198 
THE SHEEFSHEAD. 
should be thoroughly tried before they are cast into the water. 
With such an outfit, the accidents spoken of by Mitchill may 
be avoided. 
An amateur friend, who has had great success in taking 
this fish, furnishes the following: 
“ This noble fish has become quite scarce in our harbor. 
The writer has taken them repeatedly on a small reef near 
Governor's Island, opposite the Battery, but this was in days 
long since gone by. They are taken still occasionally at 
Caving Point, and opposite the signal poles at the Narrows; 
also at Pelham Bridge, and in Little Hellgate. 
Strong tackle is essential for hiking them, as they are a 
very vigorous and powerful fish. They are usually found on 
reel's or in the neighborhood of large rocks, whither they re- 
sort for their favorite food, which is the small rock crab and 
the soft-shell clam— a very common bait is the latter. The 
clam is put on tho hook whole, by inserting the point of the 
hook through the stem, and burying the whole of the curve 
in the body of the clam. This fish is furnished with a fine 
set of front teeth, very nearly resembling the teeth of the 
B heep— whence the name ; the roof of the mouth is literally 
paved with round teeth, placed closely together, like tho 
paving stones in the carriage track of our city, enabling them 
to crack the shell of the clams with perfect ease. Some 
anglers, after placing the clam on the hook, slightly cruck 
the shell on one Bide ; but this sometimes causes the flesh 
of the clam to be exposed to those enemies of the angler for 
ebcepshead — the bergalls. The sheepshead will take the 
whole clam when he finds it, and cruck it in his paved mouth, 
without the previous aid of the fisherman. Where the small 
fish are not plenty— which is tho case on the feeding grounds 
in the south bays— I much prefer a bait of the opened soft 
or hard clam of large size — as large at least us a pullet’s egg 
and have been far more successful with it than with the 
