FISHES OF CHESAPEAKE BAY 
15 
Apparatus 
Mary- 
land 
Virginia 
Apparatus 
Mary- 
land 
Virginia 
Per cent 
68.0 
16.0 
10.0 
2. 5 
Per cent 
85.0 
3.0 
6.5 
1.8 
Per cent 
0. 5 
1.5 
1. 5 
Per cent 
2.5 
.2 
1.0 
Eel pots_ 
Miscellaneous _ _ 
Fyke nets 
The pound net, as shown by the data given in the preceding paragraph, is by 
far the most important apparatus employed in the fisheries of Chesapeake Bay. It 
is used throughout the bay, as well as in the lower parts of the larger tributary 
streams. The majority of the pound nets, particularly in the northern sections of 
the bay, are drawn up in midsummer, when fish, for a time, appear to be scarce, but 
are again operated during the autumn. Many nets are used only in the spring for 
catching striped bass, shad, and herrings. In the lower parts of the bay and in a 
few favorable localities elsewhere the nets are operated throughout the entire season — 
namely, from Mai;ch to November. The principal species of fish taken fix pound 
nets are indicated in tables and graphs that appear elsewhere in this report. 
Seines rank next to pound nets in importance in the fisheries of Chesapeake 
Bay and are used almost everywhere. Seining, like pound-net fishing, is more profit- 
able at certain seasons of the year than others. At Ocean View, Va., for example, 
where very large nets are used, operations do not begin until sometime in July, and 
large catches usually are not made until late in September or in October. Fair to 
large catches of spots, spotted and gray weakfish, sti’iped bass, white perch, and 
occasionally bluefish and pompanoes, are taken. An unusually large catch of spots 
was obtained in an 1,800-foot seine at Ocean View, Va., in October, 1922, when 90,000 
fish, weighing approximately 50,000 pounds, were taken in a single haul. 
Gill nets appear to be somewhat less important than seines in the fisheries of 
the Chesapeake. They are used to a limited extent throughout the bay, however, 
and rather extensively in the lower Potomac, Rappahannock, and York Rivers; also 
in the vicinity of Love Point, Crisfield, and Cape Charles. The nets are used either 
as stationary nets or they are allowed to drift with the tide and current. Frequently 
fair to large catches of striped bass, croakers, weakfish, spots, kingfish, and bluefish 
are taken. 
Fyke nets, too, are used almost everywhere in the bay. These nets are gener- 
ally used in small coves and other places too small for pound nets and in places 
where pound nets are not permitted. Although the quantity of fish taken with 
fyke nets is comparatively small, many nets of this type are used. Nevertheless, 
the opei'ation of the fyke net probably is quite remunerative, as the net itself is inex- 
pensive and it can be fished by one man. Furthermore, the fyke net often is used 
far into the winter, when virtually all other methods of fishing have been abandoned. 
The fish caught at such times, of course, bring a fancy price. The species caught 
are chiefly winter flounders, white perch, yellow perch, croakers, and squeteagues. 
Comparatively little hand-line fishing is done in Chesapeake Bay, because it 
does not appear to be as profitable as other methods. The only species that are 
taken almost exclusively with hand lines are the sea bass and the tautog, and of these 
