Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1898-12-29
FISH TRADE TRICKS.
HOW THE PROFESSIONALS LOCATE A
LIFTING" GROUND.

Looks like it, ST.
"See the walnut tree ON the hill?"
Eyes; stands about west.northwest I"
"And the church steeple SOU sou.
west!"
"To the dot. No mistake about that"
"How heads Ladomus' oottage?'
"About due west.
"We ought to be nearly over it now,
Will. Stand by to let go when sing
out. Steady, now; steady Let her rip.
Nowl Now! Bully boy Right over the
middle of it. ("
That is how the professional fisher
man along the Jersey coast finds his ia
yorite "biting" ground. The latter may
be 90 or more fathoms deep, and a
dozen or moro miles offshore; but,
with the aid Of such landmarks as trees,
steeples and beach cottages, lying in
various directions along the strand,
these crack surfmen seldom make mis-
take in picking up" tho ground sought
offshore. It's no easy job this finding
of some particularly good fishing ground
| that has no mark on tho chart and is
only fixed in the mind of fishnrmen by
study Of distances from the shore
It is q well known fact that fish must
be sought. They will not, aS rule,
! come to the fisherman, be tho latter
professional or amateur. Sea fish, as
we'll as lake fish, like rocky bottom and
it Is over this kind Of bottom that the
best catches are made, 1t is no easy task
to locate rocky bed along the Jersey
coast, and even with ranges or land
marks one is not always certain to find
it on another days fishing trip. The
ranges are manipulated this way
In an ordinary surfboat, such as tho
majority of the Jersey fishermen use,
the beach line that looks 80 white and
extensive close inshore resembles u
white thread at distance Of, say, IL
miles from the land. When tho fisher
men discover a new ground at or about
that distance offshore, they generally
pick three marks on land-one north.
one south and the third directly to the
westward. BY bringing these three
marks to convergence the happy hunt.
ing ground is located.
As q rule these fishermen are q bit
selfish when new grounds are discover
ed. They conceal the fact as long as
possible from one another, for business
reasons principally, for there is a ripe
competition among these beach comb
ers, and it is only by playing postum
and keeping weather eye open that
one learns what his rival sometimes
knows.
One day last season q reporter was in
one of these surfboats i miles otfshore
from Barnegat. The fisherman in charge
of the tiny craft was heading for rocky
bottom as far offshore as be dared Co go
without compass and provisions. When
within mile or SO of the ground, an
other fisherman and his helper were
seen at anchor. They were hauling up
whacking big bass as fast as they could
throw out, and altogether they seemed
to be having glorious time. After the
two boats had separated sufficiently tn
permit a private conversation the pro-
fessional in charge Of the FIST mention
ed craft said to his shipmate:
"Did you mark it?'
eyes" answered the other. "The
piers to tho westward, the life saving
station il to the northward and the
cottage Of that old crank is 20 the south
ward.
THAT'S tho way made it, +" replied
tho first speaker. All this seemed like
80 much Greek to one Of tho amateurs
in the boat who began to ask questions
"That's new ground, " said the fish
erman. eve didn't know that it exist
ed. Yes, they are catching lots of fish.
Why don't go back and try 1t? Well.
/ do not like to initiate people--at least
l do not care to let them see me copy
them. I'll try it some other day"
II may have been professional pride
or etiquette, this sharp bit of practice,
but in other walks of life it would BIZ
called atrick OF the trade It's done all
along the beach. Here's another. trick
of the trade that a surfman at BeEmar
taught this landlubberly reporter.
There's a schooner that takes city folk
| from Asbury Park offshore to fish. She
was anchored ten miles offshore this
particular morning over newly found
ground, and there were half dozen or
| more surfboats clustered about her. The
biting was first class, but presently one
| of the big fishing steamboats, from the
Battery was sighted heading down the
beach. There was an interchange Of
conversation on the part Of the profess
sional fishermen, but they suddenly
pulled up anchors as if one man and
began rowing around.
The schooner weighed her bower also
and under her headsails and mainsail
reached offshore. Naturally the anna
tours wanted to know why shift
should be made, especially as the strikes
were unusually lively. "That's the Hal
| Oorster coming down" said one of the
fishermen in a half whisper, as if those
on the steamboat could hear him, al
though she was fully two miles away.
eve have a good ground here, and we
don't want her pilots to find the ranges.
She'll keep to the southwark, and we'll
circle around until she gets out of the
way That's how we save our bacon"
And they did save it too. The steam