308 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
Little attention is given to fishing, not more than a sufficient supply 
for local consumption being taken. Seines, cast» nets, trot lines, and 
hand lines are used to a limited extent. Fourteen men depend on the 
fisheries for a living, and twenty others engage in them at times. The 
catch of fish in 1890 amounted to 71,700 pounds, for which the fishermen 
received $4,038. 
On Taylor Bayou and at Keath Lake Gully are located two companies 
of seine fishermen, each company using one small sailboat of about 3 
tons. During the winter the cateh consists mostly of catfish, buffalo 
or suckers, and fresh-water drum. In the summer, when the water in 
the lake isnot so fresh, the most abundant species taken are redfish, 
trout, and sheepshead. The bay-seine fishermen are reported as taking 
in their seines about 100 dozen terrapins annually. 
In the winter and during the spring freshets half a dozen men living 
at the head of the lake fish for catfish with trot lines. From 150 to 
500 hooks (about 4 feet apart) are attached to each line. The length of 
the snoods is about 18 inches and the cost of such lines ranges from $3 
to $10. About 12,000 pounds of fish are annually. taken in this manner. 
The average weight of the catfish is about 20 pounds, while some 
attain a weight of 75 pounds. The number of trot lines in use at pres- 
ent is not so great as it was seven or eight years ago, but there were 
no seines used here at that time. 
A few cast nets and hand lines are at times used by men living on 
the shores of Sabine Lake, the catch being only sufficient for home con- 
sumption. The quantity taken annually by means of hand lines is about 
10,000 pounds; the catch by cast nets is much less, amounting probably 
to about 3,000 pounds. 
On account of the slight density of the water no oysters are found 
here, except occasionally in the lower end of the lake. In 1887 some 
were found which were almost large enough for market, but they were 
destroyed by the freshets in the spring of 1888. The reefs on which 
these oysters appear are at the extreme southern end of the lake and 
directly in the “pass.” They cover an area of from 2 to 3 miles long 
and about three-quarters of a mile wide, the length running north and 
south. 
GALVESTON BAY. 
Leaving Sabine Lake and going southwestwardly along the coast 
there are no fishing localities until Galveston Bay is reached, a distance 
of about 60 miles. Between Sabine Lake and Galveston Bay the coast 
is entirely without harbors, and is uninhabited except by ranchmen. 
Galveston Bay is the second largest in area and commercially the 
most important of the bays on the Texas coast. It lies between the main- 
land and Galveston Island and Bolivar Peninsula. East Bay, Trinity 
Bay, and West Bay are tributary to Galveston Bay. Much of the— 
waters of West Bay, however, find an outlet into the Gulf of Mexico 
