New-York daily tribune., 1858-04-21
SHAD FISHING IN TIE BAY.

regions N the lie eghborbood of classic Commun!psw
begin 10 pseser. scene Of life and activity TO which
they are strangers during good portion OF the year.
The approach Of the sh Al rousesthe Inhabitants
10 unwonted ard they wake from the ess in
difference with which they have witnessed the Autumn
and Wiuter pass by them aud set 20 work with zeal
worthy Of the very highest cause. This activity -
encouraged ard ostered by the advent among them oi
arre parti.. Of fishermen from mp the Hldson, with
their stteI dart satellites in the shape OF sundry over
| proyn yeut1s, whose duties, recompensed by snal
nav ard good feed, viii be more fully detailed here
after They are rude customers, all of them-beistet
on, and olly snd no. overchoce though vigorous and
original, in language during the Sprng-so them toe
SESSION OF glory ard achievement; aud quiet and cub
dued even to melancholy, during the other seasons OF
the yesr when their energies restricted 10 the less
glorious and less lucrative branches OF their profession,
such as claiming ard ceiling, varied perhaps with an
occasion al trip 10 Boston Portland before the mast
of "down east schooner. Their life has but lew
pleasures beyond catching ish and drinking whisky
and few duties Of greater importance than keeping
their nets in order.
lust prevous 10 their arrival extensive preparations
for the fishing season male also by the parties
who, residing the shore, are engaged in another
branch Of the came business-the "gll net hshery.
Who has not noticed the forests of shad poles IL the
bay resembling huge reeds and looking in the dis
,apce Ike the OF pigmy vessels Who does hot
remeu her wondering in childhood what possible ann
.y could exist between these poles and the hsh-whe-
tier they marked the fshes resting place as buoys IN
dlca;e the locality OF rocks, or whether the h'htS
themselves crowded around stem ambitious to be cap
tured eager for the fry Many these poles are OF
great eneth two three being sometimes spllced TO-
gether when they are designed for deep water, the
lergth thus averaging from forty to one hundred and
ten feet. They form 10 sma. item IN the fisherman
expenses being valued at from 50 20 = each. man
on Staten Island lately purchased lot OF long straight
poles and paid $40 apiece for them, standing as they
were uncut in the woods. The process OF driving them
into the ground also increases their expense to small
degree party OF four or five men row out IN the
stream to the spot selected by them previously towing
after them another boat laden with poles. The prnci-
pie upon which they select site that the deeper the
water the more fish they will catch. The poles are
each carefully lowered endwise to the bottom, and when
one end reaches the soft mud at the bottom Of the
water, spar is fastened TO the pole horizontally at
some dstaIce above the water and upon this the
whole boats crew jump with al their weight, and the
huge pole s speedily sunk TO the required depth,
descending sometimes three feet at a juup. Much
complaint has been made of the obstruction OF the
channel by means OF the shad poles and law was
passed al the last session of the Legislature orbiddog
any person to sink them in the bsy. This obnoxious
law was partially repeatedly the present Legislature,
and certain limits were defined within which il is per-
mitted TO place shad poes. 1t is hardly to be sup
posed however that the fishermen viii give much
attention TO the fact of there being any such restrc
tons upon their business. Indeed the po appear to
e1terd this year greater distance into the stream than
they did last year. fact which causes the users OF
drift rets much annoyance, the nets become en-
tar ged on the poles and easily torn than dis
gagged At least one hundred dollars worth of nets
have been destroyed in the bay in that manner this
season. The poles do not offer much obstruction to
navigation the sprngy bottom in which they stand
permits them to bend and lean until entirely sub
merged without losing their hold, and vessels
quently can brush directly over them. They only
left in the water while the shad rum and at the close
of the season are carefully taken up and stored away
on the beach until the succeeding Spring.
BY the time the poles have all been adjusted and set
the busy season upon the shOre commences super
Induced by the arrival of the aforementioned northern
fishermen. Now nets are Overhauled AMI repaired
boats cauked and put in order, oars and thole-pns
looked to- and every necessary preparation made for
the arrival of the fnny visitors; and while we are
awaiting their arrival, let us say few words about
themselves
The Shad is member Of the family Clupeda, fam
lily which, though not numerous in species, includes
series of fish Of the highest Importance n economi
cal point of view. The herring, anchovy pilchard and
sprat belong to it, does also that avore OF London
epicures the whitebait. AL of these fishes have small
mouths and either very small teeth or none at all and
they are therefore but i'll adapted to prey on other
fishes and mostly obliged to find their subsistence
in the myrads of minute animals difused throughout
the waters Of the ocean or lurking among the weeds
at the bottom. They all of them eminently migra
tory in their habits traversDg at different seasons the
entire ocean and performing their journeys in immense
schools, to which fact of them, the herring owes
s name it being deri ged from the German word her,
signfying army Cuvier separated the shad from the
Clupeida proper from the circumstance of there being
notch emargnaton in its upper jaw, not observa-
bic in the other branches OF the family and assigned TO
it the name ALosA. In other respects the generic char
sctes are identical in both The had found in Great
Britain and Europe well in this country, but is by
10 means so great favorite there as here The En-.
gish or Twate shad called on the Continent the May
fish, is coarse, dry and insipd in flavor. The Alice
shad which is caught in Scotland is OF better flavor
richer and more esteemed. The spawning time in En-
gland does not commence until the second week in
July do they enter the rivers there from the ses
before the month Of May. They are sometimes called,
in Great Britain, mother Of herrings, and sometimes
RI ck henirgs the fret Of which names may perhaps,
be intended for mouther Of herrngs chad having ds
agreeable habit Of feeding upon the small individuals
of their class when crustaces, OF which they are
most fond, not readily available With regard to