78 Fish and Game Warden. [Bull. No. 1. 



stances which are sometimes allowed to run into the streams 

 from manufacturing establishments or other sources of pol- 

 lution. 



A Good Food and Game Fish. 



This Channel catfish is the most satisfactory combination 

 of a good food and game fish in the state of Kansas. Speak- 

 ing of this fish, Dr. Jordan, of Stanford University says: 

 "It is a very delicate food fish, with tender, white flesh of 

 excellent quality." 



There are many good fishermen who give the Channel cats 

 a high rating as game fishes. When once hooked they are 

 good fighters and produce a pull on the line that sends a 

 thrill through the angler that almosts equals that produced 

 by the hooking of a Black bass of equal size and weight. 



Food Habits of the Channel Cat. 



The Channel cats eat a great variety of foodstuffs, including, 

 especially among the young and smaller fishes, a considerable 

 amount of vegetable matter. Fish, both minnows and young 

 fish of other species, as well as crayfish, frogs and insects 

 enter largely into their bill of fare. The writer has taken 

 such food material as birds, snakes, half-grown muskrats and 

 young turtles, and many kinds of fish, including, in a few in- 

 stances, good sized bullheads, from their stomachs. They eat 

 seeds of various plants in season and are apparently fond of 

 corn and wheat, as these grains have been taken many times 

 from the stomachs of specimens that have been dissGc'pd. 



A Fish Not Adapted to Fond Culture. 



It is very unfortunate that such a popular atici valuable 

 native fish will not breed in ponds. The writer has not 

 performed any definite experiments in trying to breed Channel 

 cats in ponds, but has made observations on their behavior 

 in ponds where they have been kept, and has collected in- 

 formation upon the subject from various sources. The coji- 

 census of opinion seems to be that Channel catfish do not 

 propagate in quiet bodies of water. When young Channel 

 cats are placed in good ponds, where there is plenty of good 

 food material for them, they do well and grow to large size. 

 However, they do not spawn, or if they do spawn, the eggs 

 do not hatch, for young Channel cats do not appear in ponds 

 that do not have streams flowing into or through them. While 

 the spawning habits of these Channel cats are not well under- 

 stood, it is generally believed among fish cuiturists that the 

 eggs will not hatch except in currents and channels of moving 

 water. They are called Channel cats apparently owing to 

 the fact that they are usually found in and undoubtedly prefer 

 streams where the water is moving in currents and channels. 



