The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-04-11
FED ON GOLD FISH
State Will Raise so Thousand of
Finny Beauties.
They Will Be Used as Food for
Bass.
THEY ARE EPICURES.
Game Fish Particular About
Their Food.
Like Nero They Relish Most
Delicate MOrseIS.
HEY ARE EPICURES.

The state of Kansas is going to raise
40 or so thousand pretty little gold fish,
the kind people keep in glass jars in
their front windows and will feed all the
little fellows to big black bass so that
| the sportmen of the state can have
more fun. 1t seems shame to do it
but the gold fish and the little carp are
necessary to keep the black bass from
eating their own young and as the
black bass are the finest fish found in
Kansas waters for sportsmen, and the
sportsmen pay for the fish hatchery.
the state believes it is better to feed
gold fish than to let the big bass, eat
little bass.
I'VE have a large number of gold
fish and carp at the hatchery that we
keep there simply to supply feed for
the bass" said Prof. L. L. Dyche. THE
crappie eat very few fish and the cat
fish also eat very few but the black
bass live almost entirely on fish, frogs
and snakes. Black bass gorge them
selves on ninnowS and then do not eat
for several days. We might send two
or three men down to the river and
have them seine for minnows all day
and they would return with three or
four thousand. But that would not
keep the bass alive very long and
when the bass do not have other min
nows to eat they begin killing their
own young. So we raise hundreds or
GOLD fish and carp for feed for the bass.
The carp and gold fish are among the
most prolific breeders there are. They
spawn hundreds of thousands of eggs
every season and a good percentage OF
the eggs hatch. They are vegetarlans
they grow rapidly they soon become
large enough for few to make a fair
ly decent meal for the bass.
I'VE keep pretty close tab on the
black bass and the big eaters we get
rid of Some of them gorge themselves
every time they get a chance. They
killed many more fish than they can
eat We watch these fellows and when
ever we find one We take him out or
kill him. On account of the bass living
on live food almost entirely l do not
advise putting them in small ponds
unless the owner is specially prepared
to feed and care for them. Unless they
are fed minnoWs continually they will
eat their own young; we keep the
gold fish to keep the bass from eating
the small bass and we have more bass
to put into the streams of the state.
bass will eat from three to five times
it's own weight in fish each season"
c. l.. Davidson, mayor of Wichita and
Sunday school superintendent, claims TO
own the greatest gormand OF the finny
tribe. What l. more his stories about
fountain in his yard at Wichita can be
substantiated by numerous witnesses.
Mayor DAVIDSON mas d Dldck DeSS Weigh
ing ABOUT five pounds. Last fall that
fish is known to have caught three blue
Jaws and to have swallowed them whole
and then disgorged the feathers.
The bass is very quick fish said
Prof. Dyche. in telling about the David
son fish. '"rney can move like flash. L
was there when the fish caught one blue
jay and I know of several other people
who saw him catch two others only few
DAYS apart. The blue jays would come 10
the pool. Suddenly he would dart at the
bird and I don't think he ever missed. L
have seen other bass catch birds on the
water. The bass has very large mouth
and he swallows the bird whole and di-
gests it. I have seen the bass in the
Davidson pool swimming around in APP
parent content and with the ends of the
tail feathers of the blue jay sticking out
o. his mouth an inch two. The blue
jay is a long slender bird and has rather
long tail feathers.
THE black bass seems to have a fac
ulty that other fish do not have. He can
dsgorge useless materials which he takes
into the stomach. Some animals can do
this. After swallowing the blue jay the
fish digested that part needed and when
this was completed the feathers were dis
gorged without any. trouble Many PEG
pie have often noticed feathers on the
water in streams and lakes. Nearly every
time these feathers were disgorged by
some black bass that had swallowed a
ir5