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man at the ores, on being notified, attempted to hold the boat steady in 

 the heavy swell. At a moment when the boat was low to the rocks the 

 catcher inserted his iron bar to pry the animal from the rocks and at the 

 same time reached down and seized it. The abalone closed down upon 

 his hand in a vise-like grip from which the man could not pull away. When 

 the boat rose on an incoming wave it was capsized. The oarsman swam 

 ashore and was injured by being thrown against the rocks. Some hours 

 later a boat was sent to the rescue of the imprisoned man, who had been 

 drowned. His body was rescued after great effort and danger to his 

 countrymen. 



THE TROUT OF LAKE TAHOE 



C. W. NELSON 



LAKE TAHOE is situated in the Sierra Nevada Mountains at an eleva- 

 tion of 6,240 feet, fifteen miles by rail from Truckee, California. It 

 is one of the largest and most picturesque mountain lakes in the 

 world, being 23 miles long, 13 miles wide, and in places over 2,000 

 feet deep. Its area is 204 square miles, and the water of Tahoe is 

 famous for its crystal purity and clearness. From a scientific standpoint, 

 it is a most interesting body of water, but the study of it has been very 

 much neglected and but comparatively little is known of its physical and 

 biological aspects. Probably more than one hundred affluents deriving their 

 waters from the ampitheater of snow-clad mountains, which rise on all 

 sides from 3,000 to 4,000 feet above its surface, contribute their quota 

 to supply the lake. The only outlet of the lake is the Truckee River, which 

 carries the surplus waters from a point near Tahoe Tavern through a 

 magnificent mountain gorge and empties into Pyramid Lake, in Nevada, 

 one hundred miles distant. 



There are two species of trout caught in Lake Tahoe. These are 

 Salmo Henshawi, commonly known as Lake Tahoe trout, and Salmo 

 Tahoensis, commonly called Silver trout of Lake Tahoe. The "Tahoe" 

 trout is chiefly caught along the northern and western shores of the lake 

 and at the south end. A large area extending south a few miles from 

 Observatory Point is a good feeding ground for them, and this is the 

 favorite fishing ground for the anglers located in the vicinity of Tahoe 

 Tavern. Silver trout are most abundant in the northeastern part of the 

 lake, In Crystal Bay and Sand Harbor, but quite a few are caught in most 

 any part of the lake. The Tahoe trout Is caught in greater abundance 

 than the Silver trout, but it does not attain such a large size. The former 

 generally run from one to six pounds. Silver trout are caught varying in 

 weight from one to twenty-nine pounds. 



Some years ago the Mackinaw trout, Cristivomer namaycush, was 

 introduced, and these are caught in the southern part of the lake, in the 

 vicinity of Glenbrook, on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe. This species 

 has been caught weighing as high as ten pounds. 



The Tahoe trout ascend the streams to spawn and begin spawning, 

 usually, about the middle of April. The average number of eggs obtained 

 from each female is about 1,400. As late as August a few trout may be 

 found spawning in some of the streams, but generally the vast majority 

 are through by the early part of June. 



The California Fish Commission has established two good fish hatch- 

 eries on Lake Tahoe. Each hatchery has a capacity of over a million eggs, 

 and every year these hatcheries are filled to their utmost capacity with 

 the eggs of the Tahoe trout. The fry developed from these eggs are 

 planted in Lake Tahoe and in the small lakes tributary to it. The fry are 

 usually planted about the first week in August. The large increase in the 

 catches of trout during the past few seasons is undoubtedly due to two 



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