FISHERIES OF THE GREAT LAKES IN 1885. 311 



rates the bay from the lake. A channel only 30 feet broad, over which 

 is a bridge, connects the two bodies of water. Towards the middle of 

 the bay the water becomes quite deep, varying from 5 to 13 fathoms. 

 Pierce's Station, the railroad center and post-office of the neighborhood, 

 is on the east side of the bay near its mouth. Directly opposite, on the 

 west side, is the little summer resort of Sea Breeze. 



Fish and fishing in the bay. — The state fish commissioners have spent 

 much time and money in stocking Irondequoit Bay, and have made it 

 one of the largest and finest localities for pleasure fishing in the world. 

 The water teems with fine bass and pickerel, large perch and bull-heads, 

 and other minor varieties, and it is estimated that twenty-five thousand 

 sportsmen and anglers visit the bay annually. Live bait is used almost 

 exclusively, and quite a business in minnows has been established on 

 the bay ; there are twelve dealers who claim to sell $200 worth of min- 

 nows each during some seasons, this sum representing over one million 

 minnows. Seine, net, and trap-fishing is prohibited by law, and the 

 game constable is kept thoroughly occupied in carrying out the pro- 

 visions of the statutes. Many seizures of fishing apparatus occur, but 

 nevertheless numbers o£ fyke-nets are set and seines hauled on dark 

 and stormy nights. 



Other fishing -grounds. — On the sand-bar between Pierce's Station and 

 Sea Breeze large quantities of fish have been landed in past years. At 

 the present time there are five men who live here in their huts and fish 

 from May to November, using gill-nets, fykes, and seines. In 1870 and 

 prior thereto, when pound-nets were used off Pierce's Station aud Ironde- 

 quoit Bay, large numbers of whitefish were taken ; of late years the fish 

 have been very plentiful, but only comparatively small quantities have 

 been caught. There is a little fishing carried on at Nine Mile Point by 

 men from Webster, a small inland village. The fish are sold to peddlers 

 and to the keepers of hotels at the mouth of the bay. None of the fish 

 are salted or smoked. 



Extent of commercial fisheries. — In 1885 there were 22 fishermen here, 

 Ifi of whom were professional and 12 semi-professional. The outfit was 

 made up as follows : 2 gill-net boats and 9 other boats; 10 whitefish 

 gill nets, 2,537 feet in length; 15 herring gill- nets, 4,950 feet in length; 

 14 seines, 6,270 feet in length; 33 fyke-nets, and miscellaneous and 

 shore property. The total value of the apparatus was $2,530. 



The catch in 1885, including the fish taken by anglers in Irondequoit 

 Bay, amounted to 31,500 pounds of bull-heads, 32,000 pounds of bass, 

 12,000 pounds of herring, 10,500 pounds of pike, 5,500 pounds of eels, 

 0,200 pounds of whitefish, 6,600 pounds of perch and suckers, and 

 240,000 minnows used for bait; the total value being $11,750. 



