Thanks to the States | Lake” 
A few weeks ago the publisher 
wrote the state game and fish 
commissions of the different states 
and each commission responde 
nobly with the information sought. 
We wrote for the names and ad- 
dresses of the superintendents 
the state hatcheries and in mos 
instances only a few days were re- 
quird to receive an answer with 
all the information sought. 
For such cooperation, we wish 
to thank each one. With coopera- 
tion like this, we will be able to 
get a lot of first-hand information 
to those wanting to raise fish and 
game. We believe you will see a 
lot of new fish ponds built, and 
much of the credit will go to those 
who have helped promote this new 
era of raising fish-for-food. 
rE —____— 
NUMBER, 3— 
ly. I think you really have some- 
thing there that a great percent- 
age of the sportsmen will appre- 
ciate. 
However, you flatter me by 
asking me to write an article for 
your first issue, for after all, you |} 




ERC] 
Has Canadian Geese 
On a visit to the Lake Dallas 
hatchery a year or so ago, the edi- 
a|tor was very much impressed by 
the presence of a large flock of 
ring-neck Canadian geese (‘“‘honk- 
of| ers”). They certainly made a beau- 
_|tiful sight wandering around over 
the green grass of the hatchery. 
As you probably know, these 
geese are strictly vegetarians and 
do not bother the fish in any way. 
The writer would like to see more 
of our hatcheries raise a few of 
these beautiful fowls. 

property. 
After all these years we find 
that there is still some fish in the 
lake, but we cannot as yet tell 
what varieties or approximately 
how many. We do know that there 
are perch, bullhead cats, and a 
few trout. Our big job now is to 
may clean the lake and enlarge it 
and get it ready for restocking. 
The moss in the lake is so thick j; 
that we are afraid that if we 
drain it down too low the fish will | 
be caught in the moss and be lost. 
Fish Hatchery 
A great many of our citizens 
who are interested in fish propa- 
gation can increase their knowl- 
edge on the different processes 
used in fish propagation if they 
will visit thier nearest fish hatch- 
ery—either state or federal. 
We have found the superintend- 
ents and employes are always po- 
lite and courteous to their guests 
and visitors, and are always will- 
ing to show you whatever they can 
of the operations they carry on. If 
you are seeking fish-culture knowl- 
edge, visit the hatchery nearest 
you, and you may be sure that you 
can gain much helpful information. 
a 
| A CLIPPING ABOUT 
| A GOOD GUY 
Chester Ellis, banker at Semi-'! 
| salvage these fish in order that we /NOle, Okla., finds time to combine 
/ business and pleasure. In 1940, he 
started raising pheasants. At, this 
time he has nine different varie- 
ties. His interest in, raising wild 
game has grown and in addition 
Dallas Hatchery] Visit Your Nearest — Fettilized Ponds Are Essential — 
For Maximum Fish Production — 
The most important problems 
involved in raising fish in farm 
ponds are the production of food 
and the management of the fish 
population so that the correct 
number of fish are present to util- 
ize efficiently the food produced. 
Fertilization of pond waters is 
the only practical method known 
by which the weight of fish that 
a pond can support may be ma- 
terially increased, except by direct 
feeding. Fertilized ponds support 
four or five times as great a weight 
of fish as unfertilized. Experi- 
ments have shown that ponds 
stocked with 1500 bluegills” per 
acre and - fertilized with a fer- 
tilizer containing nitrogen, phos- 
phorus and potassium give yields 
of 500 to 600 pounds of fish) per 
acre, while the average unfertiliz- 
ed pond, similarly stocked, pro- 
duce only 40 to 200 pounds. The 
average size of the fish from the 
fertilized pond is 4 ounces, and 
from the unfertilized 1 ounce at 
to pheasants, he has a number of| One year old. 
3 . : : If we attempt to clean it without 
ae cise hes peas ay draining, the fish will no doubt 
Not being a story writer, I shall) 41 pe killed by the mud and de- 
just write’ this letter and give you! bris that would be stirred up by 
a few highlights about our project | the drag line. 
and if you think there is anything’ (Ed.’s- note: To drain a lake, let 
in it worth printing, you are at 

