OiidJa I.ak-i- rislus 477 



I In- culture of Sniall-moutlied HIack Bass is attciuled with considerahlc siic- 



. Iiiit the fry or fiuj,'erHnj;s to Ik; ])lantccl must be reared hy pond culture, allow- 

 ing; the parent fish to spawn ami to attend the cgj;s and younjj as in nature. The 

 fish can not he strijjped successfully, so jars and troughs of the hatchery can not 

 I>c used. It is necessary to construct jionds on the hatchery f^rounds and have 

 bottoms and depth of water suitable for their ncstinjj. ( trdinarily ])iles of j,'ravel 

 are placed here and there on the bottom (Figs. 241, 24.2, 243) and the fish select 

 them for their nests. The nests should l>e screened (Fif,'. 244) with upri;,'hts j)laccd 

 on the shore side, so that the fish will not see moving objects along the shore. 

 .Success is attained by constructing nesting Ixjxes (LydcU, '04. Plate S; Reighanl. 

 '(/). p. .\.\). These must be i)ro])erly spaced to prevent the iiesting fi>h from dis- 

 turbing one another, and at the same time to economize bottom area (Lvdell. '04. 

 p. \2 : Meeman. '24. p. <^8). The fry when hatched have to be removed immc- 

 «liately i)efore they scatter (I.e., p. 104). The securing of breeding fish is some- 

 times difticult, but they may be kejit in ponds and fed liver and minnows (I.ydell, 

 ■04. P- 41 )• 



The species is ]>lanted as fiiigerlings, raised from the fry stage. To this 

 end entomostracans. esi)ecially Ihif'Imhi, nnist l>e i)resent in the rearing jK>nds 

 (I.ydell. '04, p. 43: IJeeman, '24, p. 104). Sometimes this food is sufficiently 

 abundant in the hatchery jionds, but it may need to be collected from other waters. 

 Heeman (I.e.) h.is been able to .secure an abundance of food for young Ikiss by 

 using a plankton net attached to a motor boat. 



Some figures showing the output of this s])ecies by the Oneida Hatclicry at 

 Constantia arc given in recent volumes of the .State Conservation Commission and 

 are as follows : 



1924. Frv, 147.6^0; advanced frv. 17.^00: fingerlings. 21.700 (MacdonaM. '2;, 



p. 80). ■ ■ 



1925. Fry. 197,500: advancetl fry, 84,000; fingerlings, 20.300 ( Macdonald, '26, 



p. 70). 



1926. FVy, 305,500: fingerlings, 53.R00 (Macdonald, '2~, \>. 106). 



Aiufllng Notes. The methods for capturing Small-mouthed Hlack Hass with 

 lines arc diverse and similar to those employed for the I-nrge-nioulh. It i>i. how- 

 ever, more often sougltt in streams by means of tly casting -a kind of fishing very 

 nuich preferred i)y many anglers to th.nt of casting from a lM>at alniut lily patches, 

 or to still fishing with minnow bait in weedy coves for the I^rgc-mouth. The 

 gameness of this fish is well known and is <lescrilK'<l in detail by Ilenshall ("03. 

 p. 14) who. in com|i:iring the liass with cither fishes on the hiMik. says that the 

 black Ikiss exliibits, if not intelligence, .something akin to it in its strategical 

 manoeuvres, as in bounding into the air to free itself from the hook, in making 

 ofTorls to maintain a slack line, and in altem]>ting to wiml tlie line alMiut roots or 

 other objects. In I.ake Maxinkuckec, Indiana, where Imth sjHries of bl.ick liass 

 are present, the licst fishing season for the .Sni,ill -mouth is July an<l .\uRust. while 

 that for the Large-mouth is SeptemlnT ( I'.vermann and Clark, '20, p. 410). The 

 Small-month Mass can be caught in this lake almost the year around (I.e., p. 400"), 

 and mimiows are the In-st Iviit. Cirassho|)|KTs arc rivoinmendctl for liait in .\tigtist 

 and early .Septemlier. I.ate in the fall, in (\tolicr and \oveml>or, trolling witlt a 



