Zurich Citizens News, 1978-06-08, Page 9Fishing is in
"She's not quite warm yet
. better go inside and get a
coffee."
A few minutes later inside
the darkened coffee shop of
Fisherman's Cove, Bill
McNichol and Rick and
Wayne Moody discuss the
out -come of the previous
evening's hockey game.
After a cup of java and some
kidding around, it's to the
fishing tug for another day of
pulling the nets in and
putting them back out.
At 7 a.m. there's not but
sound in Grand Bend's
harbour aside from the
slightly muffled and chat-
tery sound of the diesel
engine of the "Gary M".
When the location of the
first pet is reached, just
slightly north of the Grand
Bend pumping station, the
lake is quiet and a warm sun
is already beating down. •
After about 10 minues, the
outside buoy marking the
location found and
of the nets
net's
the
task
is
removing
a is begun.
Rick brings the nets in ... and Wayne puts them out.
Wayne and Rick Moody
blood of GB fishermen
Father Wayne, a veteran
of over 20 years of fishing on
the great lakes maneuvers
the tug towards the net and
son Wayne, himself a
veteran of five years on the
lakes puts the buoy into the
tug.
The first of the 1800 yards
of netting is attached to the
puller, a device which is
powered by an escaped
Datsun car engine. Slowly,
the nets which have not been
touched in two days, come to
the surface along with their
catch of perch. This one net
is actually 40 or 45 nets
joined together according to
Wayne.
An average catch is
considered to be 27 fish per
net with the first few nets
that have been pulled run-
ning at this amount.
As more fish begin to
appear in the almost in-
visible monofilament line,
Rick yells "Here they
come!"
Following the removal of
the nets which are usually
The fish don't come out of the net by themselves.
set at a depth of 34 feet, the
task of removing the fish
begins. This is a two man
operation with the boat left
to drift.
The two fisherman assume
seats with a tray full of nets
on one side and empty green
plastic boxes on the other.
The perch and other fish
which may. have been caught
are removed by pulling the
netting away from the perch,
hooking an eye of the perch
and then pulling through.
Two of the boxes are filled
rapidly while two boxes of
junk fish are partially filled.
By this time in the mor-
ning, the lake is placid with a
heavy haze lying low over
the water and rapidly rising
sun is beginning to warm
things up.
Just as the nets are
removed at the bow, they're
placed back into the water at
the stern. A buoy and anchor
are dropped, the "Gary M."
moves forward and the nets
once again return to their
watery grave.
Moving northwards
towards St. Joseph, the quest
for the second net which they
intend to pull today is
complicated by a dense fog.
Turning to their radar, they
attempt to find an object on
the screen that could be one
of their buoys.
At this time, Rick related
an incident that occurred
under similar conditions the
previous week. Seeing four
objects on the radar screen,
the younger Moody says to
his father "We should be
running right by the buoy."
The object which they
thought might be a buoy
turned out to be a seagull,
After about 45 minutes of
attempting to locate a buoy
which has the "Gary M's"
distinctive markings, they
come across one, but un-
fortunately there is no net
attached, apparently
severed by the propeller of
another ship.
Ten minutes later, they
find the companion buoy still
attached to the net.
The same procedure was
used with the removal of the
first net from the water
which is made of the less
effective nylon filament.
As the first few feet of the
net are taken up, it becomes
apparent this net was not
placed in the proper position.
Wayne said perch travel in
schools and move towards
the shore to feed.
Following the removal of
the fish from the nets, the
nets are set in a position
slightly north of the location
where it was set originally.
Pushing the throttle up to
almost full power, Wayne
heads the Gary M, for home
after a short day on Lake
Huron.
The elder Moody said the
peak season runs from
March to late December
with the job taking up most
of the time during that part
of year.
With regards to how the
fishing was Wayne said "So
far this year it has been a
better year than the last
couple'
Most of the fish which they
catch is either used at
Fishermans' Cove or sold to
the fish markets in New
York and Detroit. Only a
small percentage is sold to
Canadian fish wholesalers
Fishing is a part of the
Moody- make-up with father
Wayne moving to Kingsville
to pursue this age old
profession after spending
eight years in the salt
mines at Goderich. The
family moved their
operation to Grand Bend
about five years ago.
"Its something that gets in
your blood," the elder Moody
said.
Back at the docks, the fish
are unloaded and taken to
Greens' Fresh Fish where
the perch are weighed and
packed in ice. As it turns out,
377 pounds of perch were
caught, all of which was
bound for the Cove.
It is readily apparent that
being a commercial
fisherman is rough bottLin
terms of physical conditions
and the economic ups and
downs but it is also obvious
this is a way of life which
many men holddear to their
hearts.