7(58 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



The trawl, ordinarily called a "trot-line," " ground-line," "long-line," or "Look-rig," is very 

 similar to the trawl-line used on the Atlantic coast. The form employed at Vermillion consists of 

 a ninety-thread line, about 3 miles long, to which hooks attached to gaugings 2 feet long are 

 fastened at intervals of 1C or 18 feet. About 20 pounds of line are required for each mile. The 

 line is anchored to the bottom, and has its position marked by a buoy at each end. Each trot- 

 line is worth from $L'0 to $35. 



At Saiulnsky and Vermillion the product of the trawl-fishery consists of catfish exclusively, 

 but at most of the other places mentioned a variety of kinds are taken, among which trout and 

 sturgeon are the most important. For the capture of catfish a variety of baits are used. At 

 Sandusky all kinds of offal are employed, but at Vermillion herring is the principal bait, although 

 large quantities of grasshoppers are used in summer, and oftentimes blackbirds. At Racine and 

 at Chicago, however, where several species of fish are taken, minnows and "shiners" furnish the 

 principal bait. 



The depth at which the fishery is carried on varies very considerably. The cat-fishermen 

 usually fish in shallow water from 35 to 50 feet deep, although in many cases at a considerable 

 distance from shore. At Chicago, where a number of species are taken, the boats "run out 15 

 or 20 miles and sometimes farther. Setting their lines, which contain from five hundred to a 

 thousand hooks each, baited with minnows before leaving shore, they continue on and run into 

 Michigan City, and remain overnight. Starting early the next morning they take up their lines 

 and arrive in Chicago during the day."* 



The season for trawl-fishing usually lasts from March to October, but at Racine and one or two 

 other localities fishing is prosecuted during the winter. The cat-fishermen expect to take about 

 $3 worth of that fish in a day. The season of 1879 was an unusually profitable one for them in 

 many localities, and the business is rapidly increasing in importance. 



At Toledo, and probably at some other points, when quantities of catfish are taken too great 

 to be disposed of profitably at once, they are kept in live-boxes until the demand increases. 

 Of late years the fishermen have salted a large part of their catch and have disposed of it in the 

 city to wholesale dealers and grocers, or have shipped them to various neighboring inland towns. 

 This custom prevails also in other localities. The majority of the fish taken at Saugatuck by 

 hook-fishermen are consumed in the immediate vicinity. 



Ordinary hooks and lines are used at Buffalo in winter for the capture of pike and sturgeon. 

 The fishermen are mainly sailors. In some winters as many as three hundred and fifty people 

 are engaged in this fishery, but no ice formed in 1879, and consequently it proved a failure. 



3. FISHING WITH GRAPPLINGS, FYKE-NETS, AND DIP-NETS. 



GRAPPLING. At Buffalo and in one or two other localities considerable quantities of stur- 

 geon are taken by means of a three-pronged grappling-hook. The hook is dragged over the bot- 

 tom by fishermen in boats, and the fish are impaled on its sharp prongs. All nets are prohibited 

 at Buffalo, and consequently a large proportion of the sturgeon captured here are taken with these 

 hooks. 



FYKE-NET FISHING. Fykes are used in many localities. Many of them are of small size and 

 are not worth more than from $1.50 to $5. 



At Green Bay City more fykes are used than elsewhere on Lake Michigan, at least one hun- 

 dred and fifty of them being employed. At Huron the fykes in use are about 4 feet in diameter, 

 with wings rods in length. The catch here consists of bull-heads, perch, grass-pike, and black bass. 



: Kept. U. S. Visit Commissimi, J'l.. 2, pp. 7ir>,7tiC. 



