Evening star., 1925-12-13

4
and small mouth bass, crappie. Suntls
the Basin.
Mr.. Sanders was most enthusiastic
over the proposition. and said he
thought II was wonderful thing for
the citizens of Washington. Both of
these men are real anglers, Mr..
Stearns more or less combining his
fishing activities within the bounds of
his home State, Massachusetts, and off
the coast, and Mr.. Sanders going first
10 one we'll known fishing ground and
then to another.
Another party, a dyed-in-the-woo
angler. came into the Office of the Rod
and Stream editor last week and
placed his subscription on the desk
saying: What is the matter with the
fishermen of Washington that they do
not come forward and make up the
needed amount" We did not know.
We have tried in every conceivable
way to raise the money; have tried to
place the matter before them in the
right light, even to the point of telling
the fishermen that it is a moral obli-
cation on their part to raise this
money and close the account. Still,
contributions are few and far between.
and we are afraid that Col. Sheriff.,
who was so instrumental in advancing
this proposition, Will go out of office
long before the money is raised.
Ready TO Start Work.
Hope springs eternal in the human
breast, and again thsi column appeals
TO the fishermen of Washington to
make up this small deficit. There is no
doubt but that we will have the best
fishing pond in the whole United
States. That is assured. Only yester-
day Mr.. Leech of the Bureau of Fish
cries informed the writer that he was
going to see if the fish racks. which
have been completed, cannot be placed
in position and the basin seined and
all undesirable fish taken from its
waters now instead of waiting until
next Spring. This indicates how in
tense interest is in this project al the
Bureau of Fisheries.
The bureau for some time past has
been locating adult fish of the species
named in different hatcheries for ship
ment to Washington when the plant
ing time for the fish arrives AS soon
as the Ice breaks up, If there is any
this Winter. the f1rsh will be placed in
the basin
But surely. Mr.. Fisherman. you do
not want all this to take place with
Il deficit in the money needed to put
it over. We are confident that there
are in Washington thousands of
anglers who will take advantage OF
other when it is full Of different kinds
of game FISH. and we are loath to be-
lieve that there Is one among this
number who will want to fish in this
pond and think that he had no part in
its development. Therefore. not fisher
men, but fisherman, we are appealing
directly to you to do your part.
Last week one of the older anglers
of the city came to me and said he
AT the basin placing BAN on fishing
from a boat. He said he would never
fish again in his life if he had to walk
along sea wall and cast for his fish,
he had always used boat and did not
see why such a restriction would be
enforced.
Proposition Sound.
He said he thought the proposition
was a great one. and he was heartily
in favor of it. We explained TO him
that this restriction was placed on
boats because we wanted first. to
give the fish chance to mature and.
second, that there were comparatively
few boats in the basin, and If every
body who wanted 4 boat could get one
the basin would be covered with
boats, which would not only mar the
beauty Of the basin. but would soon
deplete the supply of fish.
There is no doubt in our mind that
each day will see thousands of anglers
at the basin matching their skill with
the denizens of the deep when this
body of water Is finally stocked. We
then pointed out to this angler that
il he did not wish to fish from the
sea wall around the basin he could
set his boat and fish in the George
town channel. because the basin
would also be aSbreediRg ground for
an the waters surrounding the city.
or course, il is not expected that
this project Will please every angler
In the city. but we do hope that the
majority of them will look with favor
on il. AS time goes on we hone to
restock the Potomac between Little
Falls and Great Falls. BY that time
it is hoped that the. Virginia and
MARYLAND wardens viii have reduced
to a minimum all the Illegal fishing
that is now being practiced between
these two places.
A step in the right direction to stop
this was taken recently when two
local anglers informed the Virginia
authorities of the big catches of bass
taken with hand nets from Gunston
cove and disposed of at local and
other markets The fish commits.
sioner Of Virginia Immediately placed