Outdoor Nebraska
July 1917

OUT FISHIN'

A feller isn't thinkin' mean—out fishin'; His thoughts are mostly good and clean—out fishin'; He doesn't knock his fellow man Or harbor any grudges then; A. feller's at his finest, when—out fishin'. —Edgar A. Guest

HUNTING AND FISHING LICENSES

Have you purchased your 1927 hunting and fishing license?

The annual hunting and fishing license which costs a dollar, is the means of support for the Bureau of Game and Fish.

It is your dollar that trapped and distributed 30,000 pheasants recently. It is your dollar which supports the four state fish hatcheries, keeps the fish car running, buys and maintains recreation grounds, keeps game wardens in the field to protect your fish and game.

If you have not purchased your license, do so today. The earlier in the year you buy the more value it is to you.

OUTDOOR NEBRASKA Vol. II JULY, 1927 No. 3

"It Is Too Long Between Bites"

By Herbert Hoover, Secretary of Commerce

AS THE head of the Department of Commerce and thus charged with such responsibilities for our game fisheries as weighs upon the mind of the Federal Government, I wish to state a fact, to observe a condition, to relate an experiment, to By before you a proposition, to offer a protest, and to give the reasons for all. I shall not discuss the commercial fisheries because I wish to be cheerful and philosophical.

The fact I refer to is that our game fishing is decreasing steadily and rapidly. The condition is that the present method of rehabilitation through hatcheries and distribution of fry and fingerlings is a failure because of high infant mortality. The experiment in the case indicates that artificial hatching can be mtde successful if the fingerlings are carried through infancy to childhood. The proposition is to further extend these nurseries in co-operation with all sportsmen's clubs. The protest is that even this is useless unless we can check pollution of our streams. The reason for it all is that fishing is good for the soul of man.

The Pact

Man and boy the American is a fisherman. That comprehensive list of human rights, the Declaration of Independence, is firm that all men (and boys) are endowed with certain inalienable rights, including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, which obviously includes the pursuit of fish. America is a well-watered country, and the inhabitants know all of the fishing holes.

The Americans also produce millions of automobiles. These coordinate forces of inalienable right, the automobile and the call of the fishing hole, propel the man and boy to a search of all the water within a radius of 150 miles at weekends alone. He extends it to a radius of 500 miles on his summer holidays. These radii of operations of all these men and boys greatly overlap. All of which has overworked the fishing holes and the time between bites has become longer and longer, and the fish have become wiser and wiser.

Some millions of fishermen have invented thousands of new lures of seductive order and devised many new and fearful incantations, with a host of new kinds of clothes and labor-saving devices to carry them about.

We have indeed made stupendous progress in physical equipment to overcome the mysteries of fish. We have moved upward from the rude but social conditions of the willow pole with a butcher string line, fixed with hooks ten for a dime, whose compelling lure is one segment of an angleworm and whose incantation is spitting on the bait. We have arrived at the high state of a tackle, assembled from the steel of Damascus, the bamboos of Siam, the silk of Japan, the lacquer of China, the tin of Dakota, the nickel of Canada, the feathers of Brazil and the silver of Colorado—all compounded by mass production at Chicago, HI., and Akron, Ohio. And for magic and incantations we have progressed to application of cosmetics to artificial flies and to wonders in special clothing with pigeon holes for varied lures and liniments and to calling a bite a "strike." Nor do I need to repeat that fishing is not the rich man's sport though his incantations are more expensive. I have said elsewhere that all men are equal before fishes. But I ask you if in the face of all this overwhelming efficiency and progress, is there less time between bites?

However, our fishermen can put in many joyous hours at home polishing up the rods, reels and lures, discussing new flies when the imponderable forces of spring begin to move their bones. They could not get such joy out of a collection of live angleworms and that is all a part of what we are trying to get anyway—recreation and soul satisfaction. But I am off the track, because the Department of Commerce deals not in the beatitudes but in statistics. Moreover we must also maintain the economic rather than the biologic method in discussion or some other department of the government will accuse Commerce of invading their authority. Nevertheless I may say, as an aside, that the fishing beatitudes are much amplified since Izaak Walton, for he did not spend his major life answering a bell. He never got the jumps from traffic signals or the price of wheat. Its blessings include not only Edgar Guest's "wash of the soul" with pure air, but they also now include discipline in the equality of

(Continued on Page 11)

4 OUTDOOR NEBRASKA

The Federal Game Laws

The Migratory Bird Act and Regulations

(Approved July 3, 1918. 40 Stat. 755)

An Act to give effect to the convention between the United States and Great Britain for the protection of migratory birds concluded at Washington, August 16, 1916, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this act shall be known by the short title of the "Migratory Bird Treaty Act."

Sec. 2 That unless and except as permitted by regulations made as hereinafter provided, it shall be unlawful to hunt, take, capture, kill, attempt to take, capture or kill, possess, offer for sale, sell, offer to purchase, purchase, deliver for shipment, ship, cause to be shipped, deliver for transportation, transport, cause to be transported, carry or cause to be carried by any means whatever, receive for shipment, transportation or carriage, or export, at any time or in any manner, any migratory bird included in the terms of the convention between the United States and Great Britain for the protection of migratory birds concluded August 16, 1916, or any part, nest, or egg of any such bird.

Sec. 3. That, subject to the provisions and in order to carry out the purposes of the convention, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized and directed, from time to time, having due regard to the zones of temperature and to the distribution, abundance, economic value, breeding habits, and times and lines of migratory flight of such birds, to determine when, to what extent, if at all, and by what means, it is compatible with the terms of the convention to allow hunting, taking, capture, killing, possession, sale, purchase, shipment, transportation, carriage, or export of any such bird, or any part, nest, or egg thereof, and to adopt suitable regulations permitting and governing the same, in accordance with such determinations, which regulations shall become effective when approved by the President.

Sec. 4. That it shall be unlawful to ship," transport, or carry, by any means whatever, from one State, Territory, or District to or through another State, Territory, or District, or to or through a foreign country, any bird, or any part, nest, or egg thereof, captured, killed, taken, shipped, transported, or carried at any time contrary to the laws of the State, Territory, or District in which it was captured, killed, or taken, or from which it was shipped, transported, or carried. It shall be unlawful to import any bird, or any part, nest, or egg thereof, captured, killed, taken, shipped, transported, or carried contrary to the laws of any Province of the Dominion of Canada in which the same was captured, killed, or taken, or from which it was shipped, transported, or carried.

SEC. 5 That any employee of the Department of Agriculture authorized by the Secretary of Agriculture to enforce the provisions of this act sha1! have power, without warrant, to arrest any person committing a violation of this act in his presence or view and to take such person immediately for examination on trial before an officer or court of competent jurisdiction; shall have power to execute any warrant or other process issued by an officer or court of competent jurisdiction for tin enforcement of the provisions of this act; and shall have authority, with a search warrant, to search any place. The several judges of the courts established under the laws of the United States, and United States Commissioners may, within their respective jurisdictions, upon proper oath or affirmation showing probable cause, issue warrants in all such cases. All birds, or parts, nests, or eggs thereof, captured, killed, taken, shipped, transported, carried, or possessed contrary to the provisions of this act or of any regulations made pursuant thereto, shall, when found, be seized by any such employee, or by any marshal or deputy marshal, and, upon conviction of the offender or upon judgment of a court of the United States that the same were captured, killed, taken, shipped, transported, carried, or possessed contrary to the provisions of this act or of any regulation made pursuant thereto, shall be forfeited to the United States and disposed of as directed by the court having jurisdiction.

Sec. 6. That any person, association, partnership, or corporation who shall violate any of the provisions of said convention or of this act, or who shall violate or fail to comply with any regulation made pursuant to this act, shall be deemed guilty of misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not more than $500 or be imprisoned not more than six months, or both.

