SALMON INVESTIGATIONS IN IDAHO IN 1895. 
191 
At Big Payette Lake, Seiitember 27, 1894, I saw several small dead redfisli and 6 largo live ones. 
They were nearly all spent lish, and the spawning season there was practic.ally over. In 1895 the first 
redfish at Big Payette Lake were seen hy Mr. Williams on September 3. They were in a pool in the 
inlet about 4 miles above the lake. He saw 3 large ones and 6 small ones. A short distance above 
another largo one Avas seen. On September 5 this place was again visited by Mr. Williams, and 3 large 
redfish and 9 small ones were canght. The 3 large ones were all ripe males. Of the small ones no 
others were seen. On September 15, 3 more large ones were noticed near the same ])lace, one of the 3 
being a female. On September 23 the inlet was again visited and 2 large redfish seen. They were 
covered with sores and ajApeared very weak. 
In a letter received by Mr. Williams from Mr. McCall since leaving the lake, Mr. McCall states 
that he c.aught 4 large redfish in the inlet October 8, and that they were still spawning and in good 
condition. This confirms the belief expressed in the report of my visit to this lake in 1894, viz, that 
the sj^awniug season here is later than at Alturas Lake. 
Prof. O. B. .lohnsou found the small form spawning in Lake Washington near the last of November, 
1888, and on October 8, 1889. Dr. Dawson fonnd them spawning in the first vmek of September, 1877, 
in the small streams on the west side of Okanogan Lake, and again in the same streams on September 
16 and 17, 1890, particularly in the one known as Bear Kiver. In a letter to Dr. Bean, Dr. Dawson says : 
A great number of little salmon-like fish, apparently running up to spawn. It is singular that 
though they have evidently been long in the stream (from the livid red color of many of them, their 
frayed fins "and tails, with white fungoid growth in X)laces) they have not got farther up the river, 
which offers no particular impedinient to their ascent. They can not all have spawned, as many still 
hold spawn and milt. Indians say they all die in the stream and do not return to the lake. Many were 
dead along the shores, and the crows had collected in great numbers in the vicinity. This was within 
a quarter of a mile or less from the mouth of the river on the lake . — Forest and Stream, July 9, 1891. 
Dr. Kennerly says that they disappeared suddenly about September 1, at Chiloweyuck Lake. 
He first saw them in a small stream tributary to this lake, and in vast numbers. On August 17 he and 
his companions caught 180 with hook and line. About August 10 they appeared at the mouths of all 
the small streams emptying into the lake in such numbers that they could be caught with the hands. 
4. Where and how are the mutilations received f 
The sores, frayed-out tins, and other mutilations which have been noticed upon the Chinook sal- 
mon and redfish by everyone who has ever seen these fishes upon their si^awning-grounds have been 
regarded by all as being due chielly, if not wholly, to the injuries incident to the long journey from 
the sea. Coming to these Idaho lakes from the sea requires a journey of more than 1,000 miles, and it 
is, in large part, through swift and turbulent waters and up dangerous rapids, cascades, and waterfalls, 
against whose ragged and jagged rocky walls and bed the fish would often be thrown by the seething 
currents. That they could make this long and perilous journey unscathed could scarcely be believed. 
In the shorter coastal streams of Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and northward, the 
same mutilations have been observed and have usually, without sufficient reason, been attributed to 
the same cause. Until now it has therefore been generally held that the injuries are received by the 
fish while eu route to the spawning-grounds. Our continuous series of observations at Alturas Lake 
during the entire period of the breeding season shows, however, that this is not the true explanation. 
Among the hundreds of redfish which we examineil as they came up into Alturas Inlet Ifom the lake, 
not one possessed any sores or had the fins frayed out in the least; every one was perfect in every way, 
so far as mutilations were concerned. Not only were all of those caught on the gill nets as they came 
up from the lake free of sores, but no sores were seen on any of the fish in the creek until some time 
after the spawning had begun. The first fish were seen July 24, ljut not until August 10 were any 
mutilated ones observed, and then only 3 out of 84 examined showed any considerable mutilations. 
In marked contrast with this perfect condition of the fish as they arrive upon their spaAvning- 
grounds is that observed toward the close of the spawning season, when scarcely a fish can be found 
whose fins are not badly frayed and upon whose body are not one or more large sores. The nature of 
these mutilations is well shown in plate 72. 
The manner in which the mutilations are really received was readily iletermiued by Avatching 
the fish while spaAvning. The spaAvning-beds are usually in very shallow water, often only a few 
inches deep. These beds are of fine granite gravel and sand. There is more or less definite pairing 
oif of the fishes, and each pair usually does all its spawning on a certain area, which may bo called 
the nest. The gravel and sand of this area are moAmd about and piled up somewhat in heaps or roAvs 
as the fish scoop out shallow depressions in the bed ; this scooping or moving of the gravel is done as 
