Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1889-05-24

immense net had been stretched, terrible
gale began blowing. and for four days and
nights it was impossible to do anything to-
ward pulling the seine in, as all the power
that could have been put ON the windlasses
couldn't have drawn the net against the tide
that the storm kept rushing down against it.
But no shad could get past that net, and
when on the fourth day the wind changed
and blew up the bay, and the windlasses
were put to work hauling in the seine, it be-
came evident at once that it was burdened
with such a collection of shad as had never
got together in one net before.
"In those days the farmers of lower Lam
caster and Chester counties used to go all the
way down to Stumps fishery with wagons to
fetch back shad, which they peddled around
the country, and also sailed down in large
quantities for winter use. The news that the
big seine at Havre de Grace had been staked
by the gale spread through the region, and
ON the day the fishermen began to haul it in
there were hundreds of wagons lining the
shores, waiting for what the farmers felt
would be an amazing haul, out Of which they
could get their supplies of shad at very low
price. Usually they had paid from so to
S25 hundred for the fish. When the first
installments Of the big catch began to come
in Capt. Stump sold the shad, thousand after
thousand, for 81 a hundred, but as the noun
tains Of fish began to accumulate on the
shores, he was glad to give them away by
the wagon load to all who would come and
take them Off his hands. He sent messengers
out through all the surrounding counties
notifying the farmers of the situation and
soliciting them to come and cart the fish
away The whole agricultural area Of Cecil
and other counties was fortified that year
with loads of as fine shad as ever came out Of
water. Besides the shad there were herring,
rock fish and sea bass by the ton. The lowest
estimate that was made Of the number Of
| shad that were taken in that great haul has
| placed it at 100000.
/ ut doesn't seem so long ago when that haul
was made, and yet today there are no shad
I caught on that shore. There is no shad fish
ing in the SusquehaHna above Columbia any
mere to speak of. The dam across the river
at this place, built to carry the Pennsylvania
canal across to the York county side, de-
stroyed the fisheries aboveit fifty years and
more ago, as the shad could not get above it,
After years Of effort on the part of the people
living along the river above Columbia, fish
way was built in the dam few years ago,
but as seines are spread across the dam just
above the ashway as soon as shad begin to
]
through the season, the dam might just as
well have been left as it was, for it is very
few shad indeed that run the gauntlet Of the
scines and give the people above Columbia a
chance at them can remember when there
was a prosperous shad fishery every mile or
) so along the river from Columbia almost to
the New York state line, POO miles above the
mouth of the Susquehanna. The average
catch of these fisheries was not less than 200 q
day Some of the upper fisheries were re
rarded rs not doing well if they did not yield
e 600 per day An0verage season would give
} at least fifty fishing days. There were a
{ least 100 fisheries, so that before the Column
G bia dam and other dams that the state cana
] required in the Susquehanna were built, tn
a people along the stream in this state wer
J. during two months IN the year able to TAX
> 100000 shad, which were worth TO then
2 1878 900 Such thing as a shad is not know
t in the upper Susquehanna region today, an
J, never viii be again until the Anticipated an
r comparatively useless canal dams are tor
out.n--Columbia PA Cor. New York Sun.