Sec. 7. That nothing in this act shall be construed to prevent the several States and Territories from making or enforcing laws or regulations not inconsistent with the provisions of said convention or of this act, or from making or enforcing laws or regulations which shall give further protection to migratory birds, their nests, and eggs, if such laws or regulations do not extend the open seasons for such birds beyond the dates approved by the President in accordance with section three of this act.

Sec. 8. That until the adoption and approval, pursuant to section 3 of this act, of regulations dealing with migratory birds and their nests and eggs, such migratory birds and their nests and eggs as are intended and used exclusively for scientific or propagating purposes may be taken, captured, killed, possessed, sold, purchased, shipped, and transported for such scientific or propagating purposes if and to the extent not in conflict with the laws of the State, Territory, or District in which they are taken, captured, killed, possessed, sold, or purchased, or in or from which they are shipped or transported if the packages containing the dead bodies or the nests or eggs of such birds when shipped and transported shall be marked on the outside thereof so as accurately and clearly to show the name and address of the shipper and the contents of the package.

Sec.. 9. That the unexpended balances of any sums appropriated by the agricultural appropriation acts for the fiscal years 1917 and 1918, for enforcing the provisions of the act approved March 4, 1913, relating to the protection of migratory game and insectivorous birds, are hereby reappropriated and made available until expended for the expenses of carrying into effect the provisions of this act and regulations made pursuant thereto, including the payment of such rent, and the employment of such persons and means, as the Secretary of Agricul-

(Continued on Page 14)

OUTDOOR NEBRASKA 5

Fur Bearing Animals of the United States

The Muskrat

By Frank G. Ashbrook

THE muskrat is a rodent and has a thick-set body, short legs, strong hind feet that are partly webbed, a scaly tail that is compressed laterally. The fur is generally of a rich, lustrous brown color with a pale silky under-fur.

More specifically, the upper parts are brown, darkest on the head, the back glossy, the sides toning down to a chestnut and hazel tinge. The darker color on the back is due in part to the black guard hairs, the color of the under-fur being quite similar to the fur on the sides. The underparts are a towny hue, shading into white on the throat and belly. The average length of an adult muskrat is about 24 inches from tip of nose to tip -of tail, varying somewhat in the different forms.

There is considerable variation in the muskrats in the United States. Those from the lower Mississippi, known to the trade as the Southern Rats, have a flatter fur and are of a bluish-brown coloring while the more northerly pelts have heavier fur and richer colors.

It is an aquatic animal. Streams, rivers, marshes, swamps, any low lying ground that is damp and traversed by streams is suitable for its habitat. About shallow lakes or sluggish streams the muskrat builds its home. The houses are made of roots, stems and a mixture of mud. These houses are usually cf a cone shape, and are generally set in shallow water. They are sometimes as much as four feet high. The interiors contain one or more chambers with the entrance under water. These shelters are used primarily for winter lodging, but it is not uncommon for the young to be born in these lodges.

If the banks of the streams or lakes are particularly steep the homes are built in the banks above water level with a tunnel that may have its entrance either under the water or slightly above the water line.

The food of the muskrat is predominantly vegetable, the considerable variety of plants growing in watery areas permitting variation in this diet which includes cat-tails, rice, cut grass, duckweed, yellow pond lilies and other herbs. Also on rare' occasions a little animal food is consumed. Fresh-water clams seem to be relished, but just how the rat extracts the meat from the shell is, apparently, a question for speculation. It seems to be the general opinion that the teeth are the instruments used in this operation. Turtle eggs are also eaten with avidity.

The muskrat is popularly known as a very cleanly animal that washes all food before eating it. However, this opinion is apparently to be taken with a grain of salt as there is no conclusive proof that such is the case. This characteristic is often stressed by the vendors of muskrat meat which is marketed under the name of " marsh rabbit", but the meat is good and needs no such apology.

As to the breeding habits of the muskrat there appears to be considerable doubt. The period of gestation has not been determined. Opinion on this subject varies, some believing the period to be only 21 days, others as long as six weeks. The number of litters is also a moot question, but it is generally believed that the muskrat has two and possibly three litters a year, with sometimes four or five. Whether or not the first litter born in the spring produces its young before the close of the season is not definitely ascertained. The size of the litters is believed to vary with the individual female, the younger females producing smaller litters. The early spring litters are also believed to be comparatively smaller. While the number of young in the litter is debatable, along with the other questions on muskrat breeding, evidence shows that the number ordinarily ranges from 4 to 8. Although naturalists may disagree in detail on the various phases of muskrat breeding, they are all agreed that it is the unusual fecundity of this animal that has enabled it to withstand with fair success the increasingly intensive trapping to which it has been subjected, and meet the popular demand for its pelts in spite of the fact that civilization is steadily encroaching upon its habitat.

The muskrat ranges in all states except Florida. At present it receives total protection in Minnesota and Iowa. California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Kentucky give this fur-bearer no protection. South Dakota gives partial protection west of the Missouri River and full protection in the part of the state east of this river.

The average length of the open season in the states giving partial protection is just a fraction under three and one-half months.

Of the partial protection states, Maine has the longest open season, seven months, and Arkansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota and Utah have the shortest open season, giving only two months.

EDITORIAL

FINANCE

It may be said without exaggeration that the past two years have been golden ones for the Nebraska Bureau of Game and Fish. More constructive work has been done and more money spent than in any biennium in the history of the state.

A total of $264,666.34 was spent during the biennium, that is, from July 1, 1925 to June 30, 1927. All of the license money was spent except §124,353.45 which is now on hand. This money, has been re-appropriated.

Expenditures during 1925-26 are as follows: Game birds $56,950.67 Purchase and developments of lakes $33,257.08 Game warden service $53,853.19 Conservation and distribution fish $31,873.96 Administration $21,930.72 Valentine Hatchery $32,202.86 Gretna Hatchery $17,821.28 Benkelman Hatchery $10,429.95 Kock Creek Hatchery $ 6,346.63

Among the outstanding accomplishments during this period has been the acquiring of four lakes and recreation grounds, the distribution of over 50,000 game birds, the enlarging of the Valentine Hatchery into one of the largest in the country, the construction of ten fish nurseries, the raising of two million fish and conserving another million, the employmnt of more game wardens, the sinking of wells, the publishing of a quarterly bulletin and the opening up of educational work along the lines of intelligent conservation.

NEW LAWS

On July 24 the new game laws as amended by the 1927 Session Laws become effective.

It is believed that the changes in the law will on the whole prove beneficial to the interests of game and fish in Nebraska. Bags have been cut down to some extent, shipping and storing of game regulated, illegal fishing made a more serious offense. All of these things should tend to save fish and game.

Changes in law always cause more or less confusion. All good sportsmen should familiarize themselves with the changes and then pass the word along. Enforcement of law is necessary, but education is also necessary. Many times enforcement is not required where a little educational work has been done.

PRAIRIE CHICKENS

Effective July 24, 1927 the possession limit on prairie chickens will be five instead of ten as heretofore. The daily bag and the possession limit for the 1927 season will be five.

This change in the law was brought about by the passage of H. R. 10, by the State Legislature. This bill makes the law (Section 7344, Par d) read as follows:

"It shall be unlawful for any person to have in his possession at any one time in excess of fifty game birds. Of this total there shall be no more of any one kind that hereinafter stated: Plovers, 25; prairie chickens 5; rails, except coots, 25; snipe 25; brants 5; coots 40; ducks 40; and geese 5."

It is the opinion of the State Attorney General that this part of the law is the last expression of the Legislature and therefore holds though out of harmony with Section 7341 of the old law.

All persons are advised that the new law will be strictly enforced. The fine for violation is $100.

SEINING

The Bureau receives many requests from organizations and individuals to take fish from one place to another or to rescue them by seining.

