12 



BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



for this purpose. The lake is about 8 miles long and averages 1 mile in width, but the quite preci- 

 pitous mountains which almost surround it leave remarkably few tributary streams accessible to 

 the salmon for spawning purposes. The result is that many salmon spawn in the lake along the 

 gravelly beaches. On August 1 the lake contained a large number. Two small lakes drain into 

 Karluk Lake, the outlet of which is Karluk River, a stream shown by compass survey some years 

 ago to be approximately 15 miles long. * * * 



Of 200 [dead] females selected at random September 12 at Karluk Lake, it was found that 

 197 had spawned clean, 1 contained about 1,000 eggs, while the other 2 had about 150 eggs, which 

 had died with the fish. 



The stream mentioned as being suitable for hatchery purposes is presumably 

 the same one in which Rutter's observations were made and which we have called 

 Moraine Creek. Bower's observations during a very short visit to the lake, and his 

 notes on the extent of available spawning streams, are in error, as our later and 

 more extensive observations show. His notes on the completeness of spawning are 

 important, however, as they check with those of Chamberlain, and both are at 

 variance with the observations made by us during the very heavy spawning of 1926. 



The next examination of Karluk Lake was made in the fall of 1917 by E. M. 

 Ball. The following extracts from his report deal with the spawning of that year: 



September 12. — This part of the river (the upper two miles) formed the spawning ground of a 

 large number of red salmon, the river bottom being a mass of spawning beds. No trout were 

 observed in this part of the river. Camp was made at the lower end of the lake. 



September 13. — Left camp at 6 a. m. and proceeded along the southern [western] shore of the 

 lake, making an examination of all streams as they were passed. Six streams of fair size enter the 

 lake from the south [west]. All of them were occupied by spawning salmon, and around the mouth 

 of each was a bank of dead fish that had spawned and drifted down the stream to the quiet waters 

 of the lake. Piles of salmon had also accumulated at several points along the stream where brush 

 and rocks had caused them to lodge. The shore of the lake was the resting place of thousands of 

 skeletons of salmon. At the head of the lake are two much larger streams, one of which is the 

 outlet of another lake, whose length is approximately 3 miles. The connecting stream is probably 

 half a mile long and has an average width of 70 feet. The valley between the two lakes is simply 

 a network of streams, all of which have gravel bottoms affording perfect grounds for the deposit of 

 spawn. Thousands of salmon were then spawning, and yet other thousands had spawned and 

 died. Trout were rather abundant also. Several streams enter the lake from the north [east]. 

 Each of them seemed to have its share of salmon. We had intended to camp for the night on an 

 island about the center of the lake, but threatening weather conditions caused us to return to the 

 camp at the end of the lake, which we reached about 9 p. m. From sundown, until darkness pre- 

 vented further observation, the lake was alive with feeding fingerlings. 



It would be a difficult matter to estimate the number of salmon that had reached the lake. The 

 run was still on, and those in the lake had not all approached the streams. A fair estimate of the 

 number that had spawned, as indicated by the quantity of skeletons and dead fish observed in the 

 streams and lake, together with those then spawning, would exceed 200,000 salmon. 



In the late summer of 1919 Henry O'Malley, the present Commissioner of 

 Fisheries, and the senior author made a very brief examination of the spawning in 

 Karluk Lake. Unavoidable circumstances prevented the complete survey that had 

 been planned. Observations were made on Cottonwood, Moraine, and Spring 

 Creeks and along the foot of the lake. The same party again visited the lake in 

 August, 1921, and their observations are recorded in the following notes taken from 

 the diary of the senior author. Since these notes contain references to the observa- 

 tions of 1919, it has not seemed desirable to quote separately the notes made during 

 the first brief visit. 



