of Its length. It Is most convenient to divide the weight In pounds by the cube of the 

 total length In Inches. In order to avoid long decimals, the result Is multiplied by 

 10,000; In other words, the decimal point Is moved four places to the right. For ex- 

 ample, a 10-lnch fish weighing one-half pound will have an Index of condition of 

 0.5 lb. X 10,000 



10 In. X 10 In. X 

 of condition of 



10 In.' 

 4 lbs 



or 5.0, A 20-lnch fish weighing 4 pounds will have an Index 

 . X 10,000 



or 5.0. Thus It may be seen that they are 



equally plump, 

 as C. 



20 In. X 20 In. X 20 In.' 



This figure can be referred to as the Index of condition, or abbreviated 



Other workers have devised similar methods for comparing the plumpness of fish of 

 different sizes, but most of them have used lengths In centimeters and weights In grams; 

 or have used standard lengths, or some linear measurement other than total length. One 

 of the most common measures Is calculated from standard lengths In millimeters and 

 weights In grams. This Is called the coefficient of condition, or K. This Is trouble- 

 some to the average fisherman because he usually measures fish In Inches and weighs them 

 In pounds. 



The Index of condition, C, was calculated for each of the bass taken from Sports- 

 men's Lake which were weighed and measured. Table 14 shows that C becomes progressively 

 greater In longer fish. This Indicates that large bass are stockier than small bass. 



TABLE 14.— AVERAGE INDEX OF CONDITION, C, OF LARGEMOUTH BASS 

 OF DIFFERENT SIZES, SPORTSMEN'S LAKE, MAY 20, 1938. 



It may be Interesting in later work to use this bass population for comparison with 

 the bass populations of other waters. The relation of standard length to total length 

 has been smoothed of Its minor irregularities by fitting a curve. In like manner the 

 relation between length and weight has been smoothed. Table 15 shows corresponding 

 lengths, weights and values of C and K, read or computed from these smoothed curves. 



TABLE 15. —CORRESPONDING LENGTHS, WEIGHTS, INDICES OF 



CONDITION (C) AND COEFFICIENTS OF CONDITION (K) OF 



LARGEMOUTH BASS FROM SPORTSMEN'S LAKE, MAY 20, 1938. 



17 



