Snow's Cut, Cape Fear Are Great for Flounder

From Carolina Sportsman site.

The waters of the Lower Cape Fear River and Snow's Cut are great for catching flounder, especially large flounder.  Indeed the state record for this fish, twenty pounds, was caight here in 1980.  However, flounder fishing isn't as good as it once was, but you can still catch ten pounders and heavier.

Snow's Cut is a manmade  channel that carries the Intercoastal Waterway from Carolina Beach to the Cape Fear River.  Named for Major William A. Snow, project manager for the U.S. Corps of Engineers for the initial dredging, it is about 1.75 miles long and originally dredged to 120 feet wide and  12 feet deep.

Many locals opposed its construction because of the introduction of more salt seawater through Carolina Beach Inlet into the Cape Fear River ten miles inland, the project was apprived and completed.  It killed many of the cypress trees lining the river banks.

--Cooter

NIU's Lagoon Open to Fishing Back in 1920

From the May 13, 2020, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1920, 100 Years Ago.

"An announcement today that will be hailed with delight by hook and line enthusiasts is that from  the Normal school (NIU at the time) to the effect that the administration is planning to grant permission to the public to fish with hook and line in the lake on the Normal school grounds (now the Lagoon) on Saturday between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

"No seining will be permitted at any time.  The notice is signed by Dr. J. Stanley Brown, president of the school.

"If you can't find the boys on Saturday, you'll know where they are.  Get your fish worms ready fellers!"

Fishin' at the NIU's Lagoon.  --DaCoot

Spring Grove Fish Hatchery-- Part 1: A Perfect Location

From the March 21, 2018, Hi-Liter "Former Fish Hatchery" reborn" by Sandra Landen Machaj.

Spring Grove was the home of the very first State of Illinois Fish hatchery in 1914.  A group of 16 men and Thomas McCaferty built eight concrete ponds in the swampy land near Nippersink Creek to be used as a fish hatchery.

This was a perfect site because of the great source of water from a spring located there (which I believe to be the spring that gives Spring Grove its name).

The ponds and associated buildings constructed there became known as the Spring Grove Fish Hatchery and eggs were incubated in the building.  Once hatched, they were moved to one of the ponds to continue growing until they were big enough to survive in the open waterways.

Each fall, the little fish, known as fingerlings, were released into Illinois waterways including rivers, lakes and even Lake Michigan.  By 1967, more than 500,000 fish were produced annually, making it the largest fish hatchery in Illinois.

--Cooter

U-156-- Part 3: Sank 28 Fishing Boats and Presumed Sunk By a Mine On Way Home

Afterwards, the U-156 headed north to attack the U.S. fishing fleet where it sank 21 ships in the Gulf of Maine area. ranging from the 72-ton schooner Nelson A on August 4 to the 766-ton Dornfonttein on August 2.

On August 5 it sank the tanker Luz Blanca off Halifax and captured the Canadian trawler  Triumph off Nova Scotia.  The crew manned and armed this ship and used it in conjunction with the submarine to capture and sink seven other fishing boats in the Grand Banks area. after which they scuttled the Canadian ship.

After that, the U-156 returned home, but hadn't reported by September 25 and in the days that followed  It is believed that the submarine was negotiating the Northern barrage Mine Field between the United Kingdom and Norway and it is presumed that she struck a mine and sank.

The British almost sank her after they  intercepted a message from it telling its course and a British submarine was sent out to attack  but the U-156 dove and got away.  But it never made it home, nor were any of her crew seen again.

Quite A Story.  --Cooter

Something Fishy in Fox Lake on September 16

Tomorrow, at 9:30 a.m., the Fox Lake Grant Township Area Historical Society will be having a monthly meeting at the Grant Hall Museum at 411 Washington Street in Ingleside, Illinois.

Topic of the meeting will be Commercial Fishing and Seining for Carp.

2017 marks the 20th anniversary of the organization, same as the 20th anniversary of the McHenry County Civil War Round Table which I also am a member.

Always something interesting.

--Cooter

Claude R. Pfaff-- Part 4: A Carolina Beach Connection

In the 1920s, when he was working for the Realty Bond Real Estate Company, the firm would send its salesmen on vacation to Carolina Beach so that they would come back and tell their customers how wonderful the beach was, and hopefully sell more lots at Carolina Beach.

Throughout his years of living in Winston-Salem, Mr. Pfaff most enjoyed going to Carolina Beach for the fall fishing season.  His friend Ellis Freeman taught him how to fish, and Ellis' wife Annie, taught him how to cook what he caught.

In 1927, the Carolina Beach Hotel stood across from where Claude and Atha were staying, and one evening, while they were sitting on the porch of their place, they watched waiters and employees carrying out linens, silverware and other valuables from the hotel.  The next night the hotel "mysteriously" burned to the ground.

In the early 1930s, Claude built a cottage near Carolina Beach Lake as a birthday present to Atha, who named it "The Lullaby" for the choruses of frogs that sang around it at night.

--Cooter

Claude R. Pfaff-- Part 3: After the War, Jobs and Carolina Beach

Now a civilian again, Claude worked for the Colonial Motor Company and then as a salesman for the Realty Bind Company in Winston-Salem.  He married Atha Wolff of Tobaccoville, N.C., in June 1919 and they had two sons, Harry and Bob, and one daughter, Geraldine.

In his later years, Claude Pfaff worked as a retail coal dealer then a dairy farmer before retiring and spending most of his time in Carolina Beach, N.C., and much of that time fishing for king mackeral off the Fisherman's Steel Pier.

Both of my grandfathers were avid fishermen and loved to get out on piers.  My father's father, was killed in an accident coming back from a pier at Topsail island, N.C..

--Cooter

Looking Back to 1941: Something Fishy in DeKalb County

From the November 2, 2016, MidWeek, (DeKalb County, Illinois) "Looking Back."

1941, 75 Years Ago.

"About 58,000 small fish, including bass, crappies, blue gills, and perch were placed in the Kishwaukee (River) in the northern section of the county."

No doubt, these fish were hatched and raised at the Spring Grove, Illinois Fish Hatchery which supplied fish for the northern part of Illinois for many years.  It has been turned into a park by my town now.

--Cooter

North Carolina Shrimp Was a Really Big Deal-- Part 1: Big Business

From the June 18, 2016, Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer "Past Times" by Teresa Leonard.

Owners and operators of a large fleet of boats go out everyday from coastal points, searching for "white gold" as they call the wily shrimp.  And they have lots of buyers, many from New York to go to northern markets on ice.

Many other Tar Heel shrimp go to processing plants in other states as there are few in state.  There they are breaded, frozen and shipped nationwide.

How many shrimp are caught varies, but in 1965, some 5.4 million pounds were caught for $1.7 million. Today, it is the #1 dollar-making fishing catch.

Traditionally, the North Carolina shrimping season opens when they have grown big enough for 40 of them (70 with heads pinched off) to make a pound.

A Real Shrimp-Lover Here.  --Cootshrimp