Buller. — Work of Pennsylvania Department 115 



gratifying to say that not one return in a hundred com- 

 plains of a loss of more than two or three fish, while all 

 report the condition good. 



While the Department has perfected its plans to fur- 

 nish all the game fish required to stock the streams of the 

 State, yet it knows that the number of anglers who want 

 these fish are but a small proportion of those who go 

 fishing in the State. To the expert angler with his slen- 

 der tackle there is a thrill when the gorgeous colored 

 trout or the greedy black bass takes his fly and starts 

 to battle for his freedom. But the number of trout 

 streams is but a small portion of all the streams of the 

 State, while the black bass is not suitable for many 

 streams. 



To the majority of the dwellers in Pennsylvania, fish- 

 ing is not only an amusement, but at the same time a 

 means of obtaining a food supply. There is nothing 

 equal to a day or a week in the woods beside a stream, 

 where the sun brings the tan to the cheek and the fresh 

 air a joy to the lungs that is not felt by the dweller in 

 the towns and the worker in the stores and mills. The 

 farmer and the farmer's boy, and even his wife and 

 daughters, enjoy a fishing trip to the streams where they 

 can secure a mess of fish which means a change of diet. 

 At the same time, when they hook the fish with their 

 plain tackle, they feel as exciting a thrill and experience 

 as much gratification as the expert angler who takes 

 the trout or bass with his expensive apparatus. 



To this very large majority of fishermen the joy of 

 fishing is brought by the so-called minor fish — the yellow 

 perch, the sunfish and the catfish, together with such 

 native fishes as the chub and the fall fish. All these 

 fish are easily propagated and have great fecundity and 

 the Department will bend every effort to produce these 

 in such numbers that every one may have not only the 

 pleasure of fishing, but the pleasure of taking home a 

 string of fish to eat. There would be no difficulty in 

 keeping these streams stocked with fish but for the 

 wasteful and destructive methods employed by too many 



