94 REPORT OF STATE BOARD OF FISH COMMISSIONERS. 



But there is no conclusive evidence that the fishes which were found 

 in Paper-mill Creek in 1900 and 1901 were the same individuals released 

 there three or four years previously. They may have been merely stray 

 fishes, and their being found there at that time only a coincidence; 

 or their coming into Tomales Bay may have been caused by there being 

 an extra large number of salmon in the ocean, which might very well 

 be, owing to the large output of young from the hatcheries; or those 

 found in Paper-mill Creek in 1900 and 1901 may have been some of 

 those released there, in which case it is very probable that they had 

 never reached the ocean at all, but remained in Tomales Bay. Paper- 

 mill Creek would then be their only stream. 



It is incredible that the salmon remember their native stream during 

 their two or three years of ocean life and that they consciously seek 

 it when they desire to return to fresh water. Probably most of them 

 do return to the stream from which they entered the ocean, not because 

 it is their native stream, but because they do not get far away from its 

 mouth, and when ready to return to fresh water it is the first to attract 

 them. 



THE TWO RUNS OF SALMON. 



Adult salmon may be found in the Sacramento River at almost any 

 time of the year. There are, however, two more or less distinct runs, 

 the first of which passes up the river during April, May, and June, 

 and the latter during August. September, and October. The former 

 is known as the spring run, the latter as the fall run. 



The salmon of the spring run ascend the river to the headwaters, 

 such as the Upper Sacramento. McCloud River, and Hat Creek, and 

 some of the earlier ones even pass Pit River Falls and ascend Fall 

 River to its source. They are not found in Pit River above the mouth 

 of Fall River. By the time they reach this portion of the stream, the 

 Upper Pit River is very low and the water impure, and the salmon 

 all turn into Fall River. The salmon of this, the spring run, spawn 

 mainly in August. 



The fall salmon do not ascend the river as far as the spring run, but 

 turn into the lower tributaries or spawn in the main river. They reach 

 their spawning grounds during the latter half of October, November, 

 and the first half of December, and spawn soon after. The main river 

 is very low at that time of the year, and the portion between Tehama 

 and Redding is an important spawning ground. 



As a matter of fact there is no definite distinction between the spring 

 and fall runs ; that is, there is no time during the summer when there 

 are no salmon running. First there are a few very early salmon that 

 begin running up the river in February, and the number increases 

 until May. when it decreases till July; then it increases till the 1st of 



