258 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
The second line of evidence from which one may deduce that there is truth 
in what the natives claim for the Tikchik in former years is what I have been 
told by credible eye witnesses of the way in which the Nushagak River was 
fished in the early days of the salmon industry in Bristol Bay. It was stated 
that for many years after canning operations began the Nushagak River was 
regularly fished as far upstream as Angel Bay, 30 miles above the present 
limit stakes. 
The third line of evidence is what I personally observed in 1925, when I 
know that there was a very large run otf red salmon into the Tikchik Lakes 
in comparison with the escapement of recent years. I would estimate that 
more than 500,000 red salmon entered Lake Nuyakuk during 1925. During 
July and early in August I heard reports from both white men and natives 
of the unprecedented number of red salmon ascending Nushagak River. When 
I ascended it on August 20, spent and dead red salmon were to be seen in 
numbers from Portage Creek up. The first considerable number of live red 
salmon were found in a nearly dry slough 6 miles above the village of Ekwok, 
80 miles above Snag Point, where 110 red salmon were counted in one spawning 
group. 
The Nushagak River, from head of tidewater below Portage Creek to 
Koliganek 150 miles above Snag Point, is an anastomosing stream, with two 
or more main channels paralleling roughly the flood plain, which is from 2 to 
5 or more miles wide. Within this tlood plain there is a veritable network 
of cross sloughs connecting the several main channels. From the point where 
spawning red salmon were first observed to the mouth of the Nuyakuk, a dis- 
tance of about 70 miles, red salmon were observed in the nearly dry cross 
sloughs wherever there was a heavy seepage from the gravel above. 
The edges of the river and the bars everywhere were covered with dead 
and dying humpbacks. This year’s run of humpbacks is even larger than that 
of 1920. A few dead chum and king salmon also were seen. According to 
the natives at the several villages along the river, the run of chum salmon 
was light, except very early in the season. The king run was less than usual, 
and the silver run so far is very light. The native caches were already full 
of dried fish, mostly reds, but they were still taking a few reds chiefly with 
spear. 
The size of these reds is particularly noticeable. My observation of the 
Wood River reds this summer was that they were larger than usual, and these. 
Nushagak reds are noticeably larger than those of the Wood River. The 
number of reds spawning below Koliganek, 70 miles from Lake Nuyakuk, 
came as a great surprise to me. It is known that a few red salmon spawn 
each year in Wood River below Aleknagik Lake. The writer assumes that 
these river-hatched fish form a part of the fingerlings which reach salt water 
as one-year fish. 
The writer has for many years been a purchaser of dried salmon for dog 
feed at various points in western Alaska. I know of no dried red salmon that 
are superior in flesh or oil to those taken above the rapids of Nuyakuk River 
and from Nuyakuk Lake during the height of the run. I have seen fish taken 
from Lake Nuyakuk as bright and firm as salt-water fish. All this is mentioned 
that you may better realize the value of a worth-while effort to restore this 
run of red salmon. 
* * * * * * * 
For your information I am submitting herewith estimate of red salmon that 
spawned in Nushagak River below Koliganek and in Nuyakuk Lake and a 
rough guess at the number of such fish passing other points during the 1926 
season. While the numbers submitted do not, except in detached instances, 
represent actual counts, yet I feel that the figures are worthy of consideration, 
particularly as I have in all instances made liberal deductions from the original 
totals. Had this run of red salmon not been so almost unbelievably large, 
and to me so unexplainable, I would not have taken the trouble to attempt an 
estimate of the number of fish. Neither would I have had the presumption - 
to present these figures to you as in any way reliable. But this run is so great 
that I can not but feel that the Bureau of Fisheries should have some cognizance 
of it: 
PI 

a 
Best 
