THE SHEEPSHEAD. 87 



too violent, the rod will snap at the fulcrum — the grasp of your left hand. 

 It has happened that, at one of these artificial grounds, I have taken six- 

 teen Sheepshead at one fishing. What was unusual was that they were 

 taken in February, when no one thinks of fishing for these or any other 

 sea-fish within the inlets. I ascertained, from the continued experiments 

 of several years, that they could always be taken at this season, and, fre- 

 quently, January also. The difficulty is to find bait, for neither shrimps 

 nor crabs are then in season. In the case referred to the difficulty was 

 thus removed : The lines were rigged with two hooks ; upon one was 

 placed an oyster taken fresh from the shell, on the other an oyster boiled. 

 The scent of the first attracted the fish, but so little tenacity was found in 

 it that, before the fish had taken hold of the hook, the oyster was detached ; 

 but when, encouraged by the taste of the first, the fish advanced to the sec- 

 ond, that having acquired toughness from boiling, would adhere until the 

 hook was fairly taken into the fish's mouth. They clearly prefer the un- 

 cooked to the cooked oyster, but the latter was more to the fisherman's 

 purpose. Their fondness for this food suggested the expedient of break- 

 ing up the live oysters in the shell and scattering them in the vicinity of 

 the ground ; also that of letting down the broken oysters in a wicker bas- 

 ket. Each plan is found effectual in attracting the fish. 



"The bluffs, in their primitive state, in which trees enough are found 

 fallen to give the fish both food and protection against their enemies, are 

 only to be met Avith now among the Hunting Islands, where the barrenness 

 of the land had secured them against cultivation. On two occasions I 

 have enjoyed excellent sport at such places. On one I took twenty-three 

 to my own rod ; on another, twenty-four, and desisted from fatigue and 

 satiety. They are never taken in such numbers when fishing from a boat 

 with a drop-line on the rocks. It is very rare that as many as twenty are 

 taken in one boat." 



In New Jersey, Sheepshead pens are made by forming enclosures of long 

 stakes driven into the sandy bottom of bays and inlets. 



In the North, the Sheepshead is equally a great favorite, and the in- 

 structions to anglers written nearly a hundred years ago by Mitchill is bet- 

 ter than any by more recent writers. 



" This noble fish visits the neighborhood of Long Island annually, 

 emerging from the depths of the ocean. He feeds in the recesses and 

 inlets upon the clams and mussels, which are abundant and on which he 

 loves to feed. He confines himself strictly to the salt water, never having 

 been seen in the fresh rivers. His term of continuance is only during 

 the warmest season ; that is, from the beginning of June to the middle of 

 September. He then disappears to the unknown depths of the Atlantic, 

 and is seen no more until the ensuing summer. The Sheepshead swims in 

 shoals, and is sometimes surrounded in great numbers by the seine ; several 



