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MORE ABOUT THE BLUE FISH \ 
By Leonard C. Hulit. 
P ERHAPS no inhabitant of the seas occupies 
a more anomalous position than does the 
subject of this sketch. And in treating of 
him biographically I am well aware that much 
both of merit and demerit in his character will 
perforce be omitted. 
As a thoroughly game fish he is without a su¬ 
perior ; always sought for by the angler as a 
prize worthy of the utmost endeavor, and test¬ 
ing to the limit the endurance of both man and 
tackle. As if conscious of his wonderful powers 
in the water he defies mastery as long as he finds 
sufficient water to get leverage with tail or fin 
and when that is no longer available will snap 
like a wounded wolf at the hand which may he 
carelessly exposed. It has been well said that 
pound for pound the bluefish is without a peer, 
in point of excellence to the angler, and'it is 
generally agreed that no fish is superior as a 
table luxury when fresh from the water. 
As if to offset such points of merit as has been 
noted, his ruthless habits are so pronounced as 
to have gained for him the soubriquet—“corsair 
of the seas”—no living thing smaller than him¬ 
self is free from his merciless onslaughts as 
will be noted later on, and his depredations are 
1 without a parallel in marine life. 
The spawning habits of the bluefish are but 
little understood and are the subject of much 
discussion; the claim made by some writers that 
they spawn in the rivers and estuaries of our 
coasts is untenable as the larger specimens are 
rarely seen in inland waters, except for short 
periods, when they dash in pursuing their prey, 
and ordinarily pass out to sea again within a 
very short time. That the smaller individuals 
may do so in the very large open bays can be 
believed and yet the doubt is strong as the finger- 
ling fish can be seen late in July entering all the 
tidal streams along the coast from the open sea. 
This would not be true if the spawn was passed 
in inland waters, besides, the fry appears simul¬ 
taneously on the coast from about Massachu¬ 
setts to the Virginia Capes. 
The deduction is, they spawn in the ocean in 
or near the Gulf stream where the temperature 
of the water is suitable for the purpose and at 
once, on hatching, the fry makes its way to the 
sheltered waters of all coastal streams, where 
its proper food may be obtained, as well as es¬ 
cape from its enemies. When first seen, early in 
the season or about the last of July, they are 
from 3 to 4 inches in length and are locally 
> known as snappers or snapping mackerel and 
are usually present in great numbers until late 
in September when they pass out to enter on 
their life of carnage. 
The growth of the bluefish is most phenom¬ 
enal, and is really one of the marvels of nature; 
from the fingerling of July they will reach the 
length of 8 to 10 inches by the last of Septem¬ 
ber, which are represented by the one to one 
and one-half pound fish on their return to us 
the following June; these same fish by October 
will range in weight from three to four pounds 
when they may be called mature fish. This rapid 
development is only accounted for in one way 
and that is by the enormous amount of food they 
consume; their appetite is apparently never ap¬ 
peased. Continually feeding, always on the ram¬ 
page for food, their destruction of other spawns 
is most wonderful. As digestion is very rapid 
with all marine animals the total amount of fish 
consumed by the ravenous bluefish, could it be 
learned, would be almost unthinkable. 
They have the well known habit when gorged 
with food of extracting the desirable quality and 
then ejecting the remainder, to only again repeat 
the process. These facts are so well authenti¬ 
cated by scientific observers that they are beyond 
gainsay. While they consume many varieties of 
food their favorite when it can be located is 
beyond doubt the menhaden or mossbunker. To 
witness a school of large bluefish work their 
havoc among these helpless creatures is a sight 
never to be forgotten and which will beget pity. 
When out in boats on the open ocean I have 
often been among them and watched the awful 
slaughter; they rush like wolves among the hud ■ 
died hordes, ripping and tearing, their jaws snap¬ 
ping like steel traps and so powerful are their 
jaws that with one bite they will completely 
sever the largest menhaden. They have well 
been termed animated chopping machines and 
the further appellation of unmitigated butcher 
is befitting. At times they will attack a school 
of fish and, as if prearranged, keep striking 
them only on the outer edges, thus the whole 
body is soon going in a circle and kept in one 
well defined space, until the beasts of carnage 
are gorged to their capacity. Professors Jordan 
and Baird as well as others who have been as¬ 
sociated with the U. S. Fish Commission and 
whose observations are beyond question, have 
asserted that the bluefish will consume much 
more than its own weight in food each day. 
Their enormous consumption of food accounts 
for their rapidity of growth, and only their great 
activity enables them to overcome any species 
inferior to themselves in size. The range of the 
bluefish is indeed a much disputed question; that 
they at times are very abundant in the Mediter¬ 
ranean Sea is well known and yet while they 
are known to be at times in the Caribbean they 
are at no time very abundant in the Gulf of 
Mexico, at least personal researcli among fisher¬ 
men of that locality fails to shed much light on 
the subject. I have found them at times very 
plentiful on the Florida coast, but generally of 
medium size, ranging from two and one-half to 
four pounds; the larger specimens apparently 
avoiding that coast, while along the Carolinas 
the large fish are usually plentiful. Like so 
many of the eccentricities of fish life this is 
difficult to understand. 
Passing the murderous instincts of the blue¬ 
fish, there is nothing but admiration for the rest 
of his character; of vast economic inportance 
as a food fish and a superb attraction to the 
angler. The markets are mostly supplied by 
the fleets of boats which pursue them every¬ 
where during their stay with us and their cap¬ 
ture is mostly consummated by hook and line. 
This is a most interesting, as well as novel, pro- 
