until so late in the year that they have to 

 be dragged out through holes cut in the 

 ice. That there are, in season, Flounders 

 galore in the bay goes without saying, and 

 now and then one pulls up a skate ; but 

 this body of water is comparatively singu- 

 larly free from those common nuisances 

 and curses to anglers in salt waters 

 near New York — the Sculpins, Gurnards, 

 Sea-spiders, Begalls, Dog-fish, Hammer- 

 headed Sharks, and other pertinacious 

 bait thieves. 



The hotels of Ocean County charge 

 $2 a day ; that includes the ample lunch 

 aboard the boat, free transportation to the 

 landing-place and back as often as desired, 

 cold storage for the catch of fish, etc. The 

 hire of the boats — cat-rigged sloops, 20 to 

 24 feet in length — is $4 per diem, for which 

 the captain not only sails the boat as long 

 as desired, but cleans the fish, gathers the 

 fresh cedar swamp moss to pack them in, 

 packs them in boxes or baskets, and stows 

 them away in the ice-house ready for ship- 

 ment next day. Shrimps, for bait, cost 



