56 CODFISH AND SHEEPSHEAD. 



The Cod Fish. 



This salt water fish is caught is great abundance 

 in the vicinity of Boston, Massachusetts, and on the 

 Great Banks. It swims in immense schools, and is 

 very easily taken. In the spring the cod will bite 

 in the most greedy manner, and if your tackle be 

 strong enough, you can catch enormous quantities, 

 and of very large size. The mud clam, or the moss 

 bunker, either of them will answer for bait. Your 

 line should be very stout, and made of cotton or 

 hemp, 100 to 150 feet long, with the largest size 

 black-fish hook, or a regular cod hook of small size. 

 The sinker should weigh two or three pounds. Cod 

 are not at all particular, and are not easily frightened. 

 It sometimes happens that one may be lost off the 

 hook by tearing the cartilege of his mouth. This 

 same fish, with his mutilated muzzle, will be just as 

 apt to bite again the next moment. They are fished 

 for with hand lines, from boats, in all cases. 



The cod fish, when fresh, is excellent eating, 

 whether boiled or fried. It is a standard dish at the 

 hotels and eating houses in Boston and New York. 



The Shecpshead. 



This is one of the very best of salt water fish, and 

 like many others, only visits shore in summer. The 

 time for fishing him is from the first of June until the 

 middle of September. The Sheepshead is a squatty 

 shaped fish of a dull silvery color, and with dark 

 bands running from his back to his belly. His weight 



