24 ALBACORA 



his bill in order to stun his victim. Then, after some 

 seconds pass and the victim seems to be stunned, the 

 billfish moves in again. The ordinary reactions of a 

 trout fisherman, trained to reel in just as soon as he 

 feels a strike, are quite valueless at sea, for a quick 

 reeling in generally nets battered bait and nothing more. 

 The billfish expert lets line run out after the first strike 

 so that the bait appears helpless as it lies in the water. 

 Only later, when the billfish grabs the bait and runs, 

 does the angler strike and set his hook. There is no 

 firm rule on how long to wait before setting the hook, 

 since each strike is different from every other. These are 

 questions of judgment — matters of individual skill and 

 talent. That is the sport. 



At any rate, there was Lou, who is certainly a skilled 

 and talented fisherman, with these five fish; Howard at 

 the wheel of the Explorer trying to keep the boat close 

 to the fish; Hedley trying to keep his footing and take 

 pictures; and I trying to watch all that was going on 

 and catch what fish I could on the side. In almost no 

 time a marlin whammed his bill against my bait. I 

 waited. The marlin struck again. My timing was fortu- 

 nate and I hooked him securely. As soon as he felt my 

 hook in his mouth, he took off so fast that my reel 

 smoked. Everyone was watching Lou in the WaWa 

 and suddenly I realized that I might wreck the plan and 

 ruin the movie. "Suppose," I reasoned, "my fish cuts 