;cumulate 27 colonies of bees. 
chukas; quail, peafowls, Egyptian | After the fish used in stocking 
and Canadian geese, Muscovy:!2 pond have spawned once, more 
ducks, and turkeys. Average feed|Small°fish are present than can 
!bill is $80 monthly. In his spare|2@dequately be supported by the 
time Ellis has found time to ac-} f00d which the pond is producing. 
Hence, a pond rapidly reaches its 
(Write us a story, Chester, and Maximum carrying capacity,, us- 
liberty to do so. 
To begin, I should tell you that 
the lake which I have been writing 
to you about is not of our own 
making, but one which has been in 
Canon City as long as I can re- 
member. I am sure that it was no 
doubt there some 50 years ago, 
for I can’ recall first seeing it 35 
years ago. 
When I was a boy in school we 
used to go to this lake to fish in 
Summer and to skate in winter 
and at that time the owner of the 
property kept it up in good shape 
and /kept the lake stocked with 
some very fine bass. It was not 
uncommon to catch bass weighing’ 
two pounds or better and there 
were plenty of them. The row- 
boats and other equipment were 
very good and the place was a 
sort of rendezvous for the plea- 
sure seekers of the vicinity. How- 
ever, as the owner was an elderly 
man when I first knew him it 
wasn’t many years until he became 
quite feeble and naturally could 
not give the property the proper 
car and it gradually deteriorated 
until the lake was almost filled 
up with moss and debris and the 
boats were no longer useable. 
Having spent so many happy 
hours around this lake in former 
years and to see it slowly slip into 
oblivion, there sprang up in my 
heart a sort of longing to some- | 
how get ownership of the property, 
and I had visions of reclaiming it 
and building it up into a beautiful 
resort and fisherman’s paradise, as 
“it had been years before. Before 
_ 80 many years, the owner passed 
on and the property passed on to 
the estate and still no one seemed 
to have the time to put to it and it 
gradually went from bad to worse 
until the lake itself was nothing 
more than a good swamp. © 
Then last year the chance I had 
been waiting for came. The prop- 
erty was advertised for sale and 
my brother who lives in Canon 
City noticed the advertisement 
‘and called my attention to it with 
the ultimate result that we were 
able to negotiate a deal to buy the 
garden below the dam. Producing’ 
the family’s own food at home is 
just now really coming into its 
own, and undoubtedly there will 
be much” development along all 
lines of food production. The day 
is coming when fish ponds will, be 
operated on a business basis. The 
fish raised, the lake drained, the 
fish harvested, canned and stored 
away for food. 
Read Mr. Singleton’s letter, and 
see if you don’t wish you were out 
there to help him fix up his lake. 
“|. Dear Mr. Renick: Received 
your most interesting letter and 
a a og 

safe, wade in with a pitch fork 
and rake up the moss in piles. 
cleared thus, finish! draining.) 
We have therefore, decided to 
drain the water out slowly and 
follow along ‘behind the receding 
water and try to save the fish that 
become entangled in the moss. We 
can then transfer them to one of 
two other small ponds on the prop- 
erty and thus save those fish which 
may be worth while. 
‘It should not be so difficult to 
clean and enlarge the lake after 
the water is out, providing the 
bottom is solid enough to carry 
the weight of the machinery. At 
any rate, we hope for hte best, and 
I shall let you know later on just 
how we get along. 
Aged the cleaning job is done 
we interd to fertilize the lake and 
restock with bass, crappie and 
channel cat. We hope to make the 
place very attractive for those 
fishermen who go out for the warm 
water species, and as there is very 
little of that kind of fishing in this 
vicinity we feel quite sure that 
our plans will be successful. 
As time goes on we expect to 
acquire ‘broodstock fish, of some 
varieties so that we may raise our 
own stock and thus do away with 
the transportation problem. At 
this writing .we have made ar- 
rangements with a hatchery in 
|Denver for the purchase of some 
bass and crappie to be delivered 
this fall; We do however wish to 
contact someone who can furnish 
us with a few large channel catr 
|fish to be used for spawning pur- 
poses and would appreciate hear- 
ing from anyone who can furnish 
these \fish. 
- I am enclosing a snapshot taken 
of the lake I have been writing 
about and it will give you some 
idea of how it looks before any 
work has been done. Later on I 
hope to be able to send a different 
looking picture. 
I ‘believe like you, Mr. Renick, 
that every suitable lakesite should 
be developed into a nice lake and 
that the time and money thus 
spent will bring dividends and a 
great deal of satisfaction to those 
doing the job and to those who 
come later. 
You may rest assured that we 
will look forward to the issues of 
your publication and we will do 
our best to help you make it a suc- 
cess. Please feel free to write us 
at any time about anything which 
you think we might be able to get 
information on. There are a lot of 
good sportsmen out here in Colo- 
rado, and we should like to extend 
an invitation to you and any of 
your readers to pay us a visit in 
believe me your idea of the publi- | event they should visit Colorado. 
cation of The Fish-Culturist News 
is the best news I have heard late- | 
Yours very truly, 
Fred J. Singleton. 
activities. 
the water run down as low as iS| sive us the lowdown on all your | ually within one year. If the num- 
We have stories from} 
ber of fish in a pond remains the 
several of the other fellows in your | S#me after the first year, an in- 
When the lake bottom has been} tine next isstie. Ed.) 

