FISHERIES OF SOUTHERN DELAWARE. 531 
two gangs, each hauling on a line until the seine is drawn to the shore and the fish are landed. 
The smaller-sized nets are set in a similar manner, though fewer men, of course, are required to 
handle them. The small “wade-seines” are usually set by a single man (sometimes by two), who 
wades out from the shore to a depth of three to five feet and places the net in a semicircle around 
the place where he supposes the fish to be, and then returning to the beach, draws the net to the 
shore, securing such fish as may have been encircled by it. As arule, the fishermen set their appa- 
ratus by guess, rarely, if ever, seeing the fish in the water before putting out their seines. This is 
especially the case, perhaps, with those who use wade-seines, since they can be employed to ad- 
vantage only when the water is turbid or after nightfall. According to Mr. James Lowry, of 
Milford, many of the farmers of that town who own seines go out in the evening, after finishing 
their work on the farm, and make a set with a wade-seine for the purpose of catching a supply 
of fish for themselves; though, in the event of their obtaining any more than they need for their own 
use, they usually sell them either to their neighbors or to parties who come from a more remote 
distance to supply themselves with this fish. The method of handling the seine all along the shores 
of Delaware Bay is essentially the same, though, owing to the strong current in some localities, 
the fishermen are obliged to use shorter nets than are employed at other places. Captain Fowler 
says that at Lewes three or four men compose a seine-gang, and usually these at the same time 
have both seines and gill-nets, working with the former during the day or when circumstances 
are favorable, and setting the gill-nets at night. In the vicinity of Kitt?’s Hammock the nets 
are “staked out,” but farther down the bay, at Lewes especially, where gill-nets are principally 
employed during the first weeks of the trout fishery, they are set in a peculiar manner, which will 
be fully described under the head of the spot fishery. According to Mr. William T. Gray, of 
Blackstone, a common way of setting gill-nets for trout and other species in Indian River is to fasten 
their ends to stakes, which are driven in the muddy bottom of the river. The nets are separated 
from each other 15 to 20 fathoms, and are placed longitudinally to the stream. They are over- 
hauled each morning. In fishing for trout with hook and line the fishermen usually anchor their 
boats on some favorite spot in the bay; and, having baited their hooks with soft crabs, which are 
very attractive to these fish, they lower the lines to the bottom, and, if the trout are at all 
abundant, it is but a little while before the fish begin to bite rapidly, and of course are quickly 
pulled in. 
At Kitt’s Hammock, Bowers’ Beach, and contiguous fishing stations the large seines are put 
away after the last of June, though the smaller nets are occasionally used for the capture of trout, 
put at that season most of the fishermen are at work at other employments and there is but little 
systematic fishing done. 
Mr. J. A. Marshall, of Lewes, says that the trout fishery begins there about the first of May, 
being carried on with gill-nets for nearly a month. At the beginning of June, and sometimes 
sooner, the fishermen commence hauling trout with seines, carrying on their operations principally 
during the night, though more or less fish are taken in the daytime, especially if the water is 
muddy or turbid. The principal part of the fishing is over by the beginning of July, though 
occasionally hauls are made with the seines until August, at which time the spot fishery begins, 
and trout are rarely taken thereafter. Large numbers of trout were caught in the pound which 
was built at Lewes in 187374, but as a rule the fish were either let out or else thrown away after 
the sounds or air-bladders had been removed. 
