Mill Creek Bass Hatchery

March 24th, 2014

The only institution of its kind in the world, the Michigan Fish Commission's hatchery was located within three miles of Grand Rapids.

Transcript

Of all the hundreds of fish hatcheries scattered throughout the United States, there was only one successful hatchery for the culture of the small-mouth black bass.  The only institution of its kind in the world, the Michigan Fish Commission’s hatchery was situated within three miles of Grand Rapids. It was a beautiful little spot on Mill Creek between the Rockford road and the Pere Marquette railroad tracks. But many in the city never knew about the existence of this unique establishment with its large ponds of spawning bass.

Dwight Lydell, the superintendent and founder of this nursery, had succeeded in the breeding of black bass after five years of continuous experimenting. At first the hatchery was limited to the culture of the small-mouth black bass and the wall-eyed pike. When it was established, in 1897, there were ten ponds—two large ones, 40 by 50 feet, for spawning, and eight smaller ones for breeding and storing the fry. The ponds were connected with running water, and there was a small hatchery building. When the pond water froze, the bass hibernated and did not feed, so during winter season there was no need of a resident superintendent at the site.

To demonstrate its success, just two years after it was founded, the nursery planted 100,000 wall-eyed pike in Reed’s Lake; the same amount in Green Lake; and 50,000 in the Grand River.