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July 26, 1984 - Seining for Fun and Profit' July 26, 1984 ` ne Suffolk Times Page23 Seining for Fun and Profit By PAUL STOUTENBURGH My son is an ardent fisherman and always in pursuit of whatever is running in the bay. Last week it was the small blues. Our good friends, the terns, told him where the real activity was. Their diving and hovering over the water is a true indicator of action below. Bluefish are noted for their savagery when feeding, snapping up anything that even vaguely resembles a small fish. Even their own don't escape this savage frenzy of feeding as demonstrated by one that while thrashing about in the fish box regurgitated a small bluefish he had caught minutes before. This was a grim sight, reminding us that right now these small blues will soon be big enough to spark the sport of snapper fishing. August is snapper fishing time and down at the mouths of our creeks and from the various bridges, you'll see the poles and pursuers of these scrappy little fish. To go snapper fishing, you need bait and this can be purchased at any good bait shop, but it's never as good as just caught fresh. Seining with a net is the easiest and quickest way of getting snapper bait -- which all leads to "the fun of seining." The seine should be at least 10 feet long. If it is too short, it makes it difficult to get around the quick swimming schools of fish out in front. They'll usually shoot around the end and only frustrate you. If you are in the right spot at the right time, you'll get enough silversides, or spearing as they are also called, to half fill your bucket. These are handsome little fellows with an almost metallic stripe on their side that can grow to be as big as four or five inches in length. But believe me, the big ones qa,jln� @U1 t�la 9lSU�Q(� aren't as good as the three -inch size, which are not only excellent for bait but also for eating. Yes, you heard me right, I said for eating. Fried up -- head, tail and all -- and eaten like French fries, they make a gourmet's delight. Barbara is a bit squeamish about heads and tails and all and so I'll usually clean some 10 or so for her but I'm sure some day when the conversation at the table gets lively and she forgets to "pick and choose" she'll be eating — you guessed it -- the whole thing. Net Is a Must It's my belief no vacation home with youngsters is complete without a seining net. There are endless hours spent in the shallow waters of our bays and creeks where young and old alike can become fascinated with one of these seining nets. Along with the flashing silversides, you're bound to find the killifish or minnow. These won't attract the snapper or entice your appetite like the spearing will, but they, too, have a place in things. In the spring they make good bait for flounder and fluke and an eel will always bite on them. Killies grow quite large, sometimes reaching three or four inches in length. I can remember when we were kids and Fabric Backed Vinyl Wallcovering Scrubbable and Strippable with correlating borders NOW 30% off List Price. Erica Wilson's Collection and Many Others from General Wallcovering On Sale Until Aug. 20, 1984. 1st Quality — No Seconds or Irregulars RIVERHEAD PLAZA ROUTE 58 RIVERHEAD, N.Y. 1190' 727 -1150 58B RIVERHEAD RD. WESTHAMPTON BEACH N.Y. 11978 288 -6605 PAINTS PLUS Great paints, Great Prices, Great advice u Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh BABY WEAKFISH- -Often in the frenzy of feeding, small fish will be driven right out of the water by their pursuers. Weakfish spawn in the rich creek waters of the East End. This is another reason for making sure we always have unpolluted waters. things slowed up a bit we'd go fishing for minnows. We'd bend a safety pin, string it on some thread and tie it to a thin branch, then bait the bent pin with a tiny scrap of clam and we'd set out to catch minnows off the docks down in the bay. You had to be fast lifting them up for there was no barb on the hook to keep the hook imbedded in the killie's mouth. We usually lost more than we caught but I can remember as a kid, it was fun. If you've learned to hold the net down, (continued on next page) thelW.����� Mortsast Center Mortgages are our only Business! NEED MONEY? Low 1 Year Adjustable Rate Mortgages Available • Construction Loans • Fixed Rate Mortgages • Quick and Easy Processing Convenient Hours: Monday - Friday 8-6 evening & Saturday by Appointment P.O. BOX 1090 1380 ROANOKE AVE. RIVERHEAD. NEW YORK 11901 (S 16) 369 -0333 r© Page 24 MEMN PELL'S F15H DOCK 1 �-- The Suffolk Times For the largest variety of FRESH SEAFOOD Stop In ... PeIrs FISH DOCK (Foot of Monsell Pl., Greenport RETAIL 477 -0001 NOTICE THE RESTAURANT PART OF THE OLD MILL INN, MATTITUCK, WILL BE CLOSED TUESDAY, JULY 31, TO PRESENT A DRESS, SUIT, COAT, PANTS AND BLOUSE SALE. LOTS OF 5TH AVE. AND EAST HAMPTON STUFF. 'SOME NEVER WORN. MOSTLY SIZE 10, SOME SIZE 12.