How Bass Hibernate 



Editor Recreation: 



Dear Sir: Is it a very common occurrence to 

 witness a bass in the act of hibernating ? Having 

 never read of any one witnessing such a thing I 

 would conclude that it is not often that such a thing 

 is witnessed. Such an occurrence was witnessed 

 here last Saturday. John Peplinski was fishing for 

 perch through the ice in a coop; he was using min- 

 nows for bait and there were a great number of 

 small perch around his hook, all of them too small 

 to take the minnow, when suddenly they all dis- 

 appeared, diving and hiding in the weeds on the 

 bottom. Mr. Peplinski was sure that this was the 

 signal for the appearance of a large fish of some 

 kind, when a large bass, estimated to weigh about 

 five pounds T appeared, and without paying the slight- 

 est attention to the minnow buried himself in the 

 soft mud directly under the hole through which Pep- 

 linski was fishing. Peplinski says his attention 

 was attracted by the peculiar appearance of the 

 bottom where this occurred, immediately after he 

 had his coop placed. The bottom was covered 

 with weeds about a foot in height, except a small 

 round spot about 30 inches in diameter straight 

 down from the hole through the ice. This spot was 

 entirely devoid of weeds and had the appearance 

 of a spot usually made by a boiling spring, but in 

 this case without the boiling. The water here was 

 about 11 feet deep. 



It would appear from this that bass do not stay 

 in the mud during the whole winter, for this bass 

 had evidently been out for some purpose. The 

 appearance of the spot would indicate that this bass 

 and perhaps others had frequently been coming 

 and going. I have no doubt that more than one 

 bass use this spot to hibernate. 



As I have said before, this is a new one on me, 

 and it offers me the occasion for considerable 

 thought and meditation. I should be pleased to 

 hear from you in regard to your opinion of this. 



Walter E. Guilick. 



Traverse City, Mich. 



From Casco Bay 



Editor Recreation: 



Commencing with the month of April very fine 

 deep sea fishing may be had within an hour's sail 

 of this place. Cod are the most common fish 

 caught this month, and sometimes very large ones 

 are hooked. About the middle of June the had- 

 dock come in and they are quite plentiful through 

 the summer. Hake and pollock are caught in 

 great number. The last-named fish is not con- 



sidered very desirable eating, but it is a fish that 

 averages about two feet to two and a half feet in 

 length, and being fairly gamy, it is great sport 

 catching them. 



Casco Castle is a very fine summer hotel that 

 accommodates 100 guests, and there is a nice 

 launch fishing parties can hire within a stone's 

 throw of the hotel. The launch and man can be 

 hired for $12 per day, which includes bait, lines, 

 etc. Rowboats, of which there are some fine ones 

 at the same place, can be hired for $1 per day, or 

 $3.50 a week. The charges at the hotel are $2 per 

 day up. The fresh water fishing does not amount 

 to anything, although there are one or two rivers 

 near here where small trout can be caught. 



There has recently beeen a fishing club formed 

 here called "The Casco Bay Fish Culture and 

 Angling Association." This club has leased for a 

 term of years the necessary land and water privi- 

 leges situated in South Freeport, and, having now 

 completed thereon a hatchery capable of hatching 

 one million eggs, intends to carry on the breeding 

 and exhibiting of fresh water fish in a modern 

 manner. 



It is intended to breed game fish only, such as 

 salmon, land-locked salmon, brook trout, one or 

 two foreign species, and two or three of this family 

 from the Pacific Coast. A few of the coarser fishes 

 native to Maine, that are spawners, will be bred 

 for the purpose of showing the process of raising 

 fish from the egg at different stages during the 

 entire year. L. A. Dixon. 



South Freeport, Me. 



Salmon Upset a Stage 



C. T. Thomas, of Astoria, Oregon, once caught 

 a salmon in which he found a mallard duck, but 

 he failed to state what the duck contained. 



Speaking of salmon, in 1885 a stage was upset 

 at Applegate Creek in Southern Oregon by a rush 

 of these fish. The drivers cut the horses loose and 

 escaped on the animals' backs; but the moral 

 barometer always stands low in the neighborhood 

 of a salmon stream. 



Fish in Colorado and Utah Waters 



For a number of years now fish in the mountain 

 streams contiguous to the line of the Denver and 

 Rio Grande Railroad in Colorado and Utah have 

 been increasing in great numbers. The United 

 States Government and State hatcheries are each 

 year planting a hundred times more fish (trout) 

 than are taken out of the streams by hook and line. 

 Prior to 1904 the annual planting was between 



