The Bessemer indicator., 1894-01-13
FISHING FOR ocToPoDs.
NOVELTY IN ANGLING PRAC-
TiceD IN PUGET SOUND.
Easy to Catch fher. and Safe to Handle
Them When You Know Bow-Hof-
ribls Power of ths Writing Crsa@
turss-A Bsby DevIi-Fish. -,

angling, as practiced In Puget sound.
Although this horrid cuttlefish in
such high ATTITUDES does not attain
the monstrous size II reaches In
tropical Or even semi i-tropical &atsrs,
the average weight OF those along
the shore OF Washington state is
great enough to make the sport both
exciting and dangerous
1t is easJ enough to catch them.
and after you get the hang Of the
thing, safe enough to handle them
with tackle The boat. with only
sail enough to keep storage way,
is guided over spots whero the octo-
pus lics IN ~ait under shelving rock
for his prey. AS WITH fRe snonge
fisherman in Southern waters.a a hSad-
less barrel, half submerged in an up
right position. is lashed to the bot
tom OF tho boat, and boatman,
thrusting his head into this barrel,
scans the bottout closely with prao-
ticed eye, undlstructed BY the, re-
ilected glare from the surface OF tho
surrounding water. With this sim
pie device 1t is possible to see dis
tinctly objects at considerable depth.
At a signal from the man on the
lookout the boat is brought up into
the wind and held stationary while
preparations are speedily made to
hook his octdpusship. which has
been sighted lying OF the bottom,
hideous and still, save for reaching,
swaying motion OF one or more OF its
arms or feelers. A long sounding
line is run through a pulley at the
end OF boom swinging over the
side, piece of stout white canvas is
made fast at the end for lure, and
the fun begins.
Directed by tho man in the barrel,
the canvas ..ny" is lowered to Within
few feet of the lurking devii-iish
and kept constantly in motion by n
series of sharp jerks. care being
taken not to let it come within reach
of the fish while he retains his posi-
tion on the bottom, else 1t would be
impossible to tear it loose from its
anchorage. such is the immense
strength exerted by the suction disks
with which its eight arms. or legs,
are plcntifully supplied.
4 uc liIcll at IIlc IopcS utt NdEItu
by the watcher OF the signs of in
creasing interest manifested by the
octopus, and when at last it makes u
spring for the tantallzing lure and
closes its bcaklikc jaws upon the
piece OF rag, strong arms heave in the
line and the squirming organism, look
ing all arms and tentacles, is hoisUed
to the end of the outriggad boom.
1t is an operation requiring tact,
promptncss and skill, for the crea-
turc must not come in contact with
the hull of the boat to which 1t
would attach itself like an unwieldy
barnacle until such time as suited it's
pleasure to let 60 period altogether
indefinite for tho comoirt of either
the skipper or crew.
Once dangling at the boom end,
however, it is virtually secured, for
surrender its hold on the rag it will
not. The octopus holds fast to all it
gets with pertinacity which shames
| even the trus is and monopolies which
have been likened to it. Now. how
| turned against it, and this very
quality made TO assist in landing its
| possessor at the final stage. Boat
hooks and poles are thrust toward it,
and when it has fastened its unre-
laxing grip upon these it is swung
inboard. hurled upon the deck and
dispatched with an ax.
No description can give an idea OF
the hideousness OF this creature. To
grasp i. in it's fullest detail one must
watch 1t at such time as this, as it
sprawls about the deck before receiv-
ing the coup de grace. its eight,
sometimes ten, arms sprouting about
its head, each equipped on the under
side with rows of cup-like suctorial
disks, which by muscular action pro-
duce u vacuum. giving the fish it's
wonderful adhesive power, writhing
hiiher and thither like coil of
scrpcnts. Then it's eyes! Ugh. The
| awfulness of those eyes; great, roll
ing, saucer like protuberances that
fix you with fierce stare that sends
the cold shivers down your back,
| especially VIXEN You notice the cruel
mouth with curved, bcak-like jaws.
for all the world like a parrots many
times magnilied. When the ak sinks
| into the grisly body and the twining
arms become still you feel us the
bine water sailor feels when he dis
| patches shark-that you have done
| u good action.
They arc we'll named devilfish,
| this species of tho cutie family, to
appreciate which it is only necessary
| to have seen one of the monsters OF
| tho Southern seas, There are we'll
authenticated instances of specimens
weighing 80 pounds and measuring
| fifteen feet from head to tall and fifty
| feet in spread of tcntncles. While
such gigantic specimens are never
seen outside the tropics, this fish
grows to no mean Dimensions along
| the Western and Southern coast,of
| Florida, and many stories of strange
adventures with the octopus are told
by the fishermen and sponge-hunters
of that region. That even the
mailer ones are ugly customers to
| fool with this incident will show.
A shell gatherer, while at work on
tho west coast, came upon young
| octopus among the rocks. 1t was
| quito small, measuring not more
than three feet from tip to tip of its
extended tentaclcs, while It's body
was no larger than mans fist. 1t
looked like very big spider as ii
wabbled along on its arms, trying to
reach the surf from the part where
it was left by the receding tide, and
the shell hunter thought he would
try to capture it Running up he
planted his foot firmly on tho end Of
one of the creatures ..feclers," but
with apparent ease tho octopus
pulled II froc and resumed his march
toward tho sea Tho man repeated
the experiment several times witt
| nn hettnr snccnss Than takinn thf