SPOTS, CROAKERS AND RONCADORS. 131 



" In the Harlem and East Rivers and in Long Island Sound, where I 

 have caught them, they run very small indeed, and it requires great 

 patience and small hooks to take them in. They kee]) up a constant 

 nibbling, and the angler is so busy pulling his line up every minute or two 

 that he wishes he had not fallen in with the silvery pests. 



"Like the bergall the Spot bites at the hook with a sly tentative 

 nibble and immediately darts away, as is proved by their being frequently 

 hooked in the back, sides or tail. But there is this difference between 

 cunners and Lafayettes • the latter are good to eat and the former are 

 worthless. I know^ of no daintier morsel than a big, fresh Lafayette, 

 nicely fried and served hot. They are the most tasteful of all the salt water 

 pan-fish with the exception of the Stonington eel. 



" Few would care to go out especially for Spots, but if you do ha\e a lot 

 of fine, sharp hooks, put four on your line above a light sinker, bait \vith 

 small pieces of clam or saddworm, and fish on the first of the flood or at 

 dead high water in about fourteen feet. It is great fun to take them with 

 a very light rod. They can be caught in great numbers at Rockaway, 

 Cape May, Atlantic City, in fact, everywhere on the coast." 



The Spot is abundant at Mayport, Fla., in spring and summer. In the 

 Gulf of Mexico, according to Stearns, it is present in the bays all the 

 year, living in shoal water, feeding upon the bottom upon the small inver- 

 tebrate animals, and taken with hook and line and seine. It is extremely 

 abundant, and is considered a good food fish.* 



There is a rare species, allied to the Spot, recorded from Charleston, 

 S. C, and St. George's Island, Tex., known by naturalists under the name 

 Stelliferus lanccolatiis. It is found in deep water, and is not sufficiently 

 abundant to have acquired a common name. 



The Yellow Tail, Bairdiella chrysura, known as " Silver Perch " on the 



* How TO Fry Fan-fish — " To fry is to boil in fat, therefore the fat must boil, and it must cover whatever 

 you wish to fry. When fat boils it is quite still, leaves off moving or bubbling, and a thin blue smoke or 

 vapor rises from it. Fat can be kept for a long time to fry in ; it should be strained after using, and it can 

 be clarified often, provided it is not allowed to burn." — (Edith Cl;»rke.) 



After being cleaned and wiped perfectly dry, fish for frying should be rubbed over with flour, or dippeil 

 once or twice into egg and bread crumbs, or passed through a regularly-made batter. Fry it in plenty of 

 very hot oil or friture; drain it thoroughly from grease; sprinkle fine salt upon it, and serve it upon a 

 damask napkin folded in a dish tastefully garnished ; serve a sauce apart. Chopped onions are generally 

 fried and served with fresh herrings. If a sufficient quantity of fat be employed, a good thick fish will not 

 need more than ten minutes's frying; smelts and such-like small fish are done in five minutes, or even less. 

 Finely-shred herbs may be sprinkled over some sorts of fish, such as eels or mackerel, previously to frying 

 them, but soles, or in short flatfish generally, should be only done with bread crumbs and egg, so as to send 

 them to table looking of a clear golden yellow." — iGeokgiana Hill.) 



To fry fish in the Virginia style : — " Choose middle-sized fish ; clean them, scale and wash them : then 

 with a very sharp penknife score them on the sides, but not very deep nor very close ; dredge tliem with 

 flour ; then fry them in oiled butter. When they are well done and brown serve them up garnished with fried 

 parsley, and send up with them plain melted butter. This give; the fish its true flavor, and many, for that 

 reason, prefer it to any other way of dressing." — (Mrs. Smith.) 



To fry fish in the angler's style : — " Never put your fish in the pan till the fat is boiling hot . Always cut 

 your pork small, and don't try it out or otherwise cook it too fast, as it will lose much uf its sweetness. Score 

 the fish and roll them in flour before laying them in the sparkling fat. In using lard, a table-spoonful of salt 

 to a pound is a fair average."— (.Genio C. Scott.) 



