FOREST, LAKE, AND RIVER 



small smelt on single hook, will sometimes yield 

 superb sport, as the game qualities of the white 

 trout are estimated to be double those of the 

 fontinalis. The most exhilarating amusement to 

 be had with this charr, after the first hot June 

 days, is in trolling from a sail-boat with a green- 

 heart tarpon rod, three hundred feet of copper 

 wire of the smallest calibre on a heavy tarpon 

 reel, and attached to this a six-foot braided leader 

 with a Buell's spinner, or a live minnow on a 

 stiff gang. The weight of the wire sinks the bait 

 to the requisite depth. When the sail-boat is 

 running across the wind at the maximum of her 

 speed, the sensation experienced by the strike of 

 a four or five pound fish bankrupts all description. 

 A strong line under such a tension would part on 

 the instant ; but the ductility of the wire averts 

 this accident, and the man at the reel end of the 

 rod experiences a characteristic " give," quickly 

 followed by the dead-weight strain of the frenzied 

 salmonoid. To land a fish thus struck implies 

 much greater patience and skill than a successful 

 battle, under similar circumstances, with a five- 

 ounce six-strip and delicate tackle. The pleasure 

 is largely concentrated in the strike, and the per- 

 ception of a big fish "fast." The watchfulness 

 and labor involved in the subsequent struggle 



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