CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 55 



the bucketful, and either consumed on the place or sold to others for hog feed- Of 

 course, I notified these men of the provisions of the law, and forbid the further use 

 of either seine, net, or trap at any season of the year, or for any purpose whatever. 

 They promised obedience, and the residents of the vicinity said that they would take 

 care that the law was complied with, and in the event of any violation the parties 

 should be prosecuted with the greatest rigor to the utmost extent of the law. 



'At the mouth of or a short distance up almost every small stream — the trout's 

 breeding place — that empties either into the Truckee River, or Tahoe, Donner, or 

 other lakes, fish traps are set in such a manner as to be actual murder to most of 

 the fish, and complete destruction to their spawn. Taking advantage of the fish's 

 it-tinct of procreation and continuance . of its race, and of its other instinct, that 

 that can only be done by going up stream to shallow water and a gravelly bottom, a 

 trap is made, which is done as follows : A row of stakes is driven across the full 

 width of the stream. These are nol placed so close as to prevenl the water coming 

 down, yet are put so near that a trout can not get through to go up. Further down 

 the stream another row is driven across. This is in every respect Like the first, 

 ep1 thai in one portion of it — about the center — an opening, say, a foot wide and 

 two or three feet long, is left under water. The distance between the two rows of 

 stakes is a matter of option, being from three or four feet to ten or twelve, depend- 

 ing somewhat upon the number of prisoners the owner expects to take, and how 

 long, and for what purp o keep them. It will be seen that the fish can 



get in through the lower tier but not out through the upper one, yet might escape 

 by returning; but this they will not do. Fish always return to spawn at the spawn- 

 ing place of their parents. Here they are. a' aing, nature, instinct, or what- 

 ever else people may choose to term it, tells the fish that they are of no further use 

 in the waters of this world unless they get up the stream to spawn and milt. So 

 in this tra]i thej remain, butting their head- -t the upper stakes until they 

 are either taken out or the growing ova and milt compels them to violate the laws 

 of nature and die, when the fish and what should have been their descendants are 

 dipped out and. as already said, given to the hogs. Trout are frequently thrown out 

 with their noses absolutely butted off in the vain endeavor to force their way through 

 the barricade. 



"The Indians, and a good many whites, have another distinctive method of 

 Mapping trout, but it is nothing like so bad as the one described above. Even where 

 there are good ladders and ways, a large number of fish try to run up the current 

 pouring over the dam. After repeated efforts to run up on the face of the water 

 against the impetus with which it is coming down, they become weak and exhausted, 

 and can no longer keep upon the face of the stream and fall through it into the 

 vacant space that is always found under the water that pours over a dam. In this 

 space wicker or other baskets (the Indians use willow twigs) are fastened, and into 

 these baskets the fish fall in great numbers, and of course can not escape. 



"Two facts show conclusively that trout are fast disappearing from the lakes. 

 One is, that very few, comparatively speaking, are caught now, even in the best 

 seasons, with the hook and line. As a sample, I may tell of a Sacramento attorney 

 who is noted as an expert in fishing — a gentleman who can nearly equal Izaak 

 Walton for patience in wating for a nibble — who spent some four or five days this 

 summer fishing on Donner. He was out by daylight, and did not return until dark, 

 and ih" greatest number lie caught in any one day was five. I may also -rate that 

 every trout that he caught was silver — there was not a brown one in the whole 

 number. The other fact is, that the so-called chub, the natural, as it would seem, 

 food for the trout in the lakes, have of late years increased in such numbers as 

 almost to be a nuisance. 



"On the Truckee, about nine miles from Tahoe, Comer Brothers have a large 

 establishment for rearing trout. I understand that it was started about three years 

 ago, and that although it has been a success so far as to growing and distributing 

 the fish, yet, in commercial parlance, it has been something very near a failure. I 

 was told that Webber Lake was stocked from the Truckee several years ago, and 

 that it is now well filled with good sized fish, though formerly it did not possess any 