It is the policy of the Bureau to do all such work by state crews.

While it is likely that an organization or an individual has worthy motives and could take the fish out as well as the state crews, the fact remains that such a system is difficult to control and frequently reacts very unfavorably to the Bureau.

In handling a public enterprise an official must treat all alike. He cannot set himself up as a judge to say this man can and that man cannot. He must go according to law — and the law applies to all alike.

It should be obvious to all that the Bureau could not issue seining permits to all who apply. It would have to select certain persons or organizations. And when that is attempted, many difficulties are immediately met.

Then, perchance a seining permit is given to a worthy organization or individual, it is more or less likely that some one in his community will misunderstand his motives or the motives of the Bureau in issuing such a permit.

So taking all these matters into consideration it has been deemed best to issue no seining permits but to have all such work done by a state crew. Then if the equipment is damaged or the job poorly done, responsibility can be fixed and the party at fault brought to time.

OUTDOOR NEBRASKA 7

Can You Tell Me—

(Editor's Note: The purpose of this page is to answer some of the many questions that are put to the Game Warden. By reading over the answers no doubt you can also gain some information that will be helpful to you.)

QUESTION: When do the new laws passed by the 1927 session of the Legislature go into effort?

ANSWER: July 24, 1927.

QUESTION: Is it lawful to use night lines ?

ANSWER: It is lawful to use night or set lines, provided no person uses more than five lines. Each line must be fastened on one end to the bank of the stream or lake or to a pole. No line can have more than five hooks thereon, and no person can have out more than 25 hooks at one time. It would be lawful to put one or three or any number of hooks up to five on a line. It is unlawful to use artificial bait having more than three triple-gang hooks.

QUESTION: What about taking bullheads under the new law ?

ANSWER: The new law permits a person to take 25 bullheads a day. No bullheads must be taken that are under five inches in length. The possession limit on bullheads is the same as other fish, which is 25.

QUESTION: Can a seine be used in the Missouri River after July 24, 1927?

ANSWER: Persons who secured a Missouri River Fisherman's license prior to July 24 can use the same until December 31, 1927 at which time it expires. The Department will issue no more licenses to seine in the Missouri River after July 24, 1927. All seines and nets not bearing, the tags of a license issued prior to July 24, 1927 will be seized and the owner thereof prosecuted.

QUESTION: Why doesn't the Department let a fellow use a seine in lakes where there are too many fish?

ANSWER: Laws are made for the state of Nebraska and all the people living therein. The great majority of Nebraska lakes have too few fish rather than too many in them. Laws cannot be made for exceptional cases, and the few lakes that have too many bullheads and perch in them are the exceptions. If one person should be given a permit to seine such permit would have to be given to all who apply. In enforcing law an official cannot discriminate. Therefore, with this in view, the Legislature wisely made the law such that game officials have no authority to issue seining permits. After all, fishing in Nebraska is for the sport there is in it and should not be commercialized. If you cannot get any fun out of angling, better forget all about fishing.

QUESTION: Is it lawful to spear carp?

ANSWER: Yes, except during the months of December, January, February and March. The new law prohibits the use of the spear during these months. Never spear catfish, bullheads or other game fish.

QUESTION: Is it lawful to take fish by hand ?

ANSWER: It is not lawful to fish by hand. The law allows angling only. The spear can be used certain months in the taking of coarse fish. Hand fishing is bad for catfish and bullheads which spawn in holes along the banks of streams and which are molested when using the hands in the water.

QUESTION: Is it lawful to use a light when fishing?

ANSWER: Yes. The law does not prohibit the use of artificial light in fishing. It is unlawful however, to use artificial light in hunting game birds.

QUESTION: Does a lady need a license to fish?

ANSWER: Yes, the law requires all lady anglers to have licenses. No lady objects to equality of the sexes nowadays and should be glad of this opportunity to be treated the same as men anglers.

QUESTION: Is it lawful to keep wild ducks in possession during the closed season ?

ANSWER: Yes, providing you have permit issued by the Bureau of Game and Fish.

QUESTION: I bought a license this year and lost it. Can I get a duplicate?

ANSWER: No. Duplicate licenses are no longer issued. The reason for this is because the books are in the hands of the dealers until late in the year and the amount of correspondence involved in checking up makes it impracticable. Then, too, many licenses lost are found and have been used.

QUESTION: In mowing a field we disturbed a pheasant's nest. Can we hatch the eggs lawfully?

ANSWER: Yes, where this happens the eggs can be hatched under a hen and if the young birds are liberated when old enough to care for themselves no permit is necessary. Under all circumstances such birds must be liberated and not used for private purposes.

QUESTION: What is the state doing to produce more fish?

ANSWER: A definite program to provide better fishing for Nebraska is under way. During the past two years the Valentine Hatchery has been greatly increased so as to produce a large number of bass and sunfish. Plans for the next year call for the building of a large trout hatchery at Rock Creek, where several million eggs may be hatched each year and a nursery capacity for a million fish. Plans also call for the procuring of several large bass lakes or rearing ponds where bass may be hatched and used to stock lakes and fishing ponds. Several crews will be out at all times rescuing fish from drying-up ponds and the transplanting of fish where they are too numerous.

8 OUTDOOR NEBRASKA

Breeding the Black Bass

(From American Field)

What was regarded as modern a few years ago is obsolete today, and a newer scheme falls within the scope of things we call modern now. There was a bass culture twenty-five years ago that was a thing so new that we thought of it and wrote of it as an important modern method. It soon became obsolete and another method came to be known and is still regarded as the modern way of breeding and handling the black bass.

Unlike many of the other fishes, the black bass cannot be stripped and its eggs hatched under hatchery conditions. But this fish does respond to artificial methods that are highly satisfactory. It can be handled well in ponds, especially constructed to suit the purpose of artificial hatching.

The large-mouth bass, which is by long odds our most important game fish, makes its nest on the clay or rich soil bottom in shallow water, and when conditions are made favorable the bass may be depended upon to bring forth in due time a splendid hatch of strong fry, able to take care of themselves shortly after being hatched. A school of fry hatched by a bass of about three pounds weight usually amounts to about ten thousand fry. From ten such schools the modern fish eulturist, with proper pond equipment, will be able in the fall to count fifty thousand plump fingerlings six inches or more in length. The best modern method contemplates the catching of fry with a dip net after they have been hatched and placing them in a specially constructed rearing pond, where they remain until fall, when they are taken out and distributed.

The old method was to catch the fry in the breeding ponds and distribute them in public waters at once. Twenty schools of fry amounting to two hundred thousand was a nice thing to talk about, and the numbers on the distribution record were impressive. But in reality only a comparatively small percentage of such fry ever reached the fingerling stage, when they could take pretty good care of themselves. A hungry pickerel would scoop up a big mouthful of this delicate food whenever he lunged through the school. Smaller fish, like the sunfish tribe, picked up a great many of those that other fish missed. Nature's way is for the old bass to hatch out a big family of fry, to be eaten up largely by other fish. The artificial method is to rear the fry in suitable ponds until they reach the fingerling stage. Not all the fingerlings will escape the cannibals in the water in which they are placed, but they scatter about in the shallow water and dodge their enemies in the weeds. They are strong and well fitted for the battle of life.

When bass culture was first taken up about a quarter of a century ago, it was very much in the nature of an experiment and quite naturally many mistakes were made. For one thing, the ponds were too small. The various states which took up bass culture copied the Federal government's methods, with the unfortunate result that there were built all over the country little quarter and a half acre ponds, not suited to the work of producing bass on a large scale. Moreover, the fish were hard to handle in these small ponds.

