REPORT OF STATE BOARD OF FISH COMMISSIONERS 57 



BLACK BASS. 



The black bass continue to grow in favor and are found in ever in- 

 creasing numbers throughout the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys. 

 It is the opinion of some of the oldest fishermen on the Sacramento and 

 San Joaquin rivers that in a few years these fish will be as plentiful as 

 the carp. While we do not anticipate such a remarkable increase, it 

 may be taken as an indication of their remarkable adaptability to the 

 large bodies of fresh water throughout the two great valleys of the State. 



During the past two years the work of transplanting these fish has 

 been carried on conscientiously and intelligently. Whenever a new 

 reservoir has been created for power purposes in localities not suitable 

 for trout, we have planted black bass. We are constantly in receipt of 

 letters from those in charge of reservoirs and artificial lakes testifying 

 to the notable increase of this excellent game and food fish. In several 

 instances where bass have been planted when trout had been requested, 

 we have been gratified to have our judgment vindicated by the applicant. 



Our chief source of supply is found in the sloughs and overflowed 

 lands around Sacramento, and from that locality thousands of bass 

 have been collected in the past two years and distributed from Siski- 

 you County on the north to Orange, Los Angeles and Riverside counties 

 on the south. We are specially indebted to Mr. George Neale, the very 

 efficient game warden of Sacramento County, for valuable services in 

 this particular. In that respect Mr. Neale has done the State a great 

 service. He has kept track of the principal bodies of water adjacent 

 to Sacramento where black bass are found, and when, in his judgment, 

 the expense attending their capture would be reduced to the minimum, 

 he has notified us, and assisted by Deputy M. L. Cross has made these 

 collections and distributed them. Together these deputies have handled 

 thousands of bass two and three years old, and distributed them with 

 no loss whatever. Most of the work has been done with seines, 

 although some are taken with the Wilson spoon. It might be well at 

 this time to call attention to the fact that there is apparently no per- 

 manent injury inflicted on the bass by taking them with a hook, as our 

 deputies have never lost a single fish in transportation that was taken 

 that way, notwithstanding they have been transported in some cases 

 more than six hundred miles in 20-gallon shipping cans. 



Along the Sacramento River in Butte and Colusa counties the bass 

 have increased so that a good many fishermen are earning a livelihood 

 by taking them with hook and line. They have not been found in such 

 abundance in the San Joaquin River, but they are continuing to show 

 up there in greater numbers and are furnishing sport to hundreds of 

 anglers. 



