The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1898-11-11
FISH TRADE TRICKS.
HOW THE PROFESSIONALS LOCATE y
GETTING" GROUND.

GETTING" GROUND.
The Secret Of Successful Ei@stin&s -.
the New Jersey Goa. t-l2arEtiI,sE the
Good Spots Fer Failure Catches and
D0dsing Rivals.
"Got the range, Will"
Clocks like it, ST." Fl
''Sce the walnut tree on the hiIl?"
eyes; stand, about sD-uortLvcat.
"And the church steepla sou-sou-
vest
'To the dot Nomistalle about that"
"How heads Ladomus' cottage5"
"Ahout due west.
"Wo ought to be nearly over it now,
Will. Stand by to let go when l sing
out Steady, now; steady! Let her rip.
Nov! Now! Bully boy! Right over the
middle OF it"
That is how the professional fisher
man along the Jersey coast finds his IA
vorite biting ground. The latter may
bo 20 or more fathCms deep and Il
dozen or moro miles UNshOre; bat,
viuh the aid Of slcn landmarks as trees,
stcanlcs aud beach cottages, lying in
yarious dirlu along the strand,
these crack sarfmen seldom make :. mis-
take in picking up" the ground sought
offshore. It's no easy job this finding
al some particularly good fishing ground
that has no mark Oh the chart and is
only fixed in the mind OF fishermen by
study Of distances from the shore.
1t is we'll known fact that fish must
be sought. They will not as rule,
como to tho fisherman, be the latter
professional or amateur. Sea fish, as
W ell as lake fish, like rocky bottom, and
it is over this kind of bottom that the
best catches are made. 1t is 40 easy task
/ to locate rocky bed along the Jersey
coast, and even with ranges or LAND
marks one is net always certain to find
il on another days fishing trip. The
i ranges are manipulated this way:
j Ii an ordinary surfbCat, such as the
majority OF the Jersey fishermen Use,
the beach line that looks so white and
extensive close inshore resembles
white thread at q distance Of, say, 10
! miles from the land. When the fisher
( men discover new ground at or about
I that distance otIshCre, they generally
! piuI three marks on lanG-one north,
! one south and tho third directly to the
! westward. BY bringing these three
! marks to q conveyance the happy hunt
/ ing ground is located.
I As rule these fishermen are bit
( selfish when new grounds arc discover
/ ed. They conceal the fact as long as
/ possible from one another, fer business
( reasons principally, for there is ripe
competition among these beach comb
/ crs, and it is only by playing possum
! and keeping d weather eye open tAat
one learns what his rival sometimes
| knows.
Ono'day last season reporterwas i'll
one of these surfboats S mics Otfshore
| from BarneCat The fisherman III charge
! OF the tiny claft was heading for rocky
! bottom as far otfshore as he dared to go
without compass and provisions. When
within q mile or SO Of the ground, an
other fisherman and his helper were
seen at anchor. They We're hauling up
| whacking big bass as fast as they could
throw out. and altogether they seemed
to be having q glorious time. After the
! two boats had separated sufficiently to
permit Il private conversation the pro-
fcssionaI in charge Of the first mention
ed craft said to his shipmate:
did you mark it?'
| Yes" answered the other. 1.-THE
! piers to the westward, the life saving
STATEN is to tho northward ana the
cottage Of that old crank is to the south
ward. "
That's the way l made it, - replied
the first speaker. All this seemed like
SO much Greek to one of the amateurs
in the boat who began to ask questions.
That's new ground, " said the fish
ermau. owe didn know that it exist
ed. Yes, they are catching lots Of fish.
Why don I go back and try it? Well,
l do not like to initiate people-at least
/ do not care to let them see mo copy
them. Ill try it some other day"
1t may have been professional pride
or etiquette this sharp bit of practice,
! but in other walks CT life it would he
called trick Of the trade. It's done all
along the beach. Here's another trick
| OF the trade that a surfman at Belul.r
taught this lGndlubberly reporter.
There's Il schooner that takes city t0.k
from Asbury Park offshCre to fish. She
was anchored ten miles otfshore this
particular morning over a 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, trCm Ehe
Battery was sighted heading down tie
| beach. There was an Interchange of
conversation on the part of the profess
sonal fishermen, but they suddenly
pulled ap anchors as if one man and
began rowing around.
The schooner weighed her bower also
and under her headsails and nlainsail
reached oiIshore. Naturally the anna
tours wanted to know why a shift
should be made, especially as the strikes
were unusually lively. That 8 the Hal
Corster coming down." said one OF the
fishermen in half whisper, as il those
On the steamboat could hear him, al
though she was fully two miles away.
"We have good ground here, and We
don [ want her pilots to find the ranges.
She'll keep to the southwark, and Vel
circle around until she gets out OF the
way. That's how we save our bacon. "
And they did save it too. The steam
boat kept to the southwark for some lit
tie distance and finally, being unable
to get the ranges or whatever ground
her pilots had in view, came about
again and stood to the northward, final
ly anchoriEg off Long Branch. she lad
no sooner done SO when the fishing
schooner and suriboats, after 4 mental
and ocular struggle with ranges, were
back il their original positions, with
their amateurs fishing like mischief -
New York Mail and Express.
a CHINESE WEDDING.
| Everything Connected Withthc CeTc-
Rcd.