460 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Oct. ii, 1913. 
Channel Bass Fishing—Barnegat Section, 1913 
N UMEROUS interesting features are notice¬ 
able in connection with the captui e of that 
gamy fish, channel bass, this season. Pri¬ 
marily they made their appearance in the Barne¬ 
gat section much earlier than for many years 
previous, as the first one was taken on Sept. 3, 
at Beach Haven, by Hoffman Allen, whereas in 
both 1911 and 1912 the first fish was caught on 
the same day, Sept. 13, and it has been con¬ 
sidered a remarkable fact that heretofore they 
arrived almost on a given day as if they had a 
date to keep, but this year for some unaccount¬ 
able reason they were ten days earlier. This was 
followed three days later, on Sept. 6, by Wm. H. 
Shuster taking the second at Seaside Park, 
which is about twenty miles further north. Still 
more remarkable was the catch of Charles Ward 
on Sept. 8 of one weighing 34 pounds 6 ounces 
off of Como, as Seaside Park was generally ac¬ 
cepted as the northerly limit to which these fish 
migrate, and Como is situated about fifteen miles 
north of that place; therefore, when Henry 
Rydell and others claimed that they saw some 
of these fish swimming around the Asbury Park 
pier, it was received with a certain amount of 
skepticism, but the capture of two from boats 
a short distance offshore from Asbury Park- 
one by Walter Dohm, which weighed 34 pounds, 
and the other by Ed. Waters, which weighed 34 
pounds 7 ounces—proved that their assertion was 
correct. 
From the list of catches as far as obtain- 
By HARTIE I. PHILLIPS 
able, James Lyons holds the record for largest 
taken from the beach, which was taken at Sea¬ 
side Park on Sept 10 and tipped the scales at 
44 pounds 3 ounces. The record of Joseph Caw- 
thorn, taken a few years ago, of 63 pounds 4 
ounces, still remains unbeaten. The largest 
taken by a member of the Asbury Park Fishing 
Club was captured by Fire Commissioner Matt 
Stralton, of Newark. He got his fish on Sept. 
14, at Harvey Cedars, and it weighed 38 pounds 
5 ounces, and incidentally won two prizes, a 
Seger snake wood surf rod donated by John F. 
Seger, and for the largest in month of September 
a silver champagne set, donated by Mr. Pincus, 
proprietor of the Harvey Cedars Hotel. There 
are a total of eighteen prizes for channel bass 
offered by the club this season. Among them is 
a silver loving cup for the member taking the 
largest on a nine-thread line, a very difficult 
undertaking, as the majority of those who fish 
for them use from 15 to 24-thread lines on ac¬ 
count of the terrific strain necessary in playing 
a fish that will sometimes take nearly an hour 
to beach. This prize was won this year by Capt. 
Geo. W. Fennimore, president of the club, who 
on Sept. 18 at Harvey Cedars landed one which 
weighed 27 pounds 7 ounces. William N. Apple- 
gate on Sept. 18 at Seaside Park captured four, 
which weighed respectively : 24 pounds, 26 pounds 
8 ounces, 29 pounds 4 ounces and 29 pounds 14 
ounces, a total of 109 pounds 10 ounces. His 
prize for same is a split bamboo rod. Jack Clay¬ 
ton and Peter Post each caught three the same 
day. 
In regard to boat fishing, which was tried 
mainly in Barnegat Inlet, C. W. Feigenspan, the 
well-known brewer of Newark, easily carries 
off the honors. He, together with Mrs. Feigen¬ 
span, caught on four different occasions a total 
of thirteen. Mrs. Feigenspan is credited with 
six and also the two largest which weighed 40 
pounds each. The total catch weighed 424 
pounds, an average' of nearly 32 pounds each. 
The methods generally used in boat fishing 
are different from that used in beach fishing. 
Moss bunkers are ’ground up and thrown over¬ 
board, which floats away in the current. This 
is called a “slick” by the fishermen and often 
times the fish will start to eat the morsels a 
mile or more distant, and follow it up until they 
reach the boat; that is, the source of supply. 
This method of fishing is called “chumming” 
and is a favorite way to catch bluefish and 
bonita. It is also employed to catch channel 
bass, the difference being that shedder crabs are 
used for bait for channel bass, and a hunk of 
mossbunker for bluefish and bonita. 
A peculiar feature identified with this season 
was the taking of quite a number of “baby” 
channel bass, two pounds and under, at numerous 
places along the coast as the following list will 
show: Barnegat City, James Buchanon, 1 pound 
4 ounces; Geo. A. Dorer, 1 pound 8 ounces; A. 
G. Olches, 1 pound 8 ounces and 2 pounds. 
Seaside Park, Dr. Henry J. Off, 1 pound 8 
ounces; Waldo E. Rice, 1 pound 8 ounces; Mrs. 
W. H. Scott, 2 pounds, and from the Ocean 
Grove pier, Henry Viering, 1 pound 8 ounces. 
An incident of this kind has no precedent, 
as they generally spawn in Florida and other 
Southern waters, and as the indications are that 
they have spawned in adjacent waters, those 
qualified to judge have expressed the opinion 
that the anglers hereabouts can look forward to 
a large catch of medium sized channel bass next 
year. 
Seaside Park holds the record for largest 
number taken this season, viz.: forty-four fish, 
weighing (excluding the “baby” ones) a total 
of 1,248 pounds, or an average of 29)4 pounds 
each. Barnegat City and the north point of 
Barnegat Inlet is credited with a total of fifteen 
fish, weighing 424 pounds, an average of 28J4 
pounds each. Harvey Cedars reports a total of 
ten fish, weighing 290 pounds, an average of 29 
pounds each, and Beach Haven, one weighing 
21 pounds 8 ounces. Of nineteen taken in boats, 
all but two were caught in Barnegat Inlet. They 
weighed a total of 611 pounds, an average of 
over 32 pounds each. There is a possibility that 
they will be taken up to middle of October, but 
they generally make their departure earlier and 
THREE RODS AND THEIR EFFORTS. 
