The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1916-08-19
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ing to the public generally. Many of
the men who were formerly employed
in hauling seines now make equal or
better wages fishing or guiding fisher
men. A comparatively few owners of
seining grounds are the only ones ad-
versely affected.
Close Seasons. The close seasons
on fish are made first with reference
to their spawning habits and second
with a view to conservation. Some
species spawn in the springtime on a
rising temperature; other species
spawn in autumn on falling temper
ature. The actual time of spawning
is regulated by the temperature of
the water. For illustration, brook
trout, lake trout and landlocked sal
mon spawn in October and November
and begin their nuptial journey in
August and September and in some
waters even earlier Black bass spawn
the latter part of May or in June and
the male protects the nest of eggs un-
til hatched and for week or two
thereafter until the fry scatter for
food. In cold water lakes the func.
tion Is not complete before July 1st.
The remoal of bass from the spawn
ing beds ordinarily menas the loss of
from 5000 to 5000 eggs or young fry.
Pike perch spawn in March or
April according to the season when
the ice goes out. Pickerel usually
spawn during the month of April and
this Is the only month when protec-
tion is afforded them.
About twenty-five years ago the late
Rowland Il. Robinson called my atten-
ton to the need Of some protection for
bull heads" during the spawning sea.
son. Such proposal to the Legisla
ture OF that day would have been
scoffed at and the newspapers would
have included it in their lines of jokes
many OF which are we'll merited by
some of the proposed game bills. The
bull head, or horn pout, "a member Of
the catfish family makes hole in a
mud bank in which to spawn and after
the spawning function remains to pro-
tect the eggs and young. At such
times the fish are easily captured and
the capture OF one bull head from its
nest may mean the destruction OF sew
eral thousand young. To prevent such
wholesale capture during the spawn
| ing period the last Legislature enact.
ed law OF prohibit the sale OF this
valuable fish from May 10 to June 80.
| Size limit. The six inch law on
brook trout. the ten inch law on black
bass. steelhead trout and pike perez,
the twelve inch law on pickerel, lake
trout and landlocked salmon are all
designed to give the fish an opportun.
ity to grow sufficiently mature to re
produce once before being killed
There are rare instances in cold noun.
tain streams where the brook trout
produces few eggs before reaching
six inches but such instances are so
rare that they make no argument for
reducing the limit. and the number
and condition of eggs produced by
such understood fish is neglible. The
opponents OF the six inch law argue
that fish die when hooked This may
be true when the angler In temper
roughly tears the fish from the hook
but II the angler is anxious to save the
fish for another years sport and wetS
his hand before gently removing II he
will not lose more than one in one
hundred. The removal Of the Shiny
protective coating by grasplng the fst
with the dry hand is far more de
structiye than tearing out the eye OF
a piece Of the nose.
The arguments for the six inch Law
on trout are equally applicable to tn,
limits on the species Of larger growtl
about which there is little II any com
plant and In reference TO which tn,
laws are seldom violated. In fact
with reference to lake trout and land
locked salmon there is q demand I,
have the limit increased from twelv,
: inches to fifteen inches. II being yer,
doubtful II either species reproduce
until they have attained the large
: size. These limit laws are not pecu
! lar to Vermont, although some state
put the limit on trout at five inche
= which means that in much ilshe
stream stocking with artiRclall
hatched trout must he depended upo
r to keep up the supply. But what fu
Is there In catching FIVE inch trout
2 | Having in mind that even with car,
, ful handling short trout may occal
! ionally be killed, wardons are instruc
q cd that an angler may possess two @
S three short fish out of a dozen of Law
ful length and that he Is complyln
4 with the spirit of the law In so don,
: II is the man who deliberately goes I
I n small stream and takes from 80 /
q 200 fish from three TO five inches lonI
Y who depletes the waters. If such iis
Y were left to grow they would wor
,. down into larger waters. leave SON
progeny to grow up In their places an
| having performed this important fun
# tion be ready to give the angler SON
real satisfaction in landing and talir
n them home.
II else Seasons on Game. As wit
II fish, the close seasons on game al
Il made with reference first to the
e breeding habits. There follows durif
n which the young gamebirds may gro
e strong OF wing and young puadrunet
ID may mature to an edible age. De
ID usually drop their young In April
Ie May. The fawns may not be lawful
NJ Killed until one year from the sucee
If ing fall when the bucks have d
70 yeloped horns six or eight inches lon
v. Ordinarily these horns have but o
ie point but occasionally two and at N