The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-03-02

western Sportsnicn Trying 20 s'or
Doe-Kriins and the Use Of steel-Ciat
ProJectiIes Butchery OF Game Will
pump Guns-Big Wolf Hunt Proposed
Experience OF 4 Good Dos and q
BAD Shot while Quail Hunting - Curi.
Gus Facts From the Animal world
R~oCKPoRT, Tex. March IA man on
he Texas coast In March who has a fishing
pole and money enough 10 pay a boatman
and then Is unable TO chase the golden
hours with flying feet is a hopeless pessi-
mist, indeed. He has everything on his
s~ide-water, air. sky. breeze and fish.
II he IL smart he viii get beyond the reach
Of the telegraph. telephone and morning
paper. He may. If he likes it. go bare
beaded, disdain shoes and come once more
into touch with the savagery which has
left a~tavistic i~ongings in us all.
Fishing is never out of season In Gulf
water. Parts Of it are good and parts Of
It better. but there are few places where
a good cast will not be repaid or patience
A. float fishing fail t. be rewarded.
The seas are wonderful seas-shallow
and deep, yellow, gray. green, blue, almost
IAhNh AAAA . EAaA ~.
from oceans bufetings. On their narrow,
shining beaches millions Of shells flash
wet in the sun.
Tie creaming water. In and outward
rolling. shows all Of the tints of mother
of-pearl. Between the Gays and the low
lying land breezes break the surface into
wavelots too mall TO wreck a child's yacht.
Outside. beyond the sentry line Of sand,
the swinging rollers come up from the
Caribbean. heavy and strong enough To
toss q m~an-of-war like a cork.
II is In the quiet passages that most OF
the fishing is done The tarpon, plentiful
enough in summer goes further south in
winter, preferring TO make its rushes OF
South America or around the Bahamas
1t appears numerously in the western
Gulf in May; in June the fishing is at its
best. Here and there. however. one is left
behind through the cooler months and
there are Instances Of catches In every
week between September and April.
Luckily, the silver king is not the only
game fish of size left to the angler. There
are always small blue channel sharks, and,
inch for inch, they are as good as anything
that lives in salt water.
The swordfsh il plentiful and takes live
bait readily, thereafter giving any man
with rod and reel all that he cares to attend
20. The jew fish. which is not TO be con-
founded with the jun fish. is here also,
huge, sullen. unwieldy. depending for re-
sistance upon the dead weight Of him.
This monster will stand more towing and
do less than any other scaled thing with
which local fishermen are acquainted.
The Southern sea trout fights well in
proportion to size and the bonito, called
% because Of it's beautiful colors, has plenty
Of muscle and ge. Pompano and
sheepshead are pan fishes and furnish
sport only in ratio to the anglers laziness,
but the reddish is taken and the red snap
per; also channel cats, which are vicious.
There are no better waters for trolling,
for the troller never knows what he is
going to catch. A small trout NAV fasten
itself aid be yanked into the air speedily.
or a swordfsh eight feet long may strike
the hook and then the man with the rod
stands some chance To be yanked into the
air himself.
The speed of the craft is often great and
there is little time to deliberate. The
coastwise sailors Of the Gull are skilful,
frequently reckless, and the lee rails Of
their catboats slice the whitecaps like
knives.
If the visitor knows how 20 have a good
time he will have himself JAILED 70 a snapper
bank. There are many banks. gem
orally from twenty 10 thirty miles apart
and lying out from the mainland from four
20 ten miles. In conformation they are
like the cod banks of Newfoundland.
though smaller-simply ~fat-topped hills
of sand which rise from the bottom Of the
sea and come sometimes within a foot a.
the surface.
II is not an unusual thing for a sailor
new to this latitude To tear along al eight
miles an hour and bring up on one n these
shadows. Then the single mast goes
over tho side and the nan has the option
Of sitting still until rescued. or rowing
painfully to shore.
Generally the banks are betra we'd bv the
waves breaking over them, hut this Is not
always 30. They are exceedingly Ian
gerous places in high winds. There are
few storms, however. except the West
Indian fellows and they are heralded a
day or two In advance.
The seas are smooth enough. though
Ia ving a long roll to them. but they are
tomctimcs chopped in ugly fashion. In
light weather they are never SO rough as
the Cuban waters.
On a snapper bank there Is no need of
caution or quiet. IL the fish are biting
a. all II il hard to scare them away They
will average a foot in length and more
than two pounds in weight and the sides
of them arr like blood. Flashing through
the light gr zen water, they make a pleasing
sight.
II is the custom Of the natives to fish
for them with handlincs tossed over the
side Of an anchored boat; when hooked
they can, Of course, make no resis, ance .
They are hauled i'm hand over hand. de-
tsched and dumped into the bottom, whore
they pale first to a brick red, then to a
reddish gray and lose their beauty.
II one fishes for them with rod and reel
considerable sport may be had. They
fight IL they have any chance to get away
and are strong. With a seNen-ounce rod
and a light line, particularly If the hook be-
small. IL IL often necessary TO humOr them.
The drag Is steady and the strain upon
the wrist not little, They will fight for ten
minutes, il Of large size, and many Of them
escape. If too much slack is given they
work themselves of 10y boring into the
kand
They are large enough 10 require the dip
net and not large enough To be GATED,
and il is the boatmen's business TO stand
by with the net. II IL entirely possible
for a mar on q snapper bank 20 land 800
pounds Of fish a day, but when lac gets
through he will feel that he has been at
work.