EFFORTS TO RIPEN STRIPED BASS, 1915 



By J. P. Snyder, Supt. U. S. Fish Hatchery, 

 Cape Vincent, N. Y. 



Last spring Mr. John Fitzhugh decided to try to ripen 

 striped bass at his slide in the Roanoke river near Wel- 

 don, North Carolina. At this slide each year the female 

 fish captured would furnish more than a hundred million 

 eggs could they be held in confinement and ripened. To 

 this end Mr. Fitzhugh built a suitable and comfortable 

 houseboat for the use of his watchmen and anchored it 

 to the slide. He also made a live-car about 12 ft. long 

 by 4 ft. deep and 4 ft. wide. This he fastened to the side 

 of the houseboat. This car was built of %-inch pine 

 boards and was made watertight with the exception of a 

 couple one-inch holes bored in the ends of the car. Over 

 these holes he tacked fine wire cloth as some one told him 

 he would have to keep out of the car the little eels that 

 ascend the Roanoke river in vast numbers during the 

 month of May. No provision was made for the transfer 

 of the fish from the slide to the live-car with as little 

 injury to them as possible, so they were permitted to 

 kick around on the slide until they had weakened suffi- 

 ciently to permit their being picked up by the gills and 

 in that way carried to the live-car. As watchmen he had 

 two negroes. 



These fish begin spawning as soon as the water 

 reaches 68 degrees Fahr. and usually the most and best 

 eggs are taken within the first 48 hours after that tem- 

 perature is reached. This occurred last spring on April 

 25th and during the last week in April twenty large 

 female bass, together with a lot of males, were placed 

 in the car. More bass were available but there wasn't 

 room in the car for all that were taken. Yet in spite 

 of these very unfavorable conditions four of the bass 

 ripened. One of those that ripened cast its eggs in the 

 live-car. The eggs from one turned out badly as only 



