FISHES OF OUR NORTH ATLANTIC SEABOARD 
37 
this 
Day 
Wide World Photograph 
LARGEST STURGEON CAUGHT IN NORTH SEA 
A giant Royal Sturgeon which when landed in the North Sea tipped the scale a little short of looo 
pounds, nearly a half ton. A portion of the huge fish was sent to King George for his Christmas dinner. 
SEA BASS SLUGGISH ON LINE 
Some of the deep-water food fishes 
offer good sport for the fishermen who 
go down to the sea in boats to cast their 
lines. One of these is the Sea Bass, a 
rather sluggish citizen of the sea, but 
withal a ready biter and interesting game 
for those people who like to go out on an 
excursion steamer that drops anchor on 
the banks off Sandy Hook, for instance. 
Sometimes the Sea Bass breaks water 
like its river cousin, and makes vicious 
leaps and contortions in its efforts to 
free itself; but its jaws are leathery and 
once well hooked it seldom gets away. 
An eight-ounce rod is the rule for sports¬ 
men angling for the Sea Bass. 
All hands pay tribute to the Kingfish 
as perhaps the gamest for its size of all 
the bottom-feeding denizens of salt water. 
Famous alike for its qualities, its splen¬ 
did color, its graceful form, and its fine 
flavor, it was christened the Kingfish by 
the ^o^2S vivants of Colonial days, when 
New York was yet New Amsterdam. It 
takes bait readily. Clams, bits of fish, shed- 
der Crabs, sandworms, and Shrimps being 
to its liking. Its tactics when hooked are 
largely those of the Small-mouthed Bass. 
In surf fishing the best time to catch the 
Kingfish is the first of the flood tide. 
The treasures of the sea are many, but 
none is more certain to yield delight to the 
true sportsman than the game fishes that 
disport in its waters. The commercial 
fisherman, with his seines and hand lines, 
is perennially harvesting boatloads of sea 
fish for a large consuming public; but the 
real joy of the ocean is reserved for those 
with rods and lines properly designed to 
put the fisherman and his prize on even 
terms, where human skill and piscatorial 
generalship can each have its innings and 
the issue remains in doubt to the climax. 
POLLOCK (Pollachius virens) 
{For illustration see Color Plate^ P^ge jp) 
The Pollock, also known as the Green Cod, 
or Coalfish, has a range that reaches across the 
Atlantic and as far south as Cape Henry, although 
it is not taken in commercial quantities south of 
New Jersey. In size it attains a weight of 35 
pounds and a length of 4 feet. It is a voracious 
eater and very destructive of young Cod. A ready 
biter, many sportsmen regard it as a fine game fish 
for rod and reel. 
Though a bottom-feeder, the Pollock frequents 
the surface and intermediate depths. It congre¬ 
gates in large schools, roams from place to place, 
and preys on all kinds of young fish. Professor 
Sars tells of witnessing an attack by a Pollock 
school on a school of small Cod. The latter were 
completely surrounded and driven into a compact 
