﻿XVIII 
  

  

  the 
  best 
  fish 
  to 
  propagate 
  here, 
  because 
  it 
  is 
  the 
  strongest 
  and 
  

   hardiest 
  species 
  of 
  fish 
  in 
  our 
  waters. 
  

  

  Edgar 
  Dashiell. 
  

  

  1. 
  For 
  twenty 
  years. 
  

  

  2. 
  Wicomico 
  River. 
  

  

  3. 
  No. 
  

  

  4. 
  Shad 
  spawn 
  from 
  May 
  loth 
  to 
  June 
  15th. 
  

  

  5. 
  The 
  catch 
  of 
  shad 
  is 
  now 
  seventy-five 
  j>er 
  cent, 
  less 
  than 
  

   it 
  was 
  twenty 
  years 
  ago. 
  

  

  6. 
  I 
  attribute 
  the 
  decrease 
  to 
  hauling 
  seines 
  during 
  spawn- 
  

   ing 
  season 
  and 
  to 
  the 
  spawn 
  being 
  eaten 
  up 
  by 
  eels. 
  

  

  7. 
  Shad, 
  herring, 
  rock, 
  perch 
  and 
  taylors. 
  Other 
  fish 
  

   might 
  prosper 
  if 
  tried 
  in 
  our 
  waters. 
  

  

  8. 
  No. 
  

  

  9. 
  No. 
  

  

  10. 
  Yes. 
  (Mr. 
  Dashiell, 
  the 
  gentleman 
  who 
  filled 
  this 
  up, 
  

   says 
  that 
  he 
  has 
  frequently 
  caught 
  female 
  rock 
  with 
  roe, 
  but 
  

   not 
  ripe.) 
  

  

  11. 
  The 
  largest 
  was 
  over 
  eighty 
  pounds. 
  

  

  13. 
  I 
  don't 
  think 
  rock 
  are 
  very 
  destructive 
  to 
  other 
  fish. 
  

  

  John 
  Wilson, 
  Landing 
  Neck^ 
  Talbot 
  County. 
  

  

  1. 
  I 
  have 
  fished 
  for 
  twenty-five 
  years, 
  more 
  or 
  less. 
  

  

  2. 
  Have 
  fished 
  in 
  Miles 
  River 
  occasionally, 
  but 
  for 
  the 
  last 
  

   fifteen 
  years 
  principally 
  in 
  the 
  Choptank. 
  

  

  3. 
  I 
  have 
  to 
  some 
  extent. 
  

  

  4. 
  They 
  usually 
  spawn 
  about 
  the 
  last 
  of 
  April 
  or 
  the 
  first 
  

   of 
  May. 
  Some 
  not 
  before 
  the 
  fifteenth 
  of 
  May. 
  They 
  are 
  

   most 
  abundant 
  about 
  the 
  last 
  of 
  April. 
  

  

  5. 
  Have 
  caught 
  as 
  many 
  as 
  2,000 
  shad 
  in 
  one 
  season, 
  but 
  

   for 
  the 
  last 
  three 
  years 
  they 
  have 
  been 
  scarce. 
  Have 
  kept 
  no 
  

   record 
  of 
  the 
  temperature 
  of 
  the 
  water, 
  nor 
  of 
  the 
  range 
  of 
  

   the 
  wind, 
  but 
  have 
  noticed 
  that 
  no 
  fish 
  are 
  caught 
  when 
  the 
  

   wind 
  blows 
  from 
  the 
  east. 
  

  

  6. 
  Last 
  season 
  was 
  a 
  very 
  poor 
  one 
  — 
  worse 
  than 
  for 
  many 
  

   years 
  past. 
  Nothing 
  like 
  as 
  good 
  as 
  some 
  years 
  back. 
  I 
  at- 
  

  

  