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FOREST AND STREAM. 



[May 20, 1886. 



TOWING FOR KINGFISH. 



TO-DAY 1 have been a-fishing, the first time that I have 

 had leisure to do so since the tire (we in Key West 

 date from that event altogether now; it has superceded 

 "befo' the wah," etc.), and I have had so capital a time of 

 it that before I sleep and the muscles of my pulling-in anat- 

 omy get stiff and sore, as undoubtedly they will be to-mor- 

 row, I will share my good luck with my Forest and Stream 

 confreres, and send "A. N. C." to bed green with envy 

 when he compares his biggest bass with my grouper, my 

 kingfish, amber fish and red snappers. 



I wrote you a letter some weeks ago which you published 

 under the heading of "Fishing at Key West." I had hard 

 •work to get that letter up. and had to draw on the catch of 

 others to get a respectable creel of fish together, my trophies 

 up to that date having been entirely of the genus panfish, 

 varieties innumerable. In that letter I told you of a cruise 

 I made in the Foam of the Sea, skipper, Acosta;cook, Gabe; 

 and crew. Charlie, of allot' whom I spoke a well -deserved good 

 ■word. But when I distributed among them some of the 

 papers containing my letter, they did not seem quite satis- 

 fied and urged that I should try it again. They thought 

 that the history of a day of calm, most of the time passed at 

 anchor, with no bait that would draw anything but sharks, 

 was hardly a fair description of the average and ordinary 

 events of a day kingfi-hing. Their arguments convinced me 

 and 1 did try again, and as many times again as I have been 

 able to; for a good six knot breeze from the start, and 

 a lumping big kingfish landed before we had gone a mile, to 

 be followed during the day with lots more (my own share of 

 the catching was over &00 pounds), impressed me with the 

 idea thai, there was lots of fun at "towing." Lots of work, 

 too. and I have tried in vain to cipher out how many foot- 

 pound* rny arms lifted that day, using as data 22 kingfUh 

 from 10 to 16 pounds' weight, a barraeouta about twice as 

 heavy, and Spanish mackerel to makeup the score, each 

 caught about 80 yards from boat, and hauled in with her 

 going at the least 6 knots; txeept when that big barraeouta 

 got hold; then, if there is any truth in the axiom that action 

 and reaction are equal, that boat must have slowed down, 

 although judging by sensation, at every yard gain she seemed 

 to go faster. 



1 had a savage pleasure in seeing that big head thoroughly 

 clubbed, for not only did he, with one of his razor-sharp 

 teeth, cut my finger to the bone, but just before, either he or 

 one of his breed, bit in two, as clean as though cut with an 

 axe, a good-sized kingfish I was hauling in. Fm sure that 

 fish must have aad a tail when he started, but he came to 

 hand minus, not ordy it, but over a foot of his body. King- 

 fish I knew to be like all of the mackerel family, excellent 

 bait, and had often used it, but never before an entire ten- 

 pouuder. 



There are some very pretty points connected with "towing 

 for kingfish." AJthousrli not always the case, yet generally 

 the fish rushes from below at the bait, and his momentum 

 carries him high. Three or four lines are out. .No fish on. 

 In an instant, perhaps, half a dozen are in the air at once, 

 and among them each hook has been appropriated. Then as 

 they strike the water something is very likely to break, if 

 you arc at all aesthetic in your taste for fishing. Until 1 used 

 them all up, each one lasting just one strike, it was my 

 fancy gear that broke. When 1 had thus gotten clear of 

 my ivory and pearl spoons and spinners, my revolving 

 baits, fluted and plain, Uke trout spoons, etc., and had 

 snapped all of the lines I had brought with me, I came down 

 to the native style, and then when anything broke, it was 

 the fish's neck, and this happened a number of times. I 

 suppose we turned him a back somersault without due notice 

 to be ready. The gear which caught kingfLh and staid with 

 us, consisted of a cod hook, largest size, shank filed to a 

 point, ganged to a copper wire snood a foot long, so put on 

 that the end of the shanK is left projecting, thus forming a 

 handy peg to hitch the upper end of oait on. 



