THE RIVER FISHERIES OF MAINE. 691 



ing wings of the tunnel and fall into the pounds at the apex. Such weirs are employed in the 

 Kennebec, Sheepscot, Piscataqua, and Casco Bay. They are generally erected in early autumn and 

 kept in operation until broken down by the ice of winter. 



Seines. Seines are but little used, and only in the vicinity of Brunswick and Harpswell. 

 They are small affairs, 15 to 20 fathoms long, and of 1-iuch mesh, and are used in narrow creeks 

 and coves from October to December, and occasionally in the spring. 



Bag-nets. The bag-net fishery for smelts is- of considerable importance, a larger aggregate 

 quantity being caught this way than by any other method except hook and line. Its principal 

 seats are the Keunebec and Penobscot Rivers, but it is also carried on in the Wescongus, Har- 

 rington, and Tunk Rivers to a small extent. 



The bag-nets used in different localities vary some, but those of the Penobscot may be taken 

 as the type, and will be described in detail. These nets are plain bags, knit of strong cotton twine, 

 of 1^-inch mesh. The mouth of the net is rectangular, 25 or 30 feet wide and from 12 to 18 feet 

 deep. The "trail" or length of the bag is 30 or 35 feet. The bottom and top commonly taper 

 toward the trail to half their width at the mouth, and the sides taper to a point. The fixtures to 

 which this net is attached and the mode of attachment vary according to circumstances, the fishing 

 being pursued sometimes in the open water, sometimes in the spaces between the piers of a bridge, 

 and sometimes beneath the ice. 



For an open-water fishery the bag-net is hung upon a rectangular wooden frame a little larger 

 than the mouth of the net, to the corners of which are attached four guys, running to a slightly 

 buoyant log of wood, which, in its turn, is chained to a heavy stone, dropped to the bottom of the 

 river. Thus anchored the net swings freely in the tide, but with a current of moderate strength 

 it is pressed down until the bottom of the frame rests on the bed of the river. The attachment of 

 the net to the frame is by means of large rings, which slide freely up and down on the upright 

 sides of the frame. Ropes passing over pulleys at the top and bottom serve to open the net and 

 draw it down to its place in the frame, or to close its mouth and draw it up, while the same lines 

 running to the surface and suspended by small buoys mark the place of the net, and enable the 

 fisherman, working from his boat, to draw it up. In some districts this frame is called a 

 " wrinkle." 



If ice covers the fishing grounds a very different arrangement must be resorted to. A narrow 

 hole, as long as the net is wide, is cut in the ice at right angles with the current, and at either end 

 of it is planted, upright, a stout pole something over 40 feet in length, running down 35 feet, more 

 or less, into the water, and secured in position by guys attached to both top and bottom, and 

 anchored in the ice. Ropes running through blocks draw the net down to its place at the bottom 

 of the poles, or draw it up through the ice to be emptied of its fish. The whole arrangement rises 

 and falls with the tide. The net is therefore, when set, at a constant depth beneath the ice, and 

 at a varying height above the bottom of the river. Nearly the same arrangement is employed at 

 a bridge as at Bucksport, but in this case the fixtures are attached to the bridge, and the net is 

 at: all times, when fishing, close to the bottom. 



The bag-net, whether used on a frame in open water, beneath the ice, or at a bridge, is drawn 

 entirely out of the water to secure the fish. It is made fast to the standing fixtures securely, but 

 so as to be easily cast off and taken ashore. The fishing is done both by day and night, but, in 

 general, the night tides are by far the most productive. Flood tide is at Verona bridge much 

 more productive than ebb-tide, but at Sparks's Point, 3 miles below, a frame fishery finds the 

 opposite to be true. Spring tides are more favorable than neap tides. 



