EASTERN COAST FISHES. 25 I 



slip of leather attached to the reel at a convenient place to turn on 

 to the reel under the thumb is preferred by many ; but there should 

 be no drag or check to a bass reel, and it should be made of a 

 size sufficient to carry two hundred yards of line without being- 

 perfectly full. Van Hoeff is the best reel maker in the city. He 

 caps the works, so as to protect them from salt water and conse- 

 quent rust, while they run as regularly, and are as finely balanced 

 in their running works, as a first class Geneva watch. 



" But for bass tackle, to fish the waters about the city of New 

 York, a reel to carry four hundred feet of fine linen bass line will 

 answer, and be preferable, except for Hell Gate trolling, to the 

 large reels used at Cuttyhunk, West Island, and Newport. And 

 while menhaden is the best bait to angle with in the ocean surf, 

 shedder crab is the best bait for still fishing from a boat on our 

 bays and estuaries, and the live squid — cuttle fish — is the best bait 

 for trolling ; and a rig for trolling includes a baiting needle and 

 sinker." 



Many baits, living and dead, natural and artificial, have been 

 tried for bass with varying success. Of natural baits the living 

 sand eel is undoubtedly seductive, but it is often difficult to obtain 

 even when most abundant. The best way of putting it on the 

 hook is to insert the latter at one corner of one eye and bring it 

 out at one corner of the other. This, if carefully done, will not 

 hurt the eye or interfere with the liveliness of the fish. Another 

 mode is to enter the hook at the mouth and bring it out through 

 the throat. If living sand eels cannot be procured but dead ones 

 be obtainable, the latter may be rendered a very good substitute 

 for the former, by inserting a thin, sharp penknife under the skin, 

 and cutting the backbone through in three places. Thus treated, 

 a dead sand eel will move in the water, if skilfully manipulated, 

 just like a living one. A dead bait is also used as a spinning lure 

 by entering the hook at the mouth and bringing it out about an 

 inch above the tail, the mouth being fastened tight by a piece of 

 thread. ' Soft and peeled crabs, the viscera of newly caught pil- 

 chards, fresh squid (cuttle-fish), mud worms, mussels, shrimps, 

 and "lasks" cut out of mackerel are also used as baits for 

 bass. 



A peculiar and at times a very useful bait is made out of the 

 skin of the bass itself. " Bass skin baits " are made by cutting a 

 long, wedge-shaped piece of skin off the stomach of the bass with 



