226 American Fisheries Society - 



went in the breeding season to some of our inland waters 

 where bluegills were quite plentiful and obtained an abun- 

 dance of fry. We noted that a large percentage of the 

 fry were destroyed if left in the lake. Close observation 

 disclosed that the young bluegills, when old enough, would 

 rise from the nest and then toward evening settle back again. 

 This happens four or five times before the fry are strong 

 enough to swim away. During the operation many thou- 

 sands are destroyed every time they attempt to rise. It 

 was found that by taking a glass tube three or four feet 

 long, and putting it down in the nest with the thumb over 

 the upper end, thousands of the young fish could be ob- 

 tained at one operation. They were then placed in cans 

 and taken to the hatchery. The young fish, just before 

 they rise from the nest, have something of a golden ap- 

 pearance. 



When approaching the bluegill nesting ground the 

 operator can select the more desirable nests occupied by 

 the large fish. Two men in a boat will have no trouble 

 in securing several hundred thousand young bluegills in 

 a couple of hours if taken at the right time. As the 

 breeding season of this species covers quite an extended 

 period, we have no trouble in getting the number de- 

 sired. Upon arrival at the hatchery the fish are put into 

 ponds that have been recently prepared. 



At first results were not absolutely satisfactory, as the 

 fry settled to the bottom of the pond in the mud and silt 

 and many of them were smothered before they were strong 

 enough to rise. This trouble has been overcome by mak- 

 ing small screen-like devices of cheese cloth stretched 

 over a frame of any convenient size and submerged 

 around the shallow margin of the pond. The sides of the 

 screen frames should be about three inches high, so the 

 fry cannot wriggle ofif into the muddy bottom of the pond. 



Less care is necessary in estimating the number of 



