THE COAST OP MAINE. 33 



southern part. Outside of the shoal the bottom is pebbly aud gravelly. This is one of the best 

 fishing-grounds for cod and haddock in this vicinity. Both trawls and hand-lines are used. 



Inner Bkeakee lies two miles west of the southwest point of Matinicus Island, and is a 

 rocky shoal about an acre iu extent, with seven fathoms of water. From the shoal the ground 

 slopes gradually to depths of twenty-five and thirty fathoms, and this slope offers good fishing 

 for cod in May and June. The bottom is rocky and much broken, being too sharp for trawls. 



Tow-Head Geotjnd bears north by east one-half east from Matinicus Island, from which it 

 is distant two and one-half miles. It has a depth of from twelve to thirty fathoms ; is somewhat 

 irregular in shape, with a very rocky and broken bottom. The ground designated by this name 

 is from two and one-half to three miles long, and from one-half to one and one-half miles wide. 

 It extends in an east by south and west by north direction, and is considered one of 'the best 

 inside shoal grounds for cod and haddock in the bay. Hand-lines only are used. 



The entire bay, between Yinal Haven and Matinicus and the Green Islands, is fuU of broken, 

 rocky patches of fishing-ground, certain portions of which have received local names from the 

 fishermen of the vicinity. 



Western or Green Island Ridge. — The northern portion of this ridge lies six and one^ 

 half miles northwest by west from Matinicus Eock, from which place it extends about seven miles 

 in a south-southwest direction. Its greatest width is not over one mile ; the depths vary from 

 fifteen to thirty fathoms, the bottom being broken and rocky. This is a good ground for cod in 

 the spring and fall. 



GROUNDS OPE MATINIC ISLAND. 



Matinio Bank is an extension of the shore soundings which make out to the southward 

 and eastward of Matinic, a distance of two or three miles, with depths, outside of one and a 

 half miles, of twenty-three to thirty fathoms. The bottom is quite level, consisting of rocks, 

 pebbles, and gravel, and abounds in cod from March until June. Just off the edge the bottom 

 is soft and muddy, with depths of forty to fifty fathoms. 



Matinio Ooze. — This is a flat bottom composed of ooze and shells that makes off to the 

 eastward of the Haddock Ledge and Shoal, and bears about south from Matinic. Haddock Shoal 

 and the Ooze are really parts of one ground, though known to the fishermen under different names. 

 The Haddock Shoal is now considered poor ground and is little resorted to. The Ooze falls od 

 gradually, reaching a depth of fifty fathoms on the outer part. It is considered fair fishing- 

 ground for cod and haddock in the spring, and for cod and hake in the summer and fall. 



Freeman's Ground lies about six and one-half miles east from Monhegan Island, between 

 Orue's Ground and Matinicus Western Ground. It is about three miles long, in a northeast 

 and southwest direction, and one mile wide. It includes a shoal of twenty fathoms on the- 

 southwest part, having a sharp, rocky bottom, the rest of the ground being from twenty-five to- 

 forty fathoms deep, with a bottom of rocks, gravel, and broken shells, quite uneven in some- 

 places and smooth in others. This is a good ground for cod iu the spring and for hake, cod,, 

 and pollock in the summer and fall. 



grounds in the immediate vicinity op monhegan island. 



Middle Shoal, Pollock Eip, Allln's Shoal, and Decker's Shoal are small rocky 

 patches lying to the eastward of Monhegan and northerly from the Outer Shoal. They have 

 depths varying from six to thirty fathoms, and generally a sharp, rocky, and broken bottom. 

 They are fished on with hand-lines for cod and pollock. 

 SEC III 3 



