Aug. 27, 1910.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
339 
as is their custom in more northern waters. I 
have made diligent inquiry at different points 
near Galveston' and find they are well known to 
the fishermen there, though they are not plenti¬ 
ful. and do not take the hook well. 
In point of destructiveness to other fish there 
is no parallel known to observers. They are 
true pirates of the sea; cannibals to- a degree, and 
dreaded by every species smaller than themselves. 
Their awful rapacity when in pursuit of their 
prey is a sight well worth much endeavor to wit¬ 
ness on the part of the naturalist. The men¬ 
haden or mossbunker constitutes their principal 
food in Northern waters, and the slaughter of 
these helpless fish is pitiful. 
The bluefish strike the outer edge of menhaden 
schools when in the open sea with the regularity 
squid, which is about five inches in length, is 
made from block-tin, and armed with a strong 
hook about 8/0 size, needs no baiting. It is cast 
from the point of the rod and reeled in rapidly. 
As it goes glinting through the water, the .eager 
fish seizes the bright deception, and then to the 
man who had the reel in hand comes a battle, if 
the fish is a fair sized one of from five to seven 
pounds in weight, which is most extraordinary. 
No fish on our coast—weight considered—puts 
up a battle to be compared with that of the blue- 
fish Fully alive to the situation, he resorts to 
every wile to disengage the hook, vaulting high 
in the air, then sounding deep, rushing from 
right to left, and all the while shaking his head 
much as a dog might when shaking a rat. Then, 
when all else fails, he will rush directly inshore 
followed by the bluefish to its source, which is 
the boat, then with hook baited with a piece of 
the fish, the angler permits his line to pass out. 
J11 this manner of fishing the hook should be 
ringed, about 8/0 size, and attached to a piece of 
piano wire eighteen inches in length, as the razor¬ 
like jaws will cut a gut snell at the first snap.' 
The bait should be supported by a cork float set 
about five feet from the hook, as they feed much 
at the surface, and this gives the angler the 
advantage of always having his line taut. When 
the strike comes, it is second to nothing done by 
the finny tribes. Man and . tackle alone are put 
to their best endeavor, and woe betide the man 
in this class of fishing who depends on the 
bargain counter variety of tack’e for success. It 
is worse than useless. 
ON THE CASTALIA CREEK IN OHIO. 
From a photograph by J. W. Oswald. 
and order of well drilled men, and soon have 
them swimming in a circle. Many of the blue¬ 
fish appear to be beneath the menhaden to prevent 
them from settling. Many times I have wit¬ 
nessed their awful havoc as these wolves of the 
sea rushed through the frightened hordes, biting 
and tearing without mercy, their jaws snapping 
like steel traps and sending high in the air the 
portions of the fish not gorged, which would in¬ 
stantly be snapped up by another as it again 
reached the water, and soon the surface of the 
ocean would become a bloody foam caused by 
the threshing of the larger fish in their frantic 
rushes of death. Often, however, they gorge 
the entire fish, and I have taken from the 
stomachs of large bluefish many which showed 
no other mutilation than the single bite which 
meant their capture. 
1 o the angler who has the proper outfit, there 
is perhaps no finer sport than squidding from the 
beach when a school of bluefish is on. The 
much faster than the line can be taken in, until 
a long bow is trailing behind and everything is 
slack. Then with the speed of an arrow, he darts 
back over the same course, and in many cases 
this effects his release, as the hook is reversed in 
his mouth and is backed out by the sudden snap. 
Baiting with mullet and still-fishing for them 
during September and October is a favorite 
pastime, as they draw into the deep sloughs along 
the beach. Taken in this manner the fish is much 
more at the angler’s mercy, as there is no heavy 
squid to shake loose, and the terrific strike of the 
fish usually sets the hook firmly in the jaw. They 
are ready biters, and when they favor us with 
their presence, no fish is so eagerly sought after— 
the game striped bass not excepted. 
Another favorite method of capture known as 
chumming is much practiced. This is done by 
grinding the menhaden, throwing it out on the 
surface of the water and allowing it to drift 
with the tide. This.creates a slick and will be 
• The motor boat is much in use during the 
autumn months, when trolling with a squid is 
followed. The squid—the same as those used in 
surf-casting—is allowed to trail behind the boat 
with from 100 to 150 feet of line out. A knitted 
thumb-cot should always be used, as the speed of 
the fish when first hooked is almost sure to flash 
the spool of the reel from under the thumb, and 
the rapidly running line will instantly raise a 
painful blister. 
The greed of the bluefish is phenomenal, and 
the stories of its rapacity are so well authenti¬ 
cated that they ne.ed no confirmation. They will 
gorge themselves to repletion, and then when the 
food is but partially digested, they will disgorge it 
and at once begin feeding again. Volumes have 
been written regarding this most interesting- 
species, and still much of their true history is 
left unsaid. True corsairs of the sea, nothing 
smaller in size than themselves escapes them, and 
nothing is bolder in attack and defense. But like 
