FYKE NETS AND FYKE-NET FISHERIES. 
537 
The fyke-net fishery during the past few years shows a small general increase 
annually. The product has advanced from 146,309 pounds in 1889 to 194,647 pounds 
in 1892, this increase being made up almost wholly of carp and catfish. The following 
table exhibits the yearly fluctuations in the catch of the different species : 
Comparative table showing the fyke-net catch of Calif ornia from 1889 to 189 8, inclusive. 
Species. 
1889. 
1890. 
1891. 
1892. 
Pounds. 
V alue. 
Pounds. | Value. 
Pounds. 
Value. 
Pounds. 
Value. 
Carp 
31, 614 
$1, 049 
34,722 $1,158 
36, 662 
$1, 183 
42, 115 
$1, 374 
Cattish 
79, 937 
2, 015 
87, 744 2, 193 
97, 399 
2,442 
114, 575 
2,870 
Chub 
1, 265 
25 
906 18 
1, 230 
25 
1,054 
21 
Hardhead 
14, 440 
289 
16, 160 323 
16, 736 
335 
17, 512 
350 
Perch 
1,941 
116 
2,745 165 
2, 149 
129 
2, 834 
170 
Split-tail 
17, 112 
342 
14,559 291 
15, 660 
313 
16, 557 
331 
Total 
146, 309 
3,836 
156, 836 ] 4, 148 
168, 836 
4,427 
194, 647 
5,116 
Writing on the fyke-net fishery of the Sacramento River in 1873,* Mr. Livingstone 
Stone makes the following remarks, which are interesting in themselves and for the 
opportunity afforded for comparison with recent years : 
The fyke nets have a mesh of 2| inches. There were in the winter of 1872-73 85 fyke nets 
on the Sacramento at Rio Vista. They are stationary, of course, and are examined every twenty-four 
hours. All the kinds offish that are found in the river are caught in these nets. Mr. JohnD. Ingersoll, 
a prominent fyke fisherman of Rio Vista, informed me that the daily catch for 20 nets is now about 75 
pounds offish. They include chubs, herring, perch, viviparous perch, sturgeons, hardheads, split-tails, 
Sacramento pike, suckers, crabs. Of these the perch, pike, and sturgeon are the best food-fishes, 
though all the species named are sold in the market. 
There has been a vast decrease in the returns of the fyke nets during the last twenty years. In 
1852 and 1853 they used to catch 700 or 800 pounds a day in one fyke net. An average of 250 pounds 
a day for one net at Sacramento City was usually expected in those times. The present catch of 75 
pounds a day in 20 nets certainly presents an alarming contrast. The fyke-net fishing is done 
wholly by white men, I believe, the Chinese fishermen being ruled, out by force of public sentiment. 
The fyke nets- are usually visited early in the morning of each day, and the catch is sent down to 
San Francisco by the noon boat. The fyke-net fishing begins in November and is continued until 
May. The best fishing is when a rise in the water drives the fish inshore, where the fyke nets are 
placed. During the summer months the water is warmer, the fish are poor, and the fishing is dis- 
continued. 
On the 27th of February, 1873, 1 went the rounds of Mr. Ingersoll’s set of fyke nets with him. We 
visited 20 nets, but as some of them had not been examined for over twenty-four hours the yield 
was supposed to be equivalent to one day’s fishing for 30 nets. The nets had four hoops each and 
14-foot wings. We took out about 120 pounds of fish in all. Hardheads were the most numerous, 
and the Sacramento pike next. Mr. Ingersoll said that perch used to rank second in abundance in 
fyke-net fishing, the average for 30 nets being 200 or 300 pounds a day, but the perch were quite 
insignificant in numbers on this day. We found in the nets 7 small viviparous perch and 2 small 
sturgeon. I learned also that mink, beaver, and otters are sometimes caught in the nets. In 1872 
Mr. Ingersoll caught 8 minks, 2 beavers, and 1 otter in his fyke nets. 
"Report of Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, 1873-74 and 1874-75, pp. 383-384. 
F. C. B. 1892 22 
