REPORT OF THE PISII AND GAME COMMISSION. 67 



is suitable for rearing fish. The water in Taylor Creek is not fit for 

 hatchery purposes. Taylor Creek rises in Fallen Leaf Lake and its 

 water, during the Avarni weather, becomes impure from the organic 

 matter in the lake. The fish become affected and it is necessary to plant 

 them early in the season before they have made their proper growth. 

 Negotiations are under way at present to accjuire a new site on a nearby 

 stream where the fry can ])e held until later in the fall, before distri])ut- 

 ing them. A battery of tanks is being planned in wliieh to rear the 

 fry to a much larger size than formerly, before planting them. 



We repeat the recommendation made in the last biennial report 

 T-egarding increased efforts to propagate the large lake trout {8almo 

 iahooisis), by trapping the upper Truckee River and Blackwood Creek 

 for their eggs. This valuable fish should be increased in numbers by 

 artificial propagation. 



Fig 46. Seining for striped bass to be transplanted to barren waters. Photographs by 



H. H. Hunt. 



New varieties of game trout should be added to the native species of 

 trout in Lake Tahoe, thus affording a fish for the angler as well as for 

 the commercial fisherman. The Department of Fishculture is making 

 arrangements to carry out these plans. 



Considerable complaint has been made regarding the leeches affecting 

 the trout in the streams entering into the lake, and the commission has 

 been requested to remove the logs and brush from the creeks as the 

 erroneous impression prevails that the logs are infested with the 

 leeches and if the logs were removed the fish would not be affected. 

 The common leech occurs in many fresh water streams and lakes and 

 inhabits the gravel and rocks in the beds of the streams. It may be 

 found on the logs and pieces of wood in the creeks, but only incidentally, 

 as its native habitat is in the bottom of the streams among the gravel 

 and rocks, and under the bank M^here it finds lodgment. It is parasitic 

 on fishes, and if all the logs and wood in the streams entering Lake Tahoe 

 were removed, the leeches would be present just the same. As soon as 

 the fish enter the creeks from the deep water of the lake and come into 

 the shallow water, the leeches attach themselves to the gills and mouths 

 of the fish and in a short time the fish become greatly emaciated from 



