Mussel Size Gauge
This file appears in: Pearl City
There were size limits on which mussels could legally be taken from the river. The fishers would place questionable mussels against a metal ring gauge. If it passed through the ring, it was too small to lawfully keep. Barnet Bass III holds up a hand-made shell gauge made by his father years ago. The well-made tool was a necessity for a mussel fisher.
This file appears in: Pearl City
Pearl City
The name “Pearl City” originated sometime between 1900 and the early 1930s, when the mussel fishing industry here sparked a “pearl rush.” This stretch of the Wabash River was once filled with people, mostly squatters, who lived in tents, shanties,…