192 Sporting Sketches 



were, in our midst, but well, at all events there is 

 no waste, which was the original contention. 



The most common methods of taking the blue- 

 fish are trolling, or squidding, with long lines from 

 a sailboat, and, from the beach, with a stout hand- 

 line. Not a few keen anglers use a heavy rod with 

 fair success, but this is not the typical method. The 

 tackle needs must be strong, and, owing to the cut- 

 ting power of the blues' jaws, hooks are attached to 

 wire, or the stoutest of gimp. Even then it is not 

 uncommon for the tackle to be cut, either by a 

 hooked fish happening to get the cord between its 

 jaws, or by the bait being forced up the line and 

 inducing a second fish to snap at it. The usual 

 baits for trolling are an eelskin, or a bit of rag, but 

 a bluefish will strike almost anything of proper size 

 that keeps briskly moving. For work with the rod, 

 the most reliable baits are lobster-tail, shedder-crab, 

 chopped mossbunker, or other bait-fish. 



The fishing from the beach is the genuine heave- 

 and-haul the old-fashioned handline of boyhood 

 days glorified. The heavy squid plays the part of 

 sinker, and the way it will carry out a, perhaps, 

 hundred-yard line from a skilled hand is a wonder 

 to behold. And by that same token, the gay and 

 reckless manner in which it can act up when manipu- 

 lated by a novice is still more wonderful. Three 

 important things govern the use of this tackle i.e. 

 the squid must go far enough to straighten, maybe, 

 one hundred yards of cord ; the line must run out 

 freely and smoothly, and the hand-over-hand recovery 

 must start so soon as the squid has touched the 

 water, and be maintained at an even, rapid rate 



