Sept. 27, 1913. 
FOREST AND STREAM 
401 
Fish Planting in California. 
BY GOLDEN GATE. 
The hatch of trout and salmon fry in Cali¬ 
fornia this year has been fully up to the aver¬ 
age, in spite of unfavorable conditions early in 
the season, and the work of distributing the 
former is now in full swing. The stocking of 
coast streams is about at an end, but some large 
plantings are being made in the high sierras. 
This season some very important work is being 
carried on in stocking streams far removed from 
railroads or wagon roads, and pack trains have 
been used to a greater extent than ever before 
to reach the headwaters of these. Trout fry 
are sometimes transported by pack mule for a 
distance of a hundred miles or more through 
the mountains in order to reach favorable spots 
for planting, and usually the loss on the way 
is very light, especially when experienced men 
have charge of the work. Adequate equipment 
and a thorough knowledge of the country to be 
traversed are essential when work of this kind 
is to be carried on successfully. For transport¬ 
ing fish by pack animals, specially designed cans 
are used, these being fitted with a screen top so 
that when a stream is reached they may be 
placed in the water and left there without fur¬ 
ther attention. The leader of the party must 
have the stopping places mapped out before the 
journey is commenced, as it would be fatal to 
be compelled to stop all night where there was 
no running water. The success which has been 
met with in transporting fish in the high sierras 
may be judged from the fact that two years 
ago a whole pack train of golden trout were 
brought out of the Volcano Creek district by 
Andy Ferguson and assistants with the loss of 
but seven fish in about as many days. 
At the present time some large plantings 
of trout are being made in Tuolumne county by- 
means of pack horse trains, some of the waters 
that are being reached in this manner being Two 
Mile Lake, Red Can Lake, Twin Lakes, Robert¬ 
son Lake, Log Lake, Pingeley Lake, Tamarack 
Lake, Tilden Lake, Maxwell Lake, and the 
streams flowing from these. Further south some 
very important work in this line is being carried 
on under the direction of District Deputy Andy 
Ferguson. The Sierra Nevada range reaches its 
culmination in Tulare county, and in this wild 
district there are hundreds of lakes and streams 
without fish life, trout being unable to ascend 
the high falls. The headwaters of these streams 
are generally being stocked with fish, and with¬ 
in a few years it will be difficult to find a stretch 
of creek or river where trout are not to be 
found. 
Experiments that have been made in the 
past in the planting of golden trout have shown 
conclusively that this fish will thrive in streams 
other than Volcano Creek, its parent waters. In 
Cottonwood Lake not only have the fish thrived 
and retained their brilliant coloring, but have in¬ 
creased greatly in size, and six and eight-pound 
fish are now taken. At the base of Mt. Whitney, 
the highest mountain in the United States, out¬ 
side of Alaska, are a large number of barren 
lakes, and these are being stocked this season 
with golden trout. Among the waters that have 
already been stocked with this wonderful fish 
are Cottonwood Lake, Lake Bernice, Lake 
Aldula, Whitney Creek, Rock Creek, Perrin 
Creek, Tvndell Creek, Roaring River, Lake 
Monetha, the headwaters of the Kaweah River 
and the east fork of the Kern River. 
The propagation and transplanting of fish 
is carried on in California on a larger scale 
than in any other State in the Union. The 
hatchery at Sisson is the largest in the world, 
devoted to the propagation of trout, and in addi¬ 
tion there are several other hatcheries scattered 
throughout the State. The output of fry at 
these hatcheries last year amounted to over 
thirty-three million, almost one-half of which 
were trout, the balance being salmon and black 
bass. The propagation of the latter has just 
been started, and the number hatched was very 
small. 
Since 1870 more than twenty-five varieties 
of food fish have been introduced into the waters 
of California. Forty-two years ago shad were 
planted in the Sacramento River, and the next 
year German carp were introduced, also white- 
fish and Eastern brook trout. Two years later 
plantings were made of black bass, rock bass, 
catfish, pike, lobster and Atlantic salmon. Many 
of the early plantings perished, and in some in¬ 
stances this was rare good fortune. Striped 
bass were introduced in 1879 and have proved 
to be one of the most valuable of food fishes. 
They have thrived wonderfully well and are 
now not only a great source of revenue to 
market fishermen, but afford splendid sport for 
anglers, especially during a season of the year 
when other fish are scarce. Since then there 
have been plantings of crappie, yellow perch, 
white bass, Loch Leven trout and Montana gray¬ 
lings, and some of these have done very well, 
especially the Loch Leven trout. 
