358 American Fisheries Society 



the water level to any great extent is one of the surest means 

 of causing breeding fish to leave the nest. Lowering the 

 water materially during the season when the young fish are 

 feeding and hiding in the shallow, weedy margins causes many 

 of them to be stranded in the weeds, or, if they escape, it is 

 into the more open water where they readily fall a prey to the 

 larger fishes and where their natural food is much less abun- 

 dant. If it were possible to maintain a fairly constant level 

 subject only to changes due to evaporation from the first of 

 April to October, I have little doubt that we should see a great 

 increase in the productivity of our smaller inland lakes that 

 are drawn upon for water power or for city use. Such waters 

 are usually under the control of a board of public works or a 

 similar body, which operates too often without knowledge of 

 or consideration for fish life. There should be closer coopera- 

 tion between such bodies and the state fisheries departments 

 to the end that more fish may be produced. 



At the Louisville meeting of this Society, Mr. James Nevin 

 presented a paper on "Changing Food Conditions of the 

 Trout Family," printed in the Transactions for December, 

 1919, in which he mentioned the damage done to trout streams 

 by cleaning them up too well. The same thing applies very 

 forcibly to our game fish waters in Ohio, both streams and 

 lakes, and there is a striking difference in most of these waters 

 as compared with even twenty or twenty-five years ago. 



The banks of our lakes and streams are becoming very 

 much appreciated by the people of our cities for playgrounds 

 and summer residences and, naturally enough, wishing their 

 surroundings to present a neat appearance, they remove all 

 fallen trees and other debris from the water. Stumps inter- 

 fere with boating and one may also lose a hook on such an 

 obstruction, so they wish the stumps removed. Because vege- 

 tation interferes with fishing, several inquiries have been re- 

 ceived recently as to how to remove it. Of course, it is a false 

 notion of cleanliness that requires these things to be done, for 



