REPORT OF J. G. WOODBURY ON STRIPED BASS. 



San Francisco, July 31, 1882. 



S. -R. Throckviorton, Esq., Chairynan California Fish Commission: 



Dkar Sir: In accordance with your instructions to bring from the Atlantic Coast waters a 

 lot of striped bass fry, for the purpose of stocking the waters of the Pacific Coast, I proceeded 

 directly to Red Bank, New Jersey, which is on the Shrewsbury River, a few miles from the 

 ocean, from whose tidal waters it was known that young bass could be conveniently caught, 

 being the same place to which Mr. Livingston Stone had, on a former occasion, been directed 

 by your Commission. I arrived at Red Bank on June twenty-seventh, and, with a letter of 

 introduction, called upon Mr. G. H. Wild, the gentleman with whom you had been communi- 

 cating in regard to the best season for catching young bass. Mr. Wild, who had previously 

 interested himself in getting a permission from the New Jersey Fish Commissioners allowing 

 the Shrewsbury River to be seined for the young bass we desired to obtain, now heartily lent 

 his aid in securing men, boats, and seine to help catch the young fry. The next thing was to 

 devise some means to keep the young bass in safety, as they were caught from day to day, and 

 where they could be conveniently examined and fed if needful until the proposed number 

 had been caught. For this purpose I adopted the suggestion you made to me before leaving 

 San Francisco, which was to make a cage for them and anchor it in the current of the river. 

 This cage was to be six feet long by three feet square (to suit the width of the wire), the 

 bottom and top to be of boards, and the sides of galvanized wire to permit a free circulation 

 of the water, the top to have a door for easy access. Mr. William E. Cole, a well known 

 merchant of Red Bank, in his kindly interest in the success of our enterprise, insisted upon 

 making this cage himself, which he did in a very satisfactory manner, thus giving me more 

 time to devote to other urgent matters. You had written to Mr. Seth Green, Superintendent 

 of the New York Fish Commission, to send a man experienced in catching and handling fish, 

 and also a seine, to Red Bank, to meet me on my arrival from California. This gentleman 

 (Mr. E. L. Marks), owing to some delay consequent on making a shipment of fish, did not 

 reach Red Bank until the second day after my arrival. The seine which Mr. Green sent was 

 too small to be of much use in the Shrewsbury, while the one I had secured in Red Bank was 

 so much torn that nearly two days were consumed in repairing it. On the fifth day we had 

 gotten the cage into the river and anchored it in a strong current, under the bridge; the seine 

 had been repaired, and we made several hauls, catching about fifty fish. This was so encour- 

 aging that it led us to expect that the number of bass desired might be easily caught, although 

 the fish were not so small as I had hoped. I now left Mr. Marks in charge of catching the 

 bass, while I attended to other matters necessary to the success of our enterprise, such as getting 

 cans made for transporting the fish to California, securing transportation passes in the baggage 

 car over the railroads, etc. In New York I ordered made twelve cans like the New York Fish 

 Commissioners' cans for transporting trout. These cans will hold about fourteen gallons each, 

 and are made of the heaviest tin, strongly bound. The cans are so constructed as to give the 

 largest possible air surface to the water, and they will be of good service to the Commission in 

 the future. Three ten-gallon cans were also ordered for carrying extra water ; they have 

 wooden jackets, and are the same as those used by ihe United States Fish Commission in trans- 

 porting young shad. Also, four strong pails for carrying water. These cans and pails were to 

 be finished at a certain time, but owing to the Fourth of July intervening, and the warm spell 

 which prostrated some of the workmen, they were not ready for delivery until a week after the 

 time promised, consequently we were not able to start on our journey until several days after 

 our fish had all been secured. Through the kindness of Professor Spencer F. Baird, United 

 States Fish Commissioner, and his assistants, I received much practical information in relation 

 to transporting fish on long journeys, and specially such as was pertinent to the trip I was 

 about to begin. Professor Baird also kindly furnished me with free transportation passes for 

 our outfit in the baggage cars over the difierent railroads. 



While at Red Bank I had received a letter from you, with instructions to bring back some large 

 eels for breeding purposes. I therefore went down to the eel-fishing grounds below Highlands, 

 and near the mouth of Shrewsbur}' River, to make arrangements to have some caught and 

 delivered at Red Bank a day before our departure for California with the striped bass. 



As the striped bass was the first consideration, the floor space allotted to our use in the bag- 

 gage car was all reserved for them. For carrying the eels I therefore proposed light boxes, so 

 that they might be hung to hooks on the walls of the car over the fish cans. These boxes were 

 similar to cheese hoops, with a bottom having holes in it for circulation of air, and a cover also 

 having holes in it, which would drop loosely into the top of the box and find a resting place on 

 lugs about two inches below the top. The two-inch space at the top was reserved for ice, so 

 that, as it melted, the cold water would drip through upon the eels below. To the outer rim of 

 the bottom was suspended a shallow tin dish to catch the dripping water, and so prevent the 

 floor of the car becoming sloppy from this source. I knew that eels would live a long time if 

 put in a cool place and their gills kept moist. With this fact in view, I arranged the boxes aa 

 above described, and intended putting the eels in boxes among eel grass, and to keep them 

 moist by pouring over them, every fe\v hours, a dipper full of waste water from the striped 

 bass, and thus obviate the necessity of taking any extra water for the eels. To keep them cool, 

 a small piece of ice placed on the cover to slowly melt and drip through on them would meet 

 the requirements at little expense. 



