136 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jail., 



My remarks will apply simply to the lake black bass, and 

 not to those which occupy streams. 



You will find, in the first place, that the black bass varies 

 in habit in different ponds. A pond with a rocky bottom will 

 be apt to give you quite large quantities of bass ; in a pond 

 with a sandy bottom the bass increase, but they are very 

 difficult fish to catch ; and perhaps, as a general rule, they 

 are the most uijcertain of fish to catch. I know a lake of 

 ninety acres which is thoroughly stocked with bass, where I 

 can see them in large numbers, where they grow easily and 

 readily to five pounds weight. Myself and my friends will 

 go fishing there for a week at a time, without getting a single 

 bite ; and then will come a favorable hour when we can catch 

 them in large numbers, and have excellent sport. They are 

 of little value to the sportsman who goes fishing with the 

 expectation of always catching fish, for he will be often 

 disappointed, even when he knows the fish are there. 



But the principal objection to them is, that they kill all 

 the other fish, except the white perch. The black bass and 

 white perch will live together, but all other fish gradually 

 disappear, except the large ones. The pickerel come to the 

 shore early in the spring to spawn ; the black bass come later 

 and attack the young fish which are seeking the shore, and 

 in that way kill the pickerel. I know of no one who would 

 recommend the black bass for general use. My own taste 

 does not approve the black bass when cooked. 



Now, a few words about trout. I think the fact must be 

 recognized that almost every stream has its own peculiar trout. 

 Often-times they are so marked that you can tell from which 

 of two streams a fish that is shown you comes. They differ 

 not only in the marks, very slightly, but also in the color of 

 their flesh, and in the taste of the flesh. Some streams can- 

 not be fished out. I know of streams where every person in 

 this room might fish an indefinite time during the whole 

 year, and never exhaust the stream. By taking out the large 

 fish, the small fish will increase, being saved from being con- 

 sumed by the larger ones, so that at the end of tlie year there 



