Morning journal and courier., 1881-09-22
Blue-EiSh Again.

| The Scarcity of BIue-Fisii a nd NIenhaden I Some Points as to the Probably Gauges.
 To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
 1 These favorite little fish have not put in an | appearance this season, it being the first 1 omission since ITS. They were then called | the 'sButchers of the Sea- if of large size, | and Spot" or Snapper" if of small dimen- 1 sions. The young fry were due here at the
 north about the 25th of June. The favorite | spawning ground of their mothers, which are the yearlings, has been Long Island Sound, and principally the creeks and small rivers on the main, but the Housatonic river pro- | duced the great mass, though the inlets from | the ocean, extending from Fire Island south
 to Norfolk, Va, contributed in swelling out
 the millions on millions of these beautiful
 fish. But they are absent this season, and
 the universal people are wondering why. The old fogy fisherman along the inside coast will tell you that the little silver-sided beauties have never failed us yet, and will yet
 put in appearance before the chilling frost comes; others will tell you that this
 fish dropped her spawn later than usual but
 they will surely come, notwithstanding they
 are two months behind now But truce to
 this silly talk; you ask for facts, and with
 out hesitation 1 make the square declaration
 that the Jig is up" with small blue-f1sh for
 this season. You may fret and bother your
 brains with hope and fear on this subject to
 your hearts content. Sit right down in your
 old sanctum, draw up the arm chair and lis-
 ten to me about fifteen minutes, while op-
 en the subject of "cause and events" {" as ap-
 piled to these beautiful, Roman-nosed cher
 ubs, the little blue fish but, mind you MT.
 Editor q smokes the best" So hand out a
 genuine L'anorma and listen, for when Itake
 my departure from your sanctum you will
 remark to your associates at the table, ''There,
 gentlemen, is the best authority on blue-fish,
 oba o,,1 tho nod i,,
 tho United States. He has summered and
 wintered with them since he first doffed his trousers all the way from Nantucket to Flori- da, at their spawnings grounds in their infan- cy to the 2O-pounder sporting in the basin of the Atlantic ocean, adjoining the deep hole
 where Prof Baird of the United States fish commission located those jolly s5-pound cod fish, and where in that vicinity this gentle man expects to throw trawl baited with minnows for these great overgrown blue-fish in 600 fathoms of water, or, in plain English, 3.6OO feet'' Now, MT. Editor, I will pro- ceed on causes and events-and first would say before the introduction of pounds in this vincinity the blue fish, chequit and menha- den had free and unobstructed run in and out of Long Island sound, Fire Island inlet Sandy Hook and every creek included in Del | aware bay. Thase three valuable fish arrive of Montauk and Sandy Hook within week of each other; the menhaden first, then the | chequit the rear, being covered by the one year-old blue fish. Two varieties are provid- | ed with teeth, the chequit three and, the blue fish with mouth full. The menhaden made l 8 southern land fall this spring and struck soundings off Barnegat, where they came to | the surface simultaneously. It was 8 calm | day with flood tide, and this immense field | of fish, described by an eyewitness as lead ing up to the Jersey beach to Silsbury cove or Long Branch and extending broad of into forty fathoms of water. kept their course not even disturbed by passing vessels. A large | detachment of these fish made the attempt to ! wheel into Sandy Hook, but several steam