Amateur Fish Museums 163 



until the entire line of the seine is paralleled to shore. As the 

 outer man approaches the shore, he must keep the seine taut; 

 there should not be any belly in it. This is the point at which 

 many fish escape. Both men must slide the lead side of the 

 seine, still scraping the bottom, right up to the water's edge. 

 Keep an eye on the float edge of the seine. Do not let it drag 

 under the surface; it should be above and out of the water, or 

 the fish will go right over it as they zoom around frantically 

 when approaching shallow water at the shoreline. The whole 

 action must be continuous. 



Often the shore area contains obstructions which make it 

 difficult for two men to scramble out while holding the seine 

 taut with the trapped fish. In this case they should pull the 

 seine out of the water, and both men should fold it in two 

 lengthwise. Then they should walk toward each other folding 

 the seine at arms length as thev go along. In other words, the 

 seine ends up like a bag with the fish in the bottom in the 

 hands of one man. 



When working a brook or a stream, the pools with fairly quiet 

 waters are worked the same way as described above. In swift 

 waters, however, a different technique is employed. Three 

 men are required to do a good job. The seine is placed across 

 the stream or brook so that a slight bellv or trap is formed. 

 The seine should be held at an angle to offer less resistance to 

 the water. The float side of the seine can be a couple of feet 

 out of the water. Check the position of the lead or bottom side 

 so that it is not over boulders which would leave a space for 

 fish to escape. Now the third man steps into the center of the 

 water, about 10 or 15 feet upstream, and kicks over rocks, 

 pebbles, and stones by dragging his feet along the bottom as he 

 progresses as quickly as possible toward the stationary seine. 

 Two or even three persons can do this for best results. All the 

 small fishes, which were sheltered under and behind the stones 

 etc., on the stream bed, will be carried by the current quickly 

 downstream into the seine before they can regain their equili- 

 brium and again scoot under a rock. When the stone kickers 

 come close, the two men at the seine lift it up quickly with one 



