American Fisheries Society 139 



there was a little gravel ; and I presume there were anywhere from 30 

 to 50 nests after we took those fish out— showing you that we had not 

 got all the breeders by any means. I would advise the bass men to 

 try the plan of setting aside a pond for raising breeders, and see if 

 they cannot get better results. You will get fish that are more domes- 

 tic; they do not frighten easily; and I think you will get along with 

 them nicely. 



Another matter: Speaking about the number of fish to a nest, I 

 want to mention just one case we had this year. We got by actual 

 count out of one small-mouth bass nest 26,500 fry. It took two men 

 all day long to count them. Dr. Evermann and our worthy President 

 both saw the nest when the fish were almost ready to rise. They 

 were counted a day or two after those gentlemen visited the pond. By 

 some it has been thought that this is a good many fish for one nest, 

 and I would have thought so myself if it had not happened at North- 

 ville. Occurring there it was all right. (Laughter.) But when you 

 stop to think of 26,000 fry from one nest you may realize that it is 

 about the maximum under normal conditions. 



Now there is probably no question but that a bass in a great many 

 cases where you have only 2000 to 5000 eggs has not spawned com- 

 pletely; she is driven away and spawns on another nest. In this case 

 no doubt practically all of the eggs were deposited. Every condition 

 was normal. Some have thought perhaps it was two bass that went 

 on this nest, but if you will stop to think about pike-perch eggs you 

 will remember that bass eggs are about the same size (150,000 to the 

 quart). Now if you divide that down to about 30,000 you are not 

 gomg to have so very many as regards bulk. I believe a five or six- 

 pound female bass will contain anywhere from 30,000 to 50,000 eggs. 

 That is my judgment. 



Mr. Meehan : I want to concur with Mr. Clark, especially in the 

 desirabihty of the bass men raising their fish. We started doing that 

 three years ago as Mr. Clark did, and have reared fish to the age of 

 three years. We find those fish are better; they seem to maintain 

 better health and take food more readily and in every way act better 

 than the wild fish that are introduced. I believe it to be the right 

 policy. 



Mr. Carter : That is not the experience at St. Johnsbury. Our wild 

 bass are fine. We have some fish there that weigh four or five pounds 

 that have been transferred from Lake Champlain, and they are not to 

 be frightened at all. They are so tame, in fact, that the men feed them 

 out of their hands ; they catch live minnows, hold them by the head 

 and the bass take them. 



Mr. James Nevin, Madison, Wis. : We built a bass pond 750 by 400 

 teet. On the lower side the average depth is eight feet, gradually 

 slopmg to six inches. Much of the bottom of the pond is very stony, 

 'he stones running from six inches to a foot in diameter. 



Last spring we put 140 fish in the pond and shipped out this year 

 'UU.UOO fry. We drew the pond down the first of September and 

 ^hipped out 60,000 bass running all the way from five to six inches 



