PROPAGATION OF LARGE-MOUTH BLACK BASS AT 

 SAN MARCOS STATION. 



BY J. L. LEARY. 



Seven years ago when I was ordered to San Marcos, Texas, 



to superintend the construction of a bass station very little had 

 been accomplished in the way of propagating the black bass. Dr. 

 Henshall had published his book and named him the king of 

 hard fighters, and Mr. W. F. Page, then superintendent of Neo- 

 sho station, had written his pamphlet for the Fish Commission 

 and liad made a beginning in the propagation of bass, as had 

 also Mr. J. J. Stranahan. In fact the five ponds first construct- 

 ed at San Marcos station, if I have been rightly informed, were 

 planned by Mr. Page, and were the first ponds of the station 

 stocked with this fish. I had previously suggested and found 

 them entirely too small for the work to be accomplished. 



Having fished for many years in the Albemarle Sound of 

 North Carolina, where this great inland body of water and its 

 tributaries are the natural home of the large-mouth bass, I was 

 not only well acquainted with their habits of spawning, but 

 knew that the schools of young fish after hatching would seek 

 the shallow flats covered with rush and other water plants to 

 bask in the sunshine and prey on the myriads of insect life that 

 are here produced. 



I at once conceived the idea that to make a success of pond 

 culture one must conform as closely to nature as possible, artifi- 

 cially constructing the ponds to resemble the natural haunts of 

 the bass. Therefore I suggested that we l)uild our ponds not less 

 than one-half an acre, and while the ponds be made deep at the 

 draw-ofi^ they have a large area of shallow water. My sugges- 

 tions along this line were adopted and what success I have had is 

 due to making my ponds conform as near to nature as possible. 



Xow as to stocking ponds with brood fish, the best method, if 

 possible to do so, is to secure good native fish, selecting always 

 the best. This I have done at San Marcos station; however, I 

 have now a fair supply of my own raising. Since I have more 

 ]iond room for the past three seasons I have carried over each 



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