FISHING THE PACIFIC 



him down and try to drive him out of the circle. Even if he 

 goes down I beUeve you have just as much chance of getting 

 a strike as if he'd stayed on the surface. I saw Hugo Ruther- 

 furd succeed with this maneuver on the fish that Mrs. 

 Farrington caught with him off Montauk in 1940, and that 

 was as bad an actor as I have ever seen baited. I've never wit- 

 nessed a better job than that which Rutherfurd performed on 

 that lovely Saturday afternoon, the 6th of July, 1940, some 

 fifteen miles off Montauk. 



The perfect swordfish to bait and the one that permits the 

 angler to make the most of his opportunities is the fish that 

 keeps swimming steadily and slowly on the same course. The 

 fish that is acting this way allows the boat much more free- 

 dom in getting the bait to him. They are rarely afraid of the 

 boat— in fact they appear to fear nothing save the mako shark 

 and perhaps not even that predator which, I beheve, is their 

 only marine enemy. 



When the bait is being presented the boat should be run 

 as slowly as possible, barely making steerageway. Most im- 

 portant, the speed of the motor should never be changed, for 

 the sound in the water bothers the fish more than anything 

 else. Of course, all of this routine cannot always be observed. 

 When the fish strikes, the clutch must be disengaged so that 

 the boat will be barely moving before she loses way alto- 

 gether. The boat should remain stationary until the angler 

 tells the boatman that he's going to strike— and to gun the 

 motor. Conversation should be carried on in undertones and 

 nobody should speak except the guide, the mate and the 

 angler. 



As in all kinds of fishing, whether for large or small fish, 



18 



