18 THE BLUE FISH. 



your squid in the grass at the bottom. The grounds 

 for blue-fish in the vicinity of New York city are in 

 Fire Island Inlet, South Bay, opposite Babylon and 

 Islip, Long Island, and also in Pine Neck Inlet, op- 

 posite Quogue, at the East end of Long Island. 

 Shrewsbury Inlet is also a good place for fishing the 

 blue-fish. 



The down-east fishermen use the common pewter 

 spoon, in trolling for blue-fish, which they call a jig. 

 It is used in the same manner as the squid before 

 described. In pulling in the blue-fish, you must not 

 let your line slacken in the least, and you should lift 

 him into the boat the moment he gets alongside. 

 Sportsmen who neglect this precaution will lose full 

 half their fish by their disengaging themselves from 

 the hook. 



The blue-fish is singularly erratic in its hahits. 

 A century ago it was plentiful on our coast, and was 

 held in high estimation as an article of food. During 

 the last half of the last century and earlier years of 

 this, it disappeared entirely. Within forty years it 

 has returned, first appearing on the coast south of 

 Cape Cod, near Natucket, New Bedford and Martha's 

 Vineyard. In course of time it made its way into 

 Massachusetts Bay, and appears to be gradually 

 working to the northward. They have passed Cape 

 Ann within a year or two, though not in great num- 

 bers, and a few have been seen as far north as the 

 Isle of Shoals, off Portsmouth. They are very plen- 

 tiful off Montauk Point, Long Island. 



