COPPER RIVER INVESTIGATION. 135 



live fish and the dead fish were in every stage of disintegration. 

 A conservative estimate of the fish seen in the course of the distance 

 traversed woidd put the number of live fish at 3,500 and of dead 

 fish at 5,000. 



From the contour of the surromiding comitry it was evident that 

 the creek extended for a long distance without any material change 

 in character. The fish were as abmidant at the end of the walk 

 upstream as they were at the start, and it seems probable that the 

 entire stream for several miles at least was equally favorable for 

 spawning and equally well populated by the fish. All in all, the creek 

 deserves its name and reputation as a fine spawning ground for red 

 salmon. In the course of the trip one moderate sized grajding and 

 one very young fish (kind undetermined) were seen. There were no 

 schools of fry or fingerlings representing last year's sj^awning and 

 no numbers of other fish that would be unfavorable to the develoj)- 

 ment of the young salmon. 



This shore of the main lake was followed as far as the center of the 

 crescent. There was no other stream that possessed any beach 

 outlet with enouo;h water to float a salmon, and there were only two 

 or three ])oints wnere even a minimum inflow of water at this time of 

 the year was detected. E)vidently all fish that came to this section 

 of the lake must spawn in this one creek. On the way to and from 

 the creek mouth salmon were observed jum])ing in the o])en lake 

 water. Tliey were always relatively near the shore and were a])]mr- 

 ently following uj) the lake to the mouth of Salmon Creek. Jum])ing 

 salmon were not observed at any point along the shore beyond the 

 mouth of the creek, so far as the shore of the lake on that side was 

 traversed, nor in the open lake away from the shore. 



The configuration of the coujitry was such that having studied the 

 shore halfway along the southeast side, it was unnecessary to con- 

 tinue on that side up to the heail of the lake. Beyond Salmon Creek 

 there is evidently no other stream on the southeast shore which is 

 large enough to be of significance in the ]>roblem being studied. 



HEAD OF LAKE KLUTINA AND UPPER KLUTINA RIVER. 



From camp, which was oidy half a mile along the shore; from the 

 mouth of llallet iiiver, numerous trii)s were made through the 

 channels and sloughs at the head of tlu; lake and up the Upper Klu- 

 tina River itself. Tliat the si>awning grounds of the salmon were in 

 ]>roximity was evidenced by tlu^ number of dead salmon on the 

 shore. A hundred such fish were counted within 200 yards. Many 

 of the bodies had been partially eaten by bears, and bear tracks were 

 abundant in the vicinity. Both at evening an(l during the first night 

 salmon were seen and heard jum])ing near the cami), and a tri]> in the 

 boat alongshore disclosed a small clearwater inlet with numerous 

 living fish playing around, a few dead and spawned out floating on 

 the water, and some nests, although not much of the available space 

 had yet been occupied. A very small rivulet ran into this inlet, and 

 the water was perfectly clear, being thus in sharj) contrast with the 

 milky water of the lake in general. The clear water ran out into the 

 lake underneath the milky water, thus betraying its markedly lower 

 temperature. 



