382 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 



of fish and thrown back in the water tangled beyond all hope of fishing 

 success. During periods of unusually heavy depredations the fisher- 

 men fasten the ropes to underwater snags. In the spring when the 

 catfish move upstream, the net is placed so that the open end faces 

 downstream to intercept the fish. At other times it is immaterial 

 which way the opening faces. 



The best bait is fresh sardines. The fishermen obtain the sardines 

 from the dealer to whom they deliver their catch. Most of the sar- 

 dines are caught at Monterey and San Francisco. During the sardine 

 canning season the Pittsburg fishermen obtain their bait from the can- 

 neries at that point. As each fisherman uses 500 to 1000 pounds or 

 more of sardines every week, the fyke net fishery is of some impor- 

 tance to the sardine fishery. When fresh sardines are available, the 

 fishermen buy more than they need and salt the surplus for times of 

 scarcity. Salted sardines are nearly as good as fresh ones. 



The fisherman leaves his nets in the w^ater for 24 hours or more. 

 The nets which are placed in the best locations are lifted every day, 

 others are left 2 days, and those in the poorest places sometimes are 

 left for 3 or 4 days. The fish do not suffer from the confinement as 

 there is plenty of room to swim around inside the trap. 



In making his rounds the fisherman runs his boat directly over 

 the net and hauls on the line fastened to the open end, -pulling the 

 whole net into the boat. The swarms of small bait-stealing fish make 

 their escape through the coarse mesh as the net is lifted. The fisherman 

 raises the closed end and shakes the net so that the entrapped fish fall 

 through the open month into the bottom of the boat. Then he replen- 

 ishes the bait and lowers the net. On the way to the next net he 

 returns the illegal and undesirable fish to the water. In spite of the 

 2|-inch mesh, some undersized fish are taken. The minimum size limit 

 for catfish is 9 inches total length or 7 inches exclusive of any part of 

 the head. The catfish are very hardy and stay alive until the base is 

 reached. Here they are thrown into the live cars until the fisherman 

 is ready to dress them. The few remaining undersized fish escape 

 through the cracks or are sorted out during cleaning. 



The method of cleaning catfish is ingenious. The cleaner makes a 

 shallow cut between the top of the head and the dorsal fin, impales 

 the head on a hook which is fastened to the wall, seizes the skin at 

 the cut wdth a pair of pliers, and pulls the skin off in one piece. Then 

 he grasps the body and pulls it away from the head. The viscera stay 

 with the head and the flesh is free from everything except the bones. 



Some of the fishermen have their own trucks and deliver to the 

 markets at Sacramento, Stockton or Pittsburg. The fish companies 

 send out trucks to pick up the catch of the others and to take bait 

 to them. 



The open season for catfish and other species taken in fyke nets 

 in the river district is from September 1 to April 30. Spring is gener- 

 ally the best time for catching catfish. In midwinter they do not come 

 to the bait. At this time the fishermen often put 8-foot hoops in front 

 of the regular fyke nets and set them at the surface to catch ' ' Chinee 

 fish" which they sell direct to the neighboring Chinese. During the 

 somewhat muddy w^ater of early spring, the catfish start moving 

 upstream out of the deep holes where they are alleged to have spent the 



