2832 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
As already stated, the Fish Commission heard of the occurrence of 
shad in the Kanawha River at Montgomery, W. Va., in May, 1896. 
On May 13, 1898, I visited Montgomery, hoping that I might be able 
to secure specimens, or at least obtain further data regarding the 
occurrence of shad at that place. Very little additional information, 
however, could be secured. It was learned that shad had never been 
seen there, according to the persons interviewed, until in May, 1896, 
Only a few people knew anything about them, and not many were 
caught. The fish were seen at Lock No. 2, which is at the town of 
Montgomery, and at Lock No. 3, which is 5 or 6 miles below. 
According to Mr. Pink Brown, shad were abundant during the ** light 
moon in May, 1896,” in the Kanawha at Cabin Creek, just below Coal- 
burg, or 8 miles below Montgomery. The river was full of them and 
he caught a great many withaseine. He sold none because everybody 
was catching them. He took some to Capt. James Calvert, of the 
Kanawha Belle, who said they were common all along the river. Mr. 
Brown says those he caught were fine, large fish, excellent eating, and 
full of roe when caught, but he did not notice any eggs running from 
them, though others reported that they did. Mr. Brown did not catch 
any shad after the ‘* light moon in May,” but other parties continued 
for some days to catch them at the locks with drag hooks. 
Several years ago, it was stated, copperas water from the Cannelton 
mines entered the river and killed many fish, among them a ** white- 
fish”? which many now believe was the shad. The fishermen and others 
in this region who are familiar with the toothed herring and the skip- 
jack say that the tish they call the shad is a very different species. 
Lock No. 2, at Montgomery, is on the north side of the river and is 
faced by a high stone wall, on the outside of which, in the swift water, 
is where the shad were caught. For some time I watched a man with 
drag hooks trying for shad, but he met with no success. 
Inquiry among the fish-dealers at Evansville, Ind., in May, 1898, 
developed the fact that the shad is scarcely known at that place. One 
dealer stated that he had seen shad caught in the Ohio near Evansville 
about L868 and a few in 1897. He also stated that he had taken them 
in the Wabash, about 10 miles above its mouth. He gave the weight of 
the shad as about 2 pounds, and says they die very soon when caught. 
Only one of 3 dealers interviewed at Vincennes, Ind., had ever 
heard of shad in the Mississippi basin. He claimed to have received 
some shad a few years ago from St. Louis, but says they were too 
expensive for his market, as he had to sell them at 75 cents each. He 
did not know but that these fish may have been shipped from the East. 
All the known facts regarding the distribution and habits of the 
Ohio shad indicate that it has regular runs, like the common shad. 
It appears in the Mississippi on the borders of Coahoma County, 
Miss., about the middle of March: in the lower Ohio about a month 
