The Sheepsbead Family 257 



The bait should be cast and allowed to sink, 

 and the line reeled enough to keep the bait 

 off the bottom, but close to it. A taut line 

 should be maintained always, so as to feel the 

 slightest nibble. If crab bait, or cut clam, is 

 used, the fish should be hooked, if possible, at 

 the first bite, however slight, by a quick and 

 somewhat vigorous upward jerk of the tip, other- 

 wise the sheepshead is apt to nip off the bait; 

 or if sufficient force is not used, the hook fails 

 to enter the well-armed mouth. One or other 

 of these contingencies is almost sure to follow, 

 if the fish be not hooked. A small sheepshead is 

 a more adroit stealer of bait than the cunner. It 

 has a way of deftly pinching the bait from the 

 hook without much, if any, disturbance. When 

 small clams or mussels are used in the cracked 

 shells, it is thought best by some anglers to 

 give the fish a little time to " shuck " the bait 

 before jerking on the rod. But my advice is 

 to yank him just as quickly as if crab bait were 

 employed. To hesitate is to be defrauded of 

 either the fish or the bait. 



When the fish is hooked he should be kept 

 from the bottom by the spring of the rod, and 

 brought as near the surface as possible. When 



