The Hawaiian gazette., 1917-11-06
GOOD IN
HONOLULU HARDOR
Big Catches Are Made From
Piers Where Many Persons Stay
All Night For Food and Sport

FAIR hshing continues TO be enjoyed
In the harbor and yesterday afternoon
and last night every wharf and pier.
head had its band Of fishermen. chiefly
Chinese boys and few Hawaiians and
Japanese and Filipinos, though several
Russians were operating with rod and
line.
While there are plenty Of mulIet I'm
the harbor they have not been taking
hold at all well lately; indeed, the few
which have been caught have been
taken with hoated lines, the baited
hooks Of which are kept practically on
| the surface. Schools Of the fish are to
be seen every daysplaying near tho
surfacc, but the bread bait of the an.
gler doesn Z, for some reason or other,
seem TO appeal to them.
The alalaua, little red fish, which
came into the harbor in countless nun.
bers nearly two months ago, and which
\ for time drew hundreds of fishermen
TO the wharves, are still in the harbor
and good catches continue TO be made
every night. A favorite spot for fish
ermen IL the long uncoiapleted wharf
running at right angles to Pier z TO
a point of the foot of Fort Street.
Here Of a night gather scores of men
and women to fish until the sun
comes up.
A person passing along the new
wharf won Z see a single fisherman but
win wonder where the light comes
| from which is at close intervals re-
Elected on the water. The fishermen sit
in the space between the flooring Of
the wharf and line of heavy timbers
overhead, and very comfortable they
manage to make themselves.
As rule a fisherman reaches the
wharf shortly before sundown and pro-
eeeds to; select him q camping place.
l He then makes a flooring of loose
boards which are lying about in guam
titles and which keep him from getting
wet when the rain flushes the cement
flooring of the wharf. He next hunts
up a sheet or two of corrugated iron
and places IL over the space between
the timbers, and sometimes even con-
structs rough sides TO his temporary
abode which serve to shield him from
the keen night wind. II. s
/ With lighted lantern, something 10
eat and drink when he feels like ii,
and supply Of tobacco, the fisherman
| contrives TO pass the night with a re.
markable degree of comfort. ~. Er
Some of the fishermen bring their
| wives with them, and in some instances
| n. couple have remained at the wharf
for two or three days, the woman going
uptown for food or hot coffee, when
/ ever such were needed. .. Il. e..
| The wharf fishermen as rule are
very poor people to whom a mess Of
| fish means meal which would in all
| probability have otherwise been gone
| without. Many Of them are men out
Of work and who fish in order to pass
| the time away as well as for the pur.
pose of securing something to eat. .
/ So well have the little fish been biting
| during the past few days that catches
of half -four sack full between sun.
set and sunrise have not been uncom-
mon. Small moi have also been biting
well in the harbor during the recent
moonlit evenings. .<' .. IT,. .. 49,.
| One Hawaiian who fishes from the
new wharf nearly every night makes
a speciality of hammerhead sharks, and
hardly a night passes that he doesn't
catch from two to six Of these grotes.
que looking fish, which sell readily in
the flshmarket at twenty-five cents
each, and which weigh from three to
FIVE pounds, ..E.. .
| As rule the hammerheads are taken
/, by allowing the bait to lie on the bot
tom. The Hawaiian fisherman in ques.
ton pursues different tactics, how
ever. He ties quantity of rotten fish
in piece of cloth which he ties TO
Il line and allows to sink few feet
below the surface. Presently the
sharksy attracted by the scent Of the
fish, come to the surface and when the
fisherman sees them by the light of his
lantern, he throws out stout line to
which is attached a large hook baited
with meat OF fish, whieh\ is, as a rule,
instantly seized.
When the first shark is caught the
fisherman ties a line about its body
and allows it to swim about. Its pres.
ence attracts other sharks, who swim
around it either through curiosity or
perhaps with the idea of rendering as
sistance TO their cOmrade in trouble.
Sometimes common shark comes
cruising along the wharf in search Of
food. This was the case at Pier 10 u
few nights ago, when a fisherman had
a large white eel which he was pulling
in stolen from his line by Gye.foot
shark. ~. .''} ..-..-. .tr =.