260 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[July, 
[COP'S EIGHT SECURED.] 
FROM THE SHORE .— Drawn by Edwin Forbes for the American Agriculturist. 
BLUE-FISH INQ 
inch in diameter perhaps. Over this “ dra.il 
is now stretched an eel-skin, its usual tough¬ 
ness intensified by lying a month or so in 
strong brine. This is fastened on by running 
lead and all right through it, and tying the skin 
at the junction at the leather and eye. It is id- 
lowed just not to reach back to the foot of the 
book, and a blue-fish will take this strange- 
looking bait when it, turns up its nose at a more 
delicate one. Perhaps I might add that the 
lead is only added to keep the hook down in 
the water, for the speed of the boats would 
skip a lighter hook on top of it like a feather. 
Not so with the drail used in “heaving and 
hauling” either from shore or from a boat at 
anchor. As the latter is merely a modification 
of the former, the description will hold good of 
botlu The drail is heavier, longer, and slimmer 
in proportion to its length than the other, and 
in shape is something like a fish, although the 
resemblance is not very marked; it is not cov¬ 
ered with eel-skin, but is kept bright bj^use and 
an occasional rubbing in sand. The hook is 
the same size as the other, the lead perhaps 
eight inches long. The fisherman stands on 
the beach, as near the edge of the water as he 
can get, with his left foot well forward, holding 
the coil of line in his left hand; with his right 
hand he grasps it about eight feet, sometimes 
more, from the drail; that portion of line be¬ 
tween his hands is left a little slack , and the 
“ shore end ” is fast to the stick on which it is 
wound when not in use; this stick is stuck 
firmly in the beach. Throwing the drail from 
him on the sand, so that the line between it and 
his right hand is taut, starting it with a jerk, he 
swings it around his head, the lead describing a 
circle about the level of his shoulder. He 
swings it half a dozen times, then lowers his 
hand and lifts it into the air, at the same time 
holding the coil loose and letting it flake out; 
he generally heaves at an angle of 33°. As 
soon as the line is all out, he stoops quickly, 
grasping it with his left hand. After the drail 
strikes the water, he lets it sink a little, and 
then hauls in briskly, hand over hand. The 
moment the fish strikes the hook he is off, right 
and left, up and down, now with his nose in the 
sand, and then reaching his whole length out 
of water, madly shaking the hook, then again 
running right toward the fisherman—this is his 
most dangerous trick, for if he succeeds in get¬ 
ting any slack he is almost sure to shake out 
the hook. This sport is often watched by crowds 
of spectators, who hail the landing of each fish 
as if it were their own spoil. To the fishermen i 
themselves it seems to be more work than play. 
The take, of course, varies with each day, 
sometimes they may get none, again they may 
count as high as forty. The fish are disposed of 
to smacks, which are almost always on hand to 
take them; in them they are salted down, taken I, 
to the coast cities, freshened, and sold to the j 
fish-mongers, who peddle them out as fresh j 
blue-fish. The original price paid the fishermen || 
varies from 11c. to 2c. or more per pound un- 
dressed. Supposing our fisherman to have jj 
caught forty fish, they will probably average [\ 
him six pounds apiece; this, at two cents per |j 
pound,would give $4.80 for his labor, not a bad 
day’s work for him. If no smack i§ at hand, 
he dresses them and salts them down, selling I 
to the smack whenever she may come. He gets 
more per pound for his fish, but as they dress [ 
away a third he prefers selling them fresh. 1 
A blue-fish, to be good, should be cooked be¬ 
fore he is an hour out of the water. It is a fish 
that loses its good qualities by keeping, and the 
fish of our markets is no more like Simon-pure, 
fat, juicy blue-fish, dressed before being dead 
and cooked at once, than chalk’s like cheese. 
