EASTERN COAST FISHES. 255 



half pounds, vacate the northern harbors and sounds ; and so sud- 

 den has been their departure in many seasons that a change of tide 

 has utterly emptied the waters of their teeming fish-life, with the 

 exception of an occasional pensioner who has been bitten or dis- 

 abled, and dare not run the gauntlet for southern climes. More 

 singular still, the great mass of fish, except the newly spawned, 

 take the coast within one or two miles of shore, part of them stop- 

 ping, if the weather permits, at the inlets of Fire Island, Egg Har- 

 bor, Townsend's, Canarsie Bay, Cape May, and so on along shore, 

 using up all the feed therein, and by the month of December they 

 are found in the creeks and rivers of North and South Carolina, 

 where they remain through the winter, to migrate the next season 

 to northern waters. 



But what becomes of the small, newly spawned fish that dis- 

 appeared the previous fall ? Have they been eaten up by the larger 

 fish on their journey, or do they remain at the North? They are 

 not seen in the South, nor do the larger fish spawn there. 



Four generations of bluefish make ^ their appearance in our 

 waters at the same time. It is only about forty-five years since 

 the bluefish were first seen in our waters. They now seem to be 

 increasing year by year in size and numbers, individuals having 

 been caught at times weighing between twenty and thirty pounds, 

 whereas a twelve pound fish was regarded as something remarkable 

 twenty years ago. Large shoals were also uncommon until within 

 the past dozen years. 



On the reefs they are generally trolled for, but will take the 

 hook with live bait. In October near the close of the season, large 

 catches are made off Montauk Point, and from Watch Hill east- 

 ward through the Vineyard Sound, that weigh from ten to fourteen 

 pounds, and are fat as seals ; so also in Canarsie Bay, in some 

 years they have been taken from twelve to eighteen pounds in 

 weight. But it is only in rarely exceptional cases that these great 

 6sh are taken west of Plum Gut. 



The bluefish fraternizes with the weakfish, or squeteague, on 

 inshore grounds, and are of large size, say from five to twelve 

 pounds. Both of these fine fish are taken with the squid or jig in 

 the surf at Montauk, Newport and elsewhere, and afford the 

 most exciting sport — the angler, often standing waist deep in the 



