Bass, Pike, Perch, and Others Part 15

The difference in flavor between the sheepshead of the North and South may perhaps be due to the character of their food. It is especially noticeable that fishes of the salt water that pa.s.s the winter season in the deep sea, as the salmon, shad, etc., possess a more superior flavor than those that feed constantly and during the entire year along the sh.o.r.es. While nothing is really known concerning the sp.a.w.ning habits of the sheepshead in northern waters, it probably sp.a.w.ns in early summer.

From my own knowledge I can say that it sp.a.w.ns in Florida, on the Gulf coast, during March and April. Its eggs are very small, about thirty to the inch, are buoyant or floating, and hatch in two days.

A good rod for sheepshead fishing is the natural bamboo rod, known as the striped-ba.s.s chum rod. It is light, and strong enough to withstand the vicious tugs, spurts, and especially the propensity of boring toward the bottom, that is characteristic of this fish. A rod of steel, or lancewood, or ash and greenheart, or bethabara, though heavier, is better and stronger. It should be about eight feet in length, with double guides. A multiplying reel carrying sixty yards of braided linen line, size E or F, Sproat hooks, Nos. 1-0 to 3-0 on gimp snells, with sinkers, and a wide-mouthed landing-net, make up the rest of the tackle.

The short barb, with cutting edges, of the Sproat hook renders it superior to the Virginia. Chestertown, or blackfish hooks formerly so much in vogue for the sheepshead. A bra.s.s box-swivel is necessary for connecting the line with the snell of the hook.

While the sheepshead often bites at all stages of the tide, the most favorable time is about slack water; from that stage, to half flood or half ebb, good success may usually be expected. The largest fish are taken from a boat anch.o.r.ed over or near mussel shoals or oyster beds.

Smaller ones can be caught from old wharves or bridges whose piling is studded with barnacles and mussels, and about which shrimp abound.

During slack water a light sinker is sufficient; but when the tide runs strongly, heavier ones must be used, as it is imperative to keep the bait near the bottom, especially if fishing from a boat. If fishing from a wharf, it does not matter so much, provided the bait is deep enough to prevent the fish from seeing the angler. While this is a precaution that must be observed with all fishes, I do not think the sheepshead is so shy a fish as some maintain; at least I have never found it so.

The best bait is shedder-crab, fiddlers, or hermit crabs. Clam bait, though, is cheaper and more universally used in the North. In Florida the fiddlers can be scooped up by the peck on the inside beaches of the bays, and contiguous to good sheepshead fishing. If the clam is large, the meat should be cut up for bait; but if quite small, or if mussels are used, the sh.e.l.ls may be merely cracked or smashed, and put on the hook entire. The latter is the mode where the fish are scarce or shy, but I prefer to use the meat only, discarding the sh.e.l.ls; in the case of fiddlers, when very small, they should be used _au naturel_, or whole.

The bait should be cast and allowed to sink, and the line reeled enough to keep the bait off the bottom, but close to it. A taut line should be maintained always, so as to feel the slightest nibble. If crab bait, or cut clam, is used, the fish should be hooked, if possible, at the first bite, however slight, by a quick and somewhat vigorous upward jerk of the tip, otherwise the sheepshead is apt to nip off the bait; or if sufficient force is not used, the hook fails to enter the well-armed mouth. One or other of these contingencies is almost sure to follow, if the fish be not hooked. A small sheepshead is a more adroit stealer of bait than the cunner. It has a way of deftly pinching the bait from the hook without much, if any, disturbance. When small clams or mussels are used in the cracked sh.e.l.ls, it is thought best by some anglers to give the fish a little time to "shuck" the bait before jerking on the rod.

But my advice is to yank him just as quickly as if crab bait were employed. To hesitate is to be defrauded of either the fish or the bait.

When the fish is hooked he should be kept from the bottom by the spring of the rod, and brought as near the surface as possible. When line is given during his frantic rushes, the spring and resistance of the rod should never be lessened. Once on the surface he is easily kept there until conquered; but if allowed to descend to the bottom, he is pretty hard to manage, as his resistance then is very much greater, and he endeavors to tear out the hook by forcing his jaws among the rocks and debris or weeds. He should always be taken into the landing-net, and care must be observed to avoid his strong and sharp fins when removing the hook.

