SALMON INVESTIGATIONS IN IDAHO. 
263 
as Pocatello, Butte, etc. He lets tlie farmers have the fish at 25 cents a fish. For 
those 'which he ships or sells to the hotels he gets about 4 ceuts a pound. A few years 
ago he got 8 to 10 cents a pound. The fish he was getting while we were there were 
in excellent condition; the flesh was firm aud of a good color, the nose of the males 
was not yet much hooked, the teeth not eularged, and the body not covered with sores. 
The females examined were full of roe, but not yet ripe. 
Mr. William Kinney fishes some on the Idaho side, about 3 miles below Mr. 
O’Brien’s, but he was not doing any fishing at the time of our visit. 
Through the kindness of Mr. O’Brieu I have been furnished the figures given in 
the following table. These figures cover not only the catch of Mr. O’Brieu for the 
season of 1894, but that of seven other fishermen operating between Huntington and 
the mouth of the Boise Fiver. 
Approximate number of chinoolc salmon and steelheads caught in Snake River between Huntington and 
Weiser in September and October, 1894. 
Name of fisherman. 
Location of fishery. 
No. of 
chinook 
salmon 
caught. 
No. of 
steelheeds 
caught. 
400 
200 
250 
650 
*385 
*1 516 
600 
200 
400 
400 
200 
100 
500 
300 
200 
500 
50 
100 
(t> 
(t) 
*Of the 385 chinook salmon caught by Mr. O’Brien, 250 were males and 135 females; of the 1,516 steelheads, 834 were 
males and 682 females. Mr. O’Brien estimates that the male Chinooks caught by him averaged 38 inches long and 25 pounds 
in weight ; the females 34 inches long and 16 pounds in weight ; the male steelheads 30 inches long and 12 pounds in weight, 
and the females 28 inches long and 12 pounds in weight. Not over 5 or 6 of the female Chinooks were ripe. 
tNo figures obtained. 
William Betz aud Henry Oleson, of Glenn Ferry, Idaho, state : 
We have fished more or less for three years, mostly for sturgeon, but catch some salmon. The 
salmon appear here about September 15 and are thickest about September 30. We see most dead ones 
during first half of November. We think most of them die, but some may get back to the sea. The 
first ones which come up we call “silver salmon,” or, when the meat is very red, “salmon belly.” 
Those which come later have hooked noses and are “dog salmon.” They spawn on gravel beds in this 
part of the river, but we never noticed their spawning habits particularly. 
Mr. Bobert E. Conner, of Lower Salmon Falls, says: 
I have lived here near these falls since 1882. For the first four or five years after my coming 
salmon were abundant; have seen the chute full of salmon; there must have been a thousand in sight 
at one time. But there has been a great decrease in the last four or five years. They used to come 
earlier than they do now, as early as August 1, I think. During the last few years I have not noticed 
them until September. Think they spawn upon all the riffles above the falls ; have noticed them in 
shallow water along the shore. The Indians that come here say the salmon prefer the sandy beds, 
and that the coarse gravel which the miners have run into the river has caused the salmon to seek 
other spawning-beds. “Camas Jim” is sure this is the case. 
No one has ever carried on salmon fishing here to any extent, but this used to be a famous Indian 
fishing-ground; they don’t come here much now. The run usually begins about September 1 of late 
years and continues about a month. The salmon that I see here will average 15 to 20 pounds. Used 
to see many dead ones, but not many now; the coyotes pick them up. I think all the salmon that 
come here die. I never see any salmon except during the fall, and never saw any little ones. 
