“Big carp run at Sand Bay” from the March 21, 1974 Door County Advocate
The photographer’s son, Billy, finds himself surrounded by over 1,000 pounds of carp caught near Sand Bay on Sunday afternoon. —Bill Skadden
Big carp run at Sand Bay
A large school of carp that moved into the area on Saturday is responsible for the flurry of activity taking place at Sand Bay during the week.
Last Saturday Kermit Franda, R. 6, spotted a school of carp for the second time in two weeks. The first time the fish escaped the seine so Saturday Franda was determined not to let them get away again. Once he had trapped the fish in the circle net he realized that there were too many for him to handle alone so he called in commercial fishermen George and Joe Tenor, Harry and Wayne Russell, his step-father, Herbert Lenius and son, Terry.
Franda could have kept the catch to himself but instead he asked the others if they would like to work for a share so Sunday they all showed up with their equipment ready to go.
Between Sunday and Wednesday the fishermen hauled out 600 crates of carp with each box weighing near 125 pounds. The final destination of the fish is the Pepin Fishery located on the Mississippi River near Minnesota. This week the fishery sent up two semi’s to bring back live fish to be stored in a pool until they could get around to processing the large quantity of fish.
Mrs. Cleo Franda, Kermit’s wife, reports that between Sunday and Tuesday over 100,000 pounds of carp were taken out of the bay. A few suckers were in the batch but no other fish can be caught in this manner. She reports that the men expect to continue operations the rest of the week or until the ice or fish give out first.
At the fisheries the carp are dressed and prepared as human food and then are sent out to New York and Chicago in 30 pound tins. For all of their labor Franda and associates are reimbursed five cents per pound.
According to Mrs. Franda her husband is a seasonal commercial fisherman. He fishes in the winter and farms in the warmer seasons. She says that the Frandas have been catching carp in the bay for over 50 years. Mr. Lenius, Franda and now his son, Terry, all engage in the annual catch. This was the first time they had tried seining the carp and are pleased with the successful catch.
Do the Franda’s keep a large supply of the carp for their own consumption? “I grind some up for fish patties but once a month more than enough,” says Mrs. Franda.
Fishermen in the Sand Bay area are busy unloading a school of carp captured in their seine. It is reported that they took in 100,000 pounds in three days. —Bill Skadden
Courtesy of the Door County Library Newspaper Archive
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