April 34, 1890.J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



271 



THE TAUTOG. 



I^HE thick-lipped tautog, with his many aliases of 

 blackfish, smooth blackfish, chub, Moll, Will George, 

 >yster fish, etc., is now dividing honors with the flounder 

 ;n the salt-water anglers' esteem. New York has carried 

 §ffi the palm for big tautog, having sent to the Centennial 

 Exposition in 187fi an example about 3ft. long, weighing 

 Jl-^lbs. ; but Cape Ann conies in a good second with occa- 

 sional individuals of 12 to 14lbs. The species is known 

 !roni New Brunswick to Nova Scotia, and is abundant in 

 •ocky tideways, around wrecks and piles, and under 

 iteep meadow" banks from Massachusetts to Virginia. 



'The fishing season begins in April and continues some- 

 ;imes into December. Mr. Willard Nye informed us that 

 le has taken small ones in the winter with an eel spear in 

 icushnet Eiver. He states also that tautog are caught 

 lp the salt water estuaries and at the head of Buz- 

 sard's Bay before they are taken at the mouth of the bay. 

 The fish is not migratory and hibernates in winter, going 

 nto the mud usually in November or December. Here 

 t is subject occasionally to freezing. The records tell of 

 Hundreds of tons coming to the surface in the course of 

 i, single season. A pond at Menemsha Bight, Martha's 

 Vineyard, was a scene of such destruction after an 

 anchor frost some years ago. Having no use for a diges- 

 tive tract while slumbering in the mud, the tautog her- 

 metically seals the vent until the warm spring days recall 

 its activity. 



The spawning season begins in Narragansett Bay 

 toward the end of April, in Buzzard's Bay aboutthe mid- 

 dle of June. The eggs are deposited among the rocks in 

 depths of six to eight feet or more. The young grow 

 slowly and exhibit a pleasing variety of colors; some are 

 emerald green, others brown or red, still others mottled 

 with a mixture of these colors and pale blotches. Tautog 

 kept in a pond at Wood's Holl, Mass., for six years 

 1 cached a maximum weight of S^lbs. 

 _ The species has strong jaws and stout teeth in a moder- 

 ately small mouth, which is adapted to crushing small 

 " lollusks and crustaceans. Crabs, barnacles, clams and 

 ™*bsters are especial favorites of this fish, and if there is 

 jne crab he likes better than another it is the fiddler, 

 i-round baiting for tautog is a common practice. Clams 

 rad crabs are broken up and thrown into spots suitable 

 'or the haunts of the fish, and excellent sport is secured 

 Ijy this means. 



Early in the spring the lips of the tautog are said to be 

 tender, and then soft clam is a taking bait. In Great 

 Egg Harbor Bay we have used hard clams with good re- 

 Jsults, but fiddlers proved more attractive; indeed, while 

 attempting to catch sheepshead with this bait, we were 

 frequently annoyed by the free biting of the tautog. Mr. 

 Nye prefers lobster for use in waters near New Bedford. 

 In some localities sand worms are an effective bait. 



As for the influence of the tide, that varies with the 

 locality and no fixed rule can be stated; in some places 

 the flood is best and in others the ebb is preferred. It is 

 found that dull weather with easterly wind is injurious 

 to the fishing, and thunder is believed to put an end to 

 the biting. We think a good deal depends, also, on the 

 mood of the fish. There are times when he prefers above 

 everything else to lie flat on his side in a rock crevice and 

 keep as nearly quiet as a, fish can in its unstable habitat. 

 At such times he will roll his heavy eyes around and 

 move his lips as if in answer to some question of yours. 

 In the aquarium he will even allow you to scratch his 

 hack gently with a stick and seem to enjoy it immensely. 

 How could you expect a tautog to bite when he is indulg- 

 ing in a reverie so pleasing? If you can wait until he is 

 awake and hungry you will find him a bold, free biter 

 and a strong lighter." You will need strong and not large 

 hooks; weakfish hooks will not answer well for tautog, 

 although we have used them occasionally; the mouth of 

 the tautog is small, as before remarked, and the jaws and 

 teeth are strong. The hook should be kept nearly a Foot 

 from the bottom. For fishing in shallow water use a 

 finer line than in deep water, the finer the better. All 

 salt-water fish are less shy in deep water than in the 

 shallows. 



