28 REPORT OP STATE BOARD OF FISH COMMISSIONERS. 



REPORT OF J. A. RICHARDSON. 



[Under date of September 15, 1891.] 



I arrived at the United States Fishery, and was met by George B. 

 Williams, Deputy United States Fish Commissioner. Mr. Williams 

 accompanied me Over the works. He has made many improvements 

 in the last two years. Everything is working perfectly, and the right 

 man is in the right place. Tlie mode of raising water from the river, 

 by combining a current wheel and a centrifugal pump, works without 

 danger or accident. There were 2,544,000 eggs in the hatchery. The 

 temperature of the water was 53°. I w^atched the men seining in the 

 evening. The salmon are not running very numerous, but are large in 

 size, the females predominating 6 to 1. As fast as the salmon are caught 

 they are put in corrals, where they get much scarred and battered trying 

 to free themselves. There is no way to prevent this. They seine from 5 

 p. M. to 10 p. M., with one hour for dinner, and again from 5 a. m. to 8:30 

 A. m. The system of working is perfect. From three to fifteen is the 

 average catch. Early in the season sometimes two hundred salmon are 

 taken at one catch. The stripping does not commence until 9 a. m.; 

 140,000 eggs were taken from 31 fish, giving a total of 2,684,000 to date. 

 The fish average large this season, 148,000 eggs from 31 fish, giving an 

 average of 4,516 eggs. They have taken as many as 8,000 eggs from 

 one fish this season. The smallest fish caught this season was a 

 female, weighing 3i pounds, and the largest weighed 40 pounds, and 

 was a male. * * * 



I saw a Leather carp in the reservoir by the house, which was one of 

 two that were taken in the seine a few days ago, which would go to 

 show that the carj) are working up into the McCloud River. 



[Under date of Beswick, jNIay 17, 1892.] 



The total number of trout eggs taken to date is 402,000. During this 

 month a new run of trout have put in an appearance. We have about 

 100 on hand; they are slow in maturing. It will be from one to three 

 weeks before the above have reached that condition. These trout are 

 thick set and rather short, and are in good condition. They are highly 

 colored, and especially is this the case with the fins. I have noticed a 

 few specimens that were so highly colored that it seemed unnatural. 

 The pectoral, ventral, and anal fins were bright scarlet, tipped with 

 white. We are catching more angling than with the traps. Until about 

 the 10th instant the males were very scarce, and even now only about 

 one in ten is matured, although there are plenty of them. The season 

 has been unusually cold and backward. Fly fishermen are taking from 

 ten to twenty pounds of trout here a day. * * * 



I think a great many trout ran up the creek last winter, for this 

 reason: For the past two months spent trout have been coming down 

 the creek, but could not pass the corrals or traps which extended 

 entirely across the stream. These trout would collect in the pools 

 above by the hundred, and would die if not allowed to return to the 

 river. A narrow lane, or pass, one foot wide was built through the cor- 

 ral, or trap, connecting the creek above with that below, and in twenty- 

 four hours scarcely a trout could be seen above in the creek. 



These trout are silver-sided, long and slim, in good condition, but 



