The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-08-11
oUTLANDIsA WAYS OF FISHING.
Ingenuity as a Substitute for skill in
Angling.


Comparatively
NEW YORK, Aug 1O,-Becently
New York newspaper offered
3 prize of $50 for the best 70 fish story.
The double ca gle could have been won by
somebody who related facts instead of fiic
ton, as the truth is much more wonderful
than any creation of fancy.
The other day the writer fell in with a
friend who is an ichthyolcgist and enthusi-
astc angler. The conversation of course
turned upon his favorite subjects.
They have a style Of fishing in Scot
land, said he, (which for ease and repos}
takes the prize Tho intending angler
selects half dozen Of the largest geese in
bis barn yard, and having tied lines five or
six feet long with baited hooks TO the feet
Of each bird he takes them to the water.
When they are put in the stream or pond
they of course swim out, and the fisherman
lights his pipe and sits down TO await
events. Before long fish sees the bait.
and Selling it, gives the bird good pull.
The goose is frightened half to death and
starts for the bank with its utmost speed,
dragging the fl ii after it. When the game
is landed it is unlocked, and, fresh bait
being supplied, the bird is sent out TO try
its luck again. In this way a flock of
geese will make quite a haul in the course
to take the game and bait the hooks, the
catching and pulling-In being done by the
birds. In Washington territory, or | sup
pose [ should say the state Of Washington
in the great salmon country, pigs often dive
for fish, and they will pick up a salmon in
10 feet Of wauer.n
Are there any fishing devices to
increase the quantity of the catch" l
asked.
"Oh yes" he replied, when | was across
the water some time since | saw curious
experiment in a European fishpond that
showed me what fishing Is coming to in the
future. The place was dark, when man
wearing one of the new electric lights en-
tered the water, which was Illuminated by
| the light. The effect was curious, the most
| singular result being observed in the fish,
all of which gathered about the light, ap-
| parently astonisaed at the strange appar-
| ton. The man carried a small scoop-net,
| with which he caught all the fish he wanted
| If this system could be carried out on the
| Grand Banks, in 200 feet of water, there
would be a revolution in fishing. The svs-
tenn was tried on board vessel Of tue
| United States Fish Commission with consid-
cradle success. The experiments we re made
with long line that had an electric light
| just above the bait. OF course in any place
like the tank in Fulton market the fish be-
come accustomed to the light and will not
approach it, but in the open sea, where new
| fis would constantly be met with no such
| difficulty would arise.
| but, after all, believe that the biggest
hauls are made by the Japanese fishermen
without any scientific appliances, and in
| the good old-fashioned way. | was greatly
| surprised when | first saw their fishing
boats and nets a few years ago. In the
| district of NigasSaki alone, | am informed
that there are G6,000 people engaged in
fishing, with $1,000 boats On the most
southerly of the four large Japanese islands,
the ordinary fishing boat is 20 feet long and
5 feet broad. In the center of the boat is a
compartment several feet square opening
| into the water below. but covered with a
net that makes it a tight place for the fish
thrown there. Oars II feet long with broad
blades are used TO propel the boat which
moves with great rapidity. -Four men are
required far each boat, and on a clear
night hundreds of such boats may be seen
moving out in fleets, with great fires
burning on the crows nests at the
end Of the craning irons in the bows.
The boats made a picturesque scene with
their fiarlng lights and halt-naked fisher
men, swinging to and fro at the oars or
standing at the bows with spears appraised,
ready for throw, in which they are very
expert. The larger fish, 5 or feet in
length, are usually caught with a hook.
the Bonita, weighing from ten to twenty
| pounds, Is both speared and hooked For
deep water fishing, the boats are propelled
with SOULS and bamboo sails, with thirty
or forty men in a crew. Their nets. or
seines, are very large, being exceeded only
by those in North Carolina, where horses
are used to drag them ashore. In places
where the beach allows, seines, hundreds OF
feet long and 40 feet deep, are drawn At
the mouth of one river in northern japan,
they think nothing Of taking several thou
sand salmon at one haul. Their substi-
tute for the pound net is an immense
triangle covering an acre or more. it is
set where the water is a few faith
oms deep, with the apex of triangle
toward the shore The mesa es
from the center toward the apex are very
fine, but toward the base they gradually
open out and become very large. The
extreme edges and apex of the triangle are
kept at the surface by bundles of small
bamboo sticks, while the center says down
to The bott )m, and the fish pass in freely
through the large meshes, attracted by the
bait which IS thrown in for that purpose.
Morning and evening, the fishermen ia four
or five boats, beginning at the base. pass the
net under the bottom of the boats and
drive the tsl over the meshes of the apex.
so many are inclosed in this way, that the
water seems 70 boil with them. The boats
are often loaded at a single haul, although
many Of the fish escape by leaping over the
sides of the net They are taken out in
scoop nets. The fish taken include bass,
behring's, gorgies, and a fish corresponding
to the Louisiana Dompano. Young sharks
are also taken and esteemed a great deLcacv
The Tremendous scaOOls of sardines there
seen are wonders in themselves, and are
taken by the japanese in q sort of gill net
which is dragged through the water by