Fish, Fishing and Fisheries of Pennsylvania. 69 



1830, says he remembers Ben Fleming, Horton, Fowzier, Huntsburger 

 and William Buchingham, aU of whom fished with seines except Ben 

 Fleming. He fished mostly in Big Bend from a log canoe about eigh- 

 teen or twenty feet long which he propelled with a paddle. His fishing 

 was generally done by trolling. He used crabs for bait and kept them 

 in an old cofiiee pot, into which he always put a small quantity of asa- 

 foetida. He was wonderfully expert as an angler and invariably had 

 good luck. He started very early in the morning and usually returned 

 between two and three o'clock in the afternoon with his canoe full of fish, 

 mostly black bass, weighing from four to five pounds. He would clean 

 them and put five of them on a string and sell them for twenty-five cents, 

 going from house to house. The other fishermen drew their seines in 

 the bay or Misery bay. 



In those days he says, "little or no fishing was done in the lakes, as the 

 bay abounded in fish and there was no necessity of going outside. The 

 catch was bass, perch, cat fish, pike and sturgeon, and always large. 

 They were sold from house to house excepting a portion which was 

 peddled in the surrounding country. Brook trout were plenty in all of 

 the small streams, as well as rock bass and sun fish. There were also 

 plenty of grass pike in pike ponds besides large fine turtles. Misery 

 bay and the mouth of Mill creek has always been a fine place for rock 

 bass fishing, as well as sun fish and perch." 



From 1830 to 1850 the fishing along the Pennsylvania frontier was 

 followed in about the same manner. There were no railroads into Erie 

 and the market for fish was limited, as it always had been up to this 

 time, and fish increased astonishingly. Erie was undoubtedly one of 

 the finest fishing points on the lake, as it is to-day, notwithstanding the 

 constant depletion which was going on for years after this. 



Regarding the first white fish taken in Lake Erie, the writer believes 

 he can speak definitely. In 1852 Captain Nash, a fisherman from 

 Mackinac, took from thpre to Dunkirk, N. Y., two Mackinac fish boats, 

 with gill nets and complete outfit and began fishing at that point as an 

 experiment. He set his nets about eight miles northwest from the 

 harbor, and his first catch was a large one of white fish. The writer 

 was there engaged in railroad construction and distinctly remembers 

 the excitement it created. It was mentioned in the Dunkirk, Buffalo 

 and Cleveland papers of the day as the first catch of white fish on Lake 

 Erie, and Captain Nash positively informed the writer of this. The 

 writer has often heard of catches at other places about this time, and 

 there was a great deal of notoriety given to the fact by the daily jour- 

 nals on account of its opening up a large trade in a very desirable fish. 



Previous to finding the white fish it had been the custom all along 

 the lake for persons who could afford it to send to Mackinac or Detroit 

 every fall for a barrel, half barrel or kit of sugar-cured white fish for 

 winter use, which were remarkably fine. 



