140 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



made equally aspiriug, on a small scale; and, lastly, a most delicate 

 third dish, in the fine fry, which completes this curious division and 

 subdivision of a single carp. It may be well to note that cariJ should 

 never be boiled. 



The Tench. — The tench, although ever associated with the carp^ 

 differs widely in its habits, as while the one is most capricious in its 

 feeding, the other is to be taken without any great amount of skill by 

 the rod full nine months in the year; and generally through mild win- 

 ters, when the carj) is proof against every temptation and is said only 

 to bite while the broad- bean is in blossom. The flesh of the tench is 

 very firm and admirably adapted for stewing, its skin being pronounced 

 by epicures to possess a savor comparable in its excellence to nothing- 

 else. The simple secret of how to prevent the breaking of the tender 

 skin of the tench is known to very few cooks. It is, however, merely 

 by placing the fish in boiling fat and just turning it in the pan; and 

 if for boiling, then taking it out, laying it in a cloth in boiling water 

 until it is done sufiQciently. Served with a sauce made of the young- 

 leaves of the field sorrel, it is a most appetizing dish. 



65 REPORT OF AN £XAITIlIVATIOIV OF THF t^HAD FISHERIES IIV 



GEORGETOWN, S. C. 



By I.ieut. W. M. WOOD, U. S. N. 



After leaving Fernandina, Fla., I proceeded in this vessel to George- 

 town, S. C, to investigate the shad fisheries there, and have the honor 

 to submit the following report : 



We arrived there on the afternoon of the 5th instant. The shad 

 season was found to be about over, and most of the fishermen had quit. 



I was fortunate enough to find Mr. E. Barnes still in town. Mr. 

 Barnes is the largest owner of nets, and buys and ships all the fish 

 caught in the vicinity. Accompanied by him, I took the launch and 

 went up the Waccamaw and Pedee Elvers. I also went up the Black 

 Eiver, a tributary of the Pedee, but only on the two former rivers and 

 Winyah Bay, into which they empty, is any fishing done. 



On account of the character of the bottom and banks no seine-haul- 

 ing is carried on, and the fishing is entirely by gill-nets. This year 

 about thirty nets were fished, averaging 150 fathoms long, 6J to 5^ inch 

 mesh, and 10 to 18 feet deep. They are not allowed to reach the bot- 

 tom on account of snags. The average catch this year was about 800 

 shad per net. 



Many of the gillers live in flat-boats moored at convenient localities. 

 Mr. Barnes's flat is at the junction of Jericho Creek and the Waccamaw. 

 He fishes three nets, employing 9 men, viz, a superintendent, two men for 

 each net, a cook and a marketman, who carries the fish in a small boat 

 to town, 10 miles below. 



