FISH AND FISHING. 



459 



covered them with snow, where they kept 

 for a long time. When the thaw came in 

 the spring and the ice went out dead fish 

 were found everywhere along the banks, 

 having died during the winter for want of 

 oxygen, I suppose. 



In December Recreation Arch Daven- 

 port, of Ft. Scott, Kan., says he was bit- 

 ten by a bass, and in February Recrea- 

 tion Bloom Duncan, with his blue rib- 

 bon badge, of Paris, Tex., says he never 

 heard of such a thing. May be, but I 

 was witness to such a case in '07 while 

 trolling in Lake Dunmore, Vt. I am not 

 abie to say that bass will become, ferocious 

 and attack human beings, but we had 

 hooked a 12 pound pickerel and finally in- 

 duced the fish to be drawn up alongside 

 our boat. My friend in his eagerness to 

 land the fish attempted to take hold by the 

 gills. The pickerel deliberately snapped 

 and caught my friend's hand, fair and 

 square. It was lacerated badly, and be- 

 came inflamed and swollen. Several weeks 

 elapsed before it was healed. 



Dr. J. H. V. Bache, Philadelphia. 



The success ol an operation of this kind 

 is largely dependent on rapidity and at- 

 tention to details. — Editor. 



HOW TO ST :CK A LAKE. 



Will you kindly advise me, through your 

 valuable magazine, the best method of 

 stocking a lake with sunfish and bass. 

 The minnows will have to be transported 

 16 miles over a rough wagon road. I 

 have tried several times to stock this lake, 

 but have met with no success, all the min- 

 nows having died on the way. 



An Ardent Reader, La Crosse, Wis. 



ANSWER. 



Stopking a lake or stream with sunfish 

 or bass is a simple and easy process. Go 

 to the place where the fish for stocking 

 can be obtained, equipped with a suitable 

 seine, wagon, buckets, and large tubs or 

 tanks of some sort. A fine-meshed seine 

 is necessary, of course, to take the small 

 individuals. If the weather is warm it is 

 well to set the tubs in the edge of the lake 

 or stream until ready to start home. That 

 will keep the water cool in the tubs. When 

 a sufficient number of minnows have been 

 secured, change the water in the tubs as 

 completely as possible and throw a wet 

 blanket, gunny sack or some such article 

 over each tub to keep the water from 

 splashing out too freely. A rough road is 

 an advantage in one respect, as it will keep 

 the water better aerated. If opportunity 

 offers it may be well to change the water 

 3 or 4 times on the way. Care should be 

 taken not to put too many fish in any one 

 tub; do not crowd them. If a street 

 sprinkler or a wagon used for hauling 

 water for a steam thresher or any other 

 purpose can be obtained it would prove 

 ever better than the tubs. 



ONLY ONE OF ITS KIND. 

 Will you please inform me to what fam- 

 ily of fish the bullfin belongs? This fish is 

 caught in the lakes of New York State. 

 Is the flesh suitable for the table? 



Wm. W. Kelly, Providence, R. I. 



ANSWER. 



The fish about which you inquire is the 

 bowfin, Amia calva. It belongs to the family 

 of Amiidco, and is the only known living 

 species. Several fossil species have been 

 described. The bowfin, which is also called 

 mudfish, dogfish, grindle, John A. Grindle, 

 lawyer, poisson de marias. and perhaps 

 still other names, is found only in America, 

 its range extending from Lake Champlain. 

 the Great Lakes and Minnesota, South to 

 Virginia, Florida and Texas. It frequents 

 lakes and other sluggish waters, and is 

 generally abundant, particularly in small 

 muddy lakes and lowland streams. To the 

 naturalist it is of great interest because it 

 is a survival from an ancient fish fauna. 

 It is not only the only living member of 

 its family, but the only member of the 

 order (Cycloganoidca) to which it be- 

 longs. It attains a length of 2 feet or 

 more, and is a voracious game fish of ex- 

 traordinary tenacity of life. 



The male has a large, round, black spot 

 at the base of the caudal fin above, which 

 is absent in the female The flesh of the 

 bowfin is peculiarly soft and pasty and. 

 with our usual methods of cooking, it is 

 not at all palatable. Perhaps with other 

 methods of preparation it might be made 

 a fair food fish.— B. W. E. 



THE LARGE MOUTH WILL TAKE FLIES. 

 The way you roast the game hogs is 

 simply great, and I hope you will keep it 

 up until the end of the chapter. 



I want to find out if the big mouth. <>r 

 Southern chub will rise to a fly as the 

 small will? 



N. P. Young. Williamsburg. Ya. 



ANSWER. 



It is well known among anglers and 

 those who have studied the habits of the 

 2 species that the large mouth black has- 

 will not rise to the fly so readily as will 

 the small mouth species; but that it will 

 at times take the fly has been proved by 

 many anglers. Considerable experience 

 during the past year with both species in 

 Lake Maxinkuckcc. Indiana, yielded some 

 interesting results. During July and An 

 gust the large mouth was difficult to 

 except by trolling with live bait. Tn Sep 

 tember it was more at the surface, and 

 could be taken occasionally bj casting. In 



