The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1903-06-13
SHAD FISHING.
HIGH UP SUSQUEHANNA.
A Cecil Countian Tells How 1t Is Con-.
Quoted At The Head Waters OF That
Romantic Stream.
Dear Whig =

Dear Wing =
To one who has lived near the head
of the Chesapeake Bay, where the shad
appears in abundance. as is the case in
the waters of Cecil county. the methods
adopted by fishermen. in quest of this
king of meat fishes. in the waters higher
up tn" river present many novel feat
ureS; and one here finds much to interest
| and amuSe him.
Here they count their shad by the
piece. rather than by the hundred as we
used to in Cecil county. 1t was our priv
ilge to visit the Shnd fishery ut Accomac,
tJuSt opposite MHriettnD. some days ago,
where Il hauling seine is operated At
this point as at most of the up-river
fisheries. the fishing is I'LL done ut night.
The first haul being unusually made
about dusk: and it is followed by haul
about once an hour thereafter until four
or five O'Clock i'll the morning.
The seine at this point is Il large G.?
one. being about one-haf mile long, and
it is usually operated by 10 or - men.
When they fish with less than 10 men,
they say they are fishing short"
The first haul usually results in a
small catch. At this particular time il
| consisted o. seven shad and Il couple of
| carp. The seine is kept moving steadily
| until about midnight. when the men have
II smack" and Il swallow" and half
hour rest. after which fishing is resumed
until morning.
We were told. that the best nights
| work this season was 134 Shad. which is
| considered very good. The shnd caught
up here are nearly all very fine fish, as
it seems as though only the big strong
| fish succeed in getting up this far.
Most of the fish we saw. would weigh
| from q to : pounds. there being only ona
understood one in about 30 landed in
| three haulS.
There are also Il number of gill seines
run on the river, where the current is not
too swift. The chief pecuarity in this
| method is, that the seine is put out and
allowed to drift until it lodges on some
obstruction. stump OF n stone, when il
| Is hShed over and taken up. The fisher
| man then rows up the river to his orf-
snal starting point. and repeats the
operation. The hauling seine fishermen
say. that the gillcd Shad are mo good"
| for many of them are drowned from be-
ing left in the net. while the fisherman
is waiting for it to lodge somewhere.
One finds very many quaint characters
among these river fishermen. coming as
| they ito from 80 many different walks in
| life. they max" an interesting group.
| Here we find the typicnl river man.
mechanics and farmers. all who seem to
he equally interested in the tinny tribe,
and the ready money they represent.
| The river man is the only one however,
who seems to regard it as II business, the
| Others more aS an interesting past time.
| In" hShmen however. are not the only
ones who seem to be interested in the
operations, aS nearly every evening sees
quite Il gathering of both town and
country folk out to witness the earlier
huuS.
There We're several Young men evident
Iy from the river hills. who used some
| rather amusing expressions. One was
heard to call to Il companion-"Ioh Johnnie,
| don't lost YOU. we want you to 20 the
hill up along" While another said
Hey, Pill Make yourself after there"
tmenring that Bill WIS to come along,.
| Most of til" Srinrs are run on the
shares. that *. onchalf to the seine
and on"-half to tn" men. which seems to
he the most satisfactory way. presenting
aS it does IN element of chance.
| AT GoldSboro'. near Harrisburg. the
fishermen seem to have solved the prob
lem of dividing an odd number of fish
| among an even number of men. and
while it is something like the problem Of
the Hindoo and his II elephants, it seems
to be satisfactory to all concerned
| When the nights fishing is over. some
one will announce th%t il is time to
divide" Shnd. which is done somewhat