FISH AND FISHING. 



ALMANAC FOR SALT WATER FISHERMEN. 



The following will be found accurate and val- 

 uable for the vicinity of New York City: 



Kingfish — Barb, Sea-Mink, Whiting. June to 

 September. Haunts: The surf and deep channels 

 of strong tide streams. Baits: Blood worms, 

 shedder crabs and beach crustaceans. Time and 

 tide: Flood, early morning. 



Plaice — Fluke, Turbot, Flounder. May 15 to 

 November 30. Haunts: The surf, mouth of tidal 

 streams. Baits: Shedder crabs, killi-fish, sand 

 laut. Time and tide: Ebb, daytime exclusively. 



Spanish Mackerel. Haunts: The open sea, July 

 to September. Baits: Menhaden, trolling — metal 

 and cedar squids. 



Striped Bass — Rock Fish, Green Head, April to 

 November. Haunts: The surf, bays, estuaries and 

 tidal streams. Baits: Blood worms, shedder crabs, 

 calico crabs, small eels, menhaden. Time and tide: 

 Night, half-flood to flood, to half ebb. 



The Drums, Red and Black, June to November. 

 Haunts: The surf and mouths of large bays. 

 Bait: Skinner crab. Time and tide: Day, flood. 



Blackfish — Tautog, April to November. Haunts: 

 Surf, vicinity of piling and old wrecks in bays. 

 Baits: Sand worm, blood worm, shedder crabs, 

 clams. Time and tide: Daytime flood. 



Lafayette — Spot, Goody, Cape May Goody. 

 August to October. Haunts: Chj&hnels of tidal 

 streams. Baits: Shedder crabs sand worms clams. 

 Tide and tide: Day and night flood. 



Croaker. July to October. Haunts: Deep chan- 

 nels of bays. Baits: Shedder crabs, mussels. Time 

 and tide: Day flood. 



Snapper — Young of Blue Fish. August to No- 

 vember. Haunts: Rivers and all tide ways. Baits: 

 Spearing and menhaden; trolling pearl squid. 

 Time and tide: Day all tides. 



Sheepshead. June to October. Haunts: Surf 

 and bays, vicinity of old wrecks. Baits: Clams, 

 mussels, shedder crabs. Time and tide: Day, flood 

 only. 



New England Whiting — Winter Weak-fish, 

 Frost-fish. November to May. Haunts: The 

 surf. Baits: Sand laut, spearing. Time and tide: 

 Night, flood. 



Hake — Ling. October to June. Haunts: Open 

 sea surf, large bays. Baits: Clams, mussels, fish. 

 Time and tide: Day and night, flood. 



Weak-fish — Squeteague, Squit. June to October. 

 Flaunts: Surf, all tideways. Baits: Shedder crabs, 

 surf mullet, menhaden, ledge mussels, sand laut, 

 shrimp. Time and tide: Day and night, flood 

 preferred. 



Blue Fish — Horse Mackerel. June to November 

 1 st. Haunts: Surf, open sea and large bays. 

 Baits: Menhaden, surf mullet and trolling squid. 

 Time and time: Daytime; not affected bv tides. 



MY FIRST BASS. 

 I suppose I was about 14 .years old. 

 Up till that time my idea of fishing had 

 been to dig a few worms, take my long 

 hickory pole, with its line of black linen 

 thread, go down to the creek and patiently 

 fish for red-eyes. On one occasion, how- 

 ever, I determined to try for bass, several 

 miles down the river from my customary 

 fishing spot ; so borrowing my brother's 

 jointed rod and reel, without asking for 

 them, I set forth, 



I knew I required other bait than worms 

 for bass fishing, but as I knew of a little 

 stream near the fishing grounds where 

 minnows were plentiful, I relied on catch- 

 ing a few of these with my hands, as I 

 needed them. After a walk of about 4 

 miles I arrived at the river, and was soon 

 after the minnows. After about 5 minutes 

 spent in grabbing at them, I had the water 

 so muddy I could no longer see them. At 

 that point a good natured, middle aged 

 man drove up in a buggy, and asked me 

 what I was doing. I told him of my 

 troubles and he laughed. Then he got out 

 of the buggy and took from under the seat 

 a net made of a large coffee sack, with a 

 barrel hoop in the mouth of it to keep it 

 open. He tied his horse under a big oak 

 tree and we went back to the stream to try 

 for minnows again. I soon found that his 

 scheme was the more successful, for in a 

 few minutes we had about 25 good min- 

 nows. My friend put them into a minnow 

 bucket which he also took from under the 

 buggy seat, and when I saw him jointing 

 up a bamboo rod I concluded he was going 

 to join me in fishing. When we got to the 

 river he showed me how to put the minnow 

 on the hook and we waded into the stream. 

 I let my line run down with the current, 

 and had not been in the water 5 minutes 

 before I felt a sharp tug and the line began 

 to run rapidly out. I checked it and tried 

 to lift my fish out by simply raising the 

 rod, as I had been accustomed to do when 

 catching red-eyes, but found I could not 

 even get this fish out of the water. My 

 friend had been shouting directions to me 

 ever since the fish was hooked, but I was 

 so excited and afraid of losing my prize 

 that I could not hear what he was saying. 

 Finally he came over, took the rod from 

 my hands, and after a few turns of the 

 reel landed the bass. It weighed only 2 

 pounds but I was as proud as if it had been 

 22. It was the only fish I caught that day, 

 and indeed I have never caught any since, 

 but the first chance I have I intend to go 

 back to the same place and see if I can not 

 raise my record. Walton, 



Bristol, Tenn. 



AN UNENVIABLE RECORD. 

 Fishing is better at present than it has been 

 for years. Several good catches have been re- 

 ported. One day last week Elmer Foote caught 

 183 fish in less than 2 hours. — Paris, Ky., Bourbon 

 News. 



I asked Foote for his version of the 

 above and here is his reply: 



It is a fact that I caught 183 fish in 2 

 hours. This is the largest catch I have 



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