128 ALASKA FISHERIES AND FUR INDUSTRIES IN 1919. 



It is true that the shifting of the level makes it possible to fish 

 from certain platforms at one stage of the water and necessitates 

 moving them as the water level varies. It is also stated by the fisher- 

 men that some places which are good fishing stations at one water 

 level do not yield any considerable number of salmon when the water 

 level has changed. But such statements as these deal with details 

 of the situation and not with the real problem. The drop in the 

 canyon is considerable. Within a distance of li miles the water 

 descends approximately 50 feet. The west bank of the river is very 

 steep and made up almost exclusively of large broken rock fragments. 

 As these lie they build scallops in the bank that are of varying size. 

 Walking along the rocks near the water's edge one can see very dis- 

 tinctly that the cm-rent of the river is checked very radically near 

 the shore and at sojne points actually takes the reverse direction 

 from that in midstream. All sorts of minor variations are seen when 

 one takes into account the changes near the bank in their relation 

 to the general stream flow. 



On the opposite side, which was not visited, conditions are more 

 radical, because the bank slopes on the average more gently and 

 ridges of loosely piled rock extend out into the stream for little dis- 

 tances. Especially prominent were two basins that opened into the 

 stream at several points and are knoAvn as the Big Bear Hole and 

 the Little Bear Hole. They show, even from a distance, quiet water 

 circling round and round. In the center of the stream the current 

 IS much broken by what are evidently huge rocks in the bed of the 

 river. 



After having watched the course of the current carefully and having 

 measured as nearly as possible the velocity in midstream, the author 

 felt that no salmon could successfully surmount the rapids there for 

 any considerable distance. The water is so murky with sediment 

 that one can not see the body of the fish even when the back fin 

 breaks the surface, and one is forced to draw conclusions concerning 

 the behavior of the salmon from that which has been observed on 

 clear streams where the actions of the fish could be definitely followed 

 by the eye. It seems altogether likely that salmon endeavoring to 

 pass the rapids will dart from point to point, forcing their way through 

 the brief spaces where they are compelled to subject themselves to 

 the full current, and resting behind a rock or in an eddy, or at least 

 seeking a place close to the bank where the current is retarded con- 

 siderably. There is little doubt that in such places fish will hang 

 until, summoning their energies for a new dash, they make the next 

 point of rest, and will repeat the process until they have reached the 

 top of the rapids. Since it is not possible to see the fish even through 

 a relatively thin volume of water, it seems altogether likely that they 

 are oblivious to the movements of the dip net as it sweeps through 

 one of these resting places and scoops out a part of the group wait- 

 ing there. While it is true that the most effective net fisherman 

 has his net in the water only a fraction of the time, it seems probable 

 that he secures a much larger percentage of the fish than has been 

 estimated by various observers previously. Inasmuch as the fisher- 

 men are distributed fairly numerously along the west ])ank of the 

 rapids, and inasmuch as the fish will necessarily take a considerable 

 time to surmount the rapids even under the best of conditions, it 

 seems likely that during the time in which dipping is being carried on 



