Saltwater Fishing Near New York Charles Bradford

Saltwater Fishing Near New York Charles Bradford; Charles B. Bradford was a newspaperman involved with the sporting trade for many years. An editor of such long-forgotten journals as Boz and Nature, he was a New Yorker at heart and wrote of fishing in the city often. He penned a number of books on fishing, including The Determined Angler and The Angler’s Secret (1904). This is a very good depiction of fishing around New York in the era. — Ed.

SALT-WATER FISHING NEAR NEW YORK
By Charles Baker Bradford

…….And now I ask what matters it if the fish be but fingerlings if the angler be gentle and his tackle be in size and weight to correspond? There is but a simple rule to follow in order to derive pleasure with the rod and reel in every one of its uses; the smaller the fish the lighter the tackle. An eight-inch fontinalis on a four ounce rod will afford just as much pleasurable excitement as will a hundred-pound tarpon on a heavy pole.

Nor is the pleasure restricted to the taking of a fingerling or two. There are other things — ah, so many to the genuine angler! — to enjoy along the stream or on the lake and river. If we went afield for fish alone we could do better in the market.

And there is no need when we seek the salt-water species of sitting in a filthy boat on the ocean in the sun. Salt-water fishing, if practiced aright, is a charming and chivalrous sport, though it may not be as gentle as general fresh-water angling. There are many ways practiced that are enjoyable and many that are disgusting: principally those two vulgar methods known as hand-line and brass-band steamboat fishing. The latter, a filthy pursuit, has been the main means of calling forth the general abuse against salt-water fishing.

The fishing in New York’s immediate neighborhood is not great or varied, nor is there to be found the wild coast scenery associated with resorts farther North and East; but Staten Island shores and the New Jersey coast yield their own delights and sport,too, in abundance. Of course to the “complete angler” there is no fish so worthy attention as the striped bass. But other excellent species are caught, though not to be relied upon…….

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