Spotted Weakfish; Spotted Sea-trout 



mouths. Though seen in the markets everywhere, this fish is not 

 much valued in the North, but in the South it is highly prized. 



As a game-fish the squeteague is the greatest of the family. No 

 salt-water fish of our Atlantic coast affords more sport to the angler 

 than this species. It is only the great freedom with which it takes the 

 bait and the large numbers which may be caught that cause it to fail 

 of the highest appreciation. Its strength and endurance are perhaps 

 not so great as that of the rock, but the strike and first rush are not less 

 vigorous. They take almost any kind of bait, especially clams, soft 

 crabs, or pieces of meat, as well as the trolling-spoon, and bite with a 

 snap. On account of the extreme tenderness of the mouth, they must 

 be handled with extreme care. " His first dash is from the boat and 

 10 yards of line will be run off in a jiffy. He fights well and at long 

 range if you allow him line, but bear well on him, as the least slacking 

 of the line gives him a chance to disengage the hook, which he some- 

 times attempts to do by jumping above the water and shaking his 

 head." 



Great numbers of weakfish are taken with the hand-line by what 

 is called " drifting "; that is, to sail into a school of them in a mid-tide, 

 and, letting the sheet go, allow the boat to drift while you fish over 

 the sides at half-depth. 



The squeteague reaches a maximum weight of 30 pounds, though 

 examples of more than 10 or 12 pounds are very rare, and the average 

 weight is very much less. 



This fish is one of the principal species upon which the bluefish 

 feeds, and marvelously great numbers are doubtless destroyed every 

 year by that rapacious fish. 



Colour, silvery, darker above, and marked with many small, irreg- 

 ular dark blotches, some of which form undulating lines running down- 

 ward and forward; back and head with bright reflections; dorsal and 

 caudal fins dusky; ventrals, anal, and lower edge of caudal yellowish, 

 sometimes speckled. 



Spotted Weakfish; Spotted Sea-trout 



Cynoscion nebulosus (Cuvier & Valenciennes ) 



This species is associated on the coasts of New Jersey and Virginia 

 with the squeteague, from which it may readily be distinguished by 



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