43 SHAD IISHriiY COMMISSIOX 



it stops them, but it is hard to prevent tliem getting through, rewcr men fished O) 

 jre4.rs ago than 30 years ago and got more fish. Allow them to fish half the time an 1 

 let no one have more than one net. some have more but they say that as many nets ;ii 

 pui in the water as can be put in for some miles below here. Shad run from 2 pouii'l- 

 to 5 pounds before cleaning, but I h;ive seen one S or 9 pounds, a chaiu-e one, a kiii'l 

 o.'; kin?. Richard lives near the tannery and he and his boys fish mostly illegally anJ 

 think they own the river. They lost a net this year, as it was seized by Officer King at 

 the Horans. The officer is in Halifax county. Two or three years ago it was said that 

 seme shad were found killed, it was thought, by sawdust from Corrigan's brook, tlie 

 sawdust had come down a mile at least. I have never seen a poor, thin shad here. We 

 don't want them. We get a chance salmon now and then, but rarely. Gaspereau are 

 et sily got but not many fish them now. A net 3-inch mesh if attended to will take a 

 lot They run earlier than shad, and are a good fish when going up, fat and fine, to 

 thf lake, bxit they come down poor. Early in April a few come. It is difficult to dis- 

 tii'guish the male from the female gaspereau. 



Thomas Carsox said he had a knowledge of the river over 40 years and had fished 

 shad gill-nets 5 inches to 5J inches. He bought the twine and got the nets 

 made here 3J herring twine, half a pound in a hunk. The depth of the net would *" -■ 

 8 to 11 feet and 50 to 60 feet long; some used shorter length. It had no floats, only 

 rope and weighted with stones or iron. Generally a canoe was used, a dug-out or made 

 of boards. The total cost of the gear would be $S or 9, i.e., net $5 and boat $3 or $4, 

 but a good dug-out might be $10 or $12. We begin fishing May 1 to the 10th. Tliey 

 stay back if it is very cold. Ice goes out last of March as a rule. The shad stay in 

 deep holes during the day and when evening comes they go \ip and play and splash in 

 shoal places. I fished a little this spring and ouly got 30 or 40, the water being high. 

 Tventy years ago we would get ten to one we get in a season now. Living beside the 

 river I'd rather fish than do nothing, and I do as well at it as others. By the time 

 tlif shad get up here they are thinned out, they take so many down the river. Ten 

 men fish now to one formerly. The female shad are the biggest with spawn in them. 

 I have seen one of 8| pounds, but the males are the best shad. I have caught 

 them after spawning and they are no good, yet many will catch them and seem to 

 like them. Both sexes are poor and thin. Tlie fre^h water and spawning make the fish 

 inferior. I have seen them spawning once only when fishing above my place on 

 sand and gravel. There was a cross log and I got two or three trout and I had a 

 little fellow to Jift the killock and he let it go too far. Two shad were there 

 working in the sand in 3 feet of water. They certainly do spawn between here and 

 Enfield, but they never go people say, into Grand Lake, and no one ever saw or got 

 any spawning shad there. An odd shad has beeu taken there. They could go there if 

 they desired. This river is the natural spawning place for shad i>eople generally say. 

 If nets were set lawfully some fish could get past. Most people don't know how shad 

 are taken as we never get them heading up sti'eam. They go up and down head first. 

 They mesh descending and only in shallow water. I have seen them strike the net 

 but never mesh going up. They arrive ilay 1 to May 10, and may spawn about June 

 1, and return back at once to the sea. Two-thirds of the river channel only should be 

 occupied. I have never fished for salmon and very few are got. Eels are one of the 

 great curses. When the shad are here the water is alive with eels and they get hold 

 of the shad immediately he meshes and before you can get out to him. They are even 

 worse on salmon. We fish eels in winter but they are fewer than when shad gas- 

 pereau and salmon are running. Eel pots were tried but were not a success because 

 other fish were at hand to eat. A negro from Truro came and strung worms on a woolly 

 cord and made a big ball and he easily got a couple of very big eels. The bay shad 

 are best and are like our male shad. We salt our shad here. If a restriction were 

 legalized some would observe it. but others would keep on. and it must be enforced on 

 all. Shad go up Xine-roile river as far as the bridge, eight miles up and some sal- 



