February, 1943 
fish population was washed across a corn- 
field and into a small creek below. By 
chance Mr. Gernon P. Hesselschwerdt 
and the author arrived at the lake when 
about two-thirds of the water had passed 
out of the basin. The larger fish remain- 
ing in the lake at that time were captured 
BENNETT: MANAGEMENT OF ARTIFICIAL LAKES 
SWB 
pounds. ‘hese bass had become so ‘‘edu- 
cated” that few of them would enter hoop- 
nets or bite on artificial baits. 
About 30 large bluegills, belonging to 
the 1938 brood (4 years old; weight be- 
tween 0.50 and 0.75 pound each) were 
taken, but most of the bluegills caught in 
Fig. 6.—Aquatic vegetation planted by the U. S. Soil Conservation Service around a farm 
pond in Adams County, Ill. This type of vegetation, while useful in controlling soil erosion, 
promotes the survival of too many young fish and often becomes so dense that bank fishing 
is nearly impossible. 
by placing a section of hoopnet lead across 
the break. As it was impossible to estimate 
the numbers of bass and bluegills that had 
been washed out of the lake, particular 
attention was directed to the remnants of 
the original stock of fish. Thirty-four of 
the original bass, averaging 1.76 pounds 
each, were caught in the net and 32 were 
left stranded in the lake basin. Apparently 
the initial rush of water through the 
broken levee was considerable, as corn 
stalks were flattened over a wide area in 
the field below the lake. Any fish near the 
point of break must have been washed out 
shortly after the dam gave way. It there- 
fore does not seem unreasonable to assume 
that nearly 100 of the original bass may 
have been present. ‘he bass population, 
including the original stock, 1940, 1941 
and 1942 broods, probably numbered sev- 
eral thousand. The total weight of those 
observed was estimated at about 200 
the net were 1939 and 1940 brood fish 
and averaged 6 inches long. ‘Thousands 
of young bluegills of the 1942 brood were 
left stranded in beds of Potamogeton folt- 
osus. None of the original bluegills were 
taken. 
Fish technicians and sportsmen have 
long been interested in returns from fish 
stocked in various waters, but little con- 
crete information is available, except from 
trout stream investigations. 
The recognition of the original stock of 
bass and bluegills recaptured from Fork 
Lake was possible because scale samples 
were taken from all fish. Moreover, as the 
adult bluegills were 2 or more years old 
when placed in the lake, they were easily 
separated from the younger fish. Large- 
mouth bass were stocked as fry in 1938, 
and no young were spawned until 1940. 
Thus no difficulty was encountered in 
distinguishing them from the 1940 and 
