November, 1954 
fish to float, (4) loss of fish that became 
stranded or buried in the bottom mud at 
the time of lake draining and were not 
retrieved, (5) loss of fish through poach- 
ing during periods when the lake was 
closed to public fishing. 
As described previously, the first bass 
placed in Ridge Lake were marked by 
BENNETT: LARGEMOUTH Bass IN RipGE LAKE 
263 
recorded as belonging to their respective 
groups. Unmarked fish were given the 
fin mark of the census being made. 
Marked fish caught by fishermen in the 
summer fishing period were recorded by 
the biologist in charge of the creel census. 
The lake was scouted almost daily in this 
period for dead fish and, when these were 
Table 19.—Rates of exploitation and unaccountable losses of marked largemouth bass, 
Ridge Lake, 1941-1951. 
PERIOD NumBer or FIisu 
1941-1943 
1941 original stock............ 435 
SCOURS Bee 412 
ME MICERSUS/ (os. fo. 25S. eee « 17 
Unaccountable loss............. SITE 
1943-1945 
MS ESTOCKING. 206. 2 seh sues D515 
Sa Graal Rete ee 469 
LES SES Re Ae ee 553 
Unaccountable loss............. 493 
1945-1947 
meassrestockine | 62 5.002... 647 
ULLS, CS | a en 404 
“US carl Ss ee 88 
MEPPIIECHSVIS( Ona. ccf ec os 84 
Unaccountable loss.............| 71 
1947-1949 
merarestocking....- =. --.2-...-: 392 
io Gita LS aia eee aia Si 
Me Pareree ene? he 4 ole es 107 
PEPORCOHSTIS~ < Pitan: Ste cteoes SK 110 
Unaccountable loss............. 38 
1949-1951 
ME ECSTOCKING cist ee ce L027 
ial) Ge hs Bae eee 575 
OMS EM ny A. | 148 
2 7 ee eee | 190 
Unaccountable loss............. 114 
Per Cent or MarkKep Ex 
Fish PopuLation R saa aa ees : 
OF THE PERIOD ATE, FER CENT 
9.4 9.4 
329 = 
86.7 
31.0 31.0 
36.5 a 
32.5 
62.4 62.4 
13.6 SYA) 
13.0 SS, 
11.0 
34.9 34.9 
2ies 41.9 
28.1 ES 
9.7 
56.0 56.0 
1454 BO) 
Se 2 
TER 
1 Exploitation rate is based on the theoretical number of marked fish present in the lake at the beginning of the 
fishing season. 
2 Includes one fish taken in 1941. 
removal of one fin (left pectoral of bass 
from Lake Chautauqua, right pectoral of 
bass from Craborchard Lake, and dorsal 
of bass from Lake Glendale). Bass 
spawned in the lake were marked by re- 
moval of fins as designated in table 20. 
Before bass were replaced in the lake 
following each draining census, those that 
already carried a fin mark designating 
original stock or a previous census were 
found, their lengths and marks were re- 
corded. Very few dead fish were seen 
floating on the lake during the fishing 
periods of the years 1941-1951. Of the 
small number of dead fish found, most 
appeared to have died following injuries 
that resulted from being hooked. A few 
had died on lost stringers. Data on fish 
that had died from fishing injuries or on 
lost stringers and were later found were 
