Richland beacon. [volume] (Rayville, La.) 1869-1890, 1888-07-07
CATCHING STURGEON FOR MARKET.
How the Big Fish Arc Taken at the
Eastern End of Lake Ontario.

The fishermen at the eastern end OF
Lake Ontario are now very busy gather
ing in their annual harvest of sturgeon.
The season for this species of fish opens
there about the third week in May, and
is usually at its height the lst of June,
when the fish in large numbers are seek.
ing the muddy bottoms Of streams and
bays to deposit their spawn. 1t Is only
ut this season of the year that sturgeon
can he caught by hook and line with any
degree of success. Large numbers OF
them are now being taken every day
at the mouth of Salmon River. Big
Sandy and Little Sandy Greeks. and
other smaller streams.
The sturgeon is such bull-headed
sort of n fellow that it requires no scienti-
tic angling to lure him from his favorite
haunts The fisherman provides him
self with stout cord. long enough to
reach across the mouth of the stream.
The kind commonly used for clothes
lines answers for the purpose. 10 this,
ut intervals of from four to six feet,
are attached lines about two feet IN
length, having on the other end the com
monest sort of hook, baited with any
kind of fresh meat. The larger line IS
heavily weighted and sunk to the mud
dy bottom of the stream or bay, when
it is ready for business. The sturgeon
is not fastidous in regard to diet, and
readily takes down the mOrsel OF meat,
even though it does not half cover the
hook. When caught he makes very
little disturbance unless his captOr I'M
dcrtakes to land him too suddenly, III
which case things are apt to be rather
lively for the fisherman.
Very few people outside OF this I'M
mediate vicinity realize to what IN ex-
tent the sturgeon fishery is carried on.
One man has had as many as 5000 hooks
set ut one time. Others have an equal
ly large number set at other points.
Very few fish are taken that will weigh
over 300 pounds, the average being
from seventy five or eighty pounds.
With his big head, thick hide, and large
fins, an eighty pound sturgeon dresses
down to about forty pounds when pre-
pared for market. Nearly all the stur-
geon taken hereabouts are shipped to
New York i'll a fresh state. After being
smoked aud dried they form an excellent
substitute for halibut. The grOcers in
Oswcgo, Sandy Creek, and Pulaski
know sturgeon, whether it be fresh,
smoked and dried. or canned, and not
unfrequentv in their invoices of smok-
ed halibut aud canned salmon they re-
cognize the familiar fish of Port Ontario
and Sandy Creek come back in another
form. A great proportion OF their
customers, however, do not know tho
difference, so everything goes.
The fishing business here has several
interesting features. When q man pulls
in his line to which a half hundred
hooks are attached he very often has
half dozen or more sturgeon i'll tow. An
ordinary man has no business with a
hundred pound sturgeon if he undertakes
to handle him by the head bare handed,
for his skin is a slippery as the body of
birch tree newly peeled. The com
mon way of getting the fish out of the
water is To use gaff as big and strong
as pair of ice tongs. After he is out
of water man can handle him best by
the tail. To do this succe Ssfully the
hands must first be wet and then dipped
in dry sand. This affords grip on the
slimy skin that cannot well he broken.
When the fishermen do not wish to ship
their catch right away, they pull the fish
in shore, slip stout rope through their
gills, and tie them to stake driven out
in the stream, very much as a refractory
steer would be corralled on land. This
custom of trying the fish up and killing
them rs wanted is said to have given
rise to the name of "Albany beef" as
applied to it on the Hudson, a name
which is not unknown in these parts.
The man engaged in fishing here expect
to ship anywhere from ten to forty tons
of sturgeon to New York before the sea-
son closes, for which they will receive
about three cents pound.