Illinois was the first state to break away from the earlier method of bass culture. It had a breeding pond that would easily take care of one thousand adult fish. This is a spring water pond with a depth of about ten feet in its deepest part. The greater part of the pond is shallow, suitable for necessary aquatic plants and breeding grounds. In the hatching season the bass nests are marked, and when the fry are old enough to rise to the surface'two men in a boat are able, in less than half a day, to catch one hundred thousand fry and put them in a two-acre rearing pond. This pond has a good depth at one end, but the greater part of the pond is shallow and arranged for a fish pasture. That is, in the shallow part of the pond a variety of plants raise a variety of insects on which the fry live. All the banks slope gradually toward a common center, where there is a trap and cement ditch, into which the fingerlings are drawn when the water is let out of the pond. It is practically a matter of touching a button to collect the fingerlings.

It has been found that fully half the fry put into this rearing pond live to be lusty fingerlings, pretty well able to take care of themselves when put into public bass waters.

What is important is the fact that artificial ponds may be made to yield an abundance of fish food, and this indicates that public waters may be improved in {'his respect. It is with fish culture just as it is with the culture of game birds on private preserves or public sanctuaries. Primarily it is a question of providing ample food for birds or fish, if they are to thrive in a private or natural habitat. We may stock our fish waters ever so liberally, but the fish will not thrive without an abundance of suitable food.

When there is a better general knowledge of bass culture, owners of estates on which there is suitable water will find it to their interest to raise bass, as well as profitable products of the soil. The cost of building bass ponds is not great, and once the bass plant is put on a practical basis the maintenance cost is moderate. Apart from the sport an owner would have in catehing bass from his private fish ponds, the venture would be profitable in that two or three suitable bass ponds would furnish considerable delicious food.

A comparatively few years ago we had an immense area of land that was a mere big pasture of little value in dollars and cents. The same land that went begging at that time has' been taken up and improved until it has a value of two hundred dollars an acre. In time we will learn how to make our lakes and streams yield an amount of good food that will give them a real value far in excess of the value they are reckoned at today.

OUTDOOR NEBRASKA 9

Fish of the Middle-West-The Yellow Perch

By Glenn C. Leach

The yellow perch (Perca flavescens) is one of the best known and most abundant fresh-water fishes of the Atlantic and North Central States. It is one of the most strikingly marked of our common fresh-water fishes, though, like all fishes, it is subject to wide variation in color and markings. The general body color is golden yellow, the back greenish, and the belly pale. On the sides six or eight dark, broad vertical bars usually extend from the back to below the axis of the body, but, as stated, the colors and markings are greatly influenced by its environment. Sometimes the yellow is very bright, at other times pale; the bars are prominent in certain instances and indistinct in others. There is at times a coppery, reddish, or purple wash on the head and sides. The lower fins are largely red or orange, and in breeding males these colors frequently are brilliant. Some of the various names by which the fish is designated are American perch, raccoon perch, red perch, ring perch, and striped perch. It may attain a length of 10 to 14 inches and a weight of 1 to 2 pounds, though the average is probably some what lower.

The natural range of the yellow perch is from Nova Scotia to North Carolina in coasrtjwise waters and throughout the Great Lakes region and the upper Mississippi Valley. It is primarily a fish of small lakes and ponds but is also found in streams in many parts of its habitat. Through the agency of man it has been successfully transplanted in nonindigenous waters and its geographic range thus greatly extended. At the present time it inhabits various lakes in Washington, California, and other western States, and is also found in the Ohio River.

Food and Game Qualities

The food qualities of the yellow perch are not surpassed by those of any of the fresh-water, spiny-rayed fishes with which it is usually classed. The flavor and texture of the flesh of all fishes, particularly the fresh-water species, vary with the environment. No fish can attain its highest excellence as to either food or game qualities in warm, sluggish, turbid waters. Taken from the clear, cool waters of a deep lake or pond, the flesh of the yellow perch will compare favorably with that of either species' of black bass, the rock bass, or the pike perch.

As a game fish the yellow perch has much to recommend it. Its small size precludes its being a great fighter, and because of this it may be taken by even Che most inexperienced fisherman. It may be captured with hook and line at almost any season of the year and with any sort of bait. It will rise freely on occasion to the artificial fly or trolling spoon, and if angled for in cold, clear water at a depth of 25 to 40 feet a 1-pound fish will make a fight that is well worth the time of the angler. Perhaps its most commendable feature is that it affords sport to women and children, who are often not sufficiently venturesome to seek the larger species of game fishes. Many inland summer resorts are rendered more attractive because the women and children find themselves able to bring in good strings of delicious yellow perch.

Commercial Importance

Throughout most of its range the yellow perch occupies an important place in the commercial fisheries and is highly esteemed. From the Great Lakes, the Potomac River, and the smaller lakes of the upper Mississippi Valley large quantities are taken every year by means, of fyke nets, gill nets, traps, seines, and lines and find a ready market. The annual catch approximates 5,700,000 pounds, valued at $384,000, about 86 per cent being credited to the Great Lakes.

Spawning Season and Character of Eggs

The spawning season of the yellow perch occurs on a rising water temperature in late summer or early spring. In the Potomac River this fish spawns in February, March, or April, depending upon climatic conditions. The eggs, which are of a light color and semi-transparent, are remarkable from the fact that when deposited they are joined together in a greatly elongated, ribbonlike mass. One end of the mass, corresponding to the anterior end of the roe, is larger than the other end and bluntly forked. The length of the string varies from 2 to 7 feet, depending upon the size of the fish, but it may be much compressed lengthwise because of its arrangement in regular transverse folds, like the sides of a bellows. Upon deposition the eggs are in loose, globular form, but after being fertilized and water-hardened the mass becomes many times larger than the parent fish. It is recorded that a female yellow perch under observation in an aquarium deposited a string 88 inches long, 4 inches wide at one end, and 2 inches wide at the other. The weight of this mass after fertilization was 41 ounces avoirdupois, while the weight of the fish shortly before it had spawned was only 24 ounces. Throughout the entire length of the string there is a cavity, its walls being forired by the delicate'membrane surrounding the eggs. Small apertures occur in this column at irregular intervals, their purpose apparently being to permit the free circulation of water to facilitate incubation.

At the Cape Vincent (N. Y.) hatchery, where a careful count was conducted, a quart of green eggs, was found to number approximately 100,000, while the number per quart, after being fully swollen, was reduced to 36,000. These figures can not be adopted as' standard, however, since there is a wide variation in the size of the eggs taken in different regions.

(Continued on Page 16)

10 OUTDOOR NEBRASKA

DEPARTMENTAL ACTIVITIES

New Non-Resident Permits

Effective July 24 the new non-resident fishing and hunting permits will be sold. This permit is altogether unlike the old license for non-residents. In the past considerable confusion has resulted by non-resident licenses being mistaken for resident licenses and the wrong form issued. It is believed the new permits will overcome this objection.

The new permit is in two parts. The holder uses the third part in case of shipping game out of the state. All holders of the new permit must sign same at time it is issued.

Shipping and Storage Regulations

The new system of storing game or shipping game is ready to go into operation for the fall season. Cold storage plants, express and railroad companies already have the new tags which must be used on all game shipped out of the state or from onei place to another within the state. In case of storing game the new regulations require that game taken in Nebraska or in other states must be tagged when placed in cold storage in Nebraska.

Get New Boat

A sixteen foot boat equipped with an outboard motor has been put into use in the enforcement of Nebraska game laws. This outfit will work on the rivers of the state continuously. It requires about $7,000 worth of transportation each year to keep the game wardens going.

Seine Lake Minatare

One of the big seining jobs of the year has been going on at Lake Minatare. A state crew has been at work there; for several months and thousands of coarse fish have been removed. A number of smaller bodies of water have been seined. Several crews are on the job continuously.

