312 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIFS. 



107. WAYNE COUNTY, NEW YORK, FROM THE WESTERN COUNTY-LINE 

 TO AND INCLUDING BIG SODUS BAY. 



Principal fishing centers. — The coast line of Wayne County, west of 

 Big Sodus Bay, is about 22 miles in length. Midway the strip, at the 

 mouth of Salmon Creek, is Pultney ville, a town of 500 people, the larger 

 number of whom are farmers. About 1875 it was a fishing center of 

 considerable importance, but ten years later most of the fishiug was 

 done by pleasure parties. Eel-spearing on quiet nights by the light 

 of a jacklamp engages the attention of perhaps a dozen people, but 

 beyond this there is no regular fishiug of any consequence at this 

 place. West of Pultney ville, about 4 miles from the lake, are the vil- 

 lages of Lake Side and Furnaceville, which have a population of 200 

 each, and are the post offices of the fishermen on the adjacent shore of 

 the lake. The principal fishing-ground is off Bear Creek, where, as at 

 Pultney ville, there is some spearing of eels. Along the coast, between 

 Pultueyville and Sodus Point, there is a good deal of fishing, especially 

 off Salmon Creek, 2 miles west of the point, where whitefish, among 

 other species, are taken in considerable numbers. 



Big Sodus Bay and its fisheries. — This bay is 5 miles long, and has an 

 average width of 2 miles, although at its mouth it is 3J miles wide. 

 The depth of water is from 3J to 7 fathoms. Prior to 1879 or 1880 

 pound-nets and other nets were used extensively in the bay, but since 

 thattime no netor trap fishing has been permitted. On the shores of the 

 bay are two large hotels, and several parties hire boats to the anglers by 

 whom the place is patronized during the summer. At the west side 

 of the mouth of the bay is Sodus Point, a community of GOO people, who are 

 chiefly farmers and mechanics. The harbor, which is in the bay, is one 

 of the finest on the lake, and is kept in good condition by the govern- 

 ment. There are a railroad, grain elevators, and large coal docks 

 in the place, and the largest steamers can enter and transfer their 

 cargoes. On the east side of the mouth of the bay is Lake Bluffs, a 

 camp-meeting ground, with hotels and cottages. Pishing is carried 

 on principally by anglers. Port Glasgow, at the head of the bay, is a 

 favorite place with sportsmen, who use trolling-lines and catch numbers 

 of bass, bull-heads and pike. Three miles from the lake on the east side 

 of the bay is Lummisville, a hamlet of 100 people, mostly farmers, who 

 fish only for their own use. Off Sodus Bay the bottom of the lake is 

 very hard and uneven, and when pound-nets were employed it was 

 difficult to set the stakes. At the present time the fishing-grounds are 

 3 to 5 miles from the shore. Sodus Point at one time had the reputa- 

 tion of being one of the very finest fishing localities on the lake. Jt was 

 particularly noted for the excellent seiuing-grounds in the immediate 

 vicinity. 



Kinds of apparatus and when used. — The apparatus consists of white- 

 fish, herring, and sturgeon gill-nets, seines, trap nets, fyke-nets, and a 



