146 OBSERVATIONS ON A SALMON RIVER 



though called a salmon by the fisherman is 

 a trout. This is a very game fish that takes 

 a fly. Its maximum weight is said to be 20 

 pounds, although the usual run is from 2 to 

 6 pounds. In California the taking of this 

 species is restricted to hook and line fishing. 



The number of salmon in the Pacific is 

 beyond all belief. Taking the year 1909 as 

 an example we find the catch was very heavy 

 owing to the quadrennial heavy run of sock- 

 eye and chinook and the biennial run of 

 humpback salmon. 



The total catch of California was 12,141,- 

 937 pounds and of Alaska 175,934,000 

 pounds. 



The total catch of the whole coast includ- 

 ing British Columbia in 1909 is said to have 

 been 365,336,482 pounds of salmon and 

 steelhead trout, which returned the fisher- 

 men $7,224,024, and in addition there were 

 the millions of fish that died after spawning. 



