Oct. 12, 1912 
FOREST AND STREAM 
461 
Channel Bass Fishing 
By HARTIE 
A PECULIAR feature associated with channel 
bass fishing is their reappearance at a given 
locality annually upon almost the same day. 
As an instance in 1911, at Barnegat City and vicin¬ 
ity and Seaside Park, the first one was taken on 
Sept. 13 and this year on Sept. 12. The length 
of time that they remain depends to a great ex¬ 
tent upon weather conditions. In 1911 the last 
recorded in that section was on Oct. 3. This 
year, the equinoctial storm which arrived on Sept. 
22, proved to be of unusual length and severity, 
and as only one has been taken since then, on 
Sept. 27, it is generally conceded by the numer¬ 
ous fishermen who have tried for them that they 
have departed for more southerly waters, which 
is borne out by the statement that it was 
rumored that fifteen had been taken at Corson’s 
Inlet last week. 
This season's fishing as compared with that of 
1911 has proved very unsatisfactory. Records from 
Sunset Inn, Barnegat City, for 1911, show that 
in the few weeks the season lasted there were 
109 channel bass taken averaging twenty-nine 
pounds apiece, besides which numbers were taken 
in immediate vicinity and about fifty at Seaside 
Park, which would probably create a total of 
about 175 fish. This year there have been only 
forty-one recorded to date, and it looks very 
much as if they have already left those waters. 
Twenty-nine were taken at Barnegat City and 
vicinity and twelve at Seaside Park. The fol¬ 
lowing is the list of catches for this year up to 
date: 
CHANNEL BASS RECORD, SEPTEMBER, I912 
Barnegat 
City 
and Vicinity. 
lbs. 
oz. 
lhs. 
oz. 
12. 
H. W. Gilbert....27 
08 
18. K. Wiechert ... 
..33 
00 
13. 
Hoffman Allen...29 
00 
18. F. H. Skidmore.22 
00 
13. 
H. C. Rydell.20 
00 
21. Edw. Cramer .. 
..48 
00 
14. 
H. C. Rydell.30 
00 
22. Robt. A. Tuch. 
..29 
06 
14. 
C. W. Feigenspan.32 
00 
24. W. Conklin ... 
..32 
08 
14. 
C. W. Feigenspan.22 
00 
24. A. V. Freeman. 
..28 
00 
16. 
W. N. Applegate.24 
00 
24. Fred Miller ... 
..22 
00 
17. 
Hoffman Allen ..20 
00 
24. Albert Alches . 
..32 
00 
17. 
G. W. Fenimore.24 
00 
24. Albert Alches . 
..37 
08 
17. 
T. K. Skidmore..28 
00 
24. G. Hatfield ... 
..40 
00 
17. 
A. F. Edgecomb.28 
12 
25. G. Hatfield ... 
..31 
00 
17. 
M. F. Stealton..30 
08 
25. J. M. Gentle.. 
..21 
00 
18. 
F. Kimbacker... .24 
00 
25. W. Hencken 
..38 
00 
18. 
A. V. Freeman..34 
t.0 
25. P. L. Evans... 
. .46 
00 
18. 
M. F. Stealton.. .29 
12 
Seaside Park. 
13. 
T. J Yates.25 
OO 
19. Mrs. Stewart .. 
..23 
OS 
13. E 1. Yates.24 
OO 
20. Jack Clayton .. 
..26 
08 
19. 
W. N. Applegate.22 
14 
20. Jos. G. Skirm.. 
..28 
08 
19. 
A. Allen, Ir.24 
13 
20. F. T. Yates... 
25 
00 
19. 
L. L Brown.22 
12 
21. J. J. Skirm 
9 ? 
00 
19. 
L. J. Brown.29 
15 
27. V de Wysocki.. 
..30 
00 
In answer to numerous inquiries on the sub¬ 
ject, we repeat our article of July i, 1911, on 
“Channel Bass,” by Hartie I. Phillips: 
There are many species of game fish cap¬ 
tured in beach fishing, but channel bass are con¬ 
sidered by those who have captured them the 
gamest of all, and odd to say, but nevertheless 
it is a fact, that when a lover of the fishing has 
captured his first channel bass, he becomes an 
enthusiast on the subject, and can sit with fellow 
enthusiasts and talk on their favorite subject, 
I. PHILLIPS 
channel bass, for hours, as it is considered, and 
justly so, the par excellence of the sport. 
There must be a reason for it, and there is; 
more than one. As a comparison take a striped 
bass of equal weight, and, although his first 
rush after being hooked is swifter and longer, 
he gives in sooner, and after a few rushes is 
ready to give up. Not so the bulldog fighter, 
the channel bass. After being hooked he will 
probably take 250 to 300 feet of line in his first 
rush, and, if checked too quickly, snap goes 
the line, as many novices have experienced. 
After the fish comes to a standstill the real 
sport commences; the fisherman by persistent 
but still delicate efforts must bring his head 
toward him, from which point the bass will 
start to swim up or down, and many a fisher¬ 
man is pretty well exhausted after trudging 
nearly a mile in order to keep his fish in front 
of him. One of the prettiest sights that de¬ 
lights the fisherman is that if there happens to 
be much curve to the surface waves, to see your 
fish outlined in the advancing comber 200 to 
250 feet off shore. 
After a time by a gradual and persistent 
series of maneuvers you manage to get him 
close to the undertow when he has the habit of 
sticking his head in the sand and his tail out of 
water and invariably makes a half-dozen 
plunges of this character, before being landed 
on the beach. Great skill is required at this 
stage, inasmuch as if too much strain is put on 
the line as the surf recedes, something has to 
give, sometimes the line, but in nine cases out 
of ten the fish manages to get away, unless the 
right amount of leeway is allowed for wave 
action. 
The favorite feeding places for channel bass 
are on the edges of a flat or bar, which can be 
best located at low water. The best fishing 
tides are generally from half flood back to half 
ebb. The fish range from 25 to 60 pounds, and 
generally take from half an hour to an hour 
and a half from time of being hooked until 
beached, and lucky is the fisherman that can 
land over one-half of those he hooks. One of 
the greatest means of losing them is through 
sharks, which often attack them, and many a 
head of a channel bass has been pulled ashore 
while the shark is feasting gleefully on the 
rest of him. 
The record channel bass taken up to date 
was captured by Joe Cawthorn, the actor, at 
Corson's Inlet, N. J., in 1909, and weighed 63 
pounds. 
The vitality of the channel bass is remark¬ 
able, and authentic tales are told, when after 
lying on the beach in the sun for an hour after 
capture, they have been given an opportunity 
to go free, and although apparently with very 
little life left, have, when put back in the surf 
for a few minutes, recovered and dashed off 
Scene at Barnegat. 
Victor de Wysocki and 30-pound Channel Bass. 
Mr. Wilder Catches 700-pound “Pound” Pole. 
On the Firing Line. 
Wind Shield on Beach. 
On a Sand Dune. 
Beach Gossip. 
