36 REPORT OF THE FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



steelhead to be found in that river and its tributaries. Investigations 

 have been made for rack and trap sites in the lower reaches of the 

 river, but none have been found that can be operated for any sum of 

 money that is available for such purposes from the present income of the 

 Commission. The river is so wide and deep and subject to such tremen- 

 dous floods that it is impracticable to attempt to collect eggs near the 

 mouth of it. 



It has been urged on our Dei)artiuent several times, by persons not 

 fcimiliar with fishcultural operations and who are not educated to the 

 hal)its of the anadromous fishes that enter Eel River, that we catch the 

 breeding fish for our egg supply from the fish that congregate in the 

 large pooLs from the mouth of Bull Creek to the large pool at the mouth 

 of the river. The fish that enter the river and linger in the large pools 

 early in the season are not ripe and consequently they can not be 

 spawned. Several attempts have been made during the last few years 

 to collect eggs from the salmon on the lower reaches of the river, but for 

 the reasons above mentioned all efforts have failed. 



The Fort Seward Hatchery has been supplied with steelhead eggs 

 from the Snow Mountain Egg-collecting Station located on the south Eel 

 River, one of the tributaries of the main or middle Eel River. A careful 

 examination of the Eel River system was made during 1918 and 1919 

 in an effort to locate an egg collecting station on the upper reaches 

 of the river that would furnish l)oth salmon and steelhead eggs enough 

 for the whole Eel River in northern Humboldt County, and several 

 other streams. The most favorable location found so far, is near Brans- 

 coms on the South Fork of the main Eel River in northern Mendocino 

 County. The eggs can be collected at this point from fish that are ripe, 

 as the site is located approximately 120 miles from the junction of the 

 south fork and the main Eel River. 



The south fork must not be confused with the South Eel River, as 

 the two streams are miles apart and have their sources in different 

 ranges of the coast mountains. The South Eel River, which in reality is 

 the head of the main Eel River, rises in the middle range of the Coast 

 Mountains. The south fork of the Eel River rises in northern Mendo- 

 cino County in the Coast Range proper and follows the basin near the 

 coast all the way to its junction with the main river. It is the principal 

 tributary of the Eel River system and flows through a heavily wooded 

 country from its source to the mouth and carries the largest amount of 

 water during the fall months of any of the forks of the Eel River. 



Judging from the amount of water, the topographical formation of 

 the country through which it flows, and the temperature of the water, 

 it is the branch of the river which the great majority of the steelhead 

 and salmon enter to spawn. This cannot be determined to a certainty'" 

 until an experimental station is operated for one or two seasons. 



