52 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
The legal fishing season extends from September 1 to November 1. Some of the 
fishermen begin fishing as soon as the law permits, but the majority do not commence 
until the cannery begins operations. Tests made in August and early in September 
showed that the chinook salmon did not arrive in considerable numbers until about 
the 10th of September. They began to enter the river in the early part of August. 
Very few were caught in the lower part of the river after the middle of October. In 
the vicinity of Mapleton, however, a good many were taken as late as the last of Octo- 
ber. They moved up the river apparently very slowly, evidently remaining for a 
considerable time in the deeper portions of the river. 
At Point Terrace the water is 56 feet deep; near the mouth of Martin Creek the 
water is from 25 to 36 feet in depth. A large number of Chinooks remain in these 
places (or are thought to, at least) until they become red and distorted. They seem 
to be very inactive. Gill nets set near these places catch very few. Fishermen say 
that as soon as the first fall rains come and the water in the river freshens up a little 
the fish become very active and are easily caught in large numbers. No special effort 
is ever made to catch the Chinooks from Point Terrace to head of tide after about 
the 10th of October. Many of those taken after this date are so white-meated that 
they are worth not over 5 cents each, and they are usually thrown overboard by the 
fishermen. Some fishermen think that many Chinooks spawn on the margins of these 
deeper holes, but there is no positive evidence of this further than that late in the 
fishing season a few ripe females are caught near or in these deep holes. 
October 28 and 29, just after the first important fall rains, about 50 Chinooks were 
caught near Mapleton, which was the largest catch at this place during the season. 
A few of these were ripe and others nearly so. These fish were evidently just leaving 
the deep hole near the mouth of Martin Creek about three quarters of a mile below 
Mapleton. The larger portion of this catch was rejected by the cannery. 
The fall rains not only increase the amount of water in the river and freshen the 
lower portion of the stream, but they also lower the temperature of the water. These 
are doubtless the main factors causing the salmon to leave the deep holes and resume 
their run upstream. 
Salmon ordinarily reach their spawning-grounds before they are ripe, but there is 
considerable evidence that they sometimes do not enter the river until almost ripe. 
Mr. Leonard Christianson did considerable surf fishing in November, 1895, and 
informed us that he caught a few ripe chiuooks then. Eggs were forced from them 
while the fish were dying on the shore. This, however, is probably unusual. 
The North Fork being a much smaller stream than the main river and comparatively 
few white men fishing on it, it seemed that it was of very little importance as a fishing 
stream. Late in October it was learned that many chinooks were spawning all along 
the stream above tide water. On October 23 and 24 the North Fork was examined 
for some distance both above and below Minerva. The water was so stained that 
salmon could be seen only in shallow water on the gravel bars. These when frightened 
by our approach at once disappeared in deep water. A few were much mutilated and 
in a dying condition; in fact, all seen were more or less mutilated. North Fork, 
though not a large stream, has from tide water to a distance of about 8 miles above 
a number of excellent spawning-beds, and all showed much evidence of having been 
so used this year. On the 26th of October about 17 chinooks were caught, all spent 
fish and all more or less mutilated. As these spawning-beds are only about 8 to 16 
