Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-08-15

QUEER LURES FOR FISHES
Strange Devices Man Has Invented for Cap
turing Finny Prey.
TRAPS Used m INDIA SLAM AND JAPAS-roR
CATCHING DUcKs-F1RE rIsHfNa-MArE RIALs
FOR ruH NETS AND LISEs-rLY FISHING TIE
EIoHEsr DEVELOPMENT
ssTINHE TRAPS BY WHICH MAN CAPTURES
u other animals are the best possible Illus
tration OF his superiority to the rest Of the
brute creation" said naturalist the other day.
mot the least remarkable OF his achievements
IN this line are to be found in the varied apa-
ratus he has devised for taking fishes.
In India huge funnel Of wickerwork 10
planted In a stream below waterfall, and every
nnny creature coming down drops into It, the
water straining out and leaving the tapping
prey In the receptacle. all ready to be gathered
In. remarkable scheme for trapping cells 10
practiced In the same country. Barrels loaded
with stones and bait are pierced with holes and
sunk in the water. Eels, smelling the food,
find an entrance through the perforstions; they
cannot easily get out again, and soon the in
terror is wriggling mass of Shiny victims.
The fisherman is dead sure to secure a couple
OF Dusneis at every haul
IN INDIA, s1AM AND JAPAN.
another trap used in India for like pur-
pose ia q Handicapped affair made Of long
thorn branches and set on the bottom among
the weeds in which certain sort of fish find
their favorite hiding places. The latter go in,
but are unable to get out again, because the
rhorns all point inward. In Siam the natives
utilize a curious wicker continuance for fishing
| in narrow streams. The device in question is
| In the shape Of an inverted vase faring at the
rim and without bottom. While one man
devotes his attention to driving the fish down
the water way, another stands ready to clap
the basket over their heads when they come
thickest. Having thus penned in a number Of
them ne thrusts his arm into the trap and pnlls
them out. The Japanese have n remarkable
pound-net arrangement that scoops vast guam
titles OF fish into an enormous bag OF netting
hanging beneath the bottom Of a vessel. In
this receptacle something like thirty times the
cargo can be conveyed to market that could be
carried by the ship in the ordinary way. Fur
thermore, the merchandise is by this method
brought into port alive.
FOR CATCHING DUCKS.
I'm the same country an ingenious scheme Is
practiced for taking ducks on line, which is
attached at one end to flexible stick stuck up
in tho mud, the other extremity having a
double-pointcd needle of bone attached to it.
The latter is baited by stringing upon it some
grains of corn. Presently along comes Mr..
Duck, swallows the needle, and finds himself
acaptive the minute he tries to fly away. In
| old times the Cape Cod fishermen depended
largely for bait upon the sea fowl they took
on their voyages. To catch them they
threw out fishing lines with hooks on the ends,
The latter foated, because of the oil they con-
tanned, and INJURIES, gulls and other birds swal
lowing them were quickly pulled in, skinned
and chopped up. Nowadays these bold toilers
OF the ocean do not take the trouble to procure
bait in such fashion, relying for supplies
| upon the capitalists who employ them. These
employers reckon that incidentally to obtain
ing provisions OF this kind, more time is lost in
sprees on shore than is consumed in the active
business Of the fishery.
FIRE FIsHINa.
"The use Of fire in fishing is one Of the curl
! osities Of that employment. In southern wa
tiers mullet are taken in enormous quantities
by boats which go out with wire baskets at the
bows filed with blazing pitch pine. For the
purpose in view the craft is SO loaded as
| to bring the gunwale on one side down
nearly to a level with the water. and the fish,
attracted by the light, jump aboard by
hundreds. Sometimes a big dip net is used to
scoop in the scaly creatures which crowd in the
water toward the illumination. machine for
taking fish by the Wholesale is employed in
North Carolina. II is called = fish wheel and
| is worked like an ordinary water wheel by a
| narrow stream that is permitted o give
outlet to damned stream. But it
is, so constructed that in revolving it
picks up all the fish that pass through and
throws them into great box. In the same
state Is operated what is termed fish slide
which ID simply an enormous tray made Of
boards, with a bottom OF open Stats, set III the
flow Of rapid. As the fish come down stream
they pass on over the tray. and the water fall
ing through the slats leaves them Tapping
about on the plaIks, whence they are scooped
up with dip nets.
STRANGE MATERIALS FOR FISH NETS AND LINES.
Fish nets, by the way, are made from some
very strange materials. The Eskimo manu-
facture them from strips of seal hide and from
thin slices Of wha,ebone. BY the Fijians they
are constructed Of human hair. Savages in va
rious parts of the world plat the inner fbers
OF tree bark for fishing lines, and the Indians
on the Pacific coast Of North America use for
the same purpose seawced--a sort OF kelp which
is strong enough TO hold q funny captive OF 100
pounds weight. 1t is very interesting to ob-
serve the development OF the fishery from its
original form to the shape it is found in today
You will find the Eskimo using piece of bone
with bent nail stuck through it, the lure being
rendered more attractive by the addition Of
two or three cOlored beads obtained from
trader and perhaps couple Of the red bills Of
auks. He knows by experience that certain
sorts OF figures carved in the wood out of which
he makes his bigger hooks will catch the great
est possible number of fish, and 80 he always
uses those. 1t seems very remarkable to find
that the fish hooks, of the bronze age have pre-
clsely the same bends as the Limerick and
Shaughnessy patterns of today. Originally the
hook and the sinker OF the fisherman were sep
arate. 1hen came modification, such rs is
seen in the 'mackerel gig, which combined the
two in one piece OF metal. Next came the
notion OF making the siuker hook Of a
bright substance. to attract
the prey. Later on the modern sportsmen
transformed the device into the likeness OF q
fish OF bright metal poured into mold. Now
the English have improved on this trolling con-
trlyance by making minuows and frogs of rub
Der and coiorinS them in hfeiike manner
as possible. But 10 such lure is equal to the
bright revolving nickel-plated spoon with
brilliant bunch Of feathers to disguise the gang
OF hooks.
FLIES FOR FIsHIyo.
However, artificial flies may fairly be con-
sidered to illustrate the highest development
Of the art piscatorial. The limitations pro-
duced in this shape Of winged insects, grass
horpers and the lary8 of various bugs are
really wonderful. In their manufacture mate
rials are drawn from every part Of the world
Furs as well as feathers are utilized in
making them. Deer, bears, monkeys,
seals. rabbits, sheep pigs squirrels. dogs
and even rats contribute. Agents are
sent out from Paris to all parts Of the
earth to gather for this purpose the skins Of