204 American Fisheries Society. 



stocked with many species of minnows, crawfish and other 

 natural foods for adult bass. In fact so abundant are these 

 foods that we often hear bass fishermen attribute poor bass 

 fishing to the abundance of minnows, etc. Are we then to 

 conserve these coarse fish because they in some measure at 

 least enter into the food of bass? Because of this are we 

 justified in outlawing spring netting of non game fish with 

 its accompanying results — ^the denial of employment and 

 revenue to netters and many thousands of pounds of cheap 

 food to our people? Here is food for careful thought and 

 study. 



3rd — To what extent does spring netting of coarse fish 

 conserve the eggs of bass? Herein many bass fishermen lay 

 all their troubles to German carp, believing that carp de- 

 stroy the eggs of bass. What do our pond men say as to 

 this? It seems this phase of the question could be solved by 

 putting German carp in bass ponds and observing what takes 

 place. Personally the writer has never seen carp eating 

 the eggs of bass except in cases where the parent bass had 

 been killed or driven away from its nest. The v/riter is sat- 

 isfied however from what reliable men have told him that 

 eels are destructive to bass eggs. They tell him that the 

 silver eel is one species of fish that brood bass seem unable 

 to drive away from their nests, that again and again they 

 have seen eels eating the eggs of bass. They also tell him 

 that suckers operating in schools are destructive to bass 

 eggs. Are we therefore justified in removing coarse fish 

 from bass waters because some of them at least at times eat 

 bass eggs? 



4th — To what extent if any does spring netting of coarse 

 fish conserve bass fry and fingerlings? With us on the 

 eastern end of Lake Ontario suckers, carp, perch pike, 

 pickerel, bullheads, etc., all seek the shoal waters in which 

 bass later spawn. We know they spawn earlier than do 

 bass, that their eggs hatch earlier than bass eggs do, and 

 that their fry feed earlier. This being true to what extent 

 do these millions of little perch, pickerel, pike, etc., feed 

 upon bass fry, and particularly to what extent do they feed 

 upon the natural food of bass fry? Since the fry of these 

 coarse fish feed earlier than do bass fry they may be tre- 

 mendously destructive to bass fry by cutting down their 

 available food supply. The writer believes it is generally 

 conceded that the capacity of any body of water to produce 

 fish is largely influenced by its capacity to produce fish 

 food. To the writer this phase of the question deserves 

 careful consideration. The importance of this was brought 

 forcibly to his attention some years ago by an experience he 



