22 



BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



but the following abstract has been prepared, giving the observations bearing espe- 

 cially on the spawning: 



July 12. — Very few fish in the river below the lake. About 100 spawning in a very small 

 spring-fed stream that enters the lake from the west side, about 300 yards above the outlet. Tem- 

 perature of this creek 39.5° F.; of the lake surface 52° F. 



July H. — Salmon spawning abundantly at the head of the Thumb, in Thumb River, and in 

 Salmon Creek, which was explored up to the first impassable falls. Apparently every available 

 spawning space was occupied in the river and in the creek. * * * At the head of the Thumb, 

 near the mouth of Thumb River, and in the lower part of Thumb River the nests were as thickly 

 placed as possible — one nest touching the next. Just below the mouth of Salmon Creek the salmon 

 were collected in a dense school — they were packed in vertically, and the whole pool showed only a 

 mass of noses sticking up above the surface. In the creek itself both live and dead salmon were 

 numerous — estimated 1,000 to each 25 yards in the lower part of the stream. The dead salmon 

 were apparently not long dead, as decay was not far advanced. About three-quarters of a mile of 

 this creek is available for spawning. Estimated at least 15,000 fish in the creek, not counting 

 those in the river outside. Estimated 5,000 in Thumb River and about its mouth. 



July 15. — Halfway Creek. Two to three thousand fish spawning in the first two to three 

 hundred yards. A dense school just off the mouth. Several hundred spawning on the beach, both 

 north and south of the creek. Two or three hundred on a stretch of fine beach about 300 yards 

 south of the mouth of the creek. 



At the head of the lake estimated 4,000 salmon spawning alongshore, especially between the 

 mouths of Cascade Creek and O'Malley River. Except in a few places, all available space seemed 

 to be well covered. Dead fish were very numerous and had apparently spawned earlier than in 

 Salmon Creek, as they were in a more advanced stage of decay. Many of the earlier spawning beds 

 had been exposed by the receding of the water (a condition frequently noted throughout the season), 

 and it was judged that spawning had taken place about two weeks before — i. e., about July 1. 



O' Malley River and the lower parts of Falls Creek and Canyon Creek appeared to be populated 

 to capacity, and there were dense schools just outside their mouths. * * * In O'Malley Lake, 

 however, only very few salmon were to be seen. There were a few near the outlet and near the 

 inlet, but there were not more than a few hundred in the entire lake. 



July 16. — Little Canyon Creek. Although very small in area, the place was one of the most 

 remarkable and interesting of any visited. A small pond or lagoon had been formed just back of 

 the beach by two small streams that drain from the mountain side. The stream connecting the 

 lagoon with the lake is not more than 25 or 30 feet long, and the lagoon is only 50 or 60 feet in width. 

 The water was very cold, 45° F. in the outlet from the lagoon and 39° F. at the inlets, while the 

 surface temperature of the lake was 59° F. The concentration of spawning salmon here was so 

 great that it could hardly have been exceeded. Estimated 1,500 salmon in the lagoon, 2,000 just 

 outside, and about 800 (counted roughly) dead on the beach just outside. They were spawning 

 thickly in the lagoon, and equally on the beach, and for about 200 yards below Little Lagoon Creek, 

 especially at places where there were small trickles of water entering the lake from the mountain side. 



Estimated 2,000 salmon spawning in Big Bear Creek and on the beach south of Bear Point. 

 Salmon spawning alongshore on both sides of Boulder Point. 



Cottonwood Creek was examined hastily. Salmon were spawning in the creek and were 

 thickly bunched off the mouth of the stream, so that the surface of the water was a mass of fins and 

 noses. 



Moraine Creek: Estimated 1,500 to 2,000 spawning fish in the first 100 yards; 1,000 to 1,500 

 were just outside the mouth, thickly schooled, as has been so often observed. Spawning was in 

 progress for 300 to 400 yards along the shore of the lake below Moraine Creek, and it was estimated 

 that there were about 500 salmon for each 100 yards. The water along this beach was somewhat 

 cooler than the lake surface offshore, probably caused by seepage. 



Spring Creek: Probably no salmon schooled about the mouth of Spring Creek, though there 

 was a fair number spawning all along the creek and in the holes. Estimated 1,200 to 1,500 in all. 



July 17. — Grassy Point Creek was examined for about 300 yards, and it was estimated that 

 there were about 3,500 salmon in this distance. A large school was waiting just outside the mouth, 



