142 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Shad ascend Combahee Eiver to Walker and Ashepoo River as far 

 as Walterboro, a distance of 85 and 50 miles, respectively, but the 

 fisheries are centered at the crossings of the Charleston and Savannah 

 Railroad. The shad season in these two streams corresponds with that 

 on the Edisto, running from January 15 to March 31, and the forms of 

 apparatus are similar. The number of set gill nets and stake nets on 

 the Combahee in 1896 was 14, and on the Ashepoo 17 nets were used. 

 The catch by the former was 3,090 shad and by the latter 6,400. 



The following shows, for a series of years, the number of shad taken 

 by an average gill-net boat on the Combahee and the Ashepoo rivers, 

 respectively : 



In addition to the foregoing 480 shad are reported as having been 

 taken by means of bow nets in the upper reaches of Ashepoo River, 

 where the narrowness of the channel causes the fish to ascend almost 

 in single file. Some shad are taken by the same form of apparatus in 

 the upper portion of the Combahee, but the difficulties of ascending 

 that stream, at the time of my visit to the lower portion, precludes a 

 statement of the extent of that small fishery. The bow net used on these 

 rivers consists of a frame of light but tough wood, bent and secured 

 in a long oval shape, the longest diameter of which is 10 to 14 feet. 

 Within this frame is loosely fitted a shallow bag of hemp twine, the 

 entire cost of the frame and twine being about $2.50. Two men are 

 required for each net, one of whom propels the boat, while the other, 

 stationed in the bow, manipulates the net. 



A few shad are taken on New, Colleton, and Coosawhatchie rivers by 

 the resident planters and timbermen, using bow nets and an occasional 

 gill net, the catch being small and consumed locally. The small extent 

 of the shad fisheries of those streams (the total yield probably not 

 exceeding 1,000 shad) did not warrant a personal investigation. 



EDISTO RIVER. 



Edisto River, the second in rank among the shad streams of South 

 Carolina, lies wholly within the limits of that State. It is formed by 

 the junction of North and South Forks in the southern part of Orange- 

 burg County, and thence to the ocean it measures 183 miles, although 

 in a straight line this distance is not over 75 miles. The channel is 

 encumbered with drift logs, overhanging trees, and shoals of loose, shift- 

 ing sand, occasionally varied by hard clay. There are no falls of note 

 on the Edisto, and aside from the trees and shoals there are no obstruc- 

 tions to the ascent of fish from the mouth of the stream to Davis Bridge 

 on the South Fork, and on the North Fork to Jones Bridge, a distance 



