The Parson Goes Deep Sea Fishing

Although fishing for souls is my vocation, I also like to catch finny fish once in a while, for fishing is my favorite sport. There is something about the sport that appeals to the adventurous spirit in most of us humans. No one knows what may come up in the net or on the line when the fisherman casts out his net or baits his hook. It's all a gamble and exciting to the last degree. At least that's how I feel about it. Of course there are prosaic souls who never get excited at anything, not even the pull of a ten pounder. As for me, there's nothing like it to calm jaded nerves and to bring back the blush of youth to the cheek.

It was the night before. Fantastic gray clouds drifted above the head as if chased by a mysterious power. The captains of the beam trawlers tied to the wharf in Chincoteague looked up and said: "the barometer does not look good and the ground swell is bad, we had better stay in tomorrow unless there is a change." The boats were riding slowly up and down, tied securely to the fish wharf. Their nets were hoisted to the top of the mast, ready for the next haul. Some of the hands were below in the snug little cabins eating supper. It was not very difficult to make final arrangements with Captain W. H. Freeman of the "Ethel H." to go out the next morning as a passenger, if the weather would permit: A hearty good night and "I'll see you in the morning," followed. I was like the little boy on the night before Christmas, eager for the morning to come and hoping that good weather might favor us despite the barometer. You see, the barometer felt the depression that caused a storm somewhere else "up the coast."

At half past five in the morning I was at the wharf. Only an iceman was on hand. His cordial "good morning" made me feel at home. One by one sleepy heads appeared on the decks of the boats. As if by instinct they looked up in the sky, washed their faces and began the day's work. One hand pumped the bilge water out of his boat, another lowered his net and put it on the rail, while another began to load several cakes of ice to preserve the fish he expected to catch. The "Sue Lawson" was first to go out. The second boat to cast off was the "Forrest." We were third. Captain Freeman welcomed me and introduced me to his two hands, strong husky lads, and we were off. Looking up he said: "Thick over there." Then he asked: "How many cakes of ice did she take on," pointing to the "Sue Lawson." I replied: "Five." He retorted: "Then she is not coming in tonight."

The staunch trawler was given the once-over by the parson. In her hold was carried the size of her tonnage, and her number. She measured nine tons net and twenty-one tons gross. Her length over all was fifty-six and a half feet, her beam fourteen feet and eight inches and her draught four feet and a half. Her three cylinder C. O. engine developed forty-five horse powers and was capable of four hundred revolutions, giving her a speed of seven and a half knots (nautical miles) an hour. She also carried a small sail which is seldom used. Under her forecastle was a nice cabin with three folding bunks and a cute little cook stove and table.

In about an hour and a half we were on the fishing ground. A heavy ground swell made the "Ethel H." pitch and roll uncomfortably, but fish we must. While we were sailing out to the fishing grounds, one of the boys cooked breakfast and the other hand prepared the trawl net. The good-natured captain was quite talkative and this novice picked up a good deal of information. What these men do not know about fish and fishing is not worth knowing. These hardy fishermen follow the fish and the fish follow the Gulf Stream. Most of the boats hail from Newport News and Hampton. Once in a while a New Jersey fisherman ventures in these waters. If farming is a speculation, so is beam trawl fishing. Captain Freeman's eyes glistened as he told of big catches of fifty, sixty, and seventy barrels a day. "My dear sir, you could see her going down by the head after a big haul of twenty barrels."

In the summer these boats fish in the waters off Chincoteague, usually from May to September. Then they start for the so-called Southern Beach off Cape Henry. In the middle of December they go still further South and fish off Ocracoke, N. C., until the middle of March. After that the boats are overhauled at Hampton or vicinity and made ready for spring and summer fishing. The fish are sold to commission merchants in Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore and Washington.

Now follow the process of fishing with the beam trawl. The net is a funnel shaped contraption made of twine. The widest end of the funnel is attached by a wire and a chain to the "doors." The doors have the shape and size of ordinary house doors, only they are a little heavier. The doors by means of short chains, one on each corner, are attached to the trawl lines, one line for each door. As the trawl lines with the doors and net attached are run out, the doors and net follow the bottom of the Ocean. The doors by their peculiar position and slant keep the wide end of the funnel of the net open and the net catches any and all fish that swim in its way as the boat is propelled at the rate of about two miles an hour. At the end of the net is the "bunt" made of heavier twin than the rest of the net. The bunt is the picker or catch-all of the net. Under ordinary circumstances the net is fished on the hour. When fishing is extra good, it is fished once every forty minutes. Try to picture the process of hauling the net aboard. The rudder is put hard aboard (they always fish on the starboard side, because it is right handed) and the trawl lines that run over a block attached to the top of the mast stand straight off on the beam. The slack is pulled in by hand and the winch, which is in reality a drum attached to the flywheel of the engine, does the rest. Soon the three hundred and sixty feet of trawl line are in and the doors bang against the side of the boat. They are hauled in and the net follows. When the "bunt" holding the fish reaches the surface, a sling is placed around it, the winch once more does the hard work, and pulls in the catch. The draw line is pulled out and the fish drop on deck to be iced in the holds.

I made a list of the various articles and creatures that are caught in the net from time to time. See if you recognize your friends. Should I have missed any, forgive me. Here they are: Croakers, flounders, king fish, bluefish, sand skates, dog fish, spot, sea lizzards, thorny toads, oyster toads, sea-robbins, eels, hakes, codfish, haddocks, octopus, jelly fish, squid, swordfish, stingeries, seaweed, weak fish, roaches, butterfish, sand porgies, crabs, swelling toads, electric toads, whelks and so forth. If the scientific names were given instead of the names current among us, the list would be bewildering indeed.

Each time the net was pulled in the preacher threw his shark line overboard and he had the satisfaction of catching three of the species, weighing from thirty to forty pounds a piece. These ravenous denizens of the deep follow the net when it comes up and it is indeed an unusual sight to see these greedy monsters as they snap at the baited hook as soon as it is thrown over the side.

The twelve hour day was hugely enjoyed and it has added another page to the interest of this sky pilot who lives to study how the other fellow lives in order that his sympathies may be enlarged.