408 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF PISH AND FISHERIES. 



$11,899 and $2,502. The larger catch of trout is attributable to the facts 

 that trout is the fish priucipally sought, aud that the fishing is carried 

 on mostly in the deeper water, where that fish is naturally more abundant. 



Set lines in this lake are used in commercial fishing only in the coun- 

 ties of Huron, Iosco, and Sanilac. Trout is the only fish taken. Her- 

 ring, caught mostly in seines, are used for bait. The most important 

 set-line fishery is in Iosco County, where set lines are fished mostly in 

 April and May, and again between September 15 and November 15. A 

 few are also used in winter, when the weather and ice will permit. In 

 Huron County, while gill-net fisheries are ordinarily the most important, 

 during cold winters, when the ice forms along the shore and remains 

 stationary, a considerable amount of set-line fishing is done, esi^ecially 

 when herring bait is plentiful. The fishing depends to a great extent 

 upon the weather and the supply of bait, and is done whenever the 

 men can venture upon the ice and bait is obtainable. In Sanilac 

 County most of the hook fishing is done from Port Sanilac by men 

 who at other times are also engaged in the pound-net fishery. 



Fyke nets are employed only in Saginaw Bay and Eiver and on the 

 shores of Huron County. They are most numerous and take the largest 

 quantities of fish in Saginaw Bay and Eiver. The principal fishing in 

 Saginaw River is done with fyke nets, here called "gobblers," or " hoop 

 nets," which are also set in small numbers in the bay at or near the 

 mouths of the smaller rivers which empty into it. The fyke nets are 

 made after the model of a pound net, with the exception of the pot, 

 which is similar to the pot of a Lake Erie fyke net. 



Seine fishing in this lake is unimportant. Seines are used only in 

 Chippewa and Iosco counties, and are there employed only to a limited 

 extent. The single seine operated in Chippewa County took only small 

 quantities of pike and pike perch ; in Iosco County, 5 seines were 

 hauled for whitefish, trout, perch, pike perch, and pike. 



Fishing-grounds. — The principal gill-net grounds in that part of the 

 lake adjacent to Detour are about 2 miles south of Drummond Island. 

 The pound nets are set at Hay Point on Drummond Island, among the 

 smaller islands olf the north shore of that island, and at Albany Island. 



The best gill-net grounds frequented by the fishermen of St. Ignace 

 aud Macikinac Island are south of St. Ignace Point and in the vicinity 

 of Mackinac and Round Islands. The best pound-net grounds are in 

 Les Cheneaux and Prentice Bay. 



The gill net fishermen of the northern part of Cheboygan County 

 frequent the same grounds as those from St. Ignace. An important 

 gill-net ground is Spectacle Reef, where trout resort to spawn, and are 

 caught with gill nets between October 1 and December 1. 



The principal trout grounds frequented by the steam tugs of Alpena 

 are from 40 to 50 miles from shore. Big Reef, 40 miles off Alpena, is 

 an important feeding and spawning ground for trout, which are here 

 found in largest numbers in October and November. The sailboats go 

 out from 10 to 15 miles from shore. Prior to May 1, tugs fish on grounds 