The bait most successiul is a strip of pork skin, cut frog- 

 shapt d, d la ' Nessumk;" but wuen they are biting well 

 anytniug will do, aud we generally come down to white rag. 

 They will jump at a knot in the liLe, and close to the boat. 

 The line used is about three-eighths of an inch in diameter, 

 and I presume when not in use as a fish line does duty as a 

 bed cord. When we book tnem we don't waste much time 

 playing them; we keep them a coming, hand over hand, and 

 their momhs are so tough, and they are generally so well 

 hooked, that we lift them rifjht over the stern with the line. 

 Then comes in the value of the pointed spur to hitch a new 

 bait on; no time to waste in tying. 



It was in early March that i made my first successful trip. 

 They had been abundant all winter, the favorite grounds 

 being in the vicinity of the Pelican and American shoals, 

 ten and eighteen miles to the eastward, wh>re the strip of 

 reef fringing all of the keys is comparatively narrow; so that 

 in half a mile's distance you can troll in from five to one 

 hundred fathoms, and strike them somewhere. 



Tne line of uemarcatiou between the blue water of the Gulf 

 Stream and the green on the shoals is sowed defined, that one 

 end of a boat may be plainly in the one, the other in tne 

 other. We started for the shoals, and before we were clear 

 of the channels had perhaps a dozen fine fish, ranging about 

 ten to sixteen pounds. Alter we struck blue water weneiiher 

 saw a fish nor had a strike during our twenty miles' sail to 

 the eastward and back; and graaually the wind died away, 

 so that even if fish were plentiful we would have got none. 

 I have seen a school of them swimming all around the boat, 

 occasionally examining it, but not one would touch it, at a 

 four-knot speed. A puff of wind that would start us up, 

 started them up, too.' and the instant the baits got lively 

 enough they were seized. 



The jump of a kiugfish is somewhat like that of aba«s, but 

 higher. As to the height, authorities vary. I am sure I've 

 seen them five or six feet out of the water. I believe relir 

 able Conns, who increase the figures up to say ten feet; but 

 when they get up, as in one instance, to fifty, why, I draw 

 the line lower. 



Towing (a, very appropiiate name) having failed, we made 

 for a ridge running parallel with the coast line, but sepa- 

 rated from the shore reefs by a mile or more of deep water. 

 On this ridge, a narrow one, the depth varies from ten to 

 twenty fathoms, and there's where the snappers and groupers 

 lie. The usual method of fishing is to drift along, with lead 

 on bottom, uutd a good "drop" is struck, then anchor and 

 lower a bundle of fish carcasses, etc., tor cnum. By the time 

 we got to the ridsc the brctzy had sprung up again, and we 

 drilled too fast to do more than lose our lines, by getting 

 last, to we saw uolhing of the snappers that day. Started 

 back for Sana Key, aud as soon as we got into the green water 

 fun began again. And our day's fishing was a grand success. 



But what Acosta told me of what might have been, in the 

 •way of big snappers, etc., determined me that on the very 



first opportunity I should fish that bank. That opportunity 

 came to day. Starling with a good bieeze we again went as 

 far east as on the first trip, and again failed utterly in that 

 direction. After passing the Pelican, between it and Sand 

 Key, we got three fine kingfish and a couple of large (four 

 and six pounds) Spanish mackerel trolling, and I caught a 

 magnificent amber fish weighing 24 pounds We still fished 

 off the shoals in from five to fifteen fathoms, but not a fish. 

 Then the breeze dying again, we made for the deep-water 

 ridge, and in five minutes from the time we struck it a 23- 

 pound grouper was on deck. Then came an hour to be re- 

 membered. All hands were fishing, and someone was land- 

 ing a fish all the time. Our catch consisted of red snappers, 

 groupers and rockfish of various varieties. My own catch 

 included a red suapper of 14 pounds and a grouper of 43. I 

 thought sure I bad a shark. Several of our lines having 

 been carried off by them, aud having but the one gear left, I 

 determined to, if possible by careful handling, get him to 

 the surface and shoot him, hopiug thus to save hooks. Pres 

 ently 1 doubted his being a shark, for he stopped fighting 

 and came up quite easily, and that a shark never does. In 

 all respects his actiou was that of a big codfish, lug back 

 occasionally, then hang. When he came to the surface his 

 mouth was wide open, and he was so far exhausted that 

 there was no difficulty in inserting a gaff hook just opposite 

 to mine, and then three of us lifted him in; then that merry- 

 making became temporarily and literally a symposium, for 

 he was the big grouper of the season. 



