Surf Casting, Trolling, Still Fishing

( Originally Published 1912 )

THE MODE of fishing practiced by salt-water anglers and much in vogue along the eastern coast is what is known as surf-casting. It is a sort of bait-casting from the beach into the ocean surf where certain fish such as channel bass and striped bass resort to feed on crabs, sea worms and certain shell fish that stay just at the edge of the deep water made by the waves in the sand. At a certain distance out this line will be found, a sudden deepening of the water, a cut of from a few inches to several feet deep. In this water is where the surf-casting is done, that is to say, the bait is cast to that place.

The rod for this kind of fishing was described else-where. It should be seven and a half to nine feet long if made with the plain, long butt, and somewhat longer if with spring butt. It should be of split bamboo and should weigh in the neighborhood of twenty ounces, the weight of course depending on the length. The line should be 150 or 200 yards long and made of twisted linen, about 12 or 18 thread size. The reel should be a double multiplier made specially for this kind of fishing, with a throw-off to make it a free-spool reel when casting, and it should have a handle drag or leather brake. To the end of the line a triangular swivel is fastened and to this a six-ounce pyramidical sinker and a short leader, a foot or a little more in length and made of six strands of gut, braided. The hook is a 9/0 for red drum and striped bass. Shedder crab is used mostly, for bait. The angler should also be provided with a rod belt, having a leather or rubber cup to hold the butt of the rod, and a beach rod holder, which is a tube shaped affair with a long spike on the bottom. It is stuck into the sand and used to hold the rod when baiting, etc., for rod and reel will be injured if thrown down on the sand. The belt with rod cup is to hold the butt of the rod while waiting for a strike, also to "pump" a large fish.

The casting is done from the reel, as in bait-casting, but the rod is handled with two hands and instead of making a direct overhead cast, the rod is swung at an angle of forty-five degrees, or thereabouts, from the vertical line. The weight of the sinker draws out the line in the same way that the bait draws the line out in bait-casting. The angler must be able to cast 100 feet or more for this kind of fishing.

The bait is cast out to the proper place where the heavy pyramid sinker anchors itself in the sand, and the angler reels in the slack line, stands the butt of his rod in the rod cup on his belt, and patiently waits for a bite. After waiting a few minutes, if he fails to get a strike, he reels the bait in a couple of yards closer and waits again. Occasionally he reels the entire line in to see that the bait is all right and not entangled in sea-weed, and makes another cast.

Trolling, is letting a revolving bait trail at the end of a long line behind a slowly moving boat. For this a hand line may be used, but it is much nicer to use a short, stiff rod and a multiplying reel. If a hand line is used it must be a strong one. A metal leader and swivel is advised, and the bait commonly used is the trolling spoon. Of course the proper weight and strength of tackle depends on the kind of fish sought. Muskellunge and pike require stout tackle, and the wire leader should always be used.

The wire leader cannot be cut by the fish and it also s sinks the line to the proper depth. For very deep fishing, as for lake trout, a braided copper line is sometimes employed. This is used in connection with a short rod and the wooden reel before described. The large diameter of the wooden reel makes it espcially good for a wire line, as the line being stiff in comparison to other lines, winds more readily on the large wood reel.

In trolling, a common mistake is to go too fast; most of the fish are caught when moving slowly, about one and a half miles an hour. The bait is trolled at a distance of about 100 feet behind the boat.

For a trolling spoon, the rule is to use a bright spoon on a dark day or in dark waters, and a sombre colored spoon on bright days. As before mentioned, the smaller sizes seem to get the most strikes. The Archer spinner used with a min-now is also a good bait to use for trolling, especially for lake trout. More will be said of this later.

A bait-casting rod may be used for trolling, but if large fish are found where you fish it is best to have a large reel and a long line. For such large fish as muskellunge it is better to ase a light salt-water rod, about six feet long, as a rod is likely to get warped in trolling. If you do much fishing where such fish are found the rod will be generally useful. In case you do use a bait-casting rod, use it from the back of the boat, so that it projects straight out behind, and never use it out over the boat at right angles, as the strain on it is too severe.

Still fishing is the oldest and most common form of angling, and if we consider the number of devotees, it is the most popular. But this is not because it is a better way or that it yields more sport, but because it is so simple and easily mastered, and requires no elaborate or expensive tackle. A long cane rod with a light linen line of about the same length as the rod, a lead sinker of the proper weight, and some common ringed hooks are all that is needed. Such an outfit is easily handled as the look is simply baited with an angleworm or other natural bait and thrown out into the stream as far as it will reach, providing, of course, that the best place for fishing lies in that direction. If desired a cork, wood, or quill float may be used, and by having rod rests on the bank the angler may "set" his rod, then retire to a nice place farther up from the water where he can see the float and know by its movements when a fish is biting. The rod rests are crotched sticks stuck into the bank the one nearest the water being highest and the top forked, the other one having a hook, a short branch, near the projecting end, and the rod is placed in the fork of the 'one and under the hook of the other. When a fish bites he is hooked by a quick light jerk and drawn out of the water by a steady pull. The proper tackle to use for each kind of fish will be mentioned in the part devoted to that fish, farther on.

