7112

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7112
• Author: Minckley, C. O.
• Title: Fishes of Arizona.
• USFW Year: 1973.
• USFW - Doc Type: Arizona State University,
• Copyright Material: YES

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timers" interviewed in the Phoenix-Tempe area, all attested to the fighting
abilities of the Colorado River squawfish, especially when one was hooked
in deep, relatively swift water. The struggle was not prolonged, as is truce
of many minnows, but was relatively fast and deep. Another account,
excerpts of which fo{low, does not substantiate the sporting qualities of
the fish, perhaps because of the large sizes that were involved, torpidity
induced by warm water temperatures, or some other factor; the date was
28 August 1872 on the mainstream Colorado River near the present head
of Lake Mead.
r "The air was balmy, no wind blew, and a universal quiet prevailed '
when suddenly Jack (Hillers) uttered several exclamations not entirely in
e harmony with the moment. He thought his precious hook was caught on a
i; snag. Puling gently in order not to break his line the snag lifted with it
~ - and presently he was astonished to see not the branch of a tree or a
~ water-logged stick, but the head of an enormous fish appear above the
,, surface. Had there been some splashing he would have been prepared
for the extraordinary sight, but the monster came with barely a wiggle
as if it did not know that it was about to be caught. He was successfully
landed in the middle cabin of the boat, which was empty except for some
water, and-lay there unhurt as if it were the natural place for him.
Casting again another of the same kind came forth and then a third.
The longest appeared to be the length of the cabin, as he floated in the
water, and that was four feet. He was at least thirty or thirty-six inches
with a circumference of fifteen inches. These fish are called Colorado
I i River salmon. The flesh was white and they seemed to us good eating
_ ~ [Dellenbaugh, 1909];'
~ A number of other such accounts of P, lucius are available in the
j old literature on exploration of, and life along, the lower Colorado River,
' ~ and also in the upper basin in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming. The species
now is considered rare and endangered in most of its native range
{ (Miller 1972a), and is essentially extinct in Arizona.
Figure 61. Colorado River squawfish, caught in 1972 from Coke Powell, Utah, by Mr. ~
Ray Bockelman, Winslow, Arizona. This fish is estimated to have weighed between 6 and
7 kg when alive.