SALT-WATER FISH AND FISHING. 297 



A Spanish Mackerel whicli cost me the moderate price of 

 sixtj-two and a half cents, on the last day of August three 

 years ago, weighed just four pounds. It was twenty-two 

 inches long exclusive of the caudal, and eleven in girth. I 

 found several small Mossbunkers in its stomach in various 

 stages of decomposition ; the tails of those last swallowed 

 had scarcely disappeared down its throat. 



This fish attains an extraordinary size on our coast and in 

 the Gulf of Mexico. It is considered one of the greatest 

 delicacies of the fish kind amongst us, equalling even the 

 Shad or Pompano. Yarrell, in his work on British Fishes, 

 says that the Spanish Mackerel taken off the coasts of 

 England and France does not exceed fifteen inches, and is an 

 indifferent fish on the table. 



The Spanish Mackerel is truly a pelagian fish, and seldom 

 enters even our salt-water bays for any distance. It is 

 comparatively scarce in this latitude, and is found here only 

 in August and September, but it is more common towards 

 the south. In the Gulf of Mexico it is sometimes taken with 

 the shrimp for bait, at the end of the long piers where steam- 

 boats land, in going from Mobile to New Orleans. I have 

 heard southern anglers say that on a pliant native reed pole 

 it furnishes rare sport. If they could be found in any great 

 numbers, and were fished for with fine tackle and all the 

 necessary appliances, they would no doubt afford splendid 

 angling. A Salmon-rod and a good casting-line, with a fly 

 of red and white feathers at the end, would take them with- 

 out fail. 



I have eaten Spanish Mackerel boiled, but it bears no com- 

 parison with one of the same when broiled ; by the latter 

 mode, the juices which impart so delicious a flavor are 

 retained. It should be split on the back, as the Shad, when 

 broiled; and the dish garnished with bits of fresh lemon 

 when it is served up. 



