PRESENT CONDITION OF THE FISHERIES. 35 



Thomas E. Tripler, a member of the club, said he had beeu here 

 eight days, and had caught twenty-four bass, weighing from four to 

 twenty-nine pounds. I think they are more plenty than they were last 

 year. 



Menemsha Bight, Martha's Vineyard, 



East of Gay Head, Vineyard Sound, 



September 22, 1871. 

 Jason Luge & Co., (the company consists of Jason Luce and Brother, 

 Mr. Tilton, and two other men :) 



Blue-fish are quite plenty near Noman's Land as late as November. 



We find little fish in the stomachs of blue-fish ; we have taken out 

 small scup. I took forty-two scup about two inches long out of the 

 stomach of one blue-fish, a year ago this summer, out at the eastward 

 of Edgartown. The blue-fish weighed about three and a half pounds. 

 Besides the forty-two that I counted, there were some so far gone that 

 they could not be counted. 



Menhaden average from 225 to 240 in a barrel. We caught this year 

 2,000 barrels, or about 470,000 menhaden. We caught over 100,000 

 mackerel ; not so many as last year. We began fishing about the 12th 

 of April, and caught alewives first. We caught about 100,000 dog-fish 

 this year. All fish were earlier than usual this year. Mackerel generally 

 come from the 5th to the 10th of May, though we get some scattering 

 ones earlier. Menhaden come next. Tautog come early, with the her- 

 ring. We catch shad the last days of April-. When we see blue-fish, 

 we conclude the spring fishing is at an end. We generally catch them 

 about the middle of June, going west. We see acres of them schooling 

 off here. They are over in the Bay ten days earlier than here. Some 

 come into the Sound through Quick's Hole. Menhaden are taken in 

 the Bay before we see any here. We catch scup here just about the time 

 they do at Saughkonet. I think a part of them come in by way of Saugh- 

 konet, and a part by Gay Head. Scup are around Roman's Land, and 

 are caught there with the hook. We have noticed a good many young 

 scup this year ; never saw them so before. This is the third season we 

 have fished in the summer and fall, but this is a new thing to see so 

 many young scup. I was up in Connecticut last week, and they told me 

 the young scup were numerous there. The scup we take in the pound 

 are spawning fish. We take them weighing from one and a half to two 

 pounds. Many will not weigh over half a pound. We catch more of 

 that size than of the large size. I have dressed scup that were not very 

 large which had the red-roe in them, which we call ripe. I think we find 

 spawn about as often in the medium sized fish as any. 



We have every opportunity of knowing what fish eat, and about their 

 spawn, because we handle a great many. We can squeeze young ones 

 out of a dog-fish any month in the year. Last year we caught a drum. 

 We caught two salmon this year. We catch what they call sea-trout — 

 not more than three or four in a season. We catch the salmon in May. 

 We catch a few blue-fish, squeteague, and skip-jack, or bonito. We have 

 caught 150 albicore at a time.* We have caught as many as 500 this 

 year. They bring six cents a pound. We catch lump-fish in the season 

 of all sizes, up to twenty inches long. They are as apt to get the first 

 scup at Lombard's Cove as we are here. 



* Orcynus tlujnnus. 



