MANUAL OF FISH-CULTURE. 15 



being sliallow, an Indian method of fishing is used. The aversion of 

 salmon to heading downstream is well known, but when they are very 

 much frightened they will turn around and rush downstream at their 

 utmost speed. The Indians take advantage of this fact and build a 

 dam of rock or wicker work, or anything that will present an obstruc- 

 tion to the frightened fish. It is shaped like the letter V, with the angle 

 downstream, and at the angle is a large trap into which the fish are 

 driven. This was at one time the principal method of capturing the 

 breeding salmon at Clackamas, and it worked very satisfactorily. Fyke 

 nets and other fish-catching devices have been employed from time to 

 time, but have been rejected as unsatisfactory. 



At Baird, before the rack was employed permanently, seine fishing 

 was usually begun after dark and continued throughout the night, but 

 since the rack has been in use the seine has been hauled more or less 

 in the daytime with perfectly satisfactory results, the fishing generally 

 commencing about 4.30 a. m. and continuing as long as the results war- 

 rant it. The work is resumed again about 5 o'clock in the afternoon 

 and continued as long as it meets with success. 



RACK FOR CLOSING THE STREAM. 



The rack employed as a barricade against the ascending salmon 

 consists of a fence placed across the river and supported by piers heavy 

 enough to prevent the force of the current from pushing them out of 

 position. Log stringers, from 8 to 15 inches in diameter, are laid from 

 pier to pier, to which they are securely pinned, and posts, from 2 to 4 

 inches in diameter and of the required length, are driven obliquely 

 into the bed of the river, the lower ends being 3 or 4 feet upstream, 

 the upper ends resting on the stringers. Against these posts is laid the 

 rack, which is made in sections, each to 10 feet long, the slats which 

 form them being 1^ inches thick and 3 inches wide, and securely 

 braced at top and bottom. The slats are set li inches apart, and are 

 beveled on the upper side in order to present less resistance to the 

 current. The space between the slats allows ample room for the water 

 to go through, but prevents any salmon from ascending. A wider space 

 between the slats would be preferable, as creating less obstruction to 

 the current, but it would allow a considerable percentage of small grilse 

 (the young salmon after its first return from the sea) to get by the rack, 

 and unless males are quite plentiful the grilse are likely to be needed 

 when the spawning season arrives. 



The piers, when first made, are hollow triangles of heavy logs, each 

 layer of logs being firmly i^inned to the one below it, until the required 

 height is reached, the apex of the triangle pointing upstream. They 

 are afterwards filled with rocks and are very substantial. Those on the 

 McCloud have been able to withstand the tremendous momentum of the 

 current, even in the highest water. 



