November, 1954 
10. Bass at Ridge Lake averaged 8.1 
inches total length at 1 year of age, 10.3 
inches at 2 years, 12.6 inches at 3 years, 
and 13.7 at + years, table 13. Bluegills 
averaged +.7 inches total length at 1 year 
of age, 6.2 inches at 2 years, and 7.1 inches 
at 3 years, table 14. 
11. In 1949, bass fishing dropped from 
a preseason calculated catch rate of 2.96 
pounds per man-hour to a rate of 0.18 
pound per man-hour on the second day of 
the public fishing season, table 15. The 
calculated rate of catch in the afternoon 
period of the first day of the fishing season 
in each year in which public fishing was 
allowed was less than half that of the 
morning, table 16. By the third day of 
the fishing season in each of these years 
except 1944, the calculated rate of catch 
was less than one-third that of the opening 
morning. In no year was the catch in 
numbers or pounds on the opening morn- 
ing more than 6.3 per cent of the avail- 
able number or poundage of fish in the 
lake. For years in which large numbers of 
bluegills as well as bass were available, 
the calculated seasonal catch rate for bass 
and bluegills together was 0.19 pound 
per man-hour; for years in which bass 
were essentially the only fish available, 
the calculated seasonal catch rate for bass 
was 0.13 pound per man-hour, table 17. 
Actual rates of catch were probably 50 
to 100 per cent higher than the calculated 
rates because time spent in rowing boats 
was counted as fishing time. 
12. Some of the factors influencing 
the yield of bass in any given fishing season 
were the number and weight of bass avail- 
able, the fishing pressure, and the amount 
of natural food available for bass. While 
all of these factors undoubtedly were im- 
portant in determining the bass yield, the 
highest catches, in terms of number and 
weight of bass available, were made in 
years when small fishes and other bass 
foods were reduced through lake drain- 
ing prior to the fishing season, table 18. 
In these years, yields of bass from angling 
varied between 45 and 64 per cent of the 
number and between 40 and 69 per cent 
of the weight of bass available. In years 
BENNETT: LARGEMOUTH Bass IN RipGeE LAKE 27 
cn 
(after 1943) when the lake was not 
drained prior to the fishing season, the 
yields of bass from angling varied between 
23 and 40 per cent of the number avail- 
able and between 27 and 34 per cent of 
the weight available. 
13. In the 2-year period preceding the 
first draining census and in each of four 
2-year periods between draining censuses, 
numbers of bass that had been marked by 
fin-clipping disappeared from Ridge Lake. 
These bass could have died from injuries 
or from natural causes without being re- 
covered, they could have moved out of 
the lake over the surface spillway in time 
of flood, or they could have been removed 
through illegal fishing when the lake was 
closed. ‘The unaccountable losses among 
the bass with which the lake was originally 
stocked amounted to 86.7 per cent in the 
1941-1943 period, table 19; the losses 
were so high as to suggest that many of 
these fish died from injuries received in 
transportation or handling. Among the 
bass produced in the lake and later marked, 
unaccountable losses were lower in the 
middle age groups than in older and 
younger age groups. As bass approached 
the age of 10 years, the unaccountable 
losses increased, suggesting that the fish 
were approaching the end of their normal 
life span. 
14. Artificial lures were more effective 
in catching bass than were live or other 
natural baits, table 22. Fishermen tended 
to try artificial baits at the start of each 
fishing period, switch to natural baits if 
the artificials were ineffective, and, if 
natural baits also were ineffective, con- 
tinue to use them, thus building up many 
“low catch” hours for the natural baits. 
Catch records for individual fishermen 
demonstrated that skill was important to 
success in bass fishing. 
15. For their contingent travel, meals, 
tackle, and licenses, fishermen at Ridge 
Lake in 1949 are estimated to have spent 
an average of $1.22 for each hour of 
bass fishing. Because they averaged 7.1 
hours in catching | pound of bass, the 
calculated cost of their catch was $8.66 
per pound. 
