278 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK 



strip of sand, sprinkling his face, as he sits in liis boat and 

 makes havoc amongst the fins. 



Along our seaboard there are places of summer resort, 

 where hotels and boarding-houses are kept for the accommo- 

 dation of those who come to shoot and to fish ; the visitors 

 frequently bringing their families to enjoy the bathing and 

 invigorating sea air. To almost any of these let one who is 

 fond of fishing repair between the middle of July and first of 

 September. Let him provide himself with a stout rod, good 

 flax line, large hooks, a felt hat, a red flannel shirt, and a few 

 " store clothes" for Sunday and dress occasions, and he will 

 have fishing to his heart's content — big ones, and plenty of 

 them. If he takes the advice of old fogies, or the man who 

 furnishes his boat and bait, he will fish with a hand-line. 

 If he follows the instinct of the true angler, he will fish with 

 rod and reel, and as a consequence his enjoyment of the sport 

 will be enhanced. 



Of all places within easy distance of our city, commend me 

 to Long Beach, where the accommodations are good (barring 

 the butter), mosquitoes few (if the wind is not off land), and 

 the landlord one of the most obliging and appreciative men 

 in the world, as to the requirements of the angler or shooter. 

 And moreover where Sammy Shourds is always on hand. 

 Sammy can find soft crabs when no other man can ; besides 

 he knows all the fishing-grounds, and when the tides suit at 

 each ; when to go on the flats for "Weakfish, when in the Cove 

 for Barb, when in the channel for Sheepshead, when to the 

 flat, sedgy islands for Eockfish, and when to squid for Blue- 

 fish. Here, according to the adjudication of the aforesaid 

 Sammy, a friend and myself caught with our rods in three 

 mornings (fishing four hours at each time), over five hundred 

 pounds of "Weakfish and Barb, and touched up the Rockfisb 

 in the afternoons at the islands. 



