St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1895-09-28
CATCHING lively eUR0ALLS.


L.oee of Anasoment.
The burGalls, or cunners, rs the Con-
necticut fishermen call them. are COM
monty considered . nuisance. They
steal the halt from the hooks of bass
and blackfish anglers, and, some claim,
drive away the larger fish. But OF
late certain knowing anglers have dis
covered that. properly handled. the
burgalls will furnish great fun. They
arc u plump, active little fish. seldom
attaining q weight Of more than. .
pound and half. and averaging about
half pound. Their coloring is very
beautiful, showing in different lights
all the rainbow tints. They are gre
garious, and where one bites you may
know that q whole shoal is feeding.
Rocky bottom. with plenty Of rock
weed and sea moss growth. is their
natural habitat. and they feed greedi-
ly On hard or soft CLANS, crab meat,
bits of sinner and killie, cut up, and
sand worms
OF course. . heavy tackle destroys
all the pleasure of catching these
plucky little fish. You want light
trout rod. . fine silk line. and snelled
sporat hooks, size No. or 5, about
the size used to take mountain brook
trout. A split buckshot will he a
heavy enough sinker to answer every
purpose. Bait as carelessly rs you
may, you will not alarm or disgust the
burgall. lie 10 . fish of no epicurean
tastes, and quantity stands before
quality in his eyes, Put bit of bait
on just large enough to cover the bend
Of the hook. and let one end hang OF
to tempt the rascals. Fish from boat.
or from . ledge Of rocks, or from =
pier, and select > spot where the tide
does not set too sharply, for these fel-
lows are too lazy to battle with very
strong tides
Soon . quick mincing nibble will an
nounce the frs: arrived guest, and
sharp, strong pull is necessary to hook
him These fish have hard. tough
jaws and lips. and gentle pulls will
never strike the barb home. Some
times the bigger ones, by running un-
der a strongly-rooted clump OF rock
weed or sea kale. or under q bowlder
on the bottom. will give You great
trouble. At no time will they surren-
der without o very considerable tnssle
for freedom.
just before . storm is the very best
time to catch burgalls- When the sky
Is black. and the heavy clouds hang
low over the water, and the sea gulls
skim wildly over the bay, the sturdy
rockdwellers begin to revel. At such
q time. with two hooks on your line,
you can land two 1t time until your
arm aches from the effort. The dead.
low water and rising tide are best for
catching burgalls, for. by the time the
ebb sets out, these little gluttons have
SO surfeited themselves on the food
that they have no appetite left
They are easy to catch, and can be
found all around New York harbor
and adjacent water. Barstow-On-the-
sound is . convenient station on the
Harlem river branch of the New Haven
railroad. and there you can take q lit
tie bobtail car to City Island. Here
You catch burgalls unnumbered in
rocky Pelham bay and its many inlets.
So. too, you can along the Staten
island shore and ON the Jersey side.
What is more, after you have had the
fun of catching them there still re-
mains 30 incopsiderable treat, for the
burgalls. when fresh caught, are the
finest pan fish that swim. The man
who can not put ut least three Of them.
crisp and hot. under his vest at break
fast has failed properly to appreciate
his opportunities y. Journal.