488 GEOGEAPHICAL EEVIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



Iii the early summer a few are taken in drag-nets, but the fishermen soon lay these aside and pro- 

 vide themselves with gill-nets, locally known as drop-nets, those of larger mesh being used as the 

 fish increase in size. The mullet are surrounded by these nets, four or five of them often being set 

 together in the form of a circle, after which the fish are driven into them by splashing. 



This method of fishing continues till the middle of August, when the fish start south. The 

 fishermen then take their large seines and boats, and, after providing themselves with salt and 

 barrels, start for the Banks, where they build small shanties, one for sleeping and cooking, and 

 another for storing the fish. Schools of mullet follow each other in rapid succession through the 

 sound or along the outer shore, and large hauls are often made. The fishing begins about the 

 middle of August and continues till November. In the fall of 1879 there were thirty-seven crews, 

 averaging fifteen to twenty men each, engaged in the mullet fisheries of the region with haul- 

 seines, in addition to a large number that fished with drag-nets and gill-nets at different points. 

 The catch averaged about 300 barrels of salted fish to the seine. 



THE FISHERY FOE SALMON TROUT. Next to the mullet the, salmon trout is the most impor- 

 tant fish of the region, and Carteret County has the largest fishery for this species also of any county 

 on the Atlantic seaboard. Trout are present in the waters of the sound during the entire year, 

 but they are most abundant in the spring and fall. They are taken most extensively in the deeper 

 channels of the sounds, though large hauls are occasionally made along the outer shore. The fish- 

 ing begins about the middle of March and continues till late in May, when the fish are thought to 

 retire into the cooler water of the ocean. In September they are again quite abundant in the 

 sounds, and many of the fishermen fish for them in preference to the mullet that are also very 

 plenty. The fall fishing lasts till late in December. 



THE DRAG-NET As USED IN THE TROUT FISHERY. The fish are taken chiefly in seines locally 

 known as "drag-nets," though a few are caught in gill-nets in the fall. Drag-nets seem to have 

 originated with the fishermen of this region about the beginning of the present century, and they 

 are now in use only in the northern portion of Forth Carolina. These nets are 80 to 110 yards in 

 length, of 3-inch mesh, and about 12 feet deep. The method of hauling known as "footin' 'er up" 

 is quite different from that employed with the ordinary seine. Two men go in a boat, and after 

 reaching a shoal bank on the edge of the main channel with 2 to 4 feet of water, one of the fisher- 

 men jumps overboard and holds one end of the net, while the other "shoots" the seine in the form 

 of a semicircle so as to include as much of the channel as possible. When the net is out he brings a 

 line to the shoal, and jumping into the water draws the net and boat toward his companion, who in 

 turn is advancing toward him. They soon meet, and, after firmly pressing the staff of one end 

 into the bottom, begin hauling in on the line, and later on the net, care being taken to have it con- 

 stantly against the staff. When the area inclosed by the net has been sufficiently reduced, the 

 captain takes his position beside the staff and passes the lead-line under his left foot, thus keeping 

 it close to the ground, as he continues to haul it in; the other man is pulling in the cork-line at the 

 same time. The fish are thus gradually brought together at the end of the net, and by a quick 

 movement they are lifted from the water and thrown into the boat. 



AVERAGE DALLY CATCH OF TROUT. The catch varies considerably from day to day. The 

 wind is said to have considerable influence on the movements of the fish, and porpoise drive them 

 about from place to place. At one time the trout may be abundant near the inlets, and the next 

 day a school of porpoise may enter and drive them to the shoal waters at the farther end of the 

 sound. Thus a man may fish a number of days without catching a trout, and again he may catch 

 several hundred or even a thousand at a single haul. The average catch is fifty to sixty fish daily 

 to the net. 



