406 American Fisheries Society 



perature of the surface water was 49° to 50° F. In the 

 sloughs where the fish were spawning the temperature was 

 from 37° to 40° F. It should be noted also that the water 

 in these particular sloughs was brilliantly clear in striking con- 

 trast with the milky water of the lake and more brilliant than 

 the relatively clear water in the other sloughs. A study of 

 bottom conditions showed that the places where spawning was 

 taking place were the seat of small bottom springs or a steady 

 general seepage not sufficient to produce any visible current, 

 but enough in calm weather to extend the influence of the 

 clear waters well out into the milky waters of the lake proper. 



Some of these indentations of the shore were branching, 

 and the different branches were distinguished again by tem- 

 perature only. No place was found where the fish entered 

 the branches which conform in general temperature to the lake, 

 and no branch was found in which the temperature of the 

 water was distinctly below that of the lake in general that 

 did not have at the time of our visit some fish spawning or 

 building nests and showing by their color that the period of 

 sexual maturity was at hand. 



Some of the small channels running into the lake at this 

 point were distinctly cooler than some of the inlets and com- 

 parable in temperature with the others, as they registered 

 levels of 37.5° and 38° F. We ascended one of these channels 

 and encountered one red salmon in the act of climbing a 

 beaver dam. We were not successful in the time at our dis- 

 posal in reaching the actual spawning grounds on any of these 

 tributaries. 



PHYSICAL CONDITION OF SPAWNING SALMON 



The condition of fish on arrival at the spawning grounds 

 has been vividly described by different observers. In the 

 main they have emphasized the fact that during the migration 

 the salmon suffers conspicuous injuries, and often arrives at 

 the spawning grounds in a very dilapidated condition. It was 

 interesting to compare with such statements the condition of 