I sent him ashore this evening to a lady, who, since the 

 fire, is compelled to hunt up food for about thirty people; 

 and have just received her note of thanks for that "what 

 shfill I call it, young whale?" 



Having thus placed him on record, I'll turn in. Piseco 

 P. S. — I suppose I ought to interject some useful data. On 

 Plate 94 of "The History Industries of the United States" 

 are given pictures of the spotted cero (Scomberomorus regalis) 

 aud the cero or kingfish (Scomberomorus caballa). In the 

 text, page 116, describing the two fish, it is said, "It is more 

 than likely that this (spotted cero) and the preceding species 

 (cero) are both included by the Key West fishermen uuder 

 the name kingfish, the difference in general appearance 

 being so slight that it is hardly likely they would be noticed 

 by ordinary observers." Tney both are so included. I have 

 caught them both, the most of the catch up to March 10 was 

 of the spotted variety; since then the caballa, has predomin- 

 ated. Lying side by side, the difference (aside from the 

 markings) between the males and females of either variety 

 are greater than between two of the same sex, different 

 specie. Piseoo. 



CAMPS OF THE KINGFISHERS. 



CARP LAKE, MICHIGAN.— XII. 



WE pulled ashore to eat our lunch, for we were now just 

 off the Alexander farm, and the wind came sweeping 

 down the lake past the point which sheltered us with a force 

 that precluded the idea of pulling against it and fishing 

 with any comfort. Lunch disposed of, we caught a few 

 frogs in a litlle wet meadow back of us to increase our store 

 of bait, swung out into the rollers and headed across the lake 

 over the same course I had taken the previous Sunday. We 

 put out two trollers, a Hill and a Chapman, but the big 

 pickerel or maskalonge that took my spoon that day had 

 probably not yet digested it, or mayhap he had changed his 

 mind about new-fangled bugs with glitteriug propellers as an 

 article of diet, and we had no call from him nor from any of 

 his relations. Down near the point where Maybert's Creek 

 comes in through the wilderness of deadened trees we 

 changed back to frogs, and in a couple of minutes Ben was 

 engaged in a sharp fight with a big-mouthed bass of nearly 

 three pounds, who finally took a position on the stringer 

 under vigorous protest, after vainly trying to sma«u "ole 

 quintessence" by a sudden dash under the boat. Then in 

 less than fifty yards two more tried to belch up the frog 

 after swallowing it, but Ben's hook had a fashion of "always 

 a ketchin' on to soinethin'," and they too wtre slipped on the 

 stringer, to end their career iu the frying pans of the phil- 

 osopher across the water. Meantime the skipper was not 

 idle; he was holding the boat in proper positon for Ben to 

 handle his fish, enj ying the fun and waiting for bis turn to 

 come uext; but the struggles of the last one seemed to have 

 scared the others, if there were any more, and the turn did 

 not come. 



We drifted along down with the wind toward the point 

 oppo>ite camp, over a stretch of shallow water, four to eight 

 feet deep, with a sand and mud bottom, with ouly a stray 

 bulrush nodding in the breeze here and there, and not even 

 a patch of ' 'musrat grass" big enough for a sunfish to hide 

 in. 



It may be mentioned here as a matter of possible interest 

 to any of the brethren not used to fishing the lakes of this 

 region of Michigan, that such a piece of water as that is, as 

 old Ben says, "jtst the place where ye won't ketch nothiu'. 

 an' ye might as well reel up or go ashore an' fish in a roz- 

 btrry paten." '. . . ' 



Just off this point the water is shallow for fifty or sixty 

 yards out and then comes a strip of grass and thickly grow- 

 ing bulrushes reaching down the lake for a hundred yards or 

 more, and along the outside of this bank the water deepens 

 straight off til! the bottom cannot be seen. This is the kind 

 of water where you may look for fish. 