The tautog is a superior table fish, its flesh being white 

 and firm and not over-supplied with small bones. The 

 skin is tough and the scales are hard and may be removed 

 more readily after dipping the fish in vinegar. Some 

 persons take off the skin entirely. 



Other fatalities besides freezing sometimes destroy the 

 tautog; one of these is a kind of fungus. At New Bed- 

 ford, Mass. , hundreds of pounds of these fish were covered 

 with fungus and had to be thrown away. Mr. Bassett 

 lost 3001bs. at one time from this cause. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Not many miles away from the busy, hurrying town, 

 more busy and noisy lhan ever on this fair April day, a 

 creek goes winding to the sea with many tortuous curves 

 and turns. Now its water speed silently and clear over 

 a sandy, sunlit shallow, where, all the minute life of the 

 sea goes on as in a case of glass. Anon it turns dark 

 and secret, and underneath some overhanging bank 

 where weeds grow thick and dank it swirls and eddies 

 over a deep, quiet pool. Over it all shines and laughs 

 the beautiful sky, where white clouds dreamily sail on a 

 waveless sea of blue. A mile to the south glints a sand- 

 bar, white as snow, and encircled by gulls, the restless, 

 screaming seafolk that have gathered here seeking the 

 bounty that Nature spreads before them when the tides 

 have stolen away and the moist salt shore3 lie bare. Be- 

 yond it all the sea, calm and dreamy and still, mirroring 

 on its breast the wind-bound fishing smacks on the 

 horizon. 



Only rarely does a day like this shine on the earth in 

 this rainy month of April: but when it does break from 

 the dun, dark skies, as a smile that plays over a gloomy 

 face, all the world breaks into laughter and song. Then, 

 into the heart of nature's children steal thoughts of brook 

 and sea; wood and glen beckon them from afar, and the 

 crowded, dull streets become too narrow. Out and away 

 it draws the votary of rod and gun, the lover of air, sun- 

 shine and unbounded skies, into the freshness and glory 

 of a newly awakened world to listen and dream amid the 

 whispering of wind and waves. 



Along this reeded bank, every foot brings forth new 

 beauties and wonders, for all creatures that have lain 

 dormant while wiuter reigned are awakened and inquisi- 

 tively staring and inspecting the world. Here a crab, 

 green as the weeds he lives in, curiously thrusts out his 

 long-stemmed eyes and threatening nippers, then van- 

 ishes with laughable suddenness, as he acerits some 



THE TAUTOG OR BLACKFISH. 



frightful doom. Next to him, in seeming peace, dwells 

 another of his family, but clad in rust-red armor, while 

 below plays a school of minnows, startling the trans- 

 parent, goggle-eyed shrimp that hang on the bank like 

 glass, while an eel swiftly shoots along the bottom, leav- 

 ing but a vague idea of a black, winding body. Further- 

 on, a city rises on the bank, its streets alive with tiny, 

 mottled warriors, in armor that seems made of finest 

 pink-tinted china, running this way and that in mazy 

 bewildering confusion, each holding high above his head 

 a mighty claw as weapon and shield. A sudden sound, 

 and down they plunge into their subterranean homes, 

 and the town has vanished from the earth. Soon, when 

 the hot summer days lie breathless and windless on the 

 sea, we may envy them their cool shady retreats. 



