The Ear really has a treat for anyone interested in history and/or fishing, boats and fishing boats. It’s a Web site at (WWW.BESTHISTORICFISHING.NET), and it is chock full of the most amazing photos. The ear can’t even imagine how long it must have taken to scan the thousands (yes, thousands) of photos that are up online for viewing.

Of course, the Ear went directly to the album called “Columbia River Gillnetting,” which contains seven separate albums with about 1,300 images. Most of the photos have some sort of description in their titles, which helps a great deal. The site could really use its own search engine to make it easier to find things, though.

Pictured above, from the top down, a small sample: Hammond Lumber Mill in Astoria’s Alderbrook area; horse seining in 1948; and a boat fire at the Elmore Cannery in Astoria in 1946. There were so many fishermen, monster-size salmon, historic scenes and boats to choose from, the Ear’s eyes were spinning in their sockets.

The site also includes albums titled Alaska Gillnetters, Bait Boats, California Seiners, Crabbers, Draggers and Net Full of Extras, each one loaded with images.