25 



THE AGE OF SMALL MOUTH BLACK BASS. 



The following paper will explain itself and will throw light on a 

 question of which little is known. 



Colonel VanCleave has given the matter time and attention, and 

 gives facts which are a matter of record. 



Springfield, III., January 12, 1898, 

 Col. S. P. Bartlett, Superintendent Illinois Fish Commissson, Quincy, Il'inois. 



My Dear Colonel: — In answer to your letter under date of January 5th, 

 I desire to say, that my investigation as to the habits of the black bass began 

 in June 1889, at the Miltona Chib, which is situated on Lake Miltona, twelve 

 miles north of Alexandria, Douglas county, Minnesota. I had a desire to 

 know something more about the black bass than the scientists give us, and 

 was especially anxious to know whether the same fish could be caught and re- 

 caught with the same lure, whether it was a migratory fish or lived continu- 

 ally in the same locality, and whether the probable age of a black bass could 

 be ascertained. 



During nine j'ears I placed my german silver badge on nineteen hundred 

 and thirty- five bass, sixteen hundred and seventy-six of which are of the 

 small mouth, the rest being the large mouth varietj'. Of the whole number 

 captured and recorded one hundred and nine have been retaken and re re- 

 corded, a great many of them having been through my hands twice, many of 

 them thi-ee times, while one was five timeg captured, three times in one sea- 

 son, being caught twice in one day by a guest who shared the boat with me. 



I prepared german silver oblong plates one half inch long with a hole in 

 one end. Upon one side my name was stamped and upon the other the serial 

 number of the plate. Each plate was numbei-ed consecutively, as were the 

 pages of the book in which the record was kept. Immediately after catching 

 and carefully' weighing the bass it was placed in the large live box of my boat, 

 and when convenient a small hole was made in the point of the heavy cheek 

 piece or gill covering of the bass and the plate attached with a short copper 

 wire, the ends of which were carefully clipped off and the fish returned to 

 the water. 



In the record book an entry would then be made according to the facts as 

 follows: 



Date 



Locality 



Bait used 



Variety of bass 



Weight in ounces 



By whom caught 



My investigations have been very interesting, and have added much to the 

 enjoj'meut of my summer vacations. The members of the Miltona Club as 

 well as the Monmouth (Illinois) CUib and the Minne-^ouri Club on Lake Mil- 

 tona have shown enough interest in my investigations to advise me when fish 

 were recaptured that bore my plate, but have never kept the specimens for 

 re-recording, and seldom ascertained their exact weight. 



