The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-09-07

He sits and gurgles, with patient,
greenish smile Exed immovably on
face whose cheerful misery would soft
en- a stone image of Baal. Deaf to
friendly advice, he stays on deck. He
even succeeds in jointing his rod and
rigging his line. Then he waits, pic
ture of Death in the Revels
Now the rolling of a side-wheeler is
not so bad, even in a seaway, when it
is in motion. But when it is anchored
the ground swell begins to work it's
worst. That. and the hideous occupa-
ton of batting hooks, that is going on
all around him gives the seasick
brother his final blow. The climax
comes suddenly, terribly-always I'M
expected equally to him and his neigh
sbors, who complain Indignantly that
If he does that again right over their
shoulders they will have to get sick,
too. Persons too far away to be in
convenienced shout with Viking laugh
ter, and warn him that he is spelling
the fishing by cumming the wrong
way. That is a venerable old one. Its
birth has been traced back to the first
seasickness on the first fishing expe-
d1tion out of the mouth of the Nile
But it is such a strong joke that it
is as good as ever
However, the seasick brother is bun
died out of the way as soon as it is
reasonably safe to approach him. BY
that time the sides of the steamer are
spiny with rods of every description
from the real wood one for a dollar to
the fifty dollar split bamboo. There
are tiny water spouts all around the
craft as from infantry fire. Those are
the sinkers plunging into the depths
on the fishing banks line must get
to the bottom quick and stay there. If
1t drifts, it will foul other lines. So
the sinkers weigh from one-quarter to
one-half pound each. The rods must
be stiff enough to carry this weight,
and also to lift fish from one-half to
seven and more pounds clear of the
water and UP to the deck. There is
little opportunity for the use of even
a gait hook.
If the spot is good, it will not be
long before some one begins to reel in
swiftly with a painful express
sion of Indifference, carefully
made prominent all over his
face. Got one!" shout all
within sight. There is eager scrutiny
of the surface to catch the first
glimpse of it. 'Sea bassi" yells a
quick man. "Nol it's a blackfish."
shouts another. The lucky angler says
nothing. With a mighty effort he hoists
the fish high into the air, over the
rail and slap into his neighbours eye
That patient one hands the quarry
over politely and wipes his face, with
out allowing the trivial episode to dis
tract his anxious attention from his
own line. The next fish is sea bass,
tawny and big-eyed, with his BLUSH
black mouth wide open and his hand
some fins sticking out in all directions.
Now all kinds of fish are Topping in
or both sides. A sharp, resounding
slapping of the deck tells of fuke,
the great predaceous summer founder.
He is big one, weighing at least sew
en- pounds. He has the hook deep in his
throat and his eaptor raves as he tries
to get it out without mangling his fin
gers between the sharp teeth.
More men than he are raving. A
person has come into hateful promi-
renee by hooking a huge dogfish. The
laundering first cousin to the shark
has swan swiftly and powerfully
along the side and a score of lines are
trailing behind him-all tangled around
end around his brown body and tang
ling worse as he rolls over in his strug-
giles. And the fish biting everywhere!
The unlucky neighbors of the dog
fisherman heave and haul and beg him
to hurry up and roar at him to haul
in and to let go. They discuss him
with freedom, untempered by the re-
hottest desire to spare even his hottest
feelings. At last, driven frantic by the
sight of fish being swung inboard all
around them, the unwilling syndicate
hauls that dogfish in collectively and
all pounce desperately on the snarl 1t
is an axiom that twenty furious ang-
lers can not disentangle one common
snarl. The end usually is that the
knives come out and each man cuts
away as much as possible of his own
tackle.
But if the fish are not biting! Then
o deep voice somewhere booms out
suddenly: Move the boat" A chorus
repeats it after him. 1t is a command
ha1lowed by antiquity. That cry was
raised on the first fishing banks boat
that ever went forth from New York
before the Civil War. 1t has never
changed. No fishing banks captain has
ever been daring enough not to obey.
The big anchor chain begins to wind
irhoard. TIE anglers reel up and open
their baskets Peace and contentment
resume their sway under the golden
magic of expectation of what the next
spot is to produce