212 



THE BLUE-FISH. 



the fisher's lacerated hands will remind him that there is 

 more comfort in trolling with the regular squidding tackle 

 than with a light hemp line, such as we sometimes see used 

 by the uninitiated. 



" Being thus provided with the tackle suitable for this 

 sport, you should get a good stout boat, with an experienced 

 bay-man, who is au fait in its management, and intimately 

 acquainted with the habits and localities of the fish; for 

 upon this, in a great measure, depends your chance of a 

 good day's sport. With a fine breeze, that will propel your 

 boat some four or five miles an hour, you may embark, 

 and having reached the whereabouts of the fish, cast over 

 your squid, with from fifty to one hundred feet of line, which 

 should be tied securely to the boat. The fish sometimes 

 strike with great force, and neglect in fastening the line fre- 

 quently results in its loss, with everything appertaining 

 thereto. 



" There is a great variety of opinion regarding the length 

 of line most proper to use in this kind of fishing ; but I have 

 found that when the fish are inclined to take the squid, they 

 are not over particular in the quantity of line out, as I have 

 seen fish taken, not only with a very long line, but have 

 hooked and secured some fine ones, myself, almost under 

 the stern of the boat, with certainly not over twenty feet of 

 line. 



"When a school offish is found, the boatman should be par- 

 ticular in crossing and re-crossing the spot where the school 

 is, as in a very contracted space it frequently happens that the 

 greatest sport is to be found. As an example of this, I was 

 enjoying a day's sport at Shrewsberry Inlet, some two years 

 since, and the only place where I took any fish, was some three 

 hundred yards below the inlet, in the river ; and instead of 

 sailing up some half mile, and down again, over the same 

 ground, I confined my operations to a space of about two 



