168 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
Gold Fork and Bowlder Creek are said to have been favorite spawning streams 
for the Chinook salmon years ago, but now both of those streams are pretty well filled 
up with the washings from the gold mines in the mountains above. But few salmon 
enter them now, and it is said these spawn rather earlier than do those which spawu 
in the main river. 
Lake Fork has never been noted as a salmon stream. This is i)robably due ])artly 
to the fact that it is a much rougher stream with more rocky bed. The last 20 miles 
of its course is nearly |>arallel with that of Payette River. 
Little Payette Lake, which is drained by Lake Fork and which is about 20 miles 
above its mouth, is only a mile from Big Payette Lake, but its altitude is about 100 
feet greater. This lake is a small one, its greatest length being not more than three- 
fourths of a mile. It is comiiaratively shallow and has a good many water plants 
growing in and around it. It' is bordered by a considerable swamp, which probably 
indicates that the lake was formerly larger than it now is. A few miles above Little 
Payette Lake its inlet passes through a very narrow and deep canyon where the 
current is swift and turbulent, and fish would experience some difficulty in making 
the ascent. Above this i>lace are several small tributary streams which are said to 
be well tilled with native trout. 
Payette River above Big Payette Lake is quite deep for the last 2 miles of its 
course and the current is slow. Between 3 and 5 miles above the lake is the part 
of the stream in which are located the spawning-beds of the redtish. The stream 
here is made up of long reaches with a depth of 1 to 4 feet, a moderately swift current, 
and a bottom of clean tine gravel and sand, connecting deeper holes where the cur- 
rent is slower and the bottom of sand alone. About 9 or 10 miles above Big Payette 
Lake is Upper Payette Lake. This is about a mile long, one-fourth of a mile wide, 
and is said to be quite deep. The redtish are said not to ascend to this lake, but trout 
are very abundant in it. 
In the rugged mountains east of Big Payette Lake are several small lakes, a few 
of which were visited by Mr. Williams. One of these is known as Loni Lake, situated 
near the siimmit of the mountains, and 3,000 or 4,000 feet above and 15 miles east of 
Big Payette Lake. It is at the head of one of the branches of Bowlder Creek, and is 
triangular in shape, each side measuring about half a mile. The shores are steep 
and rocky, being composed in many places of bowlders. The outlet at this season 
(September) is underground, passing thi’ough the loose bowlders. The fall of the 
outlet is very precipitous for several hundred feet, and fish can not now ascend to 
the lake, which is fed by springs and the melting snows from the surrounding 
mountains. The greatest depth found by Mr. Williams in this lake was GO feet. 
The surface temperature of the water was 54.5°, September IS, when that of the air 
was 61°. 
Bowlder Lake is another small lake found here. It lies a few miles north of Loni 
Lake, and is about three-fourths of a mile long by one-fourth of a mile wide. It 
appears quite deep, but no soundings could be taken. It is at the head of Bowlder 
Creek, and is fed by numerous small cold springs. It is held in place by a ledge 
of hard sandstone extending across its outlet, which has innch the appearance of an 
immense stone dam. If this lake is of glacial origin, as one would suppose, it has been 
gouged out rather than formed in the ordinary way in which glaciers act. In this 
respect it resembles the small lake, at the head of Redtish Lake, described on page 165. 
