THE COD. 
205 
thought preferable. Many kinds of fish may be successfully 
caught by the flesh of their own species ; but this is not the 
case witli the cod. That the odor of some kinds of bait is 
particularly agreeable is well established ; but the smell of 
putrid matter, to this fish, is so offensive, that instead of play* 
ing about the hook, they generally go beyond its influence. 
They are made an object of much sport and pleasure by 
the angling inhabitants of Boston and vicinity. The usual 
mode of taking them is with a stout cotton or hemp line, from 
fifty to one hundred and fifty feet in length, and about one- 
fourth of an inch thick, according to the depth of the water, 
with the largest size black-fish hook, or a small size fisher- 
man’s cod hook, and a sinker weighing from eight ounces to 
a pound. Parties on such excursions seldom return without 
a boat-load of cod, and a well-satisfied but very tired set of 
anglers. 
As an instance of what can be done with this fish, with a 
light tackle, it was stated in the papers of the day, about a year 
since, that Daniel Webster caught, at Marshfield, a Cod weigh- 
ing nine pounds, with a common trout line and trout hook. 
The cod is most delicious as a table fish, and is cooked 
in various ways : when fresh, he is usually fried or boiled ; 
when dried, he is an object of export to all parts of the coun- 
try : at the east, when in this state, he is prepared and mashed 
up into cakes with potatoes, and is a fuvorite dish. Of late 
years, the frequenters of New-York dining saloons have been 
rather amused by the often reiterated cry of the waiters— 
1 Hurry up them fish-balls .* This is no more nor less than 
the potatoo fish-cakes of the east, prepared for the palates of 
the Gothamites by Sweeney, and Welsh, and other caterers 
for the appetites of the New-Yorkers. 
thoy arc found in vast quantities on the coast of Long Island, and in the 
hays and inlets of Massachusetts, where they uro used for manuring the 
land. 
