240 
BULLETIN OF THE BUKEAU OF FISHERIES 
on the 21st 10 of 33 fish were females. On the 22nd 119 fish comprised 45 females; 
on the 23rd 75 fish, with 30 females, were caught, which proportion is very close to 
that of April 10. On the 29th, of 29 fish 13 were females. On May 1 of 31 fish 15 
were females, and the last catch of the season, on May 2, consisting of 60 fish, con- 
tained 35 females. For the whole season 735 fish comprised 276 females and 459 
males. 
In 1926 the spawning run of smelts in this brook was considerably smaller than 
in the preceding year. The season was backward and the run did not begin as 
early as in 1925. The first catch, on April 20, consisted of only 10 fish, and these 
were apparently nearly all that there were in the brook. Of these 5 were females. 
The proportions for subsequent dates up to May 10 were as follows: 
April 21, 18 fish, comprising only 4 females; April 23, 25 fish, comprising only 3 
females. Thirty-seven fish taken on April 27 comprised 14 females, and 29 fish taken 
on April 29 comprised 16 females. This is a curious coincidence, in that the same 
number of smelts were taken on the same date in 1925. On May 6, of 103 fish 61 
were females; on the 9th, of 14 fish 6 were females; and on the 10th, of 18 fish 7 
were females. 
Of the total catch of 259 smelts, 116 were females and 143 were males. 
The choice places of spawning, when possible, are gravelly ripples, which may 
contain aquatic moss, water cress, or other plants, or sticks, leaves, and other adven- 
titious material. The fish sometimes spawn in pools or along the stream margin, 
but always normally where there is some current. Bloch (1796), writing of the 
European smelt, said that they deposit their eggs upon the bare rocks. 
Regan (1911) says that the fish crowd together in dense array and the eggs, 
when shed, attach themselves wherever they happen to fall. Regan repeats the 
much quoted reference to the spawning of the smelts in the Forth, saying that 
when “the smelts spawn in March, about two miles above Stirling Bridge, every 
stone, plank, and post has been described as covered with their yellow eggs.” This 
reference is to the statement of Richard Parnell in 1839, who said the smelts ascend 
the Forth in numerous bands in the month of March for spawning. It occurs, then, 
in great quantities 2 miles below Stirling Bridge (not above, as stated by Regan) 
and soon each pier is covered with their eggs, which have a “yellowish color.” 
From the foregoing it would appear that the English smelt spawns in streams 
large enough to be called rivers. If this is so of the smelt in this country, it has 
not been discovered, although the general impression is that it sometimes does. 
Beyond doubt it does ascend rivers; but it seems probable, judging from analogy, 
that the smelt diverts itself from the rivers into tributary brooks; at least most 
references pertain to moderate streams, such as are called brooks. Samuels (1904) 
says they appear to have favorite localities for spawning and visit the same brooks 
and streams year after year. 
A run may be observed in a small brook about high tide, or soon thereafter a 
few smelts may be seen straggling upstream and ere long they come faster and 
thicker. When a light is cast upon them they may pause or even settle back a 
little, but they soon shoot ahead. So intent are they in ascending the stream that 
