Arizona republican., 1912-04-29

and taken to the hatchery. they will hatch in 60 days with water at temperature of 4S degrees. For each degree the water is colder five days more is needed Thirty days after they begin to move about beef liver is fed and the long tanks, filled with running water. show signs of ac- divity. When the trout get to be an inch and a half in length. they are ready for transplanting to open wa ters and are called "fingerlands." In two years they grow to be small sized fish. large enough to eat and in three years. they become full grown.
 The Wal-eyed pike-Which resem- ble bass and are just as palatable. are the Cannibals of fishdOm When the pike fry get to be large enough to move about with ease. civil war begins and the rate of eXterminatiOn is measured only by the gluttonous capacities of the combatantS. When young pike becomes hungry. he turns to his nearest companion and proceeds to eat him, taking a bite out of which ever part he first touches. Activity of men in charge of the matching tanks does not stop them, and the only way to preserve the fry intact. is to move them to open waters where there is opportun- ity for escape or free ndeasy room for an uninterrupted fight.
 The female pike is the greatest pro- ducer Of eggs or spawn of any game fish in America Large pike hav4
 
 and lakes which produced one quart Of eggs In this quart. there are ap- proximately 200 900 spawn. Crews sent out from the state fish hatch cries catch the pike and strip the eggs from them. Left undisturbed in their native streams. the mother pike deposits her eggs nearly in the cur rent and allows them to drift and lodge where they will. In the hatch ing tanks at a temperature of IS de- grees. the eggs hatch in IS to 20 days and bv the time the little pike are F or II days old. they playfully begin eating each other. Then they are hurried from the hatchery as rapidly as possible. to their future homes in the open waters.
 Bass are not gathered till the fall" said John Marty. foreman of the state fish hatchery at St. Paul No one has vet found a way to handle bass spawn so they will de velop. The bass must be left undis- turbed where the female bass has de posited her eggs. and where the male may circulate around in the waters, on guard. He is the faithful one. He is the most savage of all fish except ing the muskallonge, and will fight anything that comes near the eggs he is watching.
 The bass fry with which Minne- sOta lakes are stocked are gathered from sIoughs along the Mississippi river. We take them when they are only fingerlings-catch them with nets and merely transplanting to the lakes to be stocked. The headwaters or the Mississippi afford thousands of these little bass"
 Minnesota is fighting with all her might to rid the inland waters of German carp and suckers. These are the deadly enemies of game fish not that they are equal in pitched battle bnt because either a carp or a sucker win eat or mutilate million eggs of the game fish during the spawning season. Having spent approximately three quarters of a mil lion dollars in maintaining her won derful fishing opportunities. the state is natural enemy of these egg destroying species of fish and has ! signed their death warrant.
 l Minnesota boasts of having the best lakes and streams of any state in the union and the annual pilgrimage to them each summer is becoming great i CT. Not many years will go by be- l fore the native waters of America