Or ee 
NUMBER) 2— 
since much of the money will come 
out of the pockets of tourists who 
will not visit other places far re- 
moved from Red River Lake. 
When vacations come back to 
being an American custom, don’t 
forget to include this great project 
on your itinerary if you are pass- 
ing anywhere close to this area. 
Remember, your money help build 
the great dam which creates the 
huge inland sea. 
pL SIE a EM 
NUMBER 4— 
tion. It takes nerve to admit 
that but it’s the way I féel about 
it. We haven’t paid enough at- 
tention to what kinds of fish are 
needed for each particular lake 
or stream, or how many or of 
what size, or even of what hap- 
pened to them after we planted 
them. We have been going too 
fast on output to even think of 
what results were obtained 
from our efforts. 
“We need to pay more atten- 
tion to the waters themselves, 
and adjust our regulations and 
laws to conform to the biologi- 
cal capacity instead of trying to, 
adjust the fish to our regula- 
tions. 
“We can’t do much to improve 
on nature, and when our laws con- 
flict with nature the fish haven’t 
a chance. Not even in spite of big 
hatchery programs. We need a few 
hatcheries to provide the initial 

stock for new lakes, but annual; 
dumping» into old, overstocked 
lakes is a waste of time and 
money. I believe we need to ex- 
pand our fish management pro- 
gram and go slow on propagation 
for a while. We need some more 
information on what we have, and 
what’s happened to, the fish we 
have been planting. 
“T don’t want to discourage the 
fish-culturists, but rather to en- 
courage them to take stock of our 
situation and apply their knowl- 
edge of fish requirements to the 
lakes and streams, then see that 
| scopic water-animals, 

crease in the average size of these 
fish is impossible unless the food 
supply is increased. 
Pond-fish live mainly on micro- 
water-in- 
sects, and small fish, most of which 
in turn use microscopic plants for 
food, These plants, while present 
in most ponds, are so small in size 
and in number that they cannot be 
seen. When the pond is fertilized 
with a complete fertilizer of the 
grade normally used’ to fertilize 
field crops such as cotton or vege- 
tables, the microscopic plants in 
the water grow and multiply so 
rapidly } that the water appears 
green or brown. Thus, the reasons 
for fertilizing a pond and a pas- 
ture or field are the same. All are 
fertilizefl to produce more plants 
—to feed more or larger animals, 
but in one case the animals: are 
fish and in the other they are live- 
stock. ‘ i 
Fish-pond management in- 
volves more than proper use of 
commercial plant food. The other 
essentials are proper stocking of 
new ponds, methods of stocking, 
management of old ponds, sources 
of fish for stocking, fishing and 
control of weeds. 
It has been recommended that 
NUMBER 1— ; 
publisher will feel that he has been 
amply repaid for the expense and 
and effort he has put forth. 
The Next Issue 
Undoubtedly the succeeding is- 
sue will be much more informa- 
tive than this one, as we expect 
to have many more articles con- 
tributed by our fish hatchery 
friends and researchists. If the men 
of our hatcheries will just sit down 
and write of some experience they 
have had and send it in, we feel 
sure that such articles will prove 
of immense value to both the ex- 
pert fish-culturists and to the be- 
ginners, 

