THE KINGFISH 



THE kingfish is perhaps the gamest 

 of bottom feeders that inhabit salt 

 water. All anglers have the best 

 opinion of him, and with one accord, after 

 he is landed, they exclaim: "What a 

 dandy ! " Its gamey qualities, its beauty 

 of color and form, as well as its excellent 

 flavor, caused the loyal citizens of New 

 York in colonial days to call this species 

 the kingfish. In former times, when it was 

 much more abundant in New York Bay, 

 the kingfish and the small striped bass were 

 the crowning glory of old-time anglers. 

 The kingfish is also known as the hake on 

 the coast of New Jersey and Delaware, and 

 as the torn cod on the coast of Connecti- 

 cut, the barb and the black mullet in Chesa- 

 peake, the sea mink in North Carolina, 

 and sometimes also in the South as the 

 whiting. It appears quite early in the 

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