REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 81 



number of wild rainbow trout weighing from 2 to 10 pounds each 

 in the Gunnison River, and spawned them during April and May, 

 and fully one-half the eggs from them were bad when taken. As the 

 Gunnison is a cold, clear stream and quite rapid, the quality of the 

 eggs in this instance can not be attributed to the cause mentioned 

 above. If the eggs of other wild rainbow trout are found in this con- 

 dition, it would seem that there is a limit to the usefulness of that fish 

 in the waters of Colorado. 



An effort was made in April to collect eggs from Stover Lake, about 

 50 miles north of Fort Collins, but when the ice melted all of the fish 

 were dead. Numbers of them were found floating in the water. One 

 lake near Fort Collins, which had been well stocked with black bass, 

 -was practically stripped of fish, a hole 12 feet long and 5 feet deep 

 being found full of dead bass. The same condition was found to exist 

 in a number of other lakes in the vicinity, and it was thought the fish 

 had smothered under the ice. . 



The lake trout on hand at the beginning of the year were carried 

 through the year with a loss of about 43 per cent. In December 

 50,000 eyed eggs arrived from North ville in excellent condition, but the 

 fry were not strong. Tho loss during the hatching period was only 

 about 10 per cent, but since then the mortality has been very heavy. 



During May 78,000 eyed grayling eggs arrived from Bozeman. 

 They hatched with a loss of 21,000, and the loss of fry to June 30 was 

 36,000, leaving on hand at the close of the year 21,000 fingerling fish. 



A consignment of 50,000 steelhead eggs arrived from the Pacific 

 coast in May. They commenced hatching within five days, and fin- 

 ished with a loss of 300, or about 0. 6 per cent. The loss of fry to 

 •July 1 amounted to 1,100. 



From the 1,735,000 black-spotted trout eggs on hand in July 870,980 

 fry were hatched. The eggs collected at Grand Mesa Lake turned 

 out very badly, about 50 per cent being lost in incubation. This was 

 attributed principally to the fact that they were eyed at the lake on 

 trays with such large mesh that they were liable to fall through ; con- 

 sequently it was necessary to cover the trays with mosquito netting, 

 which collected a great deal of sediment. The fry were carried to 

 October and distributed with a loss of about 50 per cent. Arrange- 

 ments were again made this year to collect eggs of the black-spotted 

 trout at Grand Mesa Lake, and by the close of the year 1,857,4D0 had 

 been collected at Grand Mesa Lake and 16,000 at Freeman Lake, or 

 a total to the close of the year of 1,873,400. These were at once trans- 

 ferred to the station, and appear to be of excellent quality. 



Spearfish Station, South Dakota (D. C. Booth,. Superintendent). 



On July 3 Mr. D. C. Booth was appointed superintendent of this 

 station, relieving Mr. H. H. Buck, who had directed the work of con- 

 struction. In addition to the superintendent, the personnel consists 

 of a fish-culturist and two laborers. 



F. C.,190U— 6 



