FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSIONER. 349 



17th, Mr. Burke had taken 185 quarts of eggs averaging 42,000 to the quart. 

 This supply was sufficient to fill his requirements and he had 24 quarts for 

 shipment to Caledonia. He had also taken enough frostfish eggs to fill the 

 jars at his station. The whitefish eggs were delivered to Mr. Redband on 

 November 25th. 



On December 6th Mr. Henry Davidson forwarded to the office a white- 

 fish caught in Keuka Lake. Upon examination this proved to be the com- 

 mon whitefish, Coregonus clupeiformis. 



Fishing in Keuka Lake was a failure as Mr. Davidson was unable to 

 find the spawning grounds of the whitefish. He fished the grounds in all 

 places where fish were speared in large numbers years ago, but found no 

 fish. The old fishermen think they have left that part of the lake. Lake 

 trout also have gone and have moved farther up the lake. This is probably 

 due to extensive gill net fishing every fall on the spawning beds. 



In Keuka Lake a large water plant which grows thickly is said by old 

 fishermen to furnish spawning grounds for whitefish. This is very 

 different from Mr. Davidson's experience with whitefish in Adirondack lakes 

 where the whitefish seek the cleanest bottom they can find for spawning 

 purposes. The trap nets did not catch whitefish but took large numbers 

 of pickerel. This would show that the whitefish were absent. 



The fishing season at Three Mile Bay was a very poor one on account 

 of stormy weather. Few whitefish eggs were collected and the attempt 

 to take lake trout eggs failed entirely as a big blow came on and the fisher- 

 men lost most of their nets and gave up the attempt. 



Up to November 9th, the prospects for taking whitefish eggs in Lake 

 Placid was very poor ; thieves took two gill nets which were used to secure 

 male fish from Mirror Lake at Placid; they also stole quite a number of 

 fish from the pound net. In Big and Little Clear the fish were practically 

 through spawning November 9th. Mr. Otis had more nets in the lakes in 

 1909 than ever before. They were set in the same places as in previous 

 years, but the season was an unusually poor one almost to the very close 

 when a sudden spurt of fish brought the total of eggs above 5,000,000. Mr. 

 Otis counts 42,000 of these eggs to the quart. 



On December 1, 1909, Mr. Scriba reported that his men were getting a 

 few eggs in Canandaigua Lake, but that most of the fish were unripe. They 