In Florida the sheepshead is almost gregarious, congregating about oyster bars, old wharves, and near inlets in great numbers. At Colonel Summerlin's wharf, at Punta Ra.s.sa, I knew of a man, fishing for market, I presume, who took several hundred on a single tide. The wharf just across the bay at Sanibel Island is also a famous locality for sheepshead. The largest I ever caught in that state was just inside of Little Gasparilla inlet, near a steep bank on the north side. The settlers of Florida take them in cast-nets, and the commercial fishermen in haul seines; the latter either ship them on ice, or salt them along with mullet, as they take salt well. With the exception of the mullet, the sheepshead is the most abundant fish of both the east and west coasts of Florida, but it is seldom found in the dense salt water along the keys at the southern end of the peninsula, as it is essentially a brackish-water fish. The angler need never repine for a lack of sport in the "flowery state" if he is fond of "sheepsheading," and he will have no difficulty in securing bait, for the fiddlers are to be found in myriads convenient to good fishing grounds.

THE SCUP

(_Stenotomus chrysops_)

Another fish of the _Sparidae_ family is the scup, or porgy, which was first described by Linnaeus, in 1766, from specimens sent to him from South Carolina by Dr. Garden. He named it _chrysops_, or "golden eye."

The names scup and porgy are derived from the Indian name scuppaug. The porgy is mentioned, like the cunner, in deference to the ladies and the rising generation of anglers, to whom it is fair game on the summer excursions to the seash.o.r.e. It is confined to the Atlantic coast from Cape Cod to South Carolina, being especially abundant in northern waters. A kindred species, the fair maid (_Stenotomus aculeatus_), is common from Cape Hatteras southward, there taking the place of the northern scup.

The porgy is a short, deep, and compressed fish, rather elliptical in outline, its depth being nearly half of its length, and with the back elevated over the nape. Its head is of moderate size, with a steep profile, depressed in front of the small eye. The mouth is rather small and the snout short. Its incisor teeth are very narrow and rather conical or pointed, resembling canines; there are two rows of molar teeth in the upper jaw. The color is brownish on the top of the head and back with greenish and golden reflections, and bright and silvery below; the dorsal, a.n.a.l, and caudal fins are dusky or mottled, and the pectoral fin yellowish.

The scup appears along the sh.o.r.es of the East Coast about the first of May, sometimes earlier, and continues until late in the fall, when it retires to its winter quarters in the depths of the sea. It is a bottom fish, feeding on crustaceans and small mollusks, and is found wherever they abound on the outer shoals. It usually sp.a.w.ns in June; the eggs are quite small, measuring about twenty-five to the inch; they are buoyant or floating, and hatch in four or five days. When perfectly fresh it is an excellent pan-fish, its flesh being firm, white, flaky, and of a fine, sweet flavor, but owing to its abundance is not properly appreciated. It grows to a foot or more in length, weighing a pound or two, though its usual maximum length is ten inches, and weight half a pound. Very rarely the oldest fish sometimes reach a length of fifteen to eighteen inches, weighing from two to four pounds.

The scup is usually taken by hand-line and clam bait on the fishing banks from the excursion steamers; but fishing from small boats anch.o.r.ed over the shoals, with suitable tackle, is more sportsmanlike. It is a very free-biting fish, but is not possessed of much gameness, though the pleasure of angling for it is much enhanced by the employment of light tackle.

A trout bait-rod is quite in order for the scup, though a light natural cane rod about ten feet long, fitted with reel seat and guides, will answer a good purpose. A small multiplying reel is not essential, though it is an advantage in accommodating the line to different depths; and then a larger fish than the scup may be hooked. The line should be of small size, Sproat hooks Nos. 6 to 8 on gut snells, with leader three feet long, connected to the line by a swivel-sinker, and of a weight adapted to the strength of the tide. A float may be used in shallow water to keep the bait from the bottom when clam or shrimp is used. In localities where tautog, sea-ba.s.s, or weakfish are likely to be met with, a heavier rod, like the Little Giant, or a light striped-ba.s.s rod, may be of an advantage to one not accustomed to lighter rods, and the hook may be a trifle larger.

