ALASKA FISHERY AND FUR-SEAL INDUSTRIES, 1926 257 
the upper and lower Ugashik Lakes. This work was continued with good 
results until August 29, when camp was moved to Ugashik Creek and the work 
continued where Mr. Looff had been operating. Mr. Looff and his assistant 
then returned to Becharof Lake to make a survey of the spawning grounds and 
store all equipment for the winter. Fishing was continued at Ugashik Creek 
until September 16, when equipment was stored and both parties left for 
Kanatak to take passage for the States. 
As a result of these operations 19,687 Dolly Varden trout were destroyed, 
all but 36 of which were taken in the Ugashik district. Dolly Vardens were 
found spawning from the latter part of August until the latter part of September 
in the smaller tributaries, in most cases near their sources. 
TIKCHIK LAKES DISTRICT 
Hon. Frank A. Waskey, the first Delegate to Congress from 
Alaska, has written two very interesting letters to Agent Dennis 
Winn in regard to fishery conditions in “the Tikchik Lakes, which 
form a part. of the headwaters of the Nushagak River, Bristol Bay 
district. Mr. Waskey has been a resident of the district many years 
and has taken a keen interest in conditions there. His assistance 
was regarded as very valuable in connection with Warden A. T. 
Looft’s investigation of the Tikchik Lakes district in the fall of 1923. 
The following extracts from Mr. Waskey’s letters contain pertinent 
and valuable information: 
I believe it was during the summer of 1921 that you [Agent Winn] questioned 
me near Dillingham as to whether many red salmon spawned in the Tikchik 
Lakes. I answered that the number was negligible. You thought, I believe, 
that these lakes may have been an important spawning ground for red salmon 
in times past and probably had potentialities for the future. I was quite sure 
at the time that these lakes and their tributary and outlet waters were impor- 
tant as spawning grounds only for humpback salmon. Since that time I have 
been compelled by several lines of evidence to change the opinion then held. 
* This evidence consists partly of what I have been told by the Tikchik natives 
regarding the quantity of red salmon formerly spawning in these waters, and 
particularly in the Tikchik River proper. If you will refer to the map which 
accompanies the report of Mr. A. T. Looff,’ who visited a portion of the Tik- 
chik country in 1923, you will note the mouth of the Tikchik River, which 
flows into the northeast corner of Lake Nuyakuk. The Nuyakuk River, which 
on most maps is erroneously called the Tikchik River, flows from the southeast 
corner of Lake Nuyakuk and enters the Nushagak River at the village of 
Koliganek, about 70 miles below. The Tikchik River heads in two unmapped 
and almost unknown lakes, named Uppnuk and Nishlik. These lakes are not. 
and I believe never were, important salmon lakes, but the Tikchik River itself 
is to-day a producer of red-salmon fry in great numbers. 
Incidentally it should be mentioned that the geographical nomenclature of 
the Alaskan Innuit is always descriptive. The word Tikchik is a corruption 
of an Innuit word which means “ stink,’ and was so applied to this river 
because each summer for a time after the red salmon had spawned the water 
was so Offensive in taste and smell that the natives then residing there could 
not use it for any domestic purpose. As it is a matter of common knowledge 
that the primitive Alaskan native is not overfastidious in such matters, one 
can imagine what a great quantity of dead salmon there must have been to 
so pollute the waters of this quite large and swift stream. 
To-day the most used spawning beds in the river commence at a point about 
5 miles above Lake Nuyakuk and continue almost without interruption for 25: 
miles or more to beyond the point where the two streams from Lakes Uppnuk 
and Nishlik join. A few red salmon spawn in the lower 5 miles of the Tik- 
chik, as do great quantities of humpback salmon every other year. A few 
red salmon also reach each of the two lakes mentioned. 

‘eee in Alaska Fishery and Fur-Seal Industries in 1924. B. F. Doc. 992, pp. 
