The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1911-11-08
Sportsmen of the City Preparing
to Make Fight Against Open
Irrigation Canals
SAY THAT TROUT CANNOT
SURVIVE UNLESS PROTECTED
Attempt Will Be Made to Have a
New Law Passed or a Fish
Hatchery Established Some
where on Yakima or Naches

Yakima county is to have a new or
ganization. 1t will be an association
of those who are convinced that in or
der to preserve to the streams of this
county and side of the state some of
the game fish which have made them
attractive the irrigation bitches, gov
eminent and all, will need to be SEN
ed. Since Supervising Engineer Swi-
CERT of the reclamation service called
attention to the fact that so far as the
storage dams are concerned 1t is a
case of fish or apples, one or the other,
the sportsmen of this valley have been
looking into the subject. They nave
become convinced that the matter of
fish ways in the dams is perhaps not
as important as they had supposed
it to be while the matter of having
the bitches screened is much more inn
portant than was thought
May Have a Hatchery
That the bitches are not screened
in this state, as they are in some
states. is said to be due to the pollt-
zeal influence of one or two Yakima
men. Years ago when bill was in
troduced in the legislature providing
for screens on all bitches these men
had an amendment substituted provid-
ing for screening of bitches in all
rivers which contained a state or gov
eminent fish hatchery This amend
ment destroyed the law so far as the
Yakima is concerned for there is no
fish hatchery on this river or any of
its tributaries. Frequent attempts
since then to have the old law re-
vived have failed. Another effort is
to be made.
Soon to Hold Meeting
Yakima will have the bitches
screened, under a legal provision to
that specific end. or it will have fish
hatchery so that by operation of the
present law the ditch owners will have
to do the screening. 1t is thought
by those who are interesting them
selves in the matter, that either solu-
tion of the problem should be easy for
group of men aSsiduously devoting
themselves to that end A prelimin
airy meeting is to be held at an early
date to start the machinery.
Screening Is inexpensive
Screening a ditch is a simple and
inexpensive proposition The work is
done today in some states and in some
parts of this state. After the original
cost of the screen, which may be one
of several approved patterns, ana
which is not a costly or difficult piece
of work, there is practically no ex-
penditure for attention. The ditch
tender cares for the screen as part of
his work at the headgates and it does
not take five minutes per day OF his
time. A screen does not need to be
at the intake but may be two or three
hundred feet down the ditch.
Fishing Becomes Poorer
Yakima county as municipality
has been buying young trout for years.
and turning them loose in the streams.
only to lose them later in the orchards
and the alfalfa fields. Despite the
fact that thousands of fish are planted
in these waters annually the fishing is
becoming poorer each season. Once
trout of the various kinds were plen-
tfiul. Today they are growing to be
scarce. Once the man with ain hour
or two to spare could get sport on any
of the streams, large or small; today
he has to drive for miles for a pros
pect merely.
SHOULD be SpoftsnlanS Mecca
This city should be the Mecca every
Saturday for the business men o. Ia
coma. Seattle and Spokane who like
day in the stream. They should
be able to come here and get a day
with the rod and reef anywhere along
the rivers. The fishing of the streams
should attract hundreds of visitors
where as today they attract none. 1t
is believed, with good reason. that the
irrigation ditch, unscreened. Is the
cause of the lack of good fishing in
these waters AS few hundred dol
lars will screen all the bitches in this
| part of the state it is felt that there
can be no serious objection to the plan
particularly as it is the theory Of those
interested that good fishing here will
in time more than make good to the
community any outlay by the ditch