A Variety of Jobs

Interview Contact: Lawson Bridges

This story is talking about Lawson Bridges, my grand father, and what he did for work and what it was like. During our interview he seemed a little nervous, but he enjoyed doing it.

"[We] fixed up the old B&R [Bridges & Robbins] and the L&M [Lawson & Melvin]. That was back in '46 or '47. We got them going. We got both boats. We kept gaining twine and going and going. We went to the west'ard and chased the fish. Then we went of to Matinicus. We fished off there for nine years. [Then a guy came in and took over there]. So we came in [from Matinicus] and went into Head Harbor [Isle Au Haute] and we took out 114000 pounds of herring one summer. It gave us a pretty good year.

To catch the fish we [would drive them in a cove] and shut them off. Then we would take a purseine and get them in a pocket, and call all the boats so we could load them up. One day we loaded nine boats in Head Harbor. Harland Quinn pumped out the fish for us. It was pretty easy.

Then we stayed around there for two or three years and hardly a fish showed up. Dicky Bridges [his nephew] took all the twineing gear.

After 20 years, I stopped twineing. I started a saw mill. I did that for seven years. I made all trap stock... laths, bottoms and bows.

I would saw up to five or six cords of [fire] wood a day. Then I sold it and run it around. I had an old Ford truck. It was a big ton and a half. I delivered [for people] who ordered and couldn't pick it up. I would take it down around Bass Harbor, Southwest Harbor and Isleboro.

There was quite a lot of lobsters back then. I used to get 5...6...7 hundred pounds a day. We'd haul 400 to 450 traps to get 600 pounds. We would haul from the eastside of Isle Au Haute to Head Harbor.

I would sell everywhere when I came in...COOP and Colwells. We would take them out and weigh them... bait up and get ready for the next day to go at it again.

Back then it was good because we had the house and the kids right there on the grounds.

I always had a helper in the stern. I had Erwyn Eaton, George Lame Becks and Bill Yurchick. I had a lot of helpers... they would come and go."

He still lobsters to day.

Jason Zanke