LeRoy Pennysaver & News

LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - APRIL 4, 2021 by Lynne Belluscio Midst all the flamingo stories, it’s important to remember that trout season starts on April 1 in New York, and that’s the truth. Many people have heard about Seth Green in Caledonia, but there was another man, with ties to LeRoy, who was well known for his pioneering work with trout. His name was James Annin, Jr. the son of James and Pricilla Keith Annin. His grandfather, Joseph, was one of the first and most prominent settlers in LeRoy. His father, was one of the most respected business owners in LeRoy. His uncle William was the first male child born in LeRoy, after the name of the town was changed from Bellona. So, the Annin family had deep roots in LeRoy. James R. was one of seven children and all of his sisters attended Ingham University. The Annin family enjoyed fishing in the local streams. When James was only 19, he knew that his interest in the study of fish farming was going to be his life’s work and he became involved with working with Seth Green in Caledonia. Seth Green is considered the father of commercial fish farming and his work in the hatchery in Caledonia is recognized around the world. He began his fish hatchery in Caledonia in 1864, and for most of the rest of his life, worked to introduce shad, salmon, trout and a variety of other fish to the rivers and streams across the United States. His work was recognized in foreign countries. Seth Green died in 1888. By this time, James Annin was involved with the Caledonia fish hatchery which had become the property of New York State, and Annin would become the State Commissioner of Fisheries. Annin’s research was extensive. He studied the angles at which insects floated or lit upon the water, and used that knowledge to tie flies. In an article about Annin which appeared in the 1929 issue of The Rochester Gas and Electric Magazine, it was noted that Annin “learned the science of trout fishing from the larvae to the fly, and from the cast to the struggle and the eventual landing of Mr.Trout, safe in the wicker basket.” People traveled from miles around to fish with James Annin Jr. He had built a private hatchery near Spring Street in Caledonia, not far from the State hatchery. He made rods and reels and folks would come from Rochester and Buffalo for a delicious trout dinner at Annin’s. Annin developed a scientific system for fishpropagationwhichproduced85% to 90% hatching efficiency compared to about 10% in nature. The spring water that fed his hatchery averaged between 48 and 51 degrees. Brown and Brook trout were hatched in the fall or early winter for shipping in the spring or early summer. Rainbow trout followed a later schedule. In a New York State Report that was published in 1899, Annin noted that the fish from Caledonia were being delivered by a special rail car on the New York Central Railroad. The car was stored in Caledonia and a special storage shed had been built to protect it during the winter. In one year alone, the car made forty-six trips, each time loaded with between 100 to 125 barrels of fish to stock the streams in the region. Fish were even shipped to the west coast, andAnnin is credited with bringing shad to the North West. Eventually, fish were shipped in special trucks equipped with special tanks and serviced an area of over 400 square miles. There are even accounts that Annin shipped live fish to Australia and other countries. He imported the first brown trout eggs into the United Sates and then introduced rainbow and brown trout into New Brunswick, Nova Scotia. “Mr. Annin believes that fishing is a science, especially trout fishing. ‘Some folks never learn it.’ Others however take to it naturally. They love it and to such persons, it is always something more than a fad.’” Annin was invited to England and helped introduce black bass on the estate of Lord Amherst. While in England he visited the House of Commons and was treated “royally” as an authority on fishing, and was presented the keys to the city of London by the Lord Mayor. The Big Springs Museum in Caledonia has two fish paintings by James’s youngest sister, Lillian Gleason Annin. She was only seventeen when she graduated from the Fine Arts College of Ingham University and she was a very talented artist. Lillian taught art at Nyack on the Hudson, and the following year was in charge of the art department at the Indianapolis Institute. She was also on the staff of Ohio Western University. At the age of thirty-seven she married Claude Pettingill at Bellingham, Washington. Lillian painted in the Seattle area for many years and is listed as a rare and collectible artist from the region. Annin’s sons continued his work in fish science and maintained the Annin hatchery on Spring Street. The hatchery provided fish to stock private game clubs and estates. His son William, presented a program to the Oatka Club in January 1936 and showed movies of the operation. He told of using hydroplanes to stock streams in remote areas, where the roads were too treacherous to safely transport the young fish. In another movie, he showed cans of trout being hauled on logging sleighs through the woods and to a lake, where holes had been cut in the ice for placing the trout in the water. Some of the finest trout streams are in LeRoy along the Oatka Trail. As the trout season opens this week, the anglers will have a chance to enjoy a sport that owes a lot to James Annin and his family. April 1 is for Trout