El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-04-11
Peculiar Fishing Tackle
SUCKING FISH AND BIRDS USED IN
THE ORIENT; DANGERS OF WHALING

; remarkable size that they contain doz-
ems of tons OF fish when hauled in 1t
is ascertained in which direction q school
! of fish is travelling and the gillnet is
placed across its path.
The meshes of the net are big enough
to admit their heads and to pass their
gills- But the larger part of the body
cannot pass though. In this predica-
ment they figuratively backpedal until
their gills become hopelessly fast in
the meshes- When the nets are full as
is desired they are drawn up and the
fish emptied on the deck. Many other
kinds of fish also are caught with the
gilInet.
Long Line Fishing
Longtime fishing is another of the
commercial methods by which the
worlds fish supply is captured. A sin
gle line, sometimes as 10 miles long
is shot out from the side of the boat.
a heavy weight is attached to the
end first thrown overheard. and at in
telvals of a few feet short lines with
hooks on them are attached The long
line is stretched across the tide, and
thus the hooks are kept at proper dis
lance apart.
When the big line has remained out
long enough it is hauled in and on the
thousands of hooks, sometimes 5000 of
them, there are nearly every kind of
fish that one can imagine, a veritabIe
Noah's ark of the deep In miniature,
this line becomes the trot line of in
! land rier fishing.
In the great cod fisheries off New
fOundland the simple hand line is most
used. A single fisherman in a boat
goes out and pulls them in one after the
other until he gets a boat load. The
long line and the nets are sometimes
used.
1t is said that fish has more curiosity
than any other living creature and in
sport fishing for mackerel the best bait
that can be used is simply little piece
of scarlet flannel or ribbon. tapering TO
a point. There is nothing in the sea
that this initiates; it is merely intend
ed to take advantage of the mack erel's
inquisitiveness.
Dangers of Whaling.
Perhaps the most dangerous and
thrilling calling in the world of marine
life is whaling. though the advent of
the steam whaler has tended to lessen
both the danger and the romance of
the chase That the harpoOn used in
whaling is Of very remote origin, es
well as whaling itself. is shown by the
fact in the book Of Job it is asked con-
corning the Leviathan, "Canst thou fill
his skin with barbed irons?'
There is a tradition that the Indians
of Florida, long before the white man
set foot on American soil would Jump
on the head of a whale. plug up one
nostril with d wooden peg. then allow
him to go to the bottom and when he
came up again plug up the other nos
tril, and thus suffocate the monster
OF course no one credits this tradition,
but there SCENE to be no room for doubt
that the ancient ESkimOs would sur
round whale, and at a given signal
fill it full OF harpoOns to which were
attached inflated sealskins- Thus buoy
ed to the surface il was only a ques-
ton of time until the whale would die
The use of the bomb harpOon gum
in which bomb with fuse attached Is
hurled with a harpOon into the whale
is comparatively recent When the
bomb explOdes it usually infliets a NOR
tai wound
Turtle Fishing.
In the South Sea islands turtle fish
ing is carried on in the most primitive
fashion. The fishermen swim out from
the vessel. climb upon turtles back,
and like the Old man of the Sea, ride him
10 the vicinity of the ship. where a
line is passed 10 him and hook ed around
the turtles head, halter fashion. Then
the captor Swims off for another vic
tim.
Sometimes they make good shark bait
a fate which they doubtless deserve.
as they literally burn the turtles alive
in order 70 get the shell off; some fiend
having discovered that when the shell
IS taken off before the turtle is killed
il makes a finer quality of tortoise
shell.
For American sport fishing the deep
sea fishing off the coast of California
and Florida and in the Gulf of Mexico,
where the tarpon. the black sek bass.
and other large fish abound, is said TO
be the most exciting Very strong
tackle must be used, and the rods.
reels. and lines must be of the very
highest quality. It requires hours to
land one of these big fish, and infinite
skill and patience; sometimes it de-
generates into an endurance contest
For trout and other inland game fishes
an ineXhaustible variety of rods. reels,
lines, and artificial bait is to be had.
Skill and Patience.
1t is said that the Chinese and the
Japanese make the finest fish lines in
the world. Some of the best are made
by the fisherwomen of the Straits Of
Magellan. They use their own hair for
material. The average American angler /
IS satisfied with q kit costing few dol |
Lars. Some of them. however. have kits |
in which tEey have spent thousands Of |
dollars.
But whether it is the bent pin and !
the wad of raw cotton used blythe small /
boy or the most expensive rod. reel and /
thence are the most necessary parts of /
money cannot buy them.
Tomorrow-JeffersonS Birthday
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