FISHING INDUSTRY OF THE GREAT LAKES 557 



that there are three parts to a pound — the lead, the heart, and the pot 

 or crib. The lead is simply a fence of netting which extends from the 

 bottom to the surface and runs in a straight line, usually from shore, 

 imtil it enters the base of the heart. A lead may be 60 or 70 rods 

 long. The heart is likewise a fence of netting, but the stakes are so 

 driven that the netting on them roughly outlines a heart. The figure 

 is not complete, however, since its halves do not join at the base. 

 At its apex the heart is modified into the tunnel, a completely inclosed 

 passageway that leads into the pot. The pot is a basket of netting 

 open at the top and with sides extending above the surface. 



In principle the net works as follows: The fish, in swimming 

 along the shore, meet the lead, which for whitefish and trout is 

 composed of netting with meshes 21^^ to 314 inches square ^ (5 to 7 

 inches stretched mesh), and find their way barred. They turn, 

 then, toward deeper water, follow the lead, and enter the heart 

 through the opening at its base. Once in the heart escape is not 

 easy, and the fish eventually pass through the tunnel at the apex 

 into the pot. To prevent the fish from becoming gilled in the netting 

 its mesh in the heart is reduced to 5 inches and in the pot to 4 inches 

 and 3 inches — 3 inches on the outer side or back of the pot, which 

 becomes the bottom in lifting, and 4 inches on the bottom and other 

 three sides.'' These nets are set on soft bottom, into which the 

 stakes can be driven, and the pot is located at depths of 25 to about 

 SO feet. It is impossible to set pound nets at greater depths, as there 

 is a limit to the length of stakes that can be obtained. The nets 

 are usually lifted daily, and the fish are alive when taken. 



Trap nets.- — The trap net is a modification of the pound net, in 

 which the lead is maintained in position by leads and corks instead of 

 by stakes, and the heart and pot by anchors, and in which the pot 

 and heart are entirely closed like a covered basket. The net may 

 therefore be submerged, and for this reason the fishermen often call 

 it the ''submarine." 



Crih nets.- — A net called the crib net is widely used on Lake Erie and 

 Saginaw Bay, which has features of both the pound net and trap 

 net. There are, however, two pots connected by a tunnel and two 

 hearts. The pots are covered, as in a trap net, but the hearts are 

 open, as in a pound. 



Fylce nets. — The fyke net is also a sort of trap net, but there is no 

 lead or heart. Two wings of« variable length, held in position by 

 stakes, converge into a tunnel which leads into the pot. The pot is 

 cylindrical and is supported by hoops. There may be several com- 

 partments in the cylinder, each connected wdth the other by a tunnel, 

 t)y which arrangement the escape of the fish is much complicated. 



Gill nets. — A gill net consists of two heavy cotton lines — the cork 

 and lead lines — and the netting. The first line bears aluminum or 

 wooden floats and the latter is strung with leads, both at intervals 

 of 6 to 10 feet, according to the option of the fishermen. The netting 

 proper is made of fine linen or sea-island cotton thread, the size of 



• The mesh of nets may be described as square or stretched. By square mesh is meant the length of one 

 side of a quadrangular opening; by stretched mesh is meant the sum of the length of two sides of such an 

 •opening. The latter measurement is obtained by stretching the mesh until the opening is obliterated. 

 Dimensions given elsewhere in this paper refer to stretched mesh. 



' The figures given for size of the meshes are relative and are intended to show only that the size of the 

 mesh changes in each part of the pound. The size of meshes used varies widely according to the laws or 

 according to the species of fish sought. 



