Part III.] Pond Fish Culture. 91 



down stream without being caught. The young and under- 

 sized fish are frequently taken in large numbers with such nets. 

 Dynamite and other explosives, very destructive to all kinds of 

 fish, have been used in many localities. By this latter method 

 of taking fish, not only bass, but all fish, both large and small, 

 within a certain radius of the explosive are either killed or so 

 stunned that in the course of time they perish. 



Pollution of the water in the streams by sewage and various 

 wastes from manufacturing plants and other concerns has 

 rendered many streams unfit for the Black bass. This fish 

 likes pure water, though it will live and even flourish in roily 

 water if it contains no other deleterious matter than what 

 comes from the open clean fields and good soil. 



At the present time Black bass are found in a very consider- 

 able number of Kansas streams, but are not common in many 

 of them. It is a fish of peculiar habits, as we will learn later 

 on, which does not tend to make it very common in any except 

 some of the larger bodies of water. However, the fish will 

 live in almost any creek, pond or lake where there is water 

 from three to five feet in depth. The water must not be muddy 

 or polluted with sewage, or any such foreign matter as oil, or 

 very much drainage from barnyards, or waste from manufac- 

 turing establisments. While, as we have said before, the fish 

 will live in almost any ordinarily pure body of water, the num- 

 ber that can be raised and the number that can be maintained 

 in any creek, pond or lake depends to a very large extent upon 

 the natural food supply of the water. 



The subject of the food habits of the Black bass and other 

 related matters is discussed under the head of "The Black 

 Bass," in Part II of this bulletin, and should be referred to in 

 connection with the notes given on that subject in this, or 

 Part III of the bulletin. 



Spaivning Habits of the Black Bass. 



What we have to say concerning the spawning habits of the 

 Black bass will be taken almost altogether from our own ob- 

 servations of the habits of the Large-mouthed Black bass as 

 observed in the ponds, lakes and creeks of the state of Kansas. 

 We have been catching and studying Black bass more or less 

 since the spring of 1867, when, as a small boy, we caught some 

 fine specimens of this fish in the Wakarusa, near Auburn, Kan. 

 At that time and for some years afterwards Black bass were 

 common in the Wakarusa and its larger tributaries. We have 

 also during a period of about thirty years caught and studied 

 the Black bass at Lake View, five miles northwest of Lawrence. 

 This lake was formed by the river changing its course many 

 years ago. It was well stocked with Black bass until after the 

 flood of 1903. This flood killed the large water lilies and 

 various other kinds of water plants, especially the "chara 



