588 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
Trap nets, fyke nets, dip nets, and spears occur in the fisheries of 
this lake only in the St. Mary River, in Chippewa County. Trap 
nets were not operated in 1893, but in 1899 the number employed was 
37, valued at $960. _ 
In the vessel fisheries gill nets are used for catching white-fish and 
trout, and since the bluefin white-fish has become abundant in the lake 
many of the steamers are also equipped with a separate rig of gill 
nets for the capture of that species. The principal difference in the 
various kinds of nets is in the size of the mesh. The size of the mesh 
in white-fish and trout nets is ordinarily 44 to 45 inches, and in bluefin 
nets it is about 3% inches, stretched measure. The gill nets at White- 
fish Point and Grand Marais are 810 feet in length and are termed ‘‘ 90- 
lead nets” by the fishermen, for the reason that each net is rigged with 
90 leads placed 9 feet apart. The nets in use on steamers fishing from 
Marquette average 650 feet in length with a mesh of 44 inches, but in 
the fall of the year nets having a mesh of 53 inches are used for taking 
large trout which visit the spawning-grounds in September and Octo- 
ber. At Bayfield the length of gill nets used on vessels is about 675 
feet each, and at Ontonagon it is about 800 feet. At Houghton a 
steamer fishes 290 nets of 1,800 feet in length each, ora total length of 
522,000 feet. The custom there is to join two nets together, each of 
which has 100 leads and is 900 feet long. 
The nets are always set at the bottom of the lake, and frequently in 
depths of 700 feet, 35 to 45 pounds of lead being used on a net 650 to 
800 feet long. The only satisfactory floats so far used are made of 
cedar. Glass floats have been tried, but the great pressure at the 
depth in which these nets are fished caused the water to penetrate the 
glass, and when the floats were brought to the surface the water still 
remained in them. An experiment was also made with tin floats, but 
they were too easily crushed out of their proper shape. To overcome 
this difficulty they were strongly braced, but were then found to admit 
water. 
The gill nets employed by boats in the shore fisheries are similar to 
those used on vessels, except that on the average they are not quite so 
long. The white-fish and trout nets are generally from 425 to 720 
feet in length, but along the north shore and around Isle Royal they 
are about 1,200 feet long. The size of mesh varies from 4$ to 7 inches, 
the large-meshed nets being used for trout in shallow water in the 
autumn. Herring nets are from 250 to 300 feet long, and the size of 
the mesh is about 34 inches. 
In fishing gill nets with steamers the practice is to set them in gangs 
of 45 nets or more. About half the nets in each gang are lifted each 
day and carried home to be dried and repaired. These are replaced 
with a similar quantity of dry nets. 
The steamers are nearly all equipped with a patent net lifter which 
