Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1920-06-04
RECORDS BROKEN IN
STURGEON FISHING
Recent Big Catches Denote ~
crease in Number in River,
Contrary to Predictions.
special Correspondence Of Every Evening

Special Correspondence Of Every Evening
Delaware City, June sturgeon
fishing records for the past twenty years
have been shattered IN the last three weeks
ol the present fishing season, and from
al indications the industry il on the verge
at another great era for the Delaware river
The catch this season and the size OF the
fish caught Indicate that there are more
fish IN the river than IN the last two decades
THIS is all III the face of predictions made
Tor the past few wears that the fish were
doomed 10 disappearance IN the Della
ware river.
tl76ut three weeks ago. when a few
sturgeon fishermen vcntured out after
the valuable fish, they did So with the
notion every fisherman has, and that IS
that he NAV catch one OF the hig ones
several caught the first day encouraged
them and when on the second and third /
davs similar catches were made. the other
fishermen were but short time quitting
shad fishing, and getting out their stur-
gcon nets and starting fishing
The first week at this place ten oil the
fish were caught. 4 peculiar feature OF the
catches was that the fish were large ones,
.Whilc in the past few years there were few
small ones caught during an entire sea
son The catch Of the first week here sur
passed catches for mn entire season IN past /
Years.
The second week showed still better
catchrs than the first week. Fifteen Of
the fish were caught one boat landing N
one dav two Of the fish valued IT nearly
5000. The catch this week has still exceed
ell that Of. last week and this week has
seen tho most remarkable fishing ~ many
wears The fishermen noW are ANXIOUS tosee
what the next few weeks OF hshng Will
show
ono crow of this place Frank Rhein and
frank Holiday III = little over two weeks.
have landed nearly 81 POO worth Of the fish.
Another crew. John 1ugcnd and Eugene
ARMSTRONG. last Monday broke a fifteen
wear record when they landed six nf the
tI~h ~ -iuelc dav, two being landed on
ono AMI four On another Tide. Two ol
tho h-h were bucks and four were skunk
err. Int the meat Of the fish. which IS
selling higher than ever before. Melted the
twn fishermen over 5000.
IIcnr> and Philip Torbcrt have landed
tho largest Cow sturgeon here this sea-
son. landing one on tuesday containing
lOt rounds Of roc, which sold for $50 4
pound. while the meat weighed $50
pounds and netted nearly 30 cents pound.
This fish measured over twelve feet in
length and IS the largest landed hero IN
slN wears. ono landed IN 1911 hv George
nECiN. measuring 4 iitsN ONtA ibtEAtfIa
tCe; in length, but it did not yield
greater amount OF roc
The sturgeon fishermen caller in the
spring for some reason. predicted that
the present season would bc the best IN
many wears. They mainly ascribe the I'M
usual catch to the fact that practically
closed season has existed for the past six
or eight wears During the period of the
war there were very few fishermen who
followed the industry. aS they were not
permitted to fish at night the Federal atI-
thorities allowing no craft on the river
after shutdown.
Then for the few wears prior 10 the war
tho catches had been dyindlng 50 rapidly
that there were only two or three fisher
men from the entire Delaware shore who
'lshcd FOR sturgeon. The result has been.
the fishermen claim, that tho fish have had
an opportunity to propagate and this is
givcn rs tie reason for the large catches
being made.
That there arc many moro FISH IN the
river in the opinion 81 the fishermen, a.
they report seeing them jumping about
more than in wears. Owing to The heavy
traffic on the Delaware the fishermen are
unable to safely fish IN the mann ship
channels and this they claim prevents them
from taking many - the fish that keep
MAINLY IN the ship channels.
The Weld oil roc from the fish lis wear
has been unusually large, many oi The
h~h furnishing fifty to seventy poUnd, 81
the valuable little eggs which after treat
mcnt find their way into tile world
commerce as caviar In landing the
BIC fish Il Is necessary for boat crew 10
summon aid from the nearest boat on
the ~ivcT Ii takes four men about % land
one al 4hc monsters. There Is an unwritten
Law among the fishermen 10 aid one an
Other when one Of the big fish hits their
nets
One crew, Frank Holiday and Frank
Rhcin. while fishing off the Reedy Island
Quarantine station. al night, caught ono
and there was no other crew on the river
within sight OF them they had to land the
fish themselves. 1t, weighed nearly FIVE
hundred pounds an was only landedafter
q struggle of nearly half an hour. lt.was
worth over $500.
THIS wear the meat Of the fish Is selling
for 80 cents a pound dressed. while IN
former wears the fishermen were lucky
to receive half OF this price. The fish IN
the rough, with head and tail on, bring
% cents pound now. In former years it
Noted from Is cents to : cents a pound.
Every crew that has been fishing from
here this wear has landed st least one of
the fish. The fishermen from Port Penn
and New Castle have likewise been making
blg catches.