CHAPTER XIII

CUNNER, FLOUNDER, SMELT

_Tautogolabrus adspersus._ The Cunner. Family _Labridae_, the Wra.s.se fishes. Body oblong, not elevated, slender and compressed, with cycloid scales; lateral line well developed; mouth moderate, terminal; premaxillaries protractile; maxillaries without supplemental bone, slipping under edge of preorbital; head pointed; snout moderate; maxillary reaching front of eye; preopercle serrate; opercles scaly; interopercle naked; head 3-1/4; depth 3-1/4; D. XVIII, 10; A. III, 9; scales 6-46-12; 5 canines in front of upper jaw, about 4 in the lower; bands of small concave teeth behind canines; preopercle with 5 rows of small scales; opercle with 4 rows, rest of head naked; gill-rakers very short, about 6 + 11.

_Pseudopleuronectes america.n.u.s._ The Flatfish or Flounder.

Family _Pleuronectidae_, the Flatfishes. Head 4; depth 2-1/4; D.

65; A. 48; scales 83; body elliptical, an angle above the eye; head covered above with imbricated ctenoid scales, blind side of head nearly naked; body dextral; teeth compressed, incisor-like, widened toward tips, closely set, forming a continuous cutting edge; right side of each jaw toothless; highest dorsal rays less than length of pectorals, and more than half the length of head; a.n.a.l spines present.

_Osmerus mordax._ The Smelt. The American smelt belongs to the family _Argentinidae_. The body is long and slender; head 4; depth 6-1/2; eye 4; D. 10; A. 15; P. 13; scales 68; head and mouth large; small teeth along the edge of the maxillary; strong, fanglike teeth on tongue and front of vomer; cardiform teeth on palatines, pterygoids, and hyoid bone; mandible with moderate teeth, its tip projecting; maxillary reaching middle of eye; scales deciduous; dorsal fin rather posterior, the ventrals under its front.

THE CUNNER

(_Tautogolabrus adspersus_)

The cunner was named _adspersus_, meaning "besprinkled," by Walbaum, in 1792, from the description of Schopf, who simply gave its common name, burgall, in his "History of New York Fishes," in 1788. Its specific name is in allusion to the fancied mottled markings. It belongs to the _Labridae_ family. Its habitat is the North Atlantic coast from Labrador to Sandy Hook, not appearing much farther south.

The cunner is known by various other names, as burgall, chogset, blue-perch, etc. It has an oblong and rather robust body, its depth being about a third of its length. Its head is about as long as the depth of the body and pointed, with a mouth of moderate size, well filled with unequal, conical, and sharp teeth, in several series.

The coloration is variable, though usually bluish, more or less mixed with bronze or brown, with bra.s.sy sides and pale belly; sometimes bra.s.sy spots on the head and back; young examples exhibit dark blotches and markings. It resorts to the same feeding grounds as the tautog, and about old wharves and bridges where shrimp and barnacles abound, and in such situations is always abundant. It sp.a.w.ns in the early summer, about June. Its eggs are small, about twenty-five to the inch, and hatch in four or five days. It grows to about a pound in weight, though it usually does not exceed half that amount.

[Ill.u.s.tration THE FLOUNDER]

[_Pseudopleuronectes america.n.u.s_]

[Ill.u.s.tration THE SMELT]

[_Osmerus mordax_]

[Ill.u.s.tration THE SPANISH MACKEREL]

[_s...o...b..romorus maculatus_]

While it is generally considered worthless, or at best a poor food-fish, it is really a pretty fair pan-fish, and if it were not so common would be found oftener on the table of fish lovers. As a game-fish it is anathema with most anglers. It is despised because it responds so readily to the angler's lures, taking the bait intended for larger and more desirable fish. But on this very account it is ever dear to the heart of the juvenile fisherman, who glories in his string of cunners with as much pride and enthusiasm as his larger brothers with their tautog, sea-ba.s.s, or striped-ba.s.s.

It can be caught with almost any kind of tackle or bait. The cunner has no particular vanity in the way of either. A piece of liver on an ungainly hook and twine string is as welcome as the choicest shrimp on one of Harrison's best Sproat hooks on a snell of the finest silkworm fibre. My heart goes out to the boy angler with his cane pole and cut-bait, fishing for cunners. And should he in time become the most finished salmon fisher, he will look back to his cunner days as conducive of more real pleasure than any he may have found since. The cunner is here recorded for the urchin with the cane pole.

