THE BLUE-FISH I 89 



and he got two and one-half cents, and the year afterward 

 three cents. 



Within a few years the reputation of the Blue-fish among 

 anglers has decidedly improved. Norris wrote, in 1865, that 

 the Blue-fish was seldom angled for, and that it was not 

 esteemed as food; in 1879, Hallock declares that the Blue- 

 fish and the Striped Bass are the game fish par excellence of 

 the brine, just as the Salmon and Black Bass are of fresh 

 water. 



The favorite mode of capture is by trolling or squidding a 

 process already described. This amusement is participated 

 in every summer by thousands of unskilled, but none the less 

 enthusiastic, amateur fishermen, who in their sail-boats, trail 

 the tide-rips from Cape May to Cape Cod. Many profes- 

 sional fishermen also follow this pursuit, especially in the 

 Vineyard Sound, about Nantucket and along the south shore 

 of Cape Cod, a region famous for its swift cat-boats and fat 

 Blue-fish. 



Another mode which is growing in favor is that of heaving 

 and hauling in the surf, which has been already described in 

 writing of the Striped Bass. No rod is used, but the angler, 

 standing on the beach or in the breakers, whirls his heavy jig 

 about his head and casts it far into the sea, and having 

 hooked his fish puts his shoulder to the line, and walks up 

 the beach, dragging his prize after him to the shore. This 

 is practiced everywhere on the exposed sandy beaches, such 

 as are found at Montauk, Monomoy, Newport, and Barnegat. 



Other anglers prefer to use a light rod and an artificial 

 minnow from a stationary skiff near where Blue-fish are break- 

 ing, or to fish with shrimp bait from the wharves in quiet 

 bays where the young "snappers" six to ten inches in length, 

 abound. I have seen this kind of fishing at various points, 

 from the mouth of the Florida St. John's to Nantucket. 



The Blue-fish has also an important rank among the com- 

 mercial species. The wholesale dealers of New York handle 