To Take Cats from Missouri

Beginning September 1 a state crew will begin operations in the Missouri River. Catfish will be caught transported to holding ponds and later distributed to creeks, ponds and streams throughout the state. The new laws do not permit the issuing of permits to commercial fishermen who heretofore have taken catfish from the Missouri and sold them on the market. It is the intention of the Bureau to use such fish for stocking streams in the state for anglers rather than using such fish for food purposes. Owing to the fact that it is extremely difficult to propagate channel catfish, it is hoped that this new method of taking these fish will meet the demands for them and make fishing in southeastern Nebraska better than during the past several years.

Fremont Lakes Under Development

Development work on the Sand Pit Lakes at Fremont was begun May 1. It is expected to level down and seed approximately one third of the 165 acres this summer. Owing to high embankments and considerable sand, a great deal of dirt must be moved and part of the ground re-surfaced. Camping is available now at the west end of the grounds and good fishing can be found in four of the eight lakes.

Purchase Deer

The Nebraska Bureau of Game and Fish has placed an order for ten deer for fall delivery. These are secured from the Federal Government and are trapped from a forest reserve in Utah. The cost to the State of Nebraska will be around $40 per animal. It is expected to put the deer on the two forest reserves in Nebraska where there already is a small herd.

COVER THIS MONTH

On the cover this month we have the likeness of Mr. J. H. Pease, President of the Izaak Walton League at Kimball. These two black bass were taken from the Bennett Reservoir recently. One weighs four pounds, ten ounces, the other one four pounds, eight and one half ounces.

OUTDOOR NEBRASKA 11

"IT IS TOO LONG BETWEEN BITES!"

(Continued from Page 3)

men, meekness and inspiration before the works of nature, charity and patience toward tackle makers and the fish, a mockery of profits and conceits, a quieting of hate and a hushing to ambition, a rejoicing and gladness that you do not have to decide a blanked thing until next week.

But to return to the economics of this sport. Having done everything to improve the tackle, lures, and incantations we must conclude that the distance between bites has been increased because of rising ratio of water to fish. In other words, there are less fish.

And, to slip back to the beatific side of fishing a minute, I might mention that there will be no joy on long winter nights making reinventories of the tackle unless there be behind it the indelible recollection of having caught a few bigger ones last summer. But I will say more on the economic importance of the fishing beatitudes later on.

Based upon the number of fishing licenses issued in licensing states, the Bureau of Fisheries estimates that 10,000,000 people went game fishing in the year 1926. Any calculation of twenty years ago will show that not 1,000,000 people went fishing during those years. But I have no sympathy with attempts at disarmament of the gigantic army which every year marches against the fish, nor any limitations on its equipment of automobiles, tackle or incantations, I am for force, more force and more fish.

Despite the statistical efficiency of our department, I do not know how many each one of the army captured last year. Judging by my own experience, it was not so good. I spent several days searching fishing holes at various points between Chesapeake Bay and the Pacific, I tried to find some spot where not more than six automobiles had already camped, or where the campers did not get up before daylight and thus get the two or three fish which were off guard at that time of day. The State of New Jersey secures an accounting from its licensees of the number of game fish they caught. It works out at about 4.5 fish per fisherman per annum. Fishermen are not liars and therefore I conclude that even in that well-organized state it was heavy going.

Now I want to propose to you an idea, I submit to you that each fisherman ought to catch at least 50 during the season. I would like more than that myself, but that ought to be demanded as a minimum under the "rights" as implied in the Declaration provided it included one big one for purposes of indelible memory, conversation and historic record.

And at once I come to a powerful statistic—that is, 50 fish times 10,000,000 men and boys, the purpose of which I will establish presently. This minimum ideal of a national catch of 500 million game fish is of the most fundamental importance if we as a nation are to approach a beatific state for even two weeks in the year.

And as we are thinking nationally, 500,000,000 fish divided amongst 120,000,000 people is not so much as you might think at first, for it is only about 4.1 fish per person and it includes the little ones as well, and each of us eat 1,095 times year, less whatever meals we miss while fishing.

At this point someone will deny that we have ever taken any 500,000,000 fish in a year. I agree with him that we have not attained any such ideal per fisherman in long years. If it had been true the moral state of the nation would have been better maintained during the last calendar year. There were lots of people who committed crimes during the year who would not have done so if they had been fishing, and I assure you that the increase in crime is due to a lack of those qualities of mind and character which impregnate the soul of every fisherman except those who get no bites. Unless we can promise at least 50 fish per annum, including that occasional big one for recounting and memory purposes, we may despair of keeping the population from further moral turpitude.

The Condition

Nearly fifty years ago the game fishermen in certain localities began to complain bitterly to their Congressmen about all this expanding distance between bites, which in economic terms is called the lag. As an equal opportunity for fishing must be properly considered by any great government as a necessity to public tranquility, measures were at once taken. The great government said: "We will now apply artificial means to the natural birth and distribution of fish."

Thereafter the Federal Government built 40 game fish hatcheries. The state governments built 191 hatcheries for game fish, and private enterprise has constructed 60 more. In these mass production works, the maternal carelessness of laying eggs out loose in the water to be eaten by cannibalistic relatives and friends was to be halted and they were thereafter carefully safeguarded in glass jars and troughs and temperatures. The baby fry and fingerlings thus born in security and reared up in comfort to half an inch long or so were then placed in private railway cars and distributed back to the streams, being thereupon started on their happy way to be eaten by the same relatives and friends as fresh meat instead of fresh eggs.

We have steadily increased in zeal in all these endeavors to beat the lag between bites until during the last few years these 291 hatcheries working on 15 species of game fish turn out an average of one billion, one hundred million infant game fish to be duly launched into life amongst the cannibals.

In addition to these paternalistic and maternal endeavors on the part of the government, I am aware that Mother Nature has herself been busy also. Private enterprise in the shape of responsible Mother Fish are working upon the same problem. They are probably doing more than the paternal government, for all I know. Private enterprise usually does. One thing we do know, and that is that it takes a host of fingerlings to provide for the survival of a fish of blessed memory. At a particular control over Alaskan salmon it is estimated that 1,668,750,000 eggs and fry were launched into life and 3,740,000 adult fish came back and it is thought all who escaped infant mortality did come back—so that the loss was 99.77 per cent. Or, in other words, it took 450 fry to make a fish. And at this rate the annual one billion, one hundred million fry and fingerlings from the whole battery of hatcheries would produce one-third of a fish per fisherman per annum.

I may say parenthetically that I introduce these statistics of birth registration and infant mortality among fish, because it will relieve your minds of anxiety as to accuracy. But if anyone feels these figures may be wrong, he has my permission to divide or multiply them by any factor based upon his own experience with the   12 OUTDOOR NEBRASKA time element in bites, the size of fish, or the special incantations.

In any event, one billion one hundred million bureaucratic mothered fry from all our combined government hatcheries was only 2.2 for each fish in the modest minimum national ideal which I have insisted upon. And if anybody thinks that it only takes 2.2 fry to make a fish he is mightily mistaken. I conclude that statistically from my own experience of the time between bites that the Alaskan figure of mortality should be corrected from 99.77 per cent to 99.99 per cent.

What I am coming to is that it is the solemn fact that only some microscopic per cent of these fry or fingerlings, whether synthetic or natural, ever live to polish the tackle or insure the approach to the battle in renewed hope with each oncoming season. And we lose ground every year, sector by sector, as the highways include more fishing holes in the route. We must either multiple the output of our hatcheries by some fearful number or find some other way out.

