an REPORT OF THE FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 
place a rack across the Kel River at Bryan’s Rest. The rack and trap, 
as well as arrangements to seine the river below the racks, were com- 
pleted in due time, but ow ing to the heavy fishing by the market fisher- 
men in the lower reaches of the river, our efforts did not amount to 
much. 
The Eel River is a stream that has its source in the middle range of 
the Coast Mountains. It has a greater fluctuation from the maximum 
to the minimum flow than any other river in California. The forma- 
tion of the mountain ranges are sedimentary to a great extent and the 
rocks and soil are loose and friable. While it is a region of heavy 
rainfall, the character of the soil and rock formation is such that it 
does not hold up the water and the variations of the flow of water in 
the tributaries and main river are very great. At Scotia, about 25 
miles from the mouth and above the confluence of the Van Duzen River, 
gauging has shown the maximum flow in January to be 111,000 second- 
feet and minimum flow in September 104 second-feet. This was in 
1913, a year of normal rainfall. From the mouth of the south fork of 
the Eel to the mouth of the main river, a distance of about 35 miles, 
the bed of the river is very wide, averaging in many places, a half mile. 
The bed is composed of loose gravel and sand through which the water 
runs very freely during the low water stage. From Scotia to the 
mouth are a series of large pools with a stream of shallow water run- 
ning from pool to pool until it reaches its outlet in the ocean south of 
ifumboldt Bay. 
During the summer large numbers of salmon enter the pools in the 
lower reaches of the river from its mouth, a distance of ten to fifteen 
miles. They can not ascend farther up the river, as the water is too 
shallow. Above the mouth of the south fork of the Eel River the 
water is spread out over the ripples to such an extent that the salmon 
and steelhead do not ascend the river above this point until the rains 
in the fall. If there are rains during September and October heavy 
enough to raise the river so that the salmon can ascend, the breeding 
fish reach the spawning ground on the upper reaches of the river, but 
in seasons of drought, such as the season of 1917, the river did not raise 
to any appreciable extent until November 5, when there was a raise of 
about one foot on the ripples above the racks at the egg-collecting 
station, but it did not last long enough for the spawning fish to ascend 
from the pools on the lower re eaches of the river. On November 30, 
there was a raise of about three feet and our racks were damaged so 
that they were ordered removed. It was then too late to expect suffi- 
wient fish to ascend the river to justify the expense of repairing the 
as the market fishermen had the opportunity during the low 
damage, 
ch so many of the fish that very few were left to 
water period to cat 
