74 REPORT OF THE FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



into the Pit River, two miles northwest of Carbon, where the old Hat 

 Creek Ilatehery was located. It is thirty-eight miles in length. Its 

 principal tributary is Rising River, a short stream arising from large 

 springs in the lava. It is only two miles in length, bnt has an average 

 flow of 380 second feet of Avater. Hat Creek, before its confluence with 

 Rising River at the town of Cassell. has an average flow of about 100 

 second feet during the summer months. Hat Creek and its tributary. 

 Rising River, were noted for the excellence of their rainbow trout. 

 After the flood of mud and sand from Mount Lasseti, the only survivors 

 in the valley Avere those that were in Rising River. The water was 

 muddy all during the season of 1915 and during the last year con- 

 tinued so muddy that it Avas not considered practical to restock the 

 stream. It Avill i)robably be several years before fish Avill again thrive 

 in Hat Creek, as the shifting sand deposited by the A'olcano destroys 

 all the insect life in the stream, as Avell as making it uninhabitable for 

 trout. 



The fish enter Burney Creek late in the summer, l)ut the run is a 

 protracted one, lasting from April to August. The fish are late in 

 developing and if the fry were reared in a higher altitude and the 

 progeny spawned later each season, a fall spawning rainboAV trout could 

 be de\'eloped. This Avould probably have some advantages over a spring 

 spaAvning fish, as such trout Avould be in fine condition for the anglers 

 Avhen the fishing season opens in the spring. 



The eggs collected during the season Avere eyed at Burney Creek 

 Station, and 200,000 were shipped to Sisson Hatchery, from Avhich 

 station they were distributed to different sections of the state. Owing 

 to heavy operations at other stations, Burney Creek was not operated 

 during the season of 1916. 



A Southern California Hatchery. 

 During the summer of 1915 the connni.s.sion again took up the matter 

 of coiLstructing a hatchery for southern California. A hatchery for 

 southern California has been advocated for scA^eral years, but to find a 

 location Avhere the Avater, climatic conditions and transportation facili- 

 ties Avere suitable for a hatchery large enough to supply the region 

 south of the Tehachapi and the country lying to the east of the San 

 Joaquin Valley. Avas not easy. The hatchery department had made 

 investigations and gathered data on the best streams in the country 

 south of the Tehachapi. but none of them was found to meet all the 

 requirements necessary for the proposed hatchery. Some of the sites 

 Avere inaccessible, others too far from railroad transportation, but the 

 great majority of them, although located where the water Avas pure and 

 in sufficient quantity, were undesirable because the water Avas used 



