FISHERIES OF THE GREAT LAKES IN 1885. 149 



Pound net fishery. — The first pound -net in Sheboygan County was 

 brought from Mauitowoc by a Norwegian fisherman, and set near She- 

 boygan Harbor in 1863, aud in the same year another was put in near 

 Oostburgh. The nets first used were 30 feet deep, but in 1865 were 

 altered to 40 feet. The nets now in use are from 24 to 64 feet deep, 

 averaging 47 feet. The length of the leader is usually about 1,237 feet. 

 The fishermen begin to set their nets about May 1, and by the middle 

 of June all the nets which are to be used during the season have beeu 

 put in place. They are not taken up, except for washing, until Octo- 

 ber 15, unless they are blown out by storms, as frequently happens 

 even as early as September 10. 



In 1865 the catch was 95 per cent, whitefish, and the rest trout, with 

 a few sturgeon and herring. In 1870 and 1871 the fishing was poor, 

 but in 1873 the yield was again good, aud the stock obtained from two 

 nets was $1,100 worth of fresh fish and $3,000 worth of salt fish. Those 

 salted sold at $5 a package and the fresh at 3 cents a pound. The fish- 

 ery declined again till 1879. In 1880 the fishing improved; in that 

 year one of the crews obtained $4,200 worth of fish from three nets, in 

 1881 the same amount from six nets, aud in 1883 $3,000 worth from 

 nine nets. Whitefish which formerly constituted 90 per cent, of the en- 

 tire catch have been only a small element in it during recent years. 



In 1885 there were eight crews of pound-net fishermen in the county, 

 two of them being at Cedar Grove and six at Oostburgh. The propor- 

 tions of their catch in that year were 55 per cent, trout, 18 per cent. white- 

 fish, 17 per cent, herring, 8 per cent, sturgeon, and 2 per cent, perch. 



Gill-net fishery. — The gill-net fishery of the county is limited to the 

 town of Sheboygan. In 1885 it was carried on by the crews of five 

 steamers owned at that place. Gill-nets were fished there regularly 

 with sail-boats as long ago as 1852, but sail-boat fishing never became 

 extensive. Steam fishing was first introduced in 1872, when the steamer 

 Kittle Gaylord, of Milwaukee, made Sheboygan its headquarters for 

 about two months. The steamers Hoffnung and Maggie Lutz were built 

 for the business in the following year. The steam- vessels in use in 1885 

 were the Roffnung, Fritz Karste,J. N". Broohs, Carrie May, and Minnie 

 Karl. The total tonnage of this fishing fleet was 64.05. The fishing is 

 carried on the year round, but the steamers lay up from about the last 

 of June to the middle of September, when they are replaced by a num- 

 ber of sail-boats manned by members of the steamers' crews. The fa- 

 vorite ground for the steamers is the " Mud Hole," 20 miles east of She- 

 boygan. It is 7 or 8 miles square, and the water is about 90 fathoms 

 deep. In the spring the steamers run to the southward and later in the 

 season to the north. 



The nets are about 50 fathoms long. Each steamer has from six to 

 fifteen gangs of seven or eight boxes each ; a box contains six nets, 

 with a value of $6 or $7 apiece. 



