12 THE REPORT OF THE Ko. 31 



swarming with the young of these fish.. The work performed the first year is already 

 manifesting itself in improved angling. /A carload of bass was successfully sent as far V 

 as Rat Portage, and deposited in a small Jake in the vicinity of the Lake of the Woods, 

 illustrating that parent fish may be transported almost any distance under proper 

 conditions, and with conscientious attention./ Some doubt was felt as to whether 

 several hundred parent fish confined in such small space as is afforded in an ordinary 

 car could be sent so far without very great loss, and much credit is due Messrs. 

 FJlis and Wood, the Departmental officials in charge, for the success oi the experiment 

 is undoubtedly due to their faithful attention to duty. The water had to be frequently 

 changed, kept thoroughly oxygenated, and at the proper temperature, which required 

 unrelated attention day and night. A carload of speckled trout from the Nepigon was 

 deposited near Rat Portage. 



With the increase of summer resorts, and the number of persons who indulge in 

 an annual outing, the drain upon the fish in our lakes and rivers has become relatively 

 greater ; and if the supply is to be increased, the utmost vigilance must be exercised 

 to prevent waste. Indeed, it may be considered necessary for a time to limit the 

 catch much below what it has heretofore been legal to take. All true sportsmen will 

 hi anxious to co-operate in every possible way to accomplish so desirable a result ; 

 and, in addition to a limited catch, no better proposition, it is believed, could be made 

 for this purpose than that contained in a former report, viz., to return to the water for 

 a year or two ail'l undersized, and all uninjured fish not actually required for consump- 

 tion after having enjoyed the sport of playing them. The bass is a very hardy fish, 

 and this could safely be done in perhaps 09 cases out of 100 without fear of mortal ef- 

 fects. Some anglers, who do not sympathize with this view, will maintain that a fish 

 once hooked will invariably die, but that this contention is erroneous is sustained by 

 the fact that the bass first deposited by the Province some years ago were taken in 

 this way, and with but little mortality as the result. Last year one of the State Com- 

 missions purchased 500 bass, all of which were caught with hook and line, and not a 

 single fish, it is said, died. The source .of danger is in the handling when the fish is 

 taken from the hook, or when severely wounded in the throat or gills. If this pro- 

 position should not appeal to the good judgment of anglers, it may then be deemed 

 necessary to set apart waters which are 'being stocked, and to prohibit angling therein 

 until the increase. will justify their being again opened, as has been done in the case 

 of some of our rivers. We actually found that parties were taking the fish before 

 the day on which they had been planted had closed. To attempt to re-stock under such 

 circumstances would not only be folly, but a waste of time and money. 



All these precautions would probably not now be required, had former Adminis- 

 iritions appreciated the importance of preserving our game fish. It will be remem- 

 bered that it is only since the administration was assumed by the Province that the 

 sale of speckled trout, black bass, and maskinonge has been prohibited, and that fisher- 

 man have not been allowed to net for bass or maskinonge. Prior to that time these fish 

 were dealt in commercially, and immense quantities taken every year and exported 

 from the Province. In 1898, under Dominion administration, the returns show that 

 970-375 pounds of bass, and 774-320 pounds of maskinonge were taken. This enormous 

 drain, which had been going on for years, had nearly exhausted the inland waters. 



The Tourist Trade. 



" For beauty and for charm, for unblemished loveliness," the lakes and rivers of 

 Ontario stand supreme ; and this is testified to by the fact that in almost every part 

 of this glorious Province the summer tourist is in the holiday season to be found. 

 "He represents at once a diversification and an industry. . . . He is so familiar a 

 figure that it is difficult for us to appreciate either his novelty or his importance. . . . 

 Should he suddenly revert from his nomadic habit to the settled stay-at-home ways of 

 his fathers, we should "Ot only miss him grievously in our landscape, but scores of 



