FISHERIES OF THE GREAT LAKES IN 1885. 77 



Milwaukee who bad come from the Baltic Sea, where they had been ac- 

 customed to use set-lines for salmon, began setting them for trout mid- 

 way between the bottom and the surface of the water. This method 

 was soon adopted by the other fishermen, and is now extensively prac- 

 ticed during the summer months, when, owing to the high temperature 

 of the water, the fishermen do not care to keep a large number of nets 

 in the lake. 



Fylce-nets. — Fyke fishing is confined largely to the waters at the 

 southern end of Green Bay, in the vicinity of the city of that name, 

 where they are fished extensively in the shoal waters and along the 

 borders of the marshy fiats. They are used to a small extent in other 

 localities, but not in sufficient numbers to render the fishery important. 



Trammel-nets. — Trammel-nets or pocket-nets are unknown to the ma- 

 jority of the fishermen, though a few foreigners, who have used them in 

 European waters, set a small number in the mouths of rivers. They 

 are here generally known as "plunk-nets" or " plump-nets," from the 

 noise occasioned by the stick or splasher employed to frighten the fish 

 into them. 



Ice fishing. — There is no fishing through the ice in the southern end 

 of the lake, but in the northern end, especially in Green Bay and along 

 the north shore, this fishery is extensive. For twenty years it has 

 furnished employment to a very large number of men living in the 

 vicinity of Green Bay, and many fishermen from other localities have 

 found employment here during the winter months. During certain 

 seasons the bay presented greater activity than the surrounding laud, 

 huudreds of shanties and temporary huts being built for shelter, the 

 fishermen living in them during a greater portion of the time. Dealers 

 drove about from place to place on the ice to purchase the catch, and 

 merchants sent supply wagons to furnish the fishermen with provisions. 

 During the height of the season it was not uncommon for the fishermen 

 to bring their families out to the fishing quarters, where they would 

 remain for some weeks, all hands assisting in keeping the nets in repair. 

 During the past four or five years this fishery, owing to the diminution 

 in the quantity of whitefish, has been less extensive, and the fishermen 

 engaged in it at present generally live at home, owning a horse and 

 sleigh, which enables them to visit their nets daily and bring their catch 

 to land. 



Near the entrance to Green Bay and along the north shore on either 

 side of the lake there is frequently considerable spearing and spring- 

 line fishing through the ice for trout. The methods of spearing are 

 similar to those employed by the fishermen of Lake Superior. The 

 spring-line fishing is also similar to that of Lake Superior, but less ex- 

 tensive. 



Varieties and relative importance of fish. — The principal species taken, 

 as would be inferred from the foregoiug, are whitefish and trout in 

 about equal quantities, wall-eyed pike, sturgeon, and herring. The sis- 



