Bait Angling for Common Fishes 



In flavor the porgy is surpassed by few 

 other fish on the coast, although its super- 

 abundance causes it to be undervalued, the 

 smaller ones especially being sweet and 

 nutritious. Of their abundance in former 

 times almost incredible accounts are given; 

 they swarmed to such a degree that their 

 capture ceased to be a matter of sport. 

 When the line was thrown overboard it 

 could be immediately withdrawn with the 

 assurance of having a fish on both hooks. 

 Any number of fishermen from boats could 

 take five hundred to one thousand pounds 

 of fish a day without the slightest diffi- 

 culty, the limit of the catch being simply 

 the ability to find a sale. 



But now such numbers are rare, yet from 

 one to two hundred is not an uncommon 

 day's catch. The younger fish are de- 

 voured in immense numbers by blue fish, 

 halibut, cod, shark and other ground feed- 

 ers. Yet this seems to make little difference 

 to the enormous shoals that appear at times 

 during the summer months. 

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