Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-04-13
FISHING FOR FLYING FISH.
Method of Taking This Strange Denizen
of the Deep Off Barbodoes.

Method of Taxing This Strange Denizen
of the Deep OFF Barbodoes.
''In the deep blue sea off Barbados
is where | used to go flying fish fishing,
and never heard of any other place
where that sport can be found" says a
New Yorker. 1T isn't a matter of
sport, though, with the native fishermen.
1t is business, and a very serious bust
ness, for the principal food supply, as
well as the chief mainstay commercially,
of large portion Of the people is flying
fish, The boats you go fishing in are
painted as near the color of the water
as can be, even to the sails. Their keels
are oiled, to make them more noiseless
in the water. The simple and single gar
ment the fisherman wears is. dyed sea
color. The only unpleasant thing about
flying fish fishing is the bait. This is
a very oily fish that frequents the steep
shores of Barbados. Its name, accord
ing to the way | heard it pronounced, is
peeng. These fish are caught in nets.
None is ever more than pound in weight
and half Of that weight is oil. The fish
are not used for bait until decomposition
is we'll advanced. Forty or fifty of them
are taken along in the boat, and if ever
there was floating Barren island a fly
ing fish boat on it's way to the fishing
grounds is one. Not much in the way
of tackle is used in catching flying fish.
The equipment is shallow scoop net
with inch meSheS, the hoop being three
feet or so in diameter.
''The fishing grounds are from five to
twelve miles from shore. The sea is
marvelously clear. When the boat has
reached a spot where the fish are likely
to be found sails are taken in and the
preliminaries begin. The fisherman leans
as far as he can over the side of the
boat. In one hand he holds the light net
by the hoop, SO that it touches the wa
NJ 1I1.11 cl0r 11erlx1
beneath the water and toward the boat
when the time comes. In the other
hand he has one of the loud-smelling bait
fish. This he squeezes. and the putrid
oil from it falls into the water in
noiseless stream. The fish is reduced to
fragments at the same time and sinks.
The Oil spreads over the surface and is
as clear as crystal. 1t has the effect
of making the depths visible for fathoms
down.
II suppose flying fish are partial to de-
cayed fish, for it there are any in the
vicinity when this bait is turned into
and upon the sea they will not be long
in making their presence known. Not
a word is spoken nor sound Of any kind
made after the boat reaches the fishing
ground. The native / went out with on
my first trip objected, judging from the
expression on his face, to the manner
in which my heart beat, and / must
novelty and expectancy of the occasion
excited me. / lay with my face over the
gunwale and forgot even the malodorous
exhalation Of the bait. Presently, far
down beneath the oily surface, | saw
myriads Of black spots moving. They
rose swiftly, growing. larger and more
numerous, until the sheen of thousands
of flying fish. their long black fms or
wings, bristling like moving column
of lancers, glistened close to the surface.
A bunch of the advance guard came
within reach, and the fisherman buried
his net in the water with a swift and
noiseless sweep that brought it toward
the boat. He drew it to the surface
with it's opening against the oiled side
of the boat, apparently with ease, al
though it contained as many flying fish
as man would care to carry. Quickly
dumping his catch in the boat but with
scarcely a sound, he was ready with his
net again, squeezing the oil out of an
other bait fish and reducing it to I'M
savery pulp. The captured flying fish
seemed not to deserve their name, for
they lay in the boat with scarcely a
movement, and soon died. In two hours
that one fisherman filed his boat, and
we sailed back home"