158 Big Game Fishes 



angler has a wide range from " snappers " of two 

 or more pounds with a fly-rod, to eight pounds 

 with a bass rod, adapting his tackle to the size 

 of the game at hand. In trolling, the jig is used 

 bone or metal, menhaden or any silvery fish, or 

 even a white rag. Along the Jersey shore and 

 many wide sandy beaches they are caught by cast- 

 ing far out beyond the breakers, the men running 

 the fish in with the line over their shoulders as 

 soon as hooked. Others, again, at very favorable 

 localities, wade out and cast with rods, but the 

 best rod-fishing is in some locality where the boat 

 can be rowed by a boatman or anchored near a 

 tide-rip, when the angler can cast his menhaden 

 or sardine out into the water, and by reeling in 

 hook the gamy fish. 



The bluefish is a comely creature about three 

 feet in length, long, fairly slender, with a robust, 

 well-proportioned body, the dorsal fins low, the 

 tail large and powerful. Its color, as the name 

 indicates, is blue above, appearing green in the 

 water, and bright silvery below, and altogether 

 a beautiful fish, the embodiment of vigor, grace, 

 and pugnacity. It belongs to the genus Poma- 

 tomus, and has many synonyms, twelve at least, 

 and is now known as Pomatomus saltatrix (Linn.). 



