FISHES OF THE EAST ATLANTIC COAST. 4i> 



of ten stout flattentd rays ; the second dorsal, ot one very short 

 ray and about twenty soft rays. The pectoral fins are hirge and 

 pointed ; the anal fin has one very short ray and another long and 

 stout one. 



The prevailing color is darkish bronze, of a brown tint ; lighten 

 ingas it nears the ventral region. Behind each pectoral fin is a 

 round dark spot. The scales are silvery on the exposed edges. The 

 black drum, as it is called, is dark brown, rather than black, and 

 the red drum is lighter in tint, reddish and coppery. 



In size the drum runs from twenty to one hundred pounds and 

 over, and their habitat is in extent from Florida to iSi^ew York. 



Most of the drum are captured in seine nets during the summer 

 months, but the angler, (probably tired of troutlings and basslets, 

 and following the example of the English sportsman who, wearied 

 of pheasants and jack-rabbits, journeys over half a world to find 

 tigers and elephants) standing in«the surf takes the monster out of 

 his native element by a happy combination of strength, tackle and skill.. 



Black drum are taken from the flat beaches of New Jersey while 

 the tide is running up ; they are not found at all at ebb tide. Evi- 

 dently they run out into deep water, and follow up the incoming 

 tide, seeking food, which is generally crabs, clams, molluscs and sand 

 insects of all kinds. 



The drum is taken without the use of a rod. The angler stands 

 on the beach at the edge of the surf, or a little way in it, and uses a 

 long hand line — two or three hundred feet of Cuttyhunk striped bass 

 line is about the thing. The line should be as light as is possible in 

 bringing in such big fish. To the line is attached a heavy " cast," 

 or '• bank" sinker, and above this lead are fastened the hooks ; gen- 

 erally two are used, which are large — numbers 1 and 2 " sea hooks"^ 

 are about right in size. The bait used is either crab, clam (soft shell) 

 or mussel. The drum can crush almost any mollusc with his pow- 

 erful teeth, and it is said he is very destructive to the oyster farms 

 along the coast. The baited line is cast far out in the surf by the 

 angler, and as the action of the waves rolling in brings along with 

 them the heavy sinker, the fisherman coils up in a round recep- 

 tacle hanging from his neck the slack of the line. It often hap- 



