FYKE NETS AND FYKE-NET FISHERIES. 
307 
An extensively ased winged flounder fyke is peculiar in having elliptical hoops, 
four in number, with a single funnel. The long diameter of the first hoop is usually 
36 inches and the short diameter 18 inches. 
A fyke net of this class, used on the eastern shore of Maryland and elsewhere in 
Chesapeake Bay, is known by various names, and applied to the capture of various 
products. A common form, in use in Dorchester County, Md., and fished for terrapin, 
striped bass, and perch, consists of a bag 18 feet long, distended by three hoops, 6 
feet apart; the first hoop being 8 feet in diameter, the second 6 feet, and the third 4 
feet. Funnels proceed from the first and second hoops. The wings (locally called 
leaders or hedgings) are 30 to 60 feet long. A similar type, with wings 18 feet long, 
is known as a “sink net,” on the Nanticoke River and elsewhere, and is set under the 
ice for striped bass and perch. Another style, with three funnels, shown in plate 
lxxiii, fig. 2, is called a “ buckdart, ” in Fishing Bay, Md., and is there employed 
exclusively for terrapin. A fyke net with three semicircii’ar hoops and two funnels 
and two short wings, known as a drop or brook fyke, is repc ted to have been recently 
used in tne Delaware River, in shallow water. It had a valu V of $5 to $10. 
FYKE NETS WITH LEADER AND WINGS. 
Fykes of this class are among the most numerous, varied, elaborate, and efficient 
nets employed in our fisheries. 
The simplest fyke of this style has an ordinary leader and two straight wings, as 
shown in plate lxxv, fig. 2. It is a common net in many places, and in certain parts 
of the Chesapeake Bay is the predominant one. The example figured, from Queen 
Anne County, Md., may be described as follows: The length of the net proper is 12 
feet. There are five hoops, with two funnels extending from the first and third hoops; 
the first hoop is from 5 to 8 feet in diameter. The wings are 36 feet long, and the 
hedging is 40 yards long. The value of such a net is $8 to $15, depending on the 
newness of the materials used. Similar nets in the same region are 14 to 18 feet long, 
with leader from 40 to 100 yards in length. Rarely the hedging is constructed of 
laths nailed on crosspieces supported by uprights. These nets are adapted to the 
capture of striped bass, yellow perch, catfish, alewives, pike, and terrapin. 
Numerous fykes of this class are employed in the Hudson River and on Long 
Island. They have rather short leaders (called “ fences ”) and wings, and from two to 
four hoops. They are designated two-hoop, three hoop, and four-hoop fykes. They 
are adapted to the capture of all kinds of river and shore fish. The approximate 
measurements and cost of the various kinds are as follows : 
Kind of net. 
Length 
of leader. 
Length 
of wings. 
Diameter of hoops. 
Cost. 
First. 
Second. 
Third. 
Fourth. 
Two-hoop fyke 
Three-hoop fyke 
Four-hoop fyke 
Feet. 
10 to 15 
10 to 25 
15 to 50 
Feet. 
4 to 6 
0 to 8 
8 to 10 
Feet. 
2 to 3 
3 
4 
Feet. 
1£ to 2 
2 to 2i 
34 
Feet. 
1J to 2 
3 
Feet. 
24 
Dollars. 
5 to 10 
15 to 20 
25 to 30 
A modification in the shape of the wings leads to the type of net usually desig- 
nated as the “pound fyke,” in which the wings are so disposed as to form a compart- 
ment answering the purposes of the “ forebay ” of a pound.net. In some nets the wings 
are evenly curved, in others they are angular. Two of these nets are exhibited in 
plate lxxvi. 
