34 FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



fisliing waters. Now there are thousands who make Aveek-end trips to 

 places where they think they may catch a limit of fish, regardless of 

 size. Many streams no longer contain spawners and the majority of the 

 fish are caught out before they reach maturity or the breeding age, and 

 the only fish found in such streams are the products of the hatcheries. 



The use of salmon eggs and the eggs of other species of fishes should 

 be prohibited as the use of fish eggs as a bait is the easiest Avay to catch 

 fish. It is unsportsmanlike, as all species of trout will devour eggs of 

 other species as well as the eggs of their ov/n kind in preference to any 

 other food, thus causing them to fall an easy prey to persons using 

 eggs for liait. Nor is the use of eggs confined to the hook, but are also 

 used to entice the fish to gather in large schools so that they can be taken 

 with but little effort. In some places, persons, in their greed to take 

 the fish in an unfair way, start in by using salmon or trout eggs to 

 cause the trout to collect in large numbers. Then they take flavored 

 canned products of the garden that are intended for human consump- 

 tion and feed the trout at places where they usually gather to feed. 

 The fish, not finding salmon eggs in quantities great enough to satisfy 

 them, soon learn to feed on vegetable foods and are easily taken in 

 great numbers to the detriment of those who are not so greedy but are 

 willing to use a more sportsmanlike method in catching their fish. 

 Such practice should be prohibited by law, particularly the use of fish 

 eggs for bait or the use of eggs to attract the fish to congregate where 

 they can be so easily taken. 



The large output of hatcheries did not more than meet one-half the 

 demand for fish to supply the streams and lakes and stock the thousands 

 of barren lakes in the high Sierra. Each season new trails are being 

 constructed and new areas opened for the pleasure of the thousands 

 wlio are seeking outdoor recreation. Therefore there is increasing need 

 of stocking all barren waters with fish and with aquatic plants and 

 insects to improve the food supply if fish are to be furnished for those 

 wlio are desirous of angling as a pleasure, and for those who desire a 

 certain amount of food of a kind that can not be obtained anywhere else. 



To meet these necessary demands on the Commission, more hatcheries 

 must be established and lakes and streams reserved to furnish eggs for 

 the hatcheries. But more important than these valuable sources of 

 supply, pond systems for the rearing of brood stock must be established 

 in several suitable locations in order to supply increased millions of 

 eggs annually for our hatcheries. These pond systems should be built 

 on the same general plan as that at ]\Iount Shasta Hatchery, where 

 nearly one-third of the fish eggs in California are produced. Ponds for 

 the raising of the spiney-rayed game fishes also should be constructed, 

 so that several millions of young black bass and the different species of 

 spiney-rayed fishes can be raised annually and distributed in suitable 

 waters as trout are distributed. 



These recommendations have been made before by this department, 

 but due to a lack of funds, these essential plans for the propagation 

 and perpetuation of our game fishes have not been carried out. 



During the summer of 1924 an intensive campaign was carried on, 

 known as Initiative Pleasure Number Eleven, to prevent the erection 



