342 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
mouth of which the nets were -set. In 1885 a few small fykes, with 4-foot hoops, were fished under 
the ice by men engaged at other times in more profitable fishing. In 1866 an attempt was made to 
employ a fyke net far out in the lake at the end of a gang of gill nets. The results were unsatisfac- 
tory, owing, it is thought, to the fact that the net had no wings. There seems no reason to doubt 
that fykes provided with wings and properly weighted to maintain the hoops in a vertical position 
could he profitably employed on all the lakes in connection with the offshore gill-net fisheries. 
The fyke-net fishery of this lake In 1890 was carried on by 113 men; 731 nets, 
valued at $11,316, were set; 65 boats, worth $5,820, were used, and products to the value 
of $25,558 were obtained. Brown County, Wis., has the most important fishery of this 
kind in the lake; in the items of persons employed, number of nets used, quantity 
and value of catch, it surpasses the combined interests of all the remaining counties. 
The extent of the fishery, specified by counties, is shown in the following table : 
Fyke-net fishery of Lake Michigan. 
1 
No. of 
Fykes. 
Boats. 
Products. 
States and counties. 
fisher- 
men. 
No. 
Value. 
No. 
Value. 
Pounds. 
Value. 
Michigan : 
Manistee 
3 
$225 
60 
2 
$60 
10 
6, 200 
4,300 
949, 340 
119, 500 
16, 005 
215, 700 
$238 
154 
Muskegon 
2 
6 
Wisconsin : 
Brown 
58 
524 
8,060 
31 
3, 125 
18, 430 
2, 592 
310 
31 
96 
1,340 
116 
17 
1,810 
Marinette 
6 
5 
240 
Oconto 
13 
95 
1,515 
575 
3,834 
Total 
113 
731 
11, 316 
65 
5, 820 
1, 311, 045 
25, 558 
The principal fish taken in fykes in this lake is the yellow perch, which consti- 
tutes about one-third of the yield. Pike, pike perch, herring, and suckers are also 
prominent factors in the catch. Bass are taken in considerable quantities, and trout 
and whitefish are secured in small numbers in suitable situations. The output of the 
different species is as follows : 
Products of the fyke-net fishery of Lake Michigan. 
Michig 
;an. 
Wisconsin. 
Total. 
Species. 
Pounds. 
Value. 
Pounds. 
Value. 
Pounds. 
Value. 
Bass 
1,500 
$60 
17, 810 
$890 
19, 310 
$950 
Herring 
100 
2 
332, 550 
4, 434 
332, 650 
4, 436 
8, 862 
Perch 
800 
24 
418, 900 
8, 838 
419, 700 
Pike and pickerel 
Suckers 
100 
4 
141, 860 
335, 410 
10, 980 
5, 553 
3, 887 
141,960 
335, 410 
11, 980 
5, 557 
3, 887 
470 
Trout 
1, 000 
40 
430 
Whitefish 
3,000 
■ 120 
2, 285 
115 
5, 285 
235 
Other fish 
4,000 
142 
40, 750 
1, 019 
44, 750 
1, 161 
Total 
10, 500 
392 
1, 300, 545 
25, 166 
1,311,045 
25, 558 
LAKE HURON. 
In this lake fyke nets are employed only in Saginaw Bay and River, where they 
are an important form of apparatus. From an early period the fyke has been used in 
this locality, and, with the seine, it antedated the pound net by a number of years, the 
latter net having been introduced in 1860. In 1885, 499 fyke nets, valued at $22,910, 
were ascertained to be fished in the bay and river, and in 1890 the number was 221, 
worth $6,385. The principal fishing now done in the river is carried on with fykes, 
called “gobblers.” These nets are also set in some numbers in the bay at the mouths 
