78 Papers from the Department of Marine Biology. 



for Charles Frederick Holder lived as boy and man for many years on 

 the outer Florida reef and knew it and its fishes as no other scientific 

 man ever has. Among these fishes, he had much acquaintance with 

 the barracuda. During several years spent at Fort Jefferson on Gar- 

 den Key, he had great sport with the barracudas in the lagoon. He 

 used the hand-line (trolled) sometimes, but being in search of sport 

 rather than specimens, for the most part he trolled with a rod and light 

 tackle. He generally had a white rag tied to a string 4 or 5 feet long 

 trolling behind the boat, as a lure to "flush the fish." When the fish 

 was "flushed" he would cast out his bait, which he notes must be a 

 fish with bright shining silvery sides, and was rarely disappointed in 

 getting a strike. Holder makes it plain that the fish falls a victim to 

 its own inquisitiveness ; but when a large specimen is hooked, and if 

 the angler uses light tackle, there is a battle royal before the fish can be 

 gaffed. He writes very interestingly (1903) of the barracudas in the 

 lagoon at Tortugas. 



The earliest writer to speak of taking them by trolling is Dampier, 

 in his "Two Voyages to Campeachy " (1729, 6th ed.) : "We commonly 

 take them when we are under Sail, with a Hook towing after our Stern." 

 Labat (1742) also notes that they are taken with the line and adds 

 "by the use of the seine" also, but is careful to say that these latter are 

 only small ones, not over 3 feet long. However, the first reference 

 found to the use of a lure is in Macgillivray's "Voyage of the Rattle- 

 snake" (1852). He says that in Bass's Strait (between Australia and 

 Tasmania) they took them with "a hook towing astern baited with a 

 piece of red or white rag." Once at Tortugas our stock of trolling 

 spoons having been depleted, successful use was made of a small steel 

 shark hook to which a piece of white canvas had been attached. 



Bullen (1904) gives numerous instances of catching barracudas by 

 trolling in various seas, and also tells of catching them by still fishing. 

 He gives an interesting account of how the Maoris of New Zealand 

 catch their barracudas by a kind of fishing which might be called 

 trolling. This method, which is only possible because the fish go in 

 great schools, is so absolutely novel that it seems worthy of incor- 

 poration here: 



"Take a stout rod, say 8 to 10 feet in length, or rather a pole, fairly rigid 

 and tough, but not too heavy. To the end of it secure a piece of strong 

 fishing line 5 or 6 feet in length. To the free end of this line attach a lure 

 made as follows : A piece of red pine (rimu) 4 inches long, an inch wide, and 

 half an inch thick, is scraped smooth and bright so that it will glow crimson 

 when wet. Through one end of it is driven a 2-inch nail, which is carefully 

 bent upward and filed sharp. Then this lure is fastened to the line in such a 

 manner that, in case of the splitting of the wood, the fish shall not be lost. 

 Now the boat, in which two fishermen sit to windward facing forward, is 

 sailed briskly to and fro, the fishermen meanwhile whipping the water occa- 

 sionally until a barracouta snaps at the bait and with a dexterous swing is 

 flung into the boat, where, as there is no barb on the hook, he immediately 



