Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1902-01-03
FISHING WITH FIRE.
one Way Of Allming the finny Creatures
in Various Places.

4 Fire and lights now play All inl-
portant part in thefsheries ofvarious
parts 81 the world In Florida boats
SO out On dark, moonless nights after
mullet with braners at the bows
filed with blazing pine knots. AS
The boatmen row slowly and quietly
along through the lagoons the fish
are attracted BY the glare within
reach Of thccastret, which is thrown
overheard at intervals. to be dIawr
" again and again, filed with silveTy
victims. So eagerly Go the mullet
seek the light that frequently they
iileap into the -boat, thus effectinc
their own capture.
ION Tie cosA of Maine, says the
New folk liefSiS, ard in the waters
Of the nearby Canadian provinces, is
nracticed a method Of fishing for her
ring which is known as "iorchirg."
II is Of Indian origin, and was un-
doubtedly utilized BY tie sborigines
in THAI part CT tee world lcng Lefor,
the coming Of Columbus. In toe
Iubec Narfows, vn.ah fc,m the eest-
ern entrance Of Fssssmsqrod6y lay,
this kind Of fshirgi Is spec:aily popu-
lar, taougb forbidden ii The neigh
boring waters = New Dfunswick, be-
-use Of a belief tina; the kercscr,
ines ~.sally employed (aoc..@g CT
the water has ~ c.e-. r. driving
away the fish,
Formerly birch torches were used
in this nocturnal pursuit bnt since
the bark became scarce Kerosene has
been substituted, tow or rags being
wrapped around a stick dipped into
the oil and set on fire One Of these
torches being attached to the bow 81 |
boat, the latter is rowed by one OIL
two men, while another stands in
the bow with scoop-net and scoops
up the fish as they rise to the light.
Moonless nights are chosen always,
and the rowing is kept up constantly,
because the herring will rise only so
long as. the light is kept in motion.
Sometimes squid-the small cut
fetish so largely used by fishermen
for bait, and whose bones serve to
sharpen canaries' bills-are captured !
in the same way. They are much at
tracted by light-so markedly, in
deed, that on a moonlight night tens
of thousands Of them will run ashore
and become stranded, thus perishing,
because they are so interested in gas-
ing at the moon that they keep their
eyes upon that orb, propelling them
selves steadily III one direction mean
while, until they find themselves on
- beach. Then, by the pumping of
their siphons, they push themselves
further up, until they are hopelessly
high and dry.
Along the coast of Maine weirs Of
brush are used for catching herring,
and sometimes the fish are "toled"
into these traps by means Of lights,
Large shoals of herring being OBJ
served outside, but showing no dis
position to come and be caught, the
fishermen will 60 out in boats, with
torches, and row quietly over the
schools, attracting them in the direc-
ton of the weirs. Having returned
at length to the weirs, they extin-
guish the torches, go out again and
repeat the process.
During the shad catching season
on the Potomac one may see numer-
Gus lanterns on the surface Of the
river, looking like so many great fire
files. These lanterns are attached
to the buoys of the shad nets, en-
Abling the fishermen to find them in
the dark.