278 



RECREATION 



dred feet out, and as a rule if your fish goes 

 around one your line will be cut, as they are 

 full of barnacles. Our fish weighed fourteen 

 to thirty-seven pounds. I did not get the 

 largest, but I had a very nice one that 

 weighed thirty-one and a half pounds. The 

 next two days we had a southeast storm, so 

 I left for home. 



I go to Montauk every summer about the 

 10th of August, and remain three or four 

 weeks. To those going clown I would advise 

 to take in August and get the full moon tides, 

 which I find the best. Trolling along the 

 Connecticut you will find the dark moon a 

 very favorable time. 



The largest striped bass caught at Montauk 

 with rod and reel, I believe, was fifty-six 

 pounds. Narragansett holds the record for 

 striped bass — ninety-seven pounds. 



Next we will take a trip to Port De Posit, 

 Md., on the Susquehanna River. Until a few 

 years ago striped bass, or rock fish, as they 

 call them south, was unknown to the angler, 

 but was always noted for black bass. Now 

 Port De Posit is noted for its striped bass 

 fishing, although it be fresh water. These 

 fish, in early spring, go up the Susquehanna 

 River to spawn and after spawning return to 

 the Chesapeake Bay. The river is very shal- 

 low and rocky, has a very swift current, 

 which makes it difficult to row a boat, and 

 if one is not acquainted it is useless for him 

 to try it; so we always telegraph ahead for a 

 guide, who takes you out between three and 

 five o'clock in the morning. These guides 

 cost from three to five dollars a day. After 

 rowing you about an hour you come to a 

 basin which lies to one side. These basins 

 are from two hundred to five hundred feet 

 long and one hundred and fifty feet wide. 

 Here you use a light rod seven and a half 

 feet long, 2.0 reel and light line ; you 

 always want a reel that will hold six hun- 

 dred feet of line. Attach your line to a very 

 small swivel; to other end of swivel at- 

 tach three-foot leader not over three strands, 

 to which attach a 6.0 O'Shaughnessy hook 

 with small spoon attached to upper end of 

 hook. They are called the Susquehanna 

 trolling hook; all large dealers have them. 

 Put on three or four nice bloodworms and 

 allow your line to run out about one hun- 

 dred feet, if possible one hundred and fifty 

 feet; for the farther your hook is away from 

 the boat the better. If your guide is a good 

 one, you do not need any sinker, for he will 

 only row fast enough to keep your hook 

 about twelve or fifteen inches below the sur- 

 face ; if he is a fast rower put on about one- 

 fourth ounce sinker. If you do not strike 

 them in one basin move on to the next, and 

 so on until you find the striped bass, and 

 once you find him your fun has commenced. 

 It is the greatest sport on earth to catch 

 striped bass from a boat, and if you have 

 never tried it take in Port De Posit this com- 



ing season and see if I am not right. Why, 

 I caught one that weighed nineteen pounds, 

 and 1 was sure he would pull me out of the 

 boat; but after thirty minutes of great fun 

 and anxiety I succeeded in landing him. My 

 guide said it was one of the largest he had 

 ever seen taken, and he had less trouble, for 

 at that time the guides had to handle the fish 

 by rowing their boat; the anglers, as a rule, 

 had only black bass tackle. All I wanted 

 him to do was to hold the boat and I could 

 then handle the fish just as if I were on the 

 shore. The largest catch of striped bass I 

 ever heard of was on the Susquehanna River, 

 about ten or twelve years ago, when two 

 anglers caught in three days one hundred and 

 sixty-one fish weighing over one thousand 

 pounds. Before going to Port De Posit it is 

 advisable to write and find out the conditions 

 of the water, that is, if the river is clear; if 

 so, go down and you will have plenty of 

 sport. 



Along the New Jersey coast is one grand 

 place for surf fishing, especially in the neigh- 

 borhood of Asbury Park, where they take 

 bass weighing from one and a half pounds to 

 forty-eight pounds. At Asbury Park there is 

 a large fishing club named after the place ; it 

 has about 130 members, and the majority can 

 be seen at different times from May to No- 

 vember angling for striped bass. It was here 

 that I did my first angling, and I have been 

 rewarded by many a fine bass. The seasons 

 of 1900 and 1901 were record-breakers, espe- 

 cially 1901. Why, a twelve or fifteen-pound 

 bass was looked upon as small fry.^ Every- 

 body was getting bass that would weigh from 

 eighteen to forty pounds. Just think of it, 

 on June 19 or 20, 1901, there were taken some 

 thirty fish that weighed over fifteen pounds. 

 Those two years have a historical record with 

 the anglers. I might note why I think the 

 bass were so numerous those two years. The 

 beach as far out as 200 feet was just covered 

 with young skimmers or sea clams, and these 

 the anglers used as bait, which they picked 

 up on the beach as they wanted them. 



As a rule we use bloodworms in early sea- 

 son up to July 15 and after that sheddar 

 crabs; but we always use the small skimmers 

 when we can get them, no matter if it is the 

 spring or fall run. One thing is necessary 

 when fishing from the beach, and that is to 

 select the proper places. It is a good idea 

 to walk along the beach at low tide and note 

 the holes and see if they have a lead out to 

 the bar. A lead is a channel leading out in 

 the ocean; it is through these leads that the 

 bass come in to feed along the beach. Never 

 fisih in the centre of the hole, but along the 

 edges where the water runs off the flat ; here 

 you will see eddies and in these eddies make 

 your cast. It is hard to say whether it is the 

 long or medium caster that gets the largest 

 and most fish. I have seen all the fish taken 

 on long casts and another time seventy-five 



