Commercial fishing statistics for lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis), shallow-water lake herring (Leucichthys artedii), yellow perch (Perca flavescens), and suckers (Catostomus spp.) were analyzed separately by principal gears in the fishery for a 42-year period in northern Green Bay, Lake Michigan. The transition from cotton to nylon gill nets occurred 20 years after records began while the pound net remained unchanged. Abundance indices calculated separately for each gear and catch-per-unit-of-effort (CPE) averages for each gear did not show a general increased efficiency for nylon gill nets.