OPERATIONS IN CALIFORNIA IN 1873. 405 



The weight of the salmon caught (including grilse) varied from less 

 than a half a pound to 29 pounds. The smallest and the largest were 

 males. The largest male was caught on the 14th of September, and 

 weighed 29 pounds. He measured 41 inches in length, and was 22 

 inches round just in front of the dorsal fin. (See No. 313 of my collec- 

 tion for the Smithsonian Institution.) We caught the smallest salmon, a 

 grilse, of course, and a male, on the 16th of September. He was thin 

 and worn, but full of very ripe milt. He weighed less than half a pound. 

 (See No. 314c.) The largest female which was weighed was caught on the 

 2Sth of July. She weighed 22 pounds, (see No. 192c;) girth just in front 

 of dorsal fin, 22£ inches. I think, however, that later in the season 

 larger females were caught, which were not weighed. The smallest 

 female was caught on the 17th of September, and weighed 6 pounds 

 after being spawned ; girth, 12i inches. She yielded nearly 3,000 eggs. 

 (See No. 315c.) 



The first ripe male was caught on the 17th of August. The milt was 

 ripe and good. He seemed to be in a healthy condition, but was dark 

 and slimy. Weight, 26 pounds; girth, 23 inches. (See No. 280.) 



The first female caught ripe in the net was taken on the night of the 

 29th of August. Two ripe ones were taken that night, but the weight 

 was not observed. The two together yielded 13,000 eggs. 



We found ripe females in the corrals three days before this. It 

 might be inferred at first sight from this fact that confinement hastened 

 the ripening of the spawn ; but this does not necessarily follow, because 

 the fish were, when caught, on their way to a higher point on the river, 

 where the spawning-season naturally comes on earlier than it does lower 

 down, so that the fish previously caught and now confined in the cor- 

 rals were really earlier-spawning fish than those caught on the spot 

 with ripe spawn in them. 



The comparative weight of the spawn in the female fish, contrasted 

 with the fish itself, may be inferred from the following specimen caught 

 August 14 : 



Female salmon; spawn nearly ripe ; weight, 19 pounds; length, 33 £ 

 inches; girth, 20£ inches; weight of spawn, 2^ pounds. (See No. 206.) 



On the 18th of August we caught with a hook a trout that had a very 

 peculiar appearance, on account of the unmistakable marks of old age 

 which it presented. It was very thin and lank. Its fins and tail were 

 a good deal worn. Its eyes were sunken, and its whole appearence cor- 

 responded to that of an old dog or horse. It was the most aged-look- 

 ing fish I ever saw.* (See No. 282.) 



2.— CONFINING THE SALMON. 



The corral. — The confinement of the parent salmon in suitable inclo- 



* For a description of the appearance of the salmon of the McCloud River, and the 

 changes which they undergo at the approach and during the progress of the spawn- 

 ing-season, see my report of operations' on the McCloud River printed in the United 

 States Fisheries Report for 1872. 