Still fishing may be done with a hand line if desired. The lines are simply cast out into the water and the end tied fast to a small branch or stick set in the bank.

Eels and catfish are sometimes taken at night by a line and bait, but no hook. The bait is a bunch of angleworms strung on a thread and wound into a ball. This is tied to the end of the line and let down to the bed of the stream from a boat. When a bite is felt the line is slowly drawn up to the surface and the catch lifted into the boat by a quick, steady lift.

Then there is the trot line method. A long, heavy line is fastened at the bank and a heavy stone is tied securely to the other end, then the line is taken into a boat and paid out as the boat is rowed across the stream. Where there is a current of any strength the boat is held at an angle against the current and rowed upstream, in a quartering direction, and the wash of the current against the side carries it straight across. When the end of the line is reached the store is dropped overboard and the line is in position to receive the hooks. Returning to the shore the fishermen then takes the line in hand and attaches first one baited hook and then another, several yards apart, by short lines, one and a half or two feet long. The hooks are always large, as big fish are caught this way. The fisherman pulls the boat along by means of the line and does not use the oars until he reaches the end of the line, when he rows back to shore. In looking at the hooks and removing the catch he simply raises the line near the bank, throws it across the bow of the boat, and draws the boat along hand over hand from one hook to the next. Nearly all of the large catfish are caught this way, as well as eels, and many other bottom feeding fish.

Large fish are also taken at night by spearing them from a boat, using a five-pronged spear with a long handle. A bright light is fixed in the bow of the boat so that the spear-man, who stands just behind, can see the fish. The boat must be rowed slowly and quietly. This is a favorite way of taking pickerel.

In the small streams of the East and South a method of spearing or gigging is used that is somewhat different. The spear or gig has the four square prongs set close together, and the edges of these prongs have barbs cut on them for about an inch back from the point. The handle is about five or six feet long and it is best to have the gig fastened to the handle by a long iron shank as it does not disturb the water so much as the chisel socket often used. The fisherman wades slowly up stream throwing the bright light from his reflecting torch down onto the bed of the stream. When a fish is seen the spear is lowered quietly to within eight or ten inches of the fish, when a quick thrust usually secures the prize. Many eels and suckers are taken this way.

Fishing through the ice in winter is practiced in northern districts, especially where pickerel abound, and this way of fishing is also employed for trout, lake trout, etc. There are many styles of so-called "pickerel traps" which trip up or show a flag when a fish is hooked. The simplest of these is made of a strip of thin board or shingle with a hole bored through near the narrow end and the line fastened at the short end. A hole is cut through the ice, the hook is baited and let down, and a round stick is thrust through the hole in the shingle and across the hole in the ice. When a fish takes the bait he makes a run with it and hooks himself and his pulling on the line trips the shingle up, warning the fisherman that he has made a catch. The fish is then pulled up, and the hook rebaited and set again. In this way one man may tend quite a lot of these traps.

Food fish are taken in nets and there are many kinds, each used in a different way. These are for the use of the commercial fisherman mostly, except that the gill net is sometimes used by northern hunters and woodsmen to provide whitefish and other fish for their own use, and set-nets or funnel nets are used in the East and South where it is allowed by law, for the same purpose. Gill nets are made of very fine linen twine, almost like thread, and are knit in a mesh of a suitable size to take the average run of fish. A net with 1i-inch square mesh is the most useful for the general run of fresh water fish. The nets have floats at the top edge and weights at the bottom, and the ends are fastened with light rope or heavy cords to stakes. This keeps the net stretched and the fish run their heads through but cannot force their bodies through the mesh, and when they try to back out they get fast by the gills. White suckers may be taken this way when they go up stream in the spring to spawn. The gill net is very hard to handle as it soon gets badly tangled unless the fisherman is expert in its use, and the fish are hard to remove.

A set net is knit in a tapering cylindrical form, closed at the small end, and a funnel knitted in the large end, so that the fish are guided into the net through the small throat of the funnel. If the net is a large one two funnels may be made in it. Sometimes there are wings running out from the mouth. It is kept in shape by means of hoops, and is set by sinking to the bed of the stream, the wings and tail fastened to stakes. Sometimes the net is baited, but in small streams when fish are moving it is not.