THE SEA BASSES. 



45 



In summer several steamers make daily trips from New York to the 

 fishing banks off Sandy Hook and Long Branch. They are patronized by 

 thousands of amateur fisherman, who seldom fail to bring back trophies of 

 Sea-Bass and scuppaug. 



In the summer of 1832, Captain Lyman Bebe of the fishing smack Mary, 

 of New York, discovered a notable fishing bank about twenty miles to the 

 eastward of Sandy Hook. 1832 was the year of the " great cholera," and 

 its progress was the one topic of conversation, and Captain Bebe named 

 his new-found fishing ground the " Cholera Banks." 



Another famous reef, known as the " Fishing Banks," extends from off 

 the Highlands of Navesink, past Long Branch, to a point about opposite 

 Squan Beach. Both of these are favorite resorts for New Yorkers, who 

 visit them on the small excursion steamers. 



An artist, visiting the Cholera Banks thus records his experience : 



" Starting so early in the morning that his eyes are still heavy with 

 unexpended sleep, he soon finds himself on the steamer in company with 

 a hundred more fellow passengers, some of whom are heavy-eyed and in- 

 clined to grumble about the hour of starting, while others are cheerful, 

 and full of excitement at the prospect of the day's sport. Down the bay, 

 through the Narrows, across the lower bay, and out to sea, steams the little 

 craft on which they are embarked. Past the red light-ship, and twenty 

 miles due east from Sandy Hook, she runs, and then begins the search for 

 the Banks. The pilot takes ranges by several of the big hotels, of which 

 so many have been erected during recent years along the south shore of 

 Long Island ; a man in the bows takes soundings; and if the day be clear, 

 the steamer is soon brought to anchor directly above the reef, and a hun- 

 dred eager lines are dropped overboard. 



" Once at anchor the fun and trouble begin together. It is fun to catch 

 fish ; but seasickness is among the saddest of human experiences, and 

 many of those who have bravely endured the pitching to which the steamer 

 has been treated ever since she left Sandy Hook succumb at once to the 

 motion that succeeds it as soon as she comes to anchor, and rises and falls 

 with regular, ceaseless monotony on the long swells. 



"Apart from these and ridiculing their wretchedness, stand the profession- 

 als and toughened amateurs, smoking short pipes, hauling in fish, making 

 cruel jokes upon the condition of the novices, and thoroughly enjoying them- 

 selves. They bait their hooks with hard-shell clams, skillfully toss their 

 leaden sinkers far out from the steamer's side, let run fourteen fathoms of 

 line, and haul in Sea Bass, black-fish, flukes, rock cod, weak fish, porgies, 

 or whatever else comes to hand. Once in a while a line goes whizzing 

 through the water with a wild rush, there is a protracted struggle, and an 

 ugly customer in the form of a shark either breaks the line and escapes, or 

 is hauled on board amid much rejoicing. 



