The dam is faced on the lake side with strips of metal roofing and woven wire held 
in place by metal posts, This has prevented damage by muskrats and ducks, In August, 
1938, the dam and spillway were raised 18 inches, 
The upper half of tne lake and the south shore are screened by a dense fringe of 
brush and trees, On the slope above the north shore is a fruit and nut orchard. No 
submerged aquatic plants are present in the lake, At one time cattails grew all around 
the lake shore, but by 1938 there were only a few. Bass have been seen nesting on 
their roots, Most of the cattails died during low water after the ducks had exposed 
the roots, allowing them to freeze. 
In the brush on the south side is a blind for observation, photography or shooting. 
There is one boat, 
HISTORY OF FISH POPULATION 
Fish were planted in Fork Lake a number of times before 1938, There are no records 
of these plantings, but Mr. Smith has furnished the following account from memory, 
The earliest planting of fish, made in 1920 soon after the lake had filled, con- 
sisted of shiners, chubs and a few miscellaneous sunfishes collected from nearby streams, 
In 1921 several hundred largemouth bass, bluegills and other sunfishes were placed in 
the lake, Four hundred 6— to 7 inch bass were planted the following year (1922). ~ 
Shiners and chubs were seined from nearby streams to serve as food for these bass, Bull- 
heads were first introduced in 1924 when a school of them was brought in from Finley 
Creek, The first crappies were put in this same year, 
During these early years, bass fishing was good* and remained so for three or four 
years after the original stock had reached legal length, The largest bass taken from 
the lake during this period weighed 2-1/2 pounds. By 1926 good catches of bullheads 
were being taken on trotlines. A summer or two later (1927 or 1928) many large bull- 
heads died (apparently from lack of oxygen) along with a few shiners and sunfishes, 
In 1932, 100 charmel catfish were planted and, in 1934, 32 crappies, 11 to 12 
inches long, In 1935, 12 lurge bass ana a number of bluegills were added, No stocking 
has been done since 1935, until in the summer of 1938, 
In 1935, 8 or 10 large schools of young bullheads were frequently seen swimming 
near the surface. The bullheads of the 1938 census probably belonged to this large 
1935 brood, 
Carp and buffalo were never planted intentionally. It is possible that they 
ascended the spillway during high water, or were introduced accidentally by anglers, 
It 1s interesting to compare the kinds and numbers of fishes planted with those 
found when the lake was poisoned, The 32 large crappies planted in 1934 had not peen 
taken out on hook and line nor had they been seen dead in the lake, One hundred channel 
catfish were planted in 1932, The census shows only four channel cats, Although 
hundreds of bass were planted, the total count was five at the time of the poisoning, 
The 12 large bass put in three years before were not removed by fishermen nor seen dead 
along the shore, The fish not accoumted for probably died one at a time and were eaten 
by other fish, crayfishes, turtles, predatory birds or mammals without coming to the 
attention of occasional visitors to the lake, 
* See Thompson, David H., and George W. Bennett, 1938. Lake Management Reports 1. 
Horseshoe Lake near Cairo, Illinois, I11l, Nat, Hist. Surv. Biological Notes No, 8. 
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