The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-08-21
TARRBD THE INLET.
Barnegat Fishermen Say Net
Men Keep Fish Out of
the Bay-Plenty
Of Sport.

BARNEGAT, Aug. q, 1S94.-"You may
think the parrots has all gone from Bar
regat Bay." remarked old Captain Pack
enham on Monday, but they haint by
a long shot. They're here on the bay
hauling seines agin the law every day
and every night"
Parrot" in Barnegat ~vernacular,
means pirate, just as shark means shark.
and eyester means oyster. "Barnegat
pirates was a name given to all OF the
baymen as a class many years ago, pc
cause of the tradition that their chief
source of revenue was wrecking and
plundering the wrecked.
The story of the lantern tied to the
cows tail to lure vessels upon the treach-
erous sands of Barnegat or Long Beach
is familiar to all and verified by none.
1t is a threadbare story, and one which
has had location in all parts of the world.
1t was told of Mediterranean pirates
and wreckers when Barnegat sands were
known only to the sea gulls and sand
snipe, and before Columbus began study
ing maps, but that does not prove the
innocence of the oldtime Barnegat bay
men.
There are other ways of Turing vessels
to destruction pom dark and stormy
nights ana creek pirates were nv A1oLS
cunning than the foxy old graybeards
who prowled on the SANDS and marshes
TOO MUCH LAW.
CAPTAIN Packenham was asked to e2-
plain how it was that weakfish had been
so scarce in the bay for three or four
years and SO plentiful this year. There's
wink. TOO much law amt good for
dshin' in Barnegat Bay" but he would
not explain further. An explanation was
all captains at Barnegat-and he answer
ed:-"Guess weakfish is plenty this year
because they didn't tar the inlet When
pressed for an explanation he would
not make any definite accusations, but
said:-''Tar is cheap. 1t don't cost much
for two or three barrels, and a barrel
goes "a great ways if it's used right.
There's only four or five foot of water
on theb bar at low tide, and if you can get
the bar well tarred with the right kind
of tar, the weakfish amt going to cross
lit. Weakish like clean water: GOA. on
Mind, 1sfdon't say this was
done, but I'v heard a thing orfftwo
and / know the netmen were mot enough
for ANYTHING after the hotel men and
yacht captains got together and had a
law passed to, stop netting in the bay,
Last year the netR1en got the law re-
and thought they were all right,
spring they found a new law was mace.
fTheyl seem to have made up their minds
yto pay no heed to this law, and are de-
flying it every day. Almost any of the
baymen will tell you that the inlet is a
mile and three-quarters or two miles
wide, but the United States charts and
the State maps show that It Is less than
a mile-something like 5000 feet wide.
1t amt hard to doctor a little gap
like that, you can see-f
BELIEVE THE TAR STORY.
Others who were spoken to about the
tar story said;-"Oh, that's n of Small
woods yarns. You mustn't mind what
he says. The fact of the matter is that
there has been no great number OF weak
fish anywhere for the last three or
four years, and they are back again
now in unusual quantities. It is be-
ginning to look Ike old times down
here now, When boats come back to
the landing with as high as 200 fish for
a party of three, and that's they
have been doing for two weeks. The
pound nets up along the coast have
taken millions of pounds of weakfish.
and the seines in this bay have mar
keted thousands of pounds a day, but
you can't make us believe that this has
any effect ton the quantity in the sea.
The other day the fish were SO thick on
oyster beds that you could pull them
in two at a time, ana others would fol-
them to the top of the water.
THE trick in catching them now is to
use shedder crabs for bait and tip the
hook with shrimp. The big white bait
makes them come smelling around, and
the shrimp excite them to bite. 1t is
always a good plan ito keep a bait or
two constantly in the water and throw
overheard a few shrimp and the claws
and refuse of the crabs a little at a time.
plenty of shrimp with you and pick
out the dead ones to chum with. If you
want big weakfish go to the channels
near the inlet, and for quality instead of
captain what you want and he will put
you on to them"