At present we must tear a few from their abode, for 

 the crustacea-loving tautog whom we seek to day finds 

 them toothsome, though sometimes fatal and disappoint- 

 ing when they hide a sharp barbed hook. Having gath- 

 ered a quantity and deposited them in a receptacle, 

 whence they cannot escape by climbing, and where they 

 at once begin the performance which some imaginative 

 Izaak termed "fiddling" (whence their name), we will 

 hie to our pool by the bank, within sight of the sandbar 

 that ever opposes its barren front to the menace of the 

 sea. Down there in the cool dark water the bottom is 

 broken and covered with shells and coral growth, to 

 which each year's storm adds something, while the sap- 

 ping tide, busy at the overhanging bank, ever breaks more 

 and more of it down. There crab and worm live and 

 hide, and there the great black, unwieldy fish gather in 

 the spring after their voyage from distant waters. Hun- 

 gry and unappeasable they come in great hordes and 

 gather wherever shellfish cliog. In deep channels, where 

 old wrecks lie drowned, the glory of their flowing pen- 

 nants and bellying sails exchanged for festoons and 

 vines of scarlet and purple-flashing seaweed, while their 

 broken masts flicker ghostlike and dim through the 

 depths, around old docks and broken spiles, or along 

 steep banks like this where we are now, they congregate 

 and feed. 



No glorious, leaping fighters are they, that leave the 

 waves and jump through the air when hooked, nor do 

 they dart from side to side, like the trout or weakfish. 

 Who would capture these bulldogs of the sea must have 

 powerful tackle to restrain and check the headlong rush 

 downward that is sure to follow when they are hooked. 

 Down, down they go to seek the rocks or sharp, shell- 

 covered wreckage that will cut the line like knives, 

 crunching meanwhile at the hook, which is sure to yield 

 to their savage jaws unless made of good hard steel and 

 of generous thickness. Many, ah many are the stories 

 that have sprung from the hook bitten in two, and many 

 an imaginary 25-pounder has been lost. Use a heavy 

 lead and no leaders. They are not shy, being bottom 

 feeders, and do not feel that fear of a line that the princes 

 of the blood show. Bait with the light-colored fiddlers, 

 the black are generally worthless, and let the point of 

 the hook barely protrude near the belly. This is almost 

 always a killing bait, but clam is generally perfectly suc- 

 cessful. Don't be too generous with the latter, and use 

 only enough to cover the hook well, as then when the 

 nibble is felt you are reasonably sure that the hook is 

 where it should be, in the tautog's mouth, and a strike 

 will be rewarded by the plunge that is so welcome. Now 

 will come the test of tackle and skill, and if the fish is a 

 good large one, some sport may be reasonably expected. 



Before my mind's eye I behold the sight that met me 

 last year, when an English gentleman of Brooklyn, an 

 ardent angler, though he does now and then catch inan- 

 imate articles from the bottom, sat in Jamaica Bay, and 

 with a light hook played and landed fish after fish. The 

 bending and springing of the rod, the singing of the reel, 

 as the victim made some last mighty effort, and with 

 straining muscles and fins, plunged headforemost toward 

 the bottom, together with the excited and pleased face of 

 the sportsman, made a not easily forgotten picture. Such 

 a man goes back to his work in town, as he does to his 

 pencil and brush, refreshed and strengthened. The noise 

 of the streets with all its discord of wheels and steam are 

 softened to him, and the little lesser' ills of life trouble, 

 him not, for in his soul is the sounding and splashing of 

 sea and tide, and the whispering of the winds and 

 waves and the peace and calmness of quiet, still sea 

 meadows. J. W. M. 



New York, April 9. 



Wm. Mtxls & Son's Catalogue.— The catalogue just issued 

 by this firm is a profusely illustrated volume of 120 pages. It 

 opens with a humorous letter of advice to anglers from the pen 

 oi Henrv Guy Carletou, and theu at once plunges into the serious 

 work of showing anglers what there is to be had for fishing in 

 waters everywhere. An interesting feature of this book— for it 

 really is a book— is the handsome color work on pp. 1-8, illustrat- 

 ing medals, reels, labels, etc. The whole catalogue is creditable 

 to the energy and enterprise of this well-known firm. Price 26 

 cents.— Adv. 



RANDOM CASTS. 



A USEFUL addition to the angler's outfit is a piece of 

 ordinary Calcutta bamboo of about 6in. in length, 

 cut from between the joints. In case of a break in your 

 rod all you need now do is to split it into the proper 

 widths and wind the pieces tightly around the break. 

