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Sunapee Trout; American Saibling — Part 2
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"The most exhilarating amusement to be had with this charr, after the first hot June days, is in trolling from a sailboat with a greenheart tarpon rod, 300 feet of copper wire of the smallest calibre on a heavy tarpon reel, and attached to this a 6-foot braided leader with a Buell's spinner, or a live minnow on a stiff gang. The weight of the wire sinks the bait to the requisite depth. When the sailboat is running across the wind at the maximum of her speed, the sensation experienced by the strike of a 4 or 5-pound fish bankrupts all description. A strong line under such a tension would part on the instant; but the ductility of the wire averts this accident, and the man at the reel end of the rod experiences a characteristic 'give,' quickly followed by the dead-weight strain of the frenzied Salmonoid. To land a fish thus struck implies much greater patience and skill than a successful battle, under similar circumstances with a 5-ounce 6-strip and delicate tackle. The pleasure is largely concentrated in the strike, and the perception of a big fish 'fast.' The watchfulness and labour involved in the subsequent struggle border closely on the confines of pain. The ductile wire is an essentially different means from a taut silk line. The fish holds the coign of vantage; when he stands back and with bulldog pertinacity wrenches savagely at the pliable metal--when he rises to the surface in a despairing leap for his life--the angler is at his mercy. But, brother of the sleave-silk and tinsel, when at last you gaze upon your captive lying asphyxiated on the surface, a synthesis of qualities that make a perfect fish--when you disengage him from the meshes of the net, and place his icy figure in your outstretched palms, and watch the tropaeolin glow of his awakening tones soften into cream tints, and the cream tints pale into the pearl of the moonstone, as the muscles of respiration glow feebler and more irregular in their contraction--you will experience a peculiar thrill that the capture neither of ouananiche, nor fontinalis, nor namaycush can ever excite. It is this after-glow of pleasure, this delight of contemplation and speculation, of which the scientific angler never wearies, that lends a charm all its own to the pursuit of the Alpine trout.
"Finally there can be no doubt as to the economic value of the American saibling. It is one of the most prolific of our Salmonoids, the female averaging 1200 eggs to the pound, and casting spawn when only 2 ounces in weight. It is also a singularly rapid grower where smelt food abounds. The extreme weight proved to have been attained is about 12 pounds, although accounts exist of much larger specimens weighing from 15 to 20 pounds. As a rule the greater the altitude the smaller the fish, but the more intense the colouration. This charr is exceptionally hardy and easy to propagate. The eggs bear transportation over the roughest roads without injury."
According to Mr. Merrill, of Green Lake, the saibling fry remain perfectly healthy at a temperature which proves very trying to brook trout fry; both the eggs and the fry display wonderful hardiness under the most trying circumstances.
The young are persistent hiders; any crevice in the bank or lump of clay affords a hiding place. When fed, they will emerge and rise for their food, but will immediately hide again. In feeding, they remain near the bottom, darting up after their food and going back quickly. They are much cleaner feeders than either trout or salmon, picking up all the food that sinks, allowing none to waste.
Dr. Quackenbos recommends it in the highest terms to fish culturists and regards it as "facile princeps, from its rush at the cast smelt to the finish at the breakfast table."