232 Roosevelt ll'ild Life Annals 



Fyke and hoop nets 10,067,000 lbs. 



Lines i ,062,000 lbs. 



Trammel nets 5,154,000 lbs. 



Pound nets, trap nets, weirs. . . . 1,224,000 lbs. 



Gill nets 894,000 lbs. 



Other nets 11 5,000 lbs. 



Pots and traps 23,000 lbs. 



Spears 58,000 lbs. 



Other apparatus 2,000 lbs. 



Line fishing for Carp is a common sport and frequently we see, commonly 

 the poorer people, patiently awaiting a bite, though a fish is but rarely taken. At 

 times, however, various baits are successfully used in Carp fishing. Dough balls 

 are very generally employed for this purpose but other baits are wonr;s and 

 insect larvae, such as those of wasp larvae. Grains of wheat or barlfy and 

 pieces of beef or fish are sometimes used (Bean, '02, p. 291). Leach ('19, p. 

 18) says that potatoes half cooked are the best bait for large fish; and he recom- 

 mends a dough made of plain or sweet paste, peas, or boiled potatoes. Canfield 

 ('18, p. 5) considers composite pastes the best Carp baits and gives directions as 

 follows: "A tough paste may be made of moistened bean, wheat, or oth^r flour, 

 thoroughly mixed with a little sugar, or preferably honey. To give th( paste a 

 greater tenacity, cotton batting or wool should be stirred in." Henshall ('19, p. 

 239) says that one of the best baits is a red earthworm. Dence has caught 

 specimens about the size of sunfish, near the mouth of Young's Creek, Oneida 

 River, after a heavy rain, with earthworms as bait. 



"Ground Vjaiting" is often practiced in Carp fishing, either with line (ir net. 

 This is often done by dumping in a bushel or two of corn or oats, or both 

 (Canfield, '18, p. 5), at feeding places like deep inlets or bayous of rivers. Goode 

 ('03, p. 415) says that anglers in Germany bait the ground with a thousand or 

 more earthworms twenty-four hours before fishing, and while fishing throw more 

 victims in the water. Canfield ( p. 4) notes the "advanced baiting" by old 

 anglers, which consists in placing in the water, some six to eight feet from shore, 

 pieces of boiled potatoes, or other cooked vegetable material such as kitchen waste : 

 this baiting is done for several successive days before fishing. 



The Carp is not ordinarily considered a game fish, but Henshall {'k). jk 240) 

 .says: "When once hooked, the fi^h is not to be lightly esteemed. The angler will 

 have all he can attend to with ;i light rod in a weedy pond, or even in clear water 

 if the fish is of large size." 



Car]) are caught with simple equipment, and ordinarily a long cane iiole is 

 used. Hunt ('12, ]^. 189), however, rt'commends using a reel with 75-100 yards 

 of strong line and anchoring the nid on shore by driving a stick into the ground 

 between the line and the rod. just before the reel, for the Carp gives no warning 

 and might take rod and all into the water. Henshall ('19, p. 241) also advises 

 fixing the rod in the l)ank and lying down beside it or placing one's self behind 

 a bush or screen till the movement of the float announces the taking of the bait 

 by the fish, because the C;irp are very wary and the angler or his shadow must be 

 out of their view (Canfield "18, p. 4; Henshall, '19. p. 243). Cole ('05, p. 553) 



