244 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA. 



ity of Montauk Point, Long Island, they are taken in great num- 

 laers. However, no one but market-fishermen and novices take 

 weakfish in this way. Anglers prefer to fish with rods and finer 

 tackle in deeper water along the edges of channels and tide-races, 

 where the rock or shifting sands form shelves and ledges to which 

 the small fry gather for safety, and where bits of organic matter 

 are drifted by the tide and deposited. A light bluefish squid kept 

 just clear of the bottom is used. Here the weakfish run singly 

 and much larger in size — four times the weight of those " school- 

 ing " — coming along under the still water of the ledges where 

 their prey is huddled, and gulping down large masses at a mouth- 

 ful. These big fellows are designated as " tide-runners." They 

 weigh about four pounds, and pull well in a five-knot current. 



But there is another mode, still, of taking weakfish, of which, 

 verily, many an old fisherman wotteth not. Attention, all ! Take 

 a " cat-rigged " boat, a craft with a mainsail only and mast stepped 

 well forward, one that works quickly, for quick work is required, 

 and go to Fire Island Inlet at half ebb. At half ebb, or when the 

 tide is running out like a mill-tail, is the only time to take them. 

 Should you attempt the experiment on the flood, you would lose 

 your boat and your life. Let there be a stiff quartering breeze, and 

 now with a steady helm and a good rap full, bear right down on the 

 beach, mounting the very crest of the waves that in ten seconds 

 more will break into shivers on the sand. Keep a quick eye, a 

 steady nerve, and a ready hand. You will take the edge of the 

 swift current where it pours out of the inlet. Fear not the mount- 

 ing " combers " or the breaking foam, the tide will bear you back 

 and keep you off the shingle. Right here at the mouth of the 

 inlet the action of the tide is constantly washing out the sand, and 

 as it is borne down on the current, it presently sinks by its own 

 specific gravity, and gradually piles up until it forms a little ledge a 

 foot high or more, just as the driving snow in winter is borne over 

 the crest of a drift until it forms a counter-scarp, with an apron 

 hanging over the abrupt and perpendicular verge. Right under 

 the edge of this ledge the small fry congregate, and the " tide- 

 runners " forage for food. Here throw your "squid." Just now 

 is the critical instant. In two seconds you will either be pounding 

 on the beach or surging down on the impetuous current of the 



