Aug. 8, 1908.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
Angling for Lafayettes. 
It is not often that anglers, who haunt the 
piers along the Hudson River, experience much 
excitement or catch any fish large enough to 
furnish their families with a meal, but when 
the lafayettes are running they furnish sport for 
thousands of persons who do not otherwise 
E catch many fish during the brief vacations that 
break up their twelve months of toil. 
The lafayette is not a large fish, being only 
three to six inches in length, but it is a garny 
fellow, and when it comes in with the new 
flood tide in large numbers, as it often does, 
catches of a hundred or more are not remark¬ 
able in an afternoon’s fishing. Of course many 
of those who fish for lafayettes do so for the 
sport of catching them, just as many anglers 
make big catches of brook trout, and put back 
all but a few of the larger ones; but others 
catch lafayettes for the pan, and carry them 
home at nightfall with great pride. It is usually 
in August that the words “lafayettes are run¬ 
ning” are passed along the line, whereupon the 
demand for sandworms equals and often sur¬ 
passes the supply kept for such emergencies by 
riverside boatmen and small shopkeepers. Then 
it is that space on all the piers is at a premium 
and every boat that is available is pressed into 
service by the people who hurry to the river 
in groups or singly. Not much space is re- 
; quired to cast a hand line or manipulate a rod 
along the string pieces of the piers, or from 
some canal boat or lighter moored alongside, 
| but very often there is no space for one more. 
!l so that the late arrivals must seek standing 
I room elsewhere. And it is a motley crowd. Old 
salt water anglers who fish at every opportunity 
throughout the year; boys of all sizes and ages; 
j women, who for the time being become as en- 
i thusiastic over the fun as their husbands do 
; at all times; whole families, each member equip¬ 
ped with some sort of gear with a hook or two 
at the business end. All along the river, while 
the lafayettes are in these waters, the same 
scene is repeated every day and all day. 
The tackle used is simple. Hand lines arc- 
most in evidence, but those who own ordinary 
salt water rods use them. There is little space 
1 on the crowded piers for fancy casting, and 
■ perhaps this accounts in a measure for the style 
j employed in projecting the line as far out in 
the water as possible. The hand liners grasp 
i their lines some two feet above the heavy sinker 
1 and toss it out by a vigorous underhand swing, 
j, or, when there is room, by whirling over the 
j head a couple of times before letting go. Rod 
• owners use multiplying reels sometimes, but 
j generally the large wooden salt water reels, a 
j few of which rival a dinner plate for size, are 
' most common. Large sinkers are employed. 
1 This is necessary in order to keep the line taut 
' against the strong tides, and it is easier, too, 
j to cast a heavy weight in close quarters. 
The hooks being baited with sandworms, the 
line is reeled in until hut three feet of it ex- 
j tends beyond the tip of the rod. The rod is 
carried well back over the head, and a vigorous 
forward swing imparted, which sends the sinker 
and line far up and out, to drop in the deep 
> water many yards distant and run until the 
sinker touches bottom. Then enough line is 
recovered to keep it taut, and a bite is anxiously 
awaited. The sinkers are generally pear-shaped 
7 19 
and are attached to the end of the leader, with 
the snelled hooks further up, so that they may 
be held in a horizontal direction by the tide 
some distance above the bottom. 
With three or four ounces of lead holding 
the line on the bottom of the river, it need not 
be supposed that the strike of a five-inch fish 
will pull the angler overboard, but the fact is 
that the lafayettes give a taut line a goodly 
twitch, considering their size, and make their 
presence known by considerable fuss as they 
are being reeled in. Those who fish with more 
than one hand line attach one or more of these 
to bits of stiff wire carrying tiny tinkling bells 
at the end. The w r ire is pushed into the string 
piece of the pier, the line given a turn round it, 
then coiled, and a strike is signalled in this way. 
It is all very amusing—this scramble for the 
little lafayettes, and yet thousands of persons 
get enjoyment out of it in their few leisure 
hours, and it is of record that a mess of lafay¬ 
ettes is not half bad. Let those who have the 
“Bin Fishin.” 
Troy, N. Y., Aug. 1. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: Some time ago when I went fishing 
you asked me to send you an account of my 
trip. I failed to do so, principally because there 
was nothing of special interest to relate; but at 
present I have a story to tell, and to quote Mr. 
Kipling, can say, “The American continent may 
now sink under the sea, for I have taken tips 
best that it yields and the best was neither 
dollars, love nor real estate.” I feel that I 
am not only even with the world, but ahead. 
The spirit moved four of us and in early June 
we started. Our party comprised two captains 
of industry, a judge and myself—one veteran 
and three greenhorns. We were hopeful, but 
modest. Each wanted to capture at least one 
salmon and resolved to stay all summer if neces¬ 
sary to accomplish it. We had studied Dean 
Sage until the theory of the sport was at 
tongue’s end, but much remained to be learned. 
Lafayette (Leiostomus xanthurus). 
patience try it. A four or five-ounce trout fly- 
rod, a fine leader and a single No. 10 or 12 
baited hook, with a split shot, makes an outfit 
with which lafayettes may be caught with no 
little amusement, while an equally good outfit 
is a very light bait-casting rod and fine line. In 
either case one fishes about two or three feet 
below the surface on a rising tide. 
There is a legend along the Hudson to the 
effect that lafayettes make their appearance in 
numbers only once every seven years. It was 
late in August, 1902, when the river was literally 
full of them, and they remained until September. 
They next appeared late in July of the present 
year, after an absence of a trifle less than six 
years, and are still present in large numbers. 
Usually a few are caught, then more and more, 
the numbers dwindling until, after a month or 
more, they disappear entirely. First come the 
little fellows, followed by larger ones. Some 
of them attain a length of nine or ten inches 
and are very fat, making an excellent pan fish. 
The lafayette is known to science as Leios - 
tomus xanthurus Lacapede. It makes its appear¬ 
ance in all waters along the Atlantic Coast from 
Cape Cod to Texas. Concerning it Jordan 
& Evermann say that, “notwithstanding the 
numerous nominal species which authors have 
recognized, there is no evidence whatever of 
the existence of more than one species of Leios¬ 
tomus on our coasts.” 
Our journey to the pools was delightful; fair 
weather, smooth seas and a full moon at night 
made every moment enjoyable. When we 
reached our river we found the coast clear, more 
pools than we could- occupy ready for us, and 
the fish on. 
Our first meal—a big salmon boiled—was a 
banquet; how we did stow it away! We wished 
that our sisters, cousins and aunts might have 
shared it with us. For several days we ate 
salmon prepared in various ways and then 
surfeited, hated the sight of it, and took to cod¬ 
fish balls. One day we had a brook trout of 
four and a half pounds baked in cream, and no 
one ever tasted anything more delicious. I re¬ 
member having one many years ago in the 
Adirondacks and gave our hostess the direc¬ 
tions necessary. She had never prepared one 
thus; the recipe is: put your trout in a pan 
without removing the head, lay four thin slices 
of bacon across it and bake until nearly done, 
then pour a cup of rich cream over and baste 
occasionally for ten minutes; the cream thickens 
and makes a rich gravy; then you have a dish 
fit for Lucullus. We had fine griddle cakes 
with maple syrup every day, and most every¬ 
thing to eat but fresh meat. As some of our 
party were great meat eaters, we went skir¬ 
mishing for it. A young man drove twenty-eight 
miles but could not find a pound. We used to 
lunch together at noon seated on some rocks 
