680 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



was 40 feet, for use cm a bold shore ; the prevailing mesh was 7 iuches, stretch measure, and the 

 common depth twenty meshes, or about 8 or 9 feet ; they were knit at home, of hemp twine of 

 medium weight. In 1814 the length of nets set in the Peuobscot River, including any other 

 contrivance to which they might be attached, was limited by statute to one-third the width of the 

 stream where used. The use of set-nets for salmon has been generally abandoned on the Penob- 

 scot and Kenuebec since the erection of weirs became common, but is continued in Denny's River 

 to a small extent. 



Drifting for salmon was formerly practiced in all the salmon rivers. In the Kennebec and 

 Penobscot the driftiug-ground was the whole length of the river, though of course the best 

 spots were just below obstructions, on the Kennebec at Waterville and on the Penobscot between 

 Bangor and Oldtowu. After the building of dams these grounds were changed, and were always 

 below the lowest obstruction. As the salmon became scarcer drifting on the lower courses of the 

 rivers was gradually abandoned. It is now practiced more or less on the Saint Croix, Peuobscot, 

 and Kennebec, but the recent laws forbidding fishing within 500 yards of a dam or fish way have 

 greatly discouraged it. 



Angling for salmon has been successfully practiced for many years in Denny's River, and 

 it is probable that the lack of success that has thus far attended its trial on the Penobscot is 

 attributable to transient causes. 



The salmon weir, The most radical difference in the river weirs concerns the mode in which 

 the captured fish are removed. In the most common forms the fish are finally entrapped in an 

 inclosure of rather small size, provided with a board floor, upon which they are left by the 

 retreating tide, and upon which the fisherman comes and picks up his catch. Upon the Kenuebec 

 River there is in use a weir of which the " fish-pound" is a large iuclosure, with no floor but the 

 bottom of the river, from which the fish are removed by means of a small seine operated from a 

 boat, which is pushed into the iuclosure. This is known as a "deep- water" weir, and as its use 

 is mostly or wholly confined to the Kenuebec River, where the shad is the main object of pursuit, 

 it will be described in connection with the remarks on shad. The kind first mentioned, which 

 may be called a " floored weir," will first receive description. 



For an example of a typical floored weir we may take the Penobscot salmon weir. This 

 generally consists of a "leader" and three " pounds." The leader is a straight fence running out 

 from shore, generally at right angles with it, constructed of stakes driven firmly into the ground 

 2 or 3 feet apart, and woven with brush or, rarely, hung with nets. Its length varies according 

 to the natural features of the locality. It is always sought to place the pound in the channel, or, 

 in case that is not attainable, in as deep water as can practicably be i cached, generally from 10 to 

 20 feet at low water. In some cases broad " flats" intervene between the shore and the chosen 

 site for the pounds. In other cases the bottom slopes off steeply into the deep water and powerful 

 currents of the channel. The former may require a leader a third of a mile in length ; the latter 

 less than 50 feet. The outer end of the leader stands in the middle of the entrance to the outer 

 pound, dividing it into two parts, which occupy the base of the large, symmetrical, heart-shaped 

 figure formed by the walls of the iuclosure. The entrance (embracing both sides of the leader) is 

 about 22 feet wide ; the pound is about 60 feet in extreme width and 60 feet in length. It is 

 generally built of brush, not rarely in whole or part of netting. It has no floor. At its apex it 

 opens by a narrow entrance into a smaller iuclosure, the " second " pound, which has a floor above 

 low-water mark. The second pound is also heart-shaped, is 18 feet wide, is always made of 

 netting, or, as termed on the Penobscot. " marlin." It leads by an entrance but T2 inches wide 

 into au oval " fish-pound." This is also floored and built of the best and strongest netting. 