The Experiment

Some four years ago I expressed to Commissioner O'Malley, when inducting him into the headship of the Bureau of Fisheries, my complete skepticism over the effectiveness of our synthetic incubation and its statistical relations to the realistic life of a fish. My general thesis was that these infants did not have a dog's chance to gain that maturity which was required either by public policy or to produce the fishing beatitudes. He and his able assistant, Mr. Leach, thereupon started experiments to see if we could not apply mass production in nursing infant trout, bass, and other game fish to an age when they could survive traffic accidents or do battle with cannibals or enter the cannibal ranks themselves—and in any event hope to survive. It was my aspiration that if these adolescent youths could not win in open combat at least some of them reared to three inches long might make a full meal for a cannibal instead of his requiring 200 fry fresh out of the eggs, and then we would save 199 or so. These experiments were seriously successful. And the same authorities, Messrs. O'Malley and Leach, are convinced that by this same means we have improved the fighting chance of these children of fish up to about 50-50 go, and thereby our one billion, one hundred million governmental fingerlings might serve as a base to produce the national ideal of five hundred million big ones. I again refer you to my previous statement on the safety factor in the magic of statistics.

Nor was it so expensive. One hundred bass couples in specially prepared pools produced 200,000 offspring and raised them to three inches long for a total outlay of $500, omitting' rent and experts, or four fish for a cent. Likewise trout were carried along in life under the shelter of hated bureaucracy until they could do battle.

After this preliminary experience I, two years ago, appealed to fish and game clubs throughout the country to cooperate with us in establishing more experimental nurseries—the Department of Commerce to furnish free fingerlings, free breeding stock, and free technical supervision. It was one of the. conditions that all streams in each neighborhood should be stocked with the product so as to give the boy a chance also. Fifteen chapters of the League, 16 clubs and prvate individuals, five states and municipalities have cooperated and established nurseries in nine states. Pennsylvania leads with 14 stations, Minnesota next with 13 stations, every one of the latter being League chapters whose officers should be taken to the heart of every man and boy who has hopes for the fishing beatitudes. The state of New Jersey, working independently from the same conclusions, has done wonders on their own.

Last year was our first year; 4,667,000 fish were raised up to battling age in these cooperative nurseries, and delivered into the streams. The annual capacity of these nurseries when going full blast is probably near 20,000,000 fish. I believe the verdict of all those who have overcome their initial troubles enthusiastic of success.

The Proposition

Now the purpose of this pa-er and these statistics is to demonstrate that we need more nurseries. We ought to have several hundred. They are inexpensive compared to the annual outlay on tackle and the automobile journey to the fishing holes. When you get through at that fishing hole you would have been glad to have paid for several hundred fish at the rate of 4 to a cent. And by stocking all streams in the neighborhood they offer a large opportunity for establishing fealty from the small boy to the ideals of the sportsman. He may for sound reasons of his own continue to use his worn fly or even a worm but be assured he will grow up to refined tackle all right later on.

  OUTDOOR NEBRASKA 13

Our government, national and state, is today spending nearly $2,000,000 a year on game fish hatcheries. We are convinced of their futility unless we can carry their work this one stage further. That stage should be accomplished through local effort and cooperation, and the federal government is prepared to furnish instruction, advice, breeding stock, and fingerlings free to any chapter or club which will undertake it. If every state in the Union would respond as Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey have responded the job is done.

The hatcheries are the necessary works for mass production of infant fish. That is a technical job requiring large expense, high skill and training. Clubs cannot well undertake to run them, and we have long since accepted that as a proper function of the federal and state governments.

But the nurseries require only a few thousand dollars for plant and but a few hundred dollars annually for operation. It is our view that the nurseries are the only agency that will make the hatcheries worth while. If our nurseries could turn out five hundred million three-inch fish we could trust the natural mothers to supply the balance.

And I appeal to the fishermen of America to take up and further exhaust this great hope of permanent game fishing in our country. It is your problem and the remedy for a departing sport is with you. Not by demanding that an already maternally and paternally responsible government do everything on but in the pride of sportsmen to do their own job. Unless something like this be done our sons will not be catching the limit. It is the real hope of triumph over the discouragement between bites.

The Protest

And there is another phase of all this. As'de from the cannibalistic enemies of infant, adolescent and adult fish, acting in lively alliance with the organized army of 10,000,000 fishermen, we have still another fish enemy to deal with. That is pollution. Herein is the poison cup which we give to eggs, fry, fingerlings, adolescents and adult fish alike.

Now if we want fish we have to reserve some place for them to live. They all occur in the water, but it happens that nature adapted them to clean water; I suppose that was because nature foresaw no fishing beatitudes along a sewer.

And this question of pollution has a multitude of complications and lack of understanding.

There are as many opinions about pollution as there are minds concerning it. Those who oppose it are not under the spell cf the fishing lure. Pollution exists in different waters in different degrees—from ships, factories, coal mines, chemical works in cities and towns— only to mention a few of them. Many of these things damage public health, destroy the outdoor appeal of the streams and all of them damage the fish.

But after all we are an industrial people. We have to work at least eight hours a day and all but two or three weeks in the year, and we cannot abolish our industries and still pay for fishing taekle. So I have long since come to the conclusion that what we really need in every state through our state authorities is that there should be a survey of all the streams and a division of them into three categories.

First to determine the streams that have not yet been polluted, then give immediate protection to these streams or parts of them, that they never shall be polluted; that no industry shall be allowed to settle upon them unless there is adequate guarantee that there will be no pollution. The second category includes the streams that are polluted to the finish. There are many of these that could never be recovered as a matter of practical fact, without the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people from their homes through the crushing of their industries. The numbers who would benefit by clearing them would be infinitesimal compared to the suffering and loss implied in such an operation.

Then we should have a third category of streams— those that are perhaps partially polluted where we could get correction by systematic and sound action and gradually restore them to the first category.

There are also problems of pollution of our coastal waters. I have discussed that before and will not enter upon it now. The sane handling of our streams pollution is the first conservation measures in our country. For various reasons of states rights it is but little a federal problem. But states rights are state responsibility and the mental complex of some states that their rights extend to passing the buck to the federal government needs psychopathic treatment by indignant chapters of the Izaac Walton League.

The Reason For It

Now the reasons for all this are some of them economic in their nature, some moral, and some spiritual. Our standards of material progress include the notion and the hope that we shall lessen the daily hours of labor on the farm, at the bench and in the office-—except for public servants. We also dream of longer annual holidays and more of them, as scientific routine and mass production do our production job faster and faster. And when they do the job at all, they dull the souls of men unless their leisure hours become the period of life's objective, stimulation, and fishing.

We are decreasing hours. These same infallible clocks of progress, the humble statistic, tells us that the gainfully employed have steadily decreased in hours of work during the whole of 30 years.

The great majority of us (except public officials) really work no more than eight hours a day except during the stress of planting or harvest or elections. Anyway if we sleep eight hours we have eight hours in which to ruminate and make merry or stir the cauldron of evil. This civilization is not going to depend upon what we do when we work so much as what we do in our time off. The moral and spiritual forces of our country do not lose ground in the hours we are busy on our jobs— their battle is the leisure time. We are organizing the production of leisure. We need better organization of its consumption. We devote vast departments of government, the great agencies of commerce and industry, science and invention to decreasing the hours of work— but we devote comparatively little to improving the hours of recreation. We associate joy with leisure. We have great machinery of joy, some of it destructive, some of it synthetic, some of it mass production. We go to chain theatres and movies; we watch somebody else knock a ball over the fence or kick it over the goal post. I do that and I believe in it. I do, however, insist that no other organized joy has comparable values to the outdoor experience. We gain less from the other forms in moral stature, in renewed purpose in life, in kindness and in all the fishing beatitudes. We gain none of the constructive rejuvenating joy that comes from return

(Continued on Page 16)

14 OUTDOOR NEBRASKA

MIGRATORY-BIRD TREATY ACT

(Continued from Page 4)

ture may deem necessary, in the District of Columbia and elsewhere, cooperation with local authorities in the protection of migatory birds, and necessary investigations connected therewith: Provided, That no person who is subject to the draft for service in the Army or Navy shall be exempted or excused from such service by reason of his employment under this act.

