AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
FOR THE 
Farm, GrarcLen, and. Idousello 1.cL. 
“AGRICULTURE IS THE MOST HEALTHFUL, MOST USEFUL, A.\I> MOST XOISLE EMPLOYMENT OF MAX.”—W ashingion. 
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY, 
PUBLISHERS AND PROPRIETORS. 
Office, 245 BROADWAY. 
ESTABLISHED IN 1842. 
Published also in German at same rates as in English. 
( TERMS : * 1.5 0 PER A NNUM IN ADVANCE; 
j 4- Copies for $5 ; 10 for $12 ; 20 or more, $1 each; 
"j 10 Cents additional must be sent with each Sub- 
( seriptiou for postage.— Single Number, 15 Cents. 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in July, 1S75, by the Orange Judd Company. at the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
VOLUME XXXIV.-No. 8. NEW YORK, ATJG-XJST, 1875. NEW SERIES—No. 343. 
BOBBING FOR EELS. — Drawn and Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
While the skilled angler looks with contempt 
upon such unsportsmanlike fishing as the catching 
■of eels, many a boy, and man too, has found in it 
the means of procuring an excellent breakfast. 
However repulsive their snake-like form may be to 
some, none who have ever tasted them will deny 
that they are good eating. Eels are caught in 
“ pots ” or traps, by spearing them through the ice 
and by bobbing. To make a hob, a number of 
large earthworms are, by means of a large needle, 
.strung upon worsted or silk thread ; when a suffi¬ 
cient number are thus strung, they are folded up, 
.making a “ hob ” or bunch like a tassel, as large as 
one’s fist; in the center of the hob is tied a small 
lump of lead to serve as a sinker. The bob is tied 
to the end of a string five or six feet long, which is 
attached to a rod of suitable length, and a lighted 
lantern and basket complete the outfit. Bobbing 
is done at night; having selected the spot where 
he intends fishing, the bobber suspends the lantern 
over the water at the end of a stick, and casts in 
his bob; the eels are attracted by the light, and 
commence to feed on the worms. When the bob¬ 
ber thinks he has a good bite, he gives a violent 
but skillful jerk of the rod, and lands the eels upon 
the grass behind him. Bobbing is also practiced 
from boats, hut it requires quite some skill to give 
just the proper jerk to drop the eels into the boat. 
Eels are very fond of birds, and the sportsmen 
often see their game which drops into the water 
disappear before they can reach it. A sporting 
friend of ours states that while shooting rail among 
the reeds of the Delaware river, he frequently lost 
birds in this manner, but he took the hint and made 
a bob of a dead bird by sewing it through and 
through with silk, and tied it the same as a bob, 
the result was highly satisfactory in the number of 
eels captured. The use of the silk here as iu the 
bob, is to catch in the fine teeth of the eel. 