 Besides being very strong and comparatively elastic it is 

 much superior in shape to anything the ordinary mortal 

 can make when in the woods or elsewhere. 



The salmon, which at great trouble and expense you 

 send to your friends, is not the fish you so much enjoy 

 on the river. It has lost most of its fine flavor and all of 

 its beautiful silver sheen and color by being packed in 

 ice. Except for the idea of the thing, a codfish, just 

 killed, is far superior. 



In wading rough and rapid streams I have found that 

 lumbermen's calks on my wading shoes are much 

 superior to the ordinary hob nails. Offering less surface 

 they find the holes and cracks in the rocks and stones 

 much more easily, thus giving a securer foothold. 



When striped bass are playing near the surface of the 

 water and occasionally leave it they rarely notice a still 

 bait. Try the metal squid, and you will frequently have 

 good sport. And this applies still more forcibly when 

 they. are chasing schools of small fish. 



Silk worm gut, if kept wrapped in oiled paper and away 

 from the light, loses very little either in color or strength 

 from one season to another. 



It is not bad luck to lose a large fish on poor tackle, it 

 is stupidity, pure and simple. 



A good bass reel may be made from brass just aa well 

 as of German silver and rubber. For the former you 

 simply pay for the needful material and the workman- 

 ship, and if your pocketbook does not easily permit of 

 it, then why invest in finery of the latter sort. 



Bio Reel. 



WHY SALMON TAKE FLIES. 



DISCUSSIONS are going on all the time in regard to 

 the reasons for the salmon taking the fly. All the 

 books printed for several centuries almost universally 

 assert they take it in sport, play with it. It is astonish- 

 ing how little is known of the habits of a fish seen daily 

 by thousands during the weeks and months it is running 

 up the fresh- water rivers. If any one will sit on a rock 

 and cast a fly, and bring a salmon to his feet, he will see 

 that he takes it in anger, that his eye will be like a coal 

 of fire, and a tiger ready to strike his prey will not 

 indicate more fury. His appearance is precisely that 

 of a rattlesnake in the act of defending himself. His 

 gills, and eyes alike, a burning red. I have often brought 

 one to my feet, so that my Indian could gaff him, before 

 he struck the fly, and have seen this exhibition of anger 

 again and again, and so intense that he never noticed 

 me or my rod till the fly pricked him. The knowledge 

 of this fact will account for many peculiarities about fly- 

 fishing. Any one not skillful enough to entice a fish to 

 his feet can easily verify this by watching a salmon while 

 his companion casts a fly at him, and see the indifference 

 he may show to it for a time, and finally be provoked 

 into making a rush at it in a state of absolute frenzy. 

 This is why they so often come short of the fly, but when 

 they are excited and angry it will take a smart angler to 

 get his fly away. Fly-Fisher. 

 Savannah, Ga. 



[Our experience with salmon would not have suggested 

 the theory advanced by "Fly-Fisher," and yet there is 

 always something new to be learned about this royal 

 game fish. We have seen salmon in many streams taking 

 lures of various kind, and whether flies, salmon eggs, 

 herring, lant or whatever may have proved successful, it 

 appeared to us that the salmon took it for the sole pur- 

 pose of obtaining food. We have reason to know that 

 salmon not yet ready to spawn will sometimes take fish 

 and other animals in rivers. Doubtless this happens 

 oftener than we suppose. In approaching a salmon or a 

 school of salmon we have always observed a disposition 

 to escape, fear of moving objects appearing to be their 

 ruling emotion. For this reason we suspect that hunger 

 induces the fish to seize a lure or a bait when danger is 

 not apprehended.] 



Dynamite Again.— Bolivar, N. Y., April 19. — Editor 

 Forest and Streavi : Another dynamite fiend came to 

 grief this P. M. Lew Loveless, a livery stable proprietor, 

 and George Robinson, a boiler maker of this place, were 

 shooting fish with dynamite, when Loveless, who was 

 preparing the shot, met with an accident by the loss of 

 his right hand and wrist.— J. E. C, 