Sec. 10. That if any clause, sentence, paragraph, or part of this act shall, for any reason, be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered.

Sec. 11. That all acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed.

Sec. 12. Nothing in this act shall be construed to prevent the breeding of migratory game birds on farms and preserves and the sale of birds so bred under proper regulation for the purpose of increasing the food supply.

Sec. 13. That this act shall become effective immediately upon its passage and approval.

Migratory-Bird Treaty-Act Regulations Regulation 1.—Definitions of Migratory Birds

Migratory birds, included in the terms of the convention between the United States and Great Britain for the protection of migratory birds, concluded August 16, 1916, are as follows:

1. Migratory game birds:

(a) Anatidae, or waterfowl, including brant, wild ducks, geese, and swans.

(b) Gruidae, or cranes, including little brown, sandhill, and whooping cranes.

(c) Rallidae, or rails, including coots, gallinules, and sora and other rails.

(d) Limicolae, or shorebirds, including avocets, curlews, dowitchers, godwits, knots, oyster catchers, phalaropes, plovers, sandpipers, snipe, stilts, surf birds, turnstones, willet, woodcock, and yellowlegs.

(e) Columbidae, or pigeons, including doves and wild pigeons.

2. Migratory insectivorous birds: Cuckoos; flickers and other woodpeckers; nighthawks or bull-bats and whip-poor-wills; swifts; hummingbirds; flycatchers; bobolinks, meadowlarks, and orioles; grosbeaks; tanagers; martins and other swallows; waxwings; shrikes; vireos; warblers; pipits; catbirds and brown thrashers; wrens; brown creepers; nuthatches; chickadees and titmice; kinglets and gnat catchers; robins and other thrushes; and all other perching birds which feed entirely or chiefly on insects.

3. Other migratory nongame birds: Auks, auklets, bitterns, fulmars, gannets, grebes, guillemots, gulls, herons, jaegers, loons, murres, petrels, puffins, shearwaters, and terns.

(As amended July 9, 1920.)

Regulation 2.—Definitions of Terms

For the purposes of these regulations the following terms shall be construed, respectively, to mean—

Secretary.—The Secretary of Agriculture of the United States.

Person.— The plural or the singular, as the case demands, including individuals, associations, partnerships, and corporations, unless the context otherwise requires.

Take.—The pursuit, hunting, capture, or killing of migratory birds in the manner and by the means specifically permitted.

Open season.— The time during which migratory birds may be taken.

Transport—Shipping, transporting, carrying, exporting, receiving or delivering for shipment, transportation, carriage, or export.

Regulation 3.—Means by Which Migratory Game Birds May be Taken

The migratory game birds specified in regulation 4 hereof may be taken during the open season with a gun only, not larger than No. 10 gauge, fired from the shoulder, except as specifically permitted by regulations 7, 8, 9, and 10 hereof; they may be taken during the open season from the land and water, with the aid of a dog, the use of decoys, and from a blind or floating device; but nothing herein shall be deemed to permit the use of an airplane, power boat, sailboat, boat under sail, floating device towed by powerboat or sailboat, or any sinkbox (battery), except that sinkboxes (batteries) may be used in the taking of waterfowl in coastal sounds and bays (including Back Bay, Princess Anne County, State of Virginia) and other coastal waters if placed not less than 700 yards from the shore line of the mainland   OUTDOOR NEBRASKA 15 at ordinary high tide and not less than 700 yards from any island at ordinary high tide, and not less than 700 yards from any other sinkbox (battery); and nothing herein shall be deemed to permit the use of an airplane, or a powerboat, sailboat, or other floating device for the purpose of concentrating, driving, rallying, or stirring up migratory waterfowl.

(As amended July 28, 1919, March 3, 1921, May 17, 1921, and April 4, 1927.)

Regulation 4.—Open Seasons on and Possession of Certain Migratory Game Birds

For the purpose of this regulation, each period of time herein prescribed as an open season shall be construed to include the first and last days thereof.

Waterfowl (except wood duck, eider ducks, and swans), rails, coot, gallinules, woodcock, Wilson snipe or jack-snipe, and mourning doves may be taken each day from half an hour before sunrise to sunset during the open seasons prescribed therefor in this regulation by the means and in the numbers permitted by regulations 3 and 5 hereof, respectively, and when so taken may be possessed any day in any State, Territory, or District during the period of 10 days next succeeding said open season, but no such bird shall be possessed in a State, Territory, or District at a time when such State, Territory, or District prohibits the possession thereof.

Waterfowl (except wood duck, eider ducks, and swans), coot, gallinules, and Wilson snipe or jacksnipe.—The open seasons for waterfowl (except wood duck, eider ducks, and swans), coot, gallinules, and Wilson snipe or jacksnipe shall be as follows:

In Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts (except in Nantucket and Dukes Counties), Ohio, West Virginia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Nevada, and that portion of Idaho comprising the counties of Boundary, Bonner, Kootenai, Benewah, and Shoshone the open season shall be from September 16 to December 31;

In New York (except Long Island) the open season shall be from September 24 to January 7;

In that portion of Massachusetts known as Nantucket and Dukes Counties, and in Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Oklahoma, Utah, Idaho (except in the counties of Boundary, Bonner, Kootenai, Benewah, and Shoshone), California, Oregon, and Washington the open season shall be from October 1 to January 15;

In that portion of New York known as Long Island, and in New Jersey, Delaware, that portion of Texas lying west and north of the main tracks of the International & Great Northern Railroad extending from Laredo to San Antonio, Austin, and Longview, and the Texas & Pacific Railroad extending from Longview to Marshall and Texarkana, and in New Mexico and Arizona the open season shall be from October 16 to January 31;

In Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and that portion of Texas lying east and south of the main tracks of the International & Great Northern Railroad extending from Laredo to San Antonio, Austin, and Longview, and the Texas & Pacific Railroad extending from Longview to Marshall and Texarkana the open season shall be from November 1 to January 31; and

In Alaska the open season shall be from September 1 to December 15.

Rails (except coot and gallinules.)—The open season for sora and other rails (except coot and gallinules) shall be from September 1 to November 30, except as follows:

In Louisiana the open season shall be from November 1 to January 31.

Greater and lesser yellowlegs. —There shall be a continuous close season on greater and lesser yellowlegs until August 16, 1929.

Woodcock.—The open seasons for woodcock shall be as follows:

In Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas the season shall be from October 1 to November 30; and

In Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma the open season shall be from November 1 to December 31.

Doves.—The open seasons for mourning doves shall be as follows:

In Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, that portion of Texas lying west and north of the main tracks of the International & Great Northern Railroad extending from Laredo to San Antonio, Austin and Longview, and the Texas & Pacific Railroad extending from Longview to Marshall and Texarkana, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, California, Nevada, Idaho, and Oregon the open season shall be from September 1 to December 15;

In South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi the open season shall be from October 16 to to January 31;

In that portion of Texas lying east and south of the, main tracks of the International & Great Northern Railroad extending from Laredo to San Antonio, Austin, and Longview, and the Texas & Pacific Railroad extending from Longview to Marshall and Texarkana the open season shall be from November 1 to December 31; and In Louisiana the open season shall be from November 1 to January 31.

(As amended October 25, 1918, July 28, 1919, July 9, 1920, May 17, 1921, March 8, 1922, June 11, 1923, April 11, 1924, July 2, 1924, June 22, 1925, March 8, 1926, April 22, 1926, June 18, 1926, and April 4 and 21, 1927.)

Regulation 5.—Bag Limits on Certain Migratory Game Birds

A person may take in any one day during the open seasons prescribed therefor in regulation 4 not to exceed the following numbers of migratory game birds, which numbers shall include all birds taken by any other person who for hire accompanies or assists him in taking migratory birds:

Ducks (except wood duck and eider ducks).—Twenty-five in the aggregate of all kinds.