In the largest stream of the State, the Sac¬ 
ramento River, there are to be found more than 
twenty varieties of fish. In the mountain 
stretches of this stream some of the finest trout 
fishing to be found anywhere is to be enjoyed, 
while in the lower waters black and striped bass, 
catfish, salmon and other splendid fish are to be 
found. What is true of the Sacramento River 
is also true of most of the other streams of the 
State. They rise in the high mountains, and 
trout abound in practically all of them, with 
entirely different varieties taking their place when 
the valleys are reached. When the white men 
came to this country they found many streams 
barren, owing to high falls and similar obstruc¬ 
tions, and even in the early days the transplant¬ 
ing of fish was practiced. Many fine fishing 
grounds were originally stocked by some thought¬ 
ful miners whose sole equipment for transpor¬ 
tation consisted of a camp coffee pot. Later 
sportsmen interested themselves in the matter 
and did valuable work at considerable expense, 
and now the State is continuing this on a large 
scale. Formerly the expense of this work was 
met by a tax on hunters and on market fisher¬ 
men, but commencing with the first of January, 
1914, anglers in general will be called upon to 
take out licenses, and the available fund will 
thus be increased considerably. 
Archery Alone Worth Price of Admission 
Buffalo, N. Y., Sept. 9. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: Inclosed please find check for another 
year’s subscription for Forest and Stream. The 
archery news alone is more than worth the 
money. James C. Young. 
Dry Fly Fishing. 
Tupelo, Miss., Sept. 18. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: The editorial, “Hip Disease,” in the 
issue of Sept. 13, where a comparison is made 
between the old-time articles in Porter’s “Spirit 
of the Times,” wherein the “bottle” was a promi¬ 
nent feature, and the contributions to Forest 
and Stream where allusions to the flask are 
conspicuous by their absence, reminds me of an 
instance that happened many years ago. 
Dr. W. W. Dawson, a prominent surgeon 
of Cincinnati, and at the time president of the 
American Medical Association, and myself, were 
guests of Dr. Baxter, then surgeon-general of 
the U. S. Army, at his fishing lodge on the 
Restigouche River, in New Brunswick. While 
there Mr. Light, chief engineer of the Dominion 
of Canada, persuaded us to forego our contem¬ 
plated trip to the Nepigon, on the north shore 
of Lake Superior, and to go instead to the Batis- 
can River, which was just then made accessible 
by the completion of the Quebec and Lake St. 
John Railway to that stream. 
The railway headquarters was a log house 
on its bank at the terminus of the road, in 
charge of a Mr. Smith. We remained there a 
few days outfitting for our canoe trip up the 
river. Late one night, after the arrival of the 
daily train, I heard Mr. Light talking with Mr. 
Smith, he having come on the train. I arose 
and went to the sitting room where I found him 
partaking of a luncheon consisting of a loaf of 
bread, a quart of milk and a bottle of brandy, 
all and several of which he consumed while I 
talked with him. He was a very large and hand¬ 
some man, weighing more than 300 pounds. As 
he saw that I was somewhat surprised at the 
disappearance of the viands, he explained that 
it was his usual midnight luncheon. 
The next day while Mr. Smith was packing 
up our supplies, he asked how many bottles of 
brandy he should furnish. Dr. Dawson said he 
did not care for any and I said the same. 
“Oh, don’t be afraid of it,” he said; “it is 
genuine cognac, and you saw Mr. Light drink 
a whole bottle last night. I would not think of 
going up the river for a week with less than a 
dozen bottles.” We then compromised on one 
bottle to be used in case of sickness or other 
emergency. 
On our return after a week of the finest 
trout fishing in the world we turned over the 
supplies that were not consumed, including the 
bottle of brandy to Mr. Smith, who exclaimed: 
“My word ! It is unbelievable! The most extra¬ 
ordinary thing I ever heard of! Just fancy, two 
men camping and fishing for a week with a 
bottle of brandy and the cork never drawn!” 
James A. Henshall. 
Do Unto Others. 
Owensville, Ind., Sept. 8 .—Editor Forest 
and Stream: Please find inclosed check for $6 
for my renewal, and please send your paper to 
a friend by the name of Arthur Depriest, 
Owensville, Ind. The old paper is a fine maga¬ 
zine now, and I want every one of my friends 
to read it. 0 . Knowles. 
Minnesota is one of the leading agricul¬ 
tural States in the Union, ranking first in wheat 
and barley production and third in oats and rye. 
