260 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Aug. 12, 1911. 
A Remarkable Catch—Atlantic Tuna. 
Philadelphia, Pa., Aug. 3. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: It may be a matter of interest to your 
readers to relate an experience of fishing in 
Barnegat Bay last Tuesday (Aug. 1) which, so 
far as I can ascertain, is unprecedented. In 
company with Captain Lemuel H. Mathews, of 
Barnegat, we were pursuing our way up the 
channel front Barnegat City to Sammy's Slough 
in a power boat, towing a sneakbox. Our de¬ 
sign was to troll in the slough for striped bass 
with spinner and blood worms. 
When opposite the entrance to High Bar 
Thoroughfare we put out our bluefish squids to 
catch some of the small bluefish with which the 
bay abounds this year and caught sixty-two fish, 
namely forty-two large weakfish, ten bluefish and 
seven striped bass, all caught from a power boat 
and sneakbox in tow on a small bluefish squid 
about two and one-half inches long with a thirty- 
six thread bluefish line, and in shoal water aver¬ 
aging four feet deep. 
To catch the wary, shy striped bass from a 
moving power boat on a bluefish squid with the 
constant chug-chug of the engine in such shoal 
water is an unheard of performance among old 
fishermen of wide experience. I never did such 
a thing before in thirty-three years’ experience 
of fishing in Barnegat Bay and I confess I never 
expect to do it again. The squids were trolled 
with about one hundred feet of line from the 
boat. 
I notice that Charles F. Holder in a recent 
article in your paper seems to think the tuna 
rather rare in the Atlantic ocean. I wrote you 
some letters last year showing how the Swedish 
and Norwegian market fishermen at Barnegat 
City were catching them in large numbers last 
year, and they are catching them again this year. 
While not quite so plentiful so far this year as 
they were last fall, yet every now and then a 
good catch is made, providing they are not too 
large. When too large to land quickly, the line 
is cut, and they are allowed to go. Those caught 
weigh from 15 to 200 pounds each. One was 
brought in the other day supposed to weigh close 
to 150 pounds. They usually run with the bonita 
and are caught on a squid from a moving power 
boat about twenty miles east from Barnegat 
Inlet. This deep sea fishing is a new industry 
at Barnegat City, and was begun by these hardy 
Swedes and Norwegians. The natives of Barne¬ 
gat will not go that distance to sea in a small 
fishing boat. 
If Mr. Holder had done in the past what these 
fishermen are doing now, perhaps he would have 
had more evidence of tuna in the Atlantic ocean. 
Enormous quantities of bonita and large bluefish 
are being caught now by these hardy fellows 
who go out at 3 o’clock in the morning and 
make a three-hour run in large power boats and 
come in about 3 o’clock p. m. in time to pack and 
ship on the 4:50 train for New York. 
On Tuesday last I saw three large tubs full 
of large bluefish, many of them weighing ten 
pounds each, in all about 600 pounds, caught by 
two of these Norwegians twenty miles from 
shore. 
If Mr. Holder will come to Barnegat City this 
fall and pay one of these Swedes the value of 
his time and risk the going, he will have an ex¬ 
perience in tuna fishing in the Atlantic that will 
stir his blood and stick to his memory. 
James G. Francis. 
Fishing in the Bluenose Country. 
There were three in the party, the commodore, 
the boat builder (both natives), and the angler, 
a ’'New Yorker, who only had a chance to wet 
a line for a couple of weeks in the summer. 
The summer was half spent and very dry, so 
having fished all nearby streams, taking only 
small trout, the commodore suggested a trip to 
Twin Lakes. This was cheerfully acceeded to 
by the others, and they chartered a very rickety 
wagon with dilapidated harness, but a fairly 
good horse. In going down hills the boat builder 
who drove was afraid to hold back the horse 
for fear of breaking the reins. After a hot 
dusty drive they arrived at the guide’s hut on 
the outskirts of civilization toward evening where 
they put up for the night, as the guide was in 
the woods. 
After supper they decided to try their luck in 
the inlet a mile and a half from the house, a 
favorite place for large trout in the spring. 
They found a clumsy punt in the management 
of which tiie boat builder showed great skill. 
After trying several good flies, including red 
ibis, coachman and some hackles, and not see¬ 
ing even the fin of a trout, being hot, tired and 
bothered with "no see ’eras,” they gave up and 
rowed slowly back, listening to the derisive 
laugh of a loon, which seemed to be mocking 
their endeavors. 
