274 Fortieth Annual Meeting 



technicalities, and therefore I think I will stop and be ready 

 to answer any questions that may be asked. The fuller 

 details and a resume of what is known of the habits of the 

 species will be published later. 



DISCUSSION 



President : The doctor's explanation of how this fish came to be 

 named "weakfisb " was very clear, but from the standpoint of the angler 

 these fish I understand are anything but weak. I never caught one of 

 them, but I am informed that such are the facts of the case. 



Mr. W. E. Meehan, Harrisburg, Pa. : It seems to me that Dr. Gill's 

 estimate of 2 pounds is rather light, at least, for the fish along the 

 Jersey coast and in Florida waters, where I fished for many years. I 

 have caught many weakfish in the Homosassee River, and the average 

 was certainly 3 pounds or more. Fish of 5, 6, 7, and 8 pounds on that 

 river were not uncommon. The heaviest fish I caught on that river was 

 \2y2 pounds, and I have caught several ranging from 10 to 12J/2 

 pounds. On the Jersey coast, in the bays like Barnegat and around 

 there, the average weight is certainly low — possibly half a pound or 

 three-quarters of a pound, one pound or a pound and a half — but when 

 you get outside, off points like Longport near Atlantic City, where you 

 get among what is commonly known as the tiderunners, the average 

 weight seems to me to be beyond that. I should say an average of 

 about 3 or Syi pounds, with frequent fish weighing 4 and 5 pounds, 

 and occasionally about 8 pounds. That was about the heaviest that 1 

 have caught on the Jersey coast. Dr. Gill's figures are so surprising, 

 so different from what my own experience has been in the catching 

 of this fish that I can hardly understand them. 



Mr. W. H. Boardman, Central Falls, R. I. : I was surprised at the 

 statement about the size of what we call the squeteague. It is sold 

 to people that do not know much about it as a "bluefish." Of course 

 it is not. Men accustomed to squeteague fishing say 3 pounds is small. 

 I have seen many weakfish weighing 15 and 16 pounds, on the lower 

 bay, especially around Wickford; 8 pounds and 10 pounds is the 

 average weight of the fish ; and from that they run up as high as 16 

 pounds. One day, with Mr. Willard, I went out with the Lewis 

 Brothers and saw them pull one of their traps to show some visitors. 

 I believe there was not a fish in that trap that was of the small size 

 mentioned by the speaker. The small fish were running 8, 9 and 10 

 pounds, two or three weighing between 15 and 16 pounds. Of course, 

 that is in the lower bay. If you ask anglers how they are running, 

 they call 3 pound squeteague running small. That I know is true with 

 reference to Narragansett Bay; and 5, 6, or 7 pounds is running fair. 

 I have known of fish being caught above Providence Point weighing 

 13 pounds. Below Providence Point they commence to get larger 

 until you get down to Fox Island, where the Lewis Brothers fish and 

 they get the big ones. Off Nantucket they run 8 or 9 pounds. Fish 



