136 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



of 5 feet or more is confined to that portion below Hawkinsville, a 

 length of about loO miles. The descent of the river from Macon to its 

 union with the Oconee is nearly 200 feet. At Macon it crosses the fall 

 line in a shoal several miles in length, and above that city there are 

 numerous shoals but no falls of great height until the extreme upper 

 section of the river is reached. Shad ascend the Ocmulgee as far as 

 Macon, but few are taken above Hawkiusville, and nearly all those 

 caught on the rivers are obtained below Abbeville. The catch in 1896 

 is reported at 1,502, valued at $632, of which 892, worth $368, were 

 taken in set nets, and 610, worth $264, in bow nets. 



Oconee River. — This river rises among the hills of northeastern Geor- 

 gia, the main stream being formed by the union of North and Middle 

 forks, which unite below the town of Athens, at a height of 500 feet 

 above sea level, whence it flows 280 miles to its union with the Ocmul- 

 gee. At present steamboats ascend to the crossing of the Oconee and 

 Western Kailroad, a distance of 108 miles; but the stream is naviga- 

 ble as far up as Milledgeville, 180 miles from the mouth, where it crosses 

 the escarpment line at a height of 221 feet above sea level. On the 

 Oconee shad are occasionally seen as far up as Milledgeville, but very 

 few are caught above the town of Dublin, 108 miles above the mouth. 

 Below Dublin they are obtained by means of set nets and bow nets, the 

 reported catch in 1896 by the former being 600 roe shad and 700 bucks, 

 worth $530, and by the latter form of apparatus 620 roe shad and 925 

 bucks, worth $632, a total of 2,815 shad, valued locally at $1,162. 



OGEECHEE RIVEB. 



This river, the only one of importance between the Altamaha and 

 Savannah, is located entirely in Georgia, rising in Greene County, and, 

 after flowing a distance of 350 miles, empties into the Atlantic 38 miles 

 above the entrance of the Altamaha and 16 miles below the mouth of 

 the Savannah. It is navigable for vessels of 16 feet draft for a dis- 

 tance of 25 miles from the mouth, and 10 miles farther for vessels 

 drawing 5 feet. Nearly the whole of the Ogeechee is located below 

 the escarpment line, and it drains extensive swamps. Consequently it 

 is not subject to sudden freshets, and the temperature of the water is 

 generally much higher for corresponding dates than in the two adja- 

 cent streams, the Altamaha and the Savannah, which have their sources 

 in the mountains. At the Shoals of Ogeechee, 200 miles from the ocean, 

 where the river crosses the escarpment line, there is a wooden dam 225 

 feet long and 8 or 9 feet high, used in connection with a gristmill, and 

 4 miles above is a second wooden dam 280 feet long and 15 feet high, 

 develoi)ing 150 horse-power for running a cotton factory. The foot of 

 these shoals is the uppermost limit of the shad range, and very few 

 pass above Millen, 100 miles from the sea. 



The Ogeechee ranks first among the shad streams of Georgia, sur- 

 passing even the Savannah in the number and value of shad taken and 

 yielding nearly twice as many as the Altamaha and tributaries. Owing 



