80 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
during that time. This, however, is improbable. Our camp was situated upon the hank of the stream, 
the water was at all times very clear, and we were able to keep close watch for fish. If any redfish 
had come up during those ten days it is more than probable they would have been seen by some of us. 
After July 22 these nets were examined usually about three times each week, and though other fishes, 
such as yellowbellies, Dolly Yarden trout, suckers, and whitefish, were caught by them, no redfish, 
either large or small, were taken. But small redfish were in the lake at least as early as July 16, and 
they began entering the inlet August 3. Between August 3 and August 28 the number in the inlet 
increased rapidly until the latter date, when 1,569 were counted. 
The first small redfish seen was caught on a hook in Alturas Lake, just off the inlet, July 16, by 
Mr. Maddren, while fishing for Dolly Yarden trout. The hook was baited with salmon spawn. This 
fish was a male 11^ inches in total length, and the stomach contained a small amount of insect larvae. 
Of the many examples, taken by a gill net in Alturas Inlet on August 6, 9 were examined, only one of 
which showed any trace of food in the stomach. 
Twelve specimens, caught with grab-hook in Wallowa Lake about the 1st of September by Mr. 
J. J. Stanley, were all quite fat, and food was found in the stomachs of all but three. This food 
consisted chiefly of small crustaceans, a few insect larvae, and some gelatinous alga, probably a Nostoc. 
Among the fishes from Lake Washington are 5 redfish, 3 of which are 7 to 8 inches long, the other 
2 about 4 inches each. These were all collected June 15 by Mr. Alexander. Each contains more or 
less food in the stomach. Two other small redfish were obtained, which had been taken on the fly by 
Mr. E. L. Kellogg while fishing in Lake Sammamish about May 15. 
Whether this fish is anadromous or not is an exceedingly difficult matter to determine. If it comes 
up from the sea it reaches the lakes much earlier in the summer or spring than has hitherto been sup- 
posed. The fact that it feeds while in the lakes is now fully established, and it apparently continues 
to feed almost or quite to the time when it runs into the inlets for spawning. The one with food in 
its stomach, taken in Alturas Inlet August 6, had just reached the inlet on that night. The specimens 
from Wallowa Lake were caught in the upper end of the lake near the inlet, which they doubtless 
would have ascended in a few days. 
A consideration of small redfish from different localities, as to their size, proves interesting and 
suggestive. Those from Alturas Lake are larger and much more uniform m size than those from 
other places. Those from Washington, Stuart, and Nicola lakes are somewhat smaller, while those 
from Wallowa Lake are much smaller. These differences in size are, in some cases, doubtless due to 
differences in age, the specimens having been taken earlier at some of the lakes than at others, but 
the marked difference between the Alturas and Wallowa specimens can not be accounted for on this 
basis. It is doubtful if any of the Wallowa individuals would have reached even the minimum size of 
those taken at Alturas Lake. This fact is brought out in the following table. In the first column are 
given lengths in inches, the length being measured to the tip of the caudal fin ; in the otlmr columns 
are given the number of fish of each length from the respective lakes named at the head of the columns. 
Table showing comparative sizes of specimens of the small redfish from different lakes, 
