96 
BULLETIN OE THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
It is known from the work at Balls Ferry in 1899 that practically all the fry 
leave the river before March 20. It is evident, therefore, that the fry found between 
Redding and Tehama in May, 1898, were the stragglers left from the regular migra- 
tion. Their size, 2.2 inches, precludes their belonging to the regular run. They 
had collected in the pools where we did our seining, as they do in the headwaters 
during the summer (see notes on “ Summer residents”), which made them appear to 
be more abundant than they probably were. The rise in the river, which occurred 
from May 15 to 25, and the accompanying muddy water caused them to pass down- 
stream. This is indicated by finding fewer in the pools in the latter part of May 
(when migrating they would not be collected in the pools) and by finding none at 
all in July. 
The conditions in 1898 were exceptional on account of the early occurrence of low 
water — from the middle of March till the middle of May — though doubtless there are 
always a few stragglers from the regular migrations. These decrease in number 
and increase in size (slightly) till the rains of the following winter, when all leave 
the river. 
In the mountain streams the young salmon prefer the pools, where they are 
often abundant. Nearly 500 were taken at one haul of the seine in a pool at the 
head of Box Canyon, near Sisson, in August, 1897, and it was not at all uncommon 
to catch over a hundred at a time in many of the pools of the headwaters. The 
rapids have been fished a number of times, but young salmon were scarcely ever 
caught unless the water was at least 2 feet deep. 
Below Redding more salmon were found in the water with moderate current, 
gravelly bottom, and a depth of over 2-1 feet, but none was found in absolutely still 
water, and none over a soft mud bottom. Not much seining was done over rocky 
bottom, on account of the strong current and the injury to the seine by its picking 
up cobblestones. A few salmon were caught by putting enough floats on the seine 
to keep it at the surface and then hauling in water 15 feet deep. 
The following table indicates the various characters of stream in which young 
salmon were found in the main river, with the number taken in one haul of the seine 
under the various conditions. 
Table showing number of young salmon taken in various stream conditions. 
Localities. 
Month. 
Current. 
Bottom. 
3l-feet depth. 
Slight. 
Medium. 
Strong. 
Mud. 
Clay. 
Sand. 
Gravel. 
Rocks. 
Under. 
> 
o 
116 
116 
116 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
Red Bluff 
do 
36 
178 
178 
314 
do . . . 
31 
100 
31 
100 
100 
31 
..do ... 
13 
13 
13 
do . .. 
34 
54 
32 
46 
18 
60 
... do . . . 
33 
3 
10 
13 
1 
13 . 
ii 
i 
23 
16 
7 
8 
15 
40 
8 
48 
17 
17 
17 
do . . 
8 
8 
8 
4 
4 
4 
3 
1 
2 
5 
10 
10 
10 
4 
4 
4 
Total 
11 
334 
580 
46 
233 
375 
161 
209 
606 
