Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Survey 287 



summer, especially in August and September. The species that 

 participate are both large- and small-mouth black bass, rock bass, 

 yellow perch, walleyed pike, dogfish and even suckers and catfish. 

 This movement is clearly a factor in the feeding habits of the 

 species concerned ; they evidently come at night into shallow water 

 along shore for the purpose of feeding upon the young and small 

 fishes and other life found there, especially insects which oviposit 

 in the water surface near shore. 



For this reason seining operations along shore at night were al- 

 ways interesting, because species could then be gotten which could 

 not ordinarily be found there in day time. 



The intelligent anglers, well aware of this habit, particularly 

 of the large-mouth bass and the walleyed pike, will be found troll- 

 ing or casting near shore in the evening. And the enthusiasts who 

 fish after dark know that it is worth while to do their casting and 

 trolling near shore at the edges of the rushes and other vegetation. 



2. From Lake Maxinkuckee to Lost Lake: — To what extent do 

 bass and other fishes leave Lake Maxinkuckee in the fall and go 

 down into Lost Lake and on to Tippecanoe River? And to what 

 extent do they return in the spring? These are very important 

 questions. The abundance and the permanence of the supply of 

 fishes in the lake will be dependent in large measure upon the facts 

 suggested in these questions. 



In the opinion of many residents about the lake and of many 

 of the anglers who visit it, a great many of the game fishes leave 

 the lake in the fall and go through the Outlet down into Lost Lake. 

 Some think they all stop and spend the winter in Lost Lake and 

 return to Lake Maxinkuckee in the spring. Others think that 

 many of them go on down the Outlet stream to Tippecanoe River, 

 perhaps to return to the lake in the spring, or perhaps not. All 

 are agreed that the species most concerned is the large-mouth bass, 

 and the small-mouth black bass to a less extent. 



So general and strong is the belief in this alleged migratory 

 movement that, at various times, those holding this view have suc- 

 ceeded in having a screen put across the Outlet at the railroad 

 bridge in the fall to prevent the fish from going down. The screen 

 would be installed in September and kept in place until sometime 

 in the winter or early spring when it would be removed in order 

 to let the fish return if they wished to do so. 



During our investigations we gave considerable attention to 

 this question. As the Outlet is only a few rods (about 40) from 

 where we stopped when at the lake we were able to make almost 

 daily observations on the fish at that place. Our observations cov- 



19—17618 