Got Any Questions? » 
If you have, fire them in and we 
= a TE ES ae a SI AE EE PS 
the information gets to the powers | Wi!! run them in the columns of 
that be so that a well balancea| Phe News. There should be a lot of 
program can be devised. This blan- the fellows who know the answers. 
ket closed season, even on rough 
fish and enemies of game fish 
doesn’t seem to be very sound. It’s 
discouraging to try to do things 
when the law forbids. Especially 
with the meat situation as it is, 
and the interest that has been 
worked up in the utilization of 
rough fish for sport and food. 
“T shall attempt to drop you a 
D° YOU have a lakesite on 
will impound as much as 
The best of success with your 
News, and regards to fish-cultur- 
ists. everywhere.” 

Build aLake... Raise Your Own Fish | 
you do, why don’t you build a dam, and create a nice body of — 
water? It would be worth the time, effort, and expense, even 
few lines soon as time permits.| if you had to build four dykes to create a lake; but if you — 
have to build only one dam to make such a lake, then it cer- 
tainly would be worth your time and effort. . a 










































one can add to an acre of water, 
at each application 100 pounds of 
fertilizer containing 6 per cent 
nitrogen, 8 per cent phosphorus, 
and 4 per cent potassium. If ni 
trate of soda is available, — 
pounds may be added to 6-8-4 fer- ~ 
tilizer, or applied separately. — En, | 
Time of Applications = 
If a pond does not receive flood 
water, the. first application of fer- 
tilizer should be made during th 
early warm weather of sprin 
Shortly after an application, the 
water usually becomes murky or 
green or brown (brown if cotton- — 
seed meal is ‘used) due to th G 
presence of micrscopic plants. Suc- | 
ceeding applications should be | 
made whenever the water begins” 
to lose the green or brown col 
and begins to clear up sufficientl 
for the bottom to be seen in 2 feet 
of water. The fertilized pond will 
usually require. an application 
from two to four weeks. The last 
application should be made along ~ 
in September or October. The an-_ 
nual cost per-acre will vary from © 
$11 to $25. a 
‘For best results the pond should * 
be fertilized throughout the grow- — 
ing season. For warm water fishes © 
the growing season usually lasts 
as long as the water is above 68 | 
degrees. Ponds which receive wat- 
er from rich land require less fer. 
tilizer than ponds located on poor 
soil. t . 
How to Apply ae 
For small ponds, fertilizer” 
can be broadcast from the bank ~ 
over the shallower portions. You — 
need not cover the pond completely | 
as waves will distribute the mi- — 
croscopic life, produced. For fer- 
tilizing larger lakes, a boat is a 
necessity. Just paddle the boat 
along and pour the fertilizer fro 
the containers. Place the fertilizer — 
in the areas of the lake where the 
water is from 1 to 6 feet deep. _ | ‘ 
The cost of producing fish in 
fertilized ponds is from 3 to 6 cts 
per pound. : By: 
A 10-acre lake will furnish all 
the fishing that 50 families will 
want to do, and yet not be fished — 
sufficiently to prevent some of the _ 
fish from becoming oversize and — 
requiring too much food. Hi) 
- A regulated program of fertili- 
zation will kill out moss in lakes. — 
Minnow and tadpole production © 
ee et b> 
hate ae 
by following the fertilization pro-— 
cedure. aw ree: ae 
A patch of lespedeza ceresa — 
should be planted above the pond 
to trap the silt. Plant Bermuda on 
the water shed. 
/ 
Fertilization Stories. , ‘ 
Wanted by FCN 
Since fertilization of fish ponds 
has been carried on some wonder-— 
ful results have been obtained by © 
some of our hatcheries. We are — 
asking those who have tried it to _ 
write of your experiments and im : 
send them to us for future publi-_ 
cation. This will pass along some © 
very valuable information from — 
one hatchery to another, and also — 
to our private lakeowner friends, — 
and to all prospective fish-cultur- — 
Such a column will prove inter-_ 7 
esting reading to all concerned, — 
and at the same time a lot of my | : 
swers and different opinions will — 
be mailed in. * 
> 
[ 
ee ee 
your property? ...a site that _ 
four or five acres of water? If 

