56 MONTANA STATE FISH AND GAME COMMISSION 



in the hatchery until they hatch — which time usually requires from a month to 

 six weeks, depending: on the temperature of the hatchery water — they must be 

 g'iven constant attention. The unfertile and dead eg:p:s must be removed to pre- 

 vent a fungus from attacking the good eggs. A watch must be kept that the 

 circulation and volume of water is correct. 



After the egg hatches and in the matter of a few days when the fish begin 

 swimming and looking for food, to obtain any results at all they must have the 

 greatest care to see that the food is of the very freshest, that it is ground fine 

 enough and not too fine, that they are getting enough to eat and that the troughs 

 be kept absolutely clean and the water well aerated and of sufficient volume. 



Most of our hatcheries now have rearing ponds where the fish are transferred 

 after reaching the stage where they take food readily. Here they grow and thrive 

 much better than in the hatchery troughs. Conditions are favorable and more 

 like natural waters. 



The bottoms of these ponds are covered with gravel which is of great value 

 from a protection standpoint, as the fish will take on the color of the fish in 

 natural streams and when distributed out of these ponds are not the ready mark 

 for older fish and other enemies as are fish planted out of the hatchery troughs, 

 which are of a much darker color. 



From the time the eggs are taken into the hatcheries until the fish are dis- 

 tributed — usually from five to seven months — it will readily be seen that much 

 time, labor and a large percentage of the license money turned into the depart- 

 ment has been used in caring for them. If the average individual who receives 

 a consignment of fish would but give this a thought his conscience would not 

 permit him carelessly to dump them in the first water he came to. He would 

 plant them to the best of his ability. 



When fish are dumped instead of being planted, with no thought as to their 

 food, protection or assurance of ample water supply, they might better have 

 been left with the parent fish from the start. The female would have spawned 

 in a place where the fish would at least have been assured of enough food and 

 protection until they were old enough to start for themselves. 



When a consignment of fish is received at the railway station they should be 

 taken out immediately by a truck or several cai's with three or four cans apiece 

 and planted in places selected as to the food, protection and water supply. 



Some of the anglers clubs are now adopting the method of surveying the 

 streams and making a note of desirable spots. From reports the results are most 

 gratifying. 



At the lakes which are not easily accessible we have been doing the plantini:- 

 with eyed eggs. These eggs are held in the hatchery until about ready to hatch 

 and are then packed to the lakes in two-quart jars — about 20,000 eggs to the jar. 

 These are planted in a section of the lake where there is some circulation of 

 water, as at the inlet or outlet — not necessarily in the direct current but some 

 place where there will be a seepage to the eggs. 



A method used by the Bureau of Fisheries, and which has proved satisfactory, 

 is to place the eggs in alternate layers with gravel or sand in a box or can, then 

 dig a hole of sufficient depth in the desired location and invert the box or can, 

 permitting the contents to settle into the excavation. The eggs will hatch and 

 the fish remain in this "nest" until they are ready to swim and start out for 

 themselves. 



We are most fortunate in having such spawning fields from which we secure 

 enough eggs to supply all of our hatcheries. Georgetown Lake has no equal 



