FYKE NETS AND FYKE NET FISHERIES. 
343 
of tne several small riversentering it. The nets are made after the model of the Lake 
Erie pound net, the difference being that the bowl of the pound is replaced by the 
pot of the fyke. They are mostly used by men who also have pound nets. The fishing 
season extends from October 15 to April 15, during the whole of which time greater 
or less quantities of the different fishes are taken; but the largest catch of perch is 
made during the winter, while the pickerel and suckers, which are the next important 
species, occur in greatest abundance in the spring, about the time when navigation 
is resumed. The other species comprised in the fyke-net catch are black bass, catfish, 
and pike perch. 
Eighty-one men tended the fyke nets used in Lake Huron in 1890; 62 boats, 
valued at $1,202, were employed, and the catch consisted of 1,088,751 pounds of fish, 
valued at $23,156, apportioned among the various species as follows : 
Products of the fyke-net fishery of Lake Huron. 
Species. 
Pounds. 
Value. 
Black bass 
7,650 
$765 
Catfish 
5, 100 
153 
Herring 
1,000 
10 
Perch 
558, 446 
8, 021 
Pike and pickerel 
108, 000 
6, 330 
Suckers 
367, 555 
7,051 
Whitefish 
200 
10 
Other fish 
40, 800 
816 
Total 
1, 088, 751 
23, 156 
LAKE ST. CLAIR. 
This large, shallow dilatation of the St. Clair River, lying between Michigan and 
Canada, with its extensive grassy flats and its great abundance of small fishes, to the 
capture of which the fyke net is specially adapted, has a fyke-net fishery whose impor- 
tance is relatively great in comparison with the size of the lake, the extent of the other 
fisheries, and the small number of nets used. The lake is no doubt capable of sustain- 
ing a much larger fishery of this kind, and in future many more of the cheap but 
efficient fyke nets will probably be employed. 
The fishery in 1890 was less extensive than in 1885. The table which follows shows 
various phases of its extent in the first-named year, the figures being given separately 
for the two counties in Michigan in which the fishery is carried on. 
Fyke-net fishery of Lake St. Clair. 
No. of 
Counties. fisher- 
men. 
Fykes. 
Boats. 
Products. 
No. 
Value. 
No. 
Value. 
Pounds. 
Value. 
Macomb ^ 116 
St.Clair.. 8 
133 
15 
$4, 010 
470 
16 
■ $350 
160 
369, 850 
45, 498 
$5, 256 
812 
Total | 124 
148 
4, 480 
24 
510 
415, 348 
6, 068 
The principal species taken are yellow perch, pike, pike perch, and catfish. More 
than half the quantity and value of the yield is made up of perch. A small quantity 
of black bass and whitefish is caught. Other minor species entering into the produc- 
tion are suckers and suufish. 