We drifted along down to the lower end of the rushes 

 without taking anyihing, however, but one longface of four 

 pounds, which fell a victim to the rod of the skipper. Here 

 ihe wind had a fair sweep at us, making the water so rough 

 that it was hard work to hold the boat anywhere, and as we 

 turned to go over the water again along the bulrushes, a rain 

 storm coming down the lake les6 than a mile away admon- 

 ished us it was time to get into the rubbers and head across 

 for the camp. Ben said this "was "a hoss sense move, fur the 

 fish wasn't a bitin' much nohow, an' he wanted to git ashore 

 where he could rub the knots out o' his legs." 



At this point we afterward took a number of fine fish, 

 bass and pickerel, and one day old Danny struck a fish there 

 with such persistent and dogged fight in him that he was 

 preparing. to chuckle over the capture of a big maskalonge, 

 but when it was brought in sight and in reach of the gaff, 

 it proved to be a villainous bead-eytd "lawyer" of large size 

 much to the disgust of the old pelican and the hilarity of 

 Hyperboler, who barked and snarled as he jerked the gaff 

 into him, in derision at Dan's "new style o' muskylunge." 



We beat the rainstorm to camp by a few minutes, but 

 no sign of life greeted us as we sttpped out and pulled the 

 boat up on the bank except five mischievous little pigs that 

 were engaged in an industrious rooting match under the 

 kitchen fly for stray scraps and crumbs that might have 

 fallen from the table. These little porkers, only a few weeks 



old, were a fund of considerable amusement for the girls and 

 a source of much and continuous anxiety and annoyance to 

 the keeper of the frying pans and the direct cause of a large 

 amount of comprehensive but suppressed profanity on his 

 park They paid the camp irregular but frequent visits, 

 trottitag down from the barnyard in solid columns whenever 

 the (evil) spirit moved them, and there was not one of the 

 quintette, but had been "knocked siltv" a half dozeu times 

 by diverse missiles flung with unerring; precision by him of 

 the pans, but they wtre of a hard breed and minded a knock- 

 down or "dislocated ear" but little more than a skeeter bite. 

 A squeal, a tumble, two or three astonished grunts and 

 "woofs" and they were back again with somefreshlv hatched 

 devilment with which to make life a burden to the philos- 

 opher. Only for our respect for the property of others and 

 our good name as law-abiding sportsmen, I am afraid neigh- 

 bor Horton's pigs would have found a watery grave before 

 the first week was out. We offered to buy them and con- 

 vert them into roasts, but he would not sell and we finally 

 come to look on them as a nuisance that had come to stay, 

 and toward the last their presence would have been gladly 

 missed. Ben said, "The only thing that eaves their bacon 

 is, the close season fur hogs ain't out yit, an' I don't want to 

 break no game laws." 



We laid our rods on the table out of reach of the pestifer- 

 ous pigs and walked cautiously over to the big tent to learn 

 the cause of the masterly inactivity going on in the camp. 

 Peering around the tent flap, there sat old Dan and Muller, 

 about as we had left them in the forenoon, the cribbage war 

 still raging, and from array of "tallies" on either side of a 

 line drawn on the tally sheet, the slaughter on both sides 

 must have been something very considerable. Miss Fanny 

 peeped at us an instant from behind the leaves of a Century, 

 in which she was deeply absorbed. Jim and Mother Jim 

 sat uear each other with visible traces of the original "honey- 

 moon look" still lingering around them, gazing placidly out 

 on the lake now dotted with myriads of tiny bubbles kicked 

 up by the falling rain, and just back of them on a quilt 

 spread on the "floor," with an army blanket around them, 

 sat the two bundles of mischief. Bob and Kit, each demurely 

 sacking at a lump of maple sugar, as usual, with a look of 

 serene content on their faces that proclaimed they had about 

 mastered the problem of "how to pass a rainy day in camp 

 and be happy." Altogether it was a pleasant picture, and 

 good to look on, but where were Top and Annie? "Over in 

 the hennery asleep," Bob answered, as she wiped her lips on 

 a corner of Kit's apron, and got to her^#et with, "What 

 luck, James Mackerel?" and then the two Misses Curiosity 

 sallh d out in the rain with the blanket over their heads and 

 down to the boat, ' 'to see if Papa and Uncle Ben had brought 

 in any trout." 



