Evening star., 1924-03-30

Jumping in the river and that appare
If the perch, the first of the annual
visitors of the finny tribe, are not in
the waters surrounding Washington,
it will not be long before they will
be, because they commence their run
in April and are followed by the
herring, shad and rockfish. And
while all these fish are attending to
their spring duties. spawning, quite
q lot of sport, in past years. has been
had with the crappie, member of
the bass family.
These fish are caught all along the
water front. and a great number of
them seem to like the Tidal basin
for their temporary home. But the
closed season for bass is also the
closed season for crappie, so from the
time they make their appearance un-
a comparatively short one. The
open season for bass and crappie
starts Tuesday and continues until
May % in the District of Columbia,
and until June Is in Virginia
The already muddy condition of
the Potomac river, a condition ma
tural at this time of the year, when
the SHOWS and ice melt in the noun
tain regions, undoubtedly was made
worse by the heavy rains. Muddy
water and high and swift currents
will tend to retard the advance of
the fish to their spawning grounds.
They advance and drop back much
the same as an army in battle, but
they are not easily discouraged and
despite unfavorable conditions ulti-
their destination they lay their
spawn and "stick around" for several
weeks and then commence their re-
turn trip downstream.
1t is the opinion of the fish COM
mission that fish, as a rule, do not
o-d fvSr
ferring to sort of keep Lent and
fast until after their spawning sea-
son. This accomplished, they break
their fast and commence to eat, gor-
mandize, in face, and take almost any
lure that is offered.
There are two exceptions to fishes
that visit us each spring, the her.
ring and shad. Both of these live on
what may be termed d microscopic
diet, obtaining their nourishment
found in the water which they suck
into their mouths.
Thousands Snag Herring.
/. For some reason, yet to be- explain
ed, these fish never take bait Every
fisherman knows that the herring
have to be snagged. No one knows,
of course, just how many of them
tomac each spring. bgt it is safe
guess that many, many thousands of
them make the journey. When the
herring are running" a term used
by rivermen and fishermen for all
visitors of the deep each spring be-
cause they seem to actually be jump
ing over, each other in their efforts to
get upstream, the banks of both sides
of the Potomac are lined with an
glers. Some days there are as many
as three or four thousand to be
seen snagging with all kinds of
tackle-some with rods and line, 9TH
ers with just a line, and still others
with anything they can rig up. And,
strange as it may be, those with the
crudest, kinds of tackle seem to get
as many as those with expensive out
fits
The shad follow the herring and
run them out" as it were, being
much larger fish and stronger. In
fact, some shad have been known tc
go over the Little Falls on their up
ward journey and get up the Potomac
as far as Great Falls, where they.
have fallen prey to the fishermen's
net. The shad has never, been known
to take bait, but has been known to
attack a spoon or perhaps some other
artificial lure, but only after the
spawning season. The bureau of fish
Characteristic of the: shad is perhaps
more from his lighting qualities than
from desire to appease his appetite.
Seeing something in the water, wig
Cling and shining, he rushes at it and
is caught.
Following the shad comes the
striped bass or rockfish. These FISH
are known as one of the species of
game fish, and rightly so, for they
put up fight that is game one"
in every detail First of all, they do
not nibble at the bait as other fish
sometimes do, bat take it with a rush
and are gone almost before you know
it, When the angler strikes him.