THE FLOUNDER

(_Pseudopleuronectes america.n.u.s_)

There are quite a number of flounders, or flatfishes, on the East Coast, but the one best known to juvenile anglers is the one with the long name recorded above. It belongs to the flatfish family _Pleuronectidae_, and was noticed by Schopf as early as 1788, and from his description was named by Walbaum _Pleuronectes america.n.u.s_, which means, literally, "the American side-swimmer." It inhabits the North Atlantic coast from Labrador to the Chesapeake Bay, and is abundant in all the bays and estuaries of the Middle states, where it is variously known as flatfish, flounder, winter flounder, mud-dab, etc.

Its body is elliptical in outline, about twice as long as broad, and very much compressed or flat. The head is small, less than a fourth of the length of the body, with a small mouth containing closely set, incisor-like teeth. As usual with all of the flatfishes, the dorsal and a.n.a.l fins are very long, horizontally, the color on the exposed or right side is rusty brown, obscurely mottled, with the under or left side white.

The flounder is partial to sheltered coves and quiet bays, preferring bottoms of sand or mud, though sometimes it is found in rocky situations. It is sedentary in its habits, partially burying itself in the sand or mud, where it remains during the entire year, feeding on minute sh.e.l.ls, crustaceans, worms, etc.

It sp.a.w.ns in the spring, during March and April. The eggs are very small, about thirty to the inch; and unlike those of most marine fishes they do not float, but are heavy enough to sink, forming bunches or cl.u.s.ters on the bottom, adhering to the weeds, etc., where they hatch in from two to three weeks. The fry swim upright, like other fishes, with an eye on each side of the head, but as they grow older they incline to one side, the under eye moving gradually to the upper side, so that at the age of three or four months both eyes are on the upper side, as the result of a twisting of the bones of the head. The right side, being constantly exposed to the light, becomes darker or colored, while the left side, being deprived of light, becomes pure white.

It is an excellent food-fish, its flesh being firm, white, and of good flavor; and as it is easily procured in winter when other fishes are comparatively scarce, it is a favorite at that season. It rarely grows to more than a foot in length or a pound in weight. As it can be caught in early spring, late fall, and winter, when other fishes are absent or not inclined to bite, the angler with light tackle may obtain considerable sport with this fish, as it will eagerly take almost any kind of natural bait. A bait-rod used for trout or black-ba.s.s or a light cane rod can be utilized, with very fine linen line, a three-foot leader, and hooks Nos. 7 or 8, on gut snells; a reel is not necessary, but is convenient. Using as light a sinker as possible, with clam or sandworm bait, the angler may be a.s.sured of success. The fishing may be done from a boat anch.o.r.ed at low tide on muddy or gra.s.sy flats, or from wharves or piers favorably located.

THE SMELT

(_Osmerus mordax_)

The smelts were formerly cla.s.sed with the salmon family, but are now placed in a separate one, _Argentinidae_, in which are included a number of allied species. To all external appearances the smelt is a true salmonid, and differs from the trouts and salmon chiefly in the form of the stomach and its appendages. The American or Atlantic smelt was first described by Dr. Mitchill, in 1815, from the vicinity of New York; he named it _mordax_, or "biting." Its habitat is along the Atlantic coast from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Virginia, but it is most abundant northward. It islandlocked in a number of northern lakes.

The smelt is a very pretty, graceful fish, with a long, slender body, long, pointed head, and large mouth, with a somewhat projecting lower jaw. The small adipose fin, which is peculiar to all of the salmonids, is situated far back, opposite the end of the a.n.a.l fin; the caudal fin is deeply forked. Its color is pale olive-green above, silvery below, translucent, with an obscure, longitudinal, broad, satin-like band along the sides. The fins are greenish, with a few punctulations.

The smelt enters the tidal rivers and brackish bays in the fall and winter in countless myriads, preparatory to sp.a.w.ning. It feeds princ.i.p.ally on the small fry of other fishes, mostly at night, and along the sh.o.r.es in shallow water. It sp.a.w.ns in March, in both fresh and brackish water. The eggs are small, about twenty to the inch, and are adhesive. A medium-sized fish yields fifty thousand eggs, which hatch in two or three weeks, according to the temperature of the water, though usually in from sixteen to eighteen days. Though small, it is highly prized as a food-fish, having a delicate and delicious flavor. When fresh it emits an odor resembling that of cuc.u.mbers. Its usual size is from five to nine inches and weighing from two to four ounces, though occasionally reaching a foot or more in length. The smaller fish are more prized, the largest having a rank oily flavor. It is caught in large seines by fishermen and shipped fresh to the markets, and in winter is taken in great numbers with hook and line through the ice.