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



water, in which to raise fish such as the basses and the catfishes, 

 because these fish produce adhesive eggs and require plenty of 

 room for their spawning beds and a good supply of water to 

 produce food for their young. These varieties of fish not only 

 prepare their own spawning beds or nests, but look after and 

 care for the young fish after they are hatched. Some of these 

 fishes remain with their young for only a week or two ; others, 

 such as some of the catfishes, remain with their young, guard- 

 ing and protecting them, for several weeks. 



The point that we especially desire to make in regard to the 

 two groups of fishes above mentioned is that it is necessary to 

 understand the kind of fish that are being propagated at any 

 particular fish hatchery before you can intelligently under- 

 stand the literature and general information that is being put 

 out by the various fish hatcheries of the country. A fish 

 hatchery built to accommodate fish that spawn free eggs would 

 be of little or no value to the fish culturist who desires to raise 

 fish that produce adhesive eggs. The Kansas State Fish 

 Hatchery, which has nearly 100 ponds, varying in size from a 

 quarter of an acre to over two acres, is given entirely to the 

 production of such fishes as the Black bass, the crappie, the 

 sunfishes and the catfishes. All these produce adhesive eggs, 

 and it is necessary to furnish them with the proper spawning 

 grounds and a sufficient amount of water properly stocked 

 with food in which to rear their fish families. 



THE LARGE-MOUTHED BLACK BASS. 



In the early history of the state of Kansas the Large- 

 mouthed Black bass was reported common in most of the 

 streams. Fishermen have continued to report this fish as 

 more or less common in the larger streams of the state and 

 their tributaries. However, it does not thrive well in muddy 

 water, and for this reason has always been rare in the main 

 channel of the larger streams of the state, and especially in 

 the Kansas river. However, in many of the tributaries of this 

 river the bass have always been more or less common. It has 

 always been found in the streams in the central, east, south 

 and southeastern parts of the state. Such streams as the 

 Neosho, Cottonwood, Walnut, the Marias des Cygnes and their 

 tributaries afforded good bass fishing for many years. Even 

 now fishing is good in places. However, during the past dozen 

 or twenty years the fishing has not been so good, due to a 

 number of things, one of the chief of which is, perhaps, that 

 the number of fishermen has increased as well as the number 

 of contraptions and contrivances for destroying fish life in the 

 streams. Many of these streams have been fished with nets, 

 such as gill nets, trammel nets and hoop nets, which are very 

 destructive to fish, inasmuch as these nets can be set in such a 

 manner as to make it almost impossible for fish to go up and 



