20 REPORT OF STATE BOARD OF FISH COMMISSIONERS. 



were well stocked with trout in former years, when the Truckee River 

 was open to the passage of trout from Tahoe to Pyramid and Echo 

 Lakes. The magnificent spawning grounds of the whole length of the 

 Truckee River were then used by the trout to deposit their eggs. In 

 almost countless numbers the trout made their way from. Pyramid and 

 Echo Lakes to Lake Tahoe. But since the dams have been built on this 

 river no trout can get up to Lake Tahoe, and of late years trout have 

 been diminishing above the lower dam very fast. 



Taking all these things into consideration, I thought it best to build 

 at Lake Tahoe a new State hatchery. 



THE NEW STATE HATCHERY AT LAKE TAHOE. 



Soon after arriving at the lake, and while the other work of seining and 

 trapping was in operation, I began to look up a place to build, Avith the 

 necessary conveniences for hatching and shipping. A spot near Tahoe 

 City was selected, where there were some fine springs near the shore of 

 the lake and quite close to the steamer landing. 



No one could tell me where the owner could be found, or even what 

 his name was. But in the hurry for a safe place to hatch the spawn 

 which was being taken (the first few lots were placed to the old private 

 hatchery, which was hired for the purpose), I had determined to build 

 a temporary hatchery on the place selected, and trust to luck in finding 

 its owner and buying it of him. So I ordered lumber from the mill at 

 Glenbrook for the building, and had the hatching troughs made at the 

 factory in Truckee. Wire for the hatching baskets was ordered from 

 San Francisco. A man was put to work getting out sills for the founda- 

 tion of the permanent hatchery. Other men were set to digging ditches 

 to bring in water from the springs to a new reservoir to be made near 

 the lake shore. As soon as the lumber and troughs arrived, a temporary 

 roof was put up. Some of the troughs were painted and prepared for 

 the eggs. After the troughs were in place, and the flume to the head 

 trough finished, and the water was running in the hatching troughs, 

 we brought the eggs from the old hatchery to our temporary new one. 

 We felt much relieved now, for we could take care of the eggs as fast as 

 they came in, and had the eggs which were in the old hatchery in a safe 

 place — the old rotten pipe had already burst several times, and we had " 

 been harassed with fear of losing the eggs. 



At this point of our work I started for San Francisco to find the owner 

 of the place on which I wished to build the new hatchery. After con- 

 siderable trouble and delay, I found the owner of the springs, and after 

 making a bargain at a fair price for the land, and a guarantee to give 

 me a month to search the title, I returned to Tahoe. We at once began 

 work on the new hatchery, laying a strong foundation with heavy sills 

 to bear up the weight of water and heavy winter snows. 



The building is twenty-four feet by forty-two feet, strongly built, with 

 a half pitch roof. It has seventeen windows, which give abundance of 

 light. The plan of the hatching troughs is lik6 those at the Sisson 

 Hatchery, with twenty-four troughs twelve feet long, and sixteen inches 

 wide — with head trough and a large settling tank outside connecting 

 with a flume, which brings the water down for about two hundred yards 

 from the springs. 



As soon as the building was ready and part of the troughs had been 



