THE BLUE FISH. i6i 



The Bluefish is one of our most important of sea-fishes, and sur- 

 passed in public estimation only by the Spanish mackerel and the pom- 

 pano. It may be said to furnish a large part of the supply to the Middle 

 and Northern States. It is a standard fish in New York, Boston and other 

 seaports, and is carried in great numbers into the interior. Its flesh is 

 very sweet and savory, but it does not keep very well. In the Vineyard 

 Sound the fishermen are in the habit of crimping their fish, or killing 

 them, by cutting their throats in such a manner that they bleed freely. 

 Everyone who has opportunities for observing admits that fish thus treated 

 are far superior to any others. Great quantities of Bluefish are frozen in 

 New York for winter consumption. They are still considered unfit for 

 food on our Southern coast, and even in the markets of Washington, 

 D. C. I have frequently been stopped by fish-dealers who asked me to 

 assure their customers that Bluefish were eatable. They are growing in 

 favor everywhere, however, just as they did in Boston. Capt. Atwood 

 tells me that in 1865 but very few were sold in Boston, and that the 

 demand has been increasing ever since. When he first went to Boston 

 with a load of Bluefish he got two cents a pound for them ; the second 

 year they were scarcer, and he got two and one-half cents, and the 

 year afterward three cents. 



Within a few years the reputation of the Bluefish among anglers has 

 decidedly improved. Norris wrote in 1865, that the Bluefish was seldom 

 angled for, and that it was not esteemed as food : in 1S79, Hallock de- 

 clares that the Bluefish and the Striped Bass are the game fish, par excel- 

 lence, of the brine, just as the salmon and black bass are of fresh Avater. 

 The favorite mode of capture is by trolling or squidding, a process already 

 described. This amusement is participated in every summer by thousands 

 of unskilled, but none the less enthusiastic, amateur fisherman, who in their 

 sail-boats, trail the tide-rips from Cape May to Cape Cod. Many pro- 

 fessional fishermen also follow this pursuit, especially in the Vineyard 

 Sound, about Nantucket and along the south shore of Cape Cod, a region 

 famous for its swift cat-boats and fat Bluefish. 



Another mode which is growing in favor is that of heaving and hauling 

 in the surf, which has been already described in writing of the Striped 

 Bass. No rod is used, but the angler, standing on the beach or in the 

 breakers, whirls his heavy jig about his head and casts it far into the sea, 

 and having hooked his fish puts his shoulder to the line, and walks up the 



