Evening star., 1901-05-11

nient to cast off The anglers sit side by
side, rods to port and starboard.
Tuna Tackle.
The rods should be at least seven feet in
length, in justice to the fish. l prefer
seven and half; the Tuna Club limit is
six feet nine inches; the reel Vom Hofe,
costing anywhere from $40 to SO; a poor
reel goes to pieces at the first rush. The
line is a thread, so to speak, a twenty-one-
strand cuttyhunk; and there are 800 feet
of il, which the angler soakS before using,
so that it will not burn off. The leader is
seven feet of piano wire, and to the 80
hook is fastened a flying fish foot long.
With such tackle the boat moves out into
the Bay of Avalon and up the picturesque
coast. that is cut here and there by deep
canOns, rivers of verdure, which wind
down from the mountains. l have had
strikes in the very bay, and have hooked a
tuna with the flying fish that was chased
into my boat. But this morning our strike
came at Long Point, five miles from Ava
Ion. My companion, Mr.. Heverin of New
York, had a strike at the same time, the
fish usually travelling in pairs. He unfor-
tunately lost while l hooked. and with one
rush, to the loud protest of the reel, the
fish took 800 feet of line. Jim Gardner, our
boatman. cast off from the launch as the
reel gave tongue, and backed water with
all his strength to gain sternway. If this
had not been done the fish would have
gone in five seconds: but the rush was
the tuna toWed the boat directly out to sea
with such force that the stern rail was
dangerously near the surface. In half a
mile two hundred feet were gained and
lost: then suddenly the line slackened, and
| thought the fish off. But. no: it was
coming toward me along the surface, cut
ting the water like a knife.
4 Battle Royal.
I was standing up and could distinctly
see the magnificent fish. note it's breadth of
blue back, all the while reeling desperately
but mortal man could never have taken in
slack with the best mutiplier made Fifty
feet perhaps had been gained when the
tuna reached within twenty feet or SO Of
the boat on it's grand double: then it evil
IDENTIFY saw me and turned in flash of
SiiVery foam and was away. | could hear
the boatman breathing hard-pcrhapS 1t
was an invocation to Glaucus-my thumb
played lightly on the brake as the crash
came. and the silvery notes of the reel
broke the silence, telling that this clever
trick to break the line had failed. A few
moments later l turned the fish, which
towed us mile in shore, stopping Occa-
sionally to rush toward the boat and break
away again: then not one hundred yards
from shore it circled the boat two hundred
feet distant, never for a moment showing
signs Of weakness, always bearing away
with force that was only suggestive Of
it's size.
l had caught all the impossible game
from sharks to lOggerhead turtles, tarpon
and Florida Jewish, but here was greater
than these, so far as strength was con-
cerned. a something whose activity was
akin to the rays of light which flashed
from the silvcry foam. For three hours
this gamy creature fought. 1 reeled it
standing and sitting; reeled when l could,
inch by inch. returning to the leather
thumb brake to stop it's rushes until my
hand lost feeling. This doughty charger
gave me rest, and at the end of three
hours / felt that my chances We're waning:
then by lucky move l turned the fish to
the south. and with a bound, which almost
emptied the reel. it was away. Three times
it stopped and charged me, and once it
towed me into the line of heavy sea, where
the boat was in danger of being capsized,
as We were always stern on. but it invari
ably came back to its original course, and
at the end of the fourth hour had toWed
us literally home, or four miles down the
coast to Avalon bay, making ten miles in
all Here, possibly encouraged by the