NATURAL HISTORY OF IMPORTANT FOOD-FISHES. 249 



small cliain, or else coated with wire. This mode of taking the blue- 

 fish is very exciting, as, when abundant, they usually bite at the 

 drailing hook as rapidly as it is thrown out, several fish often being- 

 seen jumping at the same time to seize the coveted but delusive prize. 



A mode recently introduced off the coast of New York and New Jersey 

 consists in baiting certain fishing-grounds with chopped menhaden, and 

 then anchoring the smack. Lines, with pewter squids, are then dropped 

 overboard and hauled rapidly up. This proves to be very successful, 

 much more so than trolling. 



Although the sight of a school of fish playing in the water is gener- 

 ally the sign to thrown out the lines, it often happens that stragglers are 

 picked up when their presence is not suspected, so that in regions 

 where blue-fish are generally found, it is customary for fishermen to 

 keep a line out at the stern while making their trips from point to point. 

 Great care must be taken to keep the hook free from floating seaweed, 

 which is very apt to become fastened around it, as this invariably 

 prevents any further success. 



Not unfrequently blue-fish are taken when fishing with deep-sea lines 

 for scup or tautog, especially at night ; although the surface fishing is 

 most customary and most productive. 



The fishermen of Edgartown and of some other localities on Vineyard 

 Sound, keep their line, when fishing, well out by means of a stick of 

 wood projecting from the side, although generally the line is held in 

 the hand directly over the stern or side of the boat. By the use of a 

 moderate degree of skill, at least three lines if not more can be managed 

 well from a sail-boat, one from the stern and the others from either side. 



Another method of taking them is in the surf, when they are near 

 the shore, coming in either after menhaden or' to lie in wait for the 

 schools of young alewives, as they pass out from the ponds in which 

 they have been bred. In this case the usual method consists in swing- 

 ing a weighted hook several times around the head ; then, by a dexter- 

 ous fling, throwing it off as far as possible into the water, and then im- 

 mediately hauling hand over hand very rapidly. If no fish is hooked, 

 the same experiment is repeated. In this way many large fish are taken. 



Sometimes also the fisherman turns, as soon as he sees the splash of 

 the hook, and runs as rapidly as possible up the bank and from the 

 shore ; again to return and repeat the operation. Under favorable cir- 

 cumstances, this method of fishing is very productive, resulting in the 

 capture of large numbers in a short time. 



For fuller details of everything connected with the capture of blue- 

 fish by means of lines, I must refer to the excellent works of Genio 0. 

 Scott, Mr. E. B. Boosevelt, Mr. Thaddeus Norris, and others, who have 

 made such subjects a specialty. 



Whether the numbers of the blue-fish can be considered as at all di- 

 minished by any or all these methods of fishing, it is impossible to state^ 

 although I am inclined to the opinion that, if any, it is very slight. As 

 the fish are not taken when exclusively engaged in the operation of re- 

 production, there is no special, interference with their spawning, and 

 although there has been a variation in abuudance, as already explained, 

 this maybe ascribed as well to some peculiar caprice on their part, or to 

 their finding less food than they require ; and consequently their going 

 elsewhere in search of it. 



The average catch with the hook of course varies with the abundance 

 of the fish and their readiness to bite. According to Captain Pease, 

 (page 40,) one man, a few years ago, could take about 1,500 pounds a 

 day ; while, as an illustration of their decrease in number, the largest 



