158 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Dip-net fishery. — Dip-nets are used by the sucker and perch fisher- 

 ineu for catching minnows through the ice in the spring. Part of the 

 yield is used fresh as bait on perch set-lines, and the remainder is 

 shipped for sturgeon bait. It is customary for the men to use the dip- 

 nets in the morning and to haul their set-lines in the afternoon. 



Ice fishing. — In former years, there was a winter Hue- fishery for stur- 

 geon of some importance. The business began in 18G0, and at first the 

 sturgeon were taken in boat-loads, but it was discontinued prior to 1875. 

 This fishery was carried on chiefly by longshoresmen from small row- 

 boats and improvised sail-boats. In 1885 the only fishing through the 

 ice was that which has already been referred to in the sections on the 

 gill-net, fyke-net, and dip-net fisheries. 



Crayfish basket-fishery. — About twenty years ago the attention of the 

 fishermen began to be directed to the immense numbers of crayfish 

 which inhabited the extensive marshes at the mouth of the river, and a 

 few men have fished for them annually since that date. The fishery 

 was for a long time carried on only by three or four men, but in the last 

 few years it has been growing rapidly in importance, and in 1885 gave 

 employment to about a dozen men, also engaged in other minor fisheries, 

 each of whom had from one hundred to one hundred and fifty traps or 

 " baskets." 



The fishing begins in the spring as soon as the bottom ice is gone, 

 usually about the middle or end of April, and lasts until the middle of 

 October. 



The baskets are made of netting, supported on four hoops of elm or 

 bass-wood, with two funnels opening at the opposite ends. They are 

 18 inches long and 10 inches in diameter. After being baited with trout- 

 gills gathered by the children of the fishermen, they are set along the 

 sloughs at night, in water from 2 to 12 feet deep, and are lifted in the 

 morning. As many as a hundred dozen crayfish are frequently caught 

 in one night's fishing, the average catch being fifty dozen to a hundred 

 baskets. 



The fishermen ship their catch to New York, Chicago, Boston, and 

 Philadelphia. The price received varies from 3 to 12£ cents a dozen, 

 but averages 5 cents a dozen. 



Attempt to use a beam-trawl, — About 1873 a beam-trawl was imported 

 from England by Messrs. A. Booth & Sons, and was put to a practical 

 test by Capt. Henry Van Ells. He endeavored to operate it on Lake 

 Michigan from his steamer, but found it impossible to tow the net, since 

 it frequently got caught on the numerous snags that lay on the bottom 

 and stopped the progress of the vessel. It was believed before this that 

 whitefish and trout might be taken in a beam-trawl. But the lack of 

 success on this occasion led to the total abandonment of the attempt 

 which has never since been renewed. It is, nevertheless, possible that 

 this form of apparatus might be profitably employed elsewhere on the 

 lakes unless the bottom everywhere is unsuitable for its use because of 

 the presence of rocks or suags 



