320 Fisninc iy Amertcan Warers. 
in a biting or a moving mood they rise to the surface. Like 
all sea fishes, the mackerel is more easily taken than fishes of 
fresh waters. He foolishly dashes at whatever he sees before 
him which he thinks will not devour him. But in this pecu- 
larity he does not differ from the royal salmon, which will 
snap at flies when out of season, and evince the most culpable 
rapacity when just returned from sea, even biting at an arti- 
ficial minnow, or a fly unlike any thing in existence. 
THe MacKkEreEL.—Scombride—Scomber.—Linn. 
It would be difficult to find a fish more exquisite in form, 
or more important in a commercial point of view, than the 
common mackerel. It is also capricious in its movements. 
Tt is not always to be depended on for visiting us in great 
numbers, though it has never entirely deserted us for a sin- 
gle season, It is in best condition on our shores in October. 
Then it is most succulent, and orders for private tables should 
be made of that month’s catch. Catches early in the season 
are lean. The catch of June is scarcely worth salting; but 
mackerel fatten fast, and by September are very good. Oc- 
tober mackerel are preferable to those of any other month in 
the year, for, as a singular fact in the nature of the fish, it be- 
gins to deteriorate or lose condition in November. In gen- 
eral, mackerel move away from shore gradually after the first 
frost, and they finally settle off in soundings, not much influ- 
enced by the cold weather along our shores. October is con- 
sidered the closing month of the mackerel season; but about 
five years since, near the 1st of December, the fishermen of 
New Providence, Massachusetts, were surprised by the sight 
of the saltatory exploits on the bay of myriads of mackerel 
leaping, shining, and gleaming in every direction. The boats 
t=) 
