378 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 

 2. — FYKE-NET FISHING. 



The fyke-nets have a mesh of 2A inches. There were in the winter of 

 1872-'73 eighty-five fyke-nets on the Sacramento at Eio Vista. They 

 are stationary, of course, and are examined every twenty-four hours. 

 All the kinds /)f fish that are found in the river are caught in these nets 

 Mr. John D. IngersoU, a prominent fyke fisherman of Eio Vista, in- 

 formed me that the daily catch for twenty nets is now about seventy-five 

 pounds of fish. 



They include chubs, herring, perch, riparous, sturgeons, hardheads, 

 splittails, Sacramento pike, suckers, crabs. Of these the perch, pike, and 

 sturgeon are the best food-fishes, though all of the species named are 

 sold in the market. 



There has been a vast decrease in the returns of the fyke-nets during 

 the last twenty years. In 1852 and 1853, they used to catch 700 or 800 

 pounds a day in one fyke-net. An average of 250 jjouuds a day for one 

 net at Sacramento City was usually expected in those times. The pre- 

 sent catch of 75 pounds a day in twenty nets, certainly presents an alarm- 

 ing contrast. The fyke-net fishing is conducted wholly by white men, 

 I believe, the Chinese fishermen being ruled out b}^ force of public sen- 

 timent. The fyke-nets are usually visited early in the morning of each 

 day, and the catch is sent down to San Francisco by the noon boat. 

 The fyke-net fishing begins in liTovember and is continued till May. 

 The best fishing is when a rise in the water drives the fish in shore 

 where the fyke-nets are placed. During the summer months the water 

 is warmer, the fish are poor, and the fishing is discontinued. 



On the 27th of February, 1873, 1 went the rounds of Mr. IngersoU's set 

 of fyke-nets with him. We visited twenty nets, but as some of them had 

 not been examined for over twenty-four hours, the yield was supposed 

 to be equivalent to one day's fishing for thirty nets. The nets had four 

 hoops each and 14-feet wings. We took out about 120 pounds of fish in 

 all. Hardheads were the most numerous, and the Sacramento pike next. 

 Mr. IngersoU said that perch used to rank second in abundance in fyke- 

 net fishing, the average for thirty nets being 200 or 300 pounds a day, 

 but the perch were quite insignificant in numbers on this day. We 

 found in the nets seven small viviparous perch and two small sturgeon. 

 I learned also that mink, beaver, and otters are sometimes caught in 

 the nets. In 1872 Mr. IngersoU caught 8 minks, 2 beavers, and one otter 

 in his fyke-nets. 



3. — SWEEP-SEINE FISniNG. 



The sweep-seine fishing is given over to the Chinese, who are not al- 

 lowed by public sentiment to engage in either of the other two kinds of 

 fishing just described, but what they are not permitted to do by the 

 prohibited methods, they make ample amends for by their own methods. 

 They are, I should say, the most industrious and persistent fishermen 

 on the river. They fish all the year round. They use fine mesh-nets, 



