The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1883-08-30
LIFE ON NANTUCKET SHOALS.
Where the Fish Are Caught that Supply n
Largo Part ofthe United Stnres-~Flshing
Witt, Travis.


Where the Fish Are Caught thne Supply n
Largo Part ofthe United Stnres--Flshing
With Travis.
| A writer in the New York Sun ha,
an interesting account Of the visits
paid by the city's fishing fleets in Nam
tucket shoals, and the way in which
fish are caught. After describing the
fishing smacks used on the cruise, and
the manner Of reaching Nantucket
shoals, the writer continues interest
ingly as follows:
AS the tanow on the lead announces
that we have struck the off-shore
grounds the vessel heaves to, and the
fish lines, two to man, are thrown
over. All sorts of fish are taken up
cunners, skates, dog fish. star, fish,
wrinkles and the like, and mayhap g
little black rock or "ground keeper
as the sailors term them. Timepasses,
and it is evident that the school cod
for which we are in search are not
here. A shift is made. Likely enough
then at the iirst cast Of hook a jerk
is felt. and the fisher pulls his line
hand over hand, till in moment a
handsome gray-ba :ked and white
bellied thirty-pUund school cod is lying
on the deck. All hands rush 10 the
lines, clam shells are thrown over
with bits of bait to toll the fish, and
the fun begins. The fish bite fercely.
AS fast as one Inc is unloaded the
other is found IA t. and the fish chase
their impaled companit ms to the We y
surface of the water. One forgets
the fog and the cold in the
excitement Of the hour. The tide
has now turned, and is bearing
US away to the north, and we
are taking the fish with US. Fingers
soon grow sore from contact with the
lines, and hard words are plentifully
bestowed upon the struggling fish as
they resist the efforts of tende; hands
to pull them from the bottom. Thus
the fishing goes on uninterrupted for
hours, until at length an unusual swish
of the water is heard und the lee,
and suddenly there shoots out OF the
fog and across our bow mammoth
ocean steamer, looming up in the mists
like moving mountain. She passes
so near to US as to alright the most
hardened Of the crew. A slight change
in her course and she would have
crashed over our little vessel as though
it was but a feather. As she vanished
in the thickening gloom Of approaching
darkness fishing is suspended, the YES
sci is run into shoaler water and an
chore1, and all hands but the cook be-
gin the work of slowing away the
days catch. The fish are headed,
Quilted and washed, and after hours OF
hard labor are snuggly packed in tiers
in pounded ice. Then after a delicious
supper of hot bread and coffee and
delicately Drowned fresh cod tongues,
the crew, save the watch, find their
berths worn out with labor. Six hours
Of slumber and the days work is re-
peated, often with the most d:scOur-
aging results.
Sometimes in the height of thick
fishing the biting will suddenly cease,
and the old heads know that halibut
is about. A good halibut will bring
from STU TO $:3U, but special pains are
required in hooking. playing and land
ing him. Liberal bats of menhaden
are substituted for the CLAIMS, for the
cod are frightened away by the ap-
proach of the monster FIT fish. Sud-
denly "zip, ZIP" sings out one of the
lines, and the fish runs away with the
hook. The skillful angler knows bet
ter than to "snub" him too quickly,
else he'll tear out. A halibut is very
gamey. He can be played almost to
the surface when he will make sound,
and the line whizzes through the sore
creases in your hands till he gets tire |
Of running. At length he is brought
to the surface, AMI a man On either
side Of his captor seizes the halibuts
head with large gaff hooks, and sum-
marily jerks him in on deck, where
"muddling" club is vigorously applied
TO his brain and his throat is cut.
Some of these fish are very large and
strong, weighing over 300 pounds.
Hand lin 'ng, as it is termed, is not
the only means employed by the cod
fishermen in capturing the'r prey.
Travis are extensively used, particu-
larly in the winter. On some grounds
the fish VII take a still bat, while
they will decline that from bobbing
hand line. Travis were for years op-
posel by the o.d hunkers in the bus:-
ness, but now they are extensively
used all along the Goa t, especially IN
shoal water, where the school fish come
in for spawning purposes. 4 col
trawl is made of much lighter mute
rial than is employed for catching hall
but. A cod trawl consists of a "run-
ner," or main line, 400 or 500 fathom'
long, of the size of lead pencil, to
which, at distance of few feet
apart, are "gangel" hooks small enough
to be easily swallowed by the fish.
Each hook has a l.ne two feet long.
Travis are coilel away in tubs for use,
each hook being baited and lad in the
center, so that the tub when file!
looks more like tub of cord with a
pile of fat sea clans in the center than
a deadly fish trap. When set the trawl
is simply stretched cut over the iih-
ing grouad, with an anchor at either
end and large buoyS atta:hed to the
anchors. A smack frequently carries
from $1,000 to $4,000 hooks arrange
in this manner. The amount Of ground
covered by them and the great num-
Der of hooks which the six men COM
posing the smack's crew can tend show
the advantage of the trawling system
over hand lines. Then, too. some or
all of the hooks can he set in the morn
ing and hauled in before gale springs
up so that Il handsome fare Of fish
may sometimes be taken in a few
hours, although the vess i may almost
Immediately after be driven off the
ground by the storm.
The men bandle the travis with
great dexterity. The smack is an
chored, and the fishing wherries put
out filled with the gear" to be
"wet." Each boat is managed by a
man who rows off from the vessel till
he is lost to view in the ever-present
fog. The spinning tide, another eve--
present feature of Nantucket shoals,
soon carries him we'll astern of the
,r,,oo1, opd thop bn ~ stc ,,var hiS