FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSIONER. 165 



ried over to the next season. The total value of the fish distributed, 

 estimated according to prices furnished by commercial hatcheries with- 

 out reference to cost of transportation or messengers was $152,781.60 as 

 against $119,684.67 in 1904. 



Ti)e Aas^alonore 



Considerable discussion has arisen in recent years as to the falling 

 off in the catch of maskalonge in Chautauqua Lake. The State Hatchery, 

 located on this lake at Bemus Point, has annually planted millions of fry 

 there, but the result does not seem to be all that is desired. Many resi- 

 dents of the locality, who are ardent fishermen but are without accurate 

 knowledge as to the difficulties which the problem presents, have insisted 

 that the State should raise the maskalonge fry to the fingerling stage 

 before planting. Experiments with the fry have shown conclusively that 

 this species cannot be so raised on account of the very great voracity of 

 the young fish. The Commission has endeavored by enlarging and improv- 

 ing the hatchery at Bemus Point to solve the problem by holding the young 

 fish as long as possible before planting, and it is hoped that the effort 

 will result satisfactorily. 



During the fall, attention was called to the fishing at Chautauqua- 

 Lake by a paragraph in a local paper which stated that Mr. John Peterson 

 of Jamestown, had caught a maskalonge, weighing over forty pounds. 

 The Secretary of the Commission, who has been giving close attention to 

 the stocking of inland waters, wrote to Mr. W. H. Knapp, Secretary of the 

 Sportsmen's Association of Chautauqua County, for information as to the 

 large fish and also for general information about the fishing in the lake. 

 The following reply was received: 



Jamestown, N. Y., October 20, 1905. 



Forest, FisJi and Game Commission, Albany, N. Y.: 



Gentlemen. — The fish in question was caught in Chautauqua Lake 

 on a trolling rig and its weight was 38! pounds. This was, I believe, the 

 largest fish taken this season. A friend of mine got one weighing 32 1 

 pounds while trolling, and several were caught that weighed over 25 pounds 



