FISHES OF THE EAST ATLANTIC COAST. 53 



avis tliere in. the year 1883. But the tautog has not altogether de. 

 serted the lower Sound, and below I will give the names of some 

 places where he can be taken. 



The tackle for blackfishing does not differ materially from that 

 for weakfishing, save that the hooks should be low in the point and 

 of rather heavy wire. The hook, when the sinker has reached bot- 

 tom should then be drawn a foot or so up from the river bed. The 

 best baits are the hard clam and the sand worm, and when the fish 

 are plentiful the fiddler crab, placed entire on the hook. 



A j^eculiar way of fishing which I have noticed along the Sound, 

 is to have a pole twelve or fourteen feet long without joints — a "bean 

 pole" — and no reel, but only a fixed length of line. The pole is 

 elastic, and when the fish, having taken the bait, is wearied with his 

 efforts to free himself, the pole is raised and the fish swung in to the 

 fisherman's hand — a very primitive style of fishing, and one only 

 suited to shallow water, not exceeding sixteen feet in dejjth. When 

 a three or four pound blackfish strikes he makes three or four lunges 

 to right and left, pulls back strongly, and sometimes when Hearing 

 the top moves in small circles. Those under a pound make very 

 little resistance. 



Blackfish can be taken at Barnegat, off Long Branch or Rockaway 

 Beach in great numbers, and at Montauk Point ; not being caught 

 I believe above Martha's Vineyard. 



The above are outside fishing spots, but Long Island Sound rivals 

 them all. Among the many good places on the Sound, Pelham is 

 the best. The village of Pelham is situated on a river and beautiful 

 bay of that name, and is about ten miles from New York city. It 

 can be easily reached from the metropolis by taking the New Haven 

 train at the Harlem depot of the New York, New Haven and Hart- 

 ford Railroad. The ride along the shore and through the rich 

 farms of Westchester county is a delightful one, and if made in 

 August or September is pretty sure to end in a successful day's 

 fishing. 



The flesh of the blaekfish is white and firm, and if cooked as de- 

 scribed on page 226, vol. 1, of The Angler, is one of the most 

 tasteful of all the salt water fishes. 



