306 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
Fyke nets with leaders and without wings are usually set in pairs at the ends of 
a common leader, the entrances to the nets facing each other. Such an arrangement 
has been met with in the James and York rivers, Virginia, and is considered very satis- 
factory in the capture of striped bass. The nets are usually placed parallel with the 
shore, often off the mouth of a creek or cove. The nets observed have three hoops, 
the first of which is 4 to 6 feet in diameter, the last feet in width ; there are two 
funnels. * The length of each bag is about 12 feet.- The bag and funnels are made of 
netting with a 1 inch mesh. The leader is from 25 to 40 fathoms in length. A set of 
two nets, with the intervening leader, is worth from $30 to $50. 
Two nets of this class employed in Europe are figured (plate xc, fig. 1, and plate 
lxxxix, fig. 1). One, used in Portugal, consists of a simple bag, with one hoop and one 
funnel weighted and buoyed; the leader is relatively short and extends from an abrupt 
wall. The other, a Norwegian net, resembles the form already mentioned set in the 
United States, consisting of a net at each end of a common leader ; it has 3 iron hoops 
of uniform size (2J feet in diameter) and 2 funnels provided with wire apertures. 
Similar nets, with 5 wooden hoops of unequal sizes and 2 funnels arising from the first 
and third hoops, are also met with in Norway. The leader in examples inspected is 
about 50 feet long and is provided with cork floats and earthenware sinkers; it pro- 
jects for a short distance within the cavity of the first funnel. 
FYKE NETS WITH WINGS. 
Fykes provided only with wings are somewhat common in certain parts of the 
country. This is the form usually supplied by the net companies, and, according to 
Mr. W. S. Shepard, of the American Net and Twine Company, Boston, Mass., is sold 
ready-made in a great variety of sizes, the diameter of the first hoop varying from 
1 to 8 feet. The following table of descriptions and prices of nets having one 
and two funnels is extracted from the catalogue of the net company named; the 
prices include two 12 foot wings. Mr. Shepard, who has courteously furnished some 
interesting notes and : ’ etches of fyke nets, remarks of those under consideration that 
u they are used in taking aC kinds of fresh- water fish in rivers and fresh- water ponds 
and lakes, and are also largely used in shore fishing both on the Atlantic and Pacific 
coasts for fish that follow along close to the shore.” 
A winged fyke, used in considerable numbers for taking eels, especially in Mas- 
sachusetts, is illustrated in plate lxxiv, fig. 2. The barrel of the net is about 18 
inches in diameter at its mouth and is set at the bottom of the junction of two 
diverging wings which are 6 to 8 feet deep. 
