WIDEGREX MANAGEMENT OF THE BALTIC FISHERY. 123 



Seasons and implements for the Baltic coast fisheries. — As the pike be- 

 gins to spawn earliest in spring, and as it is a voracious fisli-of-prey which 

 should not be spared too much, it should form the first object of fishing. 

 For this purpose it is necessary, before the ice is completely gone, to 

 close the entrances to the larger inlets hy brushwood. As the pike in 

 most parts of the country begins to spawn much earlier than other fish 

 spawning in spring, nets may be used, at any rate in the beginning of 

 this fishery. Towards the end of April or the beginnRig of May, when 

 the perch, the roach, the flounder, the bream, and other fish commence to 

 spawn, net-fishing must, of course, be stopped, and stationary nets should 

 be used, placed at right angles with the shore, and so as not to close the 

 entrance to the smaller inlets where these fish usually spawn. AYhilst 

 the ice lasts, traps should be set for catching bream. Bundles of brush- 

 wood are also laid in May with traps for catching roach. Those roach 

 which are caught during the spawning-season should be kept in marshy 

 waters in a conyenient place, so that during summer they may be used 

 for bait. In the same manner smelt and bleak are also caught with large 

 nets, and are used for food or for bait. It must be mentioned that fish 

 caught during the spawning-season will live much longer in marshy 

 waters than those caught when the spawning-season is over. A wise 

 fisherman, therefore, will supply himself with as much bait as i:)ossible 

 diu'ing the spawning-season. Besides nets and traps, wicker-baskets 

 are used during the spring spawning-season for catching i)erch bream, 

 pike, &c., and are placed as deep as possible, as also the so-called Hertz- 

 man's nets, which are used at some fishing-stations, and with which gen- 

 erally a good many fish are caught. 



After the spawning- season has closed, fish may be caught during June 

 and July, either with fishing-lines in deep wai er or with nets in the fish- 

 ing-waters and other places suitable for this implement. Difl'erent kinds 

 of fish, of course, require different kinds of bait, live fish, fry, or worms, 

 according to the kind of fish you wish to catch, whether pike, perch, 

 bream, or other fish. At midsummer-time, fishing with hooks and lines 

 proi)erly commences. In July, immediately after the bream has done 

 spawning, this fish is caught with smaller nets, which have a purse with 

 large meshes. These nets, which are chiefly used in the province of 

 Skane (Southern Sweden), are let down from two boats in deep water, 

 and in favorable weather a good many fish are caught in them. These 

 nets only cost from $4 to $5.50 (American money) apiece. In July and 

 August fishing is carried on with seines, common nets, and hooked 

 poles. Casting-nets are also during summer thrown out among the 

 reeds, and are used for catching all kinds of fish, with or without poles. 

 During the autumn months seines and nets should chiefly be used, espe- 

 cially in those places where the bleak and smelt spawn. But even dur- 

 ing this season a good many fish may be caught in deep water with 

 deep-water nets. During winter, traps are set in streams and the mouths 

 of brooks and in the spawning-places of the burbot, for catching this kind 



