FISHERIES OF THE GREAT LAKES IN 1885. 219 



many fish to escape, holding those that are hardly large enough to be 

 marketable. The boats used are flat bottomed skiffs, carrying two fore- 

 and-aft sails. The fishing season usually begins the 1st of June, but in 

 some cases not until August or September, and always lasts until about 

 the end of November. 



The total number of pound-nets in 1885 was forty-four, with a value 

 of $9,250. The value of the pound-net and collecting boats was $1,665, 

 that of the shore-houses was $3,050, and that of other apparatus and 

 accessories $1,119, the cash capital being $1,500. 



Gill- net fishery. — Gill-nets have been more or less extensively used 

 ever since their introduction in 1835. In 1814 a number of men came 

 from New York and Ohio and engaged extensively in gill-net fishing 

 from Thunder Bay Island, but since 1860 there has been almost no fish- 

 ing there, and at present it has only one crew with fourteen gill-nets. At 

 Sugar Island, where the fishing began in 1859, there are now two crews, 

 with one hundred and eighty nets in all. The other places which have 

 a gill-net fishery are the following: Middle Island, five crews; north side 

 of North Point, four crews; Alpena, one steamer crew. Three of the Mid- 

 dle Island crews began fishing for the first, time in 1885. 



At the outset of the fishery the nets used were of poor quality. They 

 were short, were made of coarse twine, and were kept in position on the bot- 

 tom of the lake by means of floats and stones. In those days only from 

 five to eight nets were fished in a gang. In recent years the float and 

 stone rig has been usually replaced by corks and leads, and the length 

 of the nets, as well as the size of the gangs, has been much increased. 

 The gangs used by the steamers contain about forty nets, each about 835 

 feet long, so that it takes four hours to lift the whole gaug. The nets 

 for the whole region range from 330 feet to 740 feet in length and 3 to 

 6 feet in depth, the larger sizes being the more common. The size 

 of the mesh is usually 4-g- inches. 



The sail-boats used in fishing the nets are from 26 to 32 feet long, with 

 8 or 10 feet beam, and draw from 2 to 3 feet of water. They are 

 Clinker built and have two masts with two fore-and-aft sails. Their 

 speed is excellent and they are good sea-boats, capable of working well 

 against the wind. There are usually three men in a crew, but sometimes 

 only two. 



The first steam- vessel fishing in the waters of this county was the 

 Lida. She was used in 1875 on the shoals north of Thunder Bay 

 Island and on the Big Reef. The latter is about 40 miles out from the 

 land at Alpena and is a favorite feeding and spawning grouud for 

 trout, though whitefish are very scarce there. The best hauls are made 

 during the spawning season, from October 25 to November 30. The use 

 of steamers increased until at one time as many as six made Alpena City 

 their headquarters. The steamers do not remain at Alpena the entire 

 season, but generally fish off that place only in the fall. In 1885 the 

 Walter L. Davis was the only one employed. 



