Lake, River and Sea-Run Fishes of Canada

The only popular guide to freshwater fishing in all parts of Canada, Lake, River and Sea-Run Fishes of Canada is a must for anglers, naturalists and anyone who loves fine nature writing. Whether you want to find out how the Dolly Varden trout got its odd name, sort out the salmonids' tangled family relations, or identify some queer-looking item you've never hooked before, this book will prove indispensable. The only complete guide to freshwater game fishes in all parts of Canada, this book is a must for naturalists, anglers and everyone else who wants to learn more about Canada's wildlife, it includes detailed descriptions and 36 full-colour illustrations as well as 14 beautiful and precise line drawings. All of the main fish families are represented in Canadian waters, and new species are still being discovered. Lake, River and Sea-Run Fishes of Canada offers biology, angling tips and notes on the curiosities of all the best-known game fishes, and fishing lore from high mountain lakes, prairie rivers, the Great Lakes, the Arctic coastline and ocean tidepools. Loaded with practical as well as scientific information and pleasantly laced with history and lore, the book is both educational and enjoyable to read. It is enhanced by fifty illustrations, 36 of them in full colour. This revised edition includes a foreword by the eminent fish scientist Professor Joseph Nelson and an updated essay on endangered species by Dr. R.R. Campbell.

Frederick H. Wooding served for ten years as Director of Information and Educational Services for the Canadian Ministry of Fisheries and the Fisheries Research Board of Canada. A member of the College of Fellows of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, he is the author of Lake, River and Sea-Run Fishes of Canada, Canada's Atlantic Salmon, Wild Mammals of Canada and many other publications. Born in San Francisco, California, Joseph S. Nelson grew up in British Columbia and received his Ph.D. at the University of British Columbia. A professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta, his research focuses on systematics, classification and taxonomy of fishes. He wrote the foreword to Lake, River, and Sea-Run Fishes of Canada. Robert R. Campbell wrote the afterword to Lake, River and Sea-Run Fishes of Canada. He has served as co-chair of the Freshwater Fishes Specialist Subcommittee.

Smelt (Order Osmeriformes)

Smelts are circumpolar fish restricted to the Northern Hemisphere. These slender, silvery, mostly small fish occur in temperate and cold coastal areas. Some spend their entire lives at sea, some are marine but enter fresh water to spawn, and some are strictly freshwater inhabitants. They occur in the Atlantic, Arctic and Pacific oceans and their drainages.

Four genera and species occur in Canadian fresh waters: the pond smelt (Hypomesus olidus), the rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax), the eulachon (Thaleichthys pacificus) and the longfin smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys).

The family is complex, and there is still uncertainty concerning the identity of some of its parts. Dr. Don McAllister's highly respected A Revision of the Smelt Family, Osmeridae, published in 1963 by the National Museum of Canada, has helped to clarify the status of some populations, however, and in this respect is the document still most frequently consulted.

Smelt are schooling fish. In spring, huge numbers move from their marine or freshwater habitat to small streams to spawn. The anadromous Pacific longfin smelt is an exception; it spawns during late fall and early winter. All smelt species spawn at night.

Both the pond smelt (Hypomesus olidus) and rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) are excellent food fish. Anglers have a high regard for rainbow smelts in many parts of their eastern Canadian range, especially the Great Lakes. Many are taken during the winter by dip-netting or seining through the ice. Scott and Crossman write that "smelt is the only fish, other than bait fishes, that can legally be taken from Ontario waters at night by means other than angling."

The rich, oily Pacific eulachon has a long tradition - particularly among native peoples - as a food, as a source of cooking oil and for curative purposes. The longfin smelt, although it also occurs in great numbers along the British Columbia coast, has no value as a food or sports fish. Just as some people claim Arctic grayling smells of wild thyme or cucumber, some say smelts smell like cucumber. One writer, however, describes the smell as "putrid cucumber."

---

Excerpted from Lake, River and Sea-Run Fishes of Canada: Run Fishes of Canada by Frederick H. Wooding
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.