THE SMELTS 
253 
The account stated that “ Winterport, on the Penobscot, is said to be the great- 
est smelt-fishing town in Maine. The fishing is done with bag nets, which are set at 
the beginning of the flood tide, and drawn at high water. The best catches are made at 
night. Eighty pounds is considered a fair catch, but this amount is generally 
exceeded.” 
According to the Maine Sportsman for April, 1894, the eastern smelt fisheries 
continued good as to quantity of fish caught, although it appears that in this instance 
the account pertained to smelts caught near the breeding season, if not in it. The 
account said: 
Smelt fishing in the river at West Pembroke came to a close early last week. The catch during 
the last day was a remarkable one, the quantities landed by the nets being so great that it required 
several teams to transport them to Eastport and Calais, it being necessary to send half a ton or more 
to the latter place to go by rail, as the smelt season in Massachusetts closed the 15th instant, and 
they had to be rushed into market before that date. The season has been very fair as to catch, 
but prices have been rather low. For the first time in the prosecution of the business in that 
river the purse net was used this season and to good advantage. The smelt industry has reached 
large proportions in Maine and is worthy of some special attention from the bureau of statistics. 
In March, 1897, the same journal announced that 15 tons of smelts were caught 
on Damariscotta Bay by hook and line during the months of December, 1896, and 
January and February, 1897. “They netted 7 cents a pound.” This would make 
the total value of the smelt fishery at this place for the three-month period $2,100. 
Nickerson (1898) reported as follows: 
The catch of smelts for 1898 in which every county on the coast is represented, was 1,156,684 
pounds, which returned to the fishermen eighty thousand, three hundred and fourteen dollars. As 
compared with the previous year there were 35,579 pounds more caught in 1898 than in 1897. Ten 
hundred and ninety-five persons were engaged in the taking of the above fish with weirs and seines, 
and by hook and line. There is usually a quick market for smelts, and recent prices, though fluc- 
tuating have ruled high. Large shipments are made to the Boston and New York markets, and 
December consignments have returned to the fishermen fifteen cents clear of expense to the pound. 
Over 40 years ago, at Surry, on May 27, Atkins noted that according to N. 
Hinckley, Esq., House of Representatives, smelts were formerly of considerable im- 
portance. They were taken mostly through the ice with hook. In the spring they 
were said to run up the stream that enters the head of the harbor west, but this 
year (1878) hardly any had come up into the stream. It was suggested that the 
failure was attributable to too much dipping of them early in the season when the 
tide was out and the fish collected in bodies in tide pools. On May 28 of the same 
year Atkins indicated a scarcity of smelts in Lawrence Brook, whereas the year 
before an individual got a bushel at one catch. 
It would seem, however, that at Surry, some 22 years later, the fishery had not 
declined greatly. The following excerpt from the Bangor Commercial of January 23, 
1900, indicates that the Surry hook-and-line fishing was still yielding satisfactory 
returns: 
Nearly 100 men and boys together are engaged in the winter’s fishing at Surry, and in 35 
years more than $40,000 worth of smelts have been taken. 
The smelts are all caught with hook and line. Taking them otherwise, such as by seine, 
would be regarded by the fishermen here as a great wrong. The fishing is all done in tents, the 
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