Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-08-07
WAR WORKERS FISH
|NPOTOMAC RIVER
Geographic Society Bulletin
Quotes History of Stock
ing of Waters.

1
of claims for fame, but one of it's
popular pastimes, fishing. often is a
| surprise to visitors" says a bulletin
| from the National Geographic Society,
| which has its headquarters in WASH
| ington.
! Thousands Of war workers who
thronged to Washington found recrea-
the river came to be SO well stocked
with fish is an interesting story"
| The bulletin quotes from a COM
| munication to the society by Hugh M.
| Smith, as follows:
| LAS an example of what may be
| done for a large stream in the way
Of beneficent acclilnatization, the
| case of the Potomac river may be
| cited. The commercial fisherman, the
ual angler all have cause to render
| profound thanks for what has here
been accomplished in their interest.
brought in Engine Tank in 1854.
THE most valuable non-indigenous
fish now inhabiting the Potomac
are the small-mouth and large-mouth
black bass. These most excellent food
and game species are not native to
this river, but their introduction oc-
Cured SO long ago that the general
public has lost sight of the interest
ing facts connected Herewith. 1t was
in 1854, shortly after the completion
Of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad,
that a lot Of small-mouth black bass
from the Ohio river were brought east
in the water tank Of locomotive en-
CINE and liberated in the basin Of the
| Chesapeake and Ohio canal at Cum
| berland. Having free access to the
Potomac, the fish soon found their
way to various parts of the river, and
inside Of ten years literally swarmed
in all tho tributaries from Mount Yer
non to the headwaters. At the present
from Washington to Harpers Ferry
and beyond, but is not common below
| the capital. The introduction of the
Ilarge-mouth black bass into the
Potomac basin was accomplished by
the bureau Of fisheries In 1889. the
first plants being madein the Shen-
! andoah and later in the vicinity of
Washington; by 1896 the fish had be-
como remarkably abundant, and now
| it is taken in large numbers by net
fishermen and anglers in all the lower
fresh-water reaches of the river.
Has Strawberry Bass and Crappy.
THE strawberry bass and the crappy
were established in the Potomac by
the bureau Of fisheries in 1894. and
both are now common In long
stretch Of the stream from Alexandria
upward. They are excellent food and
game fish, and many are caught by
anglers and many are sold in the
Of the bass family that have been
colonized in the Potomac are the rock
bass, the Yarmouth and the bluegtlI,
"As a result Of plants Of fry be-
tween Washington and the Great
Falls. the wall-eyed pike or pike
perch. the largest and most valuable
member Of the perch family, has been
acclimatized and for five or six years
has been attracting attention. 1t is
mot yet very numerous, but apparently
il becoming more so each season and
| in time should prove valuable addi-
ton to the supply of fishes caught Tor
| market and for sport.
Catfish Added.
| mot the least important Of the ad-
ditions to the Potomac fauna are two
| basin. One Of them. the spotted or
blue cat, Is probably the best of the
| tribe, fnhabitating cold. running
water. having dainty feeding habits,
possessed or game Qual1t1es scarcely
inferior to those Of the bass. and be-
Ing excellent food. Small plants of
| adults and yearlings were made at
Quantico, Va. and Woodmont and
tHagerstown. Nd. In 1889, 1891 and
1892. and since 1899 the fish have
been taken in increasing numbers
each year. especially between Wash
iington and Little Falls, many Of them
Weighing ten to twenty pounds
There appeared in the river con-
siderable numbers of another species,
| the great fork tailed cat. of the in
| PRODUCTION of which there, was no rec
ord; 30 1t il evident that the young
were mixed with the spotted cats and
twere overlooked when the plants
were made. This ;fish reaches a
weight Of more than 100 pounds in it's
native waters. and examples taken
from the Potomac by line fishermen
have weighed upward Of thirty
nan ndat"