70 Fish, Fishing and Fisheries of Pennsylvania. 



As soon as it became known that white iish had been taken in Lake 

 Erie people began fishing' for them in these waters. Barcelona followed 

 Dunkirk, and then came Erie. 



There are no brighter men than the fishermen along the lakes, nor 

 any who can sooner see the advantages of such a discovery as this. Al- 

 though these men may not be educated, they are of unusual intel- 

 ligence, and know the ways of the fish as well as the fish themselves. 

 Note the way they follow the fish from day to day and from point to 

 point. The fish, driven from their favorite grounds by the gill nets, 

 seek other points. The prey is no sooner there than the fisherman has 

 the same nets ready for it. It is not instinct, it is knowledge. They 

 know every foot of the bottom of the lake in the locality they are fish- 

 ing, and can find their nets in the dark, or in a fog if necessary. They 

 go outside in all kinds of weather, and when the large steamers are storm 

 stayed the fisherman is on his ground pulling his nets. He is fearless, 

 and yet cautious ; a man to excite the greatest admiration. 



"Captain" Michael Bowman says he commenced seine fishing in 1853. 

 The catch was usually black and white bass, sauger, pike-perch, cat fish, 

 suckers, etc. The fish were very plenty, the catch averaging fifty 

 pounds per day per man. Mr. George Schaffer says the first white 

 fishing at this point was in 1853. At this time, Captain Bowman says 

 that only ten or twelve nets were used in a string, and the fact that 

 white fish could not be taken here created considerable excitement and 

 gave a great impetus to the fishing industry. 



The first shippers were George Witter and John Sutter & Co. All 

 fishermen, Jake Heidt and Michael Liebel, were of the firm of Sutter & 

 Co. August Schutte was also actively engaged in fishing and shipping. 

 The average weight of the white fish at that time was from six to twelve 

 pounds. About this period the fishermen used six and six and one-half 

 inch mesh nets, of No. 22 and 25 thread. About 1856-57 more trout 

 were caught than white fish. We fished in fourteen to sixteen fathoms 

 from twelve to fifteen miles in the lake. There was only three or four 

 sail boats in all. The cost of an outfit about that time about, $600. 

 Pound nest fishing was began at Erie in 1868. At that time there was 

 no sale for herring, and they were put immediately back in the lake if 

 caught, and they were abundant in shoal water. 



In 1867 there were only nine fish boats fishing out of Erie, and all were 

 sail boats. The first steam fish boat came to Erie from Ashtabula, Ohio, 

 in 1874 or '75. Captain Clark Jones says, "commenced gill net fishing 

 in 1854 or '55. Began shipping white fish east and west about 1856. 

 Shipped in barrels and kegs of about 1,000 to 1,500 pounds and 200 to 

 300 pounds. Also sold to peddlers. On a gang of ten nets three men. 

 Used jerk floats and jerk stones; sturgeon twine for nets. Then we in- 

 troduced snap floats, same stones as before. Then Daniel Weeks intro- 

 duced iron rings, from five to six inches across, in place of stones. Used 



