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RKCREA '/VOX 



of water and mud where most other fishes 

 would perish. This is particularly true of 

 the bullhead, which inhabits small, slug- 

 gish creeks and ponds such as are com- 

 mon in Nebraska. During seasons of 

 drought these creeks or ponds may be- 

 come reduced to isolated pools with little 

 water in them, yet sufficient to keep the 

 catfish alive until rains come again. If the 

 stream or pond dries up entirely, so that 

 not even any soft, wet mud is left, the cat- 

 tish will die, unless he migrates to some 

 place where there is some water. In such 

 cases as this the probabilities are that, 

 when the water begins to dry up in the 

 creek, the catfish move up or down stream 

 to some point where water is left. In the 

 case of a pond drying up the fish in it 

 would perish, and it would be restocked 

 again, when the rains come, by fish coming 

 in from some other pond or stream. Cat- 

 fish, or any other fish for that matter, are 

 found only where they can swim from 

 some other body of water. They do not 

 rain down, nor do they originate de novo 

 in any body of water. While they cannot 

 live through the dry season where there is 

 no moisture at all, still they can get along 

 for a time in a small quantity of water 

 which would be fatal to most fishes. 



B. W. E. 



PECULIAR TROUT. 

 I lately caught 2 trout which I can not 

 identify, though I have seen perhaps 6 in 

 all within 3 years. They are white or silver 

 color, with no small red spots. I once 

 spoke to Prof. Bean about them, and he 

 thought they # must be salmon, though sal- 

 mon have never been found in the streams 

 about here. The last specimen I took was 

 the largest I ever saw. It weighed about 

 ^4 pound. 



R. M. Shurtleff, Keene Valley, N. Y. 



ANSWER. 



I can not, from the brief description 

 given, be certain to what species the 

 trout may belong. They may be young 

 land-locked salmon, Salmo salar sebago, 

 but this is extremely doubtful. The State 

 Fish Commission has introduced several 

 species of trout into New York, among 

 them the rainbow trout, lake trout, brown 

 trout, and, I think, the black spotted 

 trout. It might be any of these. The only 

 way to be sure is to preserve one or more 

 specimens for identification. I shall be 

 glad to identify any specimens sent me. 

 As to the presence of scales, all species of 

 trout haye these. Those which on super- 

 ficial examination appear to have none 

 have really the most, the number being 

 very great and the size of the individual 

 scale small. 



B, W. E. 



BEST BAIT FOR BASS. 



There are 3 or 4 lakes a short distance 

 from here, that contain some large bass 

 which are said to come to the surface and 

 bask in the sun. The man who told me 

 about these lakes says the bass cannot be 

 caught with hook and line; that he has 

 tried several different baits, including min- 

 nows and the helgramite. The water is 

 clear, deep and cold. Can you tell me 

 any way to get these fish to take hook and 

 line? 



H. W. Mort, Dayton, Ohio. 



ANSWER. 



The bass you mention are doubtless the 

 large mouth black bass, and it is not likely 

 their habits differ greatly from those of 

 this species elsewhere in Ohio, Indiana 

 and neighboring States. My experience in 

 that region has been that these fish are 

 not difficult to catch. Last August, Sep- 

 tember and October I saw them taken on 

 the artificial fly, artificial frog, spinner, and 

 by trolling, either with the spoon or live 

 minnow. The live minnow was the best. 

 Try it next fall. — Editor. 



EXTERMINATE THE CARP. 

 The fishing and duck shootingin Rock 

 river, Lake Koshkonong, are seriously 

 threatened by the German carp that 

 were put in the river about 10 years 

 ago. They multiply with great rapidity, 

 and where they feed they roil the water 

 so much as to drive away bass, pickerel, 

 «pike, etc. They ea£, all the spawn they 

 find, also the wild celery, of which ducks 

 are so fond. Reliable parties told me that 

 one day they saw a space of 40 or 50 acres 

 in one of the bays of the lake literally 

 alive with carp, and I have seen vast num- 

 bers of the fish up the river where it over- 

 flows the marshes. The German carp bids 

 fair to rival the English sparrow as a nui- 

 sance. All States should permit shooting, 

 spearing and netting of carp at all times. 

 H. P. Pettit, Fort Atkinson, Wis. 



NIBBLES. 

 One morning I started out to catch a 

 mess of silver bass, or rock bass. I took 

 a cane rod, a linen thread for a line, and 

 a small trout hook, which I thought was 

 strong enough to catch small fish with. 

 Reaching the lake I cast in just above an 

 old dam. In a moment my thread line 

 began moving outward. I yanked, expect- 

 ing to land a small fish, but found I had 

 something larger to deal with. After a 

 struggle I succeeded in landing a 5-pound 

 black bass. I fished 2 hours longer and 

 caught a pickerel that weighed 7 pounds 

 on the same line. He broke the hook just 

 as I landed him. I love to fish and hunt, 



