REPORT OF TIIK FISH AND C.AMF COMMISSION. 45 



f'.iul thfouuli lliu oi)eu timbiT near Hie lake shore where our men are 

 camped. »Siio\v storms and s(iualls follow each other in rapid succes- 

 sion, during the early spring. Our men endure hardships that very few 

 appreciate, unless they have spent the spring months in a tent on the 

 shores of Bear Lake. Dnring 1919 plans were made to build suitable 

 quarters for the help at North Creek Egg-collecting Station, a cabin 

 a new trap on IVIetcalf Creek, and a cabin and trap on Grout Creek. 

 A new trap was built in North Creek and the egg collecting station and 

 hatchery was repaired and improved. 



The principal streams entering Bear Lake, North Creek, Metcalf 

 Creek, Butler Creek and Grout Creek were filled with sand from the 

 high water mark on the lake shore to the waters edge, averaging in 

 length from one-fonrth to one-half mile. The creeks are all short, but 

 carry a large amount of granitic sand caused by the disintegrated 

 granite formation through which these streams flow. These creeks had 

 been filling up for several years, until in the spring of 1919 it was 

 almost impossible for the breeding trout to enter them, as the water 

 was spread over such a wide area of sand deposits that the fish could 

 not find water of sufficient depth for them to swim in. We planned to 

 open these channels so that the fish could enter the streams and reach 

 our traps. Teams and scrapers were hired and the channels excavated 

 through the sand deposits so that the water would have sufficient depth 

 a1 tlie mouth of the creeks. The spawning area above the traps is so 

 small that it does not .justify allowing any of the fish to spawn naturally. 

 The streams nearly all dry up before the eggs are hatched, even if they 

 are allowed to ascend the streams and deposit their eggs. The majority 

 of the eggs deposited by the breeders below the traps do not hatch, as 

 they are covered over with the sand that packs so tight over the eggs 

 I hat they are smothered. Consequently, the stock of fish in Bear Lake 

 must be kept up by aif ifn-ial propagation almost entirely. 



Years ago when the lake was first stocked the sand deposits were not 

 so great, as the flood waters scoui'cd llie streams out each season, but 

 during the last five or six years the sand has accumulated to such an 

 extent that the creeks nuist Ije kept open by removing the sand every 

 two or three years vSo that the fish can reach the traps. 



Bear Lake has an abundance of natural feed for the trout. Besides 

 the minnows, there are a great inan.\- varieties of aquatic insects that 

 abound in tlie lake in great number.s. During the last three seasons 

 of drought, these insects have increased, so that it is safe to say that 

 there is not another body of water of equal size anywhere that has the 

 same amount of natural food for trout. 



The excessive fishing during the last five years on Bear Lake has no 

 doubt considerably reduced the number of fish in the lake, although 

 good fishing can be had when conditions are right. But owing to the 



