86 American Fisheries Society 



right for some localities, but bass in Kansas streams and lakes do not 

 seem to care for such spawning beds. 



Thus far all the bass beds we have seen have been in places where 

 some vegetation grew, and the beds were lined with line roots and 

 pieces of growing vegetation. The material in the beds looked as 

 though it had been wallowed or washed down to conform with the 

 outline of the basin-shaped beds. On the strings of moss, roots, etc., 

 the eggs had been deposited and could be seen adhering to the moss 

 and grass roots. When the weather was favorable nearly all these 

 eggs hatched. Where grass had been allowed to grow from two to 

 four feet high along the shore for protection of young fish and had 

 not been removed, a certain amount of dead material, such as leaves, 

 grass stems and other matter, was found in the nests. In such places, 

 where the water was clear enough to make observation, it could be 

 seen that from 25 to 75 per cent of the eggs were affected by the white 

 fungus. We did not know it was on account of the dead leaves and 

 grass ; however, Dr. Forbes has given us most valuable and much 

 needed information on that point. Knowing that it is a bad thing to 

 allow this dead material to accumulate where spawning beds are to be 

 made, such material can be removed in time so that it will not do 

 any harm. 



We allow swamp grass to grow 3 to 5 feet high along the edge of 

 the ponds for two purposes, one to keep the waves from cutting the 

 banks when the wind blows hard, and the other is to protect the young 

 bass that come to the edge of the ponds to feed. The young fish feed 

 for the most part during the morning in the grass, moss and weeds 

 that grow near the shore line. During the heat of the day they disap- 

 pear and apparently go to hiding places among the water plants in 

 deeper water. 



The ponds at the Kansas state hatchery are all well stocked with 

 goldfish. We put them in with the bass, crappie, bullheads and blue- 

 gills. It seems impossible to raise enough goldfish to supply food for 

 the other fish. Bass seem to be very fond of goldfish. Old bass will 

 eat them apparently in preference to almost any other kind of food. 

 Something like 5,000 goldfish from 3 to 6 inches in length were placed 

 in a pond during the spring with about 250 spawning bass. When the 

 pond was drained early in September we found only four old goldfish. 

 However, during the summertime we saw many young goldfish along 

 the edge of this five-acre pond. We also bred crappie in the same 

 ponds with large-mouth black bass. 



About 100 giant crappie were placed in a five-acre pond with about 

 250 black bass. When the pond was drained in September it yielded 

 over 30,000 young crappie and over 20,000 young black bass. Many 

 of the young bass were from 4 to 7 inches in length. The larger speci- 

 mens were feeding upon the smaller of their own kind and upon the 

 young crappie. When we killed almost any specimen of the larger 

 young bass, a smaller bass or one or two young crappie would be 



