Sometime around the Civil War, smelt were introduced into a number of lakes in southern New Hampshire. This small forage fish  proliferated in the cold, deep water. Native fish species, at least those higher up on the food chain, took advantage of the new food source. One small fish, a strain of Arctic char, truly appreciated the smelt. Once practically  indistinguishable from the brook trout that also swam in the lake, the Sunapee trout began to routinely reach weights in the 8-pound range. Along with the robust sizes,  Salvinus alpinus oquassa possesses a spawning coloration that rivals any of their aquatic cousins. Their rich green back gives way to a brilliant orange flank and belly. Fins are tipped, of course, with milky white streaks.

But you will never catch a Sunapee trout.

As far as biologists can tell, the char have been extirpated from virtually all of their native waters. This includes the New Hampshire lake with which they share a name. While Sunapee trout coexisted with other salmonids in the granite state and neighboring Vermont, non-native lake trout inhabited a niche that was too similar. What is often the case, the introduced species won out. People brought in the smelt that were a boon to the Sunapee; people brought in the lakers that were their downfall.

By the middle of the 20th century the Sunapee trout ceased to be a consistent catch in it’s historic range within New Hampshire and Vermont. The fish is not extinct, however.  Floods Pond (also recorded as Flood Pond) is outside of Bangor, Maine. Lake trout were never introduced in this watershed. Consequently, Salvinus alpinus oquassa  has persisted. Floods Pond is a perfect habitat for the remaining Sunapee trout. There is cold, deep water in which the char can swim and spawn. Human interaction in water and on the banks is strictly regulated. No boating, no swimming, and no fishing.

Thus, as of this moment, you will never catch a Sunapee trout. At least not in it’s native range.

Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has attempted to use samples from Floods to establish populations in other lakes in the state. In previous attempts throughout New England, the introduced Sunapee didn’t take. The culprits were usually unfavorable conditions and their arch-nemesis, the Lake trout.

It is possible to get remarkably close to a Sunapee trout. Scientists now include a number of other char in the subspecies oquassa. The Blueback trout swims in a number of remote Maine ponds. The Quebec red trout enjoys the widest distribution in Canada. Neither grow as large as the Sunapee did in the 1900’s. Neither presents quite the same, dazzling spawning colors. And neither inhabit any of the historic range of the Sunapee trout.

The angler or the environmentalist should not be too discouraged by the plight of the Sunapee trout. The mistakes that lead to their fall, while foolish and pragmatic, are mistakes that have been identified. Hope still swims in a protected water supply lake in Maine. Too often, fly fishers and scientists alike don’t realize something is truly gone until after the fact. Whether it be in it’s other forms or in it’s last native home, this char persists.

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Want to know more about the Sunapee trout? I read Robert Behnke’s Trout and Salmon of North America and Ernest Schwiebert’s Trout for this article. I also consulted  Bangor Water’s website. Below is a quick video from the Native Fish Coalition on Floods Pond.