102 American Fisheries Society 



they wanted to ; we also know they will leave the fishway and 

 go to the open gate, even though they cannot get up, which 

 goes to prove that in order to make fish do as we want them 

 to we must make conditions conform with their instinct." 



An excellent and expensive fishway at Bangor, on the 

 Penobscot, was at one time examined by the State Commis- 

 sioners and found to contain salmon in nearly or quite all 

 its pools, and salmon are found in the river above the dam. 

 This seems to argue the efficiency of the fishway. Never- 

 theless the pool below the dam is an excellent one for the 

 fly-fisherman to exercise his art and the fish do so abound 

 there that good catches are made in spite of the fact that 

 salmon do not feed in fresh water and it therefore becomes 

 necessary to attach the hook to some other portion of their 

 anatomy than the appetite. Moreover, this is a compara- 

 tively low dam and the water-level below is determined by 

 the tide, which rises and falls some 10 feet. At high tide 

 and especially at a high spring tide, or on occasion of an 

 easterly storm when the water is driven into Penobscot Bay, 

 it is probable that salmon can pass the dam by way of the 

 log sluice, and the assumption (quite gratuitous) that this 

 is the road by which they go would explain their presence 

 above the dam and also their waiting at its foot. 



Of the three classes of fishes above mentioned, whose 

 tastes have been considered in the planning of fishways, sal- 

 mon are doubtlessly best able to meet and overcome diffi- 

 culties and we have heard their verdict in regard to two of 

 the plans proposed. In offering a new one, the writer justi- 

 fies himself not so much on this verdict regarding the older 

 plans as upon certain observed facts, which may be set 

 forth briefly. 



1. In handing young fish in troughs it is usual to set the 

 trough with some slant so that in cleaning the bottom the 

 sediment can easily be brushed toward the foot. This oper- 

 ation is helped by raising the dam or removing the outlet 

 plug so that the water is drawn down until only a thin stream 

 remains in the upper part of the trough, but the young fish 



