528 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



with shores sloping gradually down to the water of the bay. The slope is so gradual in many 

 cases, as, for instance, at Bowers' Beach, that the depth of water does not exceed 6 feet even at a 

 distance of a mile from the shore. The different species of fish found in this locality approach 

 close to these beaches in the spring, and can easily be taken by the fishermen, who set their haul- 

 seines and gill- nets in depths of G to 8 feet of water. 



The most important of the upper fishing stations are Kitt's Hammock, 25 miles northwest of 

 Cape Henlopen (and 4 miles south from Mahone's Creek light), and Bowers' Beach, situated 

 between Murderkill and Jones' Creeks, some 2 miles farther down the bay. Between Murderkill 

 and Mispillion Creeks are the fishing- stations of Shirley's Bar, the "Pier" and "Big Stone," while 

 near the mouth of Broadkiln Creek is Slaughter Beach, another excellent fishing ground, 4J miles 

 distant from Lewes. The beach at Lewes, though secondary in importance as a fishing ground, 

 so far as trout-fishing is concerned, is, nevertheless, taken altogether, the principal station along 

 the bay, since the fisheries are carried on during the entire summer and autumn for the various 

 species which can be found in this locality. The fishermen usually resort to the beaches nearest 

 to their homes, all other things being equal. Thus, Kitt's Hammock is the favorite place for the 

 Dover fishermen, as well as a portion of those from Lebanon and Magnolia. A few men from the 

 two last-mentioned places, however, generally go to Bowers' Beach in the fishing season, which is 

 also resorted to by the fishermen from Frederica ; these, together with the local residents at the 

 beach, making up the sum total of men employed in trout-fishing at that point. The residents of 

 Milford Neck divide themselves between the two stations of Shirley's Bar and the " Pier." Some 

 of them formerly carried on fishing at the "Big Stone," but so few fish have been caught in late 

 years at this station that it was abandoned in 1880, no seines being set from the beach. The chief 

 part of the fishermen from the village of Milford resort to Slaughter Beach, where also may be 

 found, in the fishing season, the men who belong at Milton ; the residents of Lewes, of course, being 

 near one of the best fishing grounds in the State, have no occasion to go elsewhere to pursue their 

 work. By this arrangement the men are enabled to go to their homes during the " slack spells," 

 and when the weather is unfavorable for fishing operations. As a rule, they visit their homes tit 

 least once a week. After the trout leave the shoal water bordering the beaches and strike off into 

 the bay, on Oyster Rock, so-called, the outlying shoals are the fishing grounds, where a limited 

 number of this species is taken with hook and line, though it is but fair to say that no systematic 

 fishery is carried on after the end of the seining season. 



2. THE FISHERMEN. 



The fishermen of Delaware are principally men who engage in other pursuits during a large 

 portion of the year. Among their other employments agriculture may be reckoned as the chief. 

 They engage in fishing, as a rule, only when it offers better returns than can be obtained elsewhere; 

 but when the fish grow scarce, or the market dull, they return to their farms; or if they have no 

 farms of their own they hire out with some one else, unless, indeed, they may be mechanics, in 

 which case they seek such employment as they are best fitted for. Many farmers of this section 

 own boats and fishing apparatus with which they procure supplies for their own tables, and fre- 

 quently secure a surplus, which they sell ; others belong to crews or gangs regularly organized 

 for seining. These are the men who manage the large drag-nets. During the fishing season it is 

 not at all an uncommon thing for the farmers to hire colored men to work on their land while they 

 themselves engage in fishing. We are told by Mr. Hill, of Milford Neck, that many farmer fisher 

 men of that section make it a rule to do their planting first, after which they engage in fishing for 

 trout, thus filling up the time which otherwise might be unoccupied. According to Mr. M. S. Van 



