82 DAYS IN THE OPEN 



very often the greedy fish will bite at the shining 

 lead. You do not stop to unhook the fish, but 

 simply slap them over into the barrel behind you, 

 and then out with the hook again. Sport? Yes, 

 of a sort. Gets a little monotonous after a while. 

 The captain fishes for the Boston market, so we 

 have no twinges of conscience about catching as 

 many as possible. 



Do we catch anything besides mackerel? If 

 you'll put out that line and the captain will sail 

 along the edge of one of these " rips " you are 

 very likely to have a practical answer to your ques- 

 tion. Nothing that time; but the captain is coming 

 about and we'll see what happens on the other tack. 

 This is the poetry of sea-fishing. Here we are 

 bowling along with a full sheet and hang on to 

 him! No, you have not hooked on to a railroad 

 train but a blue-fish. Look out! Don't slacken 

 on your line or you'll lose him. Hurts your 

 fingers? Of course it does. You should have 

 put cots on them. Give him a swing! Keep him 

 clear of the boat ! There ! 



There's your answer. He's the bravest, pluck- 

 iest, gamiest fish on the coast. We sometimes 

 spend a half day or so fishing for bottom-fish like 

 scup, black-fish, or even flounders, for they bite 

 freely and bring a fair price in the market; but if 

 you're fishing for sport, there is just one fish in 

 these waters which fills the bill completely, and that 

 is the blue-fish. Sometimes you fish for hours 



