100 ALBACORA 



within reach. Near Bikini a scientist once found a 

 horse's hoofs with iron shoes attached, intact and un- 

 digested, in the belly of a tiger shark. After hearing 

 that, I concluded that a tiger shark eats a man only for 

 an antipasto or, possibly, as a snack between meals. 



"A lot of a fish's actions seem to be psychologically 

 motivated," Luis Rivas said. This was a point of view 

 that Lou and I had arrived at many years ago. Fish 

 have personalities, in a sense, and in order to be a suc- 

 cessful fisherman you have to be able to do a little fish 

 analysis. Fish can be teased, cajoled and enraged; and 

 by arousing their greed they can be driven to reckless- 

 ness. A fish swimming by himself usually approaches 

 bait cautiously and takes a long time before striking 

 out. Put the same fish into a competitive situation and 

 he may well become foolhardy. 



Off^ Bimini one day Lou had a large bait on his hook 

 when he was after blue marlin. A small white marlin 

 spotted the bait first and moved toward it carefully. Lou 

 did not want to catch that marlin with heavy tackle, so 

 he decided to tease him while the mate got the ten-pound 

 test line ready with a small bait. Lou reached over the 

 side of the boat and pulled in his line by hand until the 

 bait was clear of the water. When the marlin saw what 

 was happening, he stopped being cautious. In apparent 

 rage, he tore at the bait dangling just below Lou's hand. 

 He was a small marlin but his bill was big enough. Lou 

 drew the bait and his hand back quickly. The fish made 



