FISHERIES OF THE GREAT LAKES IN 1885. 



97 



At Sack Bay the number of crews has remained about the same for a 

 quarter of a century. There have, however, been several improvements 

 in the methods of fishing, the principal being the introduction of steam- 

 ers. Among the sail- boat fishermen the number of nets fished by each 

 crew has increased; at Sack Bay, for instance, it was said to be one- 

 third greater than in 1870. On the other hand there has been a decrease 

 in the average quantity of fish caught by each net. Now, as in the past, 

 there are usually two men to each crew, and occasionally three. In 

 summer fishing it is customary to keep four gangs of fifty nets each in 

 the water, and the remainder of the nets on deck. 



In 1884 the gill-net fishermen of Sack Bay averaged 4,500 pounds of 

 fresh and 42 half- barrels of salted fish to each boat. In 1885 the aver- 

 age was larger, though the fish were of poorer quality. Through the 

 kindness of Mr. Wells we are able to present the following table, show- 

 ing the monthly catch of his fishing steamer during the year 1884: 



Month. 



May 



September. 



October 



November . 

 December.. 



Total 



Whitefish. 



Fresh. 



Pounds. 



2,375 



372 



899 



1,361 



2, 609 



7,616 



Salt. 



Pounds. 



1,100 



1,100 



Trout. 



Fre&h. 



Pounds. 



2,910 



458 



1,581 



10,328 



192 



15, 472 



Salt. 



Pounds. 



4,900 



4,900 



From this some idea may be obtained of the comparative productive- 

 ness of the fishing in different portions of the year. 



Other fisheries. — Pound-net and gill-net fisheries comprise all of the 

 fishing interests of the region with the trivial exceptions of one small 

 seine, a few fyke-nets, and a very little hook and sj^ear fishing through 

 the ice for home supply. About 4,000 pounds in a season are caught 

 with set-hooks and snatch-hooks. The seine is fished for suckers by 

 one of the pound-net crews in intervals of leisure. The fyke-nets also 

 are fished in connection with pound-nets, most of them at the mouth of 

 Fish Dam Kiver. The spearing is done by the Indians at Sack Bay and 

 elsewhere. 



37. ESCANABA AND VICINITY, DELTA COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Geographical description. — Little Bay de Noquet, although nearly 20 

 miles in length, is only 7 miles wide at its mouth, and at one point nar- 

 rows to a little more than a mile, its mean width being no more than 3 or 

 4 miles. Four small rivers enter it near its head and a still smaller stream 

 near Squaw Point on its eastern side, but the principal tributary is the 

 Escanaba River, which empties into it from the west 6 or 7 miles above 

 the point where it joins the larger bay. At, and a few miles below, its 

 H, Mis. 133 7 



