FISH AND FISHING. 



49 



One day the old man met a party and 

 they invited him to go fishing with them, 

 to Frenchman's river, I think it was. 

 When they got where they intended to fish, 

 Granfa' recollected the bottle of stuff the 

 Injun give him, and sure enough, he had 

 it in his pocket. He hadn't much faith in 

 it, but he made up his mind to try it any- 

 way. Well, they stopped at a shady place 

 by the waterside, and left their lunch bas- 

 kets and got their tackle ready, and I'll be 

 durned if Granfa' didn't break that bottle 

 and lose all the fishcharm on the sand, right 

 by the river. He was kinder mad, arter car- 

 ryin' it about so long; but he said noth- 

 in' about it, and they went fishin', some 

 up, and some down the river. They fished, 

 with poor luck, for more than 2 hours, and 

 Granfa' worked his way back to where they 

 had left the lunch baskets. When he got 

 there, he couldn't believe his eyes, for a 

 spell. For about 2 rods, the river side was 

 bilin' with fish; all sorts and all sizes, 

 jumpin' and floppin' out of the water on 

 the dry sand, where he had dropped that 

 bottle. Granfa' yelled to his companions 

 and they come runnin' — and when they see 

 the fish, they were actually scared. Granfa' 

 never let on about the Injun's stuff, and one 

 of the gentlemen, a sort of perfessor from 

 back East, said he thought it was some dis- 

 turbance in the bed of the river, somethin' 

 in the earthquake line. Another said he 

 thought it was a shark was drivin' the fish 

 out of the water. Any way, they ketched all 

 they wanted with their landin' nets and 

 went away. Granfa' said he should never 

 forget it, and he wouldn't have believed it 

 if he hadn't seen it hisself. Now, I think," 

 added the old man, turning and looking 

 earnestly at me, " I think its a good thing 

 no one knows of such stuff now-a-days, for 

 if they did, there would be no more sport 

 in fishin' " — and I thoroughly agreed with 

 him. 



ALMANAC FOR SALT WATER 

 FISHERMEN. 



The following will be found accurate and 

 valuable 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 15th to 

 November 30th. Haunts: The surf, mouths 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. 



Th® Drums, Red and Black. June to November. 

 Haunts: The surf and mouths of large bays. 

 Bait: skinner clam. 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: Channels of tidal 

 streams. Baits: Shedder crabs, sand worms, 

 clams. Time 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 tideways.' 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 Weakfish, 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. 

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

 surf mullet, menhaden, ledge mussels, sand laut 

 shrimp. Time and tide: Day and night, flood pre- 

 ferred. 



Blue Fish — Horse Mackerel. June to November 

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

 Baits: Menhaden, surf mullet and trolling squid. 

 Time and tide: Daytime, not affected by tides. 



WHITE BASS, FISH HOGS, AND- 

 MARKS. • 



-MR. 



Editor Recreation: Please let me ex- 

 plain my note in February Recreation. 



1st. There should have been a date af- 

 fixed to my report of the catch of white 

 bass. This (as I subsequently stated to the 

 Editor, when he jumped all over me) was 

 40 years ago, at the mouth of the Raisin 

 river, when there were neither scarcity of 

 fish, nor wardens, nor need of any. 



2d. The white bass referred to was the 

 Roccus chrysops (Refinesque), a fish which 

 I am unable to learn was ever found in the 

 inland lakes of the Northwest, except after 

 planting. I have fished in a dozen or more 

 of the lakes of Southern Wisconsin; at only 

 one of these has this fish been mentioned; 

 and I know who planted it there. 



3d. I have known a large string of black 

 bass caught in an inland lake, 10 miles back 

 from Lake Michigan, when no black bass 

 would bite in the latter — during July. 

 Other fish are equally capricious. 



4th. I have inquired of gentlemen who 

 are posted, and they tell me the fish in 

 question does not live in the land-locked 

 lakes of Michigan and Wisconsin, and that 

 my statement as to the spring habit is cor- 

 rect. One of these gentlemen is an au- 

 thority on fishes and fishing. 



5th. As to parlor sportsman: This is the 

 unkindest cut of all. Having caught nearly 

 everything that swims, from the brook 

 trout of New Hampshire to black bass in 

 the Mississippi; having fished in every 

 State between; in all the great lakes from 

 Ontario to Superior, except Huron, I don't 

 think I deserve the name. I learned to tie 

 an artificial fly in 1846, under the tutelage of 

 an expert salmon angler. 



