The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1938-02-03
"GOGGLING," DIVING AND SPEARING
Explains Method In Letter To Short Story WI
FISH HERE DESCRIBED BY HAWLEY

! ments expounded by our local
gogglers.
"At present the night gogglers
are experimenting with underwa-
ter electric torches. These can
be strapped to the wrist or attach
ed to the spear itself by a clamp.
Some claim that red light brings
| the best results but others argue
that light blue blinds their op-
tic nerve However, variety of
two or three is more desirable for
apparently different varieties of
fish are affected differently by
different colors. A blue parrot
fish naturally has an affinity for
! his shade of blue, believing it to
be a camouflage, and red snap
per likewise. With our hundreds
of varieties of fish in these waters
you can readily see that one color
light wouldn't do.
Then there are the cane gogg-
lers. This is a delightful version
of this great pastime. It is mere
ly our old Fourth of July cap
cane with a longer handle BY
prodding the fish gently with the
business end. the dynamite cap
discharges and stunS the fish,
which Immediately floats to the
surface belly up, making it easy
to find. 1t is customary for this
brand of google fishers to carry
a piece of No. 2 sandpaper with
which to remove the fish from the
water, as ofttimes it will slip from
the hand and return to the briny
depths.
1T has been found by the orig
inal or Glass A gogglers that the
Jewish, or as / believe, 'Merou' ,
in your country, will retire to his
grotto or hole in the rocks upon
being harpooned and take a deep
breath, thereby wedging himself
in. To overcome this obstacle,
merely wait until he has to exhale
and pull like hell Sometimes, of
course. the goggler will have to
breathe before the fish but that
IS the sport of it-survival of the
f.fs&eSt.
MFR. Glencannon Ct mean Gil
patrick has suggested tying your
catch to the waist We have prov
en- conclusively that this method
is not practical in these shark-in-
Tested waters. A boy we call jew
fish tried this some time ago and
turned up missing. We heard
from him the other day, but
couldn't recognize the name of
the country he was writing from
The letter had a Csc stamp on it
so we don't expect him back until
next Fall, unless he comes back
the same way.
I'VE have some lead sole .advo-
Gates (Class CD. They claim a
little weight on the feet or ankles
helps them to stay under longer,
as they don't have to waste so
much energy getting down. An
enthusiast broke all records this
afternoon with a dutch anchor for
a La Valliere. I don't know his
record to the minute as he hasn't
come UP yet.
"The harpoon gun doesn't inter
est the high type ofssp6rtsnSerl we
have here. We find a number 10
gauge automatic shotgun gives
much better results An open
bore with a number 3 buclshot
is ideal for schools of fish. = This
method (ClaSs DID is a little tough
on the other gogglers. but person
ally I'm in favor Of il.
4 would like to suggest a meth
Cd to Mr. Gilpstric which we use
extensively down here. When you
meet up with a fish face to face
under water saying. 'Harya Bud
dy. HaTya Buddy (the fish. !
mean slip a stout barbed hook in
his mouth and proceed homeward,
unreeling the line as you 60
When the frying pan IS hot, reel
in your line and there you are,
These few simple suggestions.
along with Mr.. Gilpatrie's book.
The Compleat Goggler', viii, /
believe. bring many new enthuS-
lasts to our midst. even some Of
our wealthy Sportsmen who now
fish with a lot Of fancy psrspher-
MALTA