304 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
remaining part of the net and are collected and held taut outside the last pocket. 
The fish are taken from the nets by first unfastening the funnel lines at the end of the 
net and then raising the fyke perpendicularly, when the funnels will be reversed and 
the fish will fall out. This net is inexpensive, costing only from $3 to $5. It is fished 
singly or in strings containing 25 or more nets, which are placed at distances of 6 to 
40 feet. Plate lxxiii, fig. 1, gives an idea of one of these nets and the method of 
weighting it with stones. 
Another drop fyke, or “pike net,” as it is locally called, fished in the Delaware 
Eiver, has a semicircular entrance instead of a circular one; in other respects it is 
similar to those already described. One form has only one funnel, or “ throat,” however. 
The bar forming the bottom of the first hoop projects a few inches on either side for 
the reception of a stone, by which the net is kept upright, after being braced at 
the small end. The value is the same as the others, viz, $3 to $5. Plate lxxii is a 
representation of this net. The specimen from which the drawing was made came 
from Burlington County, 1ST. J., and, is nowin the possession of the writer. It has 8 
hoops and 2 funnels. The first funnel extends from the second hoop a short 
distance within the third hoop, where it terminates in four points which are kept open 
by means of double strings running to the fifth hoop. The second funnel extends from 
the fifth hoop into the space between the sixth and seventh hoops; it ends in the 
same way, and the four cords which hold the mouth of the funnel open are brought 
together outside the pocket. The net presents the following additional features: 
Extreme length inches . . 
Height of entrance do 
Width of entrance at base do 
Diameter of second hoop do 
Diameter of last (eighth) lioop do 
Size of mesh between first and second hoops do 
Size of mesh in hag and funnels do 
Diameter of mouth of first funnel do 
Diameter of mouth of second funnel do 
W eight of net pounds . . 
Large fykes of this class are reported to be used in the rivers, creeks, and bayous 
of the southwestern States for bulfalo-fish. These fish have regular “runs,” and the 
nets are placed so as to intercept them in their movements. 
One of the most novel forms of fyke nets of this class which has been met with is 
a device patented in 1844. It is shown in plate lxxiii, fig. 3. It consists of 17 hoops and 
4 funnels, and has two small suspended compartments in which live bait is placed to 
lure the fish. It is not known that the net was ever employed for commercial fishing, 
and it seems to have been more of a curiosity than a practical device. The descrip- 
tion furnished by the inventors is as follows : 
The nature of our invention consists in dividing a cylindrical net into different compartments and 
furnishing each with a bait hag, the bait being suited to the different kinds of fish, and the large 
fish being prevented from entering the compartment of the smaller ones. 
Its construction is as follows : A cylindrical net is formed in the ordinary way and of the 
required length. The first compartment, A, is formed of large meshes. It is distended with a series 
of circular hoops, a a, the first one, a 1 , being a X)-shaped one for the entrance into the net, within the 
mouth of which, from the second hoop backward, there is a funnel-shaped gorge, 6, which gradually 
contracts toward the inner end conically, where it terminates in a small aperture, which is kept dis- 
tended by cords, c. Within this there is a similar-shaped entrance, d, and at the termination of the 
first division there is a division, e, stretched across, of the same large-size meshes as those of the net, 
and attached to the hoop, a-. Between the second funnel, d, and the division, e, there is a small cylin- 
