CHAPTER XVII 



THE BLACKFISH 



"When chestnut leaves are as big as thumb nails, 

 Then bite blackfish without fail, 

 But when chestnut leaves are as large as a span, 

 Then catch blackfish if you can ! " 



THE blackfish, tautog, Tautoga onitis, is rarely 

 referred to as a game fish, yet few members of 

 the finny tribe, at least in New England waters 

 and in Long Island Sound, afford so much 

 pleasure to so many people. The tautog is 

 omnipresent, and the angler catches the smaller 

 members of the tribe whether or no; and when 

 the water is fairly shallow and the fish run 

 large, up to ten and fifteen pounds, the black- 

 fish, if it is approached with light tackle, will 

 surprise the angler. Such a location and such 

 fish I found at Fisher's Island, Long Island 

 Sound, and similar localities are known all 

 alongshore. While the blackfish is in America 

 a very democratic, not to say plebeian, crea- 



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