SALMON INVESTIGATIONS IN IDAHO. 
283 
Mr. B. S. Brown, Bliss, Idaho, says: 
The salmon trout arrive April 1 or earlier. They spawn in April, going up into the outlets of 
the lakes and sometimes using the same spawning-beds which the dog salmon use in the fall. They 
stay here at least until May 15. The largest I ever saw weighed perhaps 12 pounds, the smallest 4 or 
5 pounds. I never saw many dead ones; they probably all go back to the sea. 
Headwaters of Payette River. — Mr. W. G. Jennings states: 
The salmon trout come up Payette River about April when the water is high. Never saw any 
above the lake. They will bite a hook occasionally. They will weigh from 5 to 30 pounds; have 
heard of them weighing as much as 40 pounds, but they probably do not average more than 10 pounds. 
I think they come up from the sea and that they do not die, but return to the sea or at least go down 
stream when the water gets low. 
Snake River. — Mr. William O’Brien, Weiser, Idalio, says: 
I first noticed these fish here about 18 years ago, but they are now more abundant than the 
chinook salmon. They come up early in September and remain in Snake River until about April 10, 
when they run up into the smaller streams to spawn. Do not think they spawn in Snake River. I 
think they spawn from April 15 to about May 10. Never caught any ripe salmon trout in the river. 
Sis years ago my catch of salmon trout was about 18,000 pounds, or about 2,250 fish, the average 
weight being about 8 pounds. Since then they have decreased, so that last year I got only about 
8,000 pounds, or 1,000 fish. But there are more fisheries now than there were a few years ago, so that 
the decrease in salmon trout is more apparent than real. We get them in the river from September 1 
to December 1, and again in April. I expect to try for them about the first of next February, and 
believe I shall find some. 
The catch of Mr. O’Brien and of the other fishermen interviewed will be found 
in the tables of this report. 
According to Mr. B. E. Conner : 
The salmon trout appear at Lower Salmon Falls as early as February, March, and April. Never 
saw any except in those three months. The fish which we call “steelheads” are the first salmon that 
come up in September. 
Mr. E. E. Sherman says: 
The salmon trout come chiefly in April; not so many in the fall. They are pretty common in the 
spring, but hard to catch. I never got any in the spring, but others sometimes get them with spears 
or grab hooks. They are said to rnn up Salmon and Cedar creeks, above Upper Salmon Falls. 
Mr. Charles Harvey caught a 15-pouud male “steelliead” at Lower Salmon Falls 
about the last of August, 1894. He thinks they spawn in the spring. 
Mr. Liberty Millet says : 
I catch salmon trout at same time with the chinook salmon, but they are not very common. They 
seem to be here all year. People catch them with hook and line sometimes. They weigh as much as 
15 pounds, and probably spawn in the spring. I think they eat the salmon spawn in the fall. 
During the entire fishing season of 1894 caught only 10 salmon trout.* 
CONCLUSIONS. 
From the investigations detailed in this report it appears : 
(1) That the chinook salmon, the redfish, and the salmon trout all occur in 
considerable numbers in the headwaters of Salmon and Payette rivers. 
(2) That the chinook salmon and the salmon trout still ascend Weiser River in 
limited numbers, and that the chinook salmon and salmon trout are found in large 
numbers in Snake River, which they ascend as far as Auger Falls. 
'Two which were caught October 5, and which I saw, were both females, 27 and 28 inches long, 
and weighing 6f and 74 pounds, respectively. They were unripe. The 8 others were caught later. 
They were all unripe females, and weighed about 8 pounds each. 
