Cascade (AD 16) - Naval Cruise Book

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could continue ad infinitum. There are lots of fish in the sea. And they all have cousins at Advance Bases. A technical note on baits: The best baits have been pieces of red beef or other meat for the big ones down deep that get away, small live fish — especially the round, chubby ones — for bonito and tuna; small pieces of meat or canned fish mixed with flour paste or bread dough for yellowtail. One method of catching live bait, besides trying and trying with a single small hook, is to use a snag line with a dozen or more bare hooks along it, and jerking it up through the fish when they are bunched together. The secret here is not to let them know what vou have in mind. TOIuKi — 28 povmis (.tripped); ISNOTH — 46 lnoh» OT«rall( TEETH — wall dovslopodi REFLBX3S-- noraali DISFOSinON — gsntlei FAklU STATUS — baohelori HOBBIES — swlimiB , eating doughl)»ll« ) HEASOM FOK DEIUSE — fooled around USS CASCADBIIJ Summary In normal times (have they ever been? will they ever be again?! one can believe the lagoon .. equally well suited for casting, trolling, or still fishing. Some supply officer or other seems to have stoc ' ' waters with a great variety of fish — both large and small. I venture the statement that if this lagoon co . plunked down, palm trees and all, somewhere along our east coast — say nine miles off Sandy Hook, New it would make a fisherman ' s paradise. In any event, quite a splash. But, of course, one doesn ' t know w) ' would say. Until they ' re willing to lug it that far they can h ' vou might jot it down in your little book as a place » Harvey to visit — if by any chance you should not wa real holiday of it and come along yourself. You can teli candor there are still more fish here. Because, contrary ' fantail opinion, the U.S.S. CASCADE did 710 catch thf ' FLASH! March 29, 1941 — Advap- vance Base. — Before a wildly r ' lery, and after a thirty-minute • fishing from a harge alongside, Sknmiore. J. T., WT3c, pulled in a heautiful 48-lh tuna this date. He succeeded in hringing the i., . fish to gaff despite the enthusiastic coaching, of at least half his spectators. This is a new record for fish actually landed on the U.S.S. CASCADE. Skidmore was at once hurried off for rest and quiet in sick l)ay and cannot he reached for comment.

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Notes on Fishing From the Fantail A PASTIME of many abuaril wliile we were at Advanced Base was fishinp over the side of the ship. Apparently, after a ship has l)epn at anchor for a while small fish gather round to feed on what the garbage-grinder sends toward the ixillom. The social life of the smaller fish in turn attracts larger ones which are not above making a meal of small fry for breakfast. In the first few days after we came to anchor, luck was poor. Perhaps this can be accounted for bv the lad that not much was known as to what kind of bait was most tantalizing, or what was the best depth of water in which to suspend bail and book for the most spectacular results. Or possibly the word just hadn ' t gotten fl ' iund that all sizes of indigent fish could expect a handout alongside that speedy-looking ship which e into the harbor. At any rate, the catching of the first few fish weighing a pound or so was n much wahooing and beating of the breast. In fact, a prize put up by the Welfare Office for the . ght weighing over five pounds went unclaimed for about a fortnight. ... after the anglers had learned a few tricks from experience scarcely a day went by that seven, ten, or pounders were not landed — or decked, ' to use a more exact word. Occasionally, big ones weighing •inds or better were caught. Which, considering the handicaps of fishing with a handline from high Htpr and among other ships and boats, is a feat not to be Catching a fish of such proportions is an event to be .n-tom circuit. for certain what the size may have been of the really jre hooked but never seen. Looking mournfully heavy-test line, however, or a straightencd-out hook, the ..d conjure up a picture of a fish weighing (|uite as much - ' nn. There was definite proof that such out-size fellows ion. The divers .say that during the blasting opera- nd,, . i.iL I., nnel a fish resembling a sea bass and weighing more than four huiu ' red pounds was brought to the surface with a large • ' ones. The big l)ov bad been stunned and was readiiv .et the picture: My informant tells me that one fisher- .( had somehow succeeded in getting a big one on top ' oard side. The fish seemed not too aware he was rtive. Hut there came a lime when he realized .jnds, and in thai i[i.- lanl his mood changed and he decided to open distance. Heading oil in the general direction of IJali he -l -j i up the water as if llic old boy with ihc pitchfork „ after him. As indeed he may have been. And when he ■ic end of the line, and that was all th e line there was. he ■it a stroke but snajiped il like you would a piece of well- iioked •• If anybody would Icll nic thai fish was slill a-lraveling. ' iformant, I ' d belie c liiin! . the specimens nio-t I ici|ncrill c ;iuglil in llic iiigoon al v-iail, boniio, lima. There were also grouper , sc;i bass, waliiHi . b. ' rracud.., sipiid. red snappers, sharks, devilfish, ' f bcautifulh r dored small fish. This lis!

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It Raiiieth Rain I.N ANY adequate treatment of a fci-linical ubje ■ such as this, one does well to lay the foundation with a little some- thing from old Noah Webster. Noah ' s definition of rain is given forthwith, quote: To pour, as from the clouds; to hesitow profusely; shed copiously. I ncjuote. In this, as in certain other intimate matters, Noah errs in being too conservative. Even a definition which takes in as much territory as his falls short of the actual as observed at Advanced Base. The old boy should have said, To pour, as from buckets; to bestow profusely, as out of barrels; to shed copiously, as for example nine inches in the half-hour. The phenomenon of rain as experienced hereabout can best be conveyed i)y a brace of incidents «lucli revolve around the persons of two esteemed members of the ship ' s company. To wit: One night, during one of the milder rainstorms. Lt. (jgl Krhardt wa holding the fort as Officer of the Deck. He was wearing three raincoats, with (luarterniasters holding umi)re!las both port and starboard, and was keeping dry as best he could. Then suddenly and unmistakai)ly during the roar of the downpour he heard a clumping on the gangway. Who goes there? he called in the manner approved by If ' alch Officer ' s Guide. It ' s only me, sir, he heard a weak voice reply. Flashing his battle lantern full over the side. Officer of the Deck Krhardt observe 1, sal ion swimming up the gangway. The poor fish still thought the gangway was a waterfall until the J.O.O.D. itaked Im to produce his liberty card. On anolhf occasion — a very rainy afternoon — it is recalled the ship went into Condition One when the Boatswain ' s Mate o ' the Watch reported what he swore to be a periscope approaching the ship. The big calibres fore and aft ..re all ready to open fire when an Electrician ' s Mate from the Fifth Division came tearing up to the Quarterdeck to say that it wasn ' t a submarine after all but just Niimiier 3 motor whale boat returning from a Guard Mail trip to Coconut Pier. The Coxswain of the boat, in explaining the situation afterward, said it was probably Mr. Oder ' s head which was mistaken for a periscope because at the lime it was the only thing above water. It is reported that .Mr. Yoder got a letter of r ' |)rinian(l from .SecNav for im])crsonaling a sui niarii c willioul jiroper authority. After a span of months in the place it has at last been decided to everyone ' s satisfaction whv the ( .•VSCADF. was sent to th particular port. The lads in the spud locker figure that HulVrs judged the ( ASt ADK to be a water barge becau. of its name, and would in- wi-il iidaptcd for ibi- [ircscnl duty. Well, now that we ' re here we don ' t mind loo niucii ly more. You car ' i. when you ' ve got webbed feet . . ic lliing. sf don ' l gel pcl(ble between our toes -• - Mft ' » , ' (■ Forty-six