172 PRACTICAL BAIT CASTING 



family is a source of annoyance and worry to the 

 fish culturist, it is in our opinion not without its ad- 

 vantages. The fact that the black bass is so self- 

 reliant, so active, such a hard fighter is due in great 

 part, to the bitter struggle for survival that he en- 

 counters from the time he breaks through the egg. 



The work of hatching and caring for bass as car- 

 ried on in a modern bass plant is simple but interest- 

 ing. Artificial nests, simply boxes of gravel, are made, 

 or the male fish is permitted to construct his own nest 

 in favorable positions, then comes the courtship and the 

 fertilizing of the eggs as described elsewhere in this 

 book. When the eggs are hatched, the nest is sur- 

 rounded by a "crib" or screen and in a few days the 

 entire hatch is removed to the fry ponds especially made 

 to rear young fish. 



The Illinois hatchery, which is the largest in the 

 country, consists of a main breeding pond of 13 acres, 

 and a number of rearing ponds of an acre each. These 

 are arranged so that they receive a continual supply 

 of fresh water and the water in each pond can be 

 lowered for seining out the fry or, if necessary, can 

 be drained entirely. 



While a plant of this kind is needed by the state 

 of Illinois, with its hundreds of lakes and streams, 

 hatcheries are also doing good work locally. An ex- 

 ample worthy of special mention is the Bassi Lake 

 Hatchery at Bass Lake, Ind. This is run on the 

 co-operative plan. The state, we believe, constructed 

 the ponds and put them under the care of the local 



