Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-07-18

these waters, who had been living in it for
the last month while ceiling in this part Of
the bay. He is a good Hooking fellow and
bright and ready talker; so I shall let him
tell his own story. He skinned eels as he
talked, and, although he stopped OCCASION
ally, 1 noticed that his pile of eels grew
faster than that of either of the two men
who helped him.
Has to Follow Up the Eels.
"My sailing shanty," said he, SIS . de-
vice of my own and answers every purpose.
When we exhaust the eels in one part of
the bay we have to move our poles and pots,
and this sometimes takes us 20 miles from
home, so that we have to live wherever the
eels call us. A houseboat would do, but
that is an expensive luxury. and has to be
pumped out If it leaks. By this plan we
run our house up on any shore we choose,
drive few stakes at which to tie our
sharpies, and our camp is ready. We can
move our house five miles without putting
out the fire in the stove.
''The. eel business just now is about over
for the apparently absurd reason that no
one has yet discovered means of keeping
toadfsh from getting into the mouths of
our eel pots and wedging themselves there
so tightly that the eels cannot get in. AT
this time of year out of 80 eel pots you may
find 40 stopped up by this same nuisance,
and we can devise no remedy forjt. Eels
are as plentiful as ever and will be all sum-
mer, but we cannot catch them in the only
way which offers a profit owing to this
toadfsh. There is one of the critters now"
Terry kicked over to me a small, ugly
looking fish, about six inches long by three
or four broad, sort of magni6ed pollywog,
or better still, a miniature whale. 1t looked
ugly enough to scare away even an eel.
The Finances of Eel Fishing.
'Does ceiling pay better than crabbing?"
1 asked.
There's not much money in either"
said Terry, throwing q handful of beach
sand over pile of squirming eels in order
that he might get better grasp upon them.
'It's rather dirty and lonely life. But
We get plenty of fresh air and enough bread
and butter"
Terry might have added that while New
Yorkers we're baking in an atmosphere of
was cool and comfortable in his little
shanty. Before him lay as pretty picture of
river and bay as ever delighted an artists
eve in this haunt of artists-southern Long
Island.
"Tbe average eeler," he went on, "needs
an outfit costing from 500 to $50. His
boat when new is worth $50. He must have
from 60 to 80 pots, costing 60 cents apiece,
and as many poles, to which they are tied.
Then he has to have few cars or floating
boxes in which to keep fish, some nets,
lines, etc, for catching bait. His work
begins at dawn. by which time he is off on
the water, his boat full of bait for the pots.
What an Fol Pot Is Like.
"All of the pots are alike, and, while
dozens of new tangled ones have been tried,
this one, made Of oak strips, with an open
ing which grows narrower and ends with
sharp points turned inward, remains the
only useful eel trap. Some wire rat traps
are made on the same plan. The rat walks
in easily, but finds only sharp points when
he tries to get out 1t is the same story
with the eels.
''The bait for the eel pots consists eithe
of bunkers, otherwise menhaden, a small
fish caught in nets and used by the million
for making fish oil, or horsefoot crabs
caught on the flats. One blow with hatchet
makes the crab fit food for eels.
THE poles are usually set $50 feet apart
along the edge of channel. They are so
set that the line can be easily followed with