342 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



into it in the vicinity of Valentine. The banks are lined with various 

 kinds of trees and shrubs, and the water was free from vegetable life 

 of any importance. There are several fine small springs near Valen- 

 tine. We took sunfish from this creek, the farthest west they have been 

 recorded along the Niobrara River, Below the milldam, at Valentine, 

 in Minnechaduza Creek there was a great abundance of fish, princi- 

 pally minnows, all trying, no doubt, to go upstream. The temperature 

 of the water below the dam was 70°. A little spring running into the 

 creek at this place had a temperature of 54°. 



Long Pine Creelc, which is something more than 20 miles in length, 

 rises in the east-central part of Brown County, Nebr., and flows directly 

 north, emptying into the Niobrara River. This stream is a charac- 

 teristic spring creek. Near the town of Long Pine there are many 

 fine springs, some of them discharging large quantities of water. The 

 bed is sandy and the water clear and almost entirely free from lime 

 and other impurities. Seven miles south of Long Pine, near the head 

 of the creek, the stream was 15 feet wide and 1 to 3 feet deep, with a 

 swift current. Temperature 05° At various places between the head 

 of this creek and the town of Long Pine are numerous springs; indeed, 

 the creek is fed almost entirely by springs. About 4 miles above the 

 town is a spring creek about 2 feet wide and 5 inches deep, possessing 

 a 2-foot current and a temperature of 53° to 55°. This was the tem- 

 perature of all the springs along this creek except those at the extreme 

 head. In them the water was more stagnant and warmer by several 

 degrees. The temperature of the main stream was found to range 

 from Gl° to 75° near noon, July 5. 



We secured some sunfish, a few sticklebacks, and some minnows. 

 We fished the creek 10 miles north of Long Pine, where we found it 35 

 to 40 feet wide, 2 to 4 feet deep, and a current averaging 3 feet per 

 second. We attempted to fish below a dam, but found it difficult on 

 account of the swift current and the numerous snags. The banks along 

 this portion of the creek were covered with small trees, principally ash. 

 The temperature of the water was 79°. Half a mile above the dam 

 Bone Creek enters Long Pine Creek from the west. It is small, 10 feet 

 wide, 8 inches deep, and has a rather swift current. Its bottom is sandy 

 and the water clear, with a temperature of 79°. 



Between the mouth of Bone Creek and the dam in Long Pine Creek 

 there are some ponds that have been made by a change of channel of 

 Long Pine Creek. When we visited them there was no connection 

 between them and the creek, and since Long Pine Creek depends upon 

 springs and does not have high water, the ponds have not been con 

 nected with the stream for som? time. The water in the ponds was 

 almost completely filled with aquatic vegetation, ranged from 2 to 4 

 feet in depth, and had a temperature of 77°. Prom these ponds we 

 took sunfish {Apomotis cyanellus), darters, and minnows. 



Of the mauy streams of Nebraska which we have examined, Long 

 Pine Creek is by far the most beautiful and best adapted to trout. In 



