December, 1918 
FOREST AND STREAM 
701 
T HE sport of taking game fish on this 
character of tackle is of high order; 
while the work is strenuous, still the 
delights are sufficient to eclipse all fatigue. 
Ordinarily when in use for bluefish, which 
are usually to be seen breaking at the sur¬ 
face, the squid is cast in their midst— 
whether they be on flats or in the deeper 
water—and rapidly retrieved by the reel, 
then cast again, and the process repeated 
until the strike is secured. It is an in¬ 
spiring sight to witness men of experience 
when at this pastime; excitement is at 
fever heat and each man takes his position 
knowing that he as well as his neighbor 
knows the game, and there will be no cast¬ 
ing across lines or other blunder which so 
mars the endeavors of the novice. The 
tackle is the same as is used for bass fish¬ 
ing and as there is no bait to be carried 
through the air by the sinker the cast is 
in consequence longer and, ordinarily, more 
accurate. As the squid offers but little 
resistance in passing, out—out it goes, a 
long line of glint in the sunshine, so rap¬ 
idly does it pass through the air until it 
lands at the desired spot, the reel fairly 
flasing fire in unison with the whole per¬ 
formance. 
At the instant of the impact of the squid 
with the water the reel is checked by the 
thumb of the caster and the mechanism 
thrown in gear ready for the retrieving of 
the line. When this begins the squid at 
once comes to the surface or nearly so; 
and as the bluefish is at all times a sur¬ 
face swimmer, the strike is sure to be ac¬ 
companied by a splash easily seen from 
the beach, which adds to the pleasure of 
the scene. If the hook sets, the battle is 
grand, as the fish having no heavy impedi¬ 
ment to drag through the water is per¬ 
fectly free in his 
actions, and 
every quiver and 
plunge is im¬ 
pulsed to the rod 
tip. As it some¬ 
times happens 
several are im¬ 
paled at the same 
time on different 
rods. The spring¬ 
ing into the air 
and the conse¬ 
quent splash as 
the fish returns 
to its native ele- 
ment, together 
with the excite¬ 
ment shown on 
the faces of the fishermen, as well as 
their haste to have the fish on shore and 
get back again into the water before the 
school of fish may have left, all go to make 
a never forgotten picture of animation. 
I N using the squid for striped bass the 
system is much the same although the 
flats are worked over. As it is rare 
that the fish are seen at the surface ex¬ 
cept when striking through a school of 
mullet the fisherman must work more in 
the dark as to where the quarry is. In¬ 
stead of running the squid steadily in it 
should be moved sharply for a distance of 
say fifteen or twenty feet, then stopped 
and allowed to settle to the bottom, then 
started again sharply and the process re¬ 
peated until a strike is secured or no suc¬ 
cess marks the end of the run. I have 
taken beautiful fish in this manner. As 
the bass is a bottom feeding fish as a rule, 
the settling of the squid to the bottom and 
the quick starting from there toward the 
surface presents an attractive lure to His 
Striped Majesty. If a bluefish or bass 
takes the lure when it is being run rapidly 
in the shock to the rod is something in¬ 
tense and will invariably stop the reel; in 
the case of an amateur this will almost al¬ 
ways take the reel handle from the grasp 
of the fisherman, and a reversed action of 
the reel usually gives a perplexing tangle 
of line which is known as “wrinkle-hawk” 
in fishing parlance. 
J IGGING for fish, as I have said at the 
beginning of this article, has been in 
practice from time immemorial in one 
form or another. It is, however, the mod¬ 
ern way that is of interest as well as the 
species to which it applies. It is well 
known that a moving lure always attracts 
fish, as essentially at the bottom of the 
ocean as at the surface, and some of the 
most remarkable ‘catches of our very im¬ 
portant fishes has been made with this sys¬ 
tem. It may seem strange to the layman 
to be told that almost every variety of fish 
can be taken in this manner, which con¬ 
sists of lowering the “diamond” squid 
close to the bottom of the ocean, then con¬ 
stantly moving it up and down in a series 
of rapid jerks. If fish are on the feed 
they are sure to be attracted by the mov¬ 
ing metal and will be easy prey. I person¬ 
ally have taken the following species in 
this manner and can say it is great sport, 
as it is usually conducted where the water 
Striped Bass 
is from sixty feet to over one hundred 
feet in depth: Bluefish, bonito, weakfish, 
codfish, hake, whiting, haddock, plaice, and 
scup or porgy, as well as the roving sharks 
which will invariably break in when the 
fish are feeding well, attracted by the scent 
of the bait as well as the sight of the mov¬ 
ing fish. Many times when the fish were 
well to the surface after a hard and long 
battle have these monsters gathered in my 
quarry, sometimes taking tackle and all; 
at other times cutting the fish off at the 
shoulder, clean, as though done by a 
butcher’s cleaver, leaving nothing but the 
head attached to the hook. 
This sport is at its best during the 
months of September and October and the 
morning is the best time ordinarily. A 
good motor boat is needed and that all¬ 
essential, a competent surfman, must be in 
charge. Just as the first rays of the com¬ 
ing day are in the east,- away we go over 
the bar to the grounds which we have tried 
out so many times and like all matters re¬ 
lating to the sport have developed uncer¬ 
tainty as to results. As the whirring en¬ 
gine drives the boat through the quiet 
waters, disturbed only by the swells rolling 
lazily shoreward, (for it is at these times 
when general quiet is the order of things 
that the best results are to be had from 
this class of endeavor), a flock of ducks 
sleeping back of the bar springs into flight 
and go winging away into the semi-gloom, 
noiseless as time’s flight and doubtless per¬ 
turbed at the breaking of their slumber. 
Farther out with a complaining cry a loon 
rises with lumbering flight and slowly 
takes his way to where he may not be dis¬ 
turbed. It is lighter now and we see him 
as he again takes to the water after his 
accustomed short flight, striking the water 
in a reversed position to his line of flight 
so that he is always headed in the direction 
from which he came. At the time of set¬ 
tling down from the flight the usual cry 
which has been so aptly described as a 
maniacal laugh is let loose over the waters. 
Nature has given the bird its peculiarities, 
and it does no harm with its wailing cry, 
still I never hear it that it does not fill 
me with a strange unrest. 
S TANDING in the bow of the boat is 
the sturdy surfman who for twenty 
years has taken so many ardent men on 
this sort of trip and who if fish are to be 
had never misses his share. His partner 
is at the engine giving it the attention 
necessqry, while 
the writer’s hand 
is at the tiller 
ready to swing 
the boat to any 
point indicated 
by the hand of 
the man stand¬ 
ing at the bow; 
but we notice 
that while in 
quest of fish his 
gaze is not di¬ 
rected along the 
line of the water 
but high up into 
the air. To the 
novice this would 
seem sheer non¬ 
sense, but the surfman knows that in 
this class of fishing our first signals will 
come from there and not from the water. 
He is watching the myriads of gulls cir¬ 
cling high in the air and well he knows 
that the sharp eye of these birds will note 
the first fish which are feeding in schools. 
We are off now perhaps five miles from 
the land before the motion is given by our 
pilot to sharp down with the rudder and 
run for a bunch of gulls which are begin- 
ing to dip and swirl toward the water, in¬ 
dicating that below them a school of large 
weakfish are at work on some weaker in¬ 
habitants of the deep. As we run under 
the gulls particles of flesh may be noticed 
at the surface; a mute testimonial of the 