$5 TO $20. ALSO TONS OF CURTAINS AND DRAPES. SALE STARTS AT 10 A.M. NO EARLY BIRDS. BAR WILL BE OPEN. Sw,�•� Pie v °��95 C �f�t Ag O6y 2969 POOL SALES— SERVICE INSTALLATION By W%/.1 mpovement.1 John (Checkers) &mchick Rohm E. Can 734 -5025 727 -4369 811 Roanoke Ave., Riverhead Open 7 Days! LICENSED AND INSURED • Free - Estimates • Weekly Maintenance • Sidewall Repair & Replacement • Fencing • Liner Replacement Installing • Decking • Satisfied Customer Referrals Concrete Block Pools. Check on Our Pool Specials July 26, 1984 Nabbed in Cocaine Bust GREENPORT - -Two men suspected of cocaine possession were arrested by village police in a restaurant parking lot Friday night. According to reports, police were tipped that someone was selling cocaine from a brown compact car in the restaurant lot. When Greenport detective John Schott approached the vehicle, he saw a magazine on the driver's lap with white powder separated in lines. A passenger was holding a dollar bill rolled into a tube the report said. When Det. Schott knocked on the car window, the passenger opened the door and threw something out, police said. Det. Schott and Patrolmen Gary Charters and Patrick Sinclair searched the vehicle and the area and found a small packet of white powder, believed to be cocaine, a small plastic container holding clear fluid, and rolling papers. The material was sent to the Suffolk County police lab for testing. James S. Pressler of Massapequa, 23, and Carl H. Ohlman of Southold, 27, were charged with loitering, described in state Penal Law as remaining in a location for the "unlawful use or possession of a controlled substance." Both were released on $100 bail. Should the police lab determine that the powder is cocaine, the charges will be amended to possession of a controlled substance, police said. Mae Watson, the owner of the Cinnamon Tree Restaurant, reported that five white males with crew cuts destroyed a six -by -four foot section of the fence surrounding the bistro's patio on Sunday morning. The vandals drove off in a dark colored sedan, the report said. An eight -foot dinghy was reported stolen from a village boat yard. The owner, a Mattituck man, said the theft occurred overnight Thursday, and estimated the value of the boat at $400. Hit by Car An 85- year -old woman was slightly injured Friday morning when she was involved in a collision with an automobile on First Street. Evelyn M. Clark's bicycle was struck by an auto driven by Mary M. Gervat of Northport, police said. Clark went to Eastern Long Island Hospital for treatment of sore ribs later in the day, police said. Vandals were responsible for three reports to Greenport police this week. Overnight Wednesday, someone threw what was believed to be a large firecracker into the post office box at Fourth and Flint Street, blowing out the bottom and damaging two pieces of mail. In what are believed to be related incidents, police said that a flag on a Front Street store was ripped down and an awning on another retail establishment was damaged by vandals early Sunday morning. Focus on Nature... (continued from previous page) so it drags along the bottom catching everything, you've probably picked up a baby flounder or two in the net. These little fellows are almost impossible to see on the sandy bottom. They actually change colors depending on the type of bottom they're on. To add to this camouflage both young and old have the ability to flip sand over their backs, leaving only their eyes protruding so they look even more like the sandy bottom they are lying on. They know all too well the story of survival even at that early stage in their life. Another fish likely to end up in the net that's related to the sea horse is the pipefish. It's long and thin and resembles an eel in shape but when handled it has a rather stiff body and none of the sliminess of the eel. It also has a head that looks something like a sea horse. In .. its natural surroundings, the pipefish stands upright and sways in the grasses just like it was part of the surroundings. Another of nature's ways of protecting a species as all things big and small that abound in the sea are fair game for someone looking for a meal. Some Surprise Visitors Depending on the season, you might get small snappers or even weakfish in your net. Remember these valuable shallow waters are nursery areas and we are bound to find the young of many species enjoying the nutrients and protection of our clean, shallow waters. Most of us who have been around for some time can remember when the blowfish were plentiful throughout the East End. Each year we see young blowfish in our seining nets but sorry to say they've never been able to make a comeback like they were years ago. In the net they look like golf balls for they puff up with air. In the water they do the same thing but with water whenever danger is around. In this puffed -up stage and with their rough sandpaper skin, no creature in its right mind would dare swallow it. Nature works in strange ways to protect its flock. In among the fish you are bound to pick up the lowly black mud snail. He spends his entire life vacuuming the bay bottoms, cleaning up the rug of decaying debris. We can thank him partially for the clean waters and bay bottoms throughout our area. Right along with the mud snail, you'll find the hermit crab who spends his entire life looking for a new home. Not being born with the protection of a shell, he has to find discarded ones to live in. The problem is as he grows he outgrows his shell and therefore must find a new one and if you observe them they're continually running from one empty shell to another hopefully, finding the one that just fits. Looking back to when you were young, seining for bait was half the fun of snapper fishing and I can guarantee you that the kids will thoroughly appreciate that seining net. As a matter of fact, you'll also find the adults enjoying the outing as well.