The warriors at the crib board agreed to a truce, counted 

 the slain and came out to see the fish and kick the cramps 

 out of their legs, with the understanding that hostilities were 

 to be renewed by candle light that evening under the pro- 

 tection of the mosquito bar in Dan's tent. 



Fanny marked the page by turning down a leaf corner, 

 donned a rubber gossamer and followed the twins dowu to 

 the boat, and Jim, after due deliberation, relieved his camp 

 stool of its burden, jointed himself together and said to his 

 better half, "Let's go down and see what the old cranks 

 have brought in, anyhow." 



Meantime the philosopher was nowhere to be seen, but a 

 well-known sound coming from the direction of "the Knots 

 tent," betrayed his whereabouts, and looking in he was dis- 

 covered under a pile of blankets souud asleep, doubtless de- 

 vising in his dreams a plan whereby he might circumvent 

 neighbor Horton's pigs without slaughtering them outright, 

 and the plan seemed to have matured, for next morning, 

 when they were rooting around the provision box well 

 bunched together, a dipper of water from a camp kettle on 

 the stove — ihe stove was quite warm — scattered impartially 

 over the group, suddenly reminded them of something they 

 had forgotten at the barnyard, and the haste they displayed 

 in going buck after it, moved Ben to compare the perform- 

 ance to "a yaller dog try in' to outrun an old oyster can tied 

 to his tail." They stayed away nearly half a day, and the 

 medicine worked so well that the philosopher repeated the 

 dose at intermittent intervals with very gratifying results to 

 himself. 



We roused the philosopher out of his dreams, and while 

 he started fire in the stoves and arranged the table, Ben and 

 the skipper dressed the bass for supper and breakfast, leav- 

 ing the pickerel for any of our neighbors who might drop in 

 for a mess of fresh fish, this being an arrangement that would 

 suit all parties concerned, as w r e have noticed that the resi- 

 dents along the lakes where we have made our camps and 

 fished prefer the longsnouts to bass, for the reason perhaps 

 that their tastes have been educated on them because of their 

 more easy capture. 



We went to bed that night not iu the best of humor with 

 the weather, and had it not been for the quieting music of 

 the pattering rain on the canvas there doubtless would have 

 been mutterings deep and dismal from the old campers, but 

 this ble.-sed rain music of the night is a panacea for mo-t of 

 the ills born of an unpleasant day, and we went peacefully 

 to sleep to the dreamy melody, with a hope that the morn- 

 ing would bring signs of clearing skies and sunny weather. 



Kingfisher. 



[to be continued.] 

 [In issue of April 20. "Camps of the Kingfishers," page 

 207, first column, eighth line from bottom, read government 

 blankets for goat blankets; line 42 from bottom, second col- 

 umn, read red hoss for red bass.] 



EYED HOOKS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Early last spring I obtained from England several dozen 

 flies tied on the turned up "eyed books," and used them 

 throughout the season with great pleasure and success, and 

 after giving them a thorough trial I thought them about 

 perfect. The result was that I procured more of the hooks, 

 and those flies which I required of American pattern. I had 

 tied on them also. Since April 1, this year, I have used some 

 with the turned down eye and find them much superior to 

 those with the eye turned up. I have now some bass flies 

 tied on the Penned turned down eyed hooks and intend in 

 future using no other for fly-fishing, and would recommend to 

 anglers who wish to "fish fine and far off" to give the turned 

 down eye Penned hook a fair trial and not lose any time 

 about it either. Bv the use of the jam knot it is as easy to 

 attach the eyed hook to the leader as a hook with the usual 

 snell or short loop, and for the dropper flies the snell may be 

 attached to the hook previously, if preferred. If for no 

 other reason than that of economy, 1 think there must be at 

 least fifty per cent, in favor of the eyed hooks. 



Brooklyn, N. Y., May 8. O. G. LEVISON. 



