FYKE NETS AND FYKE-NET FISHERIES. 
347 
As compared with 1880, the present status of the fyke-net fishery of this lake is 
more important than it was then; but since 1885 there has been a decrease in this 
fishery, as in the industry in general. An account* of the fisheries of this lake in 
1885 stated that fyke nets had been employed for some years along various portions 
of the coast where the shore is low and swampy, or in bays where there are extensive 
mud flats, and were fished chiefly for bullheads, though small quantities of bass, yellow 
pike, eels, and perch were also secured. More than a thousand were said to be at that 
time fished with more or less regularity in the waters of the lake, most of them being 
owned by farmers living along the shore. 
The extent of the fyke-net fishery decreases from east to west'. In Jefferson 
County, which occupies the eastern part of the lake, more than two-thirds of the nets 
used in the entire lake are fished; and in Oswego County, which lies west of Jefferson, 
more than half the remaining nets are employed. The number of fishermen and the 
number and value of the fykes set in each county in 1890 were as follows : 
Fyke-net fishery of Lake Ontario. 
Counties. 
No. of 
fisher- 
Fykes. 
Boats. 
No.' 
| Value. 
No. 
Value. 
Jefferson 
42 
458 
$6 850 
37 
$1,582 
Oswego 
18 
140 
2 , 100 
17- 
506 
Cayuga 
3 
26 
315 
3 
85 
Wayne 
39 
365 
4 
80 
Monroe - 
5 
21 
192 
5 
65 
Total 
74 
684 
9, 822 
66 
2,318 
Catfish enter most conspicuously into the catch and constitute nearly half the 
quantity and value of the yield. Next in point of value are pike, yellow perch, eels, 
and suckers, although the order of importance based on the quantity taken is perch, 
suckers, pike, and eels. The minor fish taken include sheepshead and rock bass. 
The fyke-net fishery of this lake in 1890 resulted as follows: 
Products of the fyke-net fishery of Lake Ontario. 
Species. 
Pounds. 
Value. 
Bass 
72, 353 
$1, 845 
Catfish 
400, 273 
10,484 
Eel 
56, 336 
2, 177 
Perch 
170, 645 
3, 111 
Pike 
73,770 
3, 340 
Suckers 
76, 320 
1, 056 
Other fish: 
49, 830 
548 
Total 
899,527 
22, 561 
* Review of the Fisheries of the Great Lakes. 
