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GLORY OF SURF FISHING Jersey Anglers Going South for Channel Bass and Kingfish How the Big Ones Are Landed Weakfish and Croakers Also AlsoWorth Worth While Churchill Hungerford in the New York Sun writ ¬ ing from Ocean City New Jersey says that the persistent surf fishing brigade will soon leave Jersey waters for those of the south southThe The fish that really make the surf worth fishing are the kingfish wcakfish and croakers To only a few of the many who fish the beach is granted the extraordinary good fortune of landing a big one so it i really the smaller fish that are the real incentive of surf fishing Hero too is where the skill comes in and where the surf angler uses the same careful tactics as those of the trout fisherman Lot us start fishing at half ebb in fair weather Assuming that we desire small fish we will go to the middle of the island By wading out into the surf we win cast to the outer bar The object point is the deep water just inside this bar If the fish do not bite in a minute or two hold a taut lino so that each succeeding wave washes the dipsie in a foot or two In a short time the entire gully has been traversed or a fish lias struck struckMake Make another cast as lxfore and repeat the process of fishing across the gully After three or four casts you will know whether the fish are feeding on the far side of the gully the near side or the middle Usually on the ebb the far side of the gully affords tlie best fishing particularly for kingfish kingfishIf If however your efforts are unavailing and no fisli strike drift along tlie beach in tin direction of the current casting across the gully and fishing back through it as described describedAt At irregular intervals swift narrow currents or sea pusses will be found cutting diagonally out into the ocean Fish these carefully If the kingfish are biting at all they will be found here on the ebb When the tide is near the end of the ebb there are many places where tlie outer bar is high enough for the angler to stand in comfort and cast into the sea puss beyond tlie bar barWithout Without question this location is most excellent as long as it is accessible for all of the smaller fish At the turn of the tide the kingfish are likely to stop biting here and the weakfisli take hold with renewed energy Perhaps a black drum or a channel bass will happen along and pick up your bait i baitSUHF SUHF CROAKER HARD FIGHTEH The surf croaker is a hard fighter and exists in such generous numbers that the fisherman has few idle moments on the beach He is also a brilliantly marked fish Unfortunately it has been the custom for many people to despise the croakers that arv so plentiful in the surf from this beginning of the season to its end endThis This feeling is not without foundation because the croakers that are caught two or three miles out in the ocean get some kind of food that gives them a most villainous taste and odor but the surf croakers are on the beach to eat the surf clams and particularly those choice morsels tlie little coquina clams and their flesh partakes of the flavor of their food foodAs As a hint to those who expect to eat tlioin the croaker is as easy to skin as he is to scale Skinned rolled in cracker dust and egg and fried a golden brown he is at least the equal of the kingfish and is unquestionably far superior to the weakfisli When the tide is at half flood tlie side of the gully nearest to the outer bar is beyond casting distance As tlie tide rises fewer waves break o i tlie bar and the fish usually cross to the inner side of the gully gullyMost Most of us cast beyond the fiSh at this stage disregarding the fact that the undertow washes tlie crabs clams sea bugs etc as far as the inner edge of tlie gully and then drops them The fish of course understand this as well as we do and undoubtedly run the inner side of the gully on the last half of the flood tide tideDuring During this period fish about ten feet outside the inner break for the bottom feeding fish and in the middle of the gully for the weakfish when they are feeding off bottom bottomDrift Drift along the bench until you find the fish Somewhere the sun is shining says the song and just as certainly somewhere the fish are biting Persist and you will find them themBesides Besides it is far more interesting to drift slowl down the beach watching the gulls speculating on the probability of a school of fish coming into tlie surf admiring the wonderful harmony of surf and sea and sky and looking at the girls than it is to stand like a fire plug on the corner waiting for the fish to find you youIf If tlie rules given herein dont catch the fish try some other rules They will bite freely today at a certain place for a certain reason and they will not bite there tomorrow for the same reason reasonDo Do not destroy tlie undesirable fisli you fre ¬ quently catch They are doubtless all of them edible and will probably form an iniiwrtant part of tle food supply of future generations if not of our own Besides while it lays in our power to destroy life wantonly or otherwise the ability to restore it has not been given to us and we do not wish to take that which we cannot return returnWhen When an angler has caught all the fish he can use it is time to stop keeping them Take them off your hook carefully and return thein to the water Unless caught in tlie gullet they will live and may furnish sport for othir fishermen fishermenWHAT WHAT TO DO ABOUT CHANNEL BASS BASSPerhaps Perhaps a better wlan to follow when your basket is I lill is to go to the end of the beach and fish for the big fellows Use a running rigging an S0 or a 100 hook bait with a whole crab or half a moss bunker and you will land no more small fish fishMaybe Maybe you will strike one of the big ones IVr liaps it will bi a gold button channel bass If it should prove to be such take your time about landing him There is no urgent necessity for beaching him at once You cant even if you try but you can lose him if you are too insistent with him himMaybe Maybe you have been fishing for nine years to get a channel bass and all of that nine years hopes ami expectations are concentrated on the struggle you are now filtering It isnt the fish you want for you U lv H for a Har Its the contest between yourself and one of the gamest most de termiiifd and longest enduring fishes in the world that you desire desireDont Dont use your superior strength rapidly to wear down these splendid characteristics and thirs cut sliort your enjoyment Rather do everything pos ¬ sible to keep the fisli fresh aud strong UauiIIc him as if your line was a mere cotton thread Give the bass his head and encourage him to take out line Dont attempt to hold him until he has 501 feet of line out The elasticity of a linen line of this length is marvelous and its ability to meet the fishs rushes and eventually turn him is a revelation to many fishermen fishermenAfter After the fish is turned he will come readily up to tlie beach only to dash frantically out to sea every time he is brought back to the surf When ho finally Incomes so exhausted that his rushes do nut reaeb over fifteen or twenty feet it In time fur humanitys sake to ond the strnggle by drawirfg him through the surf to the beach beachThen Then if you wish to have him mounted keep him If not for he is barely edible weigh or measure him and return him to the sea There are only a few of his kind left
