78 FISHES OF THE VICINITY OF NEW YORK 



Bluefish are taken commercially by lines more than by nets to 

 which they are very destructive. There is a fishing ground near Sandy 

 Hook where a great many are taken by chumming with hand-lines from 

 boats. One man is kept busy grinding Menhaden and throwing it over- 

 board to form an unbroken strip of chum, cutting the back from each 

 Menhaden as he does so, to serve as a bait. The others haul in the 

 Bluefish, which work up through the chum, hand over hand, about as 

 quickly as they can bait and throw over their lines. It is strenuous 

 work for the crew, who are exhausted after about two hours of it. 

 Finally, when tired out or when the fish suddenly stop biting, one of 

 the boats starts back to the city, and they all follow, racing to get to 

 market before the catch shall have sent down the price of fish. 



Adult Bluefish are taken by trolling with metal "squid," largely 

 from sail boats. The larger ones occur off shore, smaller ones in the bays. 

 Though their game qualities may be superior, they are accessible to a 

 far smaller number of city anglers than the Weakfish. 



Early in the season off shore Bluefish average about six pounds 

 in weight. Later, ten-pound fish are not unusual. A century or more 

 ago they are said occasionally to have been taken up to forty or fifty 

 pounds. 



The Crab-eater is a southern fish whose young occasionally straggle 

 north to New York in summer. It is an elongate species with the forked 



CRAB-EATER 



tail not so symmetrical and firm as in most of those we have been con- 

 sidering. The head is slender with projecting lower jaw and the 

 dorsal fin consists of several low isolated spines on the back, in front 

 of the rather long soft dorsal. The Crab-eater has one or more dark 

 stripes the length of its body which will aid in its identification. 



All the fishes we have considered in this chapter have a more or less 

 off-shore, free-swimming habit, but with the possible exception of the 

 Oceanic Bonito, the Dolphin is more truly pelagic than any of them. 



