) -
DeRoche Stuart E.,
Bond Lyndon H.
Publication year - 1957
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1955)85[257:tltocs]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - trout , fishery , biology , environmental science , fish <actinopterygii>
Lake trout, Cristivomer namaycush (Walbaum), were netted in Cold Stream Pond, Enfield, Maine during the spawning seasons of 1951, 1952, 1953. The fish were weighed, measured and tagged with monel‐metal jaw tags, and scale samples were secured for age determinations. A creel census, conducted during the fishing seasons of 1952 and 1953, contributed additional age and growth information and tag recoveries. Two hundred ten lake trout were tagged at the Webb Cove spawning area in October 1951, and 266 in the same area in October 1952. During the netting operations of 1952, 357 lake trout were taken including 91 fish tagged from the 1951 spawning population. In October 1953, similar netting operations yielded a catch of 233 fish including 40 tagged fish from the 1951 spawning population and 57 tagged fish from the 1952 spawning population. Recovery of tagged fish showed lake‐wide distribution of the Webb Cove spawning population. Unsuccessful attempts to gillnet spawning fish on other suitable spawning areas support the assumption that the majority of lake trout in Cold Stream Pond utilize Webb Cove for spawning. Four hundred fifteen lake trout were creeled during the fishing season of 1952: 36 were recaptures of fish tagged in 1951. Four hundred eighty‐nine lake trout creeled in 1953 included 125 tagged fish: 35 and 90 recaptures were tag recoveries from the 1951 and 1952 spawning populations respectively. The total length of the spawning fish were 15.7 to 36.5 inches. Most of the spawning migrations in the 3‐year study period were made up of fish with total lengths of 18.1 to 20.0 inches in age groups VI and VII. Only 1 fish with a total length less than 16.3 inches and 32 fish less than 17.1 inches were taken in the 3‐year period. The majority of the creeled fish in 1952 and 1953 were included in a total‐length range of 17.1 to 19.0 inches in age groups V, VI, and VII. About 30 percent of the total number of fish creeled in 1952 and 1953 were immature. A length regulation of 14 inches controls the minimum size of fish that anglers take. Male lake trout in Cold Stream Pond mature at age V (17.2 inches) and females at age VI (18.1 inches). One and 2‐year growth increment curves show a definite retardation of growth as a result of jaw tags. In some instances annuli were not laid down in the 1‐ and 2‐year periods that tagged fish were at large. A high rate of exploitation is indicated by creel census data. Population estimates revealed that fishing success depends on a relatively small population of mature fish.