792 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



none elsewhere. Got all ready for the capture of fish. Shall not begin 

 sweeping yet. Fish captured every night after this date. See appended 

 " Statement of Fishing." 



November 4. — Don't see any new nests above the dam yet ; but the 

 old ones, three, are enlarged every night. Ko new work of consequence 

 in the main lead. I saw yesterday four or five nests in three feet of 

 water, along the west side of the pool below the dam, in precisely the 

 position where I saw them last year. 



November 6. — At 8 p.m. I explored the main lead and two first 

 pounds, and found not a single salmon ; never knew such a thing before ; 

 yet quite a number are just above the gate. Varnum counted 10 there. 

 I think they are mostly males. 



November 7. — Scarcely any more spawning operations in our main 

 lead. Two partially-made nests in pound C, our principal inclosure. 

 Above the dam I can count, close together, 13 nests, most of them 

 pretty complete ; these are in the swift water above the sluice-gate. 



Began taking spawn this afternoon, and find very few ripe females, only 

 8 out of 54. Total catch of fish to thLs date, 246, of which 54 are females. 



We found among the salmon one gravid female togue — the first time 

 such an event has occurred at this establishment. Her spawn was milted 

 with salmon milt, but all afterwards perished without giving any certain 

 indication as to the cause. 



To prevent the fish stealing their nests in the swift water above the 

 gate, I propose to surround this spot on the upper side by a drop-net, 

 and put in some small pounds to enti ap any fish that may venture upon 

 the forbidden grounds. This was put in operation the next day, and 

 from I^ovember 10 to 17 over 500 salmon were captured on this spot 

 and idaced below the dam. Though sharply followed up, the fish succeeded 

 in doing a great deal of nest-digging there. The first nests dug were 

 completely obscured by new ones. Further, quite a number of fish are 

 spawning above all our nets, especially at a gravelly shallow on the site 

 of an old coffer-dam, about 300 feet above the main dam. In former 

 years there has always been some spawning above the dam, but never 

 to an extent approaching their present operations. I atti-ibute their 

 behavior this year to the low stage of the water, which has never been 

 equalled at this date in any year within my experience. To get below 

 the dam, the fish must pass through the sluice-gate, adowu an inclined 

 " roUway " about 40 feet long. At the head of this rollway the water is 

 about 10 inches deep, but it flattens out to less than 3 inches at the 

 lower end, so that a fish of ordinary size cannot go down without rub- 

 bing upon the plank flooring of the rollway and being pushed partly 

 out of water, to which they appear to be much averse. 



November 16. — So many fish are beginning to spawn above the dam, 

 that to-day we put in a set of pounds at the old coffer dam, entirely 

 closing the stream at that point. This evening fish are entering our 

 new pounds in great numbers. 



