Biology of Lake Bonaparte

[dab...@lightlink.com]

Sue Hoskins wrote to me and says,

What lives in the lake's waters? Many fish! In the 50' and 60's, my
Dad, Ted McDonald and Mother fished the lake from dawn to dusk, every
day we were there, and filled at least 6 stringers of fish a day. We
girls would go out in the rowboat in front of our cottage and catch a
breakfast of rock bass and perch, go back and clean them and have eggs
and fried potatoes. I wish I had a breakfast like that now. There is
nothing like fresh fish from the lake, they are sweet and clean and
delicious!!
Dad caught bass, crappies, pike, perch,huge rock bass and sunfish,
muskies, and they were all big. Those were the days!!!
My brother-in-law would go diving by the high rocks and he could not
believe the big fish toward the bottom that were just laying there.
They had plenty of smaller fish to eat and were not interested in our
bait. Gramps Priest had stuffed fish and heads of fish hanging in his
store that were at one time in the waters of the lake, the teeth were
quite big on them. Dont know what they were.

Well Sue (says David Warren) I knew they stocked muskies once,
but never saw one and never heard of any body who caught one,
including Doc Howe.
But I did see the stuffed fish Gramps Priest had in the store.
He had a sand shark, a needle fish, a baracuda, and others.......all
of course were brought with him when he moved up here from Florida. I
don't think any of the stuffed fish were local.
There was a hinged flap on the side of one of the stoerage
sheds down at his Marina where Doc Howe and others would trace the
outline of large pike and other fish he and others caught back in
those days. Lilllian Howes best bass (from Mud Lake) which beat any
of Doc's was six pounds, and my grandfather's largest Northern Pike
was fifteen pounds. I suspect that those two kinds of fish are just
as large now days, but the perch, rock bass, and sunfish are not.