Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1903-04-01
rREScHmAs's BAY FISHING.


newed industry because 1t is well known
by residents older than the writer, what
an industry fishing In these waters used to
be; how the towns of Lsmoine and Han
cock have had a generation of fishermen
who are now on the eve OF their earthly
| career.
To us younger folks II Is told that the
| tate years scarcity of fish Is due to the
advent Of steam craft since the develop
ment of Bar Hsrbor and adjacent sum
mer resorts. Previous to those days, say
twenty years ago, f-hing was in its prime,
and all one has to do to get "ali about it"
is to breach the subject to local resident
of older years.
They will repeat to you all about the
rise and fall of fishing; how such and
such a man, vessel or cove was In their
| day. But in recent years steambosting
| has grown from an occasional towboat
from above the falls, or little .Sebenos"
doing Maine Central trsfiic between land
| ings, to the best-equipped, dou ble-screw,
psrlor-csr steamboat service of almost
hourly frequency, and the cruising
psIatisI plessure-yaehts of the nations
| miIlionsires.
| But still, withsl, the past two or three
years have witnessed in and around Sor-
repto renewed abundances OF herring,
squid, dogfish all of antsgonistic natures,
| but still where one is found the other is
also present.
| local fishermen, some costing the owners
several hundred dollars, and some men
own several privileges or pounds. Al
Location and instructive study have all
| to do with the success or failure of
weir. Business men venture into 1t be-
cause they feel that they have the funds
and the disposition to venture, bat 1t
takes a skilled fisherman of many years.
experience to conduct q herring fshing
business more than a few years. 1t Is all
chance, all gambling, when anyone bnt
a fisherman goes into 1t.
There are several kinds of fishermen
that land ubbers know little Of; you
can't explain to q fisherman the difference
between a railroad fireman and a conduc-
| tor; they are all trainmen to him. So 1t
Is on the OF her hand; the fish business is
composed OF lifelong lobstermen, life-
long iinemen, seinermen and weirmen.
business men are no good" says
sunburnt lobsterman, "till we fellows get
| the fish landed"
So money doesn't follow schools of fish;
it takes instinctiveness; or in college and
/ business talk, 1t is now called specialist.
Fishermen from "Bo bare", a local name
! for an eastern fishing ground out of Mil
| bridge harbor, say that instead of the
steam boat theory about fish, they are con-
WINGED that the frequency of herring In
Frencbman's bay is due to a general fire.
quency of large quantities of them all
along the Maine coast. They claim that
the fish visit and devsstate different
grounds for feeding and spawning pur-
poses; that during the past year lobster.
men got all of the herring they needed
right out of the water by sailing right
into q school OF them and dipping them
up alongside the boat; also that the fish
seek certain places to spawn, and their
accompanying destroyers, dog fish, get
them into big bay, and they school out
side, or blockade the harbor, as 1t were,
and make periodical raids on the herring
| in shoai water.
| Squid are a funny specimen of fish.
| They have head surrounded or armed
with many claws, and tail like the spear
| head tag on a plug of tobacco; when in a
school of herring they jump and capture
the victims and after their sppetites are
satisfied, they are often driven out of the
tide-way by wind blowing over shosl
water, and when one OF them is in danger
from other fish or any cause they exhale
a fluid W bich makes the water as black as
ink B; then they take a scoot.
Herring fishing is very exciting, as it is
case OF good luck" W hen a weir catches
several hogsbeacs to tide, and it is a
"long road that has no turn in itn, and
bad luck ensues.
This is time when many changes in
ownership take place, and "good luck"
strikes about often enough to keep sew
ersl new pouncs building most OF the
time.
A pound or weir is made like a sheep
pen or crockery- crate, say; generally
about eight feet high and as large the
other way as ones purse or ideas dictate;
then it is anchored where it is wanted,
| and generally a wing or two run to an
adjoining point or in different directions,
built of laths or small birches, and as the
tide goes the fish are influenced to enter
the pound and are caught to be removed
at low tide.
Many pounds are now in operation all
along the shores of Frenchman's bay, and
1t is time pleasantly passed to visit the
| owners, as they all have long and inter-
esting store of conversation or "shop" to
| give on the subject.
When they tell you it's "n. g.",- 1t Is
generally good, and when they begin to
spread the bouquets, look out for gold
| bricks and R1bes. K. f. G.
A squall caught party OF tourists on a
| lake on Scotland, and threatened to cap