St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1885-06-27
sHAo FISHING.

How the Calling Is Followed I'm Florida.
In New York shad suggests spring,
April showers and May blossoms; but
in Florida the same evokes visions OF
the Christmas holidays and great in
fiux Of winter tourists. who appear
about the time that this fish begins TO
run in the st. Johns. This magnificent
river offers the most southerly spawn
ing-ground for the toothsome .'shod, "
as the negro fishermen call them, and
they begin to run up its broad channel
in December. From that until the end
of March, when the season is legally
closed, is the harvest time of the dusky
fishers.
The first fish is quickly taken to
Jacksonville, where the great hotels
have standing offers of fabulous prices
for it, and where it goes to the highest
bidder, to be eaten amid reioicings by
the fortunate hotel proprietor and sew
eral Of his more favored guests.
1t is related of one of the lucky
catchers of the first shad of a season
that he steadily refused all offers for
his fish. declaring that for once he and
his family were 'gwine hab meal O
vittIes dat none Oh dem big bugs can't
get wifi all DER money" And, with a
sublime epicureanism, he fried and ate
his royal dish.
The nets of these Southern shad-fsh-
ers are not fastened to poles, as is the
| case in the Hudson and other Northern
rivers, but are simply thrown into the
water for lengthof from half to,three-
quarters of mile, and allowed to drift
up or down with the tide. As the St.
| Johns for hundred miles up from its
| mouth is from one to five miles vide,
nets of this great length Leave ample
room for the river craft to pass without
touching them.
Each boat carries two men, and is
| provided with three wooden trays, in
which the nets are neatly and carefully
! laid, with the iron rings or sinkers at
| one end, and the wooden hobs or floats
| at the other. One man remains con-
stantlY at the oars, and is called the
striker while the other attends to
| the throwing and drawing of the nets,
and is the 'boss, or captain. As soon
as deep water is reached on the berth
that the boat is to occupy, the ''boss"
begins to pay out the net from the
stern, tossing the rings into the water
| on one side, and the floats on the
other. Each tray contains two
t.shots, or sections Of net, each Of
! about two hundred yards in length.
/ When the end of ssshot" is reached,
another is spliced to it, and the throw
ing is continued until nearly a mile of
| net has been left behind, and its black
floats bob up and down on the waves
in a long, glistening line as far as the
eve can see. The end of the last
..shot' is marked by one of the trays,
made fast to it, and thrown overheard.
/ When the net has thus been placed in
| position, the boat is roWed slowly back
| along its entire length, while the
"bossn overhauls it, shaking out the
kinks, and seeing that it hangs straight.
Then for two or three hours the boat
| drifts with the tide for several miles up
or down the river beside the net. while
its occupants smoke, take turns in
sleeping, and warn off approaching
craft that might otherwise run into
and seriously damage the net The
captains of all such craft, even of the
big Charleston steamers, are very COM
| siderate Of the fshermen's property,
and though compelled by no law, they
invariably turn out of their course to
avoid net, when warned of it's prox-
unity.
The romance of this fishing in South
ern waters comes with calm, warm,
moon-lit nights, when the surface Of
the river, like vast black mirror, re-
fleets the myriads of stars as steadily
as though they were fixed in il, or with
each melton of the boat or dip of an