24 



There will always be more or less illegal fishing so long as unlawful 

 tackle exists, and there is but one sure plan to stamp it out, and that 

 is to give the commission power to confiscate and destroy all unlawful 

 tackle when and wherever found. With the Reindeer and such a 

 law in force, we could clear up the rivers of the State, otherwise the 

 enforcement must necessarily be, to some extent, inefi^ectual, as some 

 men will always take the opportunity offered by night and absence 

 of authorities to use unlawful tackle. ^ 



We give in appendix, log of the boat for seasons of 1899 and 1900, 

 covering a mileage of nearly twelve thousand miles during the season. 



RIVERS AND STREAMS OF ILLINOIS. 



By request of a number who are interested in our water ways, 

 we give in the appendix the list of the rivers and their tributaries 

 in this State, nearly all of which are tributary to the Mississippi 

 river, and this list will give an idea of the possibilities afforded the 

 fishes of the great Mississippi for finding their way to almost every 

 part of the State, if all the streams gave a free course to them, 

 or were properly provided with fishways. This list was pre- 

 pared several years ago for the convenience of the commission 

 themselves. With its aid we were able to become familiar with the 

 several water ways of the State, and give them intelligent personal 

 inspection, and note the existing conditions and needs. Most of 

 them have been visited either by boat or on foot by the commis- 

 sioners for that purpose. 



If all streams were provided with fishways, and perfect enforce- 

 ment of the law could be had, a few years would give to every part 

 of the State an abundance of fish in every stream, where sufficient 

 depth of water could be maintained all the year round. But fish- 

 ways are not all in, or in working order. The laws are not per- 

 fectly enforced, and the commissioners at best can only keep, in part, 

 the proper balance, by constantly adding to the depleted streams by 

 distribution, and with as rigorous enforcement of the laws as the 

 limited means at their command will permit. 



We are often met with the complaint that fish are not so plenti- 

 ful in certain streams as they used to be years ago. There is little 

 to wonder at in this state of things when all the causes which 

 combined to produce it are considered. In the first place, conditions 

 themselves have greatly changed. Cultivation has done away with 

 the timber and the waste lands of the bottoms and woods have been 

 cleared and taken up, subjecting the streams themselves to varied 

 changes. 



Then, along the entire length of almost every one can be found, 

 on every log or shady bank, an angler or a party of them, almost 

 every day in the week for the entire season, taking everything that 

 will take the bait. Here, in Quincy, we are often asked why it is that 

 our adjacent lakes, once so plentifully supplied with the best of (jur 

 game fishes, now offer so little to the angler. Men do not stop to 

 consider that where, a few years ago, two or three anglers a day 

 on any of the lakes would be the limit, now, on any Sunday particu- 