The next morning they tried the mouth of 
Willow Brook with not much better results. 
The commodore and the angler, much disgusted, 
voted to return home, but were prevailed on 
by the boat builder to await the coming of the 
guide with his canoe, a beautiful specimen of 
Micmac Indian workmanship, bought for a small 
sum. When the guide, a French-Canadian, ar¬ 
rived he advised trying the dead waters and the 
outlet in the canoe. After catching three or four 
fine ' r; sh, varying from three-quarters to one and 
one-lialf pounds, they proceeded on their way 
to the lakes. The water was so shallow in many 
places that the guide had to get out and pull 
the canoe. They came to the mouth of a cold 
brook that led into the deadwater. They made 
some casts, succeeded in catching one good-sized 
fish and losing several, owing to the lack of a 
landing net. On the north side of a brook a 
terminal moraine extended some seventy miles 
east and west across the plain. This was rather 
a weird sight, as they were miles away from 
civilization. It looked like a railroad embank¬ 
ment, about twenty feet high, some thirty feet 
wide at the top, with a natural slope on each 
side. Where a lake or stream intervened, the 
moraine was lost, but reappeared on the other 
side. After quite a long “carry” they came in 
sight of a pool in one of the brooks leading 
into Twin Lakes, where the guide promised them 
some exceptionally fine sport, as fish weighing 
two to three pounds had frequently been caught 
there But alas, someone was there ahead of 
them. Two bobbing heads which proved to be 
otters were the rival fishermen. They paddled 
quietly quite close to the otters, who looked at 
them with eyes almost human, and somewhat 
supercilious, then suddenly dived and were lost 
to view. After paddling into the twin lake they 
caught half a dozen fish. Shortly after this they 
came to a hill and the guide said, “All out.” 
After a climb they reached a wood road where 
they found a conveyance awaiting them in 
charge of an Indian. After two hours’ driving 
through the fragrant pine woods, they arrived 
at the guide’s house, hungry and tired, but happy 
with a good creel of fish, and pleasant memories 
of a happy day. W. Skidmore. 
Surf-Casting Records. 
In the annual tournament of the Highbury 
Angling Society at Farnham, England, July 8 
and 9, J. T. Emery and W. T. Attwood did some 
remarkable casting with 2]/2-ounce weights. Mr. 
Emery cast 309E2 feet, but the weight fell out¬ 
side the court. While it did not count, it ex¬ 
ceeded the exhibition cast of 302 feet made in 
Paris last March by A. P. Decantelle. The only 
casts made by Mr. Emery which counted in the 
score were 294 feet 5 inches and 264 feet, but 
the former cast exceeded the American record 
of 293 feet made by E. B. Rice, in the Anglers’ 
Club tournament in Central Park in May, 1910, 
and was one inch higher than Mr. Attwood’s best 
cast, made but a short time previously in the 
same event. A strong wind was blowing, and 
through it unfortunately Mr. Emery lost the 
credit for the greatest cast ever made with 2 ^/ 2 - 
ounce weight. Mr. Attwood’s weights all fell 
out of the court save one, which exceeded the 
record for a brief time only. 
A curious statement appears in the Fishing 
Gazette’s report of the tournament. Referring 
to Mr. Emery’s work, it says that “at his third 
attempt he made an enormous cast of 309 feet 
6 inches. Although the bait did not fall within 
the court, this constitutes a world’s record, a 
truly remarkable cast.” And a truly remarkable 
statement. As we understand it, the weights 
which fall outside the court penalize the caster, 
who can claim nothing for them. They count 
as nothing but exhibition casts, and each one fall¬ 
ing without the court cuts down the competi¬ 
tor’s opportunities by one. Neither M. Decan- 
telle’s cast of 302 feet nor Mr. Emery’s cast of 
309H feet counts for anything in the records. 
Nevertheless, full credit for the merits of both 
performances is due and is accorded by anglers 
who are posted on what has been done in the 
various styles of casting. 
Mr. Emery, who holds the international record 
for casting with 2[/2-ounce weights, and Mr. 
Attwood, who first exceeded Mr. Rice's record, 
deserve great credit for their work. They have 
striven diligently to succeed, and among the 
large number of British casters who have prac¬ 
ticed this form of casting recently, they are 
leaders. 
In the national tournament held by the Ang¬ 
lers’ Club of New York in Van Cortlandt Park 
in May, 1909, in the surf event Edward B. Rice 
