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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
to hook him, for if he is given a moment you will see your bare hook rejected from the still open 
mouth. Again, he may reject the bait after drawing it in, and the bait is often blown up on to the 
gut snell. (“Grif,” 1900.) 
In the Gulf of St. Lawrence they are often taken with small scarlet (ibis) flies while fishing for 
sea trout.” (Hallock, 1893.) 
According to Chambers (1893), in Quebec they use “a bamboo rod, piece of cord, 
and half a dozen small hooks, some folks put the whole half dozen on their line at 
once in the same manner as flies, but with a few shot for sinker, and three fish at a 
time is a common occurrence. Some connoisseurs use worms for bait, but the 
majority a bit of red meat and then a smelt cut up, which these small cannibals 
seem to prefer.” 
Some of the young fishermen string as many as a dozen hooks on their smelt lines, and it is by 
no means unusual to see them haul out three and four fish at a time when the conditions are favor- 
able.” (Chambers, 1903a.) 
The rigs used at Freeport, Me., usually were cane poles, although sometimes a 
trout rod was employed; a linen line, with or without some sort of float or bob; and 
a wire (usually brass) spreader. The most common spreader was simply a bowed 
wire with a loop at the center for the attachment of the line, and a loop at each end 
for the attachment of snelled hooks. Occasionally a four-hook spreader was used, 
being formed by two bows of brass wire crossed at right angles and soldered. Even 
one of six hooks has been seen. These multiple spreaders were denominated “bird 
cages.” 
FISHING CONDITIONS 
Smelts also like to gather around the lobster cars and under the floats at the boat houses. 
When the waters commence to run out of the estuaries and inlets the smelts are on their feed. 
Voracity drives out caution then, and suspicious fish which have been wary until now lose all their 
shyness snatching the tempting bait with avidity, and without reserve. (Hallock, 1893.) 
On the other hand, another writer (“Grif,” 1900) wrote: 
The flood tide is almost invariably the best for fishing, and in the ebb as a rule they seem to 
slack off, yet, like all rules, this is occasionally broken. * * *. 
Forester’s theory of that ferry having any effect on smelt can hardly be correct, as I have seen 
them caught under and over hawsers, and in places where tugs and steamers were constantly keep- 
ing the water in a turmoil. At a favorite spot for night fishing, a culvert runs under the road 
and the flow of water through is regulated by gates, and, until these close, and the water stops 
running through, you can’t get a fish; yet 2 minutes after the gates close they may be biting all 
along the line. Whether it is because they are afraid of being drawn into the sluice or not I don’t 
know, yet the fact is that they don’t bite until then. At this place, while fish are frequently 
caught at night, it is, indeed, a rare thing to catch even one during the day. 
At Freeport, although smelts were caught during the day, the best fishing was 
on cold frosty nights. Day or night, they could be caught from the first of flood 
tide to nearly high water, but after the beginning of ebb they did not bite as well. The 
best day fishing was while the water was more or less turbid, especially after a 
heavy rain. After the beginning of very cold weather, when the water cleared up 
so that the bottom could be seen at several feet of depth, no smelt could be caught, 
although shrimp and killifishes were still common, especially the shrimp. During 
