EFFECTS OF AN EASTERLY WIND. 49 



weather and tide are favorable, and the moon is right for giv- 

 ing fish an excellent appetite and great activity. Fishes in 

 waters near the ocean bite best in the first quarter of the 

 moon, while those which are up rivers and creeks, near fresh 

 water, bite best at full tides, and immediately after a " nor'- 

 easter," when the wind, having backed round by the south, 

 has settled in the northwest. You may prove these facts 

 without going a dozen miles from the metropolis ; and I have 

 always noticed that it is better fishing in " the Kills" and at 

 the hedges of Newark Bay, as well as at those in the lower 

 part of the Bay of New York, when the tide is low, while the 

 fishing at King's Bridge and Spuyten Duy vel is best at very 

 high tides. The only exception to this rule is applicable to 

 reefs and low rocky shoals, where bass forage most during 

 high tides. 



As we are to try the bass to-morrow, suppose we make a 

 day of it ? Well, that being agreed to, we will first try Har- 

 lem River, or the creek at King's Bridge. Being an angler, 

 you of course know that the baits here are confined to shrimp 

 early in spring and late in autumn ; to soft-shell and shedder 

 crab in the summer and until the middle of October ; after 

 which soft-shell clam for the English Neighborhood Bridge, 

 and shrimp, with an occasional shedder lobster, serve as baits 

 in the vicinity of New York, except for trolling in Hell Gate, 

 where we use squid ; and for fishing in the surf at Newport, 

 and along the coast generally, the menhaden is preferred. 

 Shad roe is frequently recommended for bass bait. I once 

 tried it at Saybrook, near the mouth of the Connecticut Riv- 

 er, where the bass were said to bite it unconditionally ; but, 

 though I stood on the platform and fished from it, I did not 

 capture a single fish. It was not because the bass did not 

 like the bait, but rather that the great depth of water and 

 strength of tide obliged me to fish with a heavy tracing 

 sinker, and the fish stole my bait before it settled on the bot- 

 tom, because I was not prepared with the means of porous 

 muslin wherein to tie the bait over the hook. I have never 



D 



