FISHES OF THE MAUMEE RIVER BASIN. 
319 
Fee Lake has a rather niiifonii depth of 25 to 33 feet. Temperature at bottom, 77°. 
The shores of the main lake at its northwest and east sides are gravelly, with clean 
bottom, and the banks at either place have a height of from 10 to 12 feet, and are 
covered with woods. The remainder of the shores of this part of the lake are swampj^, 
except along the large island, where the bottom is rather clean and solid. On the 
east side of the main lake are several strong springs. The water of these springs is 
charged with iron, and has a temperature of 49° F. In the lake near these springs were 
taken a number of Labidesthes sicculus, but all were of small size. Here were also 
found a few specimens of SeinoHlus atromaculatus and one Pimephales notatus. Hone 
of these siiecies was found elsewhere in the lake. The greatest depth we were 
able to find is a short distance northeast of the large island, where it was 62 feet 
deep, and the temperature of the water at this depth was 75°. A little farther south- 
east of this point, near the middle of the main lake, the depth was only 30 feet 
and the temperature of the water 57°. The low temperature of the water at this 
point would indicate the presence of strong bottom springs. The upper end of the 
main lake has a.nearly uniform depth of 50 to 60 feet and a temperature of 70° to 75°. 
A bay extends from the northeastside of the main lake in a southeast direction. It 
has a length of three-quarters of a mile, and along its middle line a depth of 40 feet and a 
temperature of 67°. Toward the shores the water gets sliallower, with a corresponding 
increase in temperature. In 12-foot water the temperature was 70°. 
The bottom of the mill pond is almost entirely covered with weeds, and it is only 
along the middle where the. weeds do not appear above the.siir face of the water. The 
depth of this iiortion of the lake is from 7 to 9 feet, and, the temperature of the water 
at this depth was 741° to 74°. The temperature of the water immediately below the 
surface in all parts of Fish Lake Avas 78°. 
Fully a quarter of the entire area of the bottom of Fish Lake is covered with 
weeds, of which the most common .are chara, pondwecd, and riverweed. Near the 
shores are water lilies in abundance. Along the water’s edge are giant bulrush and 
large thickets of water .smartweed. The prevailing trees ujion the banks are oaks, 
maples, elm, and cottonwood. 
The water in this lake is clear aiuL well stocked with native game and food fish. 
The ringed perch {Perea fiavescens), the blue gill {Lepomis pallidus)^ the common suiifish 
{Lepomis (jihbosuH), and the,large-moiithed black bass {Micropterus salmoides) are among 
the most common fishes. We were told that illegal fishing has not been practiced at 
this lake, and the abundance of game-fish, is the result. 
Fish Lake receives its Avaters from seA^eral ditch-like tributaries, but chiefly from 
the springs along its shores and bottom. It empties its Avaters from the loAver end of 
the mill pond into Fish Creek, of which it is the source. 
FISH CREEK. 
Fish Creek, near Hamilton, Ind., July 21: The Avidth of Fish Creek immediately 
beloAv Fish Lake is 13 feet, its average depth 7 inches, and the rate of current Avas 61- 
inches per second. The lake therefore discharged 2,000 gallons of Avater per minute. 
The stream tloAA^s in a southeasterly direction and joins the St. Joseph River near 
Edgerton, Ohio. A few hundred yards below its source it receives a small stream 
from the Avest, Avhich is the outlet of Ball Lake, a pond-like body of Avater a mile Avest 
of Hamilton. Fish Creek has many ditches and springs along its course, so that its 
volume rapidly increases. For a mile in its upper course the creek has been ditched 
