194 TJ. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



That the goklen shiner is superior to the blackliead as a forage 

 fish in bass ponds is shown by some results obtained in 1928. Pond 

 E 1 was stocked with blackheads for forage and E 4 with shiners. 

 Neither of these ponds was fertilized. The weight in bass produced 

 in E 4 exceeded that in E 1 by 134 per cent. In two fertilized ponds 

 the bass production in the pond stocked with shiners exceeded that 

 in the pond stocked with blackheads by 78 per cent. These results, 

 of course, can not be taken as final, but they strongly indicate that 

 shiners are much superior to blackheads for use with bass. 



The number of shiners per acre of pond area has varied consid- 

 erably during this investigation. At first relatively small numbers 

 were used, but this number has been increased from year to year, 

 so that during the season of 1929 from 600 to 800 shiners per acre 

 were used. Even then the ponds were not overstocked as shown 

 by the small number of shiners recovered when the ponds were 

 drained. E 3, a nui'sery pond, was stocked in 1929 at the rate of 

 600 adult shiners to the acre. These shiners spawned very heavily;^ 

 fry could be seen everywhere in the pond for some time after May 21. 

 Nevertheless when the pond was drained on September 17 no small 

 shiners were found. Incidentally this pond produced bass finger- 

 lings at the rate of 11,500 per acre. In 1928 D 7, a nursery pond, 

 was stocked with 434 adult shiners per acre. No small shiners were 

 taken when the pond Avas drained on September 28. In 1929 the 

 same pond was stocked at the rate of 800 adult (75 per cent medium 

 and 25 per cent large) shiners per acre. Still no small shiners were 

 left in the fall. D 5, a spawning pond, was stocked with 600 large 

 adult golden shiners. Here likewise no shiner fingerlings were found 

 when the pond was drained. The fact that no small shiners were 

 left by fall shows that these ponds were not overstocked. About 500 

 to 800 adult shiners, depending on the size, should furnish enough 

 forage in a nursery pond. It would not seem advisable to stock too 

 heavily as the competition for food between the shiner and the bass 

 fry may become severe. The same number of adults (but large 

 fish) should give satisfactory results in a combination spawning and 

 rearing pond. A straight spawning pond that is stocked heavily 

 with brood fish can not be expected to produce enough food to sup- 

 port the bass. Minnows should be reared in separate ponds and 

 then fed to the bass at frequent intervals. For this purpose either 

 goldfish or the golden shiner may be used. 



When blackhead minnows are used for forage in bass nursery 

 ponds from 1,000 to 1,500 adults to the acre will be required to give 

 satisfactory results. 



USE OF FERTILIZERS IN BASS PONDS 



Fertilizers appear to exert a beneficial effect on the productivity 

 of nursery ponds. Wherever our results have been directly compar- 

 able in fertilized and in unfertilized ponds there has been an increase 

 in production as a result of fertilization. The most striking differ- 

 ence in this respect was obtained in 1927. During that season E 1 

 and E 2 were treated alike except that E 2 was fertilized and E 1 

 w^as not. The fish produced in E 2 weighed 3.4 times as much as 

 the fish produced in E 1. Another set of two ponds, E 3 and "E 4, 



