EXPERIMENTS IN THE CULTURE OF THE BLACK BASS AND OTHER 



PONDFISH 1 



By H. S. Davis, Ph. D., In charge, Agricultural Investigations, United Staten 

 Bureau of Fisheries, and A. H. Wie®b, Ph. D., Temporwry Assisto/nt, Undted^ 

 States Bureau of Fisheries 



CONTENTS 



Page 



Introduction 177 



Description of ponds 180 



Fertilization of ponds 181 



Forage fish 184 



Largemouth black bass 187 



Brood stock 188 



Nursery ponds 190 



Forage for young bass 192 



Use of fertilizers in bass 



ponds 194 



Page 

 Largemouth black bass — Contd. 



Growth of largemouth bass_ 195 



Smallmouth black bass 196 



The crappies 197 



White crappie 198 



Black crappie 198 



Bluegill sunfish 199 



Summary 201 



Bibliography 202 



INTRODUCTION 



As a result of greater interest in conservation and outdoor activi- 

 ties there is a constantly increasing demand for the so-called warm- 

 water game fishes for stocking purposes. The demand for large- 

 mouth and smallmouth black bass has far exceeded the available 

 supply, and since the waters adapted to these fish have a much greater 

 extent than those suitable for trout, it is evident that more efficient 

 methods of propagating bass ar'e urgently needed. 



As is well known, the methods employed in the propagation of 

 bass and other pondfishes are very different from those used with 

 trout. In rearing trout we are chiefly concerned with providing a 

 good flow of well-aerated water at the proper temperature and a 

 sufficient amount of suitable food at frequent intervals. In pond 

 culture, however, the fish must be kept under conditions very similar 

 to those to which they are accustomed in nature and the food prob- 

 lem becomes primarily a production problem. In short, trout cul- 

 ture may be likened to the feeding of cattle and sheep in pens or 

 corrals while pond culture is analogous to rearing stock in a pasture 

 or on the open range. 



1 Appendix IX to the Report of the U. S. Commissioner of Fisheries for 1930 B F 

 Doc. 1085. Submitted, for publication May 6, 1930. 



177 