Geese.—Eight in the aggregate of all kinds.

Brant.—Eight.

Rails and gallinules (excent sora and coot).—Twenty-five in the aggregate of all kinds, but not more than 15 of any one species.

Sora.—Twenty-five.

Coot.—Twenty-five.

Wilson snipe or jacksnipe.—Twenty.

Woodcock.—Four.

Doves (mourning).—Twenty-five.

(As amended October 25, 1918, July 28, 1919, March 8, 1921, March 8, 1926, and April 4, 1927.)

(To be continued in October issue)

16 OUTDOOR NEBRASKA

NEW HATCHERY SUPERINTENDENT

Effective August 1, 1927 Mr. E. C. Torguson, of the Minnesota Game and Fish Department, will have charge of the Gretna Fish Hatchery.

Torguson has been employed by the Minnesota Department for eight years and comes to Nebraska highly recommended. He is a young man and experienced in various phases of fish culture.

No further change in the management of the other hatcheries is contemplated. Mr. W. J. O'Brien will give his full time to distribution and conservation work. It is expected to do a great deal of conservation work during the next two years.

COVER PICTURE LAST MONTH

Owing to an oversight the owner of the trout on our April cover was not mentioned. They were taken by Stephan P. Curran, Kimball, Nebraska. Mr. Curran tells about the catch as follows:

"One is a large Rainbow and measured 18% inches. He weighed one and three quarters pounds. The other is a Brown Trout. He was 15% inches in length and weighed two pounds. They both put up a good battle, and as I had a lot of moss to contend with, it took fully fifteen minutes to land either of them, They were sure some acrobats in mid air. I used a Royal Coachman fly. There are some big ones in Lodgepole Creek but they don't get caught very much as they are pretty smart and wary."

"IT IS TOO LONG BETWEEN BITES"

(Continued from Page 13)

to the solemnity, the calm and inspiration of primitive nature. The joyous rush of the brook, the contemplation of the eternal flow of the stream, the stretch of forest and mountain, all reduce our egotism, sooth our troubles and shame our wickedness.

And in it we make a physical effort that no sitting on cushions, benches or sidelines provides. To induce people to take its joys, they need some stimulant from the hunt, the fish or the climb. I am for fish. Fishing is not so much getting fish as it is a state of mind and a lure to the human soul into refreshment.

But it is too long between bites; we must have more fish in proportion to the water.

FISH OF THE MIDDLE WEST—THE YELLOW PERCH

(Continued from Page 9)

The incubation period in a mean water temperature of 47° F. covers about 27 days. The egg sac is absorbed in about five days.

Artificial Propagation

The source of egg supply of this species consists principally of adult fish procured from market fishermen and allowed to spawn naturally in tanks of running water or in floating boxes or pens. These boxes are made of seven-eighths-inch material and are about 8 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 4 feet deep. In their construction a solid board, to form the bottom, is fastened to four corner posts. The lowest tiers of boards that form the sides and ends of a box are nailed close against the bottom, but a 1-inch space is left between the remaining boards. In a stream that has an appreciable current it is advisable to cover the sides and ends of the boxes with wire cloth five meshes to the inch to prevent the eggs being washed through the openings.

During flood in many rivers and streams swings of yellow-perch eggs may be found suspended from sticks and bushes along the banks. As the waters recede the eggs are exposed to the elements and soon die. Large quantities of eggs are collected annually from such places in the Mississippi River in Vermont and are incubated in the bureau's Swanton (Vt.) hatchery.

At the Bryans Point (Md.) hatchery on the Potomac River and at some other stations of the bureau where the propagation of yellow perch is conducted two methods are employed in developing the eggs, the one in more general use being to incubate them in jars similar to those used in the hatching of whitefish eggs. Owing to the great tendency of yellow-perch eggs to swell, and to their lightness as compared with the eggs of shad or whitefish, it has been found advisable to apportion them in jars at the rate of only about 2 quarts to a jar. In some instances a wide screen of fine mesh is placed in the overflow of the jars. Great care must be exercised in regulating the flow of water in the jars, as the current caused by too much water will force the eggs to the top, where they will either clog the outlet screen or, in the absence of a screen, will pass out into the fry trough.

At several of the hatcheries wire hatching baskets, suspended in a neighboring river or stream, are successfully used for the incubation of yellow-perch eggs. These baskets are cylindrical, about 15 inches in diameter and 20 inches long. They are made of fine-mesh wire cloth and are provided with a hinged door having a catch or lock, to guard against loss of eggs during incubation. About 3 quarts of eggs are placed in each basket, the door is fastened, and the basket is suspended in the waler by means of floats or stakes.

A simple float, in a stream that is subject to sudden changes in water level, is made of a 2-inch plank, 12 inches wide and from 10 to 12 feet long, into which nails have been driven alternately at intervals of 1 foot on each side. After tying the baskets to the nails the plank is anchored in a suitable spot where there is no danger of the basket touching the bottom. The apparatus should be inspected by an attendant at least once a day, and each basket gently raised and lowered several times to free the eggs from adhering sediment.

BAG AND SIZE LIMITS

The following table gives the bag, possession and size limits of the new Nebraska game laws.

Clip along dotted line and carry in your pocket.

STATE OF NEBRASKA OPEN SEASON SCHEDULE GAME BIRDS & ANIMALS (THE CLOSED SEASON IS SHOWN IN BLACK) JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUNE JULY AUG. SEP. OCT. NOV. DEC. PRAIRIE CHICKEN WILD DUCKS GEESE PHEASANTS PLOVER RAILS SNIPE COOTS PARTRIDGE ROCK BASS BULLHEADS CATFISH CROPPIE PERCH PICKEREL TROUT PIKE SQUIRREL MUSK RAT OPOSSUM RACCOON BEAVER SIZE LIMIT ON FISH TO BE TAKEN THROW BACK ALL FISH SMALLER THEN SHOWN BELOW Sun Fish Bull Head Croppie Perch Rock Bass Trout Black Bass Cat Fish Pickerel BAG LIMIT SCHEDULE PER PERSON CHICKENS DUCKS GEESE RAIL SNIPE COOTS FISH LIMIT OF TAKE IN ONE DAY 5 20 5 15 15 20 15 LIMIT OF POSSESSION ONETIME 5 40 5 25 25 40 25 25 BULLHEADS OR PERCH MAYBE TAKEN IN ONE DAY

Trapping and Seining Fish

Why is there a shortage of catfish in the streams of eastern Nebraska?

That is a question frequently asked.

One of the answers is: BECAUSE OF THE USE OF ILLEGAL DEVICES FOR TAKING FISH.

The situation in Nebraska is indeed bad. Last year and every year hundreds of traps, seines and devices have been taken from Nebraska streams. In a drive on one Nebraska river 121 devices were confiscated and there was evidence of where dozens more were being used. Many traps were found with twenty or thirty fine big catfish in them. Some traps were found with the skeletons of a dozen catfish in them—grim evidence of the damage done by the use of such devices.

The people of Nebraska have decreed that ILLEGAL FISHING MUST STOP. The new game laws provide a severe penalty for illegal fishing with such devices. It is contrary to law to have seines, nets or traps in possession.

This new law will be rigidly enforced. The fish-hog must stop robbing the citizen who pays his dollar for clean, sportsmanlike fishing. Catfish can be taken by hook and line BUT IN NO OTHER MANNER.

The cooperation of all forward-looking citizens is requested in the enforcement of this new law, as well as all game laws. Remember that the fish in the streams are YOURS. Help the game warden protect YOUR property. Help us stop illegal fishing so that YOU and YOUR BOY may have lawful fishing.

Help save Nebraska Game!