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Last year I included a poem given to me by a mysterious stranger while I was hanging around with some “Canal Rats” in the Bell Road parking lot at the west end of the Cape Cod Canal. Sometime later last summer, I found a second poem left on my windshield by the same author, titled A Cuttyhunk Lullaby.

A fisherman’s friend
is the slippery eel
though some care not
for how they feel
Wise anglers keep
a bucketful handy
‘cause striped bass eat them
like a kid eats candy.

Earnest Longcaster
E. Falmouth ‘07

I cannot argue with that sentiment.

Hey Pops, got a question for you. While we were fishing for striped bass this past fall, we caught a few keepers that had some weird baitfish in their stomachs. I’ve never seen these fish in any stripers until this year. They had sharp teeth, and the one in the photograph is probably 10 to 12 inches long. It was in a 25-pound striper that my father caught one night while we were fishing a school of stripers that ranged from 15 to 35 pounds. They were chasing adult menhaden, but not one of the other three bass that we kept had adult or baby menhaden in their stomachs. Instead, they had smaller versions of the fish in the picture, along with scup, mantis shrimp and green crabs. Thank you for taking the time to find us an answer – it is deeply appreciated.
-Dan Angevine

P.S. I can’t wait for fishing season to start. Do you think we’ll see another great run of menhaden and giant stripers in Narragansett Bay this year? I’m about ready to pull out my hair thinking about it.
Before I saw the pictures of your mystery fish, I thought it might be a northern barracuda, or sennet, (Sphyraena borealis) because of its size and toothiness. My knowledgeable editor, Kevin Blinkoff, disagreed, and he was correct. He thought it was a lizardfish, and I agreed upon seeing the photos. The inshore lizardfish (Synodus foetens) has been becoming more common in recent years, possibly because of warming waters.
I am puzzled that your stripers had no menhaden in their stomachs; perhaps they were playing with the menhaden. Are fish smart enough to play? I don’t know, but I doubt it.
I do expect more large menhaden inshore this season and the big stripers with them. I think stripers over 25 pounds should be released as breeding stock, and I also think that we are cutting our own throat by insisting that commercial fishermen take only the big female breeders – this is truly nuts. Eloquent, right? Now that is something to pull your hair out about.

Dear Pops,
I was educated by Ric Casilli’s letter concerning protected seals in prime fishing areas on the Lower Cape.
I fish the gut on the bayside (Wellfleet), and last August I had a seal experience. I fish out of a 9 ½-foot kayak that weighs 36 pounds. I had a tether of three bluefish hanging from my kayak when a humongous grey seal ripped my catch from my tether. Needless to say, I was terrified and left my prime fishing spot. I came back the next day, only to find four other seals waiting for my next catch. They forced me to fish a mile away.
I am spending a few weeks in Colorado this winter, and I read every day about how bears, coyotes, and mountain lions are frequenting residential areas. It’s apparent that human growth has infringed on wildlife over the years. I don’t mind residential areas … but the ocean!? Believe me, residents are very concerned!
We have created a “smaller world” resulting in “progress and wealth.” It looks like we are going to have to coexist in a smaller ocean and smaller world.
Please discuss and solve!!!

Dr. Steve Sartori,
Westfield, MA

I don’t know exactly what the question is here, but I do have some advice: get a bigger kayak, and don’t drag your dead fish behind you! The latter advice is common knowledge to all tropical spear-fishermen because sharks and barracuda will be attracted.
The wild beasts (mountain lions, grizzlies, wolves, etc.) are not frequenting our residential areas – we are trespassing on their residential areas. Bear in mind, there are no shark attacks on land. The oceans are not getting smaller, but we are entering them in ever-increasing numbers, so there will be more and more encounters between man and beast. In the long run, the wild beasts will be destroyed while man, the most dangerous of beasts, will win out. This will be unavoidable if we continue our current ways, until the only beast left to be destroyed is us. Then we will do that, too.
The only solution lies in controlling human greed and limiting or stopping growth. As long as growth, economic or otherwise, is seen as universally desirable, we will destroy ourselves. You cannot have unlimited growth in a limited system, and the earth is a limited system. An aquarium is a limited system which will destroy itself if allowed to grow without controls, and so will the earth. Pogo was right: “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”

Dear Pops,
I see salted cod and pollock at the supermarkets. I tried it and liked it, especially on your “cod and scraps” recipe – it is delicious! I would like to salt my own fish, as it is pricey in the stores. Would you have any ideas on how to salt my own fish – what to use, etc.? Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks,
Pat Cervolo
Framingham, MA

You can dry salt any white-fleshed fish, including cod, haddock, cusk or pollock. Oily fishes, mackerel and herring are preserved in salt brine to keep oxygen from the fatty flesh. To preserve your own fish, fillet or split them, leave the skin on, and bury in pickling salt for about two weeks. Then remove fish from the salt, and rinse and air-dry it until dry to the touch. I used to see split small cod hung from clotheslines in Provincetown, but that was almost 50 years ago.
Fish, treated this way, will keep for weeks at room temperature and indefinitely in the refrigerator. Remember that you must use pickling (kosher) salt for this process.

Pops,
It’s winter and the nights are long. Some of us are itching for that spring run, and then this thing showed up in our email. I hope these guys didn’t pull this out of the Canal! Do any of your ichthyologist buddies know what this thing is, and would it survive if it was transported here in ballast water? Just wondering…
Lincoln

This beast is the African tigerfish (Hydrocynus goliath), found in the rivers of Central Africa. It is the largest of the characin fishes, which include the piranha. They can reach a rumored 6 feet in length and maybe 75 pounds. I am not at all sure of these numbers, but I still do not want to swim with one of them! They are said to school and attack in packs, much like the piranha.
Being freshwater fish, African tigerfish are unlikely to appear in ballast water and would not survive in the Canal. They are, however, sold as aquarium fish and could possibly escape into fresh water. I certainly hope this doesn’t happen. There is enough scary stuff out there already.
Thanks for reading and please keep the questions coming.

I really need the questions, guys, so do not delay!

askpops@onthewater.com