1912 AND FISHERIES COMMISSION. 127 



them peculiarly easy to fish, much more so than in the case of young 

 basis, so that it is unadvisable to give the slightest loophole for the tak- 

 ing of young fish in quantities, more especially so when it Ik remembered 

 that even the very little trout are highly prized for the table, and, 

 although the traffic is illegal, command a high price in many localities, 

 a thing which cannot be said of the very small bass. It would, then, on 

 the whole, in the case of brook trout appear to be inexpedient to effect 

 any change in the present law which requires all fish of a less length 

 than six inches to be returned to the water. 



But four mascalonge may be killed by an angler in one day, but in 

 regard to this fish it is to be noted that the size of the hook in common 

 use for its capture, as well as the method of taking the bait which is 

 typical of the fish, practically exclude the possibility of returning the 

 larger specimens, at least, uninjured to the water. In view of these 

 facts, as also that longe grounds are none too plentiful, that in them 

 longe of 10 lbs. are quite frequently to be caught, and that the fish will 

 run to such a size as 40 or 50 lbs., it must be admitted that four fish is 

 an ample bag for one angler in one day. The angler, therefore, should 

 be satisfied to rest content with the fortune of war in the matter of 

 what sized fish he may succeed in landing, and should not be allowed 

 to " fish for'- more than the number of legal sized fish that he is allowed 

 by law to kill. 



Mascalonge of less than 24 inches may not be retained, but must 

 be returned alive and uninjured to the Avater. A fish of even twenty 

 inches is already of a good size, with a large enough mouth to swallow 

 any ordinary bait, so that it is apparent that so far as injuring the 

 undersized fish is concerned, it is practically without the power of the 

 angler to prevent it. In fact, in the great majority of cases the small 

 longe will be more or less seriously injured before it can be released 

 from the hook. Moreover, so vigorous and vicious are even compara- 

 tively small specimens of this fish, and so sharp their teeth, that but few 

 anglers would care to attempt to remove the bait from the mouths of 

 any of them without taking the wise precaution of stunning it. The 

 effect of the blow necessary to accomplish this, added to the almost in- 

 evitable wounds accompanying the removal of the bait, render it doubt- 

 ful whether in the majority of cases the young fish will recover, even 

 thougli returned to the water, more especially seeing that, while helpless 

 and wounded, it is an easy prey for its enemies, the larger specimens of 

 its own kind and tlie common pike. To fulfil the requirements of the law 

 in this respect would appear, then, in general to be impossible. 



Trolling for longe over the grounds which it inhabits it is impos- 

 sible to foretell what sized fish will take the bait. It would plainly be 

 a hardship to the angler to require him to give over angling when he 

 had secured four small longe under the legal limit, but, on the other 

 hand, it might be urged that some effort should be made to check the 

 waste of young fisli and that, after an angler had landed six or eight 



11 F.C. 



