cxxvi REPORT ov commissionp:r of fish and fisheries. 



there is bigli water iu the Columbia, The lake water is very cold, but 

 never freezes except iu the bays. The elevation of the lake surface is 

 1,108 feet, and the maximum known depth is l,4i)9 feet. 



Among the fishes inhabiting the lake are the following, all of which 

 are more or less abundant: Bull trout {8alveU7ius parl<ei), lake trout 

 [Salmo clarJcii), sucker {CatostoniKS macrocheilus), S(]uaw-fish {Ptycho- 

 cheilns oregonensis), chub {Mylocheilus caurinus), white-fish {Coregonus 

 wilUamsoni), and fresh-water cusk {Lota maculosa). Jt is the general 

 opinion among people living in the vicinity that no kinds of salmon 

 ever reach the lake. Further study of the fishes and the other animal 

 resources of this lake would prove interesting, and a small party might 

 well devote a season to the investigation. 



Kootanay Lal'e and River. — Kootenay Lake and its tributaries are 

 in the basin of the Ui^per Columbia Eiver, and are of imj)ortance in 

 connection with the extensive studies of the salmon and other fishes 

 of that stream tliat have been carried on by the Commission in recent 

 years. The Kootenay is a large stream rising on the slopes of Mount 

 Stephen and Mount Lefroy in British Columbia; it flows south into 

 Montana, then west and northwest through Idaho, and then back into 

 British Columbia, where it widens into Kootenay Lake, which extends 

 north and south about 100 miles. The lake is \)eculiar in having its 

 outlet on the west side about equally distant from the two ends, and 

 the flow of water is thus from both ends toward the middle. The 

 outlet, Kootenay River, is about 50 miles long, and Hows into the Colum- 

 bia. It is a very rapid stream, full of cascades and turbulent rapids. 

 Although perhaps no one of the falls forms a barrier to the ascent of 

 salmon, it seems almost impossible that fish wuuhl be able to surmount 

 the entire series. For a distance of about 90 miles the upper part of 

 Kootenay Kiver is approximately parallel with and only a few miles 

 from the Columbia, but flows in an opposite direction. It then trends 

 toward the west and runs within a few rods of Upper Columbia Lake, 

 the source of Columbia Kiver. It is reported that several years ago a 

 channel was cut between these waters and that boats were thus enabled 

 to pass from one to the other; though no longei'used for such purposes, 

 the water connection is said to still exist. 



A preliminary examination of this region was made by Prof. B. W. 

 Evermanu in August, 1898. Kootenay Lake was visited at Nelson, Brit- 

 ish Columbia, 200 miles north of Spokane, Washington, and inquiries 

 as to the lake and river were made at Bonners Ferry, Kootenay Falls, 

 and Yakt, on the Great Northern Railroad. The fishes ascertained to 

 inhabit these waters include sucker {Cato.stotuus viacroclieilus), squaw- 

 fish {Ftychocheilus oregonensis), white chub {Mylocheilus caurinus), sev- 

 eral trouts {Salmo), locally called " lake trout," "brook trout," "rainbow 

 trout," and "salmon trout;" white-fish {Goregomts u-iliiamsoni), and 

 red fish ( Oncorhynchus nerka). The small form of the red-fish was found 

 in several creeks in the vicinity of Nelson, and seems to be generally 

 distributetl throughout the region. It is utilized to a limited extent for 



