54 THE ART OF FISHING. 



and whitefish, varying veiy little in size and weight. A good lift 

 is from twelve hundred to two thousand pounds. At six cents a 

 pound a lift is not an unprofitable job; in fact it is a lift of the kind 

 men talk about oftener than they make. There are many men 

 along these shores that have become wealthy in the fishing line. 

 Some of ihem have a large capital invested in the business. The 

 smaller fishermen use gill -nets, but their catch is smaller and not so 

 valuable. The cost of planting an ordinary pound-net, including 

 material, is eight hundred dollars. 



For fishing in waters where sturgeon is a specialty, an inch line 

 a mile or more in length, containing perhaps three or four thousand 

 hooks arranged on "snoods" of the proper length is often used. 

 Large buoys are attached to the main line at intervals of about ten 

 feet in order to keep it on the surface. Men follow along the line at 

 regular hours attending to the "catch," detaching the fish, rebait- 

 ing, etc., until a boat load is secured, when a return to the shore is 

 in order. 



Winter Fishing. 



Spearing fish through a hole in the ice, practiced more or less in 

 all parts of the country, although fascinating in the extreme, is not 

 recognized as legitimate sport by those who engage in the diversions 

 of the rod and line during the warm months only. If this is ille- 

 gitimate then what can be said of the wholesale manner of " net- 

 ting " fish under the ice, now largely practiced in all the Great 

 Lakes. 



The professional fisherman does his work systematically, and 

 usually without much discomfort, even if the thermometer does 

 range from ten to twenty degrees below zero. He first erects upon 

 the ice a small shanty, or a wigwam if the fisherman should happen 

 to be an Indian, as is often the case. Within he keeps a good fire, 

 either in a cheap stove or directly upon the ice. The fisherman 

 himself is always warmly clothed with a triple supply of shirts and 

 socks. The boots that he wears are of felt, with rubbers outside. 



