The length of the completed fishing effort appeared to have 

 no set pattern. It seemed to be influenced most by the weather 

 and the number and availability of the Ealmon. The fishing effort 

 tended to be longer when the weather was mild and salmon were abundant. 

 The increase in the length of the fishing effort from the average of 

 3.4 hours during the fall of 1947 to 4,13 hours for the comparable 

 period in 1948, (Table 4) can be attributed to the extensive increase 

 in the use of boats during the latter season, as boat fishermen gen- 

 erally fished longer. 



In all but two of the fourteen months of the salmon creel census 

 the catch per hour tended to vary inversely with the total catch. The 

 two exceptions were September and October of 1948, during the main fall 

 salmon migration. At this time boat fishing reached a density never 

 before approached in the area below Red Bluff, and boat fishermen had 

 spread to cover almost every mile of the river. 



The catch per hour increased, as did the length of the fishing 

 effort, from 0.U4 (25 hours per fish) in the fall of 1947 to 0.05 

 (20 hours per fish) during the same period of 1948. This also resulted 

 from an increase in boat fishing #iich, due to its ability to cover more 

 area, produced a greater catch per hour than bank or bridge fishing. 

 Bridge fishing, the least productive method of fishing, was almost absent 

 after most bridges were closed to fishing early in October of 1948. 



Rainbow-Steelhead Trout Fishery 



Creel census sampling of the rainbow-steelhead trout fishery revealed 

 that approximately 3,800 rainbow and steelhoad trout were taken in 43,900 

 hours of angling by 10,900 fishing efforts between Middle Creek and Chico 

 Creek from December 1, 1947 - February 2 9, 1948 o During the following 

 fishing season. May 1, 1948 - February 28, 1949, there were approximately 

 10,200 trout taken in 141,500 hours of angling by 43,200 fishing efforts. 



The rainbow-steelhead trout sports fishery- ran a close second to 

 salmon in the number of fishing efforts and hours of effort, but was first 

 in the number of fish taken during the 1948-49 season. Most anglers who 

 fish for both trout and salmon regarded trout as a second choice because, 

 although more trout were taken, salmon made up in weight what they lacked 

 in number. 



The trout catch throughout the season depended somewhat upon their 

 availability. This was revealed by the fact that the catch per hour 

 increased or decreased with the catch in all but three of the thirteen 

 months of trout census (Table 5). These months were July, October and 



14 



