FISH AND FISHING. 



AN ACRE OF BASS. 



Richmond, Ind. 



Editor Recreation: I have for 40 years 

 fished the streams and lakes of Indiana for 

 bass. Closely observing their haunts and 

 habits I have thought ever since Seth Green 

 promulgated his method of artificial prop- 

 agations, that the day would come when 

 water would be walled in and fish cultivated 

 just as fields are fenced in and planted. 



In 1895, as commissioner of Fisheries for 

 Indiana I had occasion to visit the village 

 of Warren, Huntington county, and found 

 there a pond in an excavation from which 

 gravel had been taken. The pond was 60 

 x 120 feet in area and 6 feet deep. It had 

 neither inlet nor outlet and had filled with 

 water during the preceding winter and 

 spring. The owner of the ground, Mr. 

 Thompson, an enthusiast in fish culture, 

 had previously constructed 3 small ponds, 

 supplied by an artesian wall, and had suc- 

 ceeded in hatching pike, perch and other 

 fish. He determined to see what he could 

 do with bass in the new pond. In May he 

 obtained a few adult small mouth bass, male 

 and female, and placed them in the pond. 

 Early in June he saw the fish preparing 

 nesting places. Soon after they spawned 

 and in due time the eggs hatched. 



I visited the pond in September following 

 and found it swarming with young bass. 

 The ensuing winter was unusually cold, the 

 water in the pond froze solid in some por- 

 tions and a large number of the young fish 

 were killed. When the ice thawed the 

 margin of the pond was lined with dead 

 bass, 4 or 5 inches long. If there had 

 been an inlet and outlet to create a current 

 this destruction would not have taken 

 place. 



After a year's absence I revisited the pond 

 and could see bass, apparently a foot long, 

 darting here and there, sometimes singly 

 and sometimes in schools of 100 or more. 

 I strung my rod, removed the barb from my 

 hook and baiting with a minnow, made a 

 cast. Soon I had a run, and landing my 

 victim found it a lively young bass that 

 measured ii J / 2 inches and weighed 13 

 ounces. I continued fishing until I had 7, 

 the largest 15 inches long and weighing 

 i6y 2 ounces. 



I realized I was accumulating evidence 

 of great importance: 



1. That bass would breed in enclosed still 

 water. 



2. That bass one year old will average 

 one pound each. 



3. That they had made this surprising 

 growth in the absence of artificial food of 

 any kind at any time of their existence. In 

 the fall Mr. Thompson drew off the water 



and by actual count found the pond con- 

 tained 1,017 bass, weighing one pound 

 each. 



A pond 60 x 120 equals 7,200 square feet 

 and is 1-6 of an acre, and 6 times 1,017 is 

 6,102 — the number of pounds of bass that 

 could, under like conditions, have been 

 raised in an acre of water. Besides the bass 

 there were 600 or 700 ring perch, weighing 

 in the aggregate 250 pounds or more. 

 That added to the weight of the bass, makes 

 1,267 pounds of live fish in the water of 1-6 

 of an acre; or at the rate of 7,602 pounds 

 an acre, which at 8 cents a pound will 

 amount to $608.16. 



It is but reasonable to suppose that with 

 a liberal supply of food a much greater 

 yield in weight would have resulted. 



W. T. Dennis. 



A RECORD ESOX. 

 St. Gabriel de Brandon, P. Q. 



Editor Recreation: Last fall I caught a 

 muskalonge which weighed 35 pounds. It 

 was 4 feet 3 inches long, and its girth at the 

 shoulder was 21 inches. 



I was trolling on Lake Muskalonge at 

 about 5.30 p.m., just after a rain storm, 

 and was pulling alongside a bank of yellow 

 lilies when my line suddenly straightened 

 out and sang like the A string of a Cre- 

 mona. It was caused by the fish having 

 unwisely mistaken my spoon for the more 

 esculent whitefish of which Esox estor is 

 so fond. He gave me a hard fight. After 

 towing the boat 200 yards he suddenly rose 

 and sprang nearly 10 feet in the air, shaking 

 his head furiously to get rid of the most 

 unsavory morsel he had ever tackled. But 

 the hook was well fastened in his tongue 

 and held. After another futile leap he re- 

 sumed his towing tactics, this time back 

 and right into the bank of lily pads. I 

 concluded he was as good as gone, for the 

 stems of the weeds are strong and grow in 

 twisted bunches of 20 or so. These become 

 entangled with the trolling line, and a sud- 

 den rush on the part of the fish will some- 

 times snap the line like a thread. However, 

 just as he struck the weeds he resumed his 

 belligerent tactics and in his struggles 

 cleared a space in the weeds for 10 feet 

 around, in which I succeeded in holding 

 him. During one of his paroxysms of ill 

 temper he struck the side of the skiff with 

 his tail, cracking the top plank and making 

 the old boat shiver from stem to stern. I 

 watched my opportunity. When he had 

 quieted down and was swimming on the 

 surface near the boat, looking unutterable 

 things at me with his great, yellow, tigerish 

 eyes, I gave him a gentle turn and a sud- 



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