FISH AND FISHING. 



ALMANAC FOR SALT WATER FISHER- 

 MEN. 



The following will be found accurate and valuable 

 for the vicinity of New York City : 



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

 tember. 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 30th. 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 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 Octi ber. 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 Novem- 

 ber. 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. 

 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 : Men- 

 haden, surf mullet and trolling squid. Time and 

 tide ; Daytime not affected by tides. 



SAMPLES OF THE VERMONT BREED. 



A party of men — not sportsmen, but just 

 men — including one W. J. Bigelow, of 

 Burlington, Vt., recently fished in a pri- 

 vate pond, near Groton, and are reported 

 to have caught 300 trout, weighing 74 

 pounds. 



As usual in such cases, the men re- 

 ported to the editor Qf the Burlington 



m 



Free Press, and that paper heralded the 

 event as a great one. In fact, it seems 

 that Bigelow is employed by the Free 

 Press. 



A number of clippings announcing the 

 affair were sent me by indignant readers of 

 Recreation in Burlington and vicinity. 

 As usual, I wrote the men asking whether 

 the report was correct. Here is a reply 

 from one of them: 



''Dear Sir: I enclose a short account of 

 my last fishing trip to Darling pond. The 

 weather was as unfavorable for trout fish- 

 ing as one can easily imagine, so we did 

 not get a record-breaking catch; but think 

 it would be called a good catch in any or- 

 dinary fishing ground. I have heard of 

 your sending cards to others who have 

 been fishing in this pond, and it is evident 

 from what you said that you have had a 

 season's catch given you as the result of 

 one trip. Last season, a little over a ton 

 of trout were caught out of the pond, and, 

 as you will see by the enclosed article, 500 

 pounds have been caught this season. The 

 largest single catch, up to date, was made 

 in June of this year, when 112 pounds were 

 taken. Respectfully yours, 



"W. J. Bigelow, Burlington, Vt." 



To which I replied by mail as follows: 



"Mr. W. J. Bigelow, Burlington, Vt. 



"Dear Sir: My object in asking for the 

 facts regarding the fishing at Darling pond 

 was not in order to aid you in spreading 

 the news of your big catch. On the con- 

 trary, some 20 or 25 clippings from various 

 newspapers (and I think some of them 

 from yours) have been sent me by as 

 many subscribers in your State, asking 

 me to denounce you and your friends for 

 your greediness and for the bad taste dis- 

 played in attempting to break records or 

 to establish a big record for yourselves. 

 You, as a newspaper man, certainly know 

 that this course has become extremely dis- 

 tasteful to all decent anglers, and every case 

 of it that is perpetrated anywhere in the 

 United States is reported to me. In some 

 cases I get hundreds of clippings from a 

 single issue of a newspaper announcing 

 some piece of hoggishness in either fish- 

 ing or shooting, and the people sending 

 them request and expect me to criticize the 

 perpetrators. 



"You and your friends fished in a private 

 pond, and therefore probably had a right 

 to take as many fish as you liked, but when 

 you parade your big catches in print you 

 disgust thousands of your own readers and 



make yourselves unpopular, J trust) there- 



