THE BLUEFISH. 161 
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The Bluefish is one of our most important of sea-fishes, and sur- 
passed in public estimation only by the Spanish mackerel and the pom- 
pano. It may be said to furnish a large part of the supply to the Middle 
and Northern States. It is astandard fish in New York, Boston and other 
seaports, and is carried in great numbers into the interior. Its flesh is 
very sweet and savory, but it does not keep very well. In the Vineyard 
Sound the fishermen are in the habit of crimping their fish, or killing 
them, by cutting their throats in such a manner that they bleed freely. 
Every one who has opportunities for observing admits that fish thus treated 
are far superior to any others. Great quantities of Bluefish are frozen in 
New York for winter consumption. They are still considered unfit for 
food on our Southern coast, and even in the markets of Washington, 
D.C. I have frequently been stopped by fish-dealers who asked me to 
assure their customers that Bluefish were eatable. They are growing in 
favor everywhere, however, just as they did in Boston. Capt. Atwood 
tells me that in 1865 but very few were sold in Boston, and that the 
demand has been increasing ever since. When he first went to Boston 
with a load of Bluefish he got two cents a pound for them; the second 
year they were scarcer, and he got two and one-half cents, and the 
year afterward three cents. 
Within a few years the reputation of the Bluefish among anglers has 
decidedly improved. Norris wrote in 1865, that the Bluefish was seldom 
angled for, and that it was not esteemed as food: in 1879, Hallock de- 
clares that the Bluefish and the Striped Bass are the game fish, par excel- 
lence, of the brine, just as the salmon and black bass are of fresh water. 
The favorite mode of capture is by trolling or squidding, a process already 
described. This amusement is participated in every summer by thousands 
of unskilled, but none the less enthusiastic, amateur fisherman, who in their 
sail-boats, trail the tide-rips from Cape May to Cape Cod. Many pro- 
fessional fishermen also follow this pursuit, especially in the Vineyard 
Sound, about Nantucket and along the south shore of Cape Cod, a region 
famous for its swift cat-boats and fat Bluefish. 
Another mode which is growing in favor is that of heaving and hauling 
in the surf, which has been already described in writing of the Striped 
Bass. No rod is used, but the angler, standing on the beach or in the 
breakers, whirls his heavy jig about his head and casts it far into the sea, 
and having hooked his fish puts his shoulder to the line, and walks up the 
