FlSHEKIEti OF SOUTHERN DELAWARE. 531 



two gangs, each hauling on a line until the seine is drawn to the shore and the fish are lauded. 

 The smaller-sized nets are set in a similar manner, though fewer men, of course, are required to 

 handle them. The small "wade-seines" are usually set by a single man (sometimes by two), who 

 wades out from the shore to a depth of three to five feet and places the net in a semicircle around 

 the place where he supposes the fish to be, and then returning to the beach, draws the net to the 

 shore, securing such fish as may have been encircled by it. As a rule, the fishermen set their appa- 

 ratus by guess, rarely, if ever, seeing the fish in the water before putting out their seines. This is 

 especially the case, perhaps, with those who use wtute-seines, since they can be employed to ad- 

 vantage only when the water is turbid or after nightfall. According to Mr. James Lowry, of 

 Milford, many of the farmers of that town who own seines go out in the evening, after finishing 

 their work on the farm, and make a set with a wade-seine for the purpose of catching a supply 

 of fish for themselves; though, in the event of their obtaining any more than they need for their own 

 use, they usually sell them either to their neighbors or to parties who come from a more remote 

 distance to supply themselves with this fish. The method of handling the seine all along the shores 

 of Delaware Bay is essentially the same, though, owing to the strong current in some localities, 

 the fishermen are obliged to use shorter nets than are employed at other places. Captain Fowler 

 says that at Lewes three or four men compose a seine-gang, and usually these at the same time 

 have both seines and gill-nets, working with the former during the day or when circumstances 

 are favorable, and setting the gill-nets at night. In the vicinity of Kitt's Hammock the nets 

 are " staked out," but farther down the bay, at Lewes especially, where gill-nets are principally 

 employed during the first weeks of the trout fishery, they are set in a peculiar manner, which will 

 be fully described under the head of the spot fishery. According" to Mr. William T. Gray, of 

 Blackstone, a common way of setting gill-nets for trout and other species in Indian River is to fasten 

 their ends to stakes, which are driven in the muddy bottom of the river. The nets are separated 

 from each other 15 to 20 fathoms, and are placed longitudinally to the stream. They are over- 

 hauled each morning. In fishing for trout with hook and line the fishermen usually anchor their 

 boats on some favorite spot in the bay ; and, having baited their hooks with soft crabs, which are 

 very attractive to these fish, they lower the lines to the bottom, and, if the trout are at all 

 abundant, it is but a little while before the fish begin to bite rapidly, and of course are quickly 

 pulled in. 



At Kitt's Hammock, Bowers' Beach, and contiguous fishing stations the large seines are put 

 away after the last of June, though the smaller nets are occasionally used for the capture of trout, 

 but at that season most of the fishermen are at work at other employments and there is but little 

 systematic fishing done. 



Mr. J. A. Marshall, of Lewes, says that the trout fishery begins there about the first of May, 

 being carried on with gill-nets for nearly a month. At the beginning of June, and sometimes 

 sooner, the fishermen commence hauling trout with seines, carrying on their operations principally 

 during the night, though more or less fish are taken in the daytime, especially if the water is 

 muddy or turbid. The principal part of the fishing is over by the beginning of July, though 

 occasionally hauls are made with the seines until August, at which time the spot fishery begins, 

 and trout are rarely taken thereafter. Large numbers of trout were caught in the pound which 

 was built at Lewes in 1873-'74, but as a rule the fish were either let out or else thrown away after 

 the sounds or air-bladders had been removed. 



