The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-02-22

Patronixe the Steamers That Ply TO
the Fishing Banks.

From the New York Evening Post.
Winter deep-sea fishing for the amateur
sportsman of this vicinity IS of compare
lively recent date. The fishing season used
l to begin in the latter part of May or ear
| ~ June and close in October. Deep-sea
| fishing, especially was regarded as i'm
| practicable except during the warm
weather, and the most enthusiastic devo-
tee of this sort of sport laid aside his rod
and reel with the first hint of frost. A
few years ago a New York fisherman of
sufficient experience to command conf
| d nee, declared that there was better cod
fishing to be had off the deep-sea fishing
banks after Nov s. than there was in
June, and that blackhsh, pollock, had
| dock and other "gamey' fish could be
caught even more successfully in January
| and February than in midsummer. He
stated further that if the fishing steam
ers would run in the winter there would
be patrons in plenty to support them. The
idea was put to the test. 1t proved practic-
able, and now when all the other excur-
sion boats that make New York harbor
gay In summer are made fast for the
winter, the fishing steamers adhere to
their regular schedule.
The fishing steamers set off in the ear
ly morning, long before ordinary business
es are under way. The skipper judges of
the probabilities when he gets outside"
or out of the lower bay The most season.
ed old salt refuses to decide as to fish
ing and weather prospects until the open
sea is reached. Only in case of thick fog
or under unusually forbidding circum-
stances does the canny skipper refrain
from LEAVING ha Dot
appointed hour. He does not hold back
Tor rain, sleet, or snow, for lowering
clouds or any conditions that the average
landsman would cha. acterize as adverse
Ihe 800 or 400 passengers on any one of
these fishing trips are apt to be a picked
lot. To the person Of comfort-loying tenn
permanent the spectacle of these muff1ed
and water-proofed volunteers, setting out
ON an Icy morning for a days outing on
the ocean, even with sport thrown in, is
somewhat amusing. But the initiated
laugh and say, THE long decks afford
every chance for exercise to keep the
blood stirring, and nobody gets sick who
keeps his thoughts off the subject AS for
the breeze, it is most bracing. 1t blows
the restlessness out of a man, tones him
up, and puts fresh life into him"
In abnormaliy cold weather it Is 20 or
80 segrees warmer down by the fishing
banks than on land" one fisherman re-
/
buttons his storm coat, and certainly no
more contented passengers ever boarded a
| boat than these tried enthusiasts They
are varied lot. Here is a city physician,
fully alive to the advantages of the cold
| weather outing, and chuckling at the
| thought of fish cooked and eaten immedi-
| ately after being taken from the water
| one of his patients accompanies him, a
| man OF nervous aspect, who has been pre-
vailed upon to try fishing as a relief to
! tired nerves. There are bricklayers car
| penterS, mechanics in the throng-sturdy
| weather-beaten men, making the trip with
view to the pounds of fish they can con-
/ tribute to the family harder. They are
| tradesmen whose work is well paid but
| there comes days of idleness which they
| put to use fishing. There are expert fish
| ermen aboard who fish with intent to sell
| their 'catch" to those amateur sports
men who have had ill-luck or have sue
| cumbed to sea-sickneSs. These experts
| are known as the tramp class of fisher
| men. Although sufficiently skilled to make
a living by supplying the daily markets,
they do not enlist with the crew of any
| fishing schooner, but prefer to fish off and
| on at their own pleasure, and take such
| chances of profit as may arise among the
| passengers Generally, they find ready
| and appreciative purchasers, for no anna
teur cares to go home without something
| to show for his days expedition.
/
! it business are others who go purely for
! the sake of the sport, lawyers and clerks
| with an instructive love for out-of-door
| diversions, but with scant opportunity of
| INDUCING in them. On the Sunday trips
| this class is largely augmented, there be-
! ing many who welcome such recrea ton
| after the weeks close application to desk
| work. 1t Is excellent exercise to haul in
| 200 feet of rough line with a pound or two
| of lead sinker at the end, and perhaps
| from II to 30 pounds of fish struggling for
| freedom Actors patronize the fishing
| trips, and travelling parties from the in
| land districts are on board, having ar
| ranged by correspondence to take a deep
| sea fishing trip Drummers are among
| the anglers, and business men from the
mining and factory districts, who have to
wait on pending deals and contracts to de-
velop and who are glad to escape for a
! day from the tedium of wandering about
| strange city.
| There are as a rule only a half-dozen
| women among the passengers on the win
| ter trips, wives or daughters of frequent
ers. Their wheeling and golhng have fos-
| tered love for outdoor pursuits. They
| know something of fishing, and follow the
men as unhesitatingly on the winter $
| trips of summer
ers or of foreign origin, with the old
world appreciation of simple, inexpensive
outdoor pastimes. Many come from near
by states. They are hotel proprletors,
brewers. grocers, delicatessen shop keep
ers in the smaller towns and men in
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