FISHERIES OF THE GREAT LAKES IN 1885. 167 



something of a summer resort, one of its attractions being the good 

 fishing afforded on the piers. 



Nonprofessional fishing, — Pleasure fishing in both these places is fol- 

 lowed by a great many people, and a large proportion of all the fish 

 taken at Chicago is caught by persons not dependent on the fisheries 

 for a livelihood ; hand-lines and dip-nets are used, most *bf the fishing 

 being done from the harbor piers and wharves. The dip-nets are either 

 round or square, 8 or 10 feet in diameter ; some are suspended from 

 beams extending out over the water from the piers, being raised and 

 lowered by means of a pulley at one end of the beam and a reel at the 

 other. Not a few men are more or less dependent on this fishery for a 

 living. Large, marketable fish are thus taken in paying quantities, but 

 the chief use of the dip-nets is to provide minnows to serve as bait in 

 pleasure fishing with hand-lines. Perch and eels are the species thus 

 caught, the latter being taken in rather limited numbers. There is a 

 little pleasure fishing from boats, the minnows in this case usually be- 

 ing caught by the fishermen themselves in small hand dip nets. 



Species. — Perch is by far the most abundant species occurring in this 

 section, it being taken in nearly double the quantity of all the other 

 fish together, as will appear from the summary given elsewhere. Her- 

 ring and whitefish rank next, and sturgeon and eels are common. 

 There are no trout, bass, or pickerel obtained in this part of the lake. 



Apparatus and methods of fishing. — Perch are taken at all seasons of 

 the year when there is no ice, with dip-nets and hand-lines, as already 

 described, and also with gill-nets, set-lines, and pound-nets. The gill- 

 nets used for perch are about 150 feet in length, 4 feet deep, with a lj-inch 

 mesh. They are set off the northern end of the city of Chicago, and 

 off the section between Twenty-seventh and Thirty-ninth streets in the 

 southern part. The gill-net grounds for the fishermen of South Chi- 

 cago are 8 or 10 miles south of that place. 



The season for whitefish and herring is about the same as that for 

 perch ; that is, it begins early in the spring and continues until the for* 

 mation of ice in the fall. They are caught in gill- nets and pound-nets 

 similar in size and construction to those employed in other portions of 

 the lake. Whitefish are thought not to spawn in this end of the lake. 



Sturgeon are taken in pound- nets and on set-lines. The latter are 

 used mostly in the winter by sailors and dock men, who are otherwise 

 employed in the summer. 



Trade. — All the fish taken at South Chicago are sent by wagons or 

 by rail to Chicago in a fresh state, where they are disposed of to retail 

 and wholesale dealers. The latter have apparatus for artificially freez- 

 ing the fish, a considerable proportion of which are frozen for preserva- 

 tion and shipment. From estimates furnished by competent authority 

 the following statistical statement has been prepared, showing in detail 

 the extent of the wholesale fish trade of Chicago. The table gives the 

 quantities of fresh and frozen lake fish handled by Chicago dealers in 



