FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 263 



The striped bass lives on rocky bottoms, usually near land, in schools of a few- 

 individuals. It is often very fastidious in its tastes, and those who know the fish 

 realize how difficult it is to tempt the fine old denizen of the pools to take the hook. 

 To capture a forty or fifty pound striped bass with rod and reel will tax the nerve,, 

 skill and strength of the most experienced, and even a ten or twelve pound fish can 

 make a very gamy fight. 



The fish often ascend streams of fresh water and pass the winter in lakes. Its 

 natural food is small fishes, squids, crabs and shrimps. One of the most killing 

 baits for it is the sand eel. Its flesh is firm and of fine flavor, so that the fish is 

 highly esteemed by epicures. 



TI>e glaefisl). 



A voracious tiger of the seas is the bluefish. This fish, like the Spanish mackerel, 

 is very variable in its appearance along our shores, but has of late years been abun- 

 dant as a summer visitor. It often reaches a weight of from twelve to fifteen pounds, 

 but the average size is much smaller, the larger fishes being taken in the North late 

 in the season. 



The bluefish is pelagic and gregarious, and moves about frequently in large 

 schools. It is unrelenting in its pursuit of the herring, menhaden and mackerel, 

 and when feeding the water is frequently covered with the oil and stained with the 

 blood of its victims. One may sit in a dory on a calm day and watch the murder- 

 ous work go on. A number of bluefish will make a rush among a school of men- 

 haden and bite them into fragments seemingly just for sport. In fishing for this 

 voracious creature almost any light-colored object may be used for bait if it is pulled 

 swiftly through the water. A common bait used by the market fishermen is an eel 

 skin pulled over the lead sinker with the hook at the end. A strong line and hook 

 with a copper or brass wire leader is necessary for its capture. When the bluefish 

 are abundant and biting well, it is excellent sport to sit in the stern of a swiftly sail- 

 ing boat trolling for them. As the fish strikes he frequently jumps out of water, 

 and it will tax one's ability to keep a tight line and land a large fish. Near the 

 mouths of rivers the bluefish is often taken from land by throwing the well- 

 weighted line as far out as possible and pulling it rapidly in. One needs to use 

 some caution in extracting the hook from the mouth of the bluefish, as one snap of 

 the powerful jaws and cutting teeth might well disfigure one for life. I have seen a 

 piece of cloth as large as the palm of my hand bitten with one snap of the jaws of 

 this fish from a person's clothing. It is not uncommon to hear of a person losing a 

 finger by the same means. It is always safe to use a club on" the struggling fish and 

 extract the hook afterwards. 



