REPORT OF THE COMMISSION. 



To His Excellency, Richard Yates, Governor: 



We beg leave to submit herewith our report as Board of State Fish 

 Commissioners for the two years ending September 80, 1902. 



The two seasons covered by our report could scarcely have been 

 more widely at variance with each other, and yet each was detrimen- 

 tal to a successful development of our work. The season of 1901 

 was the hottest and dryest ever known in this State, while that of 

 1902 was said to be the extreme of wet and cold. In 1901, beginning 

 in June, the thermometer showed a high temperature each day, the 

 heat increasing until it culminated on July 2l8t and 22d in the hot- 

 test weather ever known along the Illinois river. The result of this 

 extreme heat was the extermination of all the fry left in shallow 

 ponds, which destroyed all possibility of a large collection and dis- 

 tribution for that season. The following season of 1902 was ex- 

 tremely wet, the rivers being high in June and daily increasing in 

 volume, and the bottom lands were in a state of flood for the entire 

 season. The early collections were fair but later ones amounted to 

 but little, as the water was all through the timber and nature made 

 the Commission's work of rescue unnecessary, as the fish had an op- 

 portunity of maturing before going back to the river, instead of be- 

 ing caught in drying ponds as is the case in ordinary seasons. While 

 this prevented our usual collection the beneficial results will be 

 realized in the season of 1903 in the greatest increase of native fishes 

 that has been known for years, and should the river be at its normal 

 stage the collection for distribution will be of sufficient magnitude 

 to fully meet all of our requirements, and the market fishermen will 

 have the greatest output known in many years. In making our dis- 

 tribution we endeavor, so far as possible, to supply public waters first 

 and then give our attention to those applicants who have private 

 ponds. The number of such applicants has been greatly augmented 

 in the last few years, showing that there is a decided increase of in- 

 terest in the cultivation of fish for home consumption. Much of our 

 work in this direction, however, would be of little value if we com- 

 plied strictly with the demands of applicants, as the requests are 

 usually for black bass and kindred varieties, but we have advised 

 against this, as experience has shown that such fish are not adapted 

 to successful pond culture. Black bass have never been successfully 

 reared in small ponds, as they will clean up every other fish in the 

 water and when all other food is exhausted they will prey upon their 



