HomeMy WebLinkAboutSeptember 08, 1988 - Win a Few, Lose a Few - for FunSeptember 8, 1988/The Suffolk Ti a, a PA
Win a Few, Lose a Few -for Fun
By Paul Stoutenburgh
For those who look to the wind for
advice about our weather, its direction
can pretty well tell what it's going to
be. East wind, our storm wind: Look
out for rain. Southwest wind, our sum-
mer wind: Humid and often hot weather.
Northwest wind, clear and dry: In the
fall it's delightful. It's almost as if this
wind blew away all the summer people
and gave us back our East End crisp and
clean.
Fall weather always reminds me of
those early days of youth when snapper
fishing and seining for silversides was a
must. Of course, we started snapper
fishing in those early days before the
fall weather set in, but it seemed the
best snapper fishing was always after
Labor Day. In those days, the only
pieces of equipment needed were a long -
shanked snapper hook and an extremely
long bamboo pole.
Today I see the fancy spinning rigs
being used, but I doubt fish- for -fish if
more snappers could be caught on those
than on the old bamboo ones. Simplic-
ity and low cost were the rule in those
days. A piece of line a little longer than
thc, Pole would swing in just right for
baiting and pulling in a fish.
Then most uf the real snapper fishing
was done in wooden rowboats — some-
thing pretty hard to find in the modern
world of plastics, fiberglass and metal.
It was a time when there was little ua£-
fic in our creeks and channels and so the
best place to fish naturally was in the
channels at the mouth of the creeks.
Here you'd try to get out first and get in
the best spot. Anchored, the bamboo
poles would be out the sides and over
the stern of the boat. We were the envy
of those ashore whose lines couldn't
reach out to where the real action was. It
was a great era and one I'm afraid we'll
never see again.
Watch Out for Swinging Fish
Of course, if you were ashore when
you pulled in your wiggling, jumping
snapper on the end of the line, it swung
about like some silvery, spirited pendu-
lum. One hand held the long bamboo
pole, while the other tried to grab the
fish hanging from the ever - elusive line.
Many an innocent bystander was jarred
out of his summer's dreams by the slap
of a wet fish beside the head!
Some would use bobbers; others
would have no part of them, particularly
if the fish were biting. The knack of the
no bobber was to keep the bait just
Focus on
Nature
slightly moving so it wouldn't sink to
the bottom. When it did, no telling
what you might get, an eel that would
pull like some monster from the deep
and then take some real doing to get the
hook out, or perhaps a toadfish. How
we kids hated them! They looked and
sounded so sinister with their big
mouths and grunting sounds.
Just so we wouldn't lose our tech-
niques as the years rolled along and to
start a new generation of snapper fish-
ermen, Barbara and I decided to take our
daughter and two grandchildren out fish-
ing. We knew from watching the
bridges and the people on shore at the
mouth of our creeks that snappers were
in but sad to say in no great quantities.
However, the weather was perfect so we
said: "Let's try it."
Robby had his own fishing pole and
tackle box with a special lock on it so
his sister "Sara couldn't get in." A few
snacks and drinks were brought along by
mother to add a little party effect. The
old outboard was clamped to the boat,
the poles and nets were dropped in, and
we were off.
The tide was high, the air crisp and
clean and that exhilarating feeling of fall
caught us all. The first stop was to get
bait. We'd brought the long killie net
and as we pulled the boat up on the
warm sandy beach, we could see schools
of silversides or spearing working their
way along the shore.
Dragging for Silversides
In no time the net was unrolled and
Robby was elected to go out into the
deep water. Without a moment's hesita-
tion he was in the water. What better
excuse for getting wet. And when I say
wet, I mean completely wet. We had to
remind him to keep the lower end down
so the fish wouldn't escape underneath.
It was all a ball to him. Our first haul
brought handfuls of the beautiful green
spearing in. As the net unfolded, the
children could hardly contain them-
selves. Even Sara, the youngest, didn't
hesitate a bit in picking the slippery
fish up and putting them in the bucket.
I wanted to get enough so I could eat
some. They are a great treat, fried crisp
and eaten whole, almost like French
fries. I have to behead and gut some for
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Barbara, but that's no big job. Of
course, there were killies mixed in with
the spearing and hermit crabs to be ex-
amined. It was a treasure house of sights
and things to be picked up and looked
over. If anyone ever wants to give their
children or grandchildren a gift they'll
remember, get a killie net for them and
turn them loose on a beach.
Of course, Robby had to be the boy
he is, so when he found a big jelly (not
the stinging kind), he picked it up and
promptly, with guilt in his eyes, put it
on his sister's back, which resulted in a
lot of squeals and screams. It was one of
the highlights of his day!
Probably the getting of the bait would
have sufficed for the activity of the day,
but we still had to try fishing. Lines
were baited and tossed over. But no fish.
Finally we did get one snapper, then
Robby got one and lost it. Then we got
a bill eel (needlefish) and, of course, this
was the prize of the day. It was about a
foot long, with big eyes and a long bill
studded with tiny sharp teeth. Our day
rolled on, snacks and juices were con-
sumed, we watched an osprey enjoy his
catch on a stake out in the marsh, while
a snowy egret stalked where all could
see. A kingfisher plummeted in the wa-
ter nearby, apparently a better fisherman
than we.
Our day was a success. We had fun,
caught a few fish, and had more fun
catching the bait. We just took advan-
tage of the great outdoors on the East
End. And after all, isn't that what it's
all about.
Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
SNAPPER FISHING —Often the
long, thin, silvery, green bill eel will
take your bait when snapper fish-
ing. These needlefish are found
from Maine to Texas and can
grow to four feet i n l e n g t h
average 1 112 to 2 feet.)
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