Evening star., 1939-07-09


Townsend and few more have
caught white marlin off these spots
but they haven't found them as
thick as they are off the Jackspot
and the Eastern Shore of Maryland
waters. Paul and Jack did a little
scouting around last summer for
blue marlin off Diamond Shoal
Lightship. They found barracuda in
copious numbers, dolphin in the
Gulf Stream which runs we'll in
shore at this point: bonito, small
tuna and all the other stream va
rieties. But no blue marlin.
However, last year a New York
angler, prospecting around in Hat
teras waters, landed blue marlin
weighing more than 300 pounds
That's fair-sized blue, even
around Bimini of Cat Cay. And
where there's one there are usually
more.
Now, to find out if the waters off
the Virginia coast have the same
marlin that abound around the
Jackspot the Virginia Game Fisher
mems Association has engaged Capt.
John Cass. we'll known Miami guide,
to scout around to see what he can
| find. Winston Monk Montague,
Richmond big-game angler and
writer, is in the forefront of the agi-
tation to find out whether white
marlin can be had off the Virginia
coast
I'm dead sure we'll find Gulf
Stream fish 40 or so miles of Cape
Charles" said Bryan Travis, gen.
orally rated the leading captain
around the spot where Chesapeake
Bay enters the Atlantic. I've been
out there looking around and while
I haven't tried to fish very much
I've seen plenty of evidence of fish
and big ones" We ought to find
tuna and marlin and all the other
Gulf Stream fish out there" Which
is more proof that Virginia fisher
men are on the right track.
Travis is the man who a couple
of years ago found a few stragglers
of the tarpon horde around Cape
Charles and landed them. This spot
marks farthest north for tarpon
caught on hook and line. Probably
you've always thought of tarpon as
Florida fish. They are-generally-
but few scattered fish come up
the Atlantic Coast.
The shallow waters around Cape
Charles northern side. cut up by in
lets and islands, are good tarpon
/ ground-if there were enough of
! them. But Cape Charles usually
Yields channel bass. cabio, bluefish
and big shark. There's a spot for
the big shovel-nosed boys just north
and east of Fishermens Island that's
/ O. K. for Brother Shark, if YOU like
EN-, And at that they aren't so bad.
if your tackle is big enough and
strong enough.
But there isn't fish around this
part Of the country that compares
with the white marlin for sheer &C
ton and willingness to put on a fin
ish fight at the end of light linen
line
The blue marlin would, of course,
II there were enough of them
around. But even at Bimini, the
hottest spot in the East for the big
blues. there aren't enough of them
to go round. That isn't true of white
marlin around Ocean City's Jackspot.
There, in the middle of the two runs
and particularly the first one around
mid-July, you will, if you don't watch
out, wear out those unaccustomed
muscles trying to land the field guns
of fishdom. For if the blue marlin
is the chief artilleryman and the
giant tuna the siege gun the white
marlin we'll could be named the field
gun of the flnny tribe.
Catch him on 12-thread line and
you'll have all the action you want
without asking too much of a fish
fighting against heavy tackle. But
better still, and far more sporting
catch him on 9-thread line. Test
ing 3 pounds to the thread-wet-
this light line gives the marlin a
fighting chance, and the fisherman
real workout.
+ Further, light line does not hinder
the fish. Rather, it encourages his
aerial antics. You may get 25 or
80 jumps out of a fair-sized white
marlin on 9-thread stuff. And
they've been landed on 6-thread,
even though that is a little light
for any one but the experts.
TWelve-thread is about right, al
though the guides, who don't get
many experienced anglers, will give
you 21-thread stuff. You could al
most hand line the fish in with this,
but if you are tyro. and don't
know tackle limits, you'll need it. A
9-thread line breaks fairly easily,
and one good jump can burst it.
Catch a few marlin on 18-thread,
get the experience of how to handle
them, and then drop down to 12-
thread. You'll be surprised at the
way they act on this light line.
so any time now you can look
for the marlin mine to open up. 1t
may come this week; it may not
start until next week. But it will
open up. sure as shooting And the
best OF it all is the whole thing is
Just little distance from Wash
ington.
Some day some enterprising air
transport outfit will start marlin
trips by air to Ocean City. 1t takes
about an hour to get there bv air
Can you imagine leaving an airport
IN the Capital, and three hours la
ter, or less, tying into a good-sized
marlin? 1t can be done. You can't
miss during the marlin run, at the
hottest white marlin spot in this